Page:The Dramas of Aeschylus (Swanwick).djvu/440

So in clear word all ye desire to know
That shall ye hear;—Yet am I shamed to tell 660
Wherefore on me, forlorn one, burst the storm
Heaven-sent and whence this form's disfigurement.
For evermore would nightly visions haunt
My virgin chambers, gently urging me
With soothing words;—"O damsel, highly blest,
Why longer live in maidenhood when thee
Wait loftiest nuptials? For by passion's dart
Inflamed is Zeus for thee and fain would share
The yoke of Kypris. Spurn not thou, O child,
The couch of Zeus, but to the grassy mead 670
Of Lerna hie thee, to thy father's herds
And cattle-stalls, that so the eye of Zeus
From longing may find respite." By such dreams
From night to night still was I visited,
Unhappy one; till, taking heart at length,
My night-born visions to my sire I told.
Then he to Pytho many a herald sent
And to Dodona; seeking to be taught
How best, by deed or word, to please the gods.
But they returned, announcing oracles
Of riddling import, vague and hard to spell. 680
At length to Inachos came clear response,
By voice oracular commanding him
From home and father-land to thrust me forth,
At large to range, as consecrate to heaven,
Far as earth's utmost bounds. Should he refuse,
From Zeus would come the fiery thunderbolt,
And his whole race extirpate utterly.