University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE SECOND.

Electra, Clytemnestra, Ægisthus.
Elec.
The day is calm; the passion of the winds
And of the roaring billows is no more;
Our hope is now matured to certainty,
And every apprehension changed to joy.
The wish'd-for port to gain th'Argive prows
Advance; and at a distance one beholds
Their sail-yards tower, dense as a moving wood.
Mother, thy spouse is safe; my father lives.
I learn, that first he leap'd upon the strand,
And, with swift step, advances towards Argos:
Already he is almost at the gates,
And yet thou standest here.

Cly.
Remember thou
Thy oath, Ægisthus.

Elec.
Will Ægisthus, too,
Go forth with us to meet the king of kings?

Cly.
'Tis an unworthy triumph thus, O daughter,
With bitter words to wound the unfortunate.

Ægis.
Perhaps to Electra's ears, Ægisthus' name
Is too offensive. With Ægisthus' heart
She is yet unacquainted.

Elec.
With that heart
Better am I acquainted than thou think'st.
Were it as well known to my blinded mother!

Cly.
By the fierce discord of thy ancestors,
O daughter, thou art blinded. Of Ægisthus,
Save that he is the offspring of Thyestes,
Thou knowest nothing. Wherefore, then, disdain
To hear how pious, humble, and discreet,
He is, how worthy of a birth less guilty?
Conscious of that disgrace, erewhile he wished
To fly from Argos, and withdraw himself
From prosperous Agamemnon's haughty presence.

Elec.
Why does he not go now? what keeps him here?

Ægis.
Be calm: I stay but for a little while.
The sight of one who never hated thee,
But whom so much thou hatest, by to-morrow
Shall be for ever from thine eyes removed.
I swore it to the queen a short time since,
And shall make good my words.

Cly.
What a hard heart
Dost thou possess! Ah see, to the fierce rancour
Which all thy accents breathe, he nought opposes
But patience and humility.

Elec.
I came not
His rare perfections to investigate.
My duty led me hither to acquaint thee
With Agamemnon's coming; and to tell thee
That all the Argives, of all ranks, all ages,
With joyful plaudits, festively, in crowds,
With emulous haste, rush forth to escort him hither.
Ere now I should have rush'd into the arms
Of my long-wished-for father; but could I,
A daughter only, thus anticipate
A mother's footsteps? Thus the first usurp
The fond embraces to a consort due?
Why dost thou now delay? Ah let us go,
'Twould be almost a crime to tarry longer.

Cly.
Electra, thou dost know, and know too well,
The infirm state of my afflicted heart.
Canst thou exult thus to transfix that heart
With these repeated blows?

Elec.
The gods can witness
How much I love thee, mother; how my breast
Bleeds with compassion for thee: love impels,
And pity likewise, to whate'er I do.
Would'st thou be found thus at Ægisthus' side
When first the king accosts thee? Thou disclosest,
By longer tarriance, what thou wouldest conceal.—
Let us depart.

Ægis.
Ah! lady, I beseech thee,
Go; and persist not in thy own destruction.

Cly.
I could not tremble as I tremble now,
If t'inevitable death I went.
Oh dreadful meeting! moment of despair!
Whence can I summon such a fund of courage,
That 'twill not at his presence all forsake me.
He is my lord; and though I have not wrong'd him,
Except in thought, I cannot, cannot see him,
Without, at the first glance, betraying all.
I cannot, and I will not, feign affection ...
Oh day! to me of woe unutterable!

Elec.
Rather to us a day of consolation!
I feel that I shall now regain my mother.
Feel'st thou remorse? no longer art thou guilty.

Ægis.
Wert thou e'er guilty? Thou hadst cause to think
Thy husband dead; and, mistress of thy actions,
Thoughtest to give to me thy bridal hand—
Who can ascribe a thought like this to guilt?
He knows it not, except thou tell him of it.
Thou art not guilty; nor, when in his presence,
Hast cause to tremble. Thou wilt soon discover,
That his invulnerable breast retains,
For thy slain daughter, no compunctious pangs,
From his example learn to be secure.

Elec.
Dar'st thou with thy mortiferous tongue assperse
The name of Agamemnon? Let us go.
Ah, mother, let this be the last advice
That thou wilt hear from him.

Cly.
Thy oath, Ægisthus:
Remember thou hast sworn.

Ægis.
One day remains.

Cly.
Oh heavens! one day? ...

Elec.
Too long for one that's impious.