Page:Four Plays of Aeschylus (Cookson).djvu/98

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Thou, whose passing nations wept,

Wherefore hath ambition swept

Worlds that thou didst hold in fee,

Empire, awe and admiralty,

In one headlong ruin borne?

Ships perfidious, ships foresworn,

Crewless, oarless, scallop-scaled,

Ye your pride to Hellas [sic]vailed,

Hidden from the sight of suns

That gild her golden galleons!

[The Ghost of ascends from his tomb.

Trusty and well-beloved! Comrades of mine

When we were young together; now most grave

Signors of Persia, what afflicts the realm?

Earth groans and jars and frets with fevered pulse;

I see my consort standing by my tomb,

And verily I am afraid. Withal,

The cup of kind remembrance, poured in prayer,

I have received. And ye make lamentation

Beside my sepulchre in such shrill key

As calls up spirits: yea, with piteous cries

Summon me from my grave; and wayleave thence

Is hard to come by; for the infernal Gods

Love better to hold fast than to let go.

Nevertheless, with them have I prevailed,

And ye behold me! Haste! my time is short

And I would not offend. What aileth Persia?

What strange, what heavy stroke hath smitten her?