name all the claims to gratitude you can, I shall never
gainsay one, nor will the thought of Elissa[178] ever be unwelcome
while memory lasts, while breath animates this 20
frame. A few words I will say, as the case admits. I
never counted—do not dream it—on stealthily concealing
my flight. I never came with a bridegroom’s torch
in my hand, nor was this the alliance to which I agreed.
For me, were the Fates to suffer me to live under a star 25
of my own choosing, and to make with care the terms I
would, the city of Troy, first of all the dear remains of what