University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE THIRD.

Ægisthus, Clytemnestra, Electra.
Ægis.
Doth then the entire day seem short, oh queen,
For thy afflictions? Ere the morning's dawn
To fresh regrets thou risest? Yield the past
To merited oblivion; and consent,
By being so thyself, to make me happy.

Cly.
Thou wishedst but to reign, and now thou reign'st.
Now, what solicitude canst feel for me
Or for my grief? Eternal is that grief,
And that thou knowest.

Ægis.
I know well what fount
Thus ministers to thee eternal tears.
Thou would'st, at all events, preserve Electra;
With thy solicitations I complied
For thy misfortune and my own. Henceforth
That aspect of insufferable grief
I from thine eyes will take away: I will
Henceforth the palace gladden; and from thence,
With her, will banish tears.

Elec.
Drive me away:
Still ever will this palace, where thou dwell'st,
Be the abode of tears, What other voice,
Save that of lamentation, can be heard
Where an Ægisthus reigns? But it must give
Exquisite pleasure to Thyestes' son
To see the progeny of Atreus weep.

Cly.
Daughter ... he is my husband. Ah, reflect,
Ægisthus, that she is my daughter.

Ægis.
She?
She is the daughter of Atrides.

Elec.
He?
He is Atrides' murderer.

Cly.
Electra! ...
Ægisthus, pity ... dost thou see that tomb,
That horrible tomb ... and art not satisfied?

Ægis.
Lady, be more consistent with thyself.
Say, whose hand laid Atrides in that tomb?

Cly.
Fatal rebuke! Can more be wanting now
To fill the measure of my bitterness?
The very instigator to it, now,
Upbraids me for the crime.

Elec.
Oh new delight!
Oh sole delight, with which, for ten years past,
My heart has been refresh'd! I see you both
A prey to hatred and remorse. At length
I the retributory transports hear
Of a flagitious love: at length are fled
All your illusions; thoroughly ye know
Each other. May contempt impel to hate,
And hate to further blood.

Cly.
Oh horrible,
But merited denunciatory curse!
Oh heaven! ... Ah! ... daughter.

Ægis.
From thyself alone
Arises all our discord. Such a daughter
Well may a mother lose, nor feel herself
More childless than before. I might reclaim
That which I weakly granted to her prayers;
But I am not accustomed to reclaim
That which I once have given; not to see thee
Suffices to our peace. To-day, I yield thee
To the most abject of my slaves as wife.
With him thou shalt be banish'd: and shall bring him,
Amid the infamy of squalid want,
Instead of dowry, thy eternal tears.

Elec.
Speak'st thou of other infamy than thine?
What slave of thine is vile compared with thee?
Or more degraded, what?

Ægis.
Depart.

Elec.
I know
That thou hast saved my life t'increase my pangs.
But, come what may come, this my hand, which heaven
Perhaps dooms to lofty purposes...

Ægis.
Now go;
Once more I say it.

Cly.
Be thou silent now ...
Oh daughter ... go, I pray thee ...

Elec.
Severed from you, there is no punishment
Which equals the annoyance of your presence.