Page:The Dramas of Aeschylus (Swanwick).djvu/283

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Queen of this land, know surely, thou needest not to utter,

Or word or deed twice over, whate'er thy power commands;

For we to counsel summoned, devoted are to thee.

Ever have nightly visions manifold Beset me, since, intent on ravaging

Ionia's soil, my son led forth his power.

But never saw I dream so manifest

As that of yesternight;—I'll tell it thee;—

Me thought two women came before my sight,

Richly apparelled, this in Persian robes

Was habited, and that in Dorian garb;

In height above their sex pre-eminent,

Faultless in beauty, sisters of one race.

As Fatherland the one by lot had gained

Hellas, the other the Barbaric land.

Between these twain, for so methought I saw,

Some feud arose, which learning, straight my son

Strove to appease and soothe; he to his car

Yoked them, and placed the collar on their necks.

Proudly the one exulted in this gear,

And kept her mouth submissive to the reins;

Restive the other was; she with her hands

The chariot-harness rends, then, without bit,