Page:The poetical works of Matthew Arnold, 1897.djvu/362

324 Without a single guilty thought,

Arm'd for right only, and the general good?

Therefore, with censure unallay'd,

Therefore, with unexcepting ban,

Zeus and pure-thoughted Justice brand

Imperious self-asserting violence;

Sternly condemn the too bold man, who dares

Elect himself Heaven's destined arm;

And, knowing well man's inmost heart infirm,

However noble the committer be,

His grounds however specious shown,

Turn with averted eyes from deeds of blood.

Thus, though a woman, I was school'd

By those whom I revere.

Whether I learnt their lessons well,

Or, having learnt them, well apply

To what hath in this house befall'n,

If in the event be any proof,

The event will quickly show.

ÆPYTUS.

Maidens, assure me if they told me true

Who told me that the royal house was here.

THE CHORUS.

Rightly they told thee, and thou art arrived.

ÆPYTUS.

Here, then, it is, where Polyphontes dwells?

THE CHORUS.

He doth; thou hast both house and master right.