Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/561

Rh Ο Fame! for us poor mortals wont to bear

Thy tidings to the region of the dead,

Lift up thy wailing drear,

And to the Atreidæ, as they sleep below,

Report the shame, the discord, and the woe.

Tell them those ills of old, yea, tell again,

And add that now the hot and bitter strife

Of these their children twain

Yields to no charm of fellowship in life.

Electra, now forlorn,

Deserted sails upon a stormy sea,

And in her misery,

Her father's fortune ceaseth not to mourn,

Like nightingale that waileth evermore;

She little recks if death be in the way,

And stands prepared to sleep and wake no more,

If only she those two Erinnyes slay:

Who of all souls that are, with her can vie

For fair repute of filial loyalty?

No, none of all that boast a noble fame

Would wish his fair repute to stain and spot,

By living basely, stript of honoured name;

And thou, my child, did'st choose thy dreary lot,

Thine evil lot, bewept with many a tear,

Arming against the thing that right defies;

And these two glories .in one word dost bear

Known as true daughter, excellent and wise.

Ah, may'st thou live and be as much above