Page:The Dramas of Aeschylus (Swanwick).djvu/224

154 Pant my deep vitals, for on every spot

Of the wide earth my charge I shepherded,

And now in hot pursuit with wingless flight

Swift as swift galley o'er the sea I course;

Here in some nook ensconced, crouching he lies;

Of human blood the odour gladdens me.

[The Furies having taken their stations opposite to one another in the orchestra, sing the following Strophes in responsive order.]

1, 2. Look here! Look there!

Peer everywhere;

Lest, scathless in flight, illuding our sight,

The matricide 'scape unaware.

3, 4. He refuge hath found;

With arms twined around

The goddess immortal, this murderous wight

A verdict now seeks through her aid 'gainst the right

5, 6. But baseless his trust;

Mother's blood from the dust

Is hard to recover;—once shed on the plain,

The life-blood is gone, it returns not again.

7, 8. Lo, suffer thou must

In requital most just,

And I the red clot from thy members will drain.

9, 10. The foul draught I'll taste,

Thy strength I will waste,

Then drag thee still living to regions below,

The forfeit to pay for thy mother's death-blow.