PRAYER
.
TO
THE
PARCAE
.
Inexorable
Triad
!
tell
us
!
where
,
In
what
vast
Antre
,
or
what
Cypress
grove
,
Your
gloomy
Altars
trembling
Mortals
rear
;
And
what
the
hallow'd
Sacrifice
ye
love
?
If
ever
your
stern
breasts
relent
at
tears
,
If
ye
have
hearts
that
sighs
can
comprehend
,
If
ye
can
sympathize
in
human
cares
,
Propitious
to
our
humble
suit
attend
!
Two
Sisters
are
we
,
who
in
life's
rough
way
,
Full
early
enter'd
'neath
a
baneful
Star
,
Together
,
though
unbless'd
with
one
bright
ray
,
We
bear
the
hardships
of
its
constant
war
.
Companions
still
,
the
same
our
hopes
and
woes
,
Sweet
counsel
seek
we
in
each
other's
mind
;
And
the
soft
green
,
where
harrass'd
souls
repose
,
Each
finds
within
her
Sister's
bosom
shrin'd
.
No
dearer
Friendship
,
and
no
separate
Joy
,
Has
e'er
estrang'd
us
from
each
other's
heart
,
No
Strife
has
ever
mingled
its
alloy
,
In
Good
,
or
Ill
,
each
had
a
Sister's
part
.
Together
we
retrace
our
sorrows
past
,
With
that
sweet
interest
only
Sisters
feel
,
Hope's
bright'ning
beam
upon
the
future
cast
,
Or
present
Ills
participating
heal
.
Such
,
ye
stern
Parcae
!
are
your
Suppliants
now
;
Seeking
Protection
from
one
dreaded
Ill
:
We
ask
not
Wealth
,
nor
Honours
for
our
brow
;
Unmurmuring
have
we
liv'd
without
them
still
.
Nor
do
we
ask
exemption
from
all
Grief
;
Patient
we
bow
to
an
o'erwhelming
share
;
There
is
but
One
,
—
for
which
there's
no
relief
,
But
One
—
we
have
not
Fortitude
to
bear
.
If
erring
Mortals
,
ignorant
,
and
blind
,
May
,
sinless
,
deprecate
the
Grief
they
fear
,
Be
our
petition
in
your
memory
shrin'd
!
—
Respect
the
sacred
prevalence
of
prayer
CLOTHO
!
thy
Distaff
at
thy
pleasure
fill
;
—
E'en
though
the
flax
with
rugged
knots
be
cross'd
;
LACHESIS
!
draw
our
Threads
together
still
,
We
heed
not
,
whether
long
,
or
short
thou
draw'st
;
When
,
to
their
length
,
th'
appointed
Threads
are
spun
,
Them
,
to
the
fatal
Shears
together
guide
:
Swiftly
,
O
ATROPOS
!
thy
task
be
done
,
THE
SISTER
THREADS
,
AT
THE
SAME
STROKE
,
DIVIDE
.
(
March
,
1796.
)