Page:Writings of Henry David Thoreau (1906) v5.djvu/380

338

High-plotting son of the right-counseling Themis,

Unwilling thee unwilling in brazen fetters hard to be loosed

I am about to nail to this inhuman hill,

Where neither voice [you 'll hear], nor form of any mortal

See, but, scorched by the sun's clear flame,

Will change your color's bloom; and to you glad

The various-robed night will conceal the light,

And sun disperse the morning frost again;

And always the burden of the present ill

Will wear you; for he that will relieve you has not yet been born.

Such fruits you 've reaped from your man-loving ways,

For a god, not shrinking from the wrath of gods,

You have bestowed honors on mortals more than just,

For which this pleasureless rock you 'll sentinel,

Standing erect, sleepless, not bending a knee;

And many sighs and lamentations to no purpose

Will you utter; for the mind of Zeus is hard to be changed;

And he is wholly rugged who may newly rule. Kr. Well, why dost thou delay and pity in vain?

Why not hate the god most hostile to gods,

Who has betrayed thy prize to mortals?

Heph. The affinity indeed is appalling, and the familiarity.

Kr. I agree, but to disobey the Father's words

How is it possible? Fear you not this more?

Heph. Ay, you are always without pity, and full of confidence.