Page:Prometheus bound - Browning (1833).djvu/71

 Io. I know not why I should distrust you, nymphs; And all ye fain would learn, will I unfold In clearest speech: albeit, ev'n in speech, Touching the Jove-impelled tempesting, And the corruption of my human form, The cause which wing'd them to me, thrills my soul: For dreams nocturnal ever 'habiting Within my virgin chamber, me beguiled With honey'd words:—'Oh, blessed, blessed maid, Wherefore so long unwedded, when 'tis thine To meet with noblest spousals? since for thee Jove is consumed by an arrowy love, And yearns to win thee; maiden, spurn not thou The vows of Jove; but hence to Lerne's plain, Enrich'd with hocks and ox-stalls of thy sire, That so Saturnius' eye may quench its love.' Unhappy me! each night I was constrain'd By visions thus, until I dared narrate Unto my father the night-haunting dream.