Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/512

414

No oath weighs aught on one of scoundrel soul.

When trouble ceases e'en our troubles please.

Where fathers are by children overcome,

That is no city of the wise and good.

'Tis best, where'er we are, to follow still

The customs of the country.

He to whom men pay honour's noble meed

Has need of noble deeds innumerable,

And out of easy conflict there can come

But little glory.

Counsels are mightier things than strength of hands.

My body is enslaved, my mind is free.

Not Kyprian only, children, is she called,

Who rules o'er Kypros, but bears many names.

Hades is she, and Might imperishable,

And raving Madness, and untamed Desire,

And bitter Lamentation. All is hers,

Or earnest, or in calm, or passionate;

For still where'er is life she winds within

The inmost heart. Where finds this Goddess not

Her easy prey? She masters all the tribe

Of fish that swim the waters, she prevails

O'er all four-footed beasts that walk the earth.

Her wing directs the course of wandering birds,

Mighty o'er beasts, and men, and Gods above.

What God in wrestling throws she not thrice o'er?