Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/393

Rh With sharp and glittering steel.

Such whispered words of guile

Odysseus into all men's ears doth pour,

And men believe his speech;

For now he speaks what is too credible,

And he who hears rejoiceth more and more

Than he who told the tale,]

Mocking at these thy woes.

For if one take his aim at lofty souls

He scarce can miss his mark;

But one who should at me his slander dart,

Would fail to gain belief;

For envy ever dogs the great man's steps;

Yet men of low estate,

Apart from mightier ones,

Are but poor towers of strength.

Still with the great the mean man prospers best,

And by the small the great maintains his cause;

But those, the fools and blind,

'Tis vain to teach by words.

By such as these thou art beclamoured now,

And we can nought avail,

Apart from thee, Ο king, to ward the blow.

But, since they dread thine eye, like wild birds' flock

Fluttered with fear at sight of eagle strong,

Perchance, should'st thou confront them suddenly,

They, hushed and dumb, would crouch.

Was it that Artemis, the child of Zeus,