ALCESTIS (_giving the
children
into his arms one after the other_).
Euripides - Alcestis
.
And good dreams of thee will come
Like balm. 'Tis sweet, even in a dream, to gaze
On a dear face, the moment that it stays.
O God, if Orpheus' voice were mine, to sing
To Death's high Virgin and the Virgin's King,
Till their hearts failed them, down would I my path
Cleave, and naught stay me, not the Hound of Wrath,
Not the grey oarsman of the ghostly tide,
Till back to sunlight I had borne my bride.
But now, wife, wait for me till I shall come
Where thou art, and prepare our second home.
These ministers in that same cedar sweet
Where thou art laid will lay me, feet to feet,
And head to head, oh, not in death from thee
Divided, who alone art true to me!
LEADER.
This life-long sorrow thou hast sworn, I too,
Thy friend, will bear with thee. It is her due.
ALCESTIS.
Children, ye heard his promise? He will wed
No other woman nor forget the dead.
ADMETUS.
Again I promise. So it shall be done.
ALCESTIS (_giving the children into his arms one after the other_).
On that oath take my daughter: and my son.
ADMETUS.
Dear hand that gives, I accept both gift and vow.
ALCESTIS.
Thou, in my place, must be their mother now.
ADMETUS.
Else were they motherless--I needs must try.
ALCESTIS.
My babes, I ought to live, and lo, I die.
ADMETUS.
And how can I, forlorn of thee, live on?
ALCESTIS.
Time healeth; and the dead are dead and gone.
ADMETUS.
Oh, take me with thee to the dark below,
Me also!
Like balm. 'Tis sweet, even in a dream, to gaze
On a dear face, the moment that it stays.
O God, if Orpheus' voice were mine, to sing
To Death's high Virgin and the Virgin's King,
Till their hearts failed them, down would I my path
Cleave, and naught stay me, not the Hound of Wrath,
Not the grey oarsman of the ghostly tide,
Till back to sunlight I had borne my bride.
But now, wife, wait for me till I shall come
Where thou art, and prepare our second home.
These ministers in that same cedar sweet
Where thou art laid will lay me, feet to feet,
And head to head, oh, not in death from thee
Divided, who alone art true to me!
LEADER.
This life-long sorrow thou hast sworn, I too,
Thy friend, will bear with thee. It is her due.
ALCESTIS.
Children, ye heard his promise? He will wed
No other woman nor forget the dead.
ADMETUS.
Again I promise. So it shall be done.
ALCESTIS (_giving the children into his arms one after the other_).
On that oath take my daughter: and my son.
ADMETUS.
Dear hand that gives, I accept both gift and vow.
ALCESTIS.
Thou, in my place, must be their mother now.
ADMETUS.
Else were they motherless--I needs must try.
ALCESTIS.
My babes, I ought to live, and lo, I die.
ADMETUS.
And how can I, forlorn of thee, live on?
ALCESTIS.
Time healeth; and the dead are dead and gone.
ADMETUS.
Oh, take me with thee to the dark below,
Me also!
