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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SUPPLIANTS: PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE. CHORUS, by AESCHYLUS Poet's Biography First Line: O bosomed earth, o altar of my prayer Last Line: To save us from this lust and wrath? | |||
OBOSOMED Earth, O altar of my prayer, What is upon us? Whither can I fly? In all this Apian land is there no lair Hid deep from every eye? I'd be a wisp of smoke, up-curled To the soft clouds above the world, Up, without wings, in the bright day, Like dust, in dying streamers whirled To pass in nothingness away. The heart within my breast is passion-tossed And will not sleep; mine eyes see nothing clear. That sight my father saw has left me lost, And my strength gone with fear. O better toward my doom to hie In a rope's strangling agony, Than lay this body down beside The man I loathe. Oh, best to die! Let Hades take his bride! Some skyey throne -- Oh, thither I would go, Where the wet clouds, back-beaten, freeze to snow: Some unbestridden, undescried, Smooth vulture-crag, in lonely pride Hanging; there to stand and leap Alone, alone to the great deep, Rather than face that forced Love And the heart-stabbing shame thereof. I fear not then a prey for dogs to lie, A feast for all the vultures of the sky. Once to be dead sets woman free From every wrong and misery. God give me to the grave instead Of that polluting marriage-bed. What outlet can I hew, what path To save us from this lust and wrath? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRAGMENT FROM THE AGAMEMNON OF AESCHYLOS by AESCHYLUS AGAMEMNON: CHORUS by AESCHYLUS AGAMEMNON: HELEN. CHORUS by AESCHYLUS AGAMEMNON: THE BEACONS by AESCHYLUS AGAMEMNON: THE PURPLE CARPER by AESCHYLUS AGAMEMNON: THE SACRIFICE OF IPHIGENIA. CHORUS by AESCHYLUS AGAMEMNON: WELCOME TO AGAMEMNON by AESCHYLUS CHOEPHOROI: INVOCATION OF AGAMEMNON'S GHOST by AESCHYLUS CHOEPHOROI: ORESTES GOES MAD by AESCHYLUS CRY WOE, WOE, AND LET THE GOOD PREVAIL, FR. AGAMEMNON by AESCHYLUS |
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