Phaedra | Page 4

more in lovely Troezen. In doubt that racks my soul with mortal
anguish, I grow ashamed of such long idleness. Six months and more
my father has been gone, And what may have befallen one so dear I
know not, nor what corner of the earth Hides him.
THERAMENES And where, prince, will you look for him? Already, to
content your just alarm, Have I not cross'd the seas on either side Of
Corinth, ask'd if aught were known of Theseus Where Acheron is lost
among the Shades, Visited Elis, doubled Toenarus, And sail'd into the
sea that saw the fall Of Icarus? Inspired with what new hope, Under
what favour'd skies think you to trace His footsteps? Who knows if the
King, your father, Wishes the secret of his absence known? Perchance,
while we are trembling for his life, The hero calmly plots some fresh
intrigue, And only waits till the deluded fair--
HIPPOLYTUS Cease, dear Theramenes, respect the name Of Theseus.
Youthful errors have been left Behind, and no unworthy obstacle
Detains him. Phaedra long has fix'd a heart Inconstant once, nor need
she fear a rival. In seeking him I shall but do my duty, And leave a
place I dare no longer see.
THERAMENES Indeed! When, prince, did you begin to dread These
peaceful haunts, so dear to happy childhood, Where I have seen you oft

prefer to stay, Rather than meet the tumult and the pomp Of Athens and
the court? What danger shun you, Or shall I say what grief?
HIPPOLYTUS That happy time Is gone, and all is changed, since to
these shores The gods sent Phaedra.
THERAMENES I perceive the cause Of your distress. It is the queen
whose sight Offends you. With a step-dame's spite she schemed Your
exile soon as she set eyes on you. But if her hatred is not wholly
vanish'd, It has at least taken a milder aspect. Besides, what danger can
a dying woman, One too who longs for death, bring on your head? Can
Phaedra, sick'ning of a dire disease Of which she will not speak, weary
of life And of herself, form any plots against you?
HIPPOLYTUS It is not her vain enmity I fear, Another foe alarms
Hippolytus. I fly, it must be own'd, from young Aricia, The sole
survivor of an impious race.
THERAMENES What! You become her persecutor too! The gentle
sister of the cruel sons Of Pallas shared not in their perfidy; Why
should you hate such charming innocence?
HIPPOLYTUS I should not need to fly, if it were hatred.
THERAMENES May I, then, learn the meaning of your flight? Is this
the proud Hippolytus I see, Than whom there breathed no fiercer foe to
love And to that yoke which Theseus has so oft Endured? And can it be
that Venus, scorn'd So long, will justify your sire at last? Has she, then,
setting you with other mortals, Forced e'en Hippolytus to offer incense
Before her? Can you love?
HIPPOLYTUS Friend, ask me not. You, who have known my heart
from infancy And all its feelings of disdainful pride, Spare me the
shame of disavowing all That I profess'd. Born of an Amazon, The
wildness that you wonder at I suck'd With mother's milk. When come
to riper age, Reason approved what Nature had implanted. Sincerely
bound to me by zealous service, You told me then the story of my sire,
And know how oft, attentive to your voice, I kindled when I heard his
noble acts, As you described him bringing consolation To mortals for
the absence of Alcides, The highways clear'd of monsters and of
robbers, Procrustes, Cercyon, Sciro, Sinnis slain, The Epidaurian
giant's bones dispersed, Crete reeking with the blood of Minotaur. But
when you told me of less glorious deeds, Troth plighted here and there
and everywhere, Young Helen stolen from her home at Sparta, And

Periboea's tears in Salamis, With many another trusting heart deceived
Whose very names have 'scaped his memory, Forsaken Ariadne to the
rocks Complaining, last this Phaedra, bound to him By better ties,--you
know with what regret I heard and urged you to cut short the tale,
Happy had I been able to erase From my remembrance that unworthy
part Of such a splendid record. I, in turn, Am I too made the slave of
love, and brought To stoop so low? The more contemptible That no
renown is mine such as exalts The name of Theseus, that no monsters
quell'd Have given me a right to share his weakness. And if my pride of
heart must needs be humbled, Aricia should have been the last to tame
it. Was I beside myself to have forgotten Eternal barriers of separation
Between us? By my father's stern command Her brethren's blood must
ne'er