206 ORPHEUS
Ay ! and with serpent hair
And limbs divinely fair
Didst thou, Dionysus, leap forth to the
nectar air !
Ay! thus the dreams of fate
We dare commemorate,
Twining in lovesome curls the spoil of mate
and mate.
O Dionysus, hear !
Be close, be quick, be near,
Whispering enchanted words in every curving
ear!
O Dionysus, start
As the Apollonian dart !
Bury thy hornéd head in every bleeding heart!
AGAVE.
He is here! He is here!
AUTONOE.
Tigers, appear !
AGAVE.
To the clap of my hand
And the whish of my wand,
Obey !
A'UTONOE.
1 have found
A chariot crowned
With ivy and vine,
And the laurel divine,
And the clustering smell
Of the sage asphodel,
And the Deedal flower
Of the Cretan bower ;
Dittany’s force,
And larkspur’s love,
And blossoms of gorse
Around and above.
AGAVE.
The tiger and panther
Are here at my cry.
Ho, girls! Span there
Their sides !
MAENADS.
Here am IT!
And I! We are ready.
AGAVE.
Strong now and steady !
First MANAD.
The tiger is harnessed.
SECOND MAENAD.
The nightingale urges
Our toil from her far nest.
THIRD MANAD.
Ionian surges
Roar back to our chant.
FOURTH M-ENAD.
Aha ! for the taunt
Of Theban sages
Is lost, lost, lost !
The wine that enrages
Our life is enforced.
We dare them and daunt.
AGAVE.
The spirits that haunt
The rocks and the river,
The moors and the woods,
The fields and the floods,
Are with us for ever!
MAZNADS.
Are of us for ever.
Evoe! Evoe!
AUTONOE.
Agave! He cometh!
AGAVE,
Cry ho! Autonoe !
ALL.
Ho! Ho! Evoe Ho! Iacche! Evoe! Evoe!