Now, till he made an end of bitter toils
Fate kept him safe, nor did his father Zeus
Let us once hurt him, Here nor myself.
But since he has toiled through Eurustheus' task
Here desires to fix fresh blood on him--
Slaying his children; I desire it too.
Up then, collecting the unsoftened heart,
Unwedded virgin of black Night! Drive, drag,
Frenzy upon the man here--whirls of brain
Big with child-murder, while his feet leap gay.
Let go the bloody cable its whole length!
So that,--when o'er the Acherousian ford
He has sent floating, by self-homicide,
His beautiful boy-garland,--he may know
First, Here's anger, what it is to him,
And then learn mine. The gods are vile indeed
And mortal matters vast if he 'scape free.
MADNESS
Certes, from well-born sire and mother too
Had I my birth, whose blood is Night's and Heaven's;
But here's my glory,--not to grudge the good!
Nor love I raids against the friends of man.
I wish, then, to persuade, before I see
You stumbling, you and Here: trust my words!
This man, the house of whom ye hound me to,
Is not unfamed on earth, nor gods among;
Since, having quelled waste land and savage sea,
He alone raised again the falling rights
Of gods--gone ruinous through impious men.
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