Page:The poems of Emma Lazarus volume 1.djvu/91

Firm was his step ; no superfluity
Of indolent flesh impeded this man s strength.
Slender and supple every perfect limb,
Beautiful with the glory of a man.
No weapons bare he, neither shield : his hands
Folded upon his breast, his movements free
Of all incumbrance. When his mighty strides
Had brought him nigh the waiting one, he paused:
" Whose palace this ? and who art thou, grim shade? "
" The palace of the King of Thessaly,
And my name is not strange unto thine ears ;
For who hath told men that I wait for them,
The one sure thing on earth? Yet all they know,
Unasking and yet answered. I am Death,
The only secret that the gods reveal.
But who art thou who darest question me ? "
" Alcides ; and that thing I dare not do
Hath found no name. Whom here awaitest thou ? "
" Alcestis, Queen of Thessaly,— a queen
Who wooed me as the bridegroom woos the bride,
For her life sacrificed will save her lord
Admetus, as the Fates decreed. I wait
Impatient, eager ; and I enter soon,
With darkening wing, invisible, a god,
And kiss her lips, and kiss her throbbing heart,