Page:Prometheus Bound, and other poems.djvu/35

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May charm the genial gods, and what fair spots

Commend the lung and liver. Burning so,

The limbs encased in fat, and the long chine,

I led my mortals on to an art abstruse,

And cleared their eyes to the image in the fire,

Erst filmed in dark. Enough said now of this.

And for those helps of man hid underground,

The iron, and the brass, silver, and gold,

Can any dare say that he found them out

Before me? None, I know! Unless he choose

To vaunt a vain lie. Learn the whole, in brief,

That all arts came to mortals from Prometheus.

Chorus. Give mortals no unseasonable help,

Neglecting thine own sorrow; since, for me,

I have hope to see thee break these fetters still,

And stand up strong as Zeus.

Prometheus. This ends not thus,

The oracular Fate ordains. I must be bowed

By infinite woes and pangs, to escape this chain.

Necessity is stronger than mine art.

Chorus. Who holds the helm of that Necessity?

Prometheus. The threefold Fates and the unforgetting Furies.

Chorus. Is Zeus less absolute than these are?

Prometheus. Yes,

And therefore cannot fly what is ordained.

Chorus. What is ordained for Zeus, except to be

A king for ever?

Prometheus. 'Tis too early yet

For thee to learn it: ask no more.

Chorus. Perhaps

Thy secret may be holy?

Prometheus. Turn thy mind

To another matter! this, it is not time