Or strength of arms could gain the rule in heaven:
This with all arguments due I pressed, but they
Did little deign to look to the to-come;

Which when perceived, and weighing well the event,
My mother and myself, I nothing loth,
And she as willing, reinforced Jove's ranks;
Then too he was all gratitude, and thus
Upheld by us and by our conjoint arms,
And by my counsels, Saturn old was plunged,
With the companions of his overthrow,
Down to the bottomless pit of Tartarus,
To dwell in utter darkness: such the good
I did the Omnipotent, and in return,
Behold! how I am recompensed with evil;
But 'tis a malady innate in tyrants,

Never to trust their friends-What need to seek
A stronger ground of hate, yet ground there was;
Scarce was he seated on his father's throne,
When straight to strengthen, and confirm his power,
He shared among his Gods, and gave to each

A separate attribute, but for hapless mortals
Reserved he none, them he the rather thought
At once to annihilate, creating some

New race of beings like to man ............. thẹn none,

Of all the inhabitants of heaven, opposed,

Or dared oppose his will, save one alone

.....

I stood between his wrath and them, lest they
Should fall into perdition, going down

In misery to the grave..... thus interceding.....
See with what penal agonies I am bowed down!—
Dreadful to bear! and pitiable to behold!
Pity was my sole crime, did I for this
Deserve, that pitilessly singled out
From all, I should be made a spectacle,
Affording little glory to high Jove?

CHORUS.

He must be made of adamant and flint,
Who would not pity thy calamities;

Would I had not beheld them, but beholding,
My heart bleeds for thee!

Did you not go beyond what you confess?

PROMETHEUS.

I taught mankind that they should not die daily,
Have death before their eyes, the fear of death.

CHORUS.

What remedy didst thou find for this disease?

PROMETHEUS.

I made blind hopes the inhabitants of their breasts.

Jove visited you with agonies such as these?
Is there no term assigned them?

PROMETHEUS.

To him it shall seem good.

None, but when

CHORUS.

Seem good to him!

Fallacious hope! and is your heart alive

To consciousness? hast thou no sense of guilt?
Perceive you not..... but how thou hast offended,
It pleases not me to tell, and 'twould be hard
For you to hear; then let me pass it by:
Look for some means to loose your bonds.

PROMETHEUS.

'Tis easy

For one whose path of life is free from cares,
And sorrows, to give counsel, and find words
Of much reproof to tax with evil those
Who walk in misery ..... nor can I plead
My ignorance in aught; for willingly,
Willingly I transgressed, nor can deny it;
The penalty that must be paid for man,
I knew in benefiting man but this .....
Ah! no, I did not dream of pangs like these,

C

Of such a retribution! ..... Was it fit
That in a rugged solitude of rocks
I should eternally abide, and make

This crag's inhospitable gorge my dwelling?
But grieve no more over my present pains:
Come quit your car! alight, that you may learn
All that has yet befallen, or may befall me,
Unto the end; yield to my earnest prayer,
And give your fellowship of woe to one
Who needs it most; like interchange of souls
In sympathy, for ever on the wing

Does adverse fortune shift from place to place,
From one fly to another.

CHORUS.

We have heard,

Nor have you urged in vain your prayer,
And now behold us reconciled,

With ready foot to quit our swift-plumed car,
Exchanging for the realms of the pure air,
The trackless pathway of the bird,

This precipice on precipices piled.

Prometheus, we will listen to thy woes,

And hear them o'er and o'er to this their close!

OCEANUS. PROMETHEUS.

OCEANUS.

Borne on the pinions strong of my fleet bird,
Who knows instinctively my will, and needs
No rein to guide, a long and difficult way,
Measuring through fields of boundless space, I come
To mourn with thee, Prometheus! for the ties

Of blood perforce prevailed, and led me on
Desirous to behold thee, and take part
In all that thou endurest: and were I
Other than of your kindred, not the less
Wouldest thou share my pity or regard :
Trust then in all I say, for I am one

Of those who hate the flattering gloss of words.
If aught in my ability may serve

To lighten thine affliction, now declare it ;
For never shalt thou say thou hadst a friend
More true to thee than is Oceanus.

PROMETHEUS.

It

may

be so-what! and art thou too come

To be spectator of my miseries?

Couldst thou prevail upon thyself to leave

The floods that take thy name, thy rock-roofed caves,
The work of nature's hand, to visit this
Inhospitable realm, that bears but iron?
And art thou come to look on my afflictions,
Compassionate my sufferings? thou seest
A spectacle might well excite thy pity-
A God, the friend of Jove, who fought for Jove,

Stood by him, placed him on his throne-weighed down
With chains; you need not ask by whom!

OCEANUS.

Too well,

Prometheus, do I see thee! and desire

To aid thee with best counsels, though thou art
Various in counsel: know thyself, for thou
Knowest his power; then put on a new mind,
For a new monarch rules over the Gods.

And if such sharp and barbed words thou slingest