Until the guard upon Messapius' peak

Saw the far flame gleam on Euripus' tide,
And from the high-piled heap of withered furze

Lit the new sign and bade the message on.
Then the strong light, far-flown and yet undimmed,

Shot thro' the sky above Asopus' plain,
Bright as the moon, and on Cithaeron's crag

Aroused another watch of flying fire.
And there the sentinels no whit disowned,

But sent redoubled on, the hest of flame
Swift shot the light, above Gorgopis' bay,

To Aegiplanctus' mount, and bade the peak
Fail not the onwardordinance of fire.

And like a long beard streaming in the wind,
Full-fed with fuel, roared and rose the blaze,

And onward flaring, gleamed above the cape,
Beneath which shimmers the Saronic bay,

And thence leapt light unto Arachne's peak,
The mountain watch that looks upon our town.

Thence to th' Atreides' roof-in lineage fair,
A bright posterity of Ida's fire.

So sped from stage to stage, fulfilled in turn,
Flame after flame, along the course ordained,

And lo! the last to speed upon its way
Sights the end first, and glows unto the goal.

And Troy is ta'en, and by this sign my lord
Tells me the tale, and ye have learned my word.

LEADER
To heaven, O queen, will I upraise new song:

But, wouldst thou speak once more, I fain would hear
From first to last the marvel of the tale.

CLYTEMNESTRA
Think you-this very morn-the Greeks in Troy,

And loud therein the voice of utter wail!
Within one cup pour vinegar and oil,

And look! unblent, unreconciled, they war.
So in the twofold issue of the strife

Mingle the victor's shout, the captives' moan.
For all the conquered whom the sword has spared

Cling weeping-some unto a brother slain,
Some childlike to a nursing father's form,

And wail the loved and lost, the while their neck
Bows down already 'neath the captive's chain.

And lo! the victors, now the fight is done,
Goaded by restlesshunger, far and wide

Range all disordered thro' the town, to snatch
Such victual and such rest as chance may give

Within the captive halls that once were Troy-
Joyful to rid them of the frost and dew,

Wherein they couched upon the plain of old-
Joyful to sleep the gracious night all through,

Unsummoned of the watching sentinel.
Yet let them reverence well the city's gods,

The lords of Troy, tho' fallen, and her shrines;
So shall the spoilers not in turn be spoiled.

Yea, let no craving for forbidden gain
Bid conquerors yield before the darts of greed.

For we need yet, before the race be won,
Homewards, unharmed, to round the course once more.

For should the host wax wanton ere it come,
Then, tho'the sudden blow of fate be spared,

Yet in the sight of gods shall rise once more
The great wrong of the slain, to claim revenge.

Now, hearing from this woman's mouth of mine,
The tale and eke its warning, pray with me,

Luck sway the scale, with no uncertain poise,
For my fair hopes are changed to fairer joys.

LEADER
A gracious word thy woman's lips have told,

Worthy a wise man's utterance, O my queen;
Now with clear trust in thy convincing tale

I set me to salute the gods with song,
Who bring us bliss to counterpoise our pain.

(CLYTEMNESTRA goes into the palace.)
CHORUS (singing)

Zeus, Lord of heaven! and welcome night
Of victory, that hast our might

With all the glories crowned!
On towers of Ilion, free no more,

Hast flung the mighty mesh of war,
And closely girt them round,

Till neither warrior may 'scape,
Nor stripling lightly overleap

The trammels as they close, and close,
Till with the grip of doom our foes

In slavery's coil are bound!
Zeus, Lord of hospitality,

In grateful awe I bend to thee-
'Tis thou hast struck the blow!

At Alexander, long ago,
We marked thee bend thy vengeful bow,

But long and warily withhold
The eager shaft, which, uncontrolled

And loosed too soon or launched too high,
Had wandered bloodless through the sky.

strophe 1
Zeus, the high God!-whate'er be dim in doubt,

This can our thought track out-
The blow that fells the sinner is of God,

And as he wills, the rod
Of vengeance smiteth sore. One said of old,

The gods list not to hold
A reckoning with him whose feet oppress

The grace of holiness-
An impious word! for whenso'er the sire

Breathed forth rebellious fire-
What time his household overflowed the measure

Of bliss and health and treasure-
His children's children read the reckoning plain,

At last, in tears and pain.
On me let weal that brings no woe be sent,

And therewithal, content!
Who spurns the shrine of Right, nor wealth nor power

Shall be to him a tower,
To guard him from the gulf: there lies his lot,

Where all things are forgot.
antistrophe 1

Lust drives him on-lust, desperate and wild,
Fate's sin-contriving child-

And cure is none; beyond concealment clear,
Kindles sin's baleful glare.

As an ill coin beneath the wearing touch
Betrays by stain and smutch

Its metal false-such is the sinful wight.
Before, on pinions light,

Fair Pleasure flits, and lures him childlike on,
While home and kin make moan

Beneath the grinding burden of his crime;
Till, in the end of time,

Cast down of heaven, he pours forth fruitless prayer
To powers that will not hear.

And such did Paris come
Unto Atreides' home,

And thence, with sin and shame his welcome to repay,
Ravished the wife away-

strophe 2
And she, unto her country and her kin

Leaving the clash of shields and spears and arming ships,
And bearing unto Troy destruction for a dower,

And overbold in sin,
Went fleetly thro' the gates, at midnight hour.

Oft from the prophets' lips
Moaned out the warning and the wail-Ah woe!

Woe for the home, the home! and for the chieftains, woe!
Woe for the bride-bed, warm

Yet from the lovely limbs, the impress of the form
Of her who loved her lord, awhile ago

And woe! for him who stands
Shamed, silent, unreproachful, stretching hands

That find her not, and sees, yet will not see,
That she is far away!

And his sad fancy, yearning o'er the sea,
Shall summon and recall

Her wraith, once more to queen it in his hall.
And sad with many memories,

The fair cold beauty of each sculptured face-
And all to hatefulness is turned their grace,

Seen blankly by forlorn and hungering eyes!
antistrophe 2

And when the night is deep,
Come visions, sweet and sad, and bearing pain

Of hopings vain-
Void, void and vain, for scarce the sleeping sight

Has seen its old delight,
When thro' the grasps of love that bid it stay

It vanishes away
On silent wings that roam adown the ways of sleep.

Such are the sights, the sorrows fell,
About our hearth-and worse, whereof I may not tell.

But, all the wide town o'er,
Each home that sent its master far away

From Hellas' shore,
Feels the keen thrill of heart, the pang of loss, to-day.

For, truth to say,
The touch of bitter death is manifold!

Familiar was each face, and dear as life,
That went unto the war,

But thither, whence a warrior went of old,
Doth nought return-

Only a spear and sword, and ashes in an urn!
strophe 3

For Ares, lord of strife,
Who doth the swaying scales of battle hold,

War's money-changer, giving dust for gold,
Sends back, to hearts that held them dear,

Scant ash of warriors, wept with many a tear,
Light to the band, but heavy to the soul;

Yea, fills the light urn full
With what survived the flame-

Death's dusty measure of a hero's frame!
Alas! one cries, and yet alas again!

Our chief is gone, the hero of the spear,
And hath not left his peer!

Ah woe! another moans-my spouse is slain,
The death of honour, rolled in dust and blood,

Slain for a woman's sin, a false wife's shame!
Such muttered words of bitter mood

Rise against those who went forth to reclaim;
Yea, jealous wrath creeps on against th' Atreides' name.

And others, far beneath the Ilian wall,
Sleep their last sleep-the goodly chiefs and tall,

• thence [ðens] ad.从那里；因此 (初中英语单词)
• marvel [´mɑ:vəl] n.令人惊异的事；奇迹 (初中英语单词)
• restless [´restləs] a.没有休息的 (初中英语单词)
• hunger [´hʌŋgə] n.饥饿；渴望 (初中英语单词)
• captive [´kæptiv] n.俘虏；捕获物 (初中英语单词)
• gracious [´greiʃəs] a.和蔼可亲的；任慈的 (初中英语单词)
• uncertain [ʌn´sə:tn] a.不定的；不可靠的 (初中英语单词)
• salute [sə´lu:t] n.&v.招呼；行礼；敬礼 (初中英语单词)
• welcome [´welkəm] a.受欢迎的；可喜的 (初中英语单词)
• victory [´viktəri] n.胜利，战胜 (初中英语单词)
• warrior [´wɔriə] n.勇士，战士 (初中英语单词)
• lightly [´laitli] ad.轻微地，稍微 (初中英语单词)
• grateful [´greitful] a.感谢的；令人愉快的 (初中英语单词)
• wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
• desperate [´despərit] a.拼死的；绝望的 (初中英语单词)
• destruction [di´strʌkʃən] n.破坏，毁灭 (初中英语单词)
• midnight [´midnait] n.午夜；漆黑 (初中英语单词)
• impress [im´pres, ´impres] v.铭刻 n.印记；特征 (初中英语单词)
• awhile [ə´wail] ad.少顷；片刻 (初中英语单词)
• scarce [skeəs, skers] a.缺乏的；稀有的 (初中英语单词)
• sleeping [´sli:piŋ] n.&a.睡着(的) (初中英语单词)
• thrill [θril] v.震惊；激动；刺激 (初中英语单词)
• thither [´ðiðə] ad.到那里 a.那边的 (初中英语单词)
• measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)
• jealous [´dʒeləs] a.妒忌的 (初中英语单词)
• onward [´ɔnwəd] ad.&a.向前(的) (高中英语单词)
• posterity [pɔ´steriti] n.子孙；后代 (高中英语单词)
• learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
• therein [ðeə´rin] ad.在那里，在其中 (高中英语单词)
• reverence [´revərəns] n.尊敬；敬畏；尊严 (高中英语单词)
• forbidden [fə´bidn] forbid的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
• hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)
• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
• vengeance [´vendʒəns] n.报复，复仇 (高中英语单词)
• shrine [ʃrain] n.神龛；神殿；圣地 (高中英语单词)
• bearing [´beəriŋ] n.举止；忍耐；关系 (高中英语单词)
• summon [´sʌmən] vt.召集；号召 (高中英语单词)
• forlorn [fə´lɔ:n] a.被遗弃的；绝望的 (高中英语单词)
• goodly [´gudli] a.适意的；漂亮的 (高中英语单词)
• ordinance [´ɔ:dinəns] n.法令；条令；条例 (英语四级单词)
• vinegar [´vinigə] n.醋 (英语四级单词)
• wanton [´wɔntən, ´wɑ:n-] a.顽皮的 n.&vi.荡妇 (英语四级单词)
• warning [´wɔ:niŋ] n.警告；前兆 a.预告的 (英语四级单词)
• utterance [´ʌtərəns] n.发音；言辞；所说的话 (英语四级单词)
• convincing [kən´vinsiŋ] a.有说服力的；有力的 (英语四级单词)
• sinner [´sinə] n.罪人 (英语四级单词)
• whereof [weər´ɔv] ad.关于什么；关于那事 (英语四级单词)
• whence [wens] ad.从何处；从那里 (英语四级单词)
• nought [nɔ:t] n.=naught (英语四级单词)
• victual [´vitl] n.食物 v.供应食物 (英语六级单词)
• craving [´kreiviŋ] n.渴望，热望 (英语六级单词)
• reckoning [´rekəniŋ] n.计算；算帐；估计 (英语六级单词)
• impious [´impiəs] a.不敬的；不孝的 (英语六级单词)
• rebellious [ri´beljəs] a.造反的；反叛的 (英语六级单词)
• concealment [kən´si:lmənt] n.隐藏，隐瞒 (英语六级单词)
• spouse [spauz] n.配偶 (英语六级单词)