Art thou in labour with the pang
Of deeds whereon great issues hang,
Behold, the accomplished fact!
Or if in words goes forth thy breath,
The mind that with them travaileth
Converteth speech to act.
[Enter Danaus.]
Danaus.
Take courage, children: the people of the land
With sovran voice have cast their votes right well.
Chorus.
Dear envoy! Best beloved of tiding-bearers,
All hail! But hide not one thing from us. What
Have they determined? The full master-hand
Of the assembled commons, to what deed
Points it?
Danaus.
Unwaveringly, and in such wise
As made my old heart young—for the free air,
While: all freemen made this decision law,
Rustled with multitudes of lifted hands—
The Argives have decreed that we shall hold
This soil with them, immune from all reprisals,
Havoc and harrying of the lustful male;
And of those native here or alien
No man may drive us hence; withal, if force
Be offered, what-so denizen withholds
His aid, shall suffer loss of civil rights
And, furthermore, be banished by the State.
This was the manner of the speech, whereby
