Page:Prometheus bound - Browning (1833).djvu/62

All science came to mortals from Prometheus!
Cho. Take heed, lest thou unfittingly assist
Mortals, neglecting thy sad self. For me,
I have good hope that thou, escaped from chains,
Wilt put on strength, omnipotent as Jove's.
Pro. Not yet—not so, doth Fate, the Perfecter,
Perform these things; but having bow'd beneath
Toils, griefs unnumber'd, thus I 'scape the chain.
Far weaker than necessity is art.
Cho. Who holds the helm of that necessity?
Pro. The threefold Fates, and unforgetting Furies.
Cho. Is Jove less absolute than these are?
Pro.Yea;
And therefore cannot 'scape what is ordain'd.
Cho. What is ordain'd for Jove, except to rule?
Pro. Thou mayst not hear; nor question me again.
Cho. Is that which thou involv'st in mystery,
Of sacred import?