No More Learning

Thou, O Eteocles, shalt have
Full rites, and mourners at thy grave,
But he, thy brother slain, shall he,
With none to weep or cry _Alas_,
To unbefriended burial pass?
Only one sister o'er his bier,
To raise the cry and pour the tear--
Who can obey such stern decree?

SEMI-CHORUS

Let those who hold our city's sway
Wreak, or forbear to wreak, their will
On those who cry, _Ah, well-a-day_!
Lamenting Polynices still!
We will go forth and, side by side
With her, due burial will provide!
Royal he was; to him be paid
Our grief, wherever he be laid!
The crowd may sway, and change, and still
Take its caprice for Justice' will!
But we this dead Eteocles,
As Justice wills and Right decrees,
Will bear unto his grave!
For--under those enthroned on high
And Zeus' eternal royalty--
He unto us salvation gave!
He saved us from a foreign yoke,--
A wild assault of outland folk,
A savage, alien wave!
[_Exeunt_.




PROMETHEUS BOUND




ARGUMENT

In the beginning, Ouranos and Gaia held sway over Heaven and Earth.
And manifold children were born unto them, of whom were Cronos, and
Okeanos, and the Titans, and the Giants. But Cronos cast down his
father Ouranos, and ruled in his stead, until Zeus his son cast him
down in his turn, and became King of Gods and men. Then were the
Titans divided, for some had good will unto Cronos, and others unto
Zeus; until Prometheus, son of the Titan lapetos, by wise counsel,
gave the victory to Zeus.
But Zeus held the race of mortal men in
scorn, and was fain to destroy them from the face of the earth; yet
Prometheus loved them, and gave secretly to them the gift of fire,
and arts whereby they could prosper upon the earth. Then was Zeus
sorely angered with Prometheus, and bound him upon a mountain, and
afterward overwhelmed him in an earthquake, and devised other
torments against him for many ages; yet could he not slay Prometheus,
for he was a God.




DRAMATIS PERSONAE

STRENGTH AND FORCE.
HEPHAESTUS.
PROMETHEUS.
CHORUS OF SEA-NYMPHS,
DAUGHTERS OF OCEANUS.
OCEANUS.
IO.
HERMES.

_Scene--A rocky ravine in the mountains of Scythia_.


STRENGTH

Lo, the earth's bound and limitary land,
The Scythian steppe, the waste untrod of men!
Look to it now, Hephaestus--thine it is,
Thy Sire obeying, this arch-thief to clench
Against the steep-down precipice of rock,
With stubborn links of adamantine chain.
Look thou: thy flower, the gleaming plastic fire,
He stole and lent to mortal man--a sin
That gods immortal make him rue to-day,
Lessoned hereby to own th' omnipotence
Of Zeus, and to repent his love to man!

HEPHAESTUS

O Strength and Force, for you the best of Zeus
Stands all achieved, and nothing bars your will:
But I--I dare not bind to storm-vext cleft
One of our race, immortal as are we.
Yet, none the less, necessity constrains,
For Zeus, defied, is heavy in revenge!
(_To PROMETHEUS_)

O deep-devising child of Themis sage,
Small will have I to do, or thou to bear,
What yet we must.