Phaedra

<h2> ACT III </h2> <p>Scene I<br/> PHAEDRA, OENONE<br/></p> <p>PHAEDRA<br/> Ah! Let them take elsewhere the worthless honours<br/> They bring me. Why so urgent I should see them?<br/> What flattering balm can soothe my wounded heart?<br/> Far rather hide me: I have said too much.<br/> My madness has burst forth like streams in flood,<br/> And I have utter'd what should ne'er have reach'd<br/> His ear. Gods! How he heard me! How reluctant<br/> To catch my meaning, dull and cold as marble,<br/> And eager only for a quick retreat!<br/> How oft his blushes made my shame the deeper!<br/> Why did you turn me from the death I sought?<br/> Ah! When his sword was pointed to my bosom,<br/> Did he grow pale, or try to snatch it from me?<br/> That I had touch'd it was enough for him<br/> To render it for ever horrible,<br/> Leaving defilement on the hand that holds it.<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> Thus brooding on your bitter disappointment,<br/> You only fan a fire that must be stifled.<br/> Would it not be more worthy of the blood<br/> Of Minos to find peace in nobler cares,<br/> And, in defiance of a wretch who flies<br/> From what he hates, reign, mount the proffer'd throne?<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> I reign! Shall I the rod of empire sway,<br/> When reason reigns no longer o'er myself?<br/> When I have lost control of all my senses?<br/> When 'neath a shameful yoke I scarce can breathe?<br/> When I am dying?<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> Fly.<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> I cannot leave him.<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> Dare you not fly from him you dared to banish?<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> The time for that is past. He knows my frenzy.<br/> I have o'erstepp'd the bounds of modesty,<br/> And blazon'd forth my shame before his eyes.<br/> Hope stole into my heart against my will.<br/> Did you not rally my declining pow'rs?<br/> Was it not you yourself recall'd my soul<br/> When fluttering on my lips, and with your counsel,<br/> Lent me fresh life, and told me I might love him?<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> Blame me or blame me not for your misfortunes,<br/> Of what was I incapable, to save you?<br/> But if your indignation e'er was roused<br/> By insult, can you pardon his contempt?<br/> How cruelly his eyes, severely fix'd,<br/> Survey'd you almost prostrate at his feet!<br/> How hateful then appear'd his savage pride!<br/> Why did not Phaedra see him then as I<br/> Beheld him?<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> This proud mood that you resent<br/> May yield to time. The rudeness of the forests<br/> Where he was bred, inured to rigorous laws,<br/> Clings to him still; love is a word he ne'er<br/> Had heard before. It may be his surprise<br/> Stunn'd him, and too much vehemence was shown<br/> In all I said.<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> Remember that his mother<br/> Was a barbarian.<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> Scythian tho' she was,<br/> She learned to love.<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> He has for all the sex<br/> Hatred intense.<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> Then in his heart no rival<br/> Shall ever reign. Your counsel comes too late<br/> Oenone, serve my madness, not my reason.<br/> His heart is inaccessible to love.<br/> Let us attack him where he has more feeling.<br/> The charms of sovereignty appear'd to touch him;<br/> He could not hide that he was drawn to Athens;<br/> His vessels' prows were thither turn'd already,<br/> All sail was set to scud before the breeze.<br/> Go you on my behalf, to his ambition<br/> Appeal, and let the prospect of the crown<br/> Dazzle his eyes. The sacred diadem<br/> Shall deck his brow, no higher honour mine<br/> Than there to bind it. His shall be the pow'r<br/> I cannot keep; and he shall teach my son<br/> How to rule men. It may be he will deign<br/> To be to him a father. Son and mother<br/> He shall control. Try ev'ry means to move him;<br/> Your words will find more favour than can mine.<br/> Urge him with groans and tears; show Phaedra dying.<br/> Nor blush to use the voice of supplication.<br/> In you is my last hope; I'll sanction all<br/> You say; and on the issue hangs my fate.<br/></p> <p>Scene II<br/></p> <p>PHAEDRA (alone)<br/> Venus implacable, who seest me shamed<br/> And sore confounded, have I not enough<br/> Been humbled? How can cruelty be stretch'd<br/> Farther? Thy shafts have all gone home, and thou<br/> Hast triumph'd. Would'st thou win a new renown?<br/> Attack an enemy more contumacious:<br/> Hippolytus neglects thee, braves thy wrath,<br/> Nor ever at thine altars bow'd the knee.<br/> Thy name offends his proud, disdainful ears.<br/> Our interests are alike: avenge thyself,<br/> Force him to love&mdash;<br/> But what is this? Oenone<br/> Return'd already? He detests me then,<br/> And will not hear you.<br/></p> <p>SCENE III<br/> PHAEDRA, OENONE<br/></p> <p>OENONE<br/> Madam, you must stifle<br/> A fruitless love. Recall your former virtue:<br/> The king who was thought dead will soon appear<br/> Before your eyes, Theseus has just arrived,<br/> Theseus is here. The people flock to see him<br/> With eager haste. I went by your command<br/> To find the prince, when with a thousand shouts<br/> The air was rent&mdash;<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> My husband is alive,<br/> That is enough, Oenone. I have own'd<br/> A passion that dishonours him. He lives:<br/> I ask to know no more.<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> What?<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> I foretold it,<br/> But you refused to hear. Your tears prevail'd<br/> Over my just remorse. Dying this morn,<br/> I had deserved compassion; your advice<br/> I took, and die dishonour'd.<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> Die?<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> Just Heav'ns!<br/> What have I done to-day? My husband comes,<br/> With him his son: and I shall see the witness<br/> Of my adulterous flame watch with what face<br/> I greet his father, while my heart is big<br/> With sighs he scorn'd, and tears that could not move him<br/> Moisten mine eyes. Think you that his respect<br/> For Theseus will induce him to conceal<br/> My madness, nor disgrace his sire and king?<br/> Will he be able to keep back the horror<br/> He has for me? His silence would be vain.<br/> I know my treason, and I lack the boldness<br/> Of those abandon'd women who can taste<br/> Tranquillity in crime, and show a forehead<br/> All unabash'd. I recognize my madness,<br/> Recall it all. These vaulted roofs, methinks,<br/> These walls can speak, and, ready to accuse me,<br/> Wait but my husband's presence to reveal<br/> My perfidy. Death only can remove<br/> This weight of horror. Is it such misfortune<br/> To cease to live? Death causes no alarm<br/> To misery. I only fear the name<br/> That I shall leave behind me. For my sons<br/> How sad a heritage! The blood of Jove<br/> Might justly swell the pride that boasts descent<br/> From Heav'n, but heavy weighs a mother's guilt<br/> Upon her offspring. Yes, I dread the scorn<br/> That will be cast on them, with too much truth,<br/> For my disgrace. I tremble when I think<br/> That, crush'd beneath that curse, they'll never dare<br/> To raise their eyes.<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> Doubt not I pity both;<br/> Never was fear more just than yours. Why, then,<br/> Expose them to this ignominy? Why<br/> Will you accuse yourself? You thus destroy<br/> The only hope that's left; it will be said<br/> That Phaedra, conscious of her perfidy,<br/> Fled from her husband's sight. Hippolytus<br/> Will be rejoiced that, dying, you should lend<br/> His charge support. What can I answer him?<br/> He'll find it easy to confute my tale,<br/> And I shall hear him with an air of triumph<br/> To every open ear repeat your shame.<br/> Sooner than that may fire from heav'n consume me!<br/> Deceive me not. Say, do you love him still?<br/> How look you now on this contemptuous prince?<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> As on a monster frightful to mine eyes.<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> Why yield him, then, an easy victory?<br/> You fear him? Venture to accuse him first,<br/> As guilty of the charge which he may bring<br/> This day against you. Who can say 'tis false?<br/> All tells against him: in your hands his sword<br/> Happily left behind, your present trouble,<br/> Your past distress, your warnings to his father,<br/> His exile which your earnest pray'rs obtain'd.<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> What! Would you have me slander innocence?<br/> <br/> OENONE<br/> My zeal has need of naught from you but silence.<br/> Like you I tremble, and am loath to do it;<br/> More willingly I'd face a thousand deaths,<br/> But since without this bitter remedy<br/> I lose you, and to me your life outweighs<br/> All else, I'll speak. Theseus, howe'er enraged<br/> Will do no worse than banish him again.<br/> A father, when he punishes, remains<br/> A father, and his ire is satisfied<br/> With a light sentence. But if guiltless blood<br/> Should flow, is not your honour of more moment?<br/> A treasure far too precious to be risk'd?<br/> You must submit, whatever it dictates;<br/> For, when our reputation is at stake,<br/> All must be sacrificed, conscience itself.<br/> But someone comes. 'Tis Theseus.<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> And I see<br/> Hippolytus, my ruin plainly written<br/> In his stern eyes. Do what you will; I trust<br/> My fate to you. I cannot help myself.<br/></p> <p>SCENE IV<br/> THESEUS, HIPPOLYTUS, PHAEDRA, OENONE, THERAMENES<br/></p> <p>THESEUS<br/> Fortune no longer fights against my wishes,<br/> Madam, and to your arms restores&mdash;<br/> <br/> PHAEDRA<br/> Stay, Theseus!<br/> Do not profane endearments that were once<br/> So sweet, but which I am unworthy now<br/> To taste. You have been wrong'd. Fortune has proved<br/> Spiteful, nor in your absence spared your wife.<br/> I am unfit to meet your fond caress,<br/> How I may bear my shame my only care<br/> Henceforth.<br/></p> <p>Scene V<br/> THESEUS, HIPPOLYTUS, THERAMENES<br/></p> <p>THESEUS<br/> Strange welcome for your father, this!<br/> What does it mean, my son?<br/> <br/> HIPPOLYTUS<br/> Phaedra alone<br/> Can solve this mystery. But if my wish<br/> Can move you, let me never see her more;<br/> Suffer Hippolytus to disappear<br/> For ever from the home that holds your wife.<br/> <br/> THESEUS<br/> You, my son! Leave me?<br/> <br/> HIPPOLYTUS<br/> 'Twas not I who sought her:<br/> 'Twas you who led her footsteps to these shores.<br/> At your departure you thought meet, my lord,<br/> To trust Aricia and the Queen to this<br/> Troezenian land, and I myself was charged<br/> With their protection. But what cares henceforth<br/> Need keep me here? My youth of idleness<br/> Has shown its skill enough o'er paltry foes<br/> That range the woods. May I not quit a life<br/> Of such inglorious ease, and dip my spear<br/> In nobler blood? Ere you had reach'd my age<br/> More than one tyrant, monster more than one<br/> Had felt the weight of your stout arm. Already,<br/> Successful in attacking insolence,<br/> You had removed all dangers that infested<br/> Our coasts to east and west. The traveller fear'd<br/> Outrage no longer. Hearing of your deeds,<br/> Already Hercules relied on you,<br/> And rested from his toils. While I, unknown<br/> Son of so brave a sire, am far behind<br/> Even my mother's footsteps. Let my courage<br/> Have scope to act, and if some monster yet<br/> Has 'scaped you, let me lay the glorious spoils<br/> Down at your feet; or let the memory<br/> Of death faced nobly keep my name alive,<br/> And prove to all the world I was your son.<br/> <br/> THESEUS<br/> Why, what is this? What terror has possess'd<br/> My family to make them fly before me?<br/> If I return to find myself so fear'd,<br/> So little welcome, why did Heav'n release me<br/> From prison? My sole friend, misled by passion,<br/> Was bent on robbing of his wife the tyrant<br/> Who ruled Epirus. With regret I lent<br/> The lover aid, but Fate had made us blind,<br/> Myself as well as him. The tyrant seized me<br/> Defenceless and unarm'd. Pirithous<br/> I saw with tears cast forth to be devour'd<br/> By savage beasts that lapp'd the blood of men.<br/> Myself in gloomy caverns he inclosed,<br/> Deep in the bowels of the earth, and nigh<br/> To Pluto's realms. Six months I lay ere Heav'n<br/> Had pity, and I 'scaped the watchful eyes<br/> That guarded me. Then did I purge the world<br/> Of a foul foe, and he himself has fed<br/> His monsters. But when with expectant joy<br/> To all that is most precious I draw near<br/> Of what the gods have left me, when my soul<br/> Looks for full satisfaction in a sight<br/> So dear, my only welcome is a shudder,<br/> Embrace rejected, and a hasty flight.<br/> Inspiring, as I clearly do, such terror,<br/> Would I were still a prisoner in Epirus!<br/> Phaedra complains that I have suffer'd outrage.<br/> Who has betray'd me? Speak. Why was I not<br/> Avenged? Has Greece, to whom mine arm so oft<br/> Brought useful aid, shelter'd the criminal?<br/> You make no answer. Is my son, mine own<br/> Dear son, confederate with mine enemies?<br/> I'll enter. This suspense is overwhelming.<br/> I'll learn at once the culprit and the crime,<br/> And Phaedra must explain her troubled state.<br/></p> <p>Scene VI<br/> HIPPOLYTUS, THERAMENES<br/></p> <p>HIPPOLYTUS<br/> What do these words portend, which seem'd to freeze<br/> My very blood? Will Phaedra, in her frenzy<br/> Accuse herself, and seal her own destruction?<br/> What will the King say? Gods! What fatal poison<br/> Has love spread over all his house! Myself,<br/> Full of a fire his hatred disapproves,<br/> How changed he finds me from the son he knew!<br/> With dark forebodings in my mind alarm'd,<br/> But innocence has surely naught to fear.<br/> Come, let us go, and in some other place<br/> Consider how I best may move my sire<br/> To tenderness, and tell him of a flame<br/> Vex'd but not vanquish'd by a father's blame.<br/></p> <p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"></SPAN></p> <br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />