Cry of a bird, soul of a beast;
Until in all the city wide
There was no heart unpacified.
Only before Apollo’s shrine,
From the lit mouth there came forth wine,
Wine and more wine — and yet more ills;
But far upon the terrene hills,
Beneath the moonlight one arose
And said: “Too long have we been foes;
The moaning and the madness past,
Let holiness return at last......” ’ ”
Until in all the city wide
There was no heart unpacified.
Only before Apollo’s shrine,
From the lit mouth there came forth wine,
Wine and more wine — and yet more ills;
But far upon the terrene hills,
Beneath the moonlight one arose
And said: “Too long have we been foes;
The moaning and the madness past,
Let holiness return at last......” ’ ”
I mused: “The frenzy that one sees,
Or reads of in Euripides,
Is like. Of Agavè, who slew
Her son, not knowing what she knew;
And on Cithæron, wild and dim,
The horror took her, even as him;
I felt it once....but thou, my friend,
Didst not partake of such an end!”
Or reads of in Euripides,
Is like. Of Agavè, who slew
Her son, not knowing what she knew;
And on Cithæron, wild and dim,
The horror took her, even as him;
I felt it once....but thou, my friend,
Didst not partake of such an end!”
He answered: “I, who had been shy,
Laughed with their joy, wept with their cry,
Knew this alone, in me was come
Rapture a long time tranced and dumb;
Beneath the vine-leaves and my dress
Burned still a hidden loveliness,
As a flower sways in sleep and light,
Laughed with their joy, wept with their cry,
Knew this alone, in me was come
Rapture a long time tranced and dumb;
Beneath the vine-leaves and my dress
Burned still a hidden loveliness,
As a flower sways in sleep and light,
17
