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THE RITES OF ELEUSIS
Caught in that fiery wave,
Her love and life she gave
With one last kissing cry the unborn child to save.
And thou, Ο Zeus, the sire
Of Bromius—hunter dire !4-
Didst snatch the unborn babe from that Olympian fire:
In thine own thigh most holy
That offspring melancholy
Didst hide, didst feed, on light, ambrosia, and moly.
Ay
! and with serpent hair
And limbs divinely {air
Didst thou, Dionysus, leap forth to the nectar air
!
Ay! thus the dreams of fate
We dare commemorate,
Twining in lovesome curls the spoil of mate and mate
Ο Dionysus, hear!
Be close, be quick, be near,
Whispering enchanted words in every curving ear!
0 Dionysus, start
As the Apollonian dart!
Bury thy horned head in every bleeding heart !
Ist M.!ENAD. He is here! He is here
I
AUTONOE.
Tigers, appear!
AGAVE.
To the clap of my hand
And the whish of my wand,
Obey!
AUTONOE.
Ι have found
A chariot crowned
With ivy and vine,
And the laurel divine,
And the clustering smell