OCEANUS Now have I traversed the unendi...

OCEANUS

Now have I traversed the unending plain

And unto thee, Prometheus, am I come,

Guiding this winged monster with no rein,

Nor any bit, but mind's firm masterdom.

And know that for thy grief my heart is sore;

The bond of kind, methinks, constraineth me;

Nor is there any I would honour more,

Apart from kinship, than I reverence thee.

And thou shalt learn that I speak verity:

Mine is no smooth, false tongue; for do but show

How I can serve thee, grieved and outraged thus,

Thou ne'er shalt say thou hast, come weal, come woe,

A friend more faithful than Oceanus.

PROMETHEUS

How now? Who greets me? What! Art thou too come

To gaze upon my woes? How could'st thou leave

The stream that bears thy name, thine antres arched

With native rock, to visit earth that breeds

The massy iron in her womb? Com'st thou

To be spectator of my evil lot

And fellow sympathizer with my woes?

Behold, a thing indeed to gaze upon

The friend of Zeus, co-stablisher of his rule,

See, by this sentence with what pains I am bowed

OCEANUS

Prometheus, all too plainly I behold:

And for the best would counsel thee: albeit

Thy brain is subtle. Learn to know thy heart,

And, as the times, so let thy manners change,

For by the law of change a new God rules.

But, if these bitter, savage, sharp-set words

Thou ventest, it may be, though he sit throned

Far off and high above thee, Zeus will hear;

And then thy present multitude of ills

Will seem the mild correction of a babe.

Rather, O thou much chastened one, refrain

Thine anger, and from suffering seek release.

Stale, peradventure, seem these words of mine:

Nevertheless, of a too haughty tongue

Such punishment, Prometheus, is the wage.

But thou, not yet brought low by suffering,

To what thou hast of ill would'st add far worse.

Therefore, while thou hast me for schoolmaster,

Thou shalt not kick against the pricks; the more

That an arch-despot who no audit dreads

Rules by his own rough will. And now I leave thee,

To strive with what success I may command

For thy deliv'rance. Keep a quiet mind

And use not over-vehemence of speech-

Knowest thou not, being exceeding wise,

A wanton, idle tongue brings chastisement?

PROMETHEUS

I marvel that thou art not in my case,

Seeing with me thou did'st adventure all.

And now, I do entreat thee, spare thyself.

Thou wilt not move him: he's not easy moved

Take heed lest thou find trouble by the way.

OCEANUS

Thou are a better counsellor to others

Than to thyself: I judge by deeds not words.

Pluck me not back when I would fain set forth.

My oath upon it, Zeus will grant my prayer

And free thee from these pangs.

Aeschylus. Prometheus Bound.

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