Page:House of Atreus 2nd ed (1889).djvu/189

Rh I hold this task—'tis mine, and not another's.

The very gods on high,

Though they can silence and annul the prayers

Of those who on us cry,

They may not strive with us who stand apart,

A race by Zeus abhorred,

Blood-boltered, held unworthy of the council

And converse of Heaven's lord.

Therefore the more I leap upon my prey;

Upon their head I bound;

My foot is hard; as one that trips a runner

I cast them to the ground;

Yea, to the depth of doom intolerable;

And they who erst were great,

And upon earth held high their pride and glory,

Are brought to low estate.

In underworld they waste and are diminished,

The while around them fleet

Dark wavings of my robes, and, subtly woven,

The paces of my feet.

Who falls infatuate, he sees not neither knows he

That we are at his side;

So closely round about him, darkly flitting,

The cloud of guilt doth glide.

Heavily 'tis uttered, how around his hearthstone

The mirk of hell doth rise.

Stern and fixed the law is; we have hands t' achieve it,

Cunning to devise.

Queens are we and mindful of our solemn vengeance;

Not by tear or prayer

Shall a man avert it. In unhonoured darkness,

Far from gods, we fare,

Lit unto our task with torch of sunless regions,

And o'er a deadly way—