Page:Trojan Women (Murray 1905).djvu/51

Rh To bear, O not a lamb for Grecian swords

To slaughter, but a Prince o'er all the hordes

Enthroned of wide-flung Asia. Weepest thou?

Nay, why, my little one? Thou canst not know.

And Father will not come; he will not come;

Not once, the great spear flashing, and the tomb

Riven to set thee free! Not one of all

His brethren, nor the might of Ilion's wall.

How shall it be? One horrible spring deep, deep

Down. And thy neck Ah God, so cometh sleep!

And none to pity thee! Thou little thing

That curlest in my arms, what sweet scents cling

All round thy neck! Belovèd; can it be

All nothing, that this bosom cradled thee

And fostered; all the weary nights, wherethrough

I watched upon thy sickness, till I grew

Wasted with watching? Kiss me. This one time;

Not ever again. Put up thine arms, and climb

About my neck: now, kiss me, lips to lips

O, ye have found an anguish that outstrips

All tortures of the East, ye gentle Greeks!

Why will ye slay this innocent, that seeks

No wrong? O Helen, Helen, thou ill tree

That Tyndareus planted, who shall deem of thee

As child of Zeus? O, thou hast drawn thy breath

From many fathers, Madness, Hate, red Death,

And every rotting poison of the sky!

Zeus knows thee not, thou vampire, draining dry

Greece and the world! God hate thee and destroy,

That with those beautiful eyes hast blasted Troy,

And made the far-famed plains a waste withal.