AGAMEMNON

I ask the gods for a release from these labors,
the length of a year's watch, which, sleeping
upon the roofs of the Atreidae, propped on my elbows like a dog,
I have known the assembly of the stars of the night,
5 and those who bring winter and summer to mortals,
the bright masters, shining in the sky
[the stars, when they set, and their risings].
And now I watch for the signal of the torch,
the gleam of fire bringing a report from Troy
10 and the news of its capture: for thus rules
a woman's man-counseling heart, full of expectation.
And whenever I have my night-wandering, dew-drenched
bed, not visited by dreams—for fear stands beside me instead of sleep,
so that I cannot firmly close my eyelids in sleep—
15 and whenever I think to sing or hum,
cutting a remedy of song, an antidote to sleep,
then I weep, lamenting the calamity of this house,
not managed for the best as it was before.
20 But now may there be a happy release from these labors