Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/361

Rh Crept sluggishly along with bloody waves; Or when he stood as victor in his car, Plying the reins and dragging in the dust Great Hector's body and the Trojan state. So there he stood and filled the spreading shore With wrathful words: "Go, get you gone, ye race Of weaklings, bear away the honors due My manes; loose your thankless ships, and sail Across my seas. By no slight offering Did ye aforetime stay Achilles' wrath; And now a greater shall ye pay. Behold, Polyxena, once pledged to me in life, Must by the hand of Pyrrhus to my shade Be led, and with her blood my tomb bedew." So spake Achilles and the realms of day He left for night profound, reseeking Dis; And as he plunged within the depths of earth, The yawning chasm closed and left no trace. The sea lies tranquil, motionless; the wind Its boisterous threats abates, and where but now The storm-tossed waters raged in angry mood, The gentle waves lap harmless on the shore; While from afar the band of Tritons sounds The marriage chorus of their kindred lord. [Exit.] [Enter Pyrrhus and Agamemnon.] Pyrrhus: Now that you homeward fare, and on the sea Your joyful sails would spread, my noble sire Is quite forgot, though by his single hand Was mighty Troy o'erthrown; for, though his death Some respite granted to the stricken town, She stood but as some sorely smitten tree, That sways uncertain. choosing where to fall. Though even now ye seek to make amends For your neglect, and haste to grant the thing He asks, 'tis but a tardy recompense. Long since, the other chieftains of the Greeks Have gained their just reward. What lesser prize Should his great valor claim? Or is it naught