Hippolytus; The Bacchae Part 5

And when he comes again, I shall be found Beside him, silent, watching with what grace Thou and thy mistress shall greet him face to face!

Then shall I have the taste of it, and know What woman's guile is.--Woe upon you, woe!

How can I too much hate you, while the ill Ye work upon the world grows deadlier still?

Too much? Make woman pure, and wild Love tame, Or let me cry for ever on their shame!

[_He goes off in fury to the left_.

PHAEDRA _still cowering in her place begins to sob_.]

PHAEDRA Sad, sad and evil-starred is Woman's state.

What shelter now is left or guard?

What spell to loose the iron knot of fate?

And this thing, O my G.o.d, O thou sweet Sunlight, is but my desert!

I cannot fly before the avenging rod Falls, cannot hide my hurt.

What help, O ye who love me, can come near, What G.o.d or man appear, To aid a thing so evil and so lost?

Lost, for this anguish presses, soon or late, To that swift river that no life hath crossed.

No woman ever lived so desolate!

LEADER OF THE CHORUS Ah me, the time for deeds is gone; the boast Proved vain that spake thine handmaid; and all lost!

[_At these words_ PHAEDRA _suddenly remembers the_ NURSE, _who is cowering silently where_ HIPPOLYTUS _had thrown her from him.

She turns upon her_.]

PHAEDRA O wicked, wicked, wicked! Murderess heart To them that loved thee! Hast thou played thy part?

Am I enough trod down?

May Zeus, my sire, Blast and uproot thee! Stab thee dead with fire!

Said I not--Knew I not thine heart?--to name To no one soul this that is now my shame?

And thou couldst not be silent! So no more I die in honour. But enough; a store Of new words must be spoke and new things thought.

This man's whole being to one blade is wrought Of rage against me. Even now he speeds To abase me to the King with thy misdeeds; Tell Pittheus; fill the land with talk of sin!

Cursed be thou, and whoso else leaps in To bring bad aid to friends that want it not.

[_The_ NURSE _has raised herself, and faces_ PHAEDRA, _downcast but calm_.]

NURSE Mistress, thou blamest me; and all thy lot So bitter sore is, and the sting so wild, I bear with all. Yet, if I would, my Child, I have mine answer, couldst thou hearken aught.

I nursed thee, and I love thee; and I sought Only some balm to heal thy deep despair, And found--not what I sought for. Else I were Wise, and thy friend, and good, had all sped right.

So fares it with us all in the world's sight.

PHAEDRA First stab me to the heart, then humour me With words! 'Tis fair; 'tis all as it should be!

NURSE We talk too long, Child. I did ill; but, oh, There is a way to save thee, even so!

PHAEDRA A way? No more ways! One way hast thou trod Already, foul and false and loathed of G.o.d!

Begone out of my sight; and ponder how Thine own life stands! I need no helpers now.

[_She turns from the_ NURSE, _who creeps abashed away into the Castle_.]

Only do ye, high Daughters of Trozen, Let all ye hear be as it had not been; Know naught, and speak of naught! 'Tis my last prayer.

LEADER By G.o.d's pure daughter, Artemis, I swear, No word will I of these thy griefs reveal!

PHAEDRA 'Tis well. But now, yea, even while I reel And falter, one poor hope, as hope now is, I clutch at in this coil of miseries; To save some honour for my children's sake; Yea, for myself some fragment, though things break In ruin around me. Nay, I will not shame The old proud Cretan castle whence I came, I will not cower before King Theseus' eyes, Abased, for want of one life's sacrifice!

LEADER What wilt thou? Some dire deed beyond recall?

PHAEDRA (_musing_) Die; but how die?

LEADER Let not such wild words fall!

PHAEDRA (_turning upon her_) Give thou not such light counsel! Let me be To sate the Cyprian that is murdering me!

To-day shall be her day; and, all strife past Her bitter Love shall quell me at the last.

Yet, dying, shall I die another's bane!

He shall not stand so proud where I have lain Bent in the dust! Oh, he shall stoop to share The life I live in, and learn mercy there!

[_She goes off wildly into the Castle_.]

CHORUS

Could I take me to some cavern for mine hiding, In the hill-tops where the Sun scarce hath trod; Or a cloud make the home of mine abiding, As a bird among the bird-droves of G.o.d!

Could I wing me to my rest amid the roar Of the deep Adriatic on the sh.o.r.e, Where the waters of Erida.n.u.s are clear, And Phaethon's sad sisters by his grave Weep into the river, and each tear Gleams, a drop of amber, in the wave.

To the strand of the Daughters of the Sunset, The Apple-tree, the singing and the gold; Where the mariner must stay him from his onset, And the red wave is tranquil as of old; Yea, beyond that Pillar of the End That Atlas guardeth, would I wend; Where a voice of living waters never ceaseth In G.o.d's quiet garden by the sea, And Earth, the ancient life-giver, increaseth Joy among the meadows, like a tree.

O shallop of Crete, whose milk-white wing Through the swell and the storm-beating, Bore us thy Prince's daughter, Was it well she came from a joyous home To a far King's bridal across the foam?

What joy hath her bridal brought her?

Sure some spell upon either hand Flew with thee from the Cretan strand, Seeking Athena's tower divine; And there, where Munychus fronts the brine, Crept by the sh.o.r.e-flung cables' line, The curse from the Cretan water!

And for that dark spell that about her clings, Sick desires of forbidden things The soul of her rend and sever; The bitter tide of calamity Hath risen above her lips; and she, Where bends she her last endeavour?

She will hie her alone to her bridal room, And a rope swing slow in the rafters' gloom; And a fair white neck shall creep to the noose, A-shudder with dread, yet firm to choose The one strait way for fame, and lose The Love and the pain for ever.

[_The Voice of the_ NURSE _is heard from within, crying, at first inarticulately, then clearly_.]

VOICE Help ho! The Queen! Help, whoso hearkeneth!

Help! Theseus' spouse caught in a noose of death!

A WOMAN G.o.d, is it so soon finished? That bright head Swinging beneath the rafters! Phaedra dead!

VOICE O haste! This knot about her throat is made So fast! Will no one bring me a swift blade?

A WOMAN Say, friends, what think ye? Should we haste within, And from her own hand's knotting loose the Queen?

ANOTHER Nay, are there not men there? 'Tis an ill road In life, to finger at another's load.

VOICE Let it lie straight! Alas! the cold white thing That guards his empty castle for the King!

A WOMAN Ah! "Let it lie straight!" Heard ye what she said?

No need for helpers now; the Queen is dead!

[_The Women, intent upon the voices from the Castle, have not noticed the approach of_ THESEUS. _He enters from the left; his dress and the garland on his head show that he has returned from some oracle or special abode of a G.o.d. He stands for a moment perplexed_.]

THESEUS Ho, Women, and what means this loud acclaim Within the house? The va.s.sals' outcry came To smite mine ears far off. It were more meet To fling out wide the Castle gates, and greet With a joy held from G.o.d's Presence!

[_The confusion and horror of the Women's faces gradually affects him.

A dirge-cry comes from the Castle_.]

How?

Not Pittheus? Hath Time struck that h.o.a.ry brow?