 | Orestes |  |
SCENE 2nd
—An apartment in the palace.Ægisthus—Clytemnestra.
ÆGISTHUS.
Scorn Clytemnestra these unwonted fears:
Prepare to grace the triumph.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
No Ægisthus—
Not oracles, nor voice of answering shrine,
Signs from the flight of bird, or bleeding victim,
So mark impending doom, as this night-vision,
The harbinger of vengeance.
ÆGISTHUS.
Clytemnestra,
Shall idle terrors, shadows of a dream
Subdue thy daring spirit? these are mock'ries
That dotage dwells on, or the senseless fears
Of credulous childhood—
123
—(interrupting him.)
Hear me—
ÆGISTHUS.
I have seen thee
Mid the fierce clamours of the madd'ning tumult
Stand with undaunted brow.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Thou hast beheld me
Stain'd with the blood of man, a warrior's blood.
The woman stood before astonish'd Argos,
Her dagger dropping gore—I dread none earthly.
This supernatural sight o'er-powers my soul.
Look here—while Clytemnestra shakes before thee,
Hast thou no fear?
ÆGISTHUS.
None from the dreams of night.
While yet Orestes liv'd—
CLYTEMNESTRA
—(interrupting him.)
Is he too murther'd?
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If gold can bribe, Orestes is no more—
Why droops thy brow? his father's spirit fir'd him:
His hate pursu'd, his vengeful blade hung o'er us.
Speak I ungrateful words, thy son is dead?
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Thou never hadst a child—
ÆGISTHUS.
Mourn not his loss.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Here, at this breast he hung.
Messenger enters.
Dread Lord, the pomp
Waits but thy presence—
ÆGISTHUS.
Go—bid sorth my train.
Come Clytemnestra, rob'd in Troy's proud spoils
Grace, as of old, the triumph.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
No—Ægisthus—
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Deep stamps its visible impress—let the base
Conceal their fear: such as I am behold me—
I know not female artifice that lends
The lip of misery a dissembling smile.
No robe of Phrygian state shall blaze on me,
No banquet hail my presence—
ÆGISTHUS.
Have I wrong'd thee?
Dost thou repent the deed that joins our doom?
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Were it again to act, again this hand
Would slay the man who wrong'd me—thee, Ægisthus,
I still have faithful found. Whate'er the doom
That Jove decrees, tho' thunder burst around me,
Thee I will ne'er desert.
ÆGISTHUS.
I know thee now.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Go, glitter in thy splendor. Yet—I pray thee—
126
No, not a silent smile betray contempt.
I brook not insult, less from thee than all—
Beware—
ÆGISTHUS.
Why this to me? speak—
CLYTEMNESTRA.
When the spectre
Glar'd on me as I shriek'd—thou—dost not heed me.
'Tis man thou fear'st—hast thou no other fear?
ÆGISTHUS.
Say on—
CLYTEMNESTRA.
I breath'd aloud a vow to heav'n—
Confirm it—
ÆGISTHUS.
Can I aid thee?
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Bid Electra
On Agamemnon's sepulchre, complete
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Th'accepted offerings haply may appease
The avenging spirit—from this blood-stain'd hand
Such rites were profanation.
ÆGISTHUS.
But Electra
Now groans in chains, and, ere the night-fall, forc'd
To hateful nuptials, vents her idle rage
Beneath a servile roof.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Free her from chains.
Urge not the unequal tye. I have but her.
Yet, if regardless of a mother's will
That daughter mock my fear, fix thou her doom,
E'en what thou wilt, so I no more behold her.
Her voice has terror in it: and her eye
In awful silence fixt on mine, exerts
Strange mastery o'er my spirit—
Messenger
enters.
Calchas comes.
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Say thou consent'st—
ÆGISTHUS.
In all be thou obey'd.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Avoid the indignant prophet.
(Ægisthus exit, as Calchas enters.)
Holy Seer!
Accept thy Sovereign's thanks, that thou, long time
A stranger to this palace, once again,
At Clytemnestra's call, hast deigned to hear
What weighs upon her heart—
CALCHAS
—(interrupting her.)
No thanks, for this,
To me are due—ere my reluctant step
Past o'er thy threshold, the inspected victim
Gave sign; alone that signal I obey'd—
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Jove-honor'd prophet! super-natural horrors
Mark me the victim of heav'n's imminent wrath.
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—(pointing up.)
There justice reigns—thou shalt not scape thy doom.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Thy prescience, Seer, can all unfold: thy pray'rs
Wing'd intercessors at the throne of Jove
Avert impending destiny, and turn
The thunder in its course.
CALCHAS.
Here prayer avails not.
When impious mortals tremble at their doom,
Alone repentance at the throne of Jove
Pleads, and is heard—Repent!
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Not—not for this
I call'd thee. Priest! thy office hallows thee:
Or, ere this hour, the tongue that rudely taunts
Its sovereign, had been mute.
(Calchas going in anger, she stops him.)
Stay—
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Impious mortal!
I leave thee to thy fate—
CLYTEMNESTRA
—(detaining him.)
Not unrevealed—
Or shield me from these horrors, or unfold
Clearly the dread unknown; that now my soul
May summon all its strength to meet heav'n's wrath.
Interpreter of fate wilt thou reveal it?
CALCHAS.
I speak but what Jove dictates—thou, be brief—
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Calchas, thou know'st, this day, ten years gone by,
The son of Atreus perish'd—
CALCHAS.
Slain by thee—
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Aye—I deny it not—
CALCHAS.
'Tis known to all.
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Well then—I slew him—ever on this day
We hold a solemn festival at Argos,
In honor of my nuptials with Ægisthus:
Add—if thou wilt—of triumph o'er the slain.
This too is known to all—but 'tis not known,
That ever duly on this day's return,
E'en at the very instant, at the dead
Of midnight, when I smote him, a deep groan,
Such as he utter'd when he fell beneath me,
Bursts on my ear: and one, who cries “revenge,”
Floats by; a shapeless figure indistinct:
For I have gaz'd on't with unaltered eye,
'Till the dim shadow floated from my sight.
Last night the groan was heard, the voice was heard
Of one who cry'd “revenge:”—the shadow floated:
But, gradually the uncertain shape assum'd
The form of Agamemnon, mail'd in arms,
Such as he stands, terrific on his tomb.
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Didst thou then gaze with an unalter'd eye?
CLYTEMNESTRA.
No—'twas himself—I could not gaze on him.
But, ere I turn'd, I saw the wound I made:
And thro' the steel forth gush'd the blood: he caught it,
And from the hollow of his hand pour'd forth
An offering to the Furies: then drew near
And cast the dregs on me.
CALCHAS.
That was no phantom.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
'Twas fresh, 'twas living blood, 'twas warm to sense,
Such as it spouted on me when I smote him.
I turn'd aside, but still before my sight
Which way my scar'd eye glanc'd, arm'd Furies stood.
The viper brood that round their tresses tangled
Their scaly coils, turn'd all their stings on me.
On me, each bickering eye, that roll'd in blood,
Shot sparks of fire. A voice of thunder burst,
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I shriek'd: in rush'd the attendants. All was void—
But they too heard the iron of their feet
That echoed on the pavement: they beheld
The flames in trailing flakes along the gloom—
Say! how shall I appease th'avenging Furies?
CALCHAS.
By offerings suited to their ruthless nature.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Prophet! explain those words—“the dead shall slay thee.”
CALCHAS
—(aside)
Aid me, inspiring Jove!
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Wilt thou not answer?
CALCHAS.
In silence hear the pow'r, who guides my voice.—
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Oh speak!—
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This day, a stranger youth, heav'n-sent,
To Argos bears Orestes' funeral urn.—
He can unfold the mystery of fate.—
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Would he were come!
CALCHAS.
He comes—obey the God—
Thou, and Ægisthus, to the secret bath
Where Agamemnon perish'd, lead the stranger;
There, force him to reveal, howe'er reluctant,
What Phœbus has imparted—bid Electra
On Agamemnon's tomb libations pour.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Where bled Atrides? said'st thou—in the bath—
Not there—not there—I pray thee.—
CALCHAS.
On that spot
Question the stranger youth: and, if averse
Force him to speak.—
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I thank thee, Seer! farewell.— (Exeunt.
(as they go out, Ægisthus and Phanor enter.)
PHANOR.
Electra doth refuse—
ÆGISTHUS.
Refuse, to quit
The gloomy cell!
PHANOR.
“No earthly pow'r, this day,
“Shall force me to behold the light I loath.”—
Such were her words.—
ÆGISTHUS.
Bid her expect my presence.
(Phanor goes.)
Oft, proud Electra, hast thou vainly sought
To bear thy offerings to Atrides' tomb.
If proffer'd, thou reject it, never more
Thy voice, domestic fiend, shall threat Ægisthus.
(Exit.
| Orestes | |