Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/328

230 And thou that did'st thy feet's glad ministry,

How was it that so long thou stayed'st with me,

And yet did'st 'scape my ken, did'st not appear,

But did'st in words destroy me, bringing acts

Most full of joy? Hail, Ο my father, hail,

(For sure, I think I see a father's face,)

Hail, once again, and know that this one day

Above all men I hated thee and loved.

Attend. This is enough, methinks. What lies between

Full many a day and many a circling night

Shall show thee plain, Electra. But you twain,

There standing by, I call to act, for now

The time is come. Now Clytemnestra sits

Alone. Now no man is within. Think well,

If ye hold back, that ye will have to fight

With these and others craftier far than they.

Ores. No longer is it time for lengthened speech,

My Pylades, but with swift foot to press

Within, when first we have adored the shrines

Of all the ancestral Gods who guard these gates.

[Exeunt and into the palace.

Elec. Ο King Apollo, hear them graciously,

And hear me also, who of what I had

Have stood before thee with a liberal hand;

And now Lykeian king, Apollo, hear;

With all I have I kneel, pray, supplicate;

Be Thou the gracious helper of our plans,

And show to all men how the Gods bestow

Their due rewards on all impiety.

Chor. See ye, where Ares, breathing slaughter still,

Speeds on his onward way,

Slaughter that none may check;

E'en at this very hour, beneath the roof,