Iphigenia in Tauris | Page 9

return'd,?And shortly after died, a contest fierce?For the succession and their father's wealth,?Parted the brothers. I the eldest joined;?He slew the second; and the Furies hence?For kindred murder dog his restless steps.?But to this savage shore the Delphian god?Hath sent us, cheer'd by hope, commanding us?Within his sister's temple to await?The blessed hand of aid. We have been ta'en,?Brought hither, and now stand for sacrifice.?My tale is told.
IPHIGENIA
Tell me, is Troy o'erthrown?

Assure me of its fall.
PYLADES.
It lies in ruins.

But oh, ensure deliverance to us!?Hasten, I pray, the promis'd aid of heav'n.?Pity my brother, say a kindly word;?But I implore thee, spare him when thou speakest.?Too easily his inner mind is torn?By joy, or grief, or cruel memory.?A feverish madness oft doth seize on him,?Yielding his spirit, beautiful and free,?A prey to furies.
IPHIGENIA.
Great as is thy woe,

Forget it, I conjure thee, for a while,?Till I am satisfied.
PYLADES.
The stately town,

Which ten long years withstood the Grecian host,?Now lies in ruins, ne'er to rise again;?Yet many a hero's grave will oft recall?Our sad remembrance to that barbarous shore;?There lies Achilles and his noble friend.
IPHIGENIA.?And are ye, godlike forms, reduc'd to dust!
PYLADES.?Nor Palamede, nor Ajax, ere again?The daylight of their native land behold.
IPHIGENIA.?He speaks not of my father, doth not name?Him with the fallen. He may yet survive!?I may behold him! still hope on, my heart!
PYLADES.?Yet happy are the thousands who receiv'd?Their bitter death-blow from a hostile hand!?For terror wild, and end most tragical,?Some hostile, angry, deity prepar'd,?Instead of triumph, for the home-returning.?Do human voices never reach this shore??Far as their sound extends, they bear the fame?Of deeds unparallel'd. And is the woe?Which fills Mycene's halls with ceaseless sighs?To thee a secret still?--And know'st thou not?That Clytemnestra, with ?gisthus' aid,?Her royal consort artfully ensnar'd,?And murder'd on the day of his return?--?The monarch's house thou honourest! I perceive?Thy heaving bosom vainly doth contend?With tidings fraught with such unlook'd-for woe?Art thou the daughter of a friend? or born?Within the circuit of Mycene's walls??Do not conceal it, nor avenge on me?That here the horrid crime I first announc'd.
IPHIGENIA.?Proceed, and tell me how the deed was done.
PYLADES.?The day of his return, as from the bath?Arose the monarch, tranquil and refresh'd.?His robe demanding from his consort's hand,?A tangl'd garment, complicate with folds.?She o'er his shoulders flung and noble head;?And when, as from a net, he vainly strove?To extricate himself, the traitor, base??gisthus, smote him, and envelop'd thus?Great Agamemnon sought the shades below.
IPHIGENIA.?And what reward receiv'd the base accomplice?
PYLADES.?A queen and kingdom he possess'd already.
IPHIGENIA.?Base passion prompted, then, the deed of shame?
PYLADES.?And feelings, cherish'd long, of deep revenge.
IPHIGENIA.?How had the monarch injured Clytemnestra?
PYLADES.?By such a dreadful deed, that if on earth?Aught could exculpate murder, it were this.?To Aulis he allur'd her, when the fleet?With unpropitious winds the goddess stay'd;?And there, a victim at Diana's shrine,?The monarch, for the welfare of the Greeks,?Her eldest daughter doom'd. And this, 'tis said,?Planted such deep abhorrence in her heart,?That to ?gisthus she resign'd herself,?And round her husband flung the web of death.
IPHIGENIA. (veiling herself).?It is enough! Thou wilt again behold me.
PYLADES, alone.?The fortune of this royal house, it seems,?Doth move her deeply. Whosoe'er she be,?She must herself have known the monarch well;--?For our good fortune, from a noble house,?She hath been sold to bondage. Peace, my heart!?And let us steer our course