Lest on the path some citizen appear,
And scandal light—for me, the thrall, 'twere nought,—
On thee, the princess. This known, will I tell95
All that I saw, and heard from Argive men,
When, to thy brother on truce-mission sent,
I passed hence thither, and then back from him. . . .
Nay, not a citizen draws nigh the halls.
Climb with thy feet the ancient cedar-stair;100
Gaze o'er the plain, along Ismenus' stream
And Dirkê's flow, on yon great host of foes.
Antigone.
Stretch it forth, stretch it forth, the old man's hand, unto me
The child, from the stair, and my feet upbear,
As upward I strain.
Old Servant.
Lo, maiden, grasp it: in good time thou com'st,
For yon Pelasgian host is moving now.
Battalion from battalion sundering.
Antigone.
O Queen, O Child of Latona, Hekatê!
Lo, how the glare of the brass flashes there
Over all the plain!110
Old Servant.
Ay, for not feebly Polyneikes comes
With thunder of many a steed, with countless shields.
