Battle Analysis for Bull Run free essay sample

The battle itself was fought on July 21st, 1861, though the Union Army began executing its movements to Virginia almost a week prior. The Civil War divided the states in simple terms of a Union north and a Confederate south, with a couple undecided states in the middle. The President of the Union was Abraham Lincoln and the Confederate President was Jefferson Davis. Months prior to Bull Run President Lincoln had appointed Brigadier General Irwin McDowell to command the Army of Northeastern Virginia. McDowell was a Mexican-American War veteran and West Point graduate. The commander of the Confederate Army of the Potomac was Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard, who was dubbed â€Å"The Hero of Sumter. † He was also commended for valor in the Mexican-American war and like McDowell, a graduate of West Point. The two were classmates at one point. Only months after the start of the war at Fort Sumter, the Northern public pressed to march and capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, which could bring an early end to the war. We will write a custom essay sample on Battle Analysis for Bull Run or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Against his better judgment, BG McDowell yielded to the political pressure and on July 16, 1861, the general departed Washington with the largest field army yet gathered on the North American continent. The Confederates found themselves at a disadvantage in mass initially, and BG McDowell wanted to keep that advantage. He ordered Union MG Robert Pattersons Army to engage BG Joseph Johnstons Army in the Shenandoah Valley, about 50 miles northwest of Manassas. The Union objective was to overwhelm the Confederate forces with a distraction flank attack to the right and a swift surprise flank to the left. With the reinforcements choked off, BG McDowell’s ambitious plan would put his Army in the Confederate capital by the end of the day. The Confederates, however, had been planning to attack the Union left, and if the attack had gone as planned it might have led to a clockwise rotation of the forces. Hundreds of excited spectators in horse-drawn carriages flocked from Washington D. C. to Manassas to watch what they thought to be a speedy Union Army defeat the Confederacy. Both the spectators and the Union Army would leave Bull Run in a hectic retreat back to Washington D. C. Each force had two Armies, one to the east and one to the west. For the Union, BG McDowell commanded the 36,000 Army of Northeastern Virginia Union troops in the east. MG Patterson commanded the 18,000 troops in the west. Within BG McDowell’s Army of five divisions there were several elements that consisted of: The 11th, 13th, 14th, 38th, and 69th New York, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Maine, the 1st Minnesota, the 5th and 11th Massachusetts, the 1st Michigan, the 1st Vermont, the 2nd Wisconsin, with Griffin and Ricketts Artillery Brigades. BG Beauregard’s Confederate Army of the Potomac consisted of 21,000 troops in the east. BG Johnston’s four Brigades of 12,800 troops were in the Shenandoah Valley to the west and were critical reinforcements. BG Beauregard’s force of six Brigades consisted of: The 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 18th, 27th, 33rd, and 49th Virginia, the Hampton Legion, the 6th North Carolina, the 7th Georgia, the 4th Alabama, Stuart’s Calvary, Elzey Regiment, Early Regiment, and the 7th and 8th South Carolina. The weapon technology used was fairly similar for both sides. Both the Union and Confederate Army relied on simple single-shot Pattern 1853 Enfield Muskets for their infantrymen. The revolvers used by the Union were mainly the new Colt Army Model 1860, and the Confederates preferred the older Colt 1851 Navy Revolver. A variety of bayonets were also an integral part of the infantrymans gear. Typically, these were socket or ring bayonets, intended to be attached to the end of the musket or rifle, and not wielded separately like a knife. The Confederate Calvary would also employ a Sabre, which was a long, lightweight single-edged slashing sword. Field Artillery also played an important role for both sides. The Union used 10-30 pound Parrott Rifles, 12 pound Napoleon smoothbores, 12 pound Howitzers, and 13 pound James Rifles. The Confederates had 6 pound guns, 6 pound rifles, 12 pound Howitzer, 10 pound Parrott Rifles, and 6 pound Cadet Guns. Both Generals had planned offensives. Much of the intelligence was concentrated on reporting the mass of the opposing forces rather than each other’s strategy. BG McDowell wanted a concentrated attack on the Confederate left flank, while BG Beauregard had planned to strike the Union left flank. From Washington D. C. the Union troops had marched southwest into Virginia, and it was at Centreville on July 20th, that BG McDowell decided to rest his weary, overheated troops and concentrate his forces. The same day, BG Johnston’s troops to the west in the Shenandoah Valley received word of the Union advances and they immediate slipped away to reinforce BG Beauregard. He never met MG Patterson’s forces. An hour after BG Johnston’s departure, MG Patterson wired BG McDowell saying he had managed to keep BG Johnston’s Army in the Shenandoah. Shortly after entering Centreville on the 20th, BG Tyler would disobey his orders and send his troops to attack the Confederate front along Bull Run. The attack was easily repulsed. With the Confederate troops dug in across the bank of Bull Run, and the majority of BG Beauregard’s force were behind them. The Union troops marched from Centreville at 0230 on July 21st. BG Tyler was ordered to initiate a diversion to the northwest at Stony Bridge at 0600. The diversion was quickly crushed by COL Evan’s Confederate forces and the feign fails. At 0830 the bayonets of McDowell’s flanking troops were spotted by one of COL Evan’s soldiers and he was warned of the Union plan to flank him. BG McDowell’s troops continued on to the left down bad roads, which would destroy his timeframe to ford Bull Run at Sudley Springs. COL Heinzelman’s Union division also missed the trail at Poplar Ford, and they were forced to stack up behind COL Hunter’s division also fording at Sudley Springs, further downstream. They arrived there at 0930, hours behind schedule.

Assess individual in health care Essays

Assess individual in health care Essays Assess individual in health care Paper Assess individual in health care Paper UNIT 18 1. 1 Compare and contrast the range and purpose of different forms of assessment. Prior to moving into an organisation all individuals are assessed as are the care providers to ensure that placements can meet and preferences of the individuals. The organisation conducts independent assessments by a qualified key member of the team to assess the needs and preferences of the individual to ensure that the organisation have the facilities and resources to cater for them. The key areas for assessments for needs and preferences would be: EMOTIONAL PHYSICAL SOCIAL LEISURE Key professionals then hold a Care Planning Assessment (CPA) meeting along the individual to discuss the outcomes of assessments. Active support is provided holistically within a role package for all individuals for all aspects of living. This is implemented through means of care plans and structured weekly planners. Before an individual is identified as needing specialist care and support, they must undergo a series of assessments. These assessments may not diagnose  a learning disability, but they do decide whether the individual will receive social care. This explains the types of assessment an individual may undergo, including: Official process or corporate screening procedures Clinical assessments Behavioural assessments Holistic assessments Person Centred Planning (PCP) Comprehensive assessments and care plans Prev Page Next Page View as single page Search TOPICS IN THIS DOCUMENT Assessment, Health care, Healthcare, Management, Nursing care plan, Risk, Risk assessment, Risk management RELATED DOCUMENTS Health care ? 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How the Dalai Lama is Found Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How the Dalai Lama is Found - Essay Example He says that only Dalai Lama himself can tell about his future reincarnation and that no one else should try to manipulate people or abuse the system (Lama, 2010). All these events raise people’s curiosity about the way in which a Dalai Lama is ‘found’ and enthroned. The curiosity is also flamed by movies such as Little Buddha starring Keanu Reeves. The film revolves around the same concept and shows the spiritual master reincarnating as one soul in three different bodies (Smith, 100). Many critics who question the very concept of reincarnation question the validity of such traditions. But this concept has mass acceptance in the Indian sub-continent and Tibet. Tibetans believe that their Dalai Lamas are reincarnations of Avalokiteshvara, the personification of Compassion, who is also the patron saint of Tibet. According to the traditional Tibetan beliefs, Avalokiteshvara reincarnates repeatedly on this earth to serve humanity and hence for this mission he postpones his own nirvana. Dalai Lama, literally meaning ‘The Ocean of Wisdom’, was a title that was given by Mongolian king Altan Khan to the third head of Tibetan Buddhism. Since then it became a tradition to address the head of Tibet as Dalai Lama (Byrant, 94). There are many other traditions and the most important one is that of finding the reincarnated Dalai Lama. There is no one fixed method of finding Dalai Lama. Various methods have come into existence with the passing time. There have been many Dalai Lamas who have successfully predicted the place and time of their birth. On the other occasions prospective reincarnation’s identification of the belonging of his past life is a major signal of him being a Dalai Lama. This method was also used in finding the current Dalai Lama. The process of identification is not limited to the dead Dalai Lama and the prospective reincarnation. There is other

Commentary Essay Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Commentary Assignment - Essay Example It is believed that cannabis was used during religious ceremonials of the early ethnic groups of people. Shamans and sacerdotes in the ancient times used cannabis to become more religiously enlighted. Cannabis has an effect on the mind and body senses of a person who uses it. Most general and comfortable way to use cannabis is to smoke its dry leaves like tobacco. Cannabis is usually smoked with pipe, hookah, bong or joints (small hand rolling cigars). Usually person who smoke cannabis appear to feel euphory, think in a more philosophical and self-insight way. Individual under the influence of cannabis also has a more receptive feelings especially towards perception of information and food or drinks. If person for example likes music then his listening to the favourite song before smoking cannabis and after will be different. Food seems more pleasant as well as all other kinds of nice things like hot shower, sexual intercourse, reading a book, watching a movie etc. Cannabis influence brain directity and hit receptors which influence emotional, psychic and behavioural condition of an individual. All desirable effects of cannabis like euphoria, sense of pleasentness, more perceptive feelings and other dissappear within a couple of hours after cannabis was used. Though it is a light drug and if talking medically in fact not even a drug it has some bad effects. These bad effect are usually of a long term and depend on the regularity of smoking cannabis and the amount of product smoked. Among negative long-term effects are loss of concentration, clow reaction, sleepliness, inactivity and passive reaction towards the irritants of the environment. However this negative effects do not have somehow significantly negative influence and they appear only if cannabis is used too regularly and in a huge portions. It is also clinically proved that without further using of cannabis such negative effects vanish with no trace of

Rappaccinis Daughter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Rappaccinis Daughter - Essay Example Furthermore it is observed that generally women are physically weaker than men that has led to an imbalance in power throughout the history of mankind, this can also be seen in â€Å"Rappaccini’s Daughter† and the control of her father over her. As Homas and Zaitzow also state that, â€Å"men and women are socialized from birth into gender-specific roles based on social definitions of masculinity and femininity†¦women are expected to be weak, dependent, passive, emotional, noncompetitive and subservient† (184). A similar behavior is also observed towards Beatrice as well throughout the course of the story may it be in Beatrice’s relationship with her Giovanni or her father or her suffering because of Baglioni’s poison. Throughout the story Rappaccini treats her daughter as his property or better yet as a specimen for his experiments. Moreover according to Baglioni Rappaccini, Cares infinitely more for science than for mankind. His patients are interesting to him only as subjects for some new experiment. He would sacrifice human life, his own among the rest, or whatever else was dearest to him, for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge (). These lines aptly illustrates Rappaccini’s obsession with his experiments and hints on the fact that her daughter might be a part of his experiments which is later confirmed in the story. If the reasons for such manipulation are delved deeper, then the readers infer that since no one could question him for his actions in those times because daughters were considered as the responsibility of their fathers hence that gave him the right to decide her fate and he got away with his machinations. This also explains Rappaccini’s actions of choosing Giovanni as his future son-in-law as well as a new experiment because he thought he was making the best decision for his daughter. As the girl states, â€Å"But my father,- -he has united us in this fearful sympathy† (). Then again it is also interesting to note the manner in which the women of those times were brought up i.e. they were taught to be docile and made the sacrificing souls for all times. As it is also apparent from the lines when she says, â€Å"Yes; spurn me, tread upon me, kill me! Oh, what is death after such words as thine† (). Although she realizes it was her father’s Machiavellian plotting that has poisoned Giovanni for life yet she asks for death rather than either confronting her father or letting Giovanni confront him. Moreover the title of the story also suggests the nameless existence of the daughter who is known as Rappaccini’s daughter rather than being given a name. This anonymity in the title also symbolizes the mind set of that society where women were properties who were owned rather than individuals. Moreover it is interesting to note that there is a constant power struggle going on between Rap paccini and Baglioni as well as Rappaccini and Giovanni while their pawn in this game of power struggle is Beatrice. As it is observed that in the former’s case Baglioni suggests to use the antidote to save Beatrice without her consent and although it is not actually stated in the story yet the readers can infer that one of the reasons that Baglioni interferes is that he wants to unveil Rappaccini’s practice and assure that his position as a professor is secure. As it is mentioned in the text that he says, â€Å"Rappaccini is said to have instructed her deeply in his science, and that, young and beautiful as fame reports her, she is already qualified to fill a professor's chair. Perchance her father destines her for mine!†

Marketing Plan Oberoi Hotels In Mumbai

Marketing Plan Oberoi Hotels In Mumbai A luxury 5-star business hotel, The Oberoi, New Delhi provides over 250 rooms and suites. It features the best of restaurants, a well-equipped business center and a rejuvenating spa experience. In addition the dedicated service makes the hotel popular with business and leisure travelers. Bearing a blend of traditional and colonial style, the rooms are done up with traditional Indian art and handicrafts and also appointments from Europe. The hotel has taken care to ensure there is no compromise on luxury, so a perfect balance of modern luxury and traditional charm has been achieved. Regally appointed baths and specially prepared toiletries add well to the luxuries offered. Guests can choose rooms with different views, the most popular being pool-view or golf course-view rooms. Amongst the most luxurious, the Kohinoor suite is the most luxurious. The Oberoi offers perfect rejuvenating experiences for the guests. A 9000 square area of the hotel dedicates itself to make you feel relaxed and get rejuvenated. The Oberoi Spa features a therapy suite, an Ayurveda therapy room and a hydrotherapy room for Vichy shower. For those who love to take laps, the hotel has temperature controlled outdoor swimming pool which allows you to swim in all seasons. Designed to suit the needs of the class business travelers, the hotel is well-appointed with all requirements for the same. It offers to guests conference rooms with a capacity to accommodate around 300 people, business centers with all modern facilities and other business facilities. Company Overview The Oberoi, Mumbai Located in the citys prime business and shopping district of Nariman Point, The Oberoi, Mumbai has been completely redesigned to be the ultimate destination for contemporary style and luxury in the city. Overlooking the Arabian Sea, the hotel welcomes you with space and serenity. Luxuriously appointed guestrooms have been meticulously planned with a host of innovative features using the latest technology. The Oberoi, Mumbai is located on Marine Drive, the famed boulevard along the coast in South Mumbai. An hours drive from the airport and only minutes away from the business, financial and entertainment districts, the hotel is also well located to visit the citys tourist attractions. The hotel offers a rich variety of dining experiences ranging from an all day dining restaurant serving global cuisine, to an Italian Restaurant and a signature Indian restaurant under the direction of a Michelin starred chef. An ideal location for business meetings and conferences in Mumbai, venues range from private meeting rooms at the 24-hours Business Centre to the conference rooms on the top floor of the hotel offering sweeping views of the Arabian Sea. Recreational facilities include an outdoor heated swimming pool, a fitness centre and a full service Oberoi Spa. The Spa and the Fitness Centre are open 24 hours. Complemented by Oberoi Hotels legendary service delivered by caring staff, The Oberoi, Mumbai is the ideal hotel for discerning business and leisure travellers. http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Oberoi-Hotel,-New-DelhiBlending-Business-With-Pleasureid=2320861 Our brands: Business Hotels The Oberoi, Calcutta The Oberoi, Mumbai The Oberoi, New Delhi Leisure Hotels: The Oberoi sahl Hasheesh The Oberoi Rajvillas The Oberoi Madina Wildflower Hall, Simla Current Situation Macro Environment (PESTEL Analysis) Economical The economy of UK has been getting back to the normal position as there are significant amount of increase in the tourists visiting the major cities of London as well the rest of the United Kingdom and so with the migrants from different parts of the world for jobs which would thus lead to a overall increase in the economy of the UK. Initially there need to be a high investment in purchase of building up of the vessel which would be covered under the financial capabilities of the Intercontinental group of hotels as there has been a gradual stability and increase in the economy of the Intercontinental Group of Hotels InterContinental Hotels was the main talking point yesterday as London started the new year with a bounce. InterContinental climbed 6.3 per cent to 597Â ½p after a unit of Hong Leong, the Asian conglomerate that owns Thistle Hotels, declared a 3 per cent stake. As it has been seen that the due to the economy crisis of recession there were many job losses which has left out the skilled workers out and away from their jobs but as now clearing of the overall debts of all the world economy there has been a significant growth in the economic factors as well many job openings And as seen now there is an substantial increase in Tourism sector which would be quiet related to concept of hospitality on board of Intercontinental Blue Retreat and thus would be easier to find experienced labour http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/569a38fa-d937-11dd-ab5f-000077b07658.html Political In Britain there is new Liberal Democrats Government which will now bring on new rules and regulations on the have a change in taxation policy in correspondence to the present taxation policy on Britain The main focus of the government is to reduce the carbon credits by reducing the carbon emissions and such elements leading towards global warming. This means there will be an increase in the fuel costs by imposing taxes over it which will directly effect on the driving of the motor vessel of Intercontinental Blue Retreat which may have a long journeys of a week from Britain to Caribbean, Mexico, Bali, Dubai at initial and thus expanding with the themed holiday retreats so the taxation rates are the major concern in considerations with the fuel as well as the service taxation rates which are to be revised Socio Cultural Environment Since the time trend of cruise travel came into existence the cruise liners have been a status symbol for a frequent leisure traveller who had the power to spend high amount for his travel. It was only the upper class of the society who could have afforded to travel with leisure on board but since the concept of travel with leisure had been came into existence promoting varied tourist countries and attractions it has been quiet affordable for the working class and became a means of themed travels just instead of travel with leisure The average age of tourists travelling varies now from the young age group to the old age group varying from 15 55 for the purpose of visiting places over the world for holiday purpose Technological Factors The advancements in the cruise liners for facilitating the tourist with all the facilities throughout the journey. The major concerns in the cruise liners is the technologies to be used for waste management and water preservation and storage as well the oil or waste spills in the sea which are to be looked as major concerns.Some of the cruise liners are already implementing Water saving technologies are found throughout cruise ships, such as vacuumed toilets and low-flow faucet aerators on water outlets. In minimising emissions, is also looking at ways to reduce the amount of fuel used. As well as designing more fuel-efficient itineraries, the cruise line is pilot-testing a computer system that will make vessels more aerodynamic and lessen fuel consumption and have to further reduce sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions and particulate matter over the next decade in accordance with MARPOL Annex VI, revised in 2008, which relates to air pollution. Some cruise lines are already implementing scrubber technology on board their ships, a system in which the natural chemistry of seawater is used to scrub the sulphur out of a ships exhaust gases. These technologies are to be implemented and for which the budgeting will the looked over and thus new technologies will be adopted Environmental The cruise ships emit tons of sulphur emissions into the sea on a yearly average. The use of low sulphur-producing fuel which is the most popular means of reducing sulphur emissions in the cruise industry, also comes with some environmental consequences. The process of distilling crude oil to make the fuel leaves refineries with a type of waste fuel that is unusable and thus it leaves back a considerable amount of solid waste. Research is been carried out for viability of solar and wind turbine technology for ships and is set to release a sustainability report soon detailing more solutions for the future which will make the cruise liners eco friendly without disturbing the ecological balance and harming the environment. Legal The introduction of a new cruise liners should consider the various legal terms to be followed up which are imposed and regulated by the Cruise liner International Association (CLIA) along with the legal regulating bodies of the nations the laws and acts such as Design and Construction standards Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act Sea Environmental law (solid waste/ Toxic / Ballast water / Air Pollution) Sexual assault on Cruise Act Log Book and Crime Reporting Crime Scene Preservation These all rules, regulations and acts are to be considered from formulation a vessel to the onboard safety and security of the consumer http://www.cruiselawnews.com/ Market Analysis According to the projected bar graph there seems to be a substantial increase in the cruise travellers within the coming two years and this would be a very good thing for the Intercontinental Blue Retreat The Cruising has become a major part of the tourism industry as well as for onboard hospitality accounting for with over 18 million passengers carried worldwide in 2010. The worlds largest cruise liner is Royal Caribbean which would be the major competitor for the Intercontinental Group. The industrys rapid growth has seen nine or more newly built ships catering to a North American clientele added every year since 2001, as well as others servicing European clientele. Smaller markets, such as the Asia-Pacific region, are generally serviced by older ships. These are displaced by new ships in the high growth areas. so the Intercontinental with its new vessel would initially grab on the European market and then with the themed holidays and thus moving towards the far east http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise_ship Using Micheal Porters five force analysis model it will help us to classify the major five forces for the Intercontinental Blue Retreat Competitive Rivalry There is an existing high density of cruise liners along with a increase in 32 new vessels in the coming three years which will lead to increase in vessels and so creating a port reserving problems along with the shortage of ports for existing cruise vessels There has been a competitive rivalry between the major cruise liners in the past few decades in accordance with the on board services they offer to attract the customers along with the varied experiences for the cruisers to remember with Threat of New Entrants Though there are 11 new cruise vessels to be launched in 2011 there is a level of threat of entrants in luxury cruise market .The easiest way to enter the cruise industry appears to be via mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers. There are essentially three cruise market segments: contemporary, premium, and luxury. Along with these types of cruises comes varying levels of service and expertise. The high cost of training and maintaining exceptional employees for their shops, casinos, entertainment, hotel staff, world class chefs, and of course the maritime staff requires a parent company with vast financial resource. Therefore the threat of new entrants is substantial. As the similar marketing strategies can be applied over but the other large group of hotels Threat of Substitutes The cruise industry holds a unique position in that the threat of a substitution by another vacation activity by the current consumer market seems likely to be high with the pioneering cruise companies such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival in the cruise tourism. Family cruises are also growing in popularity. a cruise vacation is generally cheaper than a traditional vacation package. Many lines offer package airfare and cruise rates to their customers. An increasing number of lines are expanding their ports of call and destinations to please the demands of todays diverse cruise market. According to a survey 25 ships from major cruise lines from three more than last year is now carrying about 10% more passengers. All this means more choices for travellers. And thus increase in competition with the existing pioneering cruise companies and increasing a threat of substitution with Intercontinental Blue retreat Bargain Power of Suppliers A rise in fuel prices has been quite costly for the cruise industry, who are not only directly affected by fuel cost for running their own ships, but must raise ticket prices to cover the increase cost of flying due to high fuel prices and a hike in airfares. Quality, dependability on suppliers are vital in order to ensure repeat cruisers. If the food was good on the first cruise, consumers expect it to be up to par each time they cruise. This goes for advertising too. Carnival was the first cruise line to use television ads to promote itself. Travel services also play an important role in promoting and fulfilling cruise reservations. the bargain power of the suppliers in regards to fuel , food , supplies is likely to be high which needs an proper evaluation in accordance with the service contract for constant supply of the resources. Bargaining Power of Customers Cruise travellers have many different lines to choose from, each offering a slightly different variety of service on cruising. Most cruise lines target middle class travellers with the grand ocean liner experience. The first time travellers or cruisers are offered along in by moderately priced air and cruise package rates. Often one can buy a cruise vacation anywhere form $125-$250 per person, per night. Most hotel stays in major cities are more expensive per night, not including transportation as well as food. Along with low priced package rates, consumers are also demanding a unique vacation experience which would create a difference in their normal vacations . Now cruises appeal to a younger, hipper audience, and its easy to see why. Modern cruise ships are being more like floating resorts, offering everything from Casinos, spas and gyms to in-line skating and Rock-climbing walls. Cruising is the fastest-growing segment of the travel Ships also stop at more ports, with over 1,800 destinations worldwide to choose with. So does the bargain power of cruisers increase along with having wide options of cruise liners to choose from. Customer Analysis (current and targeted) There has been a rapid growth in number of UK cruise passengers travelling by cruise liners which have effectively been doubled in just eight years. The cruise report makes the prediction based on estimates by the UK Passenger Shipping Association that 1.35 million cruises were booked by UK residents last year, with a rise of 15% to 1.55 million predicted for this year. Now cruises are attracting to a younger, hipper audience, Modern cruise ships are being more like floating resorts, offering everything from Casinos, spas and gyms to in-line skating and Rock-climbing walls. Cruising is the fastest-growing segment of the travel Ships also stop at more ports, with over 1,800 destinations which would certainly lead to increase in the family travellers and young travellers which would create a trend for them to travel in luxury The base target of the Intercontinental group would be to create a difference on their cruise liners along with the generation trends. initially it will be launched starting the voyage from UK to Mexico, Caribbean Islands, and covering 1 voyage to Bali and Asian country parts. the motive would be to create a difference in hospitality as intercontinental is following the concept of making customer happy and to create great hotels guest love http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2008/02/13/26646/uk-cruise-market-to-hit-two-million-passengers-by-2012.html Internal Environment The potentials of Intercontinental Blue Retreat Strengths: Good financial stability of the brand Customer loyalty Large database of Intercontinental customers Pioneers in Hospitality since long time Luxury Brand image along with all 9 brands of intercontinental group Assured clientele Weaknesses: Higher fixed cost Onboard service is labour intensive Seasonality of ship usage Weak environmental policies Long lead time for ship delivery before introduction in the market Competitive industry with other pioneering cruise liners High fuel and maintenance cost Opportunities: Expected 11 more ships in next four years Only 8 % have taken over in the tourism sector by cruise lines Ageing population wants relaxing vacations Multilingual staff for language efficiency which can be picked over within from the properties over the world ships for mergers or acquisitions from existing vessels due to brand power Threats: Maturing industry Overcapacity of vessels in the sea Rate of growth might slow down Expected growth of 6.3 % in coming year Tight regulations in voyage and cruise laws Other cruise companies to increase their vessels in next years by acquisitions Competitive advantage The aim is to build a sustainable competitive advantage could be achieved by Intercontinental Blue Retreat through the Intercontinental Hotels resorts groups economy and their pioneering performance in past few decades acquiring over 6 major brands within Brittan and world over . Possessing extensive knowledge of the UK market and existing extensive research into consumer behaviour they can offer a holistic service supported by the groups expertise in customer service. Intercontinental already has a guest loyalty card of which the regular guests or customers can avail of the discounted rates on the voyages or themed holidays with family and friends also can avail business facilitation with intercontinental business jets for conferencing. Intercontinental blue retreat would formulate a cruise theme trip along with the hotel stays at intercontinental resorts at varied location along with hampered gift packages for the loyal customers or frequent customers and offering business coaches for business class within the cruise and pioneering the cruise liners Mission Vision and core values of INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL GROUP Mission: To create great hotels guests love. Vision: To build the hotel industrys strongest operating system focused on the biggest markets and segments where scale really counts. Core Values: Do the right thing Show we care Aim higher Celebrate difference Work better together Mission Vision and Core values of INTERCONTINENTAL BLUE RETREAT Mission: To create best cruise guest would love. Vision: to build up the pioneering voyages with a great customer satisfaction maintaining the higher scales in the cruise tourism sector Core Values: Do the best for the guest Show the care through better service on board Be pioneers Work unitedly Create valuable difference Introduction of INTERCONTINENTAL BLUE RETREAT The cruise vessel of Intercontinental would be introduced in summer 2010 from south Hampton port of Great Britain and the first voyage would be with grand opening to Caribbean island. The vessel would be initially advertised with the in-house marketing from all the brands of intercontinental group and along with a in-house reservation desk in the lobby of every hotel as travel desks at the lobby which would help make aware the brand loyal guests with the pre launching of luxury cruise The Marketing Strategy (Marketing Mix) Product: The product being a service product it has to be generally promoted based on the brand image of the hotel so as to facilitate loyal customers with the efficient and luxurious on board service at the intercontinental Blue retreat Price: The price of the voyage would be as along with the luxury with an offered discounted rate to the loyalty card members of intercontinental group and along with a discounted rate for the first 200 reservation special family and themed packages with a special rated with over the chosen destination in accordance to promote the voyages Place: The cruise vessel of Intercontinental would be introduced in summer 2010 from south Hampton port of Great Britain and the first voyage would be with grand opening to Caribbean island. The vessel would be initially advertised with the in-house marketing from all the brands of intercontinental group and along with a in-house reservation desk in the lobby of every hotel Promotion: The promotions are to carried out at initially by in house promotions by in room pamphlets, advertisements on in room televisions and to the business class by a presentation of advertisement of launching and on a large scale by following Companys own Website Billboards Printed advertisements Direct Mail to business class Loyalty members offers Online media Sales promotions Sponsorship Type of Promotion Method Objective Companys own website Efficient, branded website with online booking facilities. And initial advertised page Provide info Enable online bookings Billboards .billboards at the major transport lines and tourist places along with the airport and stations Create awareness and promote the luxury voyage facilitated for the consumers Printed Advertisements Poster advertisements Ads in publications such as the travel and tourism magazine remind and retain customers about the brands new launch Direct Mail Letters, Pamphlets. Reaching business class segment efficiently Online Media Emails Banners Sponsored links marketing Social media websites comparison websitessites. Utilise the internet to reach as many targeted customers, efficiently as possible, to guide them directly to the online booking system and retain data of customers to avail them with promotions. Sales Promotions In-house promotional stands and desk prior the launch Inform about the luxurious service of the cruise Loyalty members offer Offer with special packages to loyalty card members To increase brand loyalty of customer Sponsor high end events Sponsor high end events with a handful budget. To get relation with the people in events and thus make brand promotions Marketing Strategy: Differentiation Strategy: Intercontinental Blue Retreat should make their cruises more unique and luxurious then other cruise lines making differentiation with the packages or the services provided on board by the pioneering brand in hospitality. Sample of Advertising Critical Reflection I am a graduate in hospitality and tourism management with a relevant experience of one year working with a 5 star property. I have learned marketing in my bachelors but havent related or do not have much relevant experience with the same. It had always seemed interesting subject according to me. Coming from a hospitality background, learning the marketing concepts in depth and relating them with the real world scenario has been a truly worth experience. I was also able to explore the creative side of me while designing of the advertisement which made me think of the several factors which should actually be taken into consideration. My expectation at the beginning of the module was to learn the basic concepts of marketing which are to be used on regular basis on and throughout marketing in any industry. But I have not only learned the core marketing theories but able to apply the theoretical concepts to practical. I feel confident now as i can take any product and formulate a descent marketing strategy. Following a video advert for the designed product line is a concept of learning the advertisement trends of marketing the new product which is quiet interesting. The assignments provided me a tremendous opportunity to apply the gained theoretical knowledge and bring into practice. I have always considered PESTEL analysis and marketing mix as the main tool to analyse a marketing strategy for any product. These both theories provide a concrete base for marketing any product. while designing the product line of my product it became quiet clear and concise to me how anyone can relate effectively use the 4 Ps of marketing mix considering not only the product and place as in usual rather then also looked over the price and promotion of the product which are of major considerations for any product. My concept of promotion of a product was only as advertisement but as i progressed through the coursework i found out that advertisement is just a basic tool of promotion. Whereas promotions can be done in varied different ways to promote the product in market. One of my biggest misconceptions about product placement was cleared in this assignment. I always used to consider the placement of product about an large scale in a hypermarket .as going through the product line of my new product of an chain of hotels to cruise liners was a huge and massive product for which the location on the right place at right time maters a lot as the cruise business is usually termed as seasonal PESTEL analysis helped me to look overall factors which would effect the new product in the existing competitive market. at initial the factors like political, social and environmental factors where not been of much importance in accordance to me but while going through the assignment i realised that these factors to play a major concern in case of INTERCONTINENTAL group of hotels launching a cruise liner. The environmental factors are of major consideration with the legal environmental laws for the cruise liners as to regulations of carbon emission and oil spillages of cruises are considered with different laws which are followed up by the companies Market analysis is an another vital tool to recognise and evaluate the market segmentation of an particular product in the market. as considering the marketing game which initially i found to be worthless. But it proved to be a very effective tool for evaluating the strategies to be applied in accordance to market situations. i always had it in my mind as a key assignment where i have learned to evaluate the market in accordance with the situation of the market and the requirements on the product in the sector. it also helped me to consider major budgeting factor as we in a group where provided with a fix budget. During designing of the product, I had to keep in the mind the existing product portfolio, and the brand image of the company. This was challenging as they act as few factors within which I had the design the product. Placing myself in the shoes of a marketing head, I had to keep in mind the overall marketing strategy of the company, where my product fits in to the plan and how it delivers value to the customers. How would my product differentiated from the other competitors in the market The consumer analysis in the coursework was one of key learning aspects to consider the consumer behaviour along with the consumer buying habits depending upon the several factors such as age, sex, culture, habits, psychology, needs and wants of a customer which helps in formulating a unique products which can be differentiated from the others thus creating a competitive advantage. The purchasing power of customers vary which makes it more difficult for pricing a product accordingly and also that means to me as a marketing person is that I need to keep in mind these various aspects while designing the marketing campaign. Therefore I felt, the customer profiling exercise is a great tool to understand and identify the target segment of the customers. This exercise has enabled and enhanced my understanding of marketing as a tool to figure out the right target segment for the right set of customers and the right campaign that will help promote/sell the product. It was great to know that the intercontinental group of hotels maintain a portfolio of regular and business class consumer as well the loyalty card members. They avail and provide their consumers with a global facilitation with the loyalty card with the all existing 7 brands over round the world. The porters five force analysis which considers the differential factors irrespective to any other theories has helped me through the assignment to consider the situational analysis of the product in the concurrent market as the factors considered such as competitive rivalry, threat of entrants, threat of substitutes are major concerns for the market situation analysis while the bargain power of consumers and suppliers where of not much importance to me unless i evaluated the assignment and came through the situations where such analysis are the major issued as for INTERCONTINENTAL cruise liners had to enter into new market there the supplies such as fuel, food and water suppliers are the major onboard requirements to be considered and suppliers bargain power has helped me to look-over evaluation of any supplier SWOT analysis was useful in clearly highlighting the strengths I can use to promote and position the product, looking to weaknesses how i can improve the defects on the company, opportunities and threats will help me to look on to futuristic considerations. The best thing about the SWOT analysis was that during the process of conducting SWOT for the pioneering brand of Intercontinental Hotels and resorts, I realised that it is a very effective tool to understand a companys position in the overall market. Realizing the benefits of a SWOT analysis I decided to conduct a SWOT analysis on myself. This was even more insightful to me. It clearly helped me understand how I can improve myself professionally and personally. Considering my strengths weaknesses and improve myself After going through the assignment it reminds me of the question which was once asked to us as in a practice session to debate on with Marketing is an art or a science? This now truly makes me feel that it cant be any single piece of the duo pair because the science of the theory is implemented and the form of marketing art helps to implement the science into practical. So it cannot be just the one part of instead both terms compliment each other. During the exercise I felt I have undergone a complete transformation in terms of

The Gaunilo Argument

To what extent does Gaunilo’s criticism of Anselm’s argument succeed in demonstrating that the argument fails? Gaunilo, a Benedictine monk and contemporary of St Anselm was the first to raise objections to Anselm’s idea that God exists by definition, claiming within â€Å"On behalf of the Fool† that Anselm’s argument was not logical and needed to be discredited. Gaunilo famously claimed that Anselm’s conclusion that the non-existence of God is â€Å"unintelligible† cannot show that God necessarily exists.Firstly, Gaunilo argued that the â€Å"fool† character featured in Psalm 53:1 may have been referring not only to God but to any number of other things that do not exist in reality. Gaunilo utilizes the example of someone hearing about a person from gossip; he suggested that the gossip was unreliable and the person and event were made up to trick you. As an idea later developed by Middle Age philosophers who believed you cannot prove from what is said (de dicto) what exists in reality (de re), Gaunilo argued that you cannot define the concept of â€Å"God† into existence.The most famous argument posed by Gaunilo was that of a perfect island which can replace the idea of God in the Ontological argument. Gaunilo argued that anyone can think of the most perfect paradise island for the notion of â€Å"the most perfect island† exists as a concept in our understanding. Gaunilo developed his argument by employing Anselm’s logic to say that for such an island to exist in our minds means that this is inferior to the same island existing in reality. The island must therefore exist in reality as it cannot possess the inferiority that comes from it being only a concept if it is to be â€Å"the most perfect island†.While the most perfect island can be conceived of, this does not mean it exists; we cannot bring something into existence just be defining it as superlative. Furthermore, Gaunilo concluded that Anselm cannot demonstrate that the idea of God as the greatest possible being means that God exists in reality. â€Å"When someone tells me there is such an island, I easily understand what is being said†¦however, he does on to say†¦this island†¦actually exists somewhere in reality†¦I would think he were joking†. John Hick 1990) Despite the blatant credibility of this argument recognized by Anselm who went on to including it in later versions of his own book, Anslem was able to respond to the argument using the claim that God’s existence is necessary. Anslem argued that though Gaunilo was right in the case of the island, the same objections were not valid when the ontological argument was used of God, because the island has contingent existence, whereas God’s existence is necessary.The ontological argument remains credible, Anselm argued, because it applies only to God who exists necessarily and uniquely. Within his â€Å"Libe r Apologeticus Contra Guanilonem†, Anselm rejects Gaunilo’s argument that the island’s existence can be proved from the idea of it alone for the island is not a thing which can be conceived not to exist. Moreover, philosopher Alvin Plantinga suggested that Anselm could also argue that there is no â€Å"intrinsic maximum† to the qualities of scenery that the Gaunilo’s island could have; however great an island is, there could always be one better.Further discrediting the argument posed by Gaunilo, both St Thomas Aquinas and Kant have posed more successful and valid arguments in response to Anselm’s ontological argument. St Thomas Aquinas, unlike Gaunilo, seeks to undermine Anselm’s â€Å"faith seeking understanding† as he was firmly convinced of the existence of God himself. Aquinas rejected the claim that the existence of God is self-evident; human beings cannot fully understand the nature of God, thus â€Å"God exists† i s not an analytic statement.Although we are able to approach an understanding of God, God will always remain unknowable to the finite human mind; â€Å"now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self-evident to us, but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us† (Summa Theologiae, 1a). Aquinas used the example of the existence of truth to support his argument, suggesting that no one would be able to accept the truth of the statement â€Å"truth does not exist† unless truth actually existed.Though it is impossible to have a mental concept of the non-existence of truth, it is not a contradiction to have a mental concept of the non-existence of God, because people are able to, including the fool who says â€Å"there is no God†. Kant’s argument in opposition to Anslem’s ontological argument stands as more credible than that posed by Gaunilo as it successfully reputed the argument, diminishing the extent to w hich the ontological argument is arguably still valid. Kant argued that â€Å"existence is not a predicate† for it does not tell us anything about that object that would help us to identify it in any way.When we are thinking of God we are thinking of a concept and whether this concept is actualized cannot be resolved simply be adding â€Å"existence† to the different predicates ascribing to the concept. Though the argument could be responded to with the knowledge that whilst everything exists contingently, God exists necessarily and this necessary existence can only be a predicate of God, a sceptic could easily counter this argument by pointing out the circular nature of the ontological argument for we must accept that God exists necessarily in order to come to the conclusion that God exists necessarily.Though Gaunilo’s argument still holds some value as it could be employed by an atheist to support their opposition to the theory, the ease by which Anselm was ab le to counter the argument limits its success in demonstrating the failure of the ontological argument. Later arguments posed by Aquinas and Kant further limit the extent to which Gaunilo’s argument is still credible as they offer more successful and more widely accepted oppositions to the ontological argument, posing questions which could not be so easily countered by a response from Anselm. Beth Albuery

Independence Day Essay

Independence Day, observed annually on 15 August in India commemorating the nation’s independence from Kingdom of Great Britain on 15 August 1947. India attained independence following an independence movement noted for largely nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience led by the Indian National Congress (INC). Independence coincided with the partition of India, in which the British Indian Empire was divided along religious lines into the Dominions of India and Pakistan; the partition was accompanied by violent riots and mass casualties, and the displacement of nearly 15 million people due to sectarian violence. On 17 Aug 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, who had become the first Prime Minister of India that day, raised the Indian national flag above the Lahore Gate of the Red Fort in Delhi. On each subsequent Independence Day, the Prime Minister has raised the flag and given a speech. The holiday is observed throughout India with flag-hoisting ceremonies, parades and cultural events. Indians celebrate the day by displaying the national flag on their attire, accessories, homes and vehicles; by listening to patriotic songs, watching patriotic movies; and bonding with family and friends. Books and films feature the independence and partition in their narrative. Separatist and militant organizations have often carried out terrorist attacks on and around 15 August, and others have declared strikes and used black flags to boycott the celebration. History of our Independence Day: European traders had established outposts on the Indian subcontinent by the 17th century. Through overwhelming military strength, the British East India company subdued local kingdoms and established themselves as the dominant force by the 18th century. Following the Rebellion of 1857, the Government of India Act 1858 led the British Crown to assume direct control of India. In the decades following, civic society gradually emerged across India, most notably the Indian National Congress, formed in 1885. The period after World War I was marked by British reforms such as the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms, but it also witnessed the enactment of the repressive Rowlatt Act and calls for self-rule by Indian activists. The  discontent of this period crystallized into nationwide non-violent movements of non-cooperation and civil disobedience, led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. During the 1930s, reform was gradually legislated by the British; Congress won victories in the resulting elections. The next decade was beset with political turmoil: Indian participation in World War II, the Congress’s final push for non-cooperation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism led by the All-India Muslim League. The escalating political tension was capped by Independence in 1947. The jubilation was tempered by the bloody partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan. How do we celebrate it? Independence Day is observed in all Indian states and union territories. On the eve of Independence Day, the President of India delivers the â€Å"Address to the Nation†. On 15 August, the prime minister hoists the Indian flag on the ramparts of the historical site Red Fort in Delhi. Twenty-one gun shots are fired in honour of the solemn occasion. In his speech, the prime minister highlights the past year’s achievements, raises important issues and calls for further development. He pays tribute to the leaders of the Indian independence movement. The Indian national anthem, â€Å"Jana Gana Mana† is sung. The speech is followed by march past of divisions of the Indian Armed Forces and paramilitary forces. Parades and pageants showcase scenes from the independence struggle and India’s diverse cultural traditions. Similar events take place in state capitals where the Chief Ministers of individual states unfurl the national flag, followed by parades and pageants. Flag hoisting ceremonies and cultural programmes take place in governmental and non-governmental institutions throughout the country. Schools and colleges conduct flag hoisting ceremonies and cultural events. Major government buildings are often adorned with strings of lights. In Delhi and some other cities, kite flying adds to the occasion. National flags of different sizes are used abundantly to symbolize allegiance to the country. Citizens adorn their clothing, wristbands, cars, household accessories with replicas of the tri-color. Over a period of time, the celebration has changed emphasis from nationalism to a broader celebration of all things India. The Indian diaspora celebrates Independence Day around the world with parades and pageants, particularly in regions with higher concentrations of Indian  immigrants. In some locations, such as New York and other US cities, 15 August has become â€Å"India Day† among the diaspora and the local populace. Pageants celebrate â€Å"India Day† either on 15 August or an adjoining weekend day. South Korea is a country which celebrates its Independence Day on fifteenth august. Independence Day before Independence At the 1929 Lahore session of the Indian National Congress, the Purna Swaraj declaration, or â€Å"Declaration of the Independence of India† was promulgated, and 26 January was declared as Republic Day. The Congress called on people to pledge themselves to civil disobedience and â€Å"to carry out the Congress instructions issued from time to time† until India attained complete independence. Celebration of such an Independence Day was envisioned to stoke nationalistic fervour among Indian citizens, and to force the British government to consider granting independence. The Congress observed 26 January as the Independence Day between 1930 and 1947. The celebration was marked by meetings where the attendants took the â€Å"pledge of independence†. Jawaharlal Nehru described in his autobiography that such meetings were peaceful, solemn, and â€Å"without any speeches or exhortation†. Gandhi envisaged that besides the meetings, the day would be spent â€Å"in doing some constructive work, whether it is spinning, or service of ‘untouchables,’ or reunion of Hindus and Mussalmans, or prohibition work, or even all these together†. Following actual independence in 1947, the Constitution of India came into effect on and from 26 January 1950; since then 26 January is celebrated as Republic Day.

Agamemnon by Aeschylus (the Full Text) Essay Example

Agamemnon by Aeschylus (the Full Text) Essay Example Agamemnon by Aeschylus (the Full Text) Essay Agamemnon by Aeschylus (the Full Text) Essay Essay Topic: Black Dog of Fate Enders Game In Love and Trouble Stories of Black Women Mark Twain The Glass Castle The Handmaids Tale The Haunting Of Hill House Uncle Toms Children Watchmen AGAMEMNON CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY AGAMEMNON, son of Atreus and King of Argos and Mycenae; Commander-in-Chief of the Greek armies in the War against Troy. CLYTEMNESTRA, daughter of Tyndareus, sister of Helen; wife to Agamemnon. AIGISTHOS, son of Thyestes, cousin and blood-enemy to Agamemnon lover to Clytemnestra. CASSANDRA, daughter of Priam, King of Troy, a prophetess; now slave to Agamemnon. A WATCHMAN. A HERALD. CHORUS of Argive Elders, faithful to AGAMEMNON. CHARACTERS MENTIONED IN THE PLAY MENELAUS, brother to Agamemnon, husband of Helen, and King of Sparta. The two sons of Atreus are called the Atreidae. HELEN, _most beautiful of women; daughter of Tyndareus, wife to MENELAUS; beloved and carried off by Paris. _ PARIS, son of Priam, King of Troy, lover of Helen. Also called ALEXANDER. PRIAM, the aged King of Troy. The Greeks are also referred to as Achaians, Argives, Danaans; Troy is also called Ilion. The play was produced in the archonship if Philocles (458 B. C. ). The first prize was won by Aeschylus with the Agamemnon, Libation-Bearers, Eumenides, and the Satyr Play Proteus. THE AGAMEMNON The Scene represents a space in front of the Palace of Agamemnon in Argos, with an Altar of Zeus in the centre and many other altars at the sides. On a high terrace of the roof stands a WATCHMAN. It is night. WATCHMAN. This waste of year-long vigil I have prayed God for some respite, watching elbow-stayed, As sleuthhounds watch, above the Atreidaes hall, Till well I know yon midnight festival Of swarming stars, and them that lonely go, Bearers to man of summer and of snow, Great lords and shining, throned in heavenly fire. And still I await the sign, the beacon pyre That bears Troys capture on a voice of flame Shouting oerseas. So surely to her aim Cleaveth a womans heart, man-passioned! And when I turn me to my bed- my bed Dew-drenched and dark and stumbling, to which near Cometh no dream nor sleep, but alway Fear Breathes round it, warning, lest an eye once fain To close may close too well to wake again; Think I perchance to sing or troll a tune For medicine against sleep, the music soon Changes to sighing for the tale untold Of this house, not well mastered as of old. Howbeit, may God yet send us rest, and light The flame of good news flashed across the night. [He is silent, watching. Suddenly at a distance in the night there is a glimmer of fire, increasing presently to a blaze. Ha! 0 kindler of the dark, O daylight birth Of dawn and dancing upon Argive earth For this great end! All hail! - What ho, within! What ho! Bear word to Agamemnons queen To rise, like dawn, and lift in answer strong To this glad lamp her womens triumph-song, If verily, verily, Ilions citadel Is fallen, as yon beacons flaming tell. And I myself will tread the dance before All others; for my masters dice I score Good, and mine own to-night three sixes plain. [Lights begin to show in the Palace. Oh, good or ill, my hand shall clasp again My dear lords hand, returning! Beyond that I speak not. A great ox hath laid his weight Across my tongue. But these stone walls know well, If stones had speech, what tale were theirs to tell. For me, to him that knoweth I can yet Speak; if another questions I forget. [Exit into the Palace. The womens Ololuge or triumph-cry, is heard within and then repeated again and again further off in the City. Handmaids and Attendants come from the Palace, bearing torches, with which they kindle incense on the altars. Among them comes CLYTEMNESTRA, who throws herself on her knees at the central Altar in an agony of prayer. Presently from the further side of the open space appear the CHORUS of ELDERS and move gradually into position in front of the Palace. The day begins to dawn. CHORUS. Ten years since Ilions righteous foes, The Atreidae strong, Menelaus and eke Agamemnon arose, Two thrones, two sceptres, yoked of God; And a thousand galleys of Argos trod The seas for the righting of wrong; And wrath of battle about them cried, As vultures cry, Whose nest is plundered, and up they fly In anguish lonely, eddying wide, Great wings like oars in the waste of sky, Their task gone from them, no more to keep Watch oer the vulture babes asleep. But One there is who heareth on high Some Pan or Zeus, some lost Apollo- That keen bird-throated suffering cry Of the stranger wronged in Gods own sky; And sendeth down, for the law transgressed, The Wrath of the Feet that follow. So Zeus the Watcher of Friend and Friend, Zeus who Prevaileth, in after quest For One Beloved by Many Men On Paris sent the Atreidae twain; Yea, sent him dances before the end For his bridal cheer, Wrestlings heavy and limbs forespent For Greek and Trojan, the knee earth-bent, The bloody dust and the broken spear. He knoweth, that which is here is here, And that which Shall Be followeth near; He seeketh God with a great desire, He heaps his gifts, he essays his pyre With torch below and with oil above, With tears, but never the wrath shall move Of the Altar cold that rejects his fire. We saw the Avengers go that day, And they left us here; for our flesh is old And serveth not; and these staves uphold A strength like the strength of a child at play. For the sap that springs in the young mans hand And the valour of age, they have left the land. And the passing old, while the dead leaf blows And the old staff gropeth his three-foot way, Weak as a babe and alone he goes, A dream left wandering in the day. Coming near the Central Altar they see CLYTEMNESTRA, who is still rapt in prayer. But thou, O daughter of Tyndareus, Queen Clytemnestra, what need? What news? What tale or tiding hath stirred thy mood To send forth word upon all our ways For incensed worship? Of every god That guards the city, the deep, the high, Gods of the mart, gods of the sky, The altars blaze. One here, one there, To the skyey night the firebrands flare, Drunk with the soft and guileless spell Of balm of kings from the inmost cell. Tell, O Queen, and reject us not, All that can or that may be told, And healer be to this aching thought, Which one time hovereth, evil-cold, And then from the fires thou kindlest Will Hope be kindled, and hungry Care Fall back for a little while, nor tear The heart that beateth below my breast. [CLYTEMNESTRA rises silently, as though unconscious of their presence, and goes into the House. The CHORUS take position and begin their first Stasimon, or Standingsong, CHORUS. (The sign seen on the way; Eagles tearing a hare with young. ) It is ours to tell of the Sign of the War-way given, To men more strong, (For a life that is kin unto ours yet breathes from heaven A spell, a Strength of Song:) How the twin-throned Might of Achaia, one Crown divided Above all Greeks that are, With avenging hand and spear upon Troy was guided By the Bird of War. Twas a King among birds to each of the Kings of the Sea, One Eagle black, one black but of fire-white tail, By the House, on the Spear-hand, in station that all might see; And they tore a hare, and the life in her womb that grew, Yea, the life unlived and the races unrun they slew. Sorrow, sing sorrow: but good prevail, prevail! (How Calchas read the sign; his Vision of the Future. ) And the War-seer wise, as he looked on the Atreid Yoke Twain-tempered, knew Those fierce hare-renders the lords of his host; and spoke, Reading the omen true. At the last, the last, this Hunt hunteth Ilion down, Yea, and before the wall Violent division the fulness of land and town Shall waste withal; If only Gods eye gloom not against our gates, And the great War-curb of Troy, fore-smitten, fail. For Pity lives, and those winged Hounds she hates, Which tore in the Tremblers body the unborn beast. And Artemis abhorreth the eagles feast. Sorrow, sing sorrow: but good prevail, prevail! (He prays to Artemis to grant the fulfilment of the Sign, but, as his vision increases, he is afraid and calls on Paian, the Healer, to hold her back. ) Thou beautiful One, thou tender lover Of the dewy breath of the Lions child; Thou the delight, through den and cover, Of the young life at the breast of the wild, Yet, oh, fulfill, fulfill The sign of the Eagles Kill! Be the vision accepted, albeit horrible†¦. But I-e, I-e! Stay her, O Paian, stay! For lo, upon other evil her heart she setteth, Long wastes of wind, held ship and un ventured sea, On, on, till another Shedding of Blood be wrought: They kill but feast not; they pray not; the law is broken; Strife in the flesh, and the bride she obeyeth not, And beyond, beyond, there abideth in wrath reawoken- It plotteth, it haunteth the house, yea, it never forgetteth- Wrath for a child to be. So Calchas, reading the wayside eagles sign, Spake to the Kings, blessings and words of bale; And like his song be thine, Sorrow, sing sorrow: but good prevail, prevail! (Such religion belongs to old and barbarous gods, and brings no peace. I turn to Zeus, who has shown man how to Learn by Suffering. ) Zeus! Zeus, whateer He be, If this name He love to hear This He shall be called of me. Searching earth and sea and air Refuge nowhere can I find Save Him only, if my mind Will cast off before it die The burden of this vanity. One there was who reigned of old, Big with wrath to brave and blast, Lo, his name is no more told! And who followed met at last His Third-thrower, and is gone. Only they whose hearts have known Zeus, the Conqueror and the Friend, They shall win their visions end; Zeus the Guide, who made man turn Thought-ward, Zeus, who did ordain Man by Suffering shall Learn. So the heart of him, again Aching with remembered pain, Bleeds and sleepeth not, until Wisdom comes against his will. Tis the gift of One by strife Lifted to the throne of life. (AGAMEMNON accepted the sign. Then came long delay, and storm while the fleet lay at Aulis. ) So that day the Elder Lord, Marshal of the Achaian ships, Strove not with the prophets word, Bowed him to his fates eclipse, When with empty jars and lips Parched and seas impassable Fate on that Greek army fell, Fronting Chalcis as it lay, By Aulis in the swirling bay. (Till at last Calchas answered that Artemis was wroth and demanded the death of AGAMEMNONS daughter. The Kings doubt and grief. ) And winds, winds blew from Strymon River, Unharboured, starving, winds of waste endeavour, Man-blinding, pitiless to cord and bulwark, And the waste of days was made long, more long, Till the flower of Argos was aghast and withered; Then through the storm rose the War-seers song, And told of medicine that should tame the tempest, But bow the Princes to a direr wrong. Then Artemis he whispered, he named the name; And the brother Kings they shook in the hearts of them, And smote on the earth their staves, and the tears came. But the King, the elder, hath found voice and spoken: A heavy doom, sure, if Gods will were broken; But to slay mine own child, who my house delighteth, Is that not heavy? That her blood should flow On her fathers hand, hard beside an altar? My path is sorrow wheresoeer I go. Shall Agamemnon fail his ships and people, And the hosts of Hellas melt as melts the snow? They cry, they thirst, for a death that shall break the spell, For a Virgins blood: tis a rite of old, men tell. And they burn with longing. - O God may the end be well! (But ambition drove him, till he consented to the sin of slaying his daughter, Iphigenia, as a sacrifice. ) To the yoke of Must-Be he bowed him slowly, And a strange wind within his bosom tossed, A wind of dark thought, unclean, unholy; And he rose up, daring to the uttermost. For men are boldened by a Blindness, straying Toward base desire, which brings grief hereafter, Yea, and itself is grief; So this man hardened to his own childs slaying, As help to avenge him for a womans laughter And bring his ships relief! Her Father, Father, her sad cry that lingered, Her virgin hearts breath they held all as naught, Those bronze-clad witnesses and battle-hungered; And there they prayed, and when the prayer was wrought He charged the young men to uplift and bind her, As ye lift a wild kid, high above the altar, Fierce-huddling forward, fallen, clinging sore To the robe that wrapt her; yea, he bids them hinder The sweet mouths utterance, the cries that falter, - His curse for evermore! - With violence and a curbs voiceless wrath. Her stole of saffron then to the ground she threw, And her eye with an arrow of pity found its path To each mans heart that slew: A face in a picture, striving amazedly; The little maid who danced at her fathers board, The innocent voice mans love came never nigh, Who joined to his her little paean-cry When the third cup was poured†¦. What came thereafter I saw not neither tell. But the craft of Calchas failed not. - Tis written, He Who Suffereth Shall Learn; the law holdeth well. And that which is to be, Ye will know at last; why weep before the hour? For come it shall, as out of darkness dawn. Only may good from all this evil flower; So prays this Heart of Argos, this frail tower Guarding the land alone. [As they cease, CLYTEMNESTRA comes from the Palace with Attendants. She has finished her prayer and sacrifice, and is now wrought up to face the meeting with her husband. The Leader approaches her. LEADER. Before thy state, O Queen, I bow mine eyes. Tis written, when the mans throne empty lies, The woman shall be honoured. - Hast thou heard Some tiding sure? Or is it Hope, hath stirred To fire these altars? Dearly though we seek To learn, tis thine to speak or not to speak. CLYTEMNESTRA. Glad-voiced, the old saw telleth, comes this morn, The Star-child of a dancing midnight born, And beareth to thine ear a word of joy Beyond all hope: the Greek hath taken Troy. LEADER. How? Thy word flies past me, being incredible. CLYTEMNESTRA. Ilion is ours. No riddling tale I tell. LEADER. Such joy comes knocking at the gate of tears. CLYTEMNESTRA. Aye, tis a faithful heart that eye declares. LEADER. What warrant hast thou? Is there proof of this? CLYTEMNESTRA. There is; unless a God hath lied there is. LEADER. Some dream-shape came to thee in speaking guise? CLYTEMNESTRA. Who deemeth me a dupe of drowsing eyes? LEADER. Some word within that hovereth without wings? CLYTEMNESTRA. Am I a child to hearken to such things? LEADER. Troy fallen? - But how long? When fell she, say? CLYTEMNESTRA. The very night that mothered this new day. LEADER. And who of heralds with such fury came? CLYTEMNESTRA. A Fire-god, from Mount Ida scattering flame. Whence starting, beacon after beacon burst In flaming message hitherward. Ida first Told Hermes Lemnian Rock, whose answering sign Was caught by towering Athos, the divine, With pines immense- yea, fishes of the night Swam skyward, drunken with that leaping light, Which swelled like some strange sun, till dim and far Makistos watchmen marked a glimmering star; They, nowise loath nor idly slumber-won, Spring up to hurl the fiery message on, And a far light beyond the Euripus tells That word hath reached Messapions sentinels. They beaconed back, then onward with a high Heap of dead heather flaming to the sky. And onward still, not failing nor aswoon, Across the Asopus like a beaming moon The great word leapt, and on Kithairons height Uproused a new relay of racing light. His watchers knew the wandering flame, nor hid Their welcome, burning higher than was bid. Out over Lake Gorgopis then it floats, To Aigiplanctos, waking the wild goats, Crying for Fire, more Fire! And fire was reared, Stintless and high, a stormy streaming beard, That waved in flame beyond the promontory Rock-ridged, that watches the Saronian sea, Kindling the night: then one short swoop to catch The Spiders Crag, our citys tower of watch; Whence hither to the Atreidaes roof it came, A light true-fathered of Idaean flame. Torch-bearer after torch-bearer, behold The tale thereof in stations manifold, Each one by each made perfect ere it passed, And Victory in the first as in the last. These be my proofs and tokens that my lord From Troy hath spoke to me a burning word. LEADER. Woman, speak on. Hereafter shall my prayer Be raised to God; now let me only hear, Again and full, the marvel and the joy. CLYTEMNESTRA. Now, even now, the Achaian holdeth Troy! Methinks there is a crying in her streets That makes no concord. When sweet unguent meets With vinegar in one phial, I warrant none Shall lay those wranglers lovingly at one. So conquerors and conquered shalt thou hear, Two sundered tones, two lives of joy or fear. Here women in the dust about their slain, Husbands or brethren, and by dead old men Pale children who shall never more be free, For all they loved on earth cry desolately. And hard beside them war-stained Greeks, whom stark Battle and then long searching through the dark Hath gathered, ravenous, in the dawn, to feast At last on all the plenty Troy possessed, No portion in that feast nor ordinance, But each man clutching at the prize of chance. Aye, there at last under good roofs they lie Of men spear-quelled, no frosts beneath the sky, No watches more, no bitter moony dew†¦. How blessed they will sleep the whole night through! Oh, if these days they keep them free from sin Toward Ilions conquered shrines and Them within Who watch unconquered, maybe not again The smiter shall be smit, the taker taen. May God but grant there fall not on that host The greed of gold that maddeneth and the lust To spoil inviolate things! But half the race Is run which windeth back to home and peace. Yea, though of God they pass unchallenged, Methinks the wound of all those desolate dead Might waken, groping for its will†¦. Ye hear A womans word, belike a womans fear. May good but conquer in the last incline Of the balance! Of all prayers that prayer is mine. LEADER. O Woman, like a man faithful and wise Thou speakest. I accept thy testimonies And turn to God with praising, for a gain Is won this day that pays for all our pain. CLYTEMNESTRA returns to the Palace. The CHORUS take up their position for the Second Stasimon. AN ELDER. 0 Zeus, All-ruler, and Night the Aid, Gainer of glories, and hast thou thrown Over the towers of Ilion Thy net close-laid, That none so nimble and none so tall Shall escape withal The snare of the slaver that claspeth all? ANOTHER. And Zeus the Watcher of Friend and Fri end I also praise, who hath wrought this end. Long since on Paris his shaft he drew, And hath aimed true, Not too soon falling nor yet too far, The fire of the avenging star. CHORUS. (This is Gods judgement upon Troy. May it not be too fierce! Gold cannot save one who spurneth Justice. ) The stroke of Zeus hath found them! Clear this day The tale, and plain to trace. He judged, and Troy hath fallen. - And have men said That God not deigns to mark mans hardihead, Trampling to earth the grace Of holy and delicate things? - Sin lies that way. For visibly Pride doth breed its own return On prideful men, who, when their houses swell With happy wealth, breathe ever wrath and blood. Yet not too fierce let the due vengeance burn; Only as deemeth well One wise of mood. Never shall state nor gold Shelter his heart from aching Whoso the Altar of Justice old Spurneth to Night unwaking. (The Sinner suffers in his longing till at last Temptation overcomes him; as longing for Helen overcame Paris. ) The tempting of misery forceth him, the dread Child of fore-scheming Woe! And help is vain; the fell desire within Is veiled not, but shineth bright like Sin: And as false gold will show Black where the touchstone trieth, so doth fade His honour in Gods ordeal. Like a child, Forgetting all, he hath chased his winged bird, And planted amid his people a sharp thorn. And no God hears his prayer, or, have they heard, The man so base-beguiled They cast to scorn. Paris to Argos came; Love of a woman led him; So Gods altar he brought to shame, Robbing the hand that fed him. (Helens flight; the visions seen by the Kings seers; the phantom of Helen and the Kings grief. ) She hath left among her people a noise of shield and sword, A tramp of men armed where the long ships are moored; She hath taen in her goings Desolation as a dower; She hath stept, stept quickly, through the great gated Tower, And the thing that could not be, it hath been! And the Seers they saw visions, and they spoke of strange ill: A Palace, a Palace; and a great King thereof: A bed, a bed empty, that was once pressed in love: And thou, thou, what art thou? Let us be, thou so still, Beyond wrath, beyond beseeching, to the lips reft of thee! For she whom he desireth is beyond the deep sea, And a ghost in his castle shall be queen. Images in sweet guise Carven shall move him never, Where is Love amid empty eyes? Gone, gone for ever! (His dreams and his suffering; but the War that he made caused greater and wider suffering. ) But a shape that is a dream, mid the phantoms of the night, Cometh near, full of tears, bringing vain vain delight: For in vain when, desiring, he can feel the joys breath - Nevermore! Nevermore! - from his arms it vanisheth, On wings down the pathways of sleep. In the mid castle hall, on the hearthstone of the Kings, These griefs there be, and griefs passing these, But in each mans dwelling of the host that sailed the seas, A sad woman waits; she has thoughts of many things, And patience in her heart lieth deep. Knoweth she them she sent, Knoweth she? Lo, returning, Comes in stead of the man that went Armour and dust of burning. (The return of the funeral urns; the murmurs of the People. ) And the gold-changer, Ares, who changeth quick for dead, Who poiseth his scale in the striving of the spears, Back from Troy sendeth dust, heavy dust, wet with tears, Sendeth ashes with mens names in his urns neatly spread. And they weep over the men, and they praise them one by one, How this was a wise fighter, and this nobly-slain- Fighting to win back anothers wife! Till a murmur is begun, And there steals an angry pain Against Kings too forward in the strife. There by Ilions gate Many a soldier sleepeth, Young men beautiful; fast in hate Troy her conqueror keepeth. (For the Shedder of Blood is in great peril, and not unmarked by God. May I never be a Sacker of Cities! ) But the rumour of the People, it is heavy, it is chill; And tho no curse be spoken, like a curse doth it brood; And my heart waits some tiding which the dark holdeth still, For of God not unmarked is the shedder of much blood. And who conquers beyond right †¦ Lo, the life of man decays; There be Watchers dim his light in the wasting of the years; He falls, he is forgotten, and hope dies. There is peril in the praise Over-praised that he hears; For the thunder it is hurled from Gods eyes. Glory that breedeth strife, Pride of the Sacker of Cities; Yea, and the conquered captives life, Spare me, O God of Pities! DIVERS ELDERS. - The fire of good tidings it hath sped the city through, But who knows if a god mocketh? Or who knows if all be true? Twere the fashion of a child, Or a brain dream-beguiled, To be kindled by the first Torchs message as it burst, And thereafter, as it dies, to die too. - Tis like a womans sceptre, to ordain Welcome to joy before the end is plain! - Too lightly opened are a womans ears; Her fence downtrod by many trespassers, And quickly crossed; but quickly lost The b urden of a womans hopes or fears. [Here a break occurs in the action, like the descent of the curtain in a modern theatre. A space of some days is assumed to have passed and we find the Elders again assembled. LEADER. Soon surely shall we read the message right; Were fire and beacon-call and lamps of light True speakers, or but happy lights, that seem And are not, like sweet voices in a dream. I see a Herald yonder by the shore, Shadowed with olive sprays. And from his sore Rent raiment cries a witness from afar, Dry Dust, born brother to the Mire of war, That mute he comes not, neither through the smoke Of mountain forests shall his tale be spoke; But either shouting for a joyful day, Or else†¦. But other thoughts I cast away. As good hath dawned, may good shine on, we pray! - And whoso for this City prayeth aught Else, let him reap the harvest of his thought! [Enter the HERALD, running. His garments are torn and war-stained. He falls upon his knees and kisses the Earth, and salutes each Altar in turn. HERALD. Land of my fathers! Argos! Am I here †¦ Home, home at this tenth shining of the year, And all Hopes anchors broken save this one! For scarcely dared I dream, here in mine own Argos at last to fold me to my rest†¦. But now- All Hail, O Earth! O Sunlight blest! And Zeus Most High! [Checking himself as he sees the altar of Apollo. And thou, O Pythian Lord; No more on us be thy swift arrows poured! Beside Scamander well we learned how true Thy hate is. Oh, as thou art Healer too, Heal us! As thou art Saviour of the Lost, Save also us, Apollo, being so tossed With tempest! †¦ All ye Daemons of the Pale! And Hermes! Hermes, mine own guardian, hail! Herald beloved, to whom all heralds bow†¦. Ye Blessed Dead that sent us, receive now In love your children whom the spear hath spared. O House of Kings, O roof-tree thrice-endeared, O solemn thrones! O gods that face the sun! Now, now, if ever in the days foregone, After these many years, with eyes that burn, Give hail and glory to your Kings return! For Agamemnon cometh! A great light Cometh to men and gods out of the night. Grand greeting give him- aye, it need be grand- Who, Gods avenging mattock in his hand, Hath wrecked Troys towers and digged her soil beneath, Till her gods houses, they are things of death; Her altars waste, and blasted every seed Whence life might rise! So perfect is his deed, So dire the yoke on Ilion he hath cast, The first Atreides, King of Kings at last, And happy among men! To whom we give Honour most high above all things that live. For Paris nor his guilty land can score The deed they wrought above the pain they bore. Spoiler and thief, he heard Gods judgement pass; Whereby he lost his plunder, and like grass Mowed down his fathers house and all his land; And Troy pays twofold for the sin she planned. LEADER. Be glad, thou Herald of the Greek from Troy! HERALD. So glad, I am ready, if God will, to die! LEADER. Did love of this land work thee such distress? HERALD. The tears stand in mine eyes for happiness. LEADER. Sweet sorrow was it, then, that on you fell. HERALD. How sweet? I cannot read thy parable. LEADER. To pine again for them that loved you true. HERALD. Did ye then pine for us, as we for you? LEADER. The whole lands heart was dark, and groaned for thee. HERALD. Dark? For what cause? Why should such darkness be? LEADER. Silence in wrong is our best medicine here. HERALD. Your kings were gone. What others need you fear? LEADER. Tis past! Like thee now, I could gladly die. HERALD. Even so! Tis past, and all is victory. And, for our life in those long years, there were Doubtless some grievous days, and some were fair. Who but a god goes woundless all his way? †¦. Oh, could I tell the sick toil of the day, The evil nights, scant decks ill-blanketed; The rage and cursing when our daily bread Came not! And then on land twas worse than all. Our quarters close beneath the enemys wall; And rain- and from the ground the river dew- Wet, always wet! Into our clothes it grew, Plague-like, and bred foul beasts in every hair. Would I could tell how ghastly midwinter Stole down from Ida till the birds dropped dead! Or the still heat, when on his noonday bed The breathless blue sea sank without a wave! †¦. Why think of it? They are past and in the grave, All those long troubles. For I think the slain Care little if they sleep or rise again; And we, the living, wherefore should we ache With counting all our lost ones, till we wake The old malignant fortunes? If Good-bye Comes from their side, Why, let them go, say I. Surely for us, who live, good doth prevail Unchallenged, with no wavering of the scale; Wherefore we vaunt unto these shining skies, As wide oer sea and land our glory flies: By men of Argolis who conquered Troy, These spoils, a memory and an ancient joy, Are nailed in the gods houses throughout Greece. Which whoso readeth shall with praise increase Our land, our kings, and Gods grace manifold Which made these marvels be. - My tale is told. LEADER. Indeed thou conquerest me. Men say, the light In old mens eyes yet serves to learn aright. But Clytemnestra and the House should hear These tidings first, though I their health may share. [During the last words CLYTEMNESTRA has entered from the Palace. CLYTEMNESTRA. Long since I lifted up my voice in joy, When the first messenger from flaming Troy Spake through the dark of sack and overthrow. And mockers chid me: Because beacons show On the hills, must Troy be fallen? Quickly born Are womens hopes! Aye, many did me scorn; Yet gave I sacrifice; and by my word Through all the city our womans cry was heard, Lifted in blessing round the seats of God, And slumbrous incense oer the altars glowed In fragrance. And for thee, what need to tell Thy further tale? My lord himself shall well Instruct me. Yet, to give my lord and king All reverent greeting at his homecoming- What dearer dawn on womans eyes can flame Than this, which casteth wide her gate to acclaim The husband whom God leadeth safe from war? - Go, bear my lord this prayer: That fast and far He haste him to this town which loves his name; And in his castle may he find the same Wife that he left, a watchdog of the hall, True to one voice and fierce to others all; A body and soul unchanged, no seal of his Broke in the waiting years. - No thought of ease Nor joy from other men hath touched my soul, Nor shall touch, until bronze be dyed like wool. A boast so faithful and so plain, I wot, Spoke by a royal Queen doth shame her not. Exit CLYTEMNESTRA. LEADER. Let thine ear mark her message. Tis of fair Seeming, and craves a clear interpreter†¦. But, Herald, I would ask thee; tell me true Of Menelaus. Shall he come with you, Our lands beloved crown, untouched of ill? HERALD. I know not how to speak false words of weal For friends to reap thereof a harvest true. LEADER. Canst speak of truth with comfort joined? Those two Once parted, tis a gulf not lightly crossed. HERALD. Your king is vanished from the Achaian host, He and his ship! Such comfort have I brought. LEADER. Sailed he alone from Troy? Or was he caught By storms in the midst of you, and swept away? HERALD. Thou hast hit the truth; good marksman, as men say! And long to suffer is but brief to tell. LEADER. How ran the sailors talk? Did there prevail One rumour, showing him alive or dead? HERALD. None knoweth, none hath tiding, save the head Of Helios, ward and watcher of the world. LEADER. Then tell us of the storm. How, when God hurled His anger, did it rise? How did it die? HERALD. It likes me not, a day of presage high With dolorous tongue to stain. Those twain, I vow, Stand best apart. When one with shuddering brow, From armies lost, back beareth to his home Word that the terror of her prayers is come; One wound in her great heart, and many a fate For many a home of men cast out to sate The two-fold scourge that worketh Ares lust, Spear crossed with spear, dust wed with bloody dust; Who walketh laden with such weight of wrong, Why, let him, if he will, uplift the song That is Hells triumph. But to come as I Am now come, laden with deliverance high, Home to a land of peace and laughing eyes, And mar all with that fury of the skies Which made our Greeks curse God- how should this be? Two enemies most ancient, Fire and Sea, A sudden friendship swore, and proved their plight By war on us poor sailors through that night Of misery, when the horror of the wave Towered over us, and winds from Strymon drave Hull against hull, till good ships, by the horn Of the mad whirlwind gored and overborne, One here, one there, mid rain and blinding spray, Like sheep by a devil herded, passed away. And when the blessed Sun upraised his head, We saw the Aegean waste a-foam with dead, Dead men, dead ships, and spars disasterful. Howbeit for us, our one unwounded hull Out of that wrath was stolen or begged free By some good spirit- sure no man was he! - Who guided clear our helm; and on till now Hath Saviour Fortune throned her on the prow. No surge to mar our mooring, and no floor Of rock to tear us when we made for shore. Till, fled from that sea-hell, with the clear sun Above us and all trust in fortune gone, We drove like sheep about our brain the thoughts Of that lost army, broken and scourged with knouts Of evil. And, methinks, if there is breath In them, they talk of us as gone to death- How else? - and so say we of them! For thee, Since Menelaus thy first care must be, If by some word of Zeus, who wills not yet To leave the old house for ever desolate, Some ray of sunlight on a far-off sea Lights him, yet green and living †¦ we may see His ship some day in the harbour! Twas the word Of truth ye asked me for, and truth ye have heard! [Exit HERALD. The CHORUS take position for the Third Stasimon. CHORUS. (Surely there was mystic meaning in the name HELENA, meaning which was fulfilled when she fled to Troy. ) Who was He who found for thee That name, truthful utterly- Was it One beyond our vision Moving sure in pre-decision Of mans doom his mystic lips? - Calling thee, the Battle-wed, Thee, the Strife-encompassed, HELEN? Yea, in fates derision, Hell in cities, Hell in ships, Hell in hearts of men they knew her, When the dim and delicate fold Of her curtains backward rolled, And to sea, to sea, she threw her In the West Winds giant hold; And with spear and sword behind her Came the hunters in a flood, Down the oarblades viewless trail Tracking, till in Simois vale Through the leaves they crept to find her, A Wrath, a seed of blood. (The Trojans welcomed her with triumph and praised Alexander till at last their song changed and they saw another meaning in Alexanders name also. ) So the Name to Ilion came On Gods thought-fulfilling flame, She a vengeance and a token Of the unfaith to bread broken, Of the hearth of God betrayed, Against them whose voices swelled Glorying in the prize they held And the Spoilers vaunt outspoken And the song his brethren made Mid the bridal torches burning; Till, behold, the ancient City Of King Priam turned, and turning Took a new song for her learning, A song changed and full of pity, With the cry of a lost nation; And she changed the bridegrooms name: Called him Paris Ghastly-wed; For her sons were with the dead, And her life one lamentation, Mid blood and burning flame. (Like a lions whelp reared as a pet and turning afterwards to a great beast of prey,) Lo, once there was a herdsman reared In his own house, so stories tell, A lions whelp, a milk-fed thing And soft in lifes first opening Among the sucklings of the herd; The happy children loved him well, And old men smiled, and oft, they say, In mens arms, like a babe, he lay, Bright-eyed, and toward the hand that teased him Eagerly fawning for food or play. Then on a day outflashed the sudden Rage of the lion brood of yore; He paid his debt to them that fed With wrack of herds and carnage red, Yea, wrought him a great feast unbidden, Till all the house-ways ran with gore; A sight the thralls fled weeping from, A great red slayer, beard a-foam, High-priest of some blood-cursed altar God had uplifted against that home. (So was it with Helen in Troy. ) And how shall I call the thing that came At the first hour to Ilion city? Call it a dream of peace untold, A secret joy in a mist of gold, A womans eye that was soft, like flame, A flower which ate a mans heart with pity. But she swerved aside and wrought to her kiss a bitter ending, And a wrath was on her harbouring, a wrath upon her friending, When to Priam and his sons she fled quickly oer the deep, With the god to whom she sinned for her watcher on the wind, A death-bride, whom brides long shall weep. (Men say that Good Fortune wakes the envy of God; not so; Good Fortune may be innocent, and then there is no vengeance. A grey word liveth, from the morn Of old time among mortals spoken, That mans Wealth waxen full shall fall Not childless, but get sons withal; And ever of great bliss is born A tear unstanched and a heart broken. But I hold my thought alone and by others unbeguiled; Tis the deed that is unholy shall have issue, child on child, Sin on sin, like his begetters; and th ey shall be as they were. But the man who walketh straight, and the house thereof, tho Fate Exalt him, the children shall be fair. (It is Sin, it is Pride and Ruthlessness, that beget children like themselves till Justice is fulfilled upon them. ) But Old Sin loves, when comes the hour again, To bring forth New, Which laugheth lusty amid the tears of men; Yea, and Unruth, his comrade, wherewith none May plead nor strive, which dareth on and on, Knowing not fear nor any holy thing; Two fires of darkness in a house, born true, Like to their ancient spring. But Justice shineth in a house low-wrought With smoke-stained wall, And honoureth him who filleth his own lot; But the unclean hand upon the golden stair With eyes averse she flieth, seeking where Things innocent are; and, recking not the power Of wealth by man misgloried, guideth all To her own destined hour. Here amid a great procession enter AGAMEMNON on a Chariot. Behind him on another Chariot is CASSANDRA. The CHORUS approach and make obeisance. Some of AGAMEMNONS men have on their shields a White Horse, some a Lion. Their arms are rich and partly barbaric. LEADER. All hail, O King! Hail, Atreus Son! Sacker of Cities! Ilions bane! With what high word shall I greet thee ag ain, How give thee worship, and neither outrun The point of pleasure, nor stint too soon? For many will cling. To fair seeming The faster because they have sinned erewhile; And a man may sigh with never a sting Of grief in his heart, and a man may smile With eyes unlit and a lip that strains. But the wise Shepherd knoweth his sheep, And his eyes pierce deep The faith like water that fawns and feigns. But I hide nothing, O King. That day When in quest of Helen our battle array Hurled forth, thy name upon my hearts scroll Was deep in letters of discord writ; And the ship of thy soul, Ill-helmed and blindly steered was it, Pursuing ever, through men that die, One wild heart that was fain to fly. But on this new day, From the deep of my thought and in love, I say Sweet is a grief well ended; And in times flow Thou wilt learn and know The true from the false, Of them that were left to guard the walls Of thine empty Hall unfriended. [During the above CLYTEMNESTRA has appeared on the Palace steps, with a train of Attendants, to receive her Husband. AGAMEMNON. To Argos and the gods of Argolis All hail, who share with me the glory of this Home-coming and the vengeance I did wreak On Priams City! Yea, though none should speak, The great gods heard our cause, and in one mood Uprising, in the urn of bitter blood, That men should shriek and die and towers should burn, Cast their great vote; while over Mercys urn Hope waved her empty hands and nothing fell. Even now in smoke that City tells her tale; The wrack-wind liveth, and where Ilion died The reek of the old fatness of her pride From hot and writhing ashes rolls afar. For which let thanks, wide as our glories are, Be uplifted; seeing the Beast of Argos hath Round Ilions towers piled high his fence of wrath And, for one woman ravished, wrecked by force A City. Lo, the leap of the wild Horse in darkness when the Pleiades were dead; A mailed multitude, a Lion unfed, Which leapt the tower and lapt the blood of Kings! Lo, to the Gods I make these thanksgivings. But for thy words: I marked them, and I mind Their meaning, and my voice shall be behind Thine. For not many men, the proverb saith, Can love a friend whom fortune prospereth Unenvying; and about the envious brain Cold poison clings, and doubles all the pain Life brings him. His own woundings he must nurse, And feels anothers gladness like a curse. Well can I speak. I know the mirrored glass Called friendship, and the shadow shapes that pass And feign them a Kings friends. I have known but one- Odysseus, him we trapped against his own Will! - who once harnessed bore his yoke right well †¦ Be he alive or dead of whom I tell The tale. And for the rest, touching our state And gods, we will assemble in debate A concourse of all Argos, taking sure Counsel, that what is well now may endure Well, and if aught needs healing medicine, still By cutting and by fire, with all good will, I will essay to avert the after-wrack Such sickness breeds. Aye, Heaven hath led me back; And on this hearth where still my fire doth burn I will go pay to heaven my due return, Which guides me here, which saved me far away. O Victory, now mine own, be mine alway! [CLYTEMNESTRA, at the head of her retinue, steps forward. She controls her suspense with difficulty but gradually gains courage as she proceeds. CLYTEMNESTRA. Ye Elders, Council of the Argive name Here present, I will no more hold it shame To lay my passion bare before mens eyes. There comes a time to a woman when fear dies For ever. None hath taught me. None could tell, Save me, the weight of years intolerable I lived while this man lay at Ilion. That any woman thus should sit alone In a half-empty house, with no man near, Makes her half-blind with dread! And in her ear Alway some voice of wrath; now messengers Of evil; now not so; then others worse, Crying calamity against mine and me. Oh, had he half the wounds that variously Came rumoured home, his flesh must be a net, All holes from heel to crown! And if he met As many deaths as I met tales thereon, Is he some monstrous thing, some Geryon Three-souled, that will not die, till oer his head, Three robes of earth be piled, to hold him dead? Aye, many a time my heart broke, and the noose Of death had got me; but they cut me loose. It was those voices alway in mine ear. For that, too, young Orestes is not here Beside me, as were meet, seeing he above All else doth hold the surety of our love; Let not thy heart be troubled. It fell thus: Our loving spear-friend took him, Strophius The Phocian, who forewarned me of annoy Two-fronted, thine own peril under Troy, And ours here, if the rebel multitude Should cast the Council down. It is mens mood Alway, to spurn the fallen. So spake he, And sure no guile was in him. But for me, The old stormy rivers of my grief are dead Now at the spring; not one tear left unshed. Mine eyes are sick with vigil, endlessly Weeping the beacon-piles that watched for thee For ever answerless. And did I dream, A gnats thin whirr would start me, like a scream Of battle, and show me thee by terrors swept, Crowding, too many for the time I slept. From all which stress delivered and free-souled, I greet my lord: O watchdog of the fold, O forestay sure that fails not in the squall, O strong-based pillar of a towering hall; O single son to a father age-ridden; O land unhoped for seen by shipwrecked men; Sunshine more beautiful when storms are fled; Spring of quick water in a desert dead †¦. How sweet to be set free from any chain! These be my words to greet him home again. No god shall grudge them. Surely I and thou Have suffered in time past enough! And now Dismount, O head with love and glory crowned, From this high car; yet plant not on bare ground Thy foot, great King, the foot that trampled Troy. Ho, bondmaids, up! Forget not your employ, A floor of crimson broideries to spread For the Kings path. Let all the ground be red Where those feet pass; and Justice, dark of yore, Home light him to the hearth he looks not for! What followeth next, our sleepless care shall see Ordered as Gods good pleasure may decree. [The attendants spread tapestries of crimson and gold from the Chariot to the Door of the Palace. AGAMEMNON does not move. AGAMEMNON. Daughter of Leda, watcher of my fold, In sooth thy welcome, grave and amply told, Fitteth mine absent years. Though it had been Seemlier, methinks, some other, not my Queen, Had spoke these honours. For the rest, I say, Seek not to make me soft in womans way; Cry not thy praise to me wide-mouthed, nor fling Thy body down, as to some barbarous king. Nor yet with broidered hangings strew my path, To awake the unseen ire. Tis God that hath Such worship; and for mortal man to press Rude feet upon this broidered loveliness †¦ I vow there is danger in it. Let my road Be honoured, surely; but as man, not god. Rugs for the feet and yonder broidered pall †¦ The names ring diverse! †¦ Aye, and not to fall Suddenly blind is of all gifts the best God giveth, for I reckon no man blest Ere to the utmost goal his race be run. So be it; and if, as this day I have done, I shall do always, then I fear no ill. CLYTEMNESTRA. Tell me but this, nowise against thy will †¦ AGAMEMNON. My will, be sure, shall falter not nor fade. CLYTEMNESTRA. Was this a vow in some great peril made? AGAMEMNON. Enough! I have spoke my purpose, fixed and plain. CLYTEMNESTRA. Were Priam the conqueror †¦ Think, would he refrain? AGAMEMNON. Oh, stores of broideries would be trampled then! CLYTEMNESTRA. Lord, care not for the cavillings of men! AGAMEMNON. The murmur of a people hath strange weight. CLYTEMNESTRA. Who feareth envy, feareth to be great. AGAMEMNON. Tis graceless when a woman strives to lead. CLYTEMNESTRA. When a great conqueror yields, tis grace indeed, AGAMEMNON. So in this war thou must my conqueror be? CLYTEMNESTRA. Yield! With good will to yield is victory! AGAMEMNON. Well, if I needs must †¦ Be it as thou hast said! Quick! Loose me these bound slaves on which I tread, And while I walk yon wonders of the sea God grant no eye of wrath be cast on me From far! [The Attendants untie his shoes. For even now it likes me not To waste mine house, thus marring underfoot The pride thereof, and wondrous broideries Bought in far seas with silver. But of these Enough. - And mark, I charge thee, this princess Of Ilion; tend her with all gentleness. Gods eye doth see, and loveth from afar, The merciful conqueror. For no slave of war Is slave by his own will. She is the prize And chosen flower of Ilions treasuries, Set by the soldiers gift to follow me. Now therefore, seeing I am constrained by thee And do thy will, I walk in conquerors guise Beneath my Gate, trampling sea-crimson dyes. [As he dismounts and sets foot on the Tapestries CLYTEMNESTRAS women utter again their Cry of Triumph. The people bow or kneel as he passes. CLYTEMNESTRA. There is the sea- its caverns who shall drain? - Breeding of many a purple-fish the stain Surpassing silver, ever fresh renewed, For robes of kings. And we, by right indued, Possess our fill thereof. Thy house, O King, Knoweth no stint, nor lack of anything. What trampling of rich raiment, had the cry So sounded in the domes of prophesy, Would I have vowed these years, as price to pay For this dear life in peril far away! Where the root is, the leafage cometh soon To clothe an house, and spread its leafy boon Against the burning star; and, thou being come, Thou, on the midmost hearthstone of thy home, Oh, warmth in winter leapeth to thy sign. And when Gods summer melteth into wine The green grape, on that house shall coolness fall Where the true man, the master, walks his hall. Zeus, Zeus! True Master, let my prayers be true! And, oh, forget not that thou art willed to do! [She follows AGAMEMNON into the Palace. The retinues of both King and Queen go in after them. CASSANDRA remains. CHORUS. What is this that evermore, [Strophe 1. A cold terror at the door Of this bosom presage-haunted, Pale as death hovereth? While a song unhired, unwanted, By some inward prophet chanted, Speaks the secret at its core; And to cast it from my blood Like a dream not understood No sweet-spoken Courage now Sitteth at my hearts dear prow. Yet I know that manifold Days, like sand, have waxen old Since the day those shoreward-thrown Cables flapped and line on line Standing forth for Ilion The long galleys took the brine [Antistrophe 1. And in harbour- mine own eye Hath beheld- again they lie; Yet that lyreless music hidden Whispers still words of ill, Tis the Soul of me unbidden, Like some Fury sorrow-ridden, Weeping over things that die. Neither waketh in my sense Ever Hopes dear confidence; For this flesh that groans within, And these bones that know of Sin, This tossed heart upon the spate Of a whirpool that is Fate, Surely these lie not. Yet deep Beneath hope my prayer doth run, All will die like dreams, and creep To the unthought of and undone. Strophe 2. - Surely of great Weal at the end of all Comes not Content; so near doth Fever crawl, Close neighbour, pressing hard the narrow wall. - Woe to him who fears not fate! Tis the ship that forward straight Sweepeth, strikes the reef below; He who fears and lightens weight, Casting forth, in measured throw, From the wealth his hand hath got †¦ His whole sh ip shall founder not, With abundance overfraught, Nor deep seas above him flow. - Lo, when famine stalketh near, One good gift of Zeus again From the furrows of one year Endeth quick the starving pain; [Antistrophe 2. - But once the blood of death is fallen, black And oozing at a slain mans feet, alack! By spell or singing who shall charm it back? - One there was of old who showed Man the path from death to day; But Zeus, lifting up his rod, Spared not, when he charged him stay. - Save that every doom of God Hath by other dooms its way Crossed, that none may rule alone, In one speech-outstripping groan Forth had all this passion flown, Which now murmuring hides away, Full of pain, and hoping not Ever one clear thread to unknot From the tangle of my soul, From a heart of burning coal. [Suddenly CLYTEMNESTRA appears standing in the Doorway. CLYTEMNESTRA. Thou likewise, come within! I speak thy name, Cassandra; [CASSANDRA trembles, but continues to stare in front of her, as though not hearing CLYTEMNESTRA. seeing the Gods- why chafe at them? - Have placed thee here, to share within these walls Our lustral waters, mid a crowd of thralls Who stand obedient round the altar-stone Of our Possession. Therefore come thou down, And be not over-proud. The tale is told How once Alcmenas son himself, being sold, Was patient, though he liked not the slaves mess. And more, if Fate must bring thee to this stress, Praise God thou art come to a House of high report And wealth from long ago. The baser sort, Who have reaped some sudden harvest unforeseen, Are ever cruel to their slaves, and mean In the measure. We shall give whateer is due. [CASSANDRA is silent. LEADER. To thee she speaks, and waits †¦ clear words and true! Oh, doom is all around thee like a net; Yield, if thou canst†¦. Belike thou canst not yet. CLYTEMNESTRA. Methinks, unless this wandering maid is one Voiced like a swallow-bird, with tongue unknown And barbarous, she can read my plain intent. I use but words, and ask for her consent. LEADER. Ah, come! Tis best, as the world lies to-day. Leave this high-throned chariot, and obey! CLYTEMNESTRA. How long must I stand dallying at the Gate? Even now the beasts to Hestia consecrate Wait by the midmost fire, since there is wrought This high fulfilment for which no man thought. Wherefore, if tis thy pleasure to obey Aught of my will, prithee, no more delay! If, dead to sense, thou wilt not understand†¦ Thou show her, not with speech but with brute hand! [To the Leader of the CHORUS. LEADER. The strange maid needs a rare interpreter. She is trembling like a wild beast in a snare. CLYTEMNESTRA. Fore God, she is mad, and heareth but her own Folly! A slave, her city all oerthrown, She needs must chafe her bridle, till this fret Be foamed away in blood and bitter sweat. I waste no more speech, thus to be defied. [She goes back inside the Palace. LEADER. I pity thee so sore, no wrath nor pride Is in me. - Come, dismount! Bend to the stroke Fate lays on thee, and learn to feel thy yoke. [He lays his hand softly on CASSANDRAS shoulder. CASSANDRA (moaning to herself). Otototoi †¦ Dreams. Dreams. Apollo. O Apollo! SECOND ELDER. Why sobst thou for Apollo? It is writ, He loves not grief nor lendeth ear to it. CASSANDRA. Otototoi †¦ Dreams. Dreams. Apollo. O Apollo! LEADER. Still to that god she makes her sobbing cry Who hath no place where men are sad, or die. CASSANDRA. Apollo, Apollo! Light of the Ways of Men! Mine enemy! Hast lighted me to darkness yet again? SECOND ELDER. How? Will she prophesy about her own Sorrows? That power abides when all is gone! CASSANDRA. Apollo, Apollo! Light of all that is! Mine enemy! Where hast thou led me? †¦ Ha! What house is this? LEADER. The Atreidaes castle. If thou knowest not, I Am here to help thee, and help faithfully. CASSANDRA (whispering). Nay, nay. This is the house that God hateth. There be many things that know its secret; sore And evil things; murders and strangling death. Tis here they slaughter men†¦A splashing floor. SECOND ELDER. Keen-sensed the strange maid seemeth, like a hound For blood. - And what she seeks can sure be found! CASSANDRA. The witnesses †¦ I follow where they lead. The crying †¦ of little children †¦ near the gate: Crying for wounds that bleed: And the smell of the baked meats their father ate. SECOND ELDER (recognizing her vision, and repelled). Word of thy mystic power had reached our ear Long since. Howbeit we need no prophets here. CASSANDRA. Ah, ah! What would they? A new dreadful thing. A great great sin plots in the house this day; Too strong for the faithful, beyond medicining †¦ And help stands far away. LEADER. This warning I can read not, though I knew That other tale. It rings the city through. CASSANDRA. O Woman, thou! The lord who lay with thee! Wilt lave with water, and then †¦ How speak the end? It comes so quick. A hand †¦ another hand †¦ That reach, reach gropingly†¦. LEADER. I see not yet. These riddles, pierced with blind Gleams of foreboding, but bemuse my mind. CASSANDRA. Ah, ah! What is it? There; it is coming clear. A net †¦ some net of Hell. Nay, she that lies with him †¦ is she the snare? And half of his blood upon it. It holds well†¦. O Crowd of ravening Voices, be glad, yea, shout And cry for the stoning, cry for the casting out! SECOND ELDER. What Fury Voices callst thou to be hot Against this castle? Such words like me not. And deep within my breast I felt that sick And saffron drop, which creepeth to the heart To die as the last rays of life depart. Misfortune comes so quick. CASSANDRA. Ah, look! Look! Keep his mate from the Wild Bull! A tangle of raiment, see; A black horn, and a blow, and he falleth, full In the marble amid the water. I counsel ye. I speak plain †¦ Blood in the bath and treachery! LEADER. No great interpreter of oracles Am I; but this, I think, some mischief spells. What spring of good hath seercraft ever made Up from the dark to flow? Tis but a weaving of words, a craft of woe, To make mankind afraid. CASSANDRA. Poor woman! Poor dead woman! †¦ Yea, it is I, Poured out like water among them. Weep for me†¦. Ah! What is this place? Why must I come with thee†¦. To die, only to die? LEADER. Thou art borne on the breath of God, thou spirit wild, For thine own weird to wail, Like to that winged voice, that heart so sore Which, crying alway, hungereth to cry more, Itylus, Itylus, till it sing her child Back to the nightingale. CASSANDRA. Oh, happy Singing Bird, so sweet, so clear! Soft wings for her God made, And an easy passing, without pain or tear †¦ For me twill be torn flesh and rending blade. SECOND ELDER. Whence is it sprung, whence wafted on Gods breath, This anguish reasonless? This throbbing of terror shaped to melody, Moaning of evil blent with music high? Who hath marked out for thee that mystic path Through thy woes wilderness? CASSANDRA. Alas for the kiss, the kiss of Paris, his peoples bane! Alas for Scamander Water, the water my fathers drank! Long, long ago, I played about thy bank, And was cherished and grew strong; Now by a River of Wailing, by shores of Pain, Soon shall I make my song. LEADER. How sayst thou? All too clear, This ill word thou hast laid upon thy mouth! A babe could read thee plain. It stabs within me like a serpents tooth, The bitter thrilling music of her pain: I marvel as I hear. CASSANDRA. Alas for the toil, the toil of a City, worn unto death! Alas for my fathers worship before the citadel, The flocks that bled and the tumult of their breath! But no help from them came To save Troy Towers from falling as they fell! †¦ And I on the earth shall writhe, my heart aflame. SECOND ELDER. Dark upon dark, new ominous words of ill! Sure there hath swept on thee some Evil Thing, Crushing, which makes thee bleed And in the torment of thy vision sing These plaining death-fraught oracles †¦ Yet still, still, Their end I cannot read! CASSANDRA. [By an effort she regains mastery of herself, and speaks directly to the Leader. Fore God, mine oracle shall no more hide With veils his visage, like a new-wed bride! A shining wind out of this dark shall blow, Piercing the dawn, growing as great waves grow, To burst in the heart of sunrise †¦ stronger far Than this poor pain of mine. I will not mar With mists my wisdom. Be near me as I go, Tracking the evil things of long ago, And bear me witness. For this roof, there clings Music about it, like a choir which sings One-voiced, but not well-sounding, for not good The words are. Drunken, drunken, and with blood, To make them dare the more, a revelling rout Is in the rooms, which no man shall cast out, Of sister Furies. And they weave to song, Haunting the House, its first blind deed of wrong, Spurning in turn that Kings bed desecrate, Defiled, which paid a brothers sin with hate†¦. Hath it missed or struck, mine arrow? Am I a poor Dreamer, that begs and babbles at the door? Give first thine oath in witness, that I know Of this great dome the sins wrought long ago. ELDER. And how should oath of mine, though bravely sworn, Appease thee? Yet I marvel that one born Far over seas, of alien speech, should fall So apt, as though she had lived here and seen all. CASSANDRA. The Seer Apollo made me too to see. ELDER (in a low voice). Was the Gods heart pierced with desire for thee? CASSANDRA. Time was, I held it shame hereof to speak. ELDER. Ah, shame is for the mighty, not the weak. CASSANDRA. We wrestled, and his breath to me was sweet. ELDER. Ye came to the getting of children, as is meet? CASSANDRA. I swore to Loxias, and I swore a lie. ELDER. Already thine the gift of prophecy? CASSANDRA. Already I showed my people all their path. ELDER. And Loxias did not smite thee in his wrath? CASSANDRA. After that sin †¦ no man believed me more. ELDER. Nay, then, to us thy wisdom seemeth sure. CASSANDRA. Oh, oh! Agony, agony! Again the awful pains of prophecy Are on me, maddening as they fall†¦. Ye see them there †¦ beating against the wall? So young †¦ like shapes that gather in a dream †¦ Slain by a hand they loved. Children they seem, Murdered †¦ and in their hands they bear baked meat: I think it is themselves. Yea, flesh; I see it; And inward parts†¦. Oh, what a horrible load To carry! And their father drank their blood. From these, I warn ye, vengeance broodeth still, A lions rage, which goes not forth to kill But lurketh in his lair, watching the high Hall of my war-gone master †¦ Master? Aye; Mine, mine! The yoke is nailed about my neck†¦. Oh, lord of ships and trampler on the wreck Of Ilion, knows he not this she-wolfs tongue, Which licks and fawns, and laughs with ear up-sprung, To bite in the end like secret death? - And can The woman? Slay a strong and armed man? †¦ What fanged reptile like to her doth creep? Some serpent amphisbene, some Skylla, deep Housed in the rock, where sailors shriek and die, Mother of Hell blood-raging, which doth cry On her own flesh war, war without alloy †¦ God! And she shouted in his face her joy, Like men in battle when the foe doth break. And feigns thanksgiving for his safetys sake! What if no man believe me? Tis all one. The thing which must be shall be; aye, and soon Thou too shalt sorrow for these things, and here Standing confess me all too true a seer. LEADER. The Thyestean feast of children slain I understood, and tremble. Aye, my brain Reels at these visions, beyond guesswork true. But after, though I heard, I had lost the clue. CASSANDRA. Man, thou shalt look on Agamemnon dead. LEADER. Peace, Mouth of Evil! Be those words unsaid! CASSANDRA. No god of peace hath watch upon that hour. LEADER. If it must come. Forefend it, Heavenly Power! CASSANDRA. They do not think of prayer; they think of death. LEADER. They? Say, what man this foul deed compasseth? CASSANDRA. Alas, thou art indeed fallen far astray! LEADER. How could such deed be done? I see no way. CASSANDRA. Yet know I not the Greek tongue all too well? LEADER. Greek are the Delphic dooms, but hard to spell. CASSANDRA. Ah! Ah! There! What a strange fire! It moves †¦ It comes at me. O Wolf Apollo, mercy! O agony! †¦ Why lies she with a wolf, this lioness lone, Two-handed, when the royal lion is gone? God, she will kill me! Like to them that brew Poison, I see her mingle for me too A separate vial in her wrath, and swear, Whetting her blade for him, that I must share His death †¦ because, because he hath dragged me here! Oh, why these mockers at my throat? This gear Of wreathed bands, this staff of prophecy? I mean to kill you first, before I die. Begone! [She tears off her prophetic habiliments; and presently throws them on the ground, and stamps on them. Down to perdition! †¦ Lie ye so? So I requite you! Now make rich in woe Some other Bird of Evil, me no more! [Coming to herself. Ah, see! It is Apollos self, hath tore His crown from me! Who watched me long ago In this same prophets robe, by friend, by foe, All with one voice, all blinded, mocked to scorn: A thing of dreams, a beggar-maid outworn, Poor, starving and reviled, I endured all; And now the Seer, who called me till my call Was perfect, leads me to this last dismay†¦. Tis not the altar-stone where men did slay My father; tis a block, a block with gore Yet hot, that waits me, of one slain before. Yet not of God unheeded shall we lie. There cometh after, one who lifteth high The downfallen; a branch where blossometh A sires avenging and a mothers death. Exiled and wandering, from this land outcast, One day He shall return, and set the last Crown on these sins that have his house downtrod. For, lo, there is a great oath sworn of God, His fathers upturned face shall guide him home. Why should I grieve? Why pity these mens doom? I who have seen the City of Ilion Pass as she passed; and they who cast her down Have thus their end, as God gives judgement sure†¦. I go to drink my cup. I will endure To die. O Gates, Death-Gates, all hail to you! Only, pray God the blow be stricken true! Pray God, unagonized, with blood that flows Quick unto friendly death, these eyes may close! LEADER. O full of sorrows, full of wisdom great, Woman, thy speech is a long anguish; yet, Knowing thy doom, why walkst thou with clear eyes, Like some god-blinded beast, to sacrifice? CASSANDRA. There is no escape, friends; only vain delay. LEADER. Is not the later still the sweeter day? CASSANDRA. The day is come. Small profit now to fly. LEADER. Through all thy griefs, Woman, thy heart is high. CASSANDRA. Alas! None that is happy hears that praise. LEADER. Are not the brave dead blest in after days? CASSANDRA. O Father! O my brethren brave, I come! [She moves towards the House, but recoils shuddering. LEADER. What frights thee? What is that thou startest from? CASSANDRA. Ah, faugh! Faugh! LEADER. What turns thee in that blind Horror? Unless some loathing of the mind †¦ CASSANDRA. Death drifting from the doors, and blood like rain! LEADER. Tis but the dumb beasts at the altar slain. CASSANDRA. And vapours from a charnel-house †¦ See there! LEADER. Tis Tyrian incense clouding in the air. CASSANDRA (recovering herself again). So be it! - I will go, in yonder room To weep mine own and Agamemnons doom. May death be all! Strangers, I am no bird That pipeth trembling at a thicket stirred By the empty wind. Bear witness on that day When woman for this womans life shall pay, And man for man ill-mated low shall lie: I ask this boon, as being about to die. LEADER. Alas, I pity thee thy mystic fate! CASSAN