It was enough for my hand to touch it lightly, 750
To render it distasteful to that inhuman man:
And for that wretched blade to soil his hands.
To render it distasteful to that inhuman man:
And for that wretched blade to soil his hands.
Racine - Phaedra
Act III Scene I (Phaedra, Oenone)
Oh! If they'd take elsewhere the honours they send me!
Importunate girl, do you want them to see me?
With what do you hope to stir my desolate heart?
Rather you should hide me: I the truth impart. 740
My visible passions dared to appear abroad.
I have said what should never be overheard.
Heavens! How he listened! In how many ways
That unfeeling man evaded what I had to say!
To achieve a swift departure was his only aim! 745
And how his blushes increased my sense of shame!
Why did you seek to thwart my desire for death?
Alas! When that sword of his sought out my breast,
Did he grow pale for me, and snatch it from me?
It was enough for my hand to touch it lightly, 750
To render it distasteful to that inhuman man:
And for that wretched blade to soil his hands.
Oenone
So in this affliction, that only breeds anguish,
You nourish a passion that you should extinguish.
Would it not be better, Minos' worthy daughter, 755
To search for repose amongst the nobler cares,
Rule, in opposition to that ungrateful man
Who resorts to flight: and govern in the land?
Phaedra
I rule? I, and bring the state beneath my law,
When my weak mind can rule itself no more! 760
When I've abandoned control of my senses so!
When I can scarce breathe beneath a shameful yoke!
When I am dying!
Oenone
Take flight.
Phaedra
I cannot leave him.
Oenone
You dared to banish him: you daren't avoid him?
Phaedra
No longer. He knows my ardent ecstasy. 765
I've passed the bounds of cautious modesty.
In my conqueror's sight I declared my shame,
Yet hope glides to my heart now all the same.
You yourself, defeating my powers' eclipse,
Recalling my soul, already hovering on my lips, 770
You revived me with your flattering advice.
