 | Jason |  |
SCENE IV.
The Spirit vanishes. Melampus and Madauces.MELAMPUS.
Malignant voice, thy threat'nings I defy.
MADAUCES.
There spoke my hero like himself.
MELAMPUS.
Why surely
Thou couldst not think a phantom of the night
Could shake my long-try'd firmness. No, Madauces,
I fear no other than the direful image
Within me borne, and planted on my heart:
All else, apparell'd in the blackest terrors,
The monster's brood, the necromancer's spell,
Whate'er the name of Demogorgon draws
From Pluto's borders, I can face, unmov'd.
Thou then, whose mind delib'rate age and science
Have cloth'd in wisdom, give thy last instruction,
And my swift sword shall execute thy counsel.
The voice of a Nymph from behind the scene.
Whence is this wand'rer, who defiles our groves
With foul contagion from his perjur'd breath?
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It is Iolchian Jason, who, forsworn,
Betray'd his love; the weak ungrateful Jason,
Who for Creüsa, Creon's heir, abandon'd
The wife Medea, offspring of the sun.
THIRD VOICE.
Ye woods, ye rocks, ye hollow-winding shores,
Ye caverns, sound the perjuries of Jason.
MELAMPUS.
I am reveal'd. My echo'd name disturbs
The nymphs, and fills their solitude with horror.
MADAUCES.
It is the cry of demons, to confound
Thy resolution.
MELAMPUS.
They declare me perjur'd.
Speak they not truth, Madauces? I am Jason,
That impious false-one. I betray'd Medea,
Who sav'd me from dishonour, who subdu'd
The Colchian monsters, bless'd my toils with love,
And crown'd my triumphs with the golden fleece.
I slew my children by her frantic hand.
Oh, my poor slaughter'd boys! Your father's falsehood
Gave birth to madness, which destroy'd you both!
MADAUCES.
Aid not thy foes.
MELAMPUS.
The bloody act was mine.
Ye fiends, divulge my parricide and treason;
Blast with your taunting breath my strength, my courage:
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May sepulchre my sorrow and my shame.
MADAUCES.
Dost thou forget th' engagement to Orontes?
Doth thy performance slacken?
MELAMPUS.
No. Direct me
To rush on danger.
MADAUCES.
Summon thy attention.
Last night, when all was silent in the skies,
The moon, then smiling on me, I invok'd,
And charm'd a willing spirit from her orb.
By his fair guidance o'er the mead, I pluck'd
A flower, which opens to her mystic beams,
And shuts its bosom in the blaze of day.
Nine drops of precious moisture from this flower
Have bless'd with safety thy anointed spear;
Whose touch, unbarring those enchanted gates,
From magic durance shall protect thy body,
And visionary forms of peril quell:
The rest thy manly conduct must accomplish.
Now grasp the spear, nor quit thy sinewy hold!
This once forsaken, leaves thee to perdition.
The voice of a Fiend behind the scene.
How can the guilty prosper?
SECOND VOICE.
From his hand,
Enervated by crimes, the sword shall fall.
THIRD VOICE.
His spear shall break, his corselet be unbrac'd.
The faithless heart no buckler shall defend.
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Fiends, do you brave me? O victorious deeds,
Which heretofore have dignify'd my arm,
Now rise in thought, and animate my bosom;
While, rending glory from the front of horror,
I add new lustre to your splendid roll.
| Jason | |