Chapter 2
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 hiding as a bird among the bird-groves of god could i wing me to my rest amid the roar of the deep adriatic on the shore where the waters of eridanus 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 god'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 municus fronts the brine crept by the shore-flung cable's 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 endeavor she will hie her alone to her bridal room and a rope swing slow in the rafter's gloom and a fair white neck shall creep to the noose a shudder with dread yet firm to choose the one straight 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 help ho the queen help who's the herkinest help ceceus's parish calling the news at death
god is it so soon finish'd that bright head swinging beneath the rafters phaedra dead phaedra oh haste this knot about how freda's maid so fast will no one bring real swift a blade say friends what think ye should we haste within and from her own hands knotting loose the queen greg nay are there not men there tis an ill road in life to finger at another's load let it lie straight alas the cool white thing that guards his empty castle for the king greg 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 god he stands for a moment perplexed ho women and what means this loud acclaim within the house the vassal's outcry came to smite mine ears far off it were more meet to fling out wide the castle gates and greet with the joy held from god's presence
the confusion and horror of the women's faces gradually affects him a dirge cry comes from the castle theus how not pithias hath time struck that hoary brow old is he old i know but sore it were returning thus to find his empty chair the women hesitate then the leader comes forward o theseus not on any old man's head this stroke falls young and tender is the dead ead ye gods one of my children torn from me thy motherless children live most grievously how sayest thou what my wife say how she died in a high death-knot that her own hands tied a fit of the old cold anguish tell me all that held her or did some fresh thing befall we know no more but now arrived we be theseus to mourn for thy calamity
theseus stays for a moment silent and puts his hand on his brow he notices the wreath what and all garlanded i come to her with flowers most evil-starred god's messenger ho varlets loose the portal bars undo the bolts and let me see the bitter view of her whose death hath brought me to mine own the great central door of the castle is thrown open wide and the body of phaedra is seen lying on a bier surrounded by a group of handmaids wailing ah me what thou hast suffered and hast done a deed to wrap this roof in flame why was thine hand so strong thine heart so bold wherefore o dead in anger dead in shame the long long wrestling ere thy breath was cold o ill-starred wife what brought this blackness over all thy life
a throng of men and women has gradually collected ah me this is the last hear o my countrymen and bitterest of theseus labours fortune all unblest how hath thine heavy heel across me passed is it the stain of sins done long ago some fell god still remembereth that must so dim and fret my life with death i cannot win to shore and the waves flow above mine eyes to be surmounted not ah wife sweet wife what name can fit thine heavy lot gone like a wild bird like a blowing flame in one swift gust where all things are forgot alas this misery sure tis some stroke of god's great anger rolled from age to age on me for some dire sin wrought by dim kings of old sire this great grief hath come to many a one a true wife lost thou art not all alone deep deep beneath the earth dark may my dwelling be
and night my heart's one comrade in the dearth o love of thy most sweet society this is my death o phaedra more than thine he turns suddenly on the attendants phaedra speak who speak can what was it what malign swift stroke o heart discouncil'd leapt on thee he bends over phaedra then as no one speaks looks fiercely up phaedra what will ye speak or are they dumb as death this herd of thralls my highhouse harboureth phaedra there is no answer he bends again over phaedra woe woe god brings to birth a new grief here close on the other's tread my life hath lost its worth may all go now with what is finished the castle of my king is overthrown a house no more a house vanished and gone o god if it may be in any way let not this house be wrecked help us who pray
i know not what is here some unseen thing that shows the bird of evil on the wing theseus has read the tablet and breaks out in uncontrollable emotion a horror piled on horror here is writ nay who could bear it who could speak of it what o my king if i may hear it speak doth not the tablet cry aloud yea shriek things not to be forgotten o to fly and hide mine head no more a man am i god what ghastly music echoes here how wild thy voice some terrible thing is near no my lips gates will hold it back no more this deadly word that struggles on the brink and will not o'er yet will not stay unheard he raises his hand to make proclamation to all present ho hearken all this land the people gather expectantly about him
hippolytus by violence hath laid hand on this my wife forgetting god's great eye murmurs of amazement and horror theses apparently calm raises both arms to heaven therefore o thou my father hear my cry poseidon thou didst grant me for mine own three prayers for one of these slay now my son hippolytus let him not outlive this day if true thy promise was lo thus i pray o call that wild prayer back o king take heed i know thou wilt live to rue this deed it may not be and more i cast him out from all my realms he shall be held about by two great dooms or by poseidon's breath he shall fall swiftly to the house of death or wandering outcast o'er strange land and sea shall live and drain the cup of misery ah see here comes he at the point of need to shake off that evil mood o king have heed for all thine house and folk great theseus hear theseus stands silent in fierce gloom hippolytus comes in from the right
father i heard thy cry and sped in fear to help thee but i see not yet the cause that racked thee so say father what it was the murmurs in the crowd the silent gloom of his father and the horror of the chorus women gradually work on hippolytus and bewilder him he catches sight of the bier ah what is that nay father not the queen dead murmurs in the crowd tis most strange tis passing strange i ween twas here i left her scarce an hour hath run since here she stood and looked on this same son what is it with her wherefore did she die theseus remained silent the murmurs increase father to thee i speak o tell me why art thou silent what doth silence know of scyltus stem the bitter flood of woe and human hearts in sorrow crave no more for knowledge though the knowledge grieve them sore it is not love to veil thy sorrows in from one most near to thee and more than kin theseus to himself fond race of men so striving and so blind ten thousand arts and wisdoms can ye find desiring all and all imagining
but ne'er have reached nor understood one thing to make a true heart there where no heart is alex that were indeed beyond man's mysteries to make a false heart true against his will but why this subtle talk it likes me ill father thy speech runs wild beneath this blow theseus as before oh would that god had given us here below some test of love some sifting of the soul to tell the false and true or through the whole of men two voices ran one true and right the other as chance willed it that we might convict the liar by the true man's tone and not live duped forever every one heppolytus misunderstanding him then guessing at something of the truth what hath some friend proved false or in thy ear whispered some slander stand i tainted here though utterly innocent murmurs from the crowd yet dazed am i tis thy words dazed me falling all awry away from reason by fell fancies vexed
o heart of man what height wilt venture next what end comes to thy daring and thy crime for if with each man's life twill higher climb and every age break out in blood and lies beyond its fathers must not god devise some new world far from ours to hold therein such brood of all unfaithfulness and sin look all upon this man my son his life sprung forth from mine he hath defiled my wife and standeth here convicted by the dead a most black villain hippolytus falls back with a cry and covers his face with his robe nay hide not thine head pollution is it thee it will not stain look up and face thy father's eyes again thou friend of gods of all mankind elect thou the pure heart by thoughts of ill i care not for thy boasts i am not mad to deem that gods love best the base and bad now is thy day now vaunt thee thou so pure no flesh of life may pass thy lips
now lure fools after thee call orpheus king and lord make ecstasies and wonders thumb thine hoard of ancient scrolls and ghostly mysteries now thou art caught and known shun men like these i charge ye all with solemn words they chase their prey and in their hearts plot foul disgrace my wife is dead ha so that saves thee now that is what grips thee worst thou caitiff thou what oaths what subtle words shall stronger be than this dead hand to clear the guilt from thee she hated thee thou sayest the bastard born is ever sore and bitter as a thorn to the true brood a sorry bargainer in the ills and goods of life thou makest her if all her best beloved she cast away to wreck blind hate on thee what wilt thou say through every woman's nature one blind strand of passion winds that men scarce understand are we so different know i not the fire and perilous flood of a young man's desire desperate as any woman and as blind whence cyprus stings
save that the man behind has all men's strength to aid him nay twas thou but what avail to wrangle with thee now when the dead speaks for all to understand a perfect witness hie thee from this land to exile with all speed come nevermore to god-built athens not to the utmost shore of any realm where theseus arm is strong what shall i bow my head beneath this wrong and cower to thee not isthmian sinus so will bear men witness that i laid him low nor scyrons rocks that share the salt seas pray grant that my hand hath weight vile things to slay alas whom shall i call of mortal men happy the highest are cast down again father the hot strained fury of thy heart is terrible yet albeit so swift thou art of speech if all this matter were laid bare speech were not then so swift nay nor is fair murmurs again in the crowd i have no skill before a crowd to tell my thoughts twere best with few that know me well
nay that is natural tongues that sound but rude in wise men's ears speak to the multitude with music none the less since there is come this stroke upon me i must not be dumb but speak perforce and there will i begin where thou beganst as though to strip my sin naked and i speak not a word dost see this sunlight and this earth i swear to thee there dwelleth not in these one man deny all that thou wilt more pure of sin than i two things i know on earth god's worship first next to win friends about me few that thirst to hold them clean of all unrighteousness our rule doth curse the tempters and no less who yieldeth to the tempters how thou sayest dupes that i jest at nay i make a jest of no man i am honest to the end near or far off with whom i call my friend and most in that one thing where now thy mesh would grip me stainless quite no woman's flesh hath e'er this body touch'd of all such deed not what i save what things a man may read in pictures or hear spoke nor am i fain being virgin sould to read or hear again
my life of innocence moves thee not so be it show then what hath seduced me let me see it was that poor flesh so passing fair beyond all woman's loveliness was i some fond false plotter that i skimmed to win through her thy castle's fond indeed i were nay a stark madman but a crown thou sayest usurped is sweet nay rather most unblest to all wise-hearted sweet to fools and them whose eyes are blinded by the diadem in contest of all valour fain would i lead hellas but in rank and majesty not lead but be at ease with good men near to love me free to work and not to fear that brings me more joy than any crown or throne he sees from the demeanour of theseus and of the crowd that his words are not winning them but rather making them bitterer than before it comes to his lips to speak the whole truth I have said my say, save one thing, one alone.
Oh, had I here some witness in my need, as I was witness, Could ye hear me plead, face me and face the sunlight? Well, I know our deeds would search us out for thee and show who lies. But now I swear, so hear me both, the earth beneath and Zeus who guards the oath. I never touched this woman that was thine.
no words could win me to it nor incline my heart to dream it may god strike me down nameless and fameless without home or town an outcast and a wanderer of the world may my dead bones rest never but be hurled from sea to land from land to angry sea if evil is my heart and false to thee he waits a moment but sees that his father is unmoved the truth again comes to his lips if twas some fear that made her cast away her life i know not more must i not say right hath she done when in her was no right and right i follow to mine own despite it is enough god's name is witness large and thy great oath to assoil thee of this charge is not the man a juggler and a mage cool wits and one right oath what more to assuage sin and the wrath of injured fatherhood am i so cool nay father tis thy mood that makes me marvel by my faith wert thou the son and i the sire and deemed i now in very truth thou hadst my wife assail'd i had not exil'd thee nor stood and rail'd but lifted once mine arm and struck thee dead
thou gentle judge thou shalt not so be sped to simple death nor by thine own decree swift death is bliss to men in misery far off friendless forever thou shalt drain amid strange cities the last dregs of pain wilt verily cast me now beyond thy pale not wait for time the lifter of the vale ayer ay if i could past pontus and the red atlantic marge so do i hate thine head wilt wait nor oath nor fate nor prophet's word to prove me drive me from thy sight unheard the this tablet here that needs no prophet's lot to speak from tells me all i ponder not thy fowls that fly above us let them fly o ye great gods wherefore unlock not are my lips ere yet ye have slain me utterly ye whom i love most no it may not be the one heart that i need i ne'er should gain to trust me i should break mine oath in vain a death but he chokes me with his saintly tone up get thee from this land begone begone
where shall i turn me think to what friend's door betake me banish'd on a charge so sore who so delights to welcome to his hall vile ravishers to guard his hearth withal thou think'st my heart my tears i let it be thus i am vile to all men and to thee there was a time for tears and thought the time ere thou didst up and gird thee to thy crime ye stones will ye not speak ye castle walls bear witness if i be so vile so false adolph ay fly to voiceless witnesses yet here a dumb deed speaks against thee and speaks clear adolph alas would i could stand and watch this thing and see my face and weep for very pity of me adolph full of thyself as ever not a thought for them that gave thee birth nay they are not o my wrongd mother o my birth of shame may not i love e'er bear a bastard's name thet up thralls and drag him from my presence what tis but a foreign felon heard ye not
the thralls still hesitate in spite of his fury thet they touch me at their peril thine own hand lift if thou canst to drive me from the land thet that will i straight unless my will be done hippolytus comes close to him and kneels nay not for thee my pity get thee gone hippolytus rises makes a sign of submission and slowly moves away theseus as soon as he sees him going turns rapidly and enters the castle the door is closed again hippolytus has stopped for a moment before the statue of artemis and as theseus departs breaks out in prayer so it is done o dark and miserable i see it all but see not how to tell the tale o thou beloved leto's maid chaste comrade fellow-restor in the glade lo i am driven with a caitiff's hand forth from great athens fare ye well o land and city of old erechtheus thou trozen what riches of glad youth mine eyes have seen in thy broad plain farewell this is the end the last word the last look
come every friend and fellow of my youth that still may stay give me god-speed and cheer me on my way ne'er shall ye see a man more pure of spot than me though mine own father loves me not hippolytus goes away to the right followed by many huntsmen and other young men the rest of the crowd has by this time dispersed except the women of the chorus and some men of the chorus of huntsmen surely the thought of the gods hath balm in it alway to win me far from my griefs and a thought deep in the dark of my mind clings to a great understanding yet all the spirit within me faints when i watch men's deeds matched with the girdon they find for good comes in evil's traces and the evil the good replaces and life mid the changing faces wandereth weak and blind what wilt thou grant me o god lo this is the prayer of my travail some well-being and chance not very bitter thereby spirit uncrippled by pain and a mind not deep to unravel truth unseen nor yet dark with the brand of a lie
with a veering mood to borrow its light from every morrow fair friends and no deep sorrow well could man live and die yet my spirit is no more clean and the weft of my hope is torn for the deed of wrong that mine eyes have seen the lie and the rage and the scorn a star among men yes a star that in hellas was bright by a father's wrath driven far to the wilds and the night oh alas for the sands of the shore alas for the breaks of the hill where the wolves shall fear thee no more and thy cry to dictyna is still no more in the yoke of thy car shall the colts of anetia fleet nor limna's echoes quiver afar to the clatter of galloping feet the sleepless music of old that leapt in the lyre ceaseth now and is cold in the halls of thy sire the bowers it is crowned and unladen where artemis lay on the lea and the love dream of many a maiden lost in the losing of thee
and i even i for thy fall o friend amid tears and tears endure to the end of the empty years of a life run dry in vain didst thou bear him thou mother forlorn ye gods that did snare him lo i cast in your faces my hate and my scorn ye love-linked graces alas for the day was he not then to you that ye cast him away the stainless and true from the old happy places look yonder tis the prince's man i ween speeding toward the gate most dark of mien a henchman enters in haste ye women whither shall i go to seek king theseus is he in this dwelling speak lo where he cometh through castle gate o king i bear thee tidings of dire weight to thee ay and to every man i ween from athens to the marches of trozon
what some new stroke hath touched unknown to me the sister cities of my sovereignty he is nay not dead but stark outstretched a hair's breadth this side of the dark how slain was there some other man whose wife he had like mine denied that sought his life alexis his own wild team destroyed him and the dire curse of thy lips the boon of thy great sire is granted thee o king and thy son slain ye gods and thou poseidon not in vain i called thee father thou hast heard my prayer how did he die speak on how closed the snare of heaven to slay the shamer of my blood twas by the bank of the beating sea we stood we thralls and deck'd the steeds and comb'd each main weeping for word had come that ne'er again the foot of our hippolytus should roam this land but waste in exile by thy doom so stood we till he came and in his tone no music now save sorrows like our own and in his train a concourse without end of many a chase fellow and many a friend
at last he brushed his sobs away and spake why this fond loitering i would not break my father's law ho there my coursers four and chariot quick this land is mine no more thereat be sure each man of us made speed swifter than speech we brought them up each steed well dight and shining at our prince's side he grasped the reins upon the rail one stride and there he stood a perfect charioteer each foot in its own station set then clear his voice rose and his arms to heaven were spread o zeus if i be false strike thou me dead but dead or living let my father see one day how falsely he hath hated me even as he spake he lifted up the goad and smote and the steeds sprang and down the road we henchmen followed hard beside the rain each hand to speed him toward the argive plain and epidaurus
so we made our way up toward the desert region where the bay curls to a promontory near the verge of our trozen facing the southward surge of saron's gulf just there an angry sound slow swelling like god's thunder underground broke on us and we trembled and the steeds pricked their ears skyward and threw back their heads and wonder came on all men and affright whence rose that awful voice and swift our sight turned seaward down the salt and roaring sand and there above the horizon seemed to stand a wave unearthly crested in the sky till scurron's cape first vanished from mine eye then sank the isthmus hidden then the rock of epidaurus then it broke one shock and roar of gasping sea and spray flung far and shoreward swept where stood the prince's car
three lines of wave together raced and full in the white crest of them a wild sea-bull flung to the shore a fell and marvellous thing the whole land held his voice and answering roared in each echo and all we gazing there gazed seeing not twas more than eyes could bear then straight upon the team wild terror fell howbeit the prince cool-eyed and knowing well each changing mood a horse has gripped the reins hard in both hands then as an oarsman strains up from his bench so strained he on the thong back in the chariot swinging but the young wild steeds bit hard the curb and fled afar nor rain nor guiding hand nor mortised car stayed them at all for when he veered them round and aimed their flying feet to grassy ground in front uprose that thing and turned again the four great coursers terror mad but when their blind rage drove them toward the rocky places
silent and ever nearer to the traces it followed rockward till one wheel-edge grazed the chariot tripped and flew and all was mazed in turmoil up went wheel box with a din where the rock jagged and knave and axle-pin and there the long reins round him there was he dragging entangled irretrievably a dear head battering at the chariot side sharp rocks and ripped flesh and a voice that cried stay stay o ye who fattened at my stalls dash me not into nothing o thou false curse of my father help help whoso can an innocent innocent and stainless man many there were that labored then i wot to bear him succor
but could reach him not till who knows how at last the tangled rain unclasped him and he fell some little vein of life still pulsing in him all beside the steeds the horned horror of the tide had vanished who knows where in that wild land o king i am a bondsman of thine hand yet love nor fear nor duty me shall win to say thine innocent son hath died in sin all women born may hang themselves for me and swing their dying words from every tree on ida for i know that he was true o god so cometh new disaster new despair and no escape from what must be hate of the man thus stricken lifted me at first to joy at hearing of thy tale but now some shame before the gods some pale pity for mine own blood hath o'er me come i laugh not neither weep at this fell doom
how then behoves it bear him here or how best do thy pleasure speak lord yet if thou wilt mark at all my word thou wilt not be fierce-hearted to thy child in misery ay bring him hither let me see the face of him who durst deny my deep disgrace and his own sin yea speak with him and prove his clear guilt by god's judgments from above the henchman departs to fetch hippolytus theseus sits waiting in stern gloom while the chorus sing at the close of their song a divine figure is seen approaching on a cloud in the air and the voice of artemis speaks thou comest to bend the pride of the hearts of god and man cyprus and by thy side in earth encircling span he of the changing plumes the wing that the world illumes as over the leagues of land flies he over the salt and sounding sea
for mad is the heart of love and gold the gleam of his wing and all to the spell thereof bend when he makes his spring all life that is wild and young in mountain and wave and stream all that of earth is sprung or breathes in the red sun-beam yea and mankind o'er all a royal throne cyprian cyprian is thine alone o thou that rulest in aegeus hall i charge thee hearken yea it is i artemis virgin of god most high thou bitter king art thou glad withal for thy murder'd son for thine ear bent low to a lying queen for thine heart so swift amid things unseen lo all may see what end thou hast won go sink thine head in the waste abyss or aloft to another world than this
birdwise with wings fly far to thine hiding far over this blood that clots and clings for in righteous men and in holy things no rest is thine nor abiding the cloud has become stationary in the air hear theseus all the story of thy grief verily i bring but anguish not relief yet twas for this i came to show how high and clean was thy son's heart that he may die honoured of men ay and to tell no less the frenzy or in some sort the nobleness of thy dead wife one spirit there is whom we that know the joy of white virginity most hate in heaven she sent her fire to run in phedra's veins so that she loved thy son yet strove she long with love and in the stress fell not till by her nurse's craftiness betray'd who stole with oaths of secrecy to entreat thy son
and he most righteously nor did her will nor when thy railing scorn beat on him broke the oath that he had sworn for god's sake and thy phaedra panic eyed wrote a false writ and slew thy son and died lying but thou wast nimble to believe theseus at first bewildered then dumbfounded now utters a deep groan it stings thee theseus nay hear on and grieve yet sorer wottest thou three prayers were thine of sure fulfilment from thy sire divine hast thou no foes about thee then that one thou vile king must be turn'd against thy son the deed was thine thy sea-born sire but heard the call of prayer and bow'd him to his word
but thou in his eyes and in mine art found evil who wouldst not think nor probe nor sound the deeps of prophet's lore nor day by day leave time to search but swifter than man may let loose the curse to slay thine innocent son o goddess let me die nay thou hast done a heavy wrong yet even beyond this ill abides for thee forgiveness twas the will of cyprus that these evil things should be sating her wrath and this immutably hath zeus ordained in heaven no god may thwart a god's fix'd will we grieve but stand apart else but for fear of the great father's blame never had i to such extreme of shame bow'd me be sure as here to stand and see slain him i loved best of mortality thy fault o king its ignorance sunders wide from very wickedness and she who died by death the more disarm'd thee making dumb the voice of question and the storm has come most bitterly of all on thee
yet i have mine own sorrow too when good men die there is no joy in heaven albeit our ire on child and house of the evil falls like fire a throng is seen approaching hippolytus enters supported by his attendants lo it is he the bright young head yet upright there ah the torn flesh and the blood-stained hair alas for the kindred's trouble it falls as fire from a god's hand sped to death and mourning double ah pain pain pain o unrighteous curse o unrighteous sire no hope my head is stabbed with fire and a leaping spasm about my brain stay let me rest i can no more oh fell fell steeds that my own hand fed have ye maimed me thus have ye maimed me and slain that loved me of yore soft there ye thralls no trembling hands as ye lift me now who is that who stands at the right now firm and with a measured tread lift one accursed and stricken sore by a father sinning
thou zeus dost see me yea it is i the proud and pure the server of god the white and shining in sanctity to a visible death to an open sword i walk my ways and all the labor of saintly days lost lost without meaning o god it crawls this agony over me let be ye thralls come death and cover me come o thou healer blest but a little more and my soul is clear and the anguish o'er oh a spear a spear to rend my soul to its rest oh strange false curse was there some blood-stained head some father of my line unpunished whose guilt lived in his kin and passed and slept till after this long day it lights why on me me far away and innocent of sin o words that cannot save when will this breathing end in that last deep pain that is painlessness tis sleep i crave
when wilt thou bring me sleep thou dark and midnight magic of the grave sore stricken man bethink thee in this stress thou dost but die for thine own nobleness ah o breath of heavenly fragrance though my pain burns i can feel thee and find rest again the goddess artemis is with me here with thee and loving thee poor sufferer dost see me mistress nearing my last sleep ay and would weep for thee if gods could weep who now shall hunt with thee or hold thy quiver he dies but my love cleaves to him for ever who guide thy chariot keep thy shrine flowers fresh the accursed cyprian caught him in her mesh the cyprian
now i see it ay t was she she miss'd her worship loath'd thy chastity ha three lives by her one hand tis all clear now thy father and his queen and thou my father yea he too is pitiable a plotting goddess tripp'd him and he fell father where art thou o thou sufferest sore even unto death child there is joy no more i pity thee in this coil i more than me would i could lie there dead instead of thee o bitter bounty of poseidon's love would god my lips had never breathed thereof nay thine own rage had slain me then somewise a lying spirit had made blind mine eyes ah me would that a mortal's curse could reach to god
let be for not though deep beneath the sod thou liest not unrequited nor unsung shall this fell stroke from cypress rancor sprung quell thee mine own the saintly and the true my hand shall win its vengeance through and through piercing with flawless shaft what heart soe'er of all men living is most dear to her yea and to thee for this sore travail's sake honours most high in trozen will i make for yokeless maids before their bridal night shall shear for thee their tresses and a rite of honouring tears be thine in ceaseless store and virgin's thoughts in music evermore turn toward thee and praise thee in the song of phedra's far-famed love and thy great wrong o seed of ancient aegeus bend thee now and clasp thy son ay hold and fear not thou not knowingly hast thou slain him and man's way when gods send error needs must fall astray and thou hippolytus shrink not from the king thy father thou wast born to bear this thing farewell i may not watch man's fleeting breath nor strain mine eyes with the affluence of death and sure that terror now is very near
the cloud slowly rises and floats away farewell farewell most blessed lift thee clear of soiling men thou wilt not grieve in heaven for my long love father thou art forgiven it was her will i am not wroth with thee i have obeyed her all my days ah me the dark is drawing down upon mine eyes it hath me father hold me help me rise theseus supporting him in his arms ah woe how dost thou torture me my son i see the great gates opening i am gone gone and my hand red reeking from this thing nay nay thou art assoiled of man-slaying ephraim thou leavest me clear of murder sayest thou so ephraim yes by the virgin of the stainless bow ephraim dear son ah
now i see thy nobleness ephraim pray that a true-born child may fill my place ephraim ah me thy righteous and god-fearing heart ephraim farewell a long farewell dear father ere we part theseus bends down and embraces him passionately not yet o hope and bear while thou hast breath lo i have borne my burden this is death quick father lay the mantle on my face theseus covers his face with a mantle and rises ye bounds of pallas and of pelop's race what greatness have ye lost woe woe is me thou cyprian long shall i remember thee on all this folk both low and high a grief hath fallen beyond men's fears there cometh the throbbing of many tears a sound as of waters falling but when great men die a mighty name and a bitter cry rise up from a nation calling
they move into the castle carrying the body of hippolytus and of part two and of hippolytus by euripides translated by julbert murray For more information, visit www.fema.org
