Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/334

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Messenger: He is himself the priest; the baleful prayer
He makes, and chants the sacrificial song
With wild and boisterous words; before the shrine
He takes his place; the victims doomed to death
He sets in order, and prepares the sword.
He gives the closest heed to all details
And misses no least portion of the rite. 695
The grove begins to tremble, earth to quake,
And all the palace totters with the shock,
And seems to hesitate in conscious doubt
Where it shall throw its ponderous masses down.
High on the left a star with darkling train
Shoots swift athwart the sky; the sacred wine
Poured at the altar fires, with horrid change, 700
Turns bloody as it flows. The royal crown
Fell twice and yet again from Atreus' head,
And the ivory statues in the temple wept.
These monstrous portents moved all others sore;
But Atreus, only, held himself unmoved,
And even set the threat'ning gods at naught.
And now delay is at an end. He stands 705
Before the shrine with lowering, sidelong gaze.
As in the jungle by the Ganges stream
A hungry tigress stands between two bulls,
Eager for both, but yet in doubtful mood
Which first shall feel her fangs (to this she turns 710
With gaping jaws, then back to that again,
And holds her raging hunger in suspense):
So cruel Atreus eyes the victims doomed
To sate his cursed wrath; and hesitates
Who first shall feel the knife, and who shall die
The next in order. 'Tis of no concern,
But still he hesitates, and gloats awhile 715
In planning how to do the horrid deed.
Chorus: ⁠Who then is first to die?
Messenger: ⁠First place he gives
(Lest you should think him lacking in respect)
Unto his grandsire's namesake, Tantalus.
Chorus: ⁠What spirit, what demeanor showed the youth?