Manned, the hull baled, to face it, till at last
Too strong breaks the o’erwhelming sea: lo, then
They cease, and yield them up as broken men
To fate and the wild waters.
And last of all one might say unkind things about the blending of the voices in the chorus.
All the above points, however, I know are very debatable. There are two that cannot be debated. Two that outbalance by far all the other defects of the production.
If all the cast had voices like corncrakes, and used them after the manner of country-town amateurs, the production would still be worth seeing for the thrilling pictures of colour and line presented by individuals and the ensemble. And rising, soaring away above all the petty little defects is the wonderful, majestical verse of Euripides. What could be more beautiful than the lyric:
Even as the sound of a song
Left by the way, but long
Remembered, a tune of tears