We brought away from battle, And much their land bemoaned them, Two thousand head of cattle, And the head of him who owned them: Ednyfed, King of Dyfed, His head was borne before us; His wine and beasts supplied our feasts, And his overthrow, our chorus.
THE BEARD AND THE HAIR
OF THE RIVER-GOD WERE SEEN
THROUGH THE TORRENT’S SWEEP.
[ ARETHUSA]
Arethusa arose From her couch of snows In the Acroceraunian mountains,— From cloud and from crag, With many a jag Shepherding her bright fountains. She leapt down the rocks With her rainbow locks Streaming among the streams; Her steps paved with green The downward ravine Which slopes to the western gleams: And gliding and springing, She went, ever singing, In murmurs as soft as sleep. The Earth seemed to love her And Heaven smiled above her, As she lingered towards the deep.
Then Alpheus bold, On his glacier cold, With his trident the mountains strook, And opened a chasm In the rocks:—with the spasm All Erymanthus shook. And the black south wind It concealed behind The urns of the silent snow, And earthquake and thunder Did rend in sunder The bars of the springs below. The beard and the hair Of the River-god were Seen through the torrent’s sweep, As he followed the light Of the fleet Nymph’s flight To the brink of the Dorian deep.