No force shall bear away the maiden band.
Firmly this word upon the temple wall
Is by a rivet clenched, and shall abide:
Not upon wax inscribed and delible,
Nor upon parchment sealed and stored away.—
Lo, thou hast heard our free mouths speak their will:
Out from our presence—tarry not, but go!
Herald of Ægyptus.
Have then thy will, that new war come on thee.
Strength and success be on the young men's side!
The King of Argos.
Know that here also ye shall find young men,
Unsodden with the juices oozed from corn.[1]
[Exit Herald of Ægyptus.
But ye, O maids, with your attendants true,
Pass hence with trust into the fencèd town,
Ringed with a wide confine of guarding towers.
Therein are many dwellings for such guests
As the State honours; there myself am housed
Within a palace neither scant nor strait.
There dwell ye, if ye will to lodge at ease
In halls well-thronged: yet, if your soul prefer,
Dwell ye secluded in a separate home.
- ↑ For this curious taunt, strongly illustrative of what Mr. Browning calls "nationality in drinks," see Herodotus, ii. 77. A similar feeling may perhaps be traced in Tacitus' description of the national beverage of the Germans: "Potui humor ex hordeo aut frumento, in quandam similitudinem vini corruptus." ("Germania," chap. 23.)
