The Bromsgrovian.
107
Fragment of a Greek Tragedy.
| Alcmaeon.—Chorus. | |
| Cho. | O gracefully-enveloped-in-a-cloak Head of a stranger, wherefore, seeking what, Whence, by what way, how purposed are you come To this well-nightingaled vicinity? My cause of asking is, I wish to know. But if perchance, from being deaf and dumb, You cannot understand a word I say, Then wave your hand, to signify as much. |
| Alc. | I journed hither on Ambracian road. |
| Cho. | Sailing on horseback, or with feet for oars? |
| Alc. | Plying with speed my partnership of knees. |
| Cho. | Beneath a shining or a rainy Zeus? |
| Alc. | Mud's sister, not himself, adorns my legs. |
| Cho. | Your name I not unwillingly would learn. |
| Alc. | Not all that men desire do they obtain. |
| Cho. | Might I then know at what your presence aims? |
| Alc. | A shepherd's questioned tongue informed me that— |
| Cho. | What? for I know not yet what you will say. |
| Alc. | —This house was Eriphyla's, no one's else. |
| Cho. | Nor did he shame his throat with hateful lies. |
| Alc. | Might I then enter, going through the door? |
| Cho. | Go; drag into the house a lucky foot; And, O my son, be on the one hand good, And do not on the other hand be bad. And then thou wilt be like the man who speaks, And not unlike thine interlocutor. |
| Alc. | I go into the house with legs and speed. |
| Chorus. | |
[Strophe. In speculation I would not willingly acquire a name For ill-digested thought; But, after pondering much, To this conclusion I at last have come: Life is uncertain. | |
