LAMENT FOR THE TWO BROTHERS SLAIN BY EACH OTHER'S HAND (from "The Seven Against Thebes")

by: Aeschylus

      OW do our eyes behold
      The tidings which were told:
      Twin fallen kings, twin perished hopes to mourn,
      The slayer, the slain,
      The entangled doom forlorn
      And ruinous end of twain.
      Say, is not sorrow, is not sorrow's sum
      On home and hearthstone come?
      Oh, waft with sighs the sail from shore,
      Oh, smite the bosom, cadencing the oar
      That rows beyond the rueful stream for aye
      To the far strand,
      The ship of souls, the dark,
      The unreturning bark
      Whereon light never falls nor foot of Day,
      Even to the bourne of all, to the unbeholden land.

This English translation, by A.E. Housman, of 'Lament for the Two Brothers Slain by Each Other's Hand' is reprinted from Greek Poets in English Verse. Ed. William Hyde Appleton. Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1893.

MORE POEMS BY AESCHYLUS

RELATED WEBSITES

BROWSE THE POETRY ARCHIVE:

[ A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z ]

Home · Poetry Store · Links · Email · © 2002 Poetry-Archive.com