Alcmena sent for old, truth-uttering
Tiresias; and she told him all this thing,
And bade him say what she might think and do;
"Nor do thou fear," said she, "to let me know,
Although the mighty gods should meditate
Aught ill; for man can never fly from Fate.
And thus thou seest" (and here her smiling eyes
Looked through a blush) "how well I teach the wise."
So spoke the queen. Then he, with glad old tone; "Be of good heart, thou blessed bearing one,
Τειρεσίαν τόκα μάντιν, ἀλαθέα πάντα λέγοντα,
Αλκμήνα καλέσασα, χρέος κατέλεξε νεοχμὸν,
Κάι νιν ὑποκρίνεσθαι, ὅπως τελέεσθαι ἔμελλεν,
Ηνώγει· Μηδ', εἴ τι θεοὶ νοέοντι πονηρὸν,
Αἰδόμενός ἐμε κρύπτε. καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἔσιν ἀλύξαι
Ανθρώποις ὅ, τι μοῖρα κατὰ κλωτῆρος ἐπείγει,
Μάντι Εὐηρείδα, μάλα σε φρονέοντα διδάσκω.
Τὼς ἔλεγεν βασίλεια· ὁ δ ̓ ἀνταμείβετο τοίως
Θάρσει ἀρισοτόκεια γύναι, Περσήϊον αἷμα.
True blood of Perseus; for by my sweet sight,
Which once divided these poor lids with light,
Many Greek women, as they sit and weave
The gentle thread across their knees at eve,
Shall sing of thee and thy beloved name;
Thou shalt be blest by every Argive dame:
For unto this thy son it shall be given,
With his broad heart to win his way to heaven;
Twelve labours shall he work; and all accurst
And brutal things o'erthrow, brute men the worst ;
Ναὶ γὰρ ἐμὸν γλυκὺ φέγγος ἀποιχόμενον πάλαι ὄσσων,
Πολλαὶ Αχαιϊάδων μαλακὸν περὶ γούνατι νᾶμα
Χειρὶ κατατρίψοντι, ἀκρέσπερον ἀείδοισαι
Αλκμήναν ὀνομασί· σέβας δ' ἔσῃ ̓Αργείαισι.
Τοῖος ἀνὴρ ὅδε μέλλει ἐς οὐρανὸν ἄερα φέροντα
̓Αμβαίνειν, τεὸς ὑιὸς, ἀπὸ σέρνων πλατὺς ἥρως·
Οὗ καὶ θηρία πάντα καὶ ἀνέρες ἥσσονες ἄλλοι.
Δώδεκά οἱ τελέσαντι πεπρωμένον ἐν Διὸς οἰκῇν
Μόχθους· θνητὰ δὲ πάντα πυρὰ Τραχίνιος ἑξεῖ.
And in Trachinia shall the funeral pyre
Purge his mortalities away with fire;
And he shall mount amid the stars, and be
Acknowledged kin to those who envied thee,
And sent these den-born shapes to crush his destiny."
Γαμβρὸς δ' ἀθανάτων κεκλήσεται, οἳ τάδ' ἐπῶρσαν
Κνώδαλα φωλέυοντα βρέφος διαδηλήσασθαι.
TO THE PENINSULA OF SIRMIO.
O BEST of all the scatter'd spots that lie
In sea or lake,-apple of landscape's eye,-
How gladly do I drop within thy nest,
With what a sight of full, contented rest,
Scarce able to believe my journey o'er,
And that these eyes behold thee safe once more!
PENINSULARUM, Sirmio, insularumque
Ocelle, quascunque in liquentibus stagnis
Marique vasto fert uterque Neptunus,
Quam te libenter, quamque lætus inviso,
Vix mi ipse credens Thyniam atque Bithynos
Liquisse campos, et videre te in tuto!
Oh where's the luxury like the smile at heart,
When the mind, breathing, lays its load apart,-
When we come home again, tir'd out, and spread
The loosen'd limbs o'er all the wish'd-for bed!
This, this alone is worth an age of toil.
Hail, lovely Sirmio! Hail, paternal soil !
Joy, my bright waters, joy; your master's come!
Laugh, every dimple on the cheek of home!
O quid solutis est beatius curis,
Cum mens onus reponit, ac peregrino
Labore fessi venimus larem ad nostrum,
Desideratoque acquiescimus lecto!
Hoc est quod unum est pro laboribus tantis.
Salve, O venusta Sirmio, atque hero gaude!
Gaudete, vosque Lydia lacus undæ !
Ridete, quidquid est domi cachinnorum!
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