That softened by its grace e'en foemen's eyes, 1270 Has that bright beauty come to this? O fate, How bitter! Deadly favor of the gods!
And is it thus my son comes back to me In answer to my prayers? These final rites Thy father pays, receive, O thou my son, Who often to thy funeral must be borne.
And now let fires consume these dear remains.
Throw open wide my palace, dark with death, 1275 And let all Athens ring with loud laments.
Do some of you prepare the royal pyre, And others seek yet farther in the fields His scattered parts.
Let earth on her be spread, And may it heavy rest upon her head. 1280 HERCULES OETAEUS HERCULES OETAEUS DRAMATIS PERSONAE HERCULES Son of Jupiter and Alcmena.
_Hyllus_ Son of Hercules and Deianira.
_Alcmena_ Daughter of Electryon, king of Mycenae.
_Deianira_ Daughter of Oeneus, king of Aetolia, and wife of Hercules.
_Iole_ Daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia.
_Nurse_ Of Deianira.
_Philoctetes_ A prince of Thessaly, son of Poeas, and the faithful friend of Hercules.
_Lichas_ The messenger (_persona muta_) of Deianira to Hercules.
_Chorus_ Of Aetolian women, faithful to Deianira.
_Band_ Of Oechalian maidens, suffering captivity in company with Iole.
THE SCENE is laid, first in Euboea, and later at the home of Hercules in Trachin.
_The long, heroic life of Hercules has neared its end. His twelve great tasks, assigned him by Eurystheus through Juno's hatred, have been done. His latest victory was over Eurytus, king of Oechalia. Him he slew and overthrew his house, because the monarch would not give him Iole to wife._ _And now the hero, having overcome the world, and Pluto's realm beneath the earth, aspires to heaven. He sacrifices to Cenaean Jove, and prays at last to be received into his proper home._ ACT I [_On the Cenaean promontory of the island of Euboea._] _Hercules_ [_about to sacrifice to Cenaean Jove_]: O sire of gods, from whose almighty hand Both homes of Phoebus feel thy darting bolt: Rule now serene, for I have 'stablished peace Wherever Nereus checks the spreading lands.
Now let thy thunders rest; for treacherous kings 5 And savage tyrants are in ruin laid.
Whatever merited thy blasting darts Have I o'erthrown and crushed. But, father, why Is heaven still denied to me, thy son?
For surely have I ever shown myself A worthy child of Jove; and Juno's self, My hard task-mistress, testifies to this, That I am born of thee. Why dost thou still 10 Contrive delays? Am I thy cause of fear?
Will Atlas not avail to prop the skies If to their bulk the weight of Hercules Be superadded? Why, O father, why Dost thou deny the stars to me? To thee Did death restore me; every monstrous shape Which had its source in earth or sea or air, Or hell itself, has yielded to my arms. 15 No lion treads the Arcadian cities now; Stymphalus fears no more its noxious birds; The wondrous stag of Maenalus is dead; The watchful dragon spattered with its blood The golden grove; the hydra's force is gone; Those famous horses to the Hebrus known, Which fattened on the blood of murdered guests, 20 Have I destroyed, and spoils of war obtained In victory o'er my Amazonian foe.
I saw the silent realms; nor all alone Did I return, but shuddering day beheld Dark Cerberus, and he beheld the sun.
No more Antaeus, Libya's monarch huge, His strength renews; before his bloody shrines 25 Busiris lies o'erthrown; by my sole hand The threefold Geryon was o'ercome and slain, And that dread terror of a hundred tribes, The Cretan bull, yea all the monstrous things To which the hostile world has given birth, Have fallen in utter ruin by my hand.
If now the earth can show no monsters more, 30 If now my stepdame has her wrath fulfilled, Restore the father to his son; yea, more-- Admit the hero to his proper skies.
I ask not that thou point the way to me; Permit it only, father, and the way I'll find. Or, if thou fearest that the earth Shall to the light new shapes of terror bring, Let them make haste to come, whate'er they be, 35 While still the earth beholds her Hercules.
For who will e'er again these fearsome things Attack, or who, throughout the towns of Greece, Will e'er be worthy of great Juno's hate?
In truth, my praises have I safe bestowed, Since now there is no land but sings of me.
The Scythian, dwelling in the frozen North, 40 The Indian, smitten by the burning rays Of Phoebus, and the tropic African: All know my fame. O glowing Sun, I thee As witness call: I have encountered thee Where'er thou shin'st; nor have thy darting beams Availed to follow my triumphant course.
I've gone beyond the reaches of the sun, And daylight halted far within my bounds. 45 The world of nature yielded; for my steps No earth remained. She was exhausted first.
But night and utter chaos met me there.
From that dark realm whence no one e'er returns, Have I come back to earth. Old Ocean's threats Have I endured; no raging storm of his 50 Has e'er prevailed to overcome the bark In which I fared. How small a part I tell![25] Exhausted is the air and can no more Suffice to feed the hatred of thy wife; The earth in fear brings forth no monster more For me to conquer, no wild beasts of prey.
These are denied to me, and in the stead 55 Of monster have I come myself to be.
How many evils have I overcome, Though all unarmed! Whatever monstrous thing Opposed, these empty hands have overthrown; Nor did there ever live a savage beast Which I as boy or infant feared to meet.
My bidden labors have seemed always light, And no day ever dawned that brought to me 60 No strenuous toil. How many monstrous tasks Have I fulfilled which no king set to me!
A harder master has my courage been Than ever Juno was. But what avails That I have saved the human race from fear?
The gods in consequence have lost their peace.
The freed earth sees whatever she has feared 65 Now set in heaven; for Juno thitherward Hath borne the beasts I slew. Restored to life, The Crab fares safely in his torrid path, A constellation now in southern skies, And ripens Libya's waving fields of grain.
The Lion to the heavenly Virgin gives The flying year; but he, with beaming mane 70 Upon his wild neck tossing, dries the winds Which drip with moisture, and the clouds devours.
Behold, the beasts have all invaded heaven, Forestalling me. Though victor, here I stand Upon the earth, and view my labors there.
For Juno to the monsters and the beasts Has given stars, that so the heavenly realm 75 Might be for me a place of terror made.
But no! Though in her wrath she fill the skies With monsters, though she make the heavens worse Than earth and hell, yet shall a place be given To Hercules. If, after beasts and wars, If, after I subdued the Stygian dog, I have not earned a place among the stars, 80 Then shall Sicilian Pelorus touch Hesperia's shores, and both shall be one land.
I'll put the intervening sea to flight; Or, if thou wilt that severed seas be joined, Then Isthmus shall give passage to the waves, And Attic vessels by a new-found way Shall sail united seas. I'll change the world. 85 Along new channels shall the Hister flow, And Tanaïs find new passage to the sea.
Grant, grant, O Jupiter, this boon to me, That I at least may shield the gods from harm.
There mayst thou lay aside thy thunderbolts, Where I stand guard against thy enemies.
Whether thou bid'st me guard the icy pole, Or o'er the torrid regions watch, be sure 90 That on that side the gods may be at rest.
Apollo earned the shrine of Pythia And heaven, because he slew the Python huge; But Oh, how many Pythons did I slay In that dire hydra! Bacchus, Perseus, too, Have found a place among the heavenly gods. 95 How small that eastern portion of the earth Which he subdued! How meager is the spoil Which Perseus in the stony Gorgon gained!
What son of thine from Juno born has earned A place in heaven because of his renown?
I seek the skies which I myself have borne.
But thou, O Lichas, comrade of my toils, Go tell my triumphs over Eurytus, 100 His lares conquered and his realm o'erthrown.
Do you with speed the victims hurry on To where the temple of Cenaean Jove Looks off upon the wild Euboean sea.
_Band of captive Oechalian maidens:_ The mate of the immortals he, Whose life and fortune hand in hand Go on apace. But worse than death 105 Is life, dragged on with many groans.
Whoe'er has trodden under foot The greedy fates, and can disdain The boat that plies on death's dark stream, Will never feel the galling chains Upon his captive arms; nor grace, As noble spoil, the victor's train. 110 For he who faces death with joy Can ne'er be wretched. Should his bark Be wrecked upon the stormy sea Where Africus with Boreas, And Zephyrus with Eurus strive, And rend the seas; he does not seek To gather up the broken parts 115 Of his wrecked ship, that, far at sea, He still may cherish hopes of land.
For he, who ever ready stands To give his life, alone is safe From all the perils of the storm.
But we are held by shameful grief, The gaunt, drawn face, the streaming tears, By the ashes of our fatherland Besprinkled. Us no whirling flame, 120 Nor crash of falling walls o'erwhelms.
Thou dost pursue the fortunate, O death, but fleest from wretched souls.
Behold, we live: but Oh, no more, Our country's walls[26] remain; their place Shall soon be hidden by the woods, And all our temples fall away To squalid hovels. Even now 125 The cold Dolopian will come And o'er the ashes, glowing yet, Sad remnants of Oechalia, Will drive his flocks. And soon, alas, Within our walls, the shepherd rude Shall sing upon his rustic pipes, With doleful voice, our history. 130 And when the hand of God shall speed A few more generations on, The very place where once we dwelt Will be forgotten. Happy once, I kept no barren hearth at home; Not mine the hungry acres then Of Thessaly. But now I'm called To Trachin's rough and stony land, 135 To ridges parched and jungle-set, To groves which e'en the mountain goat Would not inhabit. But, perchance, Some milder fate the captives calls.
Then will they see the Inachus, Whose rapid waves shall bear them on, Or dwell within Dircaean walls 140 Where flows Ismenus' scanty stream-- And where was once the mother wed Of mighty Hercules.
False is that tale of doubled night, When overlong the stars delayed Within the skies, and Hesperus In place of Lucifer arose, And Delia with tardy car 145 Kept back the sun. What Scythian crag Begot thee, or what stony mount?
Like some wild Titan wast thou born On Rhodope, or Athos rough?
What savage beast on Caspian shores, What spotted tigress, suckled thee? 150 Impervious to wounds is he.
Sharp spears are blunted, steel is bent Against his heart; and glittering swords, Upon his naked members struck, In broken fragment drop apart; Stones strike, but harmlessly rebound.
And so he scorns the deadly fates, 155 And, all invincible, provokes His death. No spears can pierce his heart, No arrow shot from Scythian bow, No darts which cold Sarmatians bear, Or they who dwell beneath the dawn, The Parthians, whose fatal shafts More deadly than the Cretan dart, 160 The neighboring Nabathaeans wound.
Oechalia's walls he overthrew With his bare hands. Naught can withstand His onslaught. For whate'er he plans To overcome, is by that fact Already overcome. How few The foes who by his wounds have fallen!
His angry countenance means death; 165 And to have met his threatening gaze Is worse than death. What Gyas huge, What vast Briareus, who stood Upon Thessalia's mountain heap And clutched at heaven with snaky hands, Would not have frozen at the glance Of that dread face? But mighty ills 170 Have mighty recompense: no more Is left to suffer--we have seen, Oh, woe! the angry Hercules!
_Iole:_ But I, unhappy one, must mourn, Not temples with their gods o'erthrown, Not scattered hearths and burning homes, Where lie in common ruin mixed Fathers with sons, and gods with men, 175 Temples and towns--the common woe; But fortune calls my tears away To other grief. Fate bids me weep O'er other ruins. What lament 180 Shall I make first? What greatest ill Shall I bewail? All equally I'll weep. Ah me, that mother earth Hath not more bosoms given me, That worthily they might resound Unto my grief. But, O ye gods, Transform me to a weeping rock On Sipylus; or set me where, 185 Between its grassy banks, the Po Glides on, where grieving woods respond To the mourning of the sisters sad Of Phaëthon; or to the shores Of Sicily transport me. There, Another Siren, let me mourn 190 The woeful fate of Thessaly.
Or bear me to the Thracian woods, Where, underneath Ismarian shade, The Daulian bird bewails her son.
Give me a form to fit my tears, And let rough Trachin echo back 195 My cries of woe. The Cyprian maid Still soothes her grieving heart with tears; Still Ceyx's royal spouse bemoans Her vanished lord; and Niobe, Surviving life and grief, weeps on; Her human form has Philomel Escaped, and now with doleful notes The Attic maid bewails her dead. 200 Oh, that my arms were feathered wings!
Oh, then, how happy would I be, When, hidden in the forest depths, I might lament in plaintive strain, 205 And live in fame as Iole, The maiden bird. I saw, alas, I saw my father's dreadful fate, When, smitten with that deadly club, He fell, in mangled fragments dashed 210 Throughout the palace hall. If then His fate had granted burial, How often had I searched, O sire, For all thy parts!
How could I look upon thy death, O Toxeus, with thy tender cheeks Unbearded yet, thy boyish veins Not yet with manhood's vigor filled?
But why do I bewail your fates, 215 O parents, whom to safety now Kind death has borne? My fortune bids That I bewail myself instead.
Soon, ah too soon, in captive state, Shall I the flying spindle turn For some proud mistress in her hall.
O cruel beauty, how hast thou 220 Decreed my death! For thee alone Am I and all my house undone, Since when my sire to Hercules Refused my hand, because he feared Great Hercules as son-in-law.
And now, not wife, but captive maid, I seek my haughty mistress' home.
_Chorus:_ Why dost thou, foolish, ever dwell 225 Upon thy sire's illustrious realm, And on thy own unhappy fate?
Forget thy former station now; For only is he happy who, As king or slave, knows how to bear His lot, and fit his countenance To changing circumstance. For he 230 Who bears his ills with steadfast soul Has from misfortune reft away Its strength and heaviness.
FOOTNOTES: ACT II _Nurse of_ Deianira: Oh, bitter is the rage a woman feels, When in one house both wife and mistress dwell!
No wrecking Scylla, no Charybdis dire, 235 The wild upheavers of Sicilia's waves, No savage beast, is more untamed than she.
For when the maiden's beauty was revealed, And Iole shone like the cloudless sky, Or gleaming stars within the heavens serene, Then did Alcides' bride like one distraught 240 Stand gazing fiercely on the captive maid; As when a tigress, lying with her young Beneath some rock in far Armenia, Leaps up to meet an enemy's approach; Or as a Maenad, by the god inspired, And bidden shake the thyrsus, stands awhile In wonder whither she shall take her way.
Then she throughout the house of Hercules 245 Goes madly rushing; nor does all the house Give space enough. Now here, now there she runs, At random wandering; and now she stands, Her face reflecting woe in every line, The inmost feelings of her heart revealed.
She threatens fiercely, then a flood of tears Succeeds to threats. No mood for long endures, 250 Nor can one form of rage content her long.
Now flame her cheeks with wrath; pale terror now Drives out the flush of anger, and her grief Takes every form that maddened sorrow knows: Complainings, prayers, and groans. But now the doors Are creaking: see, she comes in frenzied haste, With words confused revealing all her heart. 255 [_Enter_ Deianira.]
_Deianira:_ O wife of Jove, where'er in heaven thou dwell'st, Against Alcides send some raging beast That shall be dire enough to sate my wrath.
If any hydra rears its fertile head Too vast to be contained in any pool, Impossible of conquest, send it forth.
If anything is worse than other beasts, 260 Enormous, unrelenting, horrible, From which the eye of even Hercules Would turn in fear, let such an one come out From its huge den. But if no beasts avail, This heart of mine into some monster change; For of my hate can any shape be made That thou desir'st. Oh, mould my woman's form 265 To match my grief. My breast cannot contain Its rage. Why dost thou search the farthest bounds Of earth, and overturn the world? Or why Dost thou demand of hell its evil shapes?
This breast of mine will furnish for thy use All fearful things. To work thy deadly hate 270 Use me as tool. Thou canst destroy him quite.
Do thou but use these hands for what thou will.
Why dost thou hesitate, O goddess? See, Use me, the raging one. What impious deed Dost thou command? Decide. Why doubtful stand?
Now mayst thou rest awhile from all thy toils, For my rage is enough. 275 _Nurse:_ O child of mine, These sad outpourings of thy maddened heart Restrain, quench passion's fire, and curb thy grief.
Show now that thou art wife of Hercules.
_Deianira:_ Shall captive Iole unto my sons Give brothers, and a lowly slave become The daughter-in-law of Jove? In common course Will fire and rushing torrent never run; 280 The thirsty Bear will never taste the sea-- And never shall my woes go unavenged.
Though thou didst bear the vasty heavens up, Though all the world is debtor unto thee, 'Twill not avail thee now, for thou shalt find A monster greater far than Hydra's rage, An angry wife's revenge, awaiting thee.
The flames that leap from Aetna's top to heaven 285 Burn not so fiercely as my passion's fire Which shall outvie whate'er thou hast o'ercome.
Shall then a captive slave usurp my bed?
Before, I feared the monsters dire; but now, Those pests have vanished quite, and in their stead This hated rival comes. O mighty God, 290 Of all gods ruler, O thou lustrous Sun, 'Tis only in his perils, then, it seems, Have I been wife to Hercules. The gods Have granted to the captive all my prayers; For her behoof have I been fortunate.
Ye heard, indeed, my prayers, O gods of heaven, And Hercules is safe returned--for her! 295 O grief, that no revenge can satisfy, Seek out some dreadful means of punishment, By man unthought of and unspeakable.
Teach Juno's self how slight her hatred is.
She knows not how to rage. O Hercules, For me didst thou thy mighty battles wage; For me did Acheloüs dye his waves 300 With his own blood in mortal strife with thee, When now a writhing serpent he became, Now to a threatening bull he turned himself, And thou a thousand beasts didst overcome In one sole enemy. But now, alas, Am I no longer pleasing in thy sight, And this base captive is preferred to me.
But this she shall not be. For that same day 305 Which ends our married joys shall end thy life.
But what is this? My rage begins to fail And moderate its threats. My anger's gone.
Why dost thou languish thus, O wretched grief?
Wilt thou give o'er thy passion, be again The faithful, uncomplaining wife? Ah no!
Why dost thou strive to check the flames of wrath? 310 Why quench its fire? Let me but keep my rage, And I shall be the peer of Hercules, And I shall need to seek no heavenly aid.
But still, though all uncalled, will Juno come To guide my hands.
_Nurse:_ What crime dost thou intend, O foolish one? Wilt slay thy noble lord, 315 Whose praises from the east to west are known, Whose fame extends from earth to highest heaven?
For all the earth will rise to avenge his death; And this thy father's house and all thy race Will be the first to fall. Soon rocks and brands 320 Will be against thee hurled, since every land Will its protector shield; and thou alone Wilt suffer many, many penalties.
Suppose thou canst escape the world of men; Still must thou face the thunderbolts of Jove, The father of Alcides. Even now His threat'ning torches gleam athwart the sky, 325 And all the heavens tremble with the shock.
Nay, death itself, wherein thou hop'st to find A place of safe retreat--fear that as well; For there Alcides' uncle reigns supreme.
Turn where thou wilt, O wretched woman; there Shalt thou behold thy husband's kindred gods. 330 _Deianira:_ A fearful crime it is, I do confess; But Oh, my passion bids me do it still.
_Deianira:_ But as the wife of Hercules I'll die; no night shall ever bring the day That shall behold me cheated of my own, Nor shall a captive mistress have my bed.
Sooner shall western skies give birth to day; 335 Sooner shall men of India make their home Beneath the icy pole, and Phoebus tan With his hot rays the shivering Scythians, Than shall the dames of Thessaly behold My downfall. For with my own blood I'll quench The marriage torches. Either he shall die, Or slay me with his hand. To all the beasts 340 Whom he has slaughtered let him add his wife; Let me be numbered 'mongst his mighty deeds; But in my death my body still shall claim The couch of Hercules. Oh, sweet, 'tis sweet To fare to Hades as Alcides' bride, And not without my vengeance. If, indeed, 345 From Hercules my rival has conceived, With my own hands I'll tear the child away Untimely, and that shameless harlot face Within her very wedding torches' glare.
And though in wrath upon his nuptial day He slay me as a victim at the shrine, Let me but fall upon my rival's corse, And I shall die content. For happy he Who drags with him his enemy to death. 350 _Nurse:_ Why dost thou feed thy passion's flames, poor child, And nurse thy grief? Why cherish needless fear?
He did feel love for Iole, 'tis true; But in the time while yet her father reigned, And while she was a haughty monarch's child.
The princess now has fallen to the place Of slave, and love has lost its power to charm, 355 Since her unhappy state has stol'n from her Her loveliness. The unattainable Is ever sought in love. But from the thing That is within his reach love turns away.
_Deianira:_ Nay: fallen fortunes fan the flames of love; And for this very reason does he love, Because her home is lost, and from her head The crown of gleaming gold and gems has fallen. 360 For these her woes he pities her--and loves.
'Twas e'er his wont to love his captive maids.
_Nurse:_ 'Tis true, he loved the captive Trojan maid, Young Priam's sister; but he gave her up.
Recall how many dames, how many maids Aforetime he has loved, this wandering swain. 365 The Arcadian maiden Auge, while she led The choral dance of Pallas, roused his love And suffered straight his passionate embrace.
But from his heart she quickly fell away, And now retains no traces of his love.
Why mention others? The Thespiades Enjoyed the passing love of Hercules, 370 But are forgotten. Soon, a wanderer Upon Timolus, he caressed the queen Of Lydia, and, smitten by her love, He sat beside the whirling distaff there, His doughty fingers on the moistened thread.
His neck no longer bears the lion's spoil; But there he sits, a languid, love-sick slave, His shaggy locks with Phrygian turban bound, 375 And dripping with the costly oil of myrrh.
Yes, everywhere he feels the fires of love, But always does he glow with transient flame.
_Deianira:_ But lovers after many transient flames, Are wont at last to choose a single love.
_Nurse:_ And could Alcides choose instead of thee A slave, the daughter of his enemy? 380 _Deianira:_ As budding groves put on a joyous form When spring's warm breezes clothe the naked boughs; But, when the northwind rages in their stead, And savage winter strips the leaves away, Thou seest naught but bare and shapeless trunks: So this my beauty, which has traveled far 385 Along the road of life, has lost its bloom, And gleams less brightly than in former years.
Behold that loveliness--but Oh, whate'er Was once by many suitors sought in me, Has vanished quite; for toils of motherhood Have stolen my beauty, and with speeding foot Advancing age has hurried it away. 390 But, as thou seest, this slave has not yet lost Her glorious charms. Her queenly robes, 'tis true, Have yielded to the garb of poverty; Still, through her very grief her beauty shines, And nothing save her kingdom has she lost By this hard stroke of fate. This fear of her 395 Doth vex my heart and take away my sleep.
I once was in the eyes of all the world The wife most to be praised; and every bride Longed for a mate like mine with envious prayers; And every soul that asked the gods for aught, Took me as type and measure of her vows. 400 What father shall I ever find, O nurse, To equal Jove? What husband like to mine In all the world? Though he, Eurystheus' self, Beneath whose power my Hercules is placed, Should take me for his wife, 'twould not suffice.
A trifling thing, to miss a royal couch; 405 But far she falls who loses Hercules.
_Nurse:_ But children often win a husband's love.
_Deianira:_ My rival's child perchance will win him too.
_Nurse:_ I think that slave is but a gift for thee.
_Deianira:_ This fellow whom thou seest wandering 410 Throughout our Grecian cities, big with fame, A tawny lion's spoils upon his back, And in his dreadful hand a massive club; Who takes their realms away from haughty kings, And gives them to the weak; whose praise is sung By men of every land throughout the world: 415 This man is but a trifler, without thought Of winning deathless glory for himself.
He wanders through the earth, not in the hope That he may rival Jupiter, or go With great renown throughout the towns of Greece; His quest is ever love, the maiden's couch.
He takes by force what is refused to him; 420 He rages 'gainst the nations, seeks his brides Amidst the ruins of a people's hopes.
And this wild carnival of lustful crime Is by the honored name, heroic, called.
But now, illustrious Oechalia fell; One sun, one day beheld it stand--and fall.
And of the strife the only cause was love.
As often as a father shall refuse 425 To give his daughter unto Hercules, And be the father of his enemy, So often need he be in mortal fear.
If he is not accepted as a son, He smites in rage. Why then do I preserve In harmless inactivity these hands, Until he feign another fit of rage, And stretch his bow with deadly aim at me, And slaughter both his wife and child at once? 430 Thus 'tis his wont to put away his wives; And such his cruel method of divorce.
But he cannot be held the guilty one!
For he contrives to make the world believe That Juno is the cause of all his crimes.
O sluggish passion, why inactive stand?
Anticipate his crime, and act at once While still thy hands are burning for the deed. 435 _Nurse:_ Wilt kill thy husband?
_Deianira:_ And my rival's too.
_Nurse:_ The son of Jove?
_Deianira:_ Alcmena's son as well.
_Nurse:_ With the sword?
_Deianira:_ The sword.
_Nurse:_ If not?
_Deianira:_ With guile I'll slay.
_Nurse:_ What madness this?
_Deianira:_ That which I learned of him.
_Nurse:_ Whom Juno could not harm wilt thou destroy? 440 _Deianira:_ Celestial anger only wretched makes Those whom it touches; mortal wrath destroys.
_Nurse:_ Oh, spare thy husband, wretched one, and fear.
_Deianira:_ The one who first has learned the scorn of death, Scorns everything. 'Tis sweet to meet the sword.
_Nurse:_ Thy grief is all too great, my foster-child; Let not his fault claim more than equal hate. 445 Why dost so sternly judge a light offense?
Nay, suit thy grieving to thine injury.
_Deianira:_ But dost thou call a mistress light offense?
Of all that feeds my grief, count this the worst.
_Nurse:_ And has thy love for great Alcides fled?
_Deianira:_ Not fled, dear nurse, believe me; still it lies 450 Securely fixed within my inmost heart.
But outraged love is poignant misery.
_Nurse:_ By magic arts united to their prayers Do wives full oft their wandering husbands bind.
I have myself in midst of winter's cold Commanded trees to clothe themselves in green, The thunderbolt to stop; I've roused the sea 455 When no wind blew, and calmed the swollen waves; The thirsty plain has opened at my touch To springs of water; rocks give way to me, And doors fly open; when I bid them stand The shades of hell obey, and talk with me; The infernal dog is still at my command; 460 Midnight has seen the sun, midday the night.
For sea, land, heaven, and hell obey my will, And nothing can withstand my potent charms.
Then let us bend him; charms will find the way.
_Deianira:_ What magic herbs does distant Pontus yield, 465 Or Pindus 'neath the rocks of Thessaly, Where I may find a charm to bend his will?
Though Luna leave the stars and fall to earth, Obedient to thy magic; though the crops In winter ripen; though the hurtling bolt Stand still at thy command; though all the laws 470 Of nature be reversed, and stars shine out Upon the noonday skies--he would not yield.
_Nurse:_ But Love has conquered e'en the heavenly gods.
_Deianira:_ Perhaps by one alone he will himself Be conquered, and give spoils of war to him, And so become Alcides' latest task.
But by each separate god of heaven I pray, 475 By this my fear: what secret I disclose Keep hidden thou and close within thy breast.
_Nurse:_ What secret wouldst thou then so closely guard?
_Deianira:_ I mean no weapons, arms, or threatening flames.
_Nurse:_ I can give pledge of faith, if it be free 480 From sin; for sometimes faith itself is sin.
_Deianira:_ Lest someone hear my secret, look about; In all directions turn thy watchful gaze.
_Nurse:_ Behold, the place is free from curious eyes.
_Deianira:_ Deep hidden, far within this royal pile, 485 There is a cave that guards my secret well.
Neither the rising sun can reach the spot With its fresh beams; nor can its latest rays, When Titan leads the weary day to rest, And plunges 'neath the ruddy ocean's waves.
There lies a charm that can restore to me 490 The love of Hercules. I'll tell thee all.
The giver of the charm was Nessus, he Whom Nephele to bold Ixion bore, Where lofty[27] Pindus towers to the skies, And high above the clouds cold Othrys stands.
For when, compelled by dread Alcides' club 495 To shift with ready ease from form to form Of beasts, and, overcome in every form, At last bold Acheloüs bowed his head With its one horn defiled; then Hercules, Exulting in his triumph, claimed his bride And bore me off to Argos. Then, it chanced, 500 Evenus' stream that wanders through the plain, Its whirling waters bearing to the sea, Was swollen beyond its banks[28] with turbid flood.
Here Nessus, well accustomed to the stream, Required a price for bearing me across; 505 And on his back, where beast and human join,