All day |long they |cast, till the |house of the |monarch was |taken,
Cepheus, |king of the |land; and the |faces of |all gathered |blackness.

Then once |more they |cast; and |Cassio|poeia was |taken,
Deep-bosomed |wife of the |king, whom |oft far-|seeing A|pollo
Watched well-|pleased from the |welkin, the |fairest of |Aethiop |women:
Fairest, save |only her |daughter; for |down to the |ankle her |tresses
Rolled, blue-|black as the |night, am|brosial, |joy to be|holders.
Awful and |fair she a|rose, most |like in her |coming to |Hebe,
Queen before |whom the Im|mortals a|rise, as she |comes on O|lympus,
Out of the |chamber of |gold, which her |son He|phaestus has |wrought her.

Such in her |stature and |eyes, and the |broad white |light of her |forehead
Stately she |came from her |place, and she |spoke in the |midst of the |people.

‘Pure are my |hands from |blood: most |pure this |heart in my |bosom.
Yet one |fault I re|member this |day; one |word have I |spoken;
Rashly I |spoke on the |shore, and I |dread lest the |sea should have |heard it.

Watching my |child at her |bath, as she |plunged in the |joy of her |girlhood,
Fairer I |called her in |pride than A|tergati, |queen of the |ocean.
Judge ye if |this be my |sin, for |I know none |other.’ She |ended;
Wrapping her |head in her |mantle she |stood, and the |people were |silent.

Answered the |dark-browed |priests, ‘No |word, once |spoken, re|turneth
Even if |uttered un|witting. |Shall gods ex|cuse our |rashness?
That which is |done, that a|bides; and the |wrath of the |sea is a|gainst us;
Hers, and the |wrath of her |brother, the |Sun-god, |lord of the |sheepfolds.

Fairer than |her hast thou |boasted thy |daughter? Ah |folly! for |hateful,
Hateful are |they to the |gods, whoso, |impious, |liken a |mortal,
Fair though he |be, to their |glory; and |hateful is |that which is |likened,
Grieving the |eyes of their |pride, and a|bominate, |doomed to their |anger.

What shall be |likened to |gods? The un|known, who |deep in the |darkness
Ever a|bide, twy|formed, many-|handed, |terrible, |shapeless
Woe to the |queen; for the |land is dei|fied, and the |people |accursed.

Take thou her |therefore by |night, thou |ill-starred |Cassio|poeia,
Take her with |us in the |night, when the |moon sinks |low to the |westward;
Bind her a|loft for a |victim, a |prey for the |gorge of the |monster,
Far on the |sea-girt |rock, which is |washed by the |surges for |ever;
So may the |goddess ac|cept her, and |so may the |land make a|tonement,
Purged by her |blood from its |sin: so o|bey thou the |doom of the |rulers.’