Page:Suppliant Maidens (Morshead) 1883.djvu/35

Rh

Have heed of him who looketh from on high,

The guard of woeful mortals, whosoe'er

Unto their fellows cry,

And find no pity, find no justice there.

Abiding in his wrath, the suppliants' lord

Doth smite, unmoved by cries, unbent by prayerful word.

But if Ægyptus' children grasp you here,

Claiming, their country's right, to hold you theirs

As next of kin, who dares to counter this?

Plead ye your country's laws, if plead ye may,

That upon you they lay no lawful hand.

Let me not fall, O nevermore,

A prey into the young men's hand;

Rather than wed whom I abhor,

By pilot-stars I flee this land;

O king, take justice to thy side,

And with the righteous powers decide!

Hard is the cause—make me not judge thereof.

Already I have vowed it, to do nought

Save after counsel with my people ta'en,

King though I be; that ne'er in after time,

If ill fate chance, my people then may say—

In aid of strangers thou the state hast slain.