Page:Ajax (Trevelyan 1919).djvu/48

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TEUCER
Alas, how then can I endure my fate!

CHORUS
Since thus it is . . .

TEUCER
O wretched, wretched me!

CHORUS
Thou hast cause to moan.

TEUCER
O swift and cruel woe!

CHORUS
Too cruel, Teucer!

TEUCER
Woe is me! But say—
His child—where shall I find him? Tell me where.

CHORUS
Alone within the tent.

TEUCER (to Tecmessa)
Then with all speed
Go, bring him thither, lest some foe should snatch him
Like a whelp from a lioness bereaved.
Away! See it done quickly! All men are wont
To insult over the dead, once they lie low.

[Exit Tecmessa.]

CHORUS
Yes, Teucer, while he lived, did he not charge thee
To guard his son from harm, as now thou dost?

TEUCER
O sight most grievous to me of all sights
That ever I have looked on with my eyes!
And hatefullest of all paths to my soul
This path that now has led me to thy side,
O dearest Aias, when I heard thy fate,

While seeking thee I tracked thy footsteps out.

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