OVERTURE

FROM "THRASYMEDES AND EUNOË"

WHO will away to Athens with me? who Loves choral songs and maidens crown'd with flowers,

Unenvious? mount the pinnace; hoist the sail.

I promise ye, as many as are here,
Ye shall not, while ye tarry with me, taste
From unrins'd barrel the diluted wine
Of a low vineyard or a plant ill prun'd,
But such as anciently the Ægean isles
Pour'd in libation at their solemn feasts:
And the same goblets shall ye grasp,
emboss'd

With no vile figures of loose languid boors, But such as gods have liv'd with and have led.

fall:

He held it upright. "There are bees about, Or wasps, or hornets," said the cautious eld, "Look sharp, O son of Thallinos!" The youth

Inclin'd his ear, afar, and warily,

And cavern'd in his hand. He heard a buzz At first, and then the sound grew soft and clear,

And then divided into what seem'd tune, And there were words upon it, plaintive words.

He turn'd, and said, "Echion! do not strike
That tree it must be hollow; for some
god
Speaks from within. Come thyself near.'
Again

That sad old man!" said she. The old man

went

Without a warning from his master's son, Glad to escape, for sorely he now fear'd, And the axe shone behind him in their eyes. Hamad. And wouldst thou too shed the most innocent

Of blood? No vow demands it; no god wills

The oak to bleed.

Rhaicos. Who art thou? whence? why here?

And whither wouldst thou go? Among the rob'd

In white or saffron, or the hue that most
Resembles dawn or the clear sky, is none
Array'd as thou art. What so beautiful
As that gray robe which clings about thee
close,

Like moss to stones adhering, leaves to trees,

Yet lets thy bosom rise and fall in turn, As, touch'd by zephyrs, fall and rise the boughs

Of graceful platan by the river-side? Hamad. Lovest thou well thy father's house?