Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/355

Rh Nor yet denied, but I myself, dear lady,

Fearing to grieve thy heart with these my words,

Did sin, if thou dost count it as a sin.

And now, since thou dost know the whole of things,

For his sake and for thine, full equally,

Treat the girl kindly, and those words of thine

Thou said'st of her, be firm and true to them,

For he, whose might prevails in all things else,

In all is conquered by his love for her.

Deian. We share thy thoughts, will do as thou hast said,

And will not stir, by fighting with the Gods,

The ill now brought upon us. Let us go

Within the house, that thou may'st bear my message,

And gifts for gifts which it is meet to send,

That thou may'st take them, for it were not right

That thou who cam'st with such a company

Should go back empty.

Chor. Great is the conquering might

Which she of Kypros boasteth evermore.

I hasten by what touches on the Gods,

And will not even tell

How she beguiled the son of Kronos old,

Or Hades of the dark,

Or him who shakes the earth, Poseidaôn;

But who for this fair bride,

As well-matched rivals came,

Before the marriage-feast?

Who fought in many a struggle sore and sharp,

Blows thickly falling, wrestlings in the dust?

A mighty stream was one,

Dread form of monster bull, with lofty horn,