Page:Four Plays of Aeschylus (Cookson).djvu/72

The galleys,—fearsome combatants
Past count; and in their train
The langour-loving Lydians,
Lords of the Asian main.
Two royal men command them,
Arcteus of fair renown,
And the great lord Metrogathes;
And their all-golden town,
Sardis, hath sent forth men that ride
On cars of aspect dread,
With double yoke of horses,
And triple harnesséd:
And Tharubis and Mardon,
Of Tmolus' holy hill
Near neighbours both, have ta'en an oath,
(The which may heaven fulfil,)
To cast the yoke on Hellas
That holdeth freedom dear;
They are the stuff of iron tough,
Hard anvils to the spear.
Then come the Mysian slingers;
And golden Babylon
Hath sent a mingled, motley host,
Endlessly winding on;
And some are sailors of the fleet,
And others draw the bow;
All Asia pours her falchion-men;
The great king bids them go.
Ay, they are gone! The bloom, the rose,
The pride of Persian earth:
And with a mighty longing
The land that gave them birth,