And tho my cheek glows with shame's crimson dye,
Thus with un-andalld foot with winged speed I fly.
PROM. Ah me! Ah me!,
Ye virgin sisters, who derive your race
From fruitful Thetis, and th' embrace
Of old Oceanus, your sire, that rolls
Around the wide world his unquiet waves,
This way turn your eyes, behold
With what a chain fix d to this rugged steep
Th' unenvied station of the rock I keep.
I see, I see; and o'er my eyes,
Surcharg'd with sorrow's tearful rain,
Dark'ning the misty clouds arise;
I see thy adamantine chain;
In its strong grasp thy limbs confin'd,
And withering in the parching wind:
Such the stern-pow'r of heav'n's new-sceptired lord,
And law-controlling Jove's irrevocable word.
PROM. Beneath the earth,
Beneath the gulfs of Tartarus[1], that spread
Interminable o'er the dead,
Had his stern fury fix'd this rigid chain,
Nor gods, nor men had triumph'd in my pain
But pendent in th' ethereal air,
The pageant gratifies my ruthless foes,
That gaze, insult, and glory in my woes.
Is there a god, whose sullen soul
Feels a stern joy in thy despair?
Owns he not pity's soft control,
And drops in sympathy the tear?
- ↑ Japetus had three sons, Menetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus. Menætius, for his insolence and audacious attenmpts, was by Jupiter smitten with thunder, and cast into Tartarus, where the vanquished Titans were imprisoned. HESIOD,—To this Prometheus here alludes.
