Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/368

270 Gave but small heed to what had passed of old,

Nor what had come from stranger's counsel false,

With issues of dread doom.

Full sure she now bewails,

Full sure she weeps fresh dew of plenteous tears;

And Fate, in onward course,

Brings forth a subtle, great calamity.

It bursts full stream, the fountain of hot tears;

The plague (oh, heavens!) spreads over every limb,

The like of which from foes

Ne'er came to vex the far-famed son of Zeus.

Ah! the dark point of champion's foremost spear,

Which then bore off the bride,

Won by the right of war,

From high Œchalia's peaks! while dumbly working

She who o'er Kypros reigns,

Is seen the mighty doer of the whole.

1st Maiden. Am I deceived, or do I hear indeed

The sound of wailing coming from the house?

What shall I say?

2d Maiden. No doubtful voice I hear,

But miserable, wailing cry within;

And, lo! our house is on the eve of change.

3d Maiden. Look then on her who comes with tight-drawn brow,

Old and in sorrow, as with news to tell.

Nurse. Oh, girls! No little evil has it caused,

That fatal gift she sent to Heracles.

Chor. Oh, full of years! What new deed tell'st thou of?

Nurse. Moving no step has Deianeira gone

The very last of all her ways on earth.