Page:The Dramas of Aeschylus (Swanwick).djvu/252

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Wilt thou sure warrant give me for all time?

I may not pledge what I will not perform.

Thine utterance soothes me;—I relax my wrath.

Established here thou wilt be rich in friends.

What blessings shall we hymn for this thy land?

Such as, with gracious influence, from earth,

From dew of ocean, and from heaven, attend

On conquest not ignoble. That soft airs,

With sunshine blowing, wander o'er the land;

That earth's fair fruit, rich increase of the flocks,

Fail not my citizens for evermore,

With safety of the precious human seed;—

But, for the impious,—weed them promptly out.

For I, like one who tendeth plants, do love

This race of righteous men, by grief unscathed:—

Such be thy charge. Be mine not to endure

That, among mortals, in wars splendid toils,

Athena's city be not conquest-crowned.

Pallas, thy chosen seat henceforth be mine!

No more the city I despise