Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/239

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Hercules Oetaeusa
221

Band of captive Oechalian maidens: The mate of the
immortals he,
Whose life and fortune hand in hand
Go on apace. But worse than death 105
Is life, dragged on with many groans.
Whoe'er has trodden under foot
The greedy fates, and can disdain
The boat that plies on death's dark stream,
Will never feel the galling chains
Upon his captive arms; nor grace,
As noble spoil, the victor's train. 110
For he who faces death with joy
Can ne'er be wretched. Should his bark
Be wrecked upon the stormy sea
Where Africus with Boreas,
And Zephyrus with Eurus strive,
And rend the seas; he does not seek
To gather up the broken parts 115
Of his wrecked ship, that, far at sea,
He still may cherish hopes of land.
For he, who ever ready stands
To give his life, alone is safe
From all the perils of the storm.
But we are held by shameful grief,
The gaunt, drawn face, the streaming tears,
By the ashes of our fatherland
Besprinkled. Us no whirling flame, 120
Nor crash of falling walls o'erwhelms.
Thou dost pursue the fortunate,
O death, but fleest from wretched souls.
Behold, we live: but Oh, no more,
Our country's walls[1] remain; their place
Shall soon be hidden by the woods,
And all our temples fall away
To squalid hovels. Even now 125
The cold Dolopian will come
And o'er the ashes, glowing yet,
Sad remnants of Oechalia,

  1. Reading, patriae moenibus.