Rhesus

Euripides

Euripides. The Rhesus of Euripides. Translated into English rhyming verse with explanatory notes by Gilbert Murray. Murray, Gilbert, translator. London: George Allen and Company, Ltd., 1913.

  1. And gave them plenteously. Then in the deep
  2. Shadow I saw two men who seemed to creep
  3. Close by our line, but swiftly, as I stirred,
  4. Crouched and were seeking to make off unheard.
  5. I shouted then, and bade them keep away:
  6. Two thieves, I thought, from the great host that lay
  7. Round us. They never answered, and, for me,
  8. I said no more but turned and presently
  9. Was sleeping. In my sleep there came a dream.
  10. I seemed to see the horses—mine own team
  11. I had trained long since and drove at Rhesus’ side—
  12. But wolves were on their backs, wolves, couched astride,
  13. Who drove and scourged; I saw the horses rear
  14. And stagger with wide nostrils, stiff with fear,
  15. And, starting up to drive the beasts away,
  16. I woke.—A terror of great darkness lay
  17. About me, but I lifted up my head
  18. And listened. There was moaning, like the dead
  19. That moan at night, and over me there flowed,
  20. So soft, so warm—it was my master’s blood,