tears then might flow,
"But not from shame. Now unresisting Thebes,
"Yields to a boy unarm'd; who never joys
"In armies, steeds, nor swords;--but more in locks
"With myrrh moist-dropping, garlands soft, and robes
"Of various teints, with gold and purple gay.
"Rest ye but tranquil, and without delay,
"Him will I force to own his boasted sire
"Untrue; and forg'd those new invented rites.
"Had not Acrisius bravery to despise
"The counterfeited deity, and close
"The gates of Argos on him? And must now
"This wanderer come, and Pentheus terrify,
"With all the power of Thebes! Haste, quickly haste,"--
He bade his servants,--"hither drag, firm chain'd,
"This leader. Quick, nor brook my words delay!"
His grandsire, Athamas, and all the crowd
Reprove;--while thus he rails, with fruitless toil
Labor to stop him. Obstinate he stands,
More raging at remonstrance; and his ire
Restrain'd, increases; goading more and more;
Restraint itself enkindling more his rage.
So may be seen a river rolling smooth,
With murmuring nearly silent, while unchecked;
But when by rocks, or bulky trees oppos'd,
Foaming and boiling furious, on it sweeps
Impetuous raging; fiercer, more withstood.

With blood besmear'd, his men return;--their lord
For Bacchus anxious asks;--but Bacchus they,
To find, arriv'd too late;--"but here," they cry,--
"Here have we seiz'd his comrade;--one who joins
"His train, and joins his rites." (The Tuscans once
The Bacchanalian orgies follow'd.) Bound
Behind, his hands, their prisoner they present.
Pentheus survey'd the stranger, while his eyes
Sparkled with rage terrific: with constraint
His torture so deferring, thus he spoke;--
"Wretch! ere thou sufferest,--ere thy death shall give
"A public warning,--tell thy name;--confess
"Thy sire; declare thy country; and the cause
"Those rites thou celebratest in a mode
"Diverse from others." Fearless, he reply'd;--
"Acoetes is my name: my natal land,
"Tyrrhenia: from an humble stock I spring.
"Lands by strong oxen plough'd, or wool-clad flocks,
"Or lowing herds my father left me none:
"For poor was he;--his daily toil to catch
"With nets and lines the fish, and as they leap'd,
"Draw with his bending rod the prey to land:
"His skill his sole estate. When unto me
"This art he taught,--receive, said he, my wealth;
"Such wealth as I possess; heir to my toil,
"And to m