Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/200

102 To me has come from no one else but thee;

For thou hast saved them, thou, and only thou;

And may the Gods grant all that I could wish

To thee and to thy land. For I have found

Here only among men the fear of God,

The mood of kindness, and the truthful word;

And knowing this, I pay it back with thanks;

For what I have, I have through thee alone.

And now, Ο prince, I pray, thy right hand give,

That I may grasp it, and, if that may be,

Kiss thy dear brow. And yet, how dare I ask?

Why should I wish, all foul and miserable,

To touch a man upon whose soul there dwells

No taint of evil? No! I will not ask,

I will not let thee do it. They alone

Can feel for mourners who themselves have mourned.

Farewell, then, where thou art; from henceforth care

For me as well as thou hast cared to-day.

Thes. Not though thy words were lengthened out yet more,

For joy of these thy daughters, should I marvel,

Nor if their words thou should'st prefer to mine.

[No pain or grievance touches me in this;]

For it is still my care to make my life,

Not by my words illustrious, but by deeds.

And thus I prove it: of the things I swore

In nothing have I failed; these girls I bring

Alive, unscathed by all the threatened harm.

And how the fight was won what need to boast

All idly, when their lips shall tell thee all?

But for the news that met me as I came,

Just now, take counsel. Short enough to tell,

It yet is passing strange. And one should learn,

Being man, to think no scorn of aught that is.