“I pray you, damsels, tell me whither went White-armed Andromache? Has she gone forth To seek my sisters, or those stately dames, My brothers’ wives? Or haply has she sought The temple of Minerva, where are met The other bright-haired matrons of the town To supplicate the dreaded deity?”

Then said the diligent housewife in reply:⁠— “Since thou wilt have the truth⁠—thy wife is gone Not to thy sisters, nor those stately dames, Thy brothers’ wives; nor went she forth to join The other bright-haired matrons of the town, Where in Minerva’s temple they are met To supplicate the dreaded deity But to the lofty tower of Troy she went When it was told her that the Trojan troops Lost heart, and that the valor of the Greeks Prevailed. She now is hurrying toward the walls, Like one distracted, with her son and nurse.”