Page:Prometheus Bound (Webster 1866).djvu/61

 By stroking thee with his unharming hand,

And only touching. And thou shalt bring forth

The dusky Epaphus, so named to mark

How Zeus created him, who shall enjoy

The whole land watered by broad-flooding Nile.

And, five in line from him, a female race,

Fifty in number, shall unwillingly

Return again to Argos, taking flight

From intermarriage with their cousins. These,

Their hearts with love aflutter, falcons close

On the track of doves, shall follow in pursuit

Of a marriage it ill fits them to pursue.

But the damsels shall be grudged them by a god,

And the land of Argos shall receive them slain

By woman hate wake in the midnight hour.

For every bride doth reave her bridegroom's life,

Deep dyeing in his throat a two-edged sword.

In such a shape may Cypris greet my foes!

But one among the damsels love will lull

That she slay not her consort, her resolve

Being blunted, and she of the two will choose

Coward in her ears rather than murderess.

And at Argos she shall bear a race of kings—