SCENE I

_Talthybius, Chorus of Trojan Women._

_Talthybius._ O long delay, that holds the Greeks in port, Whether they seek for war or for their homes.

_Chorus._ Say what the reason of the long delay, What god forbids the Greeks the homeward road? 150

_Talthybius._ I tremble, and my spirit shrinks with fear; Such prodigies will hardly find belief. I saw them, I myself; Titan had touched The mountain summits, dayspring conquered night, When, on a sudden, with a muttered groan, 155 Earth trembled, in the woods the tree-tops shook; The lofty forests and the sacred grove Thundered with mighty ruin; Ida's cliffs Fell from her summit; nor did earth alone Tremble, the ocean also recognized 160 Achilles' coming, and laid bare her depths; In the torn earth a gloomy cavern yawned; A way was opened up from Erebus To upper day; the tomb gave up its dead; The towering shade of the Thessalian chief 165 Leaped forth as when, preparing for thy fate, O Troy, he put to flight the Thracian host, And struck down Neptune's shining, fair-haired son; Or as when, breathing battle from the field, He filled the rivers with the fallen dead, 170 And Xanthus wandered over bloody shoals Seeking slow channels; or as when he stood In his proud car, a victor, while he dragged Hector and Troy behind him in the dust. His wrathful voice rang out along the shore: 175 'Go, go, ye slothful ones, pay honors due My manes. Let the thankless ships be freed To sail my seas. Not lightly Greece has felt Achilles' wrath; that wrath shall heavier fall. Polyxena, betrothed to me in death, 180 Must die a sacrifice at Pyrrhus' hand, And make my tomb glow crimson.' Thus he spake, Shadowed the day with night, and sought again The realm of Dis. He took the riven path; Earth closed above him, and the tranquil sea 185 Lay undisturbed, the raging wind was still, Softly the ocean murmured, Tritons sang From the blue deep their hymeneal chant.