Pierced is the Earth, and rent with sounds of woe!
And I my spouse beholding near the tomb
Am troubled, and her offerings I receive
Propitious. Ye with her this cry have raised
Of shrill lament to bring the dead from Hades,
No easy climb; the gods beneath the ground
Are readier to receive than to dismiss;[f31]
But I was lord above them. I am come
To meet your questioning. Ask, while yet the time
Chides not my stay. What ill weighs Persia down?