Page:Tragedies of Euripides (Way 1898) v3.djvu/401

Rh While the oak and pine thy tresses entwine

In thy bacchanal-ecstasy.

And thy fawn-skin flecked, with a fringe be it decked

Of wool white-glistering

In silvery tassels;—O Bacchus' vassals,

High-tossed let the wild wands swing!

One dancing-band shall be all the land

When, led by the Clamour-king,

His revel-rout fills the hills—the hills

Where thy women abide till he come

Whom the Vine-god chasing, in frenzy racing,

Hunted from shuttle and loom.

O cavern that rang when Curetes sang,

O bower of the Babe Zeus' birth,

Where the Corybants, dancing with helm-crests glancing

Through the dark halls under the earth,

This timbrel found whose hide-stretched round

We smite, and its Bacchanal mirth

They blent with the cry ringing sweet and high

From the flutes of the Phrygian land,

And its thunder, soaring o'er revel-shout's roaring,

They gave unto Rhea's hand;

But the gift passed on from the Mother, won

By the madding Satyr-band;

And to Semelê's child gave the woodfolk wild

The homage he holdeth dear,

When the timbrels clashing to feet white-flashing

Are wedded in each third year.