Page:Writings of Henry David Thoreau (1906) v5.djvu/410

368

Madness burn me within, and a fly's dart

Stings me,—not wrought by fire.

My heart with fear knocks at my breast,

And my eyes whirl round and round,

And from my course I'm borne by madness'

Furious breath, unable to control my tongue;

While confused words dash idly

'Gainst the waves of horrid woe. Ch. Wise, wise indeed was he,

Who first in mind

This weighed, and with the tongue expressed,

To marry according to one's degree is best by far;

Nor, being a laborer with the hands,

To woo those who are by wealth corrupted,

Nor, those by birth made great.

Never, never me

Fates

May you behold the sharer of Zeus' couch.

Nor may I be brought near to any husband among those from heaven,

For I fear, seeing the virginhood of Io,

Not content with man, through marriage vexed

With these distressful wanderings by Here.

But for myself, since an equal marriage is without fear,

I am not concerned lest the love of the almighty

Gods cast its inevitable eye on me.

Without war, indeed, this war, producing

Troubles; nor do I know what would become of me;

For I see not how I should escape the subtlety of Zeus. Pr. Surely shall Zeus, though haughty now,

Yet be humble, such marriage