_ Reverence thou,
Adore thou, flatter thou, whomever reigns,
Whenever reigning!
Adore thou, flatter thou, whomever reigns,
Whenever reigning!
Elizabeth Browning
_ Must we then
Look out for one shall come to master Zeus?
_Prometheus. _ These chains weigh lighter than his sorrows shall.
_Chorus. _ How art thou not afraid to utter such words?
_Prometheus. _ What should _I_ fear who cannot die?
_Chorus. _ But _he_
Can visit thee with dreader woe than death's.
_Prometheus. _ Why, let him do it! I am here, prepared
For all things and their pangs.
_Chorus. _ The wise are they
Who reverence Adrasteia.
_Prometheus.
_ Reverence thou,
Adore thou, flatter thou, whomever reigns,
Whenever reigning! but for me, your Zeus
Is less than nothing. Let him act and reign
His brief hour out according to his will--
He will not, therefore, rule the gods too long.
But lo! I see that courier-god of Zeus,
That new-made menial of the new-crowned king:
He doubtless comes to announce to us something new.
_HERMES enters. _
_Hermes. _ I speak to thee, the sophist, the talker-down
Of scorn by scorn, the sinner against gods,
The reverencer of men, the thief of fire,--
I speak to thee and adjure thee! Zeus requires
Thy declaration of what marriage-rite
Thus moves thy vaunt and shall hereafter cause
His fall from empire. Do not wrap thy speech
In riddles, but speak clearly! Never cast
Ambiguous paths, Prometheus, for my feet,
Since Zeus, thou mayst perceive, is scarcely won
To mercy by such means.
_Prometheus. _ A speech well-mouthed
In the utterance, and full-minded in the sense,
As doth befit a servant of the gods!
New gods, ye newly reign, and think forsooth
Ye dwell in towers too high for any dart
To carry a wound there! --have I not stood by
While two kings fell from thence? and shall I not
Behold the third, the same who rules you now,
Fall, shamed to sudden ruin?
Look out for one shall come to master Zeus?
_Prometheus. _ These chains weigh lighter than his sorrows shall.
_Chorus. _ How art thou not afraid to utter such words?
_Prometheus. _ What should _I_ fear who cannot die?
_Chorus. _ But _he_
Can visit thee with dreader woe than death's.
_Prometheus. _ Why, let him do it! I am here, prepared
For all things and their pangs.
_Chorus. _ The wise are they
Who reverence Adrasteia.
_Prometheus.
_ Reverence thou,
Adore thou, flatter thou, whomever reigns,
Whenever reigning! but for me, your Zeus
Is less than nothing. Let him act and reign
His brief hour out according to his will--
He will not, therefore, rule the gods too long.
But lo! I see that courier-god of Zeus,
That new-made menial of the new-crowned king:
He doubtless comes to announce to us something new.
_HERMES enters. _
_Hermes. _ I speak to thee, the sophist, the talker-down
Of scorn by scorn, the sinner against gods,
The reverencer of men, the thief of fire,--
I speak to thee and adjure thee! Zeus requires
Thy declaration of what marriage-rite
Thus moves thy vaunt and shall hereafter cause
His fall from empire. Do not wrap thy speech
In riddles, but speak clearly! Never cast
Ambiguous paths, Prometheus, for my feet,
Since Zeus, thou mayst perceive, is scarcely won
To mercy by such means.
_Prometheus. _ A speech well-mouthed
In the utterance, and full-minded in the sense,
As doth befit a servant of the gods!
New gods, ye newly reign, and think forsooth
Ye dwell in towers too high for any dart
To carry a wound there! --have I not stood by
While two kings fell from thence? and shall I not
Behold the third, the same who rules you now,
Fall, shamed to sudden ruin?
