ANTISTROPHE X. CHORUS. Ah! the mighty god, wrath-laden, He hath smote the burdened maiden With a weighty doom severe. From her heart sharp cries he wringeth, Dismal, deathful stratus she singeth, And I wait the end in fear. CASSANDRA. No more my prophecy, like a young bride Shall from a veil peep forth, but like a wind Waves shall it dash from the west in the sun's face,[n79] And curl high-crested surges of fierce woes, That far outbillow mine. I'll speak no more In dark enigmas. Ye my vouchers be, While with keen scent I snuff the breath of the past, And point the track of monstrous crimes of eld. There is a choir, to destiny well-tuned, Haunts these doomed halls, no mellow-throated choir, And they of human blood have largely drunk: And by that wine made bold, the Bacchanals Cling to their place of revels. The sister'd Furies Sit on these roofs, and hymn the prime offence Of this crime-burthened race; the brother's sin That trod the brother's bed.[f27] Speak! do I hit The mark, a marksman true? or do I beat Your doors, a babbling beggar prophesying False dooms for hire? Be ye my witnesses, And with an oath avouch, how well I know The hoary sins that hang upon these walls. CHORUS. Would oaths make whole our ills, though I should wedge them As stark as ice?[n80] But I do marvel much That thou, a stranger born, from distant seas, Dost know our city as it were thine own. CASSANDRA. Even this to know, Apollo stirred my breast. CHORUS. Apollo! didst thou strike the god with love? CASSANDRA. Till now I was ashamed to hint the tale. CHORUS. The dainty lips of nice prosperity Misfortune opens. CASSANDRA. Like a wrestler he Strove for my love; he breathed his grace upon me. {78} CHORUS. And hast thou children from divine embrace? CASSANDRA. I gave the word to Loxias, not the deed. CHORUS. Hadst thou before received the gift divine? CASSANDRA. I had foretold my countrymen all their woes. CHORUS. Did not the anger of the god pursue thee? CASSANDRA. It did; I warned, but none believed my warning. CHORUS. To us thou seem'st to utter things that look Only too like the truth.