University of Virginia Library

ACT II.

Iphigenia. Euphrosine.
Iph.
How strangely she seem'd mov'd in the Relation?

Euph.
But how differently?
Now quite transported with th'Heroick Action.

Iph.
Then at their Victory as much enrag'd,
And at their usage of her mortify'd.

Euph.
But pleas'd.

Iph.
Yet in the midst of joy disdaining to be pleas'd.

Euph.
Sollicitous about th'event,
Impatient till 'tis known.

Iph.
So uncommanding of herself
Till now I ne're observ'd her.

Euph.
Shou'd but her Scythians intercept the Grecians,
You'll find her show a passion still more impotent.

A distant shout.
Iph.
What dost thou mean? 'tis what her Soul desires.
But the hoarse eccho of that distant shout
Tells us that we too long defer obedience
To what she now commanded, that while she
Her private Offerings paid to Great Diana,
We should advance toward the Cliffs dreadful brow,
From which the fearful downfal of the Precipice,
And the wild Horrors of the Rocky Beach
Lye subject to our view, from thence she thinks
We something may descry.
But ah! see there, see where the noble Strangers,
Prostrate and groveling on the stormy Beach,
Surrounded lye on ev'ry side by Fate.
The murdring Scythian shouting on the one side,
And the mad Euxin bellowing on the other,
And blanching with its flying foam their garments.
And now the savage croud all pours upon them.
Shout at distance.
And now they send up barbarous shouts to Heav'n.
Alas, they'll murder them; turn, turn Euphrosine,
My Soul this cruel prospect cannot bear.

Euph.
They dare not touch them, for perhaps the Queen,
The Queen can less endure this sight than you.

Iph.
What dost thou mean? Thou talkst in Riddles.

Euph.
Then to explain this Riddle, know she loves.

Iph.
Whom?

Euph.
A Grecian.

Iph.
One of the Strangers? at first sight? impossible.

Euph.
Oh no!
I yet remember stranger thiugs in Greece,
Young as I was, when I was torn from thence:
You have prepar'd her heart for this fierce passion.

Iph.
I?

Euph.
You.
Tho Nature has indu'd her with a mind
Above her Climate, and above her Sex,
Still as a woman, she was born to Love,
Yet Love she never knew before this hour.
For you still whisper d to her Listning Soul
So much of Grecian worth, and Grecian virtue,
That she has utterly contemn'd her Scythians.
All you have said these noble youths make good,
These are the only objects worthy her
That ever she beheld, and at the sight
Her sympathizing Soul took speedy fire.

Iph.
Thou rav'st: 'Tis meer Imagination all.

Euph.
You were too much concern'd to observe her nicely,
Else had you plainly seen her words, her gestures,
Her mien, her eyes, and all her soul declare it.

Shout aloud.
Iph.
But hark?
Whence the rude noise of this audacious shout,
So near this hallow'd place?

Enter Scythian.
Scyth.
Where is the Queen?

Iph.
What would'st thou have? the Queen is in a place
Where for thy life thou must not dare t'approach.

Scyth.
Of the four Grecians two are now her Captives,
And with slow solemn march are guarded towards the Temple.

Iph.
What have I heard?

Euph.
What are they?

Scyth.
Grecians, we know no more.

Euph.
Then heard you not their names?

Scith.
Their names by strictest Oaths they enjoyn'd each other
Not to pronounce.

Euph.
What numbers of you took them?

Scyth.
We took them not by advantage of our numbers,
But by the powerful influence of our Goddess,
Thrice had we now without success attack'd them,
From supernatural aid they drew their safety.
Oft Castor and his Brother they invok'd,
And some affirm these two Auxiliar Gods
Apparently sustain'd them.
Our Scythians now from neighhouring Rocks came pouring,
And we a fresh and fourth attack prepar'd.
The Grecians, the two friendly Gods invok'd,
Th'avenging pow'r of Great Diana we,
That in the Clouds inthron'd with Silver Glory,
Illustrated the Horrors of the Combat.
VVhen of the Grecians, one, to our astonishment,
Starting from out the rest in fearful manner,
Fix'd on the empty Air his staring eyes,
He shook his Temples, and his Teeth he gnash'd,
And then he fetch'd a groan that seem'd to rend
His vital Thread asunder; then like a Lyon
He formidably roar'd, Dost thou not see,
Dost thou not see th'abominable Fiend?
Dost thou not see th'inexorable Fury?
Look how her bloody mouth spouts purple foam,
And her black Nostrils, cataracts of Fire!
Gods! how her cruel eyes shoot horrors thro my Soul!
Save me, y' eternal pow'rs, for see she comes,
The dreadful Goddess comes, and now she raves,
And now her hissing curling Snakes erect
Their coal black Crests, and dart their forky Tongues'
Do you see their odious eyes? I cannot bear them.
Damnation! how their fiery glances sting me!
But oh what shape, what dismal shape is that,
That staring wide with stony eyes behind them,
Appears more dreadful than ten thousand furies!
Oh 'tis my—

Euph.
VVhat follow'd?

Scyth.
The rest with hollow dying sounds,
Imperfectly pronouncing.
He foam'd, he inward rowl'd his ghastly eyes,
And groaning, down he fell entranc'd before us

Iph.
Poor wretched man! how influenc'd this the rest?

Scyth.
VVhile with astonishment all eyes were fix'd
On such a dreadful, such a wondrous object;
Two of them took the advantage of the occasion,
And sliding in between the craggy Piles
Of numerous Rocks invironing the Bay,
Were quickly in their winding mazes lost.

Euph.
What did the fourth in consequence of him?

Scyth.
He, neither fled nor fought, nor yet submitted,
Anothers danger took up all his Soul,
Regardless of his own.
For now th'entranc'd beginning to revive,
Lay strongly struggling on the Beach with Fate;
At which our Scythians all their rage recover'd,
And at him levell'd all their deadly Javelins;
When he stood before him shrieking out,
Threw himself backward on the prostrate wretch,
And made his Breast the Buckler of his Friend.

Euph.
The noble deed deserves eternal fame.

Iph.
'Tis a true Grecian Action;
An Action truly worthy of the Clime,
Fertile in Heroes and in Demi-gods.

Euph.
That Action sure might melt even Scythian hearts.

Scyth.
It did not only melt, but ravish them.
The God-like deed with general shout applauding,
Down we unanimously threw our Javelins,
And the contention that remain'd,
Was who should save the Grecians.
Running, we gently rear'd them from the ground,
And cherish'd him who wanted most our help;
Till quickly we recall'd his fleeting Spirit.
Then into different Bands we all dividing,
Some ran among the Rocks to seek the Flyers,
And to the Temple some conduct the Captives.
But see they now draw near.

Iph.
Euphrosine, inform the Queen of this,
VVhile I receive the Grecians.

Euph.
Be wise, and come away.
Why would you see a sight that would distract you?

Iph.
I would to Heaven it would, for that distraction
VVould drown a world of woe in sweet forgetfulness;
'Tis better surely not to know, than knowing,
To know that we are infinitely miserable.
But if I cannot bear these objects here,
How shall I then endure them at the Altar?
How shall I there approach them? how shall I there—
Let me not think of it, that thought has Daggers in it.

Euph.
Be wise, and come away.

Iph.
These noble youths bring news from Greece, Euphrosine,
'Tis now five years since I beheld a Grecian;
Oh how I long to hear from my dear Country.
Besides, consider what I left in Greece.
I left a Father there.

Euph.
A cruel one.

Iph.
Let him be cruel, still I am his Daughter;
I left a Mother there, she was not cruel.
Her very eyes were not so dear as I to her.
I owe my very life, I owe my all,
To her exceeding Tenderness!
There too I left the darling of my Soul,
The darling of my Virgin Soul, a Brother,
On whose young Temples scarce the seventh Summer
Had shed its golden Down.
Can I be thought to have left all these behind,
And to have left them all behind entirely?
Ah no! Their Images are here, Euphrosine;
And here remind me of the dear Originals,
Incessantly remind me.
There are no other objects here of tenderness
Or none, excepting thee.
And I, thou know'st am in my nature soft.
Then to indulge that softness strait retire,
And leave me here, to ask these noble youths
After my Country and my dear Relations.
Ex. Euph.
Enter Orestes. Pilades. Guard.
Approach ye most unfortunate of men!
Ill-fated youths, the Sons of wretched Parents!
Wretched your Brothers, and your Sisters miserable!

Or.
Madam, we know we are your Victims,
And come resolv'd to dye.
For Souls undaunted; why this vain compassion?
By you we bleed, and you deplore our destiny,
If that you think by softning our firm minds
To make death dreadful to us, you mistake us.
To Souls prepar'd, such little arts are vain;
Not all your Scythian Javelins once could daunt us,
Nor can your Female Lamentations melt us.
Your cruel Gods, when we approach their Altars
Shall blush, to see two men, two dying men
Unshaken and undaunted as themselves,
Amidst their high security.

Iph.
So high a mind in such a low condition!
But from whence are you miserable men!
How long have ye been wanderers from your Country!
A long, long time 'twill be, e're you return to it.

Or.
Seek not to soften us by vain inquiries,
Nor to disturb us in our hour of Death.

Iph.
Grecians! you are I see, but of what Province?
I must be answer'd; my reasons are most urgent.

Or.
How should our answers possibly concern you?

Iph.
Are you Brothers?

Or.
We are not so near as Brothers, and yet nearer.

Iph.
Then you are Friends it seems:
What may we call you?

Or.
Miserable!

Iph.
That is the name which Fortune has bestow'd upon you:
I ask not after that.

Or.
The more we keep our names conceal'd
The more we keep this shameful Fate conceal'd!
This Fate so much unworthy of us.
Tho our Hearts bleed, our Names shall never suffer.

Iph.
Say then, what State, what City gave you Birth?

Or.
Madam, we came resolv'd to dye;
And Death is now our business!

Iph.
There's time enough, alas, for Death,
And long you will enjoy him.
Answer me first; oblige me so far, Grecian.

Or.
Argos, renown'd throughout the World's my Country.

Iph.
Ha! Argos! Is it possible? O Heav'ns!
Tell me the truth, I here conjure thee, Grecian.

Or.
Within Mycænæs Walls I first saw light,
Mycænæ, once the Towring Queen of Cities.

Iph.
And yet you left it for this dismal place.

Or.
Ev'n so the gods would have it.

Iph.
They're welcome Guests to me who come from Argos.

Or.
And Death's the hearty welcome we expect.

Iph.
Grecian, you may inform me of some things,
Which most my impatient Soul desires to know.

Or.
You will be answer'd, speak.

Iph.
You have heard of Troy, whose Fame has fill'd the Universe?

Or.
Oh, would to Jove I ne're had heard of Troy,
Not in my very Dreams!

Iph.
'Tis said it now by Fate of War lies low.

Or.
But oh severely have its Heav'nly Founders
Upon its Conquerors reveng'd its fall.

Iph.
Is Hellen at the last return'd?

Or.
As fatally to some of mine,
As ever she departed.

Iph.
She once had like t'have fatal prov'd to me too!

Or.
My obligations to her are well known.

Iph.
The common hatred of all Grecians she.
Say, are those Grecians yet come back?
Is Calchas yet return'd?

Or.
The lying Prophet perish'd on th'Ægean.

Iph.
And Ulysses?

Or.
A wanderer upon Earth and Sea,
The outcast of the world.

Iph.
At length then halting vengeance has o'retaken them.
And proud Achilles! lives he?

Or.
In Fields, where once Troy stood, his Head lies low,
And he in vain at Aulis was contracted
To wretched Iphigenia.

Iph.
False fatal Marriage!
The fraud of Calchas, and of dire Ulysses!
aside.
But run there any Rumours now in Greece,
Touching the Fate of that unhappy Princess?

Or.
She who was sacrific'd at Aulis?

Iph.
She.

Or.
Alas!
They talk of her as of a pleasing vision
Sent down from Heav'n to chear our eyes a moment,
And then to Re-ascend.
But, Madam, who are you, who here enquire
Thus circumstantially of Grecian matters?

Iph.
I too was born in Greece, and young was torn from it.
Should I proceed, my story is so strange,
That it could ne're find credit with you.
How bears the General his high Felicity?

Or.
What General? I am grown an utter stranger,
Ev'n to the very names of all the happy.

Iph.
The King of Kings, Imperial Agamemnon.

Or.
I cannot, will not speak, enquire no further.

Iph.
Now by the Gods proceed, I here conjure you
'Tis a long time since last my Soul knew comfort.

Or.
The King of Kings, is now but common clay.

Iph.
Then are his Children wretched; say, how died he?

Or.
Most miserably, for himself and others?

Iph.
Alas! but how?

Or.
As Troy and Priam tumbled from their height,
As all the Race of Tantalus has faln,
So perish'd Agamemnon by a Woman.

Iph.
A wretched creature sure, whoe're she be.

Or.
She weeps, by Heav'n; from whence these flowing tears?

Iph.
I mourn, reflecting on his former happiness,
I mourn the sad vicissitudes of Fate,
The ills that every hour befal Mortality,
The common sad condition of poor man,
My own forlorn estate. How bears the Queen?—

Or.
Hold! by the Gods I here conjure you hold,
By vain enquiry plague my Soul no more.

Iph.
Answer this once, and I have done for ever:
How bears the Queen this terrible disaster.

Or.
The Queen still met a more Tremendous Destiny.

Iph.
Dissolve me Gods into a flood of Tears.
aside.
How fell she?

Or.
Alas, 'tis terrible, it shakes my Nature;
She fell by—

Iph.
Whom?

Or.
By the curst wretch to whom she gave his Being.

Iph.
By her own Son? Astonishment of woe!
Wherefore?

Or.
His Royal Father he reveng'd,
Whom barbarously she murder'd.

Iph.
Murder'd!
O Horror upon Horror! Dismal Race,
The true Descent of Tantalus!
Deplorable the Crime, and dire the Vengeance!

Or.
And direly have the Gods repaid him.

Iph.
Resides he now at Argos?

Or.
Every where, and no where.

Enter Euphrosine. Iphigenia goes to her.
Euph.
Madam, the Queen approaches.

Or.
Hast thou observ'd that Lady well, my Friend,
That's so acquainted with th'affairs of Greece?

Pil.
I have.

Or.
Methinks there's much of Hellen in her form.

Pil.
I was about t'inform you that I thought so.

Or.
That very Air that set the world on fire.

Pil.
As sweet, yet check'd by something that's severe.
And see the very motion of that eye,
That went to all beholders Hearts like Lightning,
That moves ev'n mine in this my lost condition.

aside.
Or.
She is not only fair, my friend, she is good too,
She pities our misfortunes, nay, she weeps for them.

Pil.
Pity's the Harbinger of Love, suppose
That this should be the object which the god
Foretold should be oblig'd by Love to assist us?

Or.
I would to Heaven it were! O hopeless wish!
For at the sight of her my Soul dilates itself,
As at the view of a long absent Friend,
Unsatiated with gazing.

Enter Queen, Guard.
Queen.
At length our Scythians have redeem'd their Honour,
And haughty Strangers you are in our pow'r.
But to you, Grecian, we have obligations,
Which we disdain to owe.
Guards, let him instantly be free; for th'other
Strait to the Temple let him be conducted,
And there expire the Victim of the Goddess.

Or.
The very mercy of a Scythians cruelty;
I gave you Life and Liberty, because
I thought them grateful gifts, but Death's the present,
The only present you can make to me.
Would you requite the gifts which I bestow'd on you,
With my Friends Life and Liberty requite them,
And let my Blood appease your cruel Goddess.

Queen.
Proud! Hast thou then disdain'd my proffer'd mercy?
Know one of you is doom'd to die, and instantly:
Determine which between you.

Pil.
Scythians, conduct your Prisoner.

They are going.
Or.
Hold, you Barbarians, hold.
By all that wondrous pow'r of Sacred Friendship,
That but this moment charm'd your savage heart,
I here conjure you, hold!
Consider how we from our earliest years
To Pilades.
Have liv'd, as if one will, one soul had acted us;
Is this a time to differ? why wouldst thou
Usurp this wretched Death, that is my Right?
Who drew thee from the Clime of gentle Greece,
To this inhumane shore?
What but my miseries seduc'd thee hither!
The pomp and the support of my sad state?
What have I done t'induce you to believe
That I should prove so recreant to all goodness,
To let you suffer here instead of me?

Pil.
Would you not have me suffer?

Or.
Would I not have thee suffer? canst thou ask it?
O my Friend!

Pil.
And yet you urge me to survive you,
O contradiction!

Or.
What hast thou done, which can deserve the death,
Which fondly thus thou court'st?

Pil.
What have I done that I deserve to live
After the only man of all the world
That's fit to be my Friend?

Or.
Thou hast no loss in me, or if thou had'st
Thou hast a Soul that is above thy Fortune.
Oh live my Friend, and shew this cursed Race
What Grecians can endure!

Pil.
What live to see you here expire
Before my very Face!
Live and stand tamely by, while these Barbarians
Sheath their accursed Knives in your Hearts blood.
Away, I always own'd my self a man,
And own no Virtue of that barbarous nature!

Or.
What will become of me?
If 'tis so hard to thee to lose thy Friend,
To thee whose faculties are all entire,
Whose Soul's in its full strength,
What must it be to me, who bow my neck
Beneath the Burthen which the Gods have laid on me?
Whose wounded spirit swoons beneath the pangs
Of sorrow, which no Tongue of man can utter.
O cursed sting of guilt that's insupportable!

Pil.
Thou hast no guilt, the Gods themselves declar'd it.

Or.
Oh I have done a deed!

Pil.
The Gods commanded thee.

Or.
Nature forbid me.

Pil.
Nature is theirs, and theirs are all her Laws,
What their supream Authority has made,
Their independant pow'r can supersede.
Thou could'st not help performing their commands,
For what they will, is fate.

Or.
Then why at my last need have they forsaken me,
VVhy has the baser world disown'd this Fact,
And branded my great name with infamy?
VVhy gapes the Earth with ghastly yawns before me,
VVhile Hell unwilling from the Center bursts,
To shew me forms that fright my trembling Genius,
Blast all my Faculties, unhinge my Reason,
And in a moment make me start to madness?
Yet while I had thee by me 'twas impossible
That I could be intirely miserable,
It was impossible that I could think
Upon thy wondrous Faith, thy wondrous Truth,
Upon thy wondrous Self, and not be pleas'd.
That thought, that only thought prevail'd upon me
To bear the smarting wounds of my own Spirit,
To bear the loss of Peace, the loss of Fame:
But must I lose my Friend, and must I bear it?
Ye Gods I will not bear it, and my plagues
Shall be your aspect no longer. Come ye Furies,
Ye formidable Goddesses ascend,
And threefold madness to befriend me seize me.

Pil.
What shall I do?
His fury wildly champs upon the Curb,
Anon it foams, and starting with a Bound,
Hurries him headlong, far from Reasons Road;
I shake, I tremble at the dismal consequence;
I can no longer bear this mortal Agony
In him whom dearer than my self I love.
No more!
Compose the Tumult in thy Raging Spirits,
Thy friend has listen'd to thy Lamentation,
And with a bleeding heart has heard
Thy miserable plea.

Or.
Is it not fitting then that I should bleed?

Pil.
Grant me but one Request, and thou shalt die.

Or.
'Tis thine, whate're it be.

Pil.
But swear.

Or.
Then by th'Almighty pow'r of our Jove,
By all our great Progenitors, his Off-spring,
I swear!

Pil.
That thou wilt die as thou hast liv'd,
My Friend and my Companion.

Or.
Couldst thou doubt that? How willingly I swear!

Pil.
Then hast thou sworn that I shall not survive thee.

Or.
Nay, that my last Request.

Pil.
Hold, by the Gods, to whom thou standst oblig'd
By dreadful Oaths; hold, make not that request,
And be not perjur'd in the hour of Death.

Or.
Ha!
Now Death is arm'd, and with a fearful Sting.

Queen.
Now, Grecians, who's the Victim?

Or.
'Tis I.

Pil.
'Tis I.

Or., Pil.
Pil. 'Tis both.

Queen.
But both it must not be, I here am absolute,
But one shall fall a Victim to the Goddess.

Pil.
To holy Friendship t'other falls a sacrifice.

Queen
aside.
These are, ye Gods, the works of your own hands,
Your living Image.
To separate Apartments Guards conduct them.
Exeunt Guards, with Orestes and Pilades.
Now to the Temple lead, let's there consult
The Goddess, she herself shall choose her Victim.

Exeunt Queen and Attendants. Manet Iphigenia, Euph.
Iph.
Stay, my Euphrosine, one moment stay,
Hast thou observ'd that Godlike Youth,
Who shew'd that noble sorrow?

Euph.
I have.

Iph.
Does he deserve the Death which we prepare for him?
Does he not, say, Deserve to be Immortal?

Euph.
Yet he must die.

Iph.
Dye Nature first; he must not Dye, Euphrosine.

Euph.
Yes, in the Arms of a young Beauteous Queen.

Iph.
Ha!
First let him bleed; no, let him live, ye pow'rs,
Let Iphigenia Die.

Euph.
Amazement? What do I hear?

Iph.
What wilt thou say when thou hast heard the rest.

Euph.
The rest, oh Heav'ns!

Iph.
To my Apartment instantly let's go,
There thou the secret of my Soul shalt know,
But not the very Winds of Heav'n must on it blow.