.....
And then he called again.
And the moment
They knew the clear command of the god,
Like doves they darted, like arrows, forward,
The king's mother Agave, and her sisters,
And the rest of the Bacchae,
Leaping swiftly
Over the torrent-broken ground of the gorge,
Frantic, borne by the very breath of their God -
And they saw Pentheus.
First, they hurled rocks at him,
-Some climbing on the cliffs towering opposite -
And fir branches, well-aimed like javelins,
Some flung their thyrsus singing through the air
At the wretched king, the sitting target,
But he was too high even for their fury,
Paralyzed by height, helpless on his throne.
Then, the maenads tore oak branches, easy
As thunder, and dug at the feet of the fir,
Levering up the tree, wrenching its roots out.
Suddenly the queen commanded: "Come,
Stand in a circle and heave at the trunk.
We must catch this climbing beast and stop it
From revealing the secrets of our dance."
And the moment
They knew the clear command of the god,
Like doves they darted, like arrows, forward,
The king's mother Agave, and her sisters,
And the rest of the Bacchae,
Leaping swiftly
Over the torrent-broken ground of the gorge,
Frantic, borne by the very breath of their God -
And they saw Pentheus.
First, they hurled rocks at him,
-Some climbing on the cliffs towering opposite -
And fir branches, well-aimed like javelins,
Some flung their thyrsus singing through the air
At the wretched king, the sitting target,
But he was too high even for their fury,
Paralyzed by height, helpless on his throne.
Then, the maenads tore oak branches, easy
As thunder, and dug at the feet of the fir,
Levering up the tree, wrenching its roots out.
Suddenly the queen commanded: "Come,
Stand in a circle and heave at the trunk.
We must catch this climbing beast and stop it
From revealing the secrets of our dance."
This page comments on:
lxxxii (23 March 2015)
Discussion of "....."
Add your voice to this discussion.
Checking your signed in status ...