8 ARGONAUTAE
JASON.
By much thought.
To clamp the decks——
ARGUS.
I stand with brows abashed.
Thou art the master—build the ship thyself.
JASON.
Nay, but my knowledge is of mind alone.
I cannot so apply it as to build
An Argo.
ARGUS.
Yet I verily believe
Such mind must pierce far deeper than these names,
Seeking the very nature of the things
Thou namest thus so pat. Perchance to thee
These logs, nails, bolts, tools, have some life of sense,
Some subtle language. Tell us what they say!
THESEUS.
’Tis but a giber—leave the churl alone.
JASON.
Indeed I spake of things I knew not of.
ARGUS.
You speak more wisely when you float away
Into pure dream, and talk of mystic things
That no man born of woman understands,
And therefore does not dare to contradict.