Leader.
Let thine ear mark her message. 'Tis of fair
Seeming, and craves a clear interpreter. . . .
But, Herald, I would ask thee; tell me true
Of Menelaüs. Shall he come with you,
Our land's belovèd crown, untouched of ill?
Herald.
I know not how to speak false words of weal
For friends to reap thereof a harvest true.
Leader.
Canst speak of truth with comfort joined? Those two
Once parted, 'tis a gulf not lightly crossed.
Herald.
Your king is vanished from the Achaian host,
He and his ship! Such comfort have I brought.
Leader.
Sailed he alone from Troy? Or was he caught
By storms in the midst of you, and swept away?
Herald.
Thou hast hit the truth; good marksman, as men say!
And long to suffer is but brief to tell.
Leader.
How ran the sailors' talk? Did there prevail
One rumour, showing him alive or dead?
Herald.
None knoweth, none hath tiding, save the head
Of Helios, ward and watcher of the world.
