I heard thee utter fierce of mood
Railing at Atreus' sons
Night by night, day by day.
Verily then it was the sequence of woes
First began, when as the prize of worth
Fatally was proclaimed the golden panoply.
TECMESSA
Alas, woe, woe!
CHORUS
A loyal grief pierces thy heart, I know.
TECMESSA
Alas, woe, woe!
CHORUS
Woman, I marvel not that thou shouldst wail
And wail again, reft of a friend so dear.
TECMESSA
'Tis thine to surmise, mine to feel, too surely.
CHORUS
'Tis even so.
TECMESSA
Ah, my child, to what bondage are we come,
Seeing what cruel taskmasters will be ours.
CHORUS
Ah me, at what dost thou hint?
What ruthless, unspeakable wrong
From the Atreidæ fearest thou?
But may heaven avert that woe!
TECMESSA
Ne'er had it come to this save by heaven's will.
CHORUS
Yes, too great to be borne this heaven-sent burden.
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