and they bend upwards and now outwards.

HERA.

The colours of them are those which adorn my bird.

PALLAS.

Ah! wonder of wonders! These have joined one another, see, and now
they shoot forward together in a vibrating ribband of delicious
lustre, and now it is arched to our shore, and descends at the
lowest of these our woodland stairs.

ZEUS.

A vast rainbow from the three white vessels to this island!... And
behold, a figure steps from it. She is robed to the feet in palest
watchet blue, and her face is like a rosy star, and she waves her
violet wings in the incommunicable speed of her ascent. My
children, it is Iris, our lost daughter, our ineffable messenger.
Let us await in silence the tidings which she brings.

[ZEUS _seats himself, and the Gods take their places as before.
The air is now translucent, the sky cloudless, while the
beechwoods flash with the lustre of dew, and the sea beyond
the white ships is like a floor of turquoise._ IRIS _is seen
to rise from the shore, through the gorge in the woods. She
approaches, half flying, half climbing, with incredible
velocity. She appears, in her splendour, at the top of the
stairs, and looks round upon the Gods. Without exception, in
the magnificence of her presence they look grey and old and
dim. She hesitates a moment, and then kneels before the
throne of_ ZEUS.]

IRIS.

Father and lawgiver! Imperial Master of Heaven! The rebellion in
Olympus is over. The usurper has fallen under the weight of his
own presumption, lower than the lowest chasms of Hades, chained for
all eternity by the fetters of his own insolence and madness. It
is not needful for you, Zeus, to punish or to be clement. Under
the inevitable rebound of his impious frenzy, himself has sealed
his doom for ever and ever. It is now for the Father of Heaven, and
these his children, to resume their immortality and to regain their
incomparable abodes. Be it my reward for the joyous labour of
bringing the good news, to be the first to kiss these awful and
eternal feet.

[IRIS _flings herself before_ ZEUS _in adoration, and folds her
wings about her face. As she touches him, his deity blazes
forth from him. When_ IRIS _rises again, she glances round
at the Gods with gratified astonishment, for all of them
have become brilliant and young_.]

ZEUS.

Lead the way, Iris. This