Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/469

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With death, why does her savage heart begrudge
That I should die at home? But now, alas,905
I can no longer hope for life; behold,
My brother's bark, within whose treacherous hold
His mother once was borne; and now for me,
Poor wretch, his slighted sister-wife, it waits.910
No more has right a place upon the earth,
Nor heavenly gods. Grim Fury reigns supreme.
Oh, who can fitly weep my evil plight?
What nightingale has tongue to sing my woes?915
Would that the fates would grant her wings to me!
Then would I speed away on pinions swift,
And leave my grievous troubles far behind,
Leave these unholy haunts of savage men.920
There, all alone, within some forest wide,
Among the swaying branches would I sit,
And let my grieving spirit weep its fill.
Chorus: The race of men is by the fates controlled,
And none may hope to make his own secure;925
And o'er the ever-shifting ways of life
The day which most we fear shall come to us.
But comfort now thy heart with thought of those
Of thine own house who suffered ill, and ask:940
In what has fortune been more harsh to thee?
Thee first I name, Agrippa's noble child,
The famous mother of so many sons,
Great Caesar's wife, whose name throughout the world935
In flaming glory shone, whose teeming womb
Brought forth so many hostages of peace:
E'en thee did exile wait, and cruel chains,
Blows, bitter anguish, and at last a death940
Of lingering agony. And Livia, thou,
Though fortunate in husband and in sons,
Didst walk the way of sin—and punishment.
And Julia, too, endured her mother's fate;
For, though no evil deed was charged to her,945
She fell a victim to the sword at last.
What could not once thy mighty mother do
Who ruled supreme the house of Claudius,