Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/292

---

With these the vile Stymphalian birds lie low;
And every other monster which I slew
With distant aim. O noble youth, go on
In victory, for never 'gainst thy foes
Shalt thou send these in vain. Wouldst wish to bring
Birds from the very clouds? Down shall they fall,
And with them come thine arrows sure of prey. 1655
This bow shall never disappoint thy hand.
Well has it learned to poise the feathered shaft
And send it flying in unerring course.
The shafts themselves as well, loosed from the string,
Have never failed to find their destined mark.
But do thou in return, my only prayer,
Bring now the funeral torch and light the pyre. 1660
This club," he said, "which never hand but mine
Has wielded, shall the flames consume with me.
This weapon, only, shall to Hercules
Belong. But this, too, thou shouldst have from me
If thou couldst bear its weight. But let it serve
To aid its master's pyre." Then he required 1665
The shaggy spoil of the dire Nemean beast
To burn with him. The huge skin hid the pyre.
Now all the gazing crowd begin to groan,
And tears of woe to fall from every eye.
His mother bares her breast in eager grief
And smites her body stripped e'en to the loins 1670
For unrestrained lament; then all the gods
And Jupiter himself she supplicates,
While all the place re-echoes with her shrieks.
"Thou dost disgrace the death of Hercules,
O mother, check thy tears," Alcides said;
"Within thy heart thy woman's grief confine.
Why shouldst thou make this day a time of joy 1675
For Juno with thy tears? For she, be sure,
Rejoices to behold her rival weep.
Then this unworthy grief, my mother, check.
It is not meet to abuse the breast that nursed,
And the womb that bore Alcides." Thus he spake;
Then with a dreadful cry, as when he led 1680