 | The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley |  |
Orestes—Archedice—The Envoy—Medius—Larissæans
ORESTES
She is gone
Weeping away. O, ye who from the gates
Stream in, strange frightened faces and wild eyes,
I, I, your king, Orestes did this deed;
Let no man stir: he dies the first of you
That moves an angry finger. Why, ye knaves,
Who was your king, this traitor slain or I?
Now ye go muttering back: must I be mild,
May not a king defend his throat, as ye
Save your lean bones and nurse your trivial lives?
Who hired the knives against me in the hills?
This Simus and I slew him; ask the envoy.
LARISSÆANS
Live, live, Orestes, live our king Orestes.
ORESTES
Now are ye children for my sceptre meet.
Ye shall know all hereafter, now begone.
Some two bear out this carrion.
ORESTES
She is gone
Weeping away. O, ye who from the gates
Stream in, strange frightened faces and wild eyes,
I, I, your king, Orestes did this deed;
Let no man stir: he dies the first of you
That moves an angry finger. Why, ye knaves,
Who was your king, this traitor slain or I?
Now ye go muttering back: must I be mild,
May not a king defend his throat, as ye
Save your lean bones and nurse your trivial lives?
Who hired the knives against me in the hills?
This Simus and I slew him; ask the envoy.
LARISSÆANS
Live, live, Orestes, live our king Orestes.
257
Now are ye children for my sceptre meet.
Ye shall know all hereafter, now begone.
Some two bear out this carrion.
| The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley | |