Page:The Dramas of Aeschylus (Swanwick).djvu/489

Rh This bright assembly of Agonian gods.

No mischief may this claim as town-guests breed;

Nor from event unlooked for, unprepared,

Be quarrel born; unwelcome to the state.

That mischief on our flight

Wait not, may she, Goddess of Suppliants, grant,

Themis, from Zeus, supreme Allotter, sprung!

Thou, elder-minded, learn from me more young;—

The suppliant aiding, never shalt thou want,

Nor will the gods the good man's offering slight.

Not at my private hearth suppliant ye sit.

But if some common guilt the state pollute,

In common let the people work the cure.

No pledge I give, till, touching these events,

Counsel I hold with all my citizens.

Thou art the state, the people, thou alone:—

Ruler accountable to none;

With sovereign nod, the altar-stone,

The hearth, thou swayest, of the land,—

And from sole-sceptred throne,

All issues canst command.

Oh then pollution shun.

Pollution rest upon mine enemies!

But you I cannot succour without bale,