University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE FIRST.

Ægisthus, Clytemnestra.
Ægis.
Oh, queen, this is our last, our last farewell!
Alas! from whence I fain would have withdrawn,
I see myself proscribed. Yet do I not
Regret, remaining thus, to have obey'd thee.
At thy command, and for thy dear love's sake,
T'have suffer'd such an outrage, pleases me,
If thou accept the homage. But my heart
Feels a far different and severer grief,
In thus forsaking thee, and never more
To have the hope of seeing thee; no, never.

Cly.
I feel, Ægisthus, that I well deserve
The most severe rebukes; yet from thy lips
Since no rebuke I hear, thy wretchedness,
The horrors of thy unjust destiny,
Too keenly rend my self-accusing heart.
On my account thou suffer'st such disgrace;
And I am ready, for thy sake, t'endure
Outrages, anguish, death, and, if need be,
E'en infamy itself... Now is the time
For action. Shall I ever leave thee? Ah,
Think, while I breathe, that this can never be.

Ægis.
Perhaps, then, thou art determined with thyself
To ruin me. What else canst thou perform?
Ah, cease! it is in vain to contradict
The absolute will of monarch absolute.
Thou know'st his arguments consist in arms;
Nor hears he other arguments from others.

Cly.
We may, if not oppose, at least delude him:
Grateful the attempt would be. He has decreed
To-morrow's dawn for thy departure hence;
And that to-morrow's dawn shall witness me
Companion of thy flight.

Ægis.
Oh, heaven! what say'st thou?
Thou mak'st me tremble. Dear as is thy love,
So much, and more, thy fame to me is dear.
Ah no! I ought not, nor will I permit it.
A day would come, though late, would come at last;
A fatal day, when I should be constrain'd
To hear thee call—e'en to hear thee pronounce—
Ægisthus author of thy infamy.
Banishment, death, (towards which, from thee scarce severed,
I rush with hasty steps,) would be to me
Less hard, than, wretched me! ever to hear
Such dire recrimination from thy lips.

Cly.
Thou only art the author of my life:
And shall I ever be compell'd to name thee
The author of my infamy? e'en thou,
Who in my bosom dost a dagger plunge,
If thou possess the heart t'abandon me ...

Ægis.
Rather should I most wantonly immerge
That dagger in thy breast, if I constrain'd thee
To share my fate. Alas! were it accomplish'd,
This meditated flight, who could secure us
From the avenging anger of Atrides?
What refuge is there from his powerful arm?
What shelter? Was not Helen fugitive?
Into his realm a powerful monarch's son
Conducted her; but what did it avail
That the seducer had both arms and courage,
Ramparts and battlements? By dint of force,
Within his very palace, and beneath
The eyes of his own father, at the foot
Of sacred altars, 'mid the cries, the tears,
The bloodshed, and the menace of his subjects,
Was not his mistress wrested from his arms,
And with her both his kingdom and his life?
I, destitute of all alliances,
A wanderer, and an exile, what can I
Perform? Thou see'st it clearly, thy design
Is in itself abortive. Thou alone
Would'st have defied the infamy in vain
Of ignominious flight: and I, possess'd
And destitute of thee at once, should gain
The eternal blot, the merited disgrace
Of a seducer. In this ill-judged flight,
If thou persist, this is the destiny
That stares us in the face.

Cly.
Thou clearly see'st
The obstacles, and nothing else: true love
Ne'er condescended to be so discreet.

Ægis.
Never, oh never, did true lover drag
To certain ruin the beloved object.
Suffer that I alone in peril be;
And thou wilt learn whether I condescend
To know, much less to care for obstacles.
I see most clearly, that at less than nothing
Thou valuest thy life: I see most clearly
Thy love is dearer to thee far than fame.
Yes, more, far more, than I deserve, thou lovest.
Ah! could I heal again thy wounded heart,
Heaven knows that at the risk of all I prize,
I fain would heal it! ... all ... all ... would I do ...
But cease to love thee: that I cannot do:
I can die easily; and now I wish it.
But if I am constrain'd, at a great risk,
To see thy fame and life exposed for me,
Oh, lady, chuse more certain means than flight.

Cly.
More certain means? what other means are left?

Ægis.
To be a banish'd man ... to fly ... t'expire; ...
These are the only means that I have left.
Thou, far from me, deprived of every hope
Of seeing me again, wilt, from thy heart,
Have quickly driven my image; great Atrides
Will wake a far superior passion there.
Thou, in his presence, many happy days
Wilt yet enjoy. These auspices may heaven
Confirm. Now can I not to thee evince
A surer proof of love than by my flight.
Terrible, hard, irrevocable proof.

Cly.
If there be need of death, I'm fix'd to die.
But is there nothing left to try ere this?

Ægis.
Another step, perhaps, e'en now remains ...
But unbecoming ...

Cly.
And it is?

Ægis.
Too cruel.

Cly.
But certain?

Ægis.
Certain, ah too much so!

Cly.
How
Canst thou then hide it from me?

Ægis.
How canst thou
Of me demand it?

Cly.
What then may it be? ...
I know not ... speak: I am too far advanced ...
I cannot now retract: perchance already
I am suspected by Atrides: perhaps
He has the right already to contemn me:
Hence do I feel constrain'd, e'en now, t'abhor him:
I cannot longer in his presence live:
I neither will nor dare. Do thou, Ægisthus,
Teach me, and be it whatsoe'er it may,
A means, by which I may withdraw myself
From him for ever.

Ægis.
Thou withdraw thyself
From him? I have already said to thee
That now 'tis utterly impossible.

Cly.
What other step remains for me to take?

Ægis.
None.

Cly.
Now, I understand thee. What a flash
Oh what a deadly, instantaneous flash
Of criminal conviction, rushes through
My obtuse mind? What throbbing turbulence
In every vein I feel!—I understand thee:—
The cruel remedy ... the only remedy ...
Is Agamemnon's life-blood.

Ægis.
I am silent.

Cly.
Yet silently thou askest for that blood.

Ægis.
Nay, rather I forbid it. To our love,
And to thy life, (of mine I do not speak,)
His living is the only obstacle;
But yet thou knowest that his life is sacred:
To love, respect, defend it, thou art bound,
And I to tremble at it. Let us cease.
The hour advances now; my long discourse
Might give occasion to suspicious thoughts.—
At length receive Ægisthus' last farewell.

Cly.
Ah! hear me ... Agamemnon to our love ...
And to thy life? .. ah, yes, there are, besides him,
No other obstacles: too certainly
His life is death to us.

Ægis.
Ah! do not heed
My words: they sprang from too much love.

Cly.
And love
Reveal'd to me their meaning.

Ægis.
Hast thou not
Thy mind o'erwhelm'd with horror?

Cly.
Horror? ... yes ...
But to part from thee! ...

Ægis.
Would'st thou have the courage?

Cly.
So vast my love it puts an end to fear.

Ægis.
But the king lives surrounded by his friends
What sword could find a passage to his heart?

Cly.
What sword? ...

Ægis.
Here open violence were vain.

Cly.
Yet ... treachery ...

Ægis.
'Tis true, he merits not
To be betrayed ... Atrides ... he who loves
His wife so well ... he who, enchained from Troy,
In semblance of a slave in fetters, brought
Cassandra, whom he loves, to whom he is
Himself a slave.

Cly.
What do I hear?

Ægis.
Meanwhile
Expect, that when of thee his love is wearied,
He will divide with her his throne and bed:
Expect that, to thy many other wrongs,
Shame will be added; and do thou alone
Not be exasperated at a deed
That rouses every Argive.

Cly.
What said'st thou? ...
Cassandra doom'd to be my rival? ...

Ægis.
So
Atrides wills.

Cly.
Then let Atrides perish.

Ægis.
How? by what hand?

Cly.
By mine, this very night,
Within that bed which he expects to share
With this abhorred slave.

Ægis.
Oh, heavens! but think ...

Cly.
I am resolved ...

Ægis.
Should'st thou repent? ...

Cly.
I do
That I have so long delayed.

Ægis.
And yet ...

Cly.
I do it;
I, e'en if thou wilt not. Shall I let thee,
Who only dost deserve my love, be dragg'd
To cruel death? And shall I let him live
Who cares not for my love? I swear to thee,
To-morrow, thou shalt be the king in Argos.
Nor shall my hand, nor shall my bosom tremble—
But who approaches?

Ægis.
'Tis Electra ...

Cly.
Ah!
Let us avoid her. Do thou trust in me.