Alcestis | Page 9

dear, Remember
that I failed thee not; and you, My children, that your mother loved you
true.
LEADER. Take comfort. Ere thy lord can speak, I swear, If truth is in
him, he will grant thy prayer.
ADMETUS. He will, he will! Oh, never fear for me. Mine hast thou
been, and mine shalt ever be, Living and dead, thou only. None in wide
Hellas but thou shalt be Admetus' bride. No race so high, no face so
magic-sweet Shall ever from this purpose turn my feet. And children ...
if God grant me joy of these, 'Tis all I ask; of thee no joy nor ease He
gave me. And thy mourning I will bear Not one year of my life but
every year, While life shall last.... My mother I will know No more. My
father shall be held my foe. They brought the words of love but not the
deed, While thou hast given thine all, and in my need Saved me. What
can I do but weep alone, Alone alway, when such a wife is gone?... An
end shall be of revel, and an end Of crowns and song and mirth of
friend with friend, Wherewith my house was glad. I ne'er again Will
touch the lute nor ease my heart from pain With pipes of Afric. All the
joys I knew, And joys were many, thou hast broken in two. Oh, I will
find some artist wondrous wise Shall mould for me thy shape, thine
hair, thine eyes, And lay it in thy bed; and I will lie Close, and reach
out mine arms to thee, and cry Thy name into the night, and wait and
hear My own heart breathe: "Thy love, thy love is near." A cold delight;
yet it might ease the sum Of sorrow.... And good dreams of thee will
come Like balm. 'Tis sweet, even in a dream, to gaze On a dear face,
the moment that it stays. O God, if Orpheus' voice were mine, to sing
To Death's high Virgin and the Virgin's King, Till their hearts failed
them, down would I my path Cleave, and naught stay me, not the
Hound of Wrath, Not the grey oarsman of the ghostly tide, Till back to

sunlight I had borne my bride. But now, wife, wait for me till I shall
come Where thou art, and prepare our second home. These ministers in
that same cedar sweet Where thou art laid will lay me, feet to feet, And
head to head, oh, not in death from thee Divided, who alone art true to
me!
LEADER. This life-long sorrow thou hast sworn, I too, Thy friend, will
bear with thee. It is her due.
ALCESTIS. Children, ye heard his promise? He will wed No other
woman nor forget the dead.
ADMETUS. Again I promise. So it shall be done.
ALCESTIS (_giving the children into his arms one after the other_).
On that oath take my daughter: and my son.
ADMETUS. Dear hand that gives, I accept both gift and vow.
ALCESTIS. Thou, in my place, must be their mother now.
ADMETUS. Else were they motherless--I needs must try.
ALCESTIS. My babes, I ought to live, and lo, I die.
ADMETUS. And how can I, forlorn of thee, live on?
ALCESTIS. Time healeth; and the dead are dead and gone.
ADMETUS. Oh, take me with thee to the dark below, Me also!
ALCESTIS. 'Tis enough that one should go.
ADMETUS. O Fate, to have cheated me of one so true!
ALCESTIS (_her strength failing_). There comes a darkness: a great
burden, too.
ADMETUS. I am lost if thou wilt leave me.... Wife! Mine own!

ALCESTIS. I am not thy wife; I am nothing. All is gone.
ADMETUS. Thy babes! Thou wilt not leave them.--Raise thine eye.
ALCESTIS. I am sorry.... But good-bye, children; good-bye.
ADMETUS. Look at them! Wake and look at them!
ALCESTIS. I must go.
ADMETUS. What? Dying!
ALCESTIS. Farewell, husband! [_She dies._]
ADMETUS (_with a cry_). Ah!... Woe, woe!
LEADER. Admetus' Queen is dead!
[While ADMETUS _is weeping silently, and the_ CHORUS _veil their
faces, the_ LITTLE BOY runs up to his dead Mother.]
LITTLE BOY. Oh, what has happened? Mummy has gone away, And
left me and will not come back any more! Father, I shall be lonely all
the day.... Look! Look! Her eyes ... and her arms not like before, How
they lie ... Mother! Oh, speak a word! Answer me, answer me, Mother!
It is I. I am touching your face. It is I, your little bird.
ADMETUS (_recovering himself and going to the Child_). She hears
us not, she sees us not. We lie Under a heavy grief, child, thou and I.
LITTLE BOY. I am so little, Father, and lonely and cold Here without