Page:The Tragedies of Aeschylus - tr. Potter - 1812.pdf/61

Rh To leave the ocean waves, from thee so call'd,

Thy rock-roof'd grottos arch'd by nature's hand,

And land upon this iron-teeming earth ?

Comest thou to visit and bewail my ills ?

Behold this sight, behold this friend of Jove,

Th' assertor of his empire, bending here

Beneath a weight of woes by him inflicted.

I see it all, and wish to counsel thee,

Wise as thou art, to milder measures: learn

To know thyself; new model thy behaviour,

As the new monarch of the gods requires.

What if thy harsh and pointed speech shou'd reach

The ear of Jove, tho' on his distant throne

High-seated, might they not inflame his rage

T' inflict such tortures, that thy present pains

Might seem a recreation and a sport?

Cease then, unhappy sufferer, cease thy braves,

And meditate the means of thy deliverance.

To thee perchance this seems the cold advice

Of doting age; yet, trust me, woes like these

Are earnings of the lofty-sounding tongue.

But thy unbending spirit disdains to yield

E'en to afflictions, to the present rather

Ambitious to add more. Yet shalt thou not,

If my voice may be beard, lift up thy heel

To kick against the pricks; so rough, thou seest,

So uncontroll'd the monarch of the skies.

But now I go, and will exert my pow'r,

If haply I may free thee from thy pains.

Mean while be calm; forbear this haughty tone:

Has not thy copious wisdom taught thee this,

That mischief still attends the petulant tongue?

I gratulate thy fortune, that on thee

No blame hath lighted, tho' associate with me