Page:Prometheus bound - Browning (1833).djvu/45

I willing should assist the willing Jove—
And by my counsel the Tartarean pit,
Based in darkness, covers ancient Saturn,
And with him his allies. The King of gods,
Being by me so benefited, now
Hath paid me back with this ill recompense;
Because there lies inbred in royalty,
A rank disease—distrustfulness of friends.
But that which ye demand, the cause wherefrom
He doth afflict me, I will render clear.
What time he sate upon his father's throne,
First, unto various deities he gave
Gifts various, and arranged his government;
But reck'd he nothing of unhappy man,
Eager to rase his universal kind,
And generate another; which desire
None dared resist, save I: but I, with daring
Interposition, rescued mortal man
From sinking into hell, exterminate.