Is it he,
Orestes?

ORESTES.

Thy defender, yea, alone
To fight the world!  Lo, this day have I thrown
A net, which once unbroken from the sea
Drawn home, shall ...  O, and it must surely be! 
Else men shall know there is no God, no light
In Heaven, if wrong to the end shall conquer right.

CHORUS.

Comest thou, comest thou now,
Chained by the years and slow,
O Day long sought? 
A light on the mountains cold
Is lit, yea, a fire burneth,
’Tis the light of one that turneth
From roamings manifold,
Back out of exile old
To the house that knew him not.

  Some spirit hath turned our way,
    Victory visible,
  Walking at thy right hand,
  Beloved; O lift this day
  Thine arms, thy voice, as a spell;
  And pray for thy brother, pray,
  Threading the perilous land,
    That all be well!

ORESTES.

Enough; this dear delight is mine at last
Of thine embracing; and the hour comes fast
When we shall stand again as now we stand,
And stint not.—­Stay, Old Man:  thou, being at hand
At the edge of time, advise me, by what way
Best to requite my father’s murderers.  Say,
Have I in Argos any still to trust;
Or is the love, once borne me, trod in dust,
Even as my fortunes are?  Whom shall I seek? 
By day or night?  And whither turn, to wreak
My will on them that hate us?  Say.

OLD MAN.

My son,
In thine adversity, there is not one
Will call thee friend.  Nay, that were treasure-trove,
A friend to share, not faltering from love,
Fair days and foul the same.  Thy name is gone
Forth to all Argos, as a thing o’erthrown
And dead.  Thou hast not left one spark to glow
With hope in one friend’s heart!  Hear all, and know: 
Thou hast God’s fortune and thine own right hand,
Naught else, to conquer back thy fatherland.

ORESTES.

The deed, the deed!  What must we do?

OLD MAN.

Strike down
Aegisthus ... and thy mother.

ORESTES.

’Tis the crown
My race is run for.  But how find him?

OLD MAN.

Not
Within the city walls, however hot
Thy spirit.

ORESTES.

Ha!  With watchers doth he go
Begirt, and mailed pikemen?

OLD MAN.

Even so: 
He lives in fear of thee, and night nor day
Hath slumber.

ORESTES.

That way blocked!—­’Tis thine to say
What next remains.

OLD MAN.

I will; and thou give ear. 
A thought has found me!

ORESTES.

All good thoughts be near,
For thee to speak and me to understand!

OLD MAN.

But now I saw Aegisthus, close at hand
As here I journeyed.

ORESTES.

That good word shall trace
My path for me!  Thou saw’st him?  In what place?