THIRD ELDER.
Oh, he who should seek again
A new bride after thee,
Were loathed of thy children twain,
And loathed of me.
LEADER.
Word to his mother sped,
Praying to her who bore him;
Word to his father, old,
Heavy with years and cold;
"Quick, ere your son be dead!
What dare ye for him?"
SECOND ELDER.
Old, and they dared not; grey,
And they helped him never!
'Twas she, in her youth and pride,
Rose up for her lord and died.
Oh, love of two hearts that stay
One-knit for ever….
THIRD ELDER.
'Tis rare in the world! God send
Such bride in my house to be;
She should live life to the end,
Not fail through me.
[As the song ceases there enters a stranger, walking strongly, but travel-stained, dusty, and tired. His lion-skin and club show him to be HERACLES.]
HERACLES.
Ho, countrymen! To Pherae am I come
By now? And is Admetus in his home?
LEADER.
Our King is in his house, Lord Heracles.—
But say, what need brings thee in days like these
To Thessaly and Pherae's wallèd ring?
HERACLES.
A quest I follow for the Argive King.
LEADER.
What prize doth call thee, and to what far place?
HERACLES.
The horses of one Diomede, in Thrace.