See light and reap the harvest of my bed!" 935
And I gave ear unto these sirens' words,
These crafty, knavish, subtle gossip-mongers,
And swelled with wind of folly. Why behoved
To spy upon my lord? I had all my need,—
Great riches; in his palace was I queen; 940
The children I might bear should be true-born;
But hers, the bastards, half-thrall unto mine.
But never, never—yea, twice o'er I say it,—
Ought men of wisdom, such as have a wife,
Suffer that women visit in their halls 945
The wife: they are teachers of iniquity.
One, for her own ends, beckons on to sin;
One, that hath fallen, craves fellowship in shame;
And of sheer wantonness many tempt. And so
Men's homes are poisoned. Therefore guard ye well 950
With bolts and bars the portals of your halls;
For nothing wholesome comes when enter in
Strange women, nay, but mischief manifold.
Chorus.
Thou hast loosed a reinless tongue against thy sisters.
In thee might one forgive it; yet behoves 955
Woman with woman's frailty gently deal.
Orestes.
Wise was the rede of him who taught that men
Should hear the reasonings of the other side.
I, knowing what confusion vexed this house,
And of the feud 'twixt thee and Hector's wife, 960
Kept watch and waited, whether thou wouldst stay
Here, or, dismayed with dread of that spear-thrall,
Out of these halls wert minded to avoid.
