digging a foundation, and giving a people the city 20
they crave? O my country! O gods of our homes,
snatched in vain from the foe! Shall there never be walls
named with the name of Troy? Shall I never on earth
see the streams that Hector loved—his Xanthus and his
Simois? Come, join me in burning up these accursed 25
ships. For in my sleep methought the likeness of Cassandra
the seer put blazing torches into my hands. ‘Here,’
she said, ‘and here only, look for Troy: here, and here
only, is your home.’ The hour for action is come. Heaven’s