Page:The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1908.djvu/263

THE DEATH OF AGAMEMNON All for the women's wiles, the brood of Atreus! What numbers

Perished in quest of Helen,—and Klytaimnestra, the meanwhile,

Wrought in her soul this guile for thee afar on thy journey."

Thus I spake, and he, replying, said to me straightway:

"See that thou art not, then, like me too mild to thy helpmeet;

Nor to her ear reveal each secret matter thou knowest,

Tell her the part, forsooth, and see that the rest shall be hidden.

Nathless, not unto thee will come such murder, Odysseus,

Dealt by a wife; for wise indeed, and true in her purpose,

Noble Penelope is, the child of Ikarios. Truly,

She it was whom we left, a fair young bride, when we started

Off for the wars; and then an infant lay at her bosom,

One who now, methinks, in the list of men must be seated,—

Blest indeed! ah, yes, for his well-loved father, returning,

Him shall behold, and the son shall clasp the sire, as is fitting.

Not unto me to feast my eyes with the sight of my offspring

Granted the wife of my bosom, but first of life she bereft me.

Therefore I say, moreover, and charge thee well to remember,

Unto thine own dear land steer thou thy vessel in secret,

Not in the light; since faith can be placed in woman no longer."

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