Hippolytus/The Bacchae | Page 5

[Turning to PHAEDRA _again._] Nay, hear thou shalt, and be, If so thou will, more wild than the wild sea; But know, thou art thy little ones' betrayer! If thou die now, shall child of thine be heir To Theseus' castle? Nay, not thine, I ween, But hers! That barb��d Amazonian Queen Hath left a child to bend thy children low, A bastard royal-hearted--sayst not so?-- Hippolytus...
PHAEDRA Ah! [_She starts up, sitting, and throws the veil off_.]
NURSE That stings thee?
PHAEDRA Nurse, most sore Thou hast hurt me! In God's name, speak that name no more.
NURSE Thou seest? Thy mind is clear; but with thy mind Thou wilt not save thy children, nor be kind To thine own life.
PHAEDRA My children? Nay, most dear I love them,--Far, far other grief is here.
NURSE (_after a pause, wondering_) Thy hand is clean, O Child, from stain of blood?
PHAEDRA My hand is clean; but is my heart, O God?
NURSE Some enemy's spell hath made thy spirit dim?
PHAEDRA He hates me not that slays me, nor I him.
NURSE Theseus, the King, hath wronged thee in man's wise?
PHAEDRA Ah, could but I stand guiltless in his eyes!
NURSE O speak! What is this death-fraught mystery?
PHAEDRA Nay, leave me to my wrong. I wrong not thee.
NURSE (_suddenly throwing herself in supplication at PHAEDRA'S feet_) Not wrong me, whom thou wouldst all desolate leave?
PHAEDRA (_rising and trying to move away_) What wouldst thou? Force me? Clinging to my sleeve?
NURSE Yea, to thy knees; and weep; and let not go!
PHAEDRA Woe to thee, Woman, if thou learn it, woe!
NURSE I know no bitterer woe than losing thee.
PHAEDRA Yet the deed shall honour me.
NURSE Why hide what honours thee? 'Tis all I claim!
PHAEDRA Why, so I build up honour out of shame!
NURSE Then speak, and higher still thy fame shall stand.
PHAEDRA Go, in God's name!--Nay, leave me; loose my hand!
NURSE Never, until thou grant me what I pray.
PHAEDRA (_yielding, after a pause_) So be it. I dare not tear that hand away.
NURSE (_rising and releasing PHAEDRA_) Tell all thou wilt, Daughter. I speak no more.
PHAEDRA (_after a long pause_) Mother, poor Mother, that didst love so sore!
NURSE What mean'st thou, Child? The Wild Bull of the Tide?
PHAEDRA And thou, sad sister, Dionysus' bride!
NURSE Child! wouldst thou shame the house where thou wast born?
PHAEDRA And I the third, sinking most all-forlorn!
NURSE (_to herself_) I am all lost and feared. What will she say?
PHAEDRA From there my grief comes, not from yesterday.
NURSE I come no nearer to thy parable.
PHAEDRA Oh, would that thou could'st tell what I must tell!
NURSE I am no seer in things I wot not of.
PHAEDRA (_again hesitating_) What is it that they mean, who say men...love?
NURSE A thing most sweet, my Child, yet dolorous.
PHAEDRA Only the half, belike, hath fallen on us!
NURSE (_starting_) On thee? Love?--Oh, what say'st thou? What man's son?
PHAEDRA What man's? There was a Queen, an Amazon ...
NURSE Hippolytus, say'st thou?
PHAEDRA (_again wrapping her face in the veil_) Nay, 'twas thou, not I! [PHAEDRA _sinks back on the couch and covers her face again. The_ NURSE _starts violently from her and walks up and down._]
NURSE O God! what wilt thou say, Child? Wouldst thou try To kill me?--Oh, 'tis more than I can bear; Women. I will no more of it, this glare Of hated day, this shining of the sky. I will fling down my body, and let it lie Till life be gone! Women, God rest with you, My works are over! For the pure and true Are forced to evil, against their own heart's vow, And love it! [She suddenly sees the Statue of CYPRIS, _and stands with her eyes riveted upon it._] Ah, Cyprian! No god art thou, But more than god, and greater, that hath thrust Me and my queen and all our house to dust! [_She throws herself on the ground close to the statue._]
CHORUS
Some Women O Women, have ye heard? Nay, dare ye hear The desolate cry of the young Queen's misery?
A Woman My Queen, I love thee dear, Yet liefer were I dead than framed like thee.
Others Woe, woe to me for this thy bitter bane, Surely the food man feeds upon is pain!
Others How wilt thou bear thee through this livelong day, Lost, and thine evil naked to the light? Strange things are close upon us--who shall say How strange?--save one thing that is plain to sight, The stroke of the Cyprian and the fall thereof On thee, thou child of the Isle of fearful Love!
[PHAEDRA _during this has risen from the couch and comes forward collectedly. As she speaks the_ NURSE _gradually rouses herself, and listens more calmly._]
PHAEDRA O Women, dwellers in this portal-seat Of Pelops' land, gazing towards my Crete, How oft, in other days than these, have I Through night's long hours thought of