Thou confessest the prize
In the rushing, thundering, mad,
Cloud-enveloped, obscure,
Unapplauded, unsung
Race of calamity, mine?

The Chorus

None can truly claim that
Mournful preëminence, not
Thou.

Merope

Fate gives it, ah me!

The Chorus

Not, above all, in the doubts,
Double and clashing, that hang——

Merope

ant. 2.
What then?
Seems it lighter, my loss,
If, perhaps, unpierced by the sword,
My child lies in his jagg'd
Sunless prison of rock,
On the black wave borne to and fro?

The Chorus