He spake, and Juno, large-eyed and august, Shuddered, and answered Jove with wingèd words:⁠—

“Be witness, Earth, and the great Heavens above, And waters of the Styx that glide beneath⁠— That dreadful oath which most the blessed gods Revere⁠—be witness, too, that sacred head Of thine, and our own nuptial couch, by which I would not rashly swear at any time, That not by my persuasion Neptune went⁠— The shaker of the shores⁠—to harass Troy And Hector, and to aid the cause of Greece. He went self-counselled; he had seen the Greeks Pressed grievously beside their fleet, and took Compassion on them. Yet would I advise That he obey thy word, and take his place Where thou, the Cloud compeller, bid’st him go.”

She ended, and the Father of the gods And mortals smiled, and said, in wingèd words:⁠—