69
Prometheus.
Thou dost so vainly importune as though
Thou didst persuade a wave out of its course. 1040 (1022)
Nay, never think that I, afraid of aught
Zeus may resolve, will woman-hearted turn
And will that most abhorred one supplicate,
Lifting beseeching hands as women do, 1044 (1026)
To free me from these bonds. That may not be.
Hermes.
It seems I may speak much and speak in vain,
For thou art nothing touched nor thy heart moved
By entreaties, but dost, like some new-yoked colt,
Champing the bit, plunge and resist the reins.
But 'tis poor cleverness that puffs thee up, 1050 (1032)
For by mere stubbornness left to itself
The unwise are less than nothing profited.
But, ponder it, if thou yield not to my words
What tempest and what triple wave of woes
Will whelm thee past escape. For first of all 1055 (1037)
With thunder and the lightning's flame the father
Will cleave this rugged precipice, and hide
Thy body, and the rocks shall gird thee in;
