Page:The Dramas of Aeschylus (Swanwick).djvu/347

Rh Of Cadmos, guard;—show forth thy care divine;

Kypris, do thou, fore-mother of our line,

These ills avert, for from thy blood we came;

Thee we approach with god-invoking prayers.

Thou too, Lykeian Lord, thy name

Attesting, as our groans ascend,

Smite thou the hostile host;—

And thou from Leto who dost boast

Thy heavenly birth, thy bow, dread virgin, bend.

The din of chariot wheels, alas, ah me,

Around our walls I hear;

O Hera, mighty queen!

From axles overburden'd creak the naves.

O Artemis most dear!

Madden'd by hurtling spears vext ether raves.

What ails the city? What its doom will be?

God guides the issue to what goal unseen?

A stone-shower hits the towers, alas, ah me,

Striking their very crown.