Page:The Dramas of Aeschylus (Swanwick).djvu/511

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Ho there! The altars quit, I say;

Hence to the barque;—I know no fear

For what is held in reverence here.

Never again, oh never more

May I the cattle-nurturing flood

Behold, whence life-sustaining blood

Through mortals doth more amply pour!

Cling to the shrine with reverent hand,

Yet to the ship ye must away;

Willing or not, ye must obey;—

Off, off, ye wretches, to the strand,

Lest, forcefully, against your will,

Ye at my hands bear ruder ill.

Alas! ah me!

O may'st thou 'neath the billowy wave

Perish, with none to save,

Driven from thy course with adverse blast,

And on Sarpedon's sandy headland cast!

Wail and lament and call upon the gods;

The Egyptian barque thou shalt not overleap,

E'en though a strain thou pour more bitter still.

Alas! ah me

For this pollution! Words of dread