University of Virginia Library

ACT I.

SCENE 1st.

—The Temple of Jupiter.
CALCHAS
at the Altar.
Hear Jove supreme!
Thou! who, o'er all in highest heav'n enthron'd,
Look'st on the frail inhabitants of earth,
Oh hear my prayer! let not the sun, new ris'n
On this dread day, unconscious of thy pow'r
Withdraw its beams—bid Argos own thy might;
While thou, in visitation of thy wrath,
On the polluted feast of lust and murther
Shalt loose the impatient thunder!

NIREUS
enters.
Calchas, hail!

CALCHAS.
What brings thee hither?

NIREUS.
Clytemnestra's will.
This day, when yearly rites, that mock the heav'ns,
Bid Argos solemnize the blood-stain'd nuptials,
Fear harrows up her soul.

CALCHAS
to himself.
Their doom is fixt.
Not vain at dawn the omen.

NIREUS.
Clytemnestra
Now bids thee to the palace.

CALCHAS.
What, once more
To hear in insolence of pride, Ægisthus
Defy the vengeance of long-lingering Jove,
And taunt his holy priest! Yes—I will go:
If Jove confirm the omen—I will go:
But not to sooth her terror. Yet, say first
Of wrong'd Electra.

NIREUS.
On this day's return,
Not only, as of old, Ægisthus binds
Her limbs with chains, and in the cavern's gloom
Bids her, unheard, rave on her long-lost brother,
Th'avenger, lorn Orestes—

CALCHAS
—(interrupting him.)
Hear, hear heav'n!

NIREUS.
But ere the sun go down, his vow is past
To join by force the daughter of Atrides
With one low-born: that never heir arise
To claim the crown of Argos, or avenge
Her murther'd sire.

CALCHAS.
The measure is complete.
'Tis doom'd above, the impious are no more.
I will consult the God—Nireus retire—

Exeunt.

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—

CLYTEMNESTRA
—(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?

ÆGISTHUS.
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—
The horror, that o'er-pow'rs me, on my brow
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—
Yet—nay I charge thee, that no word, no look,
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
The funeral rites! We reckt not of the dead.
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.

CLYTEMNESTRA.
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.

CALCHAS
—(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—

CALCHAS.
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.

CLYTEMNESTRA.
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.

CALCHAS.
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,
“Thus, will we lap thy blood”—“the dead shall slay thee”—
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!—

CALCHAS.
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.—

CLYTEMNESTRA.
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.

SCENE 3rd.

—A Prison.
Electra.—Phanor enters.
PHANOR.
Ægisthus comes.

ELECTRA.
Is there yet more to bear?

ÆGISTHUS
enters.
Go, Phanor—

ELECTRA.
No—be present—stir not hence—
With him I hold not secret conference.—

ÆGISTHUS.
Yield not to vain suspicions—if thou wilt,
Detain him—bid him strictly note each word,
Record each look—Yet, were no witness near,
Woman, the weakness of thy sex protects thee.
Thou hast no cause for fear.—

ELECTRA.
Phanor, retire.— (he goes).

We dread not whom we scorn—speak, I am mute.

ÆGISTHUS.
I would that we had met in fitter place!

ELECTRA.
It suits a sufferer that delights in grief:
It suits an outrag'd soul that broods on vengeance:
It suits the day, the deed, thee most, base murderer!
Look on these chains: think on the groans of death
That echoed through these vaults.

ÆGISTHUS.
I come to grant
What thou hast oft implor'd.

ELECTRA.
I oft have claim'd
Rights still deny'd: the melancholy right
To shed a tear on the unhonour'd tomb
Of him whom thou did'st slay—I ne'er implor'd thee.

ÆGISTHUS.
'Twere well that thou had'st sued—time was, Electra,
That I with gifts and proffer'd kindness sought
To sooth thy haughty spirit.

ELECTRA.
Gifts! to me!
Tyrant! thou speak'st to Agamemnon's daughter!
No bribe can lure the lion race to fawn—

ÆGISTHUS.
Therefore the lion race is gall'd with chains.

ELECTRA
—(with vehement indignation.)
Where art thou, brother?—I had hope in thee—
The sun keeps on his course, and the firm earth
Rests on its base—Yet Jove holds sway in heav'n.—

ÆGISTHUS.
I come to free thee from these slavish chains:
Free thee from nuptials that disgrace thy birth,
And bid thee offer at a father's tomb
The long-neglected rites.—

ELECTRA.
Thou mock'st me, tyrant—

ÆGISTHUS.
I loose thy chains.—

ELECTRA.
No—not a link shall fall.—
These bonds are precious to me—time shall come
When such may chain thee where the Furies close
Their adamantine rivets.—

ÆGISTHUS.
Dost thou wish
To honor Agamemnon?

ELECTRA.
More than life—
If life the sacrifice, my father! hear me!
For thee, another daughter gladly dies.
Iphigenia bleeds again in me.

ÆGISTHUS.
Go forth, and place on Agamemnon's tomb
Thy mother's offerings.

ELECTRA.
Said I not, thou mock'st me?—

ÆGISTHUS.
I mock thee not. 'Tis Clytemnestra's will.

ELECTRA.
Her will! aid, heav'n! repentance yet may touch her!
Yes. I will bear the offerings. Lead me to her.

(Exeunt.