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PROMETHEUS BOUND
169
Strength
Thou, faltering and weeping sore for those
Whom Zeus abhors! 'ware, lest thou rue thy tears!
Hephaestus
Thou gazest on a scene that poisons sight.
Strength
I gaze on one who suffers his desert.
Now between rib and shoulder shackle him—
Hephaestus
Do it I must—hush thy superfluous charge!
Strength
Urge thee I will—ay, hound thee to the prey.
Step downward now, enring his legs amain!
Hephaestus
Lo, it is done—'twas but a moment's toil.
Strength
Now, strongly strike, drive in the piercing gyves—
Stern is the power that oversees thy task!
Hephaestus
Brutish thy form, thy speech brutality!
Strength
Be gentle, an thou wilt, but blame not me
For this my stubbornness and anger fell!
