Delphi Complete Works of Aeschylus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the ruin of this time,Unto your souls the pleasure of the day,For dead men have no profit of their gold!         [ The GHOST OF DARIUS sinks .
    CHORUS Alas, I thrill with pain for Persia’s woes —Many fulfilled, and others hard at hand!
    ATOSSA O spirit of the race, what sorrows crowdUpon me! and this anguish stings me worst,That round my royal son’s dishonoured formHang rags and tatters, degradation deep!I will away, and, bringing from withinA seemly royal robe, will straightway striveTo meet and greet my son: foul scorn it wereTo leave our dearest in his hour of shame.         [ Exit ATOSSA.
    CHORUS Ah glorious and goodly they were,     the life and the lot that we
gained,The cities we held in our hand     when the monarch invincible
reigned,The king that was good to his realm,     sufficing, fulfilled of his sway,A lord that was peer of the gods,     the pride of the bygone day!Then could we show to the skies     great hosts and a glorious name,And laws that were stable in might;     as towers they guarded our fame!There without woe or disaster     we came from the foe and the
fight,In triumph, enriched with the spoil,     to the land and the city’s
delight.What towns ere the Halys he passed!     what towns ere he came to the
West,To the main and the isles of the Strymon,     and the Thracian region possess’d!And those that stand back from the main,     enringed by their fortified wall,Gave o’er to Darius, the king,     the sceptre and sway over all!Those too by the channel of Helle,     where southward it broadens and
glides,By the inlets, Propontis! of thee,     and the strait of the Pontic
tides,And the isles that lie fronting our sea-board,     and the Eastland looks on each
one,Lesbo and Chios and Paros,     and Samos with olive-trees grown,And Naxos, and Myconos’ rock,      and Tenos with Andros hard by,And isles that in midmost Aegean,     aloof from the continent, lie —And Lemnos and Icaros’ hold —    all these to his sceptre were
bowed,And Cnidos and neighbouring Rhodes,     and Soli, and Paphos the proud,And Cyprian Salamis, name-child of her     who hath wrought us this wrong!Yea, and all the Ionian tract,     where the Greek-born inhabitants
throng,And the cities are teeming with gold —     Darius was lord of them all,And, great by his wisdom, he ruled,     and ever there came to his call,In stalwart array and unfailing,     the warrior chiefs of our land,And mingled allies from the tribes     who bowed to his conquering hand!But now there are none to gainsay     that the gods are against us; we
lieSubdued in the havoc of wreck,     and whelmed by the wrath of the
sky!                [ Enter XERXES in
disarray .
    XERXES Alas the day, that I should fallInto this grimmest fate of all,   This ruin doubly unforeseen!On Persia’s
land what power of FateDescends, what louring gloom of hate?   How shall I bear my teen?My limbs are loosened where they stand,When I behold this aged band —Oh God! I would that I too, I,   Among the men who went to die,Were whelmed in earth by Fate’s command!
    CHORUS Ah welladay, my King! ah woeFor all our heroes’ overthrow —   For all the gallant host’s array,   For Persia’s honour, pass’d away,   For glory and heroic sway   Mown down by Fortune’s hand to-day!Hark, how the kingdom makes its moan,For youthful valour lost and gone,By Xerxes shattered and undone!   He, he hath crammed the maw of hell   With bowmen brave, who nobly fell,Their country’s mighty armament,Ten thousand heroes deathward sent!   Alas, for all the valiant band,   O king and lord! thine Asian landDown, down upon its knee is bent!
    XERXES Alas, a lamentable sound,A cry of ruth! for I am foundA curse to land and lineage,With none my sorrow to assuage!
    CHORUS Alas, a death-song desolate   I send forth, for thy home-coming!A scream, a dirge for woe and fate,