14 ARGONAUTAE
Wisdom to wisdom added, I am here.
Yet would I rather slide into my grave,
Untroubled with the destinies of states,
Even of such an one so dear to me
Who thus a score of years have nurtured it.
JASON.
I hear thee. Thou art grown like royal wine
Better with age. Forgive my violence!
PELIAS.
[Aside.] The fish bites hard. [A/oud.] There is a prophecy:
“Once stirred, Iolchus never shall know peace
Till in its temple hangs the Golden Fleece.”
Now thou hast so disquieted our days,
The time is come: seek thou Aea’s isle,
And hang this trophy on our temple walls!
JASON.
Tell me what is this fleece.
PELIAS.
Let women sing.
WOMEN.
In Ares’ grove, the sworded trees,
The world’s heart wondering,
Hangs evermore the Golden Fleece,
The glory of the spring,
The light of far Aea’s coast,
Such glamour as befits a ghost.