 | Clytemnestra |  |
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SCENE VI.
Clytemnestra and Egysthus.CLYTEMNESTRA.
Dearest Egysthus! now art thou all king.
The rabble vulgar, who refused the name,
Will, at the tidings of Orestes' death,
Confer it freely.
EGYSTHUS.
Thou hast a stout heart,
To wear such blithesome ruddy on thy cheeks,
When tears should bleach them for a gallant son.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Alas! you ill requite me. Oh! Egysthus,
The masterful and cherish'd love for thee,
Has drained the mother's nature from my breast.
Have I not doted so intensely on thee,
That all regard of duty, vows, and fame,
Have been as vile impediments push'd by,
That I might take thee with a larger grasp?
EGYSTHUS.
Come, come, dear wife; take not my words so sadly,
I meant no taunt.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
But I, with anxious pain,
See oft thy eyes to other women stray.
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No chidings, dame.—If this day's news prove true,
I'll make our Argos blaze, as bright again
As on your wedding-day with Agamemnon.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
Why name him to me? Oh! let him, Egysthus,
Lie quiet in that bloody sepulchre,
Where we, untimely laid him. His grim shade
That nightly visits my perturbed sleep,
Needs not the aid of your remorseless slight,
To barb its dread reproach.
EGYSTHUS.
What, penitent!
Now, this is but a woman's shallow trick,
To hide your jealousy. Dear Clytemnestra,
Love, once departed, will not come again,
By showing him the chaff of former fare.
Cupid has wings, the poets say, to fly:
Though, like the bee, he roves from flower to flower,
He will not always feed on cloying sweet.
Knowest thou, fair, that fondness may grow flat,
And smack of staleness too, yea turn to sour.
Come! learn philosophy; 'tis time you should.
CLYTEMNESTRA.
'Tis time, indeed, when I am taught by you!
| Clytemnestra | |