Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/539

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And so he came and stood,

In fierce, hot hate,

With spears that slaughter craved,

Round each tall gate.

He went, his jaws unfilled

With blood of ours,

Ere pine-fed blaze had seized

Our crown of towers.

So great the battle-din

Around his rear,—

The crash, that Ares loves,

Of shield and spear:

Hard conflict that and stiff

For well-matched foe,

The dragon fierce who fought

And laid him low.

For Zeus the lofty speech of boastful pride

Hateth exceedingly;

And sees them as they flow in torrent wide,

Proud of gold panoply,—

With fire swift-flung he hurls from rampart high

One who shouts "Victory!"

So smitten down he fell

Straight to the echoing earth,

He who, with torch of fire,

And mad with frenzied mirth,

Swooped on our hearth and home

With blasts of bitter hate.