Page:Prometheus bound - Browning (1833).djvu/88

Cho. In sooth, thou threat'nest Jove with what thou wouldst.
Pro. With what I would, and also what will be.
Cho. And must we look for one to master Jove?
Pro. These chains weigh lighter than his future grief.
Cho. Dost thou not fear, such daring words ejecting?
Pro. What should I fear, who cannot die?
Cho.But he
Can visit thee with woe more dread than death.
Pro. Whate'er can be accomplish'd, I foreknow.
Cho. Wise are the worshippers of Adrastia.²³
Pro. Fear, worship, flatter—whosoever reigns!
To me your reigning Jove is less than naught.
Let him act on, reign on, for a brief time,
E'en as he will: he will not rule us long.
But, lo! I see the errand-boy of Jove,—
The newly-crowned tyrant's servile drudge:
Doubtless he comes, announcing something new.