Antistrophe II.
For ne'er in war's disastrous game
Doom'd he his warriors to the grave;
No; godlike counsellor the name
His Persians gave;
Godlike in sooth was he,
†Since still his subject host he governed worthily.
Strophe III.
Khan,[1] ancient Khan! oh come, draw near,
Come to the topmost summit of this mound; 660
Lifting thy foot in saffron slipper dight,
The crest of thy tiara's kingly round
Giving to sight:
Appear, Darius, blameless sire, appear!
Antistrophe III.
†O monarch, come, that thou may'st hear
Woes, strange, unheard of, by our monarch borne;
For o'er us now some Stygian gloom doth lour,
Since sunk in utter ruin lies forlorn
Our martial flower.
Appear Darius! blameless sire, appear!
Epode.
O Thou in death by friends bewailèd sore, 670
†Why, king of kings, say why
Hath dire calamity,
Of blind infatuation born,
- ↑ The original word is Βαλὴν, a Phœnician word, signifying Lord.
