Arriving, may he find a faithful wife,
Such as he left her, watch-dog of his house, 590
To him devoted, hostile to his foes,
In all points like herself, no single seal
Through these long years invaded by her hand.
Pleasure, or blameful word from other man,
Foreign to me as dyer's hue to brass.
A boast like this, fraught as it is with truth,
The lip misseems not of a high-born dame.
Chorus.
Behold! The queen herself hath tutored thee;
Decorous words her clear interpreters.
But tell me, Herald, touching Menelas, 600
Doth he in safety homeward with the host
Hither return, prince to his country dear?
Herald.
False news were I to tell, in flatt'ring terms,
Not long would friends enjoy the fair deceit.
Chorus.
Oh, could'st thou speak auspicious words yet true!
That here they sundered are is all too plain.
Herald.
The man is vanished from th' Achaian host;
Himself and galley. No untruth I tell.
Chorus.
Steering ahead from Troy? or hath a storm,
A common terror, snatched him from the host? 610
