Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/347

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Straight from their gaping wounds into thy mouth, 1055
That thou mightst drink their very streams of life
But there my wrath was cheated of its due
By overhaste.
I smote them with the sword,
I slaughtered them before the sacred shrine,
And with their blood appeased our household gods;
I hewed their lifeless bodies limb from limb;
I carved them into bits, and part I seethed 1060
In brazen kettles, part before the fire
On spits I roasted. From their living limbs
I carved the tender flesh, and saw it hiss
And sputter on the slender spit, the while
With my own hands I kept the fire a-blaze. 1065
But all these things the father should have done.
In this my vengeful grief has fallen short.
With impious teeth he tore his slaughtered sons;
But still in merciful unconsciousness
The deed was done and suffered.
Thyestes: O ye seas,
Hemmed round by curving shores, give ear to this!
Hear too, ye gods, wherever ye have fled. 1070
Ye lords of hades, hear; hear, O ye lands;
And Night, all black and heavy with the pall
Of Tartarus, attend unto my cry;
For I am left to thee, and thou alone
Doth look in pity on my wretchedness,
Thou, too, forsaken of the friendly stars;
For I will raise no wicked prayers to thee,
Naught for myself implore—what could I ask? 1075
For you, ye heavenly gods, be all my prayers.
O thou, almighty ruler of the sky,
Who sitt'st as lord upon the throne of heaven,
Enwrap the universe in dismal clouds,
Incite the winds to war on every side,
And let thy thunders crash from pole to pole;1080
Not with such lesser bolts as thou dost use
Against the guiltless homes of common men,
But those which overthrew the triple mass