Antistrophe II.
When the fierce business must be done,
When in thine ear she whimpers forth, "My Son;"
Steeling thy heart, invoke thy slaughtered sire,
†And consummate unblamed the vengeance dire.
Antistrophe IV.
With heart of Perseus steadfast in thy breast,
For the dear love
Of friends below the earth, and friends above,
†Complete the sacrifice;—
Within the house plant thou grim Death,—dire guest,—
And let the murderer forfeit murder's price. 820
[Enter Ægisthos.]
Ægisthos.
Not uninvoked I come, but hither called;—
For strangers, as I learn, are here arrived,
Bearers of news, unwelcome to our ears,—
Orestes' death,—which, charged upon this house,
From former wound still ulcerate and sore,
To me a burden were, dripping with fear.
But say,—these tidings must I hold for true,
Or rumours deem them, coined by women's fears, 830
That aimless cleave the air, and aimless die?
Knowest thou aught that may my mind assure?
Chorus.
We have but heard: going thyself within,
Question these strangers;—second-hand reports
Avail not as to hour the tale oneself.
