Beautiful, |eager, he |wooed her, and |kissed off her |tears as he |hovered,
Roving at |will, as a |bee, on the |brows of a |rock nymph-|haunted,
Garlanded |over with |vine, and a|canthus, and |clambering |roses,
Cool in the |fierce still |noon, where |streams glance |clear in the |mossbeds,
Hums on from |blossom to |blossom, and |mingles the |sweets as he |tastes them.

Beautiful, |eager, he |kissed her, and |clasped her yet |closer and |closer,
Praying her |still to |speak— ‘Not |cruel nor |rough did my |mother
Bear me to |broad-browed |Zeus in the |depths of the |brass-covered |dungeon;
Neither in |vain, as I |think, have I |talked with the |cunning of |Hermes,
Face unto |face, as a |friend; or from |grey-eyed |Pallas A|thené
Learnt what is |fit, and re|specting my|self, to |respect in my |dealings
Those whom the |gods should |love; so |fear not; to |chaste es|pousals
Only I |woo thee, and |swear, that a |queen, and a|lone without |rival
By me thou |sittest in |Argos of |Hellas, |throne of my |fathers,
Worshipped by |fair-haired |kings: why |callest thou |still on thy |mother?

Why did she |leave thee thus |here? For no |foeman has |bound thee; no |foeman
Winning with |strokes of the sword |such a |prize, would so |leave it be|hind him.’

Just as at |first some |colt, wild-|eyed, with |quivering |nostril,
Plunges in |fear of the |curb, and the |fluttering |robes of the |rider;
Soon, grown |bold by des|pair, sub|mits to the |will of his |master,
Tamer and |tamer each |hour, and at |last, in the |pride of o|bedience,
Answers the |heel with a |curvet, and |arches his |neck to be |fondled,
Cowed by the |need that |maid grew |tame; while the |hero in|dignant
Tore at the |fetters which |held her: the |brass, too |cunningly |tempered,
Held to the |rock by the |nails, deep |wedged; till the |boy, red with |anger,
Drew from his |ivory |thigh, keen |flashing, a |falchion of |diamond—
‘Now let the |work of the |smith try |strength with the |arms of Im|mortals!’

Dazzling it |fell; and the |blade, as the |vine-hook |shears off the |vine-bough,
Carved through the |strength of the |brass, till her |arms fell |soft on his |shoulder.

Once she e|ssayed to es|cape: but the |ring of the |water was |round her,
Round her the |ring of his |arms; and des|pairing she |sank on his |bosom.
Then, like a |fawn when |startled, she |looked with a |shriek to the |seaward.
‘Touch me not, |wretch that I |am! For a|ccursed, a |shame and a |hissing,
Guiltless, a|ccurst no |less, I a|wait the re|venge of the |sea gods.

Yonder it |comes! Ah |go! Let me |perish un|seen, if I |perish!
Spare me the |shame of |thine eyes, when |merciless |fangs must |tear me
Piecemeal! E|nough to en|dure by my|self in the |light of the |sunshine
Guiltless, the |death of a |kid!’ But the |boy still |lingered a|round her,
Loth, like a |boy, to fore|go her, and |wakened the |cliffs with his |laughter.