 | Tiresias |  |
“‘Car-r, caw-w, we live by law;
Caw-w, car-r, a toiling crowd
Seeking grubs, or eating grain,
Haunting hollows, over plain,
And flocking furrows ploughed.
Caw-w, car-r, a toiling crowd
Seeking grubs, or eating grain,
Haunting hollows, over plain,
And flocking furrows ploughed.
“‘Arisen from darkness when the sun adorns
Awakened earth on dewy summer morns,
Our penetrated feathers gleam and glow
In purple splendour shifting, like the bow
Born of bright showers all little children know.
Awakened earth on dewy summer morns,
Our penetrated feathers gleam and glow
In purple splendour shifting, like the bow
Born of bright showers all little children know.
“‘When our battalions load the darkened air,
And clouds are turbulent, dull herdsmen stare,
To weave our movements into prophecies,
What time in fury gloomy storms shall rise
And plunge with fire and thunder thro' the skies.
And clouds are turbulent, dull herdsmen stare,
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What time in fury gloomy storms shall rise
And plunge with fire and thunder thro' the skies.
“‘Simple are hinds; O, often have we laughed
To see them slowly creep with bow and shaft
To end our need of feeding while we fed;
Unwitting any watcher overhead
Had made a signal when away we fled!
To see them slowly creep with bow and shaft
To end our need of feeding while we fed;
Unwitting any watcher overhead
Had made a signal when away we fled!
“‘But evil are they; oft some dreadful sin
Charging against each other, they begin
By hurling curses from their haughtiest breath,
Ere each with sword or axe encountereth
And hacks and hews his opposite to death.
Charging against each other, they begin
By hurling curses from their haughtiest breath,
Ere each with sword or axe encountereth
And hacks and hews his opposite to death.
“‘We live by law. We punish evil tricks,
As they discover who purloin the sticks
From nest of neighbour; for, the theft made plain,
Warned are the sinners once; but if again
They're caught while sinning straightway they are slain.
As they discover who purloin the sticks
From nest of neighbour; for, the theft made plain,
Warned are the sinners once; but if again
They're caught while sinning straightway they are slain.
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“‘When for debate at eventide we rise
Should eagles gaze down from the tranquil skies
Upon us purposeful while hovering high;
Clamorous, and yelling with concerted cry,
We mass our forces on them rapidly,
Should eagles gaze down from the tranquil skies
Upon us purposeful while hovering high;
Clamorous, and yelling with concerted cry,
We mass our forces on them rapidly,
“‘Till flustered and confounded, they, affright,
Escape our uproar in precipitate flight!
Victorious, we float on our homeward quest,
Sublimely sailing upper regions blest
In the enjoyment of approaching rest.
Escape our uproar in precipitate flight!
Victorious, we float on our homeward quest,
Sublimely sailing upper regions blest
In the enjoyment of approaching rest.
“‘Car-r, caw-w, we live by law;
Caw-w, car-r, a toiling folk,
Closing eyes but in the night,
Labouring ever thro' the light,
As oxen under yoke.’”
Caw-w, car-r, a toiling folk,
Closing eyes but in the night,
Labouring ever thro' the light,
As oxen under yoke.’”
| Tiresias | |