Page:House of Atreus 2nd ed (1889).djvu/135

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A boon above all gold is that thou prayest,

An unreached destiny,

As of the blessed land that far aloof

Beyond the north wind lies;

Yet doth your double prayer ring loud reproof;

A double scourge of sighs

Awakes the dead; th' avengers rise, though late;

Blood stains the guilty pride

Of the accursed who rule on earth, and Fate

Stands on the children's side.

That hath sped thro' mine ear, like a shaft from a bow!

Zeus, Zeus! it is thou who dost send from below

A doom on the desperate doer—ere long

On a mother a father shall visit his wrong.

Be it mine to upraise thro' the reek of the pyre

The chant of delight, while the funeral fire

Devoureth the corpse of a man that is slain

And a woman laid low!

For who bids me conceal it? out-rending control,

Blows ever the stern blast of hate thro' my soul,

And before me a vision of wrath and of bane

Flits and waves to and fro.

Zeus, thou alone to us art parent now.

Smite with a rending blow

Upon their heads, and bid the land be well:

Set right where wrong hath stood; and thou give ear,

O Earth, unto my prayer—

Yea, hear O mother Earth, and monarchy of hell!