Nor any bit, but mind's firm masterdom.

And know that for thy grief my heart is sore;
The bond of kind, methinks, constraineth me;

Nor is there any I would honour more,
Apart from kinship, than I reverence thee.

And thou shalt learn that I speak verity:
Mine is no smooth, false tongue; for do but show

How I can serve thee, grieved and outraged thus,
Thou ne'er shalt say thou hast, come weal, come woe,

A friend more faithful than Oceanus.
PROMETHEUS

How now? Who greets me? What! Art thou too come
To gaze upon my woes? How could'st thou leave

The stream that bears thy name, thine antres arched
With native rock, to visit earth that breeds

The massy iron in her womb? Com'st thou
To be spectator of my evil lot

And fellow sympathizer with my woes?
Behold, a thing indeed to gaze upon

The friend of Zeus, co-stablisher of his rule,
See, by this sentence with what pains I am bowed I

OCEANUS
Prometheus, all too plainly I behold:

And for the best would counsel thee: albeit
Thy brain is subtle. Learn to know thy heart,

And, as the times, so let thy manners change,
For by the law of change a new God rules.

But, if these bitter, savage, sharp-set words
Thou ventest, it may be, though he sit throned

Far off and high above thee, Zeus will hear;
And then thy present multitude of ills

Will seem the mild correction of a babe.
Rather, O thou much chastened one, refrain

Thine anger, and from suffering seek release.
Stale, peradventure, seem these words of mine:

Nevertheless, of a too haughty tongue
Such punishment, Prometheus, is the wage.

But thou, not yet brought low by suffering,
To what thou hast of ill would'st add far worse.

Therefore, while thou hast me for schoolmaster,
Thou shalt not kick against the pricks; the more

That an arch-despot who no audit dreads
Rules by his own rough will. And now I leave thee,

To strive with what success I may command
For thy deliv'rance. Keep a quiet mind

And use not over-vehemence of speech-
Knowest thou not, being exceeding wise,

A wanton, idle tongue brings chastisement?
PROMETHEUS

I marvel that thou art not in my case,
Seeing with me thou did'st adventure all.

And now, I do entreat thee, spare thyself.
Thou wilt not move him: he's not easy moved

Take heed lest thou find trouble by the way.
OCEANUS

Thou are a better counsellor to others
Than to thyself: I judge by deeds not words.

Pluck me not back when I would fain set forth.
My oath upon it, Zeus will grant my prayer

And free thee from these pangs.
PROMETHEUS

I tender the
For this my thanks and ever-during praise.

Certes, no backward friend art thou; and yet
Trouble not thyself; for at the best thy labour

Will nothing serve me, if thou mean'st to serve.
Being thyself untrammelled stand fast.

For, not to mitigate my own mischance,
Would I see others hap on evil days.

The thought be far from me. I feel the weight
Of Atlas' woes, my brother in the west

Shouldering the pillar that props heaven and earth,
No wieldy fardel for his arms to fold.

The giant dweller in Cilician dens
I saw and pitied-a terrific shape,

A hundred-headed monster-when he fell,
Resistless Typhon who withstood the Gods,

With fearsome hiss of beak-mouth horrible,
While lightning from his eyes with Gorgon-glare

Flashed for the ravage of the realm of Zeus.
But on him came the bolt that never sleeps,

Down-crashing thunder, with emitted fire,
Which shattered him and all his towering hopes

Dashed into ruin; smitten through the breast,
His strength as smoking cinder, lightning-charred.

And now a heap, a helpless, sprawling hulk,
He lies stretched out beside the narrow seas,

Pounded and crushed deep under Etna's roots.
But on the mountain-top Hephaestus sits

Forging the molten iron, whence shall burst
Rivers of fire, with red and ravening jaws

To waste fair-fruited, smooth, Sicilian fields.
Such bilious up-boiling of his ire

Shall Typho vent, with slingstone-showers red-hot,
And unapproachable surge of fiery spray,

Although combusted by the bolt of Zeus.
But thou art not unlearned, nor needest me

To be thy teacher: save thyself the way
Thou knowest and I will fortify my heart

Until the wrathfulness of Zeus abate.
OCEANUS

Nay then, Prometheus, art thou ignorant
Words are physicians to a wrath-sick soul?

PROMETHEUS
Yes, if with skill one soften the ripe core,

Not by rough measures make it obdurate.
OCEANUS

Seest thou in warm affection detriment
Or aught untoward in adventuring?

PROMETHEUS
A load of toil and a light mind withal.

OCEANUS
Then give me leave to call that sickness mine.

Wise men accounted fools attain their ends.
PROMETHEUS

But how if I am galled by thine offence?
OCEANUS

There very palpably thou thrustest home.
PROMETHEUS

Beware lest thou through pity come to broils.
OCEANUS

With one established in Omnipotence?
PROMETHEUS

Of him take heed lest thou find heaviness.
OCEANUS

I am schooled by thy calamity, Prometheus!
PROMETHEUS

Pack then! And, prithee, do not change thy mind!
OCEANUS

Thou criest "On" to one in haste to go.
For look, my dragon with impatient wings

Flaps at the broad, smooth road of level air.
Fain would he kneel him down in his own stall.

Exit OCEANUS.
CHORUS (after alighting)

I mourn for thee, Prometheus,
minished and brought low,

Watering my virgin cheeks with these sad drops, that flow
From sorrow's rainy fount, to fill soft-lidded eyes

With pure libations for thy fortune's obsequies.
An evil portion that none coveteth hath Zeus

Prepared for thee; by self-made laws established for his use
Disposing all, the elder Gods he purposeth to show

How strong is that right arm wherewith he smites a foe.
There hath gone up a cry from earth, a groaning for the fall

Of things of old renown and shapes majestical,
And for thy passing an exceeding bitter groan;

For thee and for thy brother Gods whose honour was thine own:
These things all they who dwell in Asia's holy seat,

Time's minions, mourn and with their groans thy groans repeat.
Yea, and they mourn who dwell beside the Colchian shore,

The hero maids unwedded that delight in war,
And Scythia's swarming myriads who their dwelling make

Around the borders of the world, the salt Maeotian lake.
Mourns Ares' stock, that flowers in desert Araby,

And the strong city mourns, the hill-fort planted high,
Near neighbour to huge Caucasus, dread mountaineers

That love the clash of arms, the counter of sharp spears.
Beforetime of all Gods one have I seen in pain,

One only Titan bound with adamantine chain,
Atlas in strength supreme, who groaning stoops, downbent

Under the burthen of the earth and heaven's broad firmament.
Bellows the main of waters, surge with foam-seethed surge

Clashing tumultuous; for thee the deep seas chant their dirge;
And Hell's dark under-world a hollow moaning fills;

Thee mourn the sacredstreams with all their fountain-rills.
PROMETHEUS

Think not that I for pride and stubbornness
Am silent: rather is my heart the prey

Of gnawing thoughts, both for the past, and now
Seeing myself by vengeance buffeted.

For to these younger Gods their precedence
Who severally determined if not I?

No more of that: I should but weary you
With things ye know; but listen to the tale

Of human sufferings, and how at first
Senseless as beasts I gave men sense, possessed them

Of mind. I speak not in contempt of man;
I do but tell of good gifts I conferred.

In the beginning, seeing they saw amiss,
And hearing heard not, but, like phantoms huddled

In dreams, the perplexed story of their days
Confounded; knowing neither timber-work

Nor brick-built dwellings basking in the light,
But dug for themselves holes, wherein like ants,

That hardly may contend against a breath,
They dwelt in burrows of their unsunned caves.

Neither of winter's cold had they fixed sign,
Nor of the spring when she comes decked with flowers,

Nor yet of summer's heat with melting fruits
Sure token: but utterly without knowledge

Moiled, until I the rising of the stars
Showed them, and when they set, though much obscure.

Moreover, number, the most excellent
Of all inventions, I for them devised,

And gave them writing that retaineth all,
The serviceable mother of the Muse.

I was the first that yoked unmanaged beasts,
To serve as slaves with collar and with pack,

And take upon themselves, to man's relief,
The heaviest labour of his hands: and

• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)
• stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)
• sentence [´sentəns] n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑 (初中英语单词)
• plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)
• counsel [´kaunsəl] n.商议；劝告；律师 (初中英语单词)
• savage [´sævidʒ] a.野蛮的 n.蛮人 (初中英语单词)
• multitude [´mʌltitju:d] n.大群(批)；众多 (初中英语单词)
• suffering [´sʌfəriŋ] n.痛苦；灾害 (初中英语单词)
• punishment [´pʌniʃmənt] n.罚，刑罚 (初中英语单词)
• marvel [´mɑ:vəl] n.令人惊异的事；奇迹 (初中英语单词)
• backward [´bækwəd] ad.向后 a.向后的 (初中英语单词)
• lightning [´laitniŋ] n.闪电 a.突然的 (初中英语单词)
• thunder [´θʌndə] n.雷 vi.打雷 vt.吼出 (初中英语单词)
• helpless [´helpləs] a.无助的，无依靠的 (初中英语单词)
• soften [´sɔfən] v.使(变)软(柔和) (初中英语单词)
• affection [ə´fekʃən] n.友爱；慈爱 (初中英语单词)
• sickness [´siknis] n.生病；呕吐，恶心 (初中英语单词)
• attain [ə´tein] v.取得；到达；成为 (初中英语单词)
• dragon [´drægən] n.龙 (初中英语单词)
• portion [´pɔ:ʃən] n.嫁妆；命运 vt.分配 (初中英语单词)
• dwelling [´dweliŋ] n.住所；寓所 (初中英语单词)
• supreme [su:´pri:m, sju:-] a.最高的，无上的 (初中英语单词)
• sacred [´seikrid] a.神圣的；庄严的 (初中英语单词)
• beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)
• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)
• writing [´raitiŋ] n.书写；写作；书法 (初中英语单词)
• collar [´kɔlə] n.衣领；(狗等的)项圈 (初中英语单词)
• methinks [mi´θiŋks] vi.据我看来 (高中英语单词)
• reverence [´revərəns] n.尊敬；敬畏；尊严 (高中英语单词)
• spectator [spek´teitə] n.观众，旁观者 (高中英语单词)
• haughty [´hɔ:ti] a.傲慢的，高傲的 (高中英语单词)
• strive [straiv] vi.争取；努力；奋斗 (高中英语单词)
• pillar [´pilə] n.支柱 vt.用柱支持 (高中英语单词)
• terrific [tə´rifik] a.可怕的；极大的 (高中英语单词)
• impatient [im´peiʃənt] a.不耐烦的，急躁的 (高中英语单词)
• virgin [´və:dʒin] a.处女(般)的 n.处女 (高中英语单词)
• renown [ri´naun] n.名望 vt.使有名望 (高中英语单词)
• counter [´kauntə] n.计算者；柜台；计算机 (高中英语单词)
• vengeance [´vendʒəns] n.报复，复仇 (高中英语单词)
• contempt [kən´tempt] n.轻蔑；受辱；不顾 (高中英语单词)
• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
• hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)
• wherein [weər´in] ad.那里面 (高中英语单词)
• contend [kən´tend] v.竞争；斗争；争论 (高中英语单词)
• correction [kə´rekʃən] n.改正，纠正，修改 (英语四级单词)
• exceeding [ik´si:diŋ] a.超越的，非常的 (英语四级单词)
• wanton [´wɔntən, ´wɑ:n-] a.顽皮的 n.&vi.荡妇 (英语四级单词)
• entreat [in´tri:t] vt.恳求，恳请 (英语四级单词)
• dweller [´dwelə] n.居住者；居民 (英语四级单词)
• ravage [´rævidʒ] v.蹂躏；劫掠 (英语四级单词)
• towering [´tauəriŋ] a.高耸的；强烈的 (英语四级单词)
• cinder [´sində] n.炉渣；灰烬 (英语四级单词)
• molten [´məultən] melt的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
• whence [wens] ad.从何处；从那里 (英语四级单词)
• fortify [´fɔ:tifai] vt.设防；加强；证实 (英语四级单词)
• calamity [kə´læmiti] n.灾害，大灾难 (英语四级单词)
• prometheus [prə´mi:θju:s] n.普罗米修斯 (英语六级单词)
• smitten [´smitn] smite的过去分词 (英语六级单词)
• wherewith [wɛə´wiθ] ad.用什么；用以 (英语六级单词)