_Ach._ I could not bear that thou shouldst strain thy hands270 Dragging those branches up the sunny hill; Nor for a thousand honours thou shouldst do me, Making me here thy queen, would I consent To lose thy company, even for an hour. See, while the maids warm in their busy play, We may enjoy in quiet the sweet air, And thro’ the quivering golden green look up To the deep sky, and have high thoughts as idle And bright, as are the small white clouds becalmed In disappointed voyage to the noon: 280 There is no better pastime. _Deid._ I will sit with thee In idleness, while idleness can please. _Ach._ It is not idleness to steep the soul In nature’s beauty: rather every day We are idle letting beauteous things go by Unheld, or scarce perceived. We cannot dream Too deeply, nor o’erprize the mood of love, When it comes on us strongly, and the hour Is ripe for thought. _Deid._ I have a thought, a dream; If thou canst keep it secret. _Ach._ I am thy slave. 290 _Deid._ Suppose—’tis more than that, yet I’ll but say Suppose—we played this game of Amazons In earnest. What an isle this Scyros were; Rich and wellplanted, and its rocky coast Easy of defence: the women now upon it Could hold it. Nay, I have often thought it out: The king my sire is threescore years and more, And hath no heir: suppose that when he dies,— The gods defer it long, but when he dies, If thou and I should plan to seize this isle, 300 Drive out the men, and rule it for our own ... Wouldst thou work with me, Pyrrha, the thing could be. Why shouldst thou smile? I do not say that I Would rate my strength with men; but on the farms Women are thicker sinewed; and in thee I see what all might be. I am sure for speed No man could match thee, and thou hast an arm To tug an oar or hurl the heaviest spear, Or wrestle with the best. Why dost thou smile? _Ach._ When thou art queen, I’ll be thy general. _Deid._ That was my thought. What dost thou think? _Ach._ I think That Fate hath marked me for a general. 312 _Deid._ Nay, but I jest not. _Ach._ Then shall I forecast And weigh impediments against thee? as men Will in like case, who think no scheme mature Till counsel hath forestalled all obstacles. _Deid._ If thou canst think of any. _Ach._ First is this, Whence shall we get our subjects when our isle Is peopled but by women?