Page:The poems of Emma Lazarus volume 1.djvu/91

Firm was his step ; no superfluity
Of indolent flesh impeded this man s strength.
Slender and supple every perfect limb,
Beautiful with the glory of a man.
No weapons bare he, neither shield : his hands
Folded upon his breast, his movements free
Of all incumbrance. When his mighty strides
Had brought him nigh the waiting one, he paused:
" Whose palace this ? and who art thou, grim shade? "
" The palace of the King of Thessaly,
And my name is not strange unto thine ears ;
For who hath told men that I wait for them,
The one sure thing on earth? Yet all they know,
Unasking and yet answered. I am Death,
The only secret that the gods reveal.
But who art thou who darest question me ? "
" Alcides; and that thing I dare not do
Hath found no name. Whom here awaitest thou?"
"Alcestis, Queen of Thessaly,—a queen
Who wooed me as the bridegroom woos the bride,
For her life sacrificed will save her lord
Admetus, as the Fates decreed. I wait
Impatient, eager; and I enter soon,
With darkening wing, invisible, a god,
And kiss her lips, and kiss her throbbing heart,