Page:Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902).djvu/165

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PROMETHEUS BOUND 135

Prometheus. Ay ! in act now, in word now no more,

Earth is rocking in space. 1275

And the thunders crash up with a roar upon roar,

And the eddying lightnings flash fire in my face, And the whirlwinds are whirling the dust round and round, And the blasts of the winds universal leap free, And blow each upon each with a passion of sound, 1280

And aether goes mingling in storm with the sea. Such a curse on my head, in a manifest dread.

From the hand of your Zeus has been hurtled along. Ο my mother's fair glory ! Ο Aether, enringing All eyes with the sweet common light of thy bring- ing! 1285 Dost see how I suffer this wrong ? ^

^ The first words of Prometheus in the play are an invocation of heaven and earth to look upon him. Here, he closes with the assur- ance that these see how unjustly he sufFers. The last sentence is best taken as a statement, not as a question.