HERACLES
All is change; all yields its place and goes;
to persevere, trusting in what hopes he has, 105
is courage in a man. The coward despairs.
(Enter the Chorus of old men of Thebes. They
walk painfully, leaning upon their staffs.)
Chorus
STROPHE
Leaning on our staffs we come
to the vaulted halls and the old man's bed,
our song the dirge of the dying swan, no
ourselves mere words, ghosts that walk
in the visions of night,
trembling with age,
trembling to help.
O children, fatherless sons,
old man and wretched wife 115
who mourn your lord in Hades I
ANTISTROPHE
Do not falter. Drag your weary feet
onward like the colt that, yoked and slow, 120
tugs uphill, on rock, the heavy wain.
If any man should fall,
support him with your hands,
age hold up his years 125
as once when he was young
he supported his peers
in the toils of war
and was no blot on his country's fame.
EPODE
Look how the children's eyes 13°
flash forth like their father's!
Misfortune has not left them,
nor has loveliness.
O Hellas, Hellas,
3*3