Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/382

284 Hera. No godless deed, if so thou glad my heart.

Hyllos. And dost thou bid me do it in full earnest?

Hera. Yea, even so; I call the Gods to witness.

Hyllos. Then will I do, as in the sight of God,

What thou dost ask, and will refuse no more;

I shall not shew as base, obeying thee.

Hera. Thou endest well; and add, my son, this boon,

And quickly, ere some fresh convulsive throb

Or dart of pain comes on me, place me there,

Upon the pyre. Come quick, and lift me up.

This is his rest who lies before you here,

His last, last end.

Hyllos. Nay, nothing hinders now

Our doing this, since thou, my father, bidd'st,

And so constrainest us to do thy will.

Hera. Come then, ere once again

The evil stirs in its might.

Come, heart strong to restrain,

Putting a curb on thy lips,

Wrought of the steel and the stone.

Cease from thy wailing, as one

About to accomplish a task

Unwelcome, yet fruitful in joy.

Farewell, friends, faithful and true,

Grant me your pardon for this;

But the Gods oh pardon them not,

For the deeds that are ever being done,

Who, being and bearing the name

Of Fathers, look on such wrong.

Chor. What cometh no man may know,

What is is piteous for us,

Base and shameful for Them,

And for him who endureth this woe,

Above all that live hard to bear.