OED. I will be silent, and thine arm shall guide
My footstep under covert of the grove
Out of the path, till I make sure what words
These men will utter. Warily to observe
Is the prime secret of the prudent mind.[Exeunt
CHORUS (entering).
Keep watch! Who is it? Look!1
Where is he? Vanished! Gone! Oh where?
Most uncontrolled of men!
Look well, inquire him out,
Search keenly in every nook!
—Some wanderer is the aged wight,
A wanderer surely, not a native here.
Else never had he gone within
The untrodden grove
Of these—unmarried, unapproachable in might,
—Whose name we dare not breathe,
But pass their shrine
Without a look, without a word,
Uttering the unheard voice of reverential thought.
But now, one comes, they tell, devoid of awe,
Whom, peering all around this grove
I find not, where he abideth.
[page 265][138-177] OED. (behind). Behold me! For I ‘see by sound,’
As mortals say.
CH. Oh, Oh!
With horror I see him, with horror hear him speak.
OED. Pray you, regard me not as a transgressor!
CH. Defend us, Zeus! Who is that aged wight?
OED. Not one of happiest fate,
Or enviable, O guardians of this land!
’Tis manifest; else had I not come hither
Led by another’s eyes, not moored my bark
On such a slender stay.
CH. Alas! And are thine eyes2
Sightless? O full of misery,
As thou look’st full of years!
But not, if I prevail,
Shalt thou bring down this curse.
Thou art trespassing. Yet keep thy foot
From stumbling in that verdant, voiceless dell,
Where running water as it fills
The hallowed bowl,
[Mingles with draughts] of honey. Stranger, hapless one!
Avoid that with all care.
Away! Remove!
Distance impedes the sound. Dost hear,
Woe-burdened wanderer? If aught thou carest to bring
Before our council, leave forbidden ground,
And there, where all have liberty,
Speak,—but till then, avaunt thee!
OED. Daughter, what must I think, or do?