Go, now, leave me a
faithful
servant, though,
Who can direct my timid steps towards you.
Who can direct my timid steps towards you.
Racine - Phaedra
.
1385
Hippolyte
No, no, I've too much care for your reputation.
A nobler plan brought me here before you:
Flee your enemies: follow your husband too.
Free in our sorrows, since the heavens so will,
The pledge of our faith depends on no one else. 1390
Marriage is not always lit by nuptial flames.
At the gates of Troezen, among these graves,
The ancient tombs of the princes of my race,
Is a sacred temple where perjury has no place.
There no mortal man dares to swear in vain: 1395
Against false oaths, his punishment is certain:
And fearing to meet there with inexorable death,
Nothing more surely constrains deceitful breath.
There, if your trust in me, we will approve
The solemn contract of out eternal love. 1400
We'll have as witness the god worshipped there:
We will pray that he acts towards us as a father.
I'll call on the names of the most holy gods.
And chaste Diana, and Juno, the august,
All the gods, in short, witnessing my tenderness, 1405
Will guarantee the faith of my sacred promise.
Aricia
The King approaches. Leave, Prince. Go, this instant.
To mask my departure I'll stay here a moment.
Go, now, leave me a faithful servant, though,
Who can direct my timid steps towards you. 1410
Act V Scene II (Theseus, Aricia, Ismene)
Theseus
You gods, lighten my trouble, and deign to show
To my eyes, the truth I'm seeking here below.
Aricia
Think of everything, Ismene, prepare our flight.
Act V Scene III (Theseus, Aricia)
You seem troubled, Lady, and your face is white.
Why was Hippolytus here with you as well? 1415
Aricia
My Lord, he was speaking an eternal farewell.
Theseus
Your eyes have tamed that rebellious heart:
His first sighs resulted from your happy art.
Aricia
My lord, I cannot deny the truth to you:
He did not inherit your unjust hatred too. 1420
He never treated me like a criminal.
Theseus
I understand, he swore a love, eternal.
Don't rely though on a heart that's so unsure:
He's sworn as much to other girls before.
Aricia
He, my Lord?
Theseus
You should have made him less fickle though: 1425
How is it you could endure to share him so?
Aricia
And how could you endure that terrible lies
Should darken the course of so fine a life?
Have you so little knowledge of his heart's reality?
Do you understand crime and innocence so poorly?
Hippolyte
No, no, I've too much care for your reputation.
A nobler plan brought me here before you:
Flee your enemies: follow your husband too.
Free in our sorrows, since the heavens so will,
The pledge of our faith depends on no one else. 1390
Marriage is not always lit by nuptial flames.
At the gates of Troezen, among these graves,
The ancient tombs of the princes of my race,
Is a sacred temple where perjury has no place.
There no mortal man dares to swear in vain: 1395
Against false oaths, his punishment is certain:
And fearing to meet there with inexorable death,
Nothing more surely constrains deceitful breath.
There, if your trust in me, we will approve
The solemn contract of out eternal love. 1400
We'll have as witness the god worshipped there:
We will pray that he acts towards us as a father.
I'll call on the names of the most holy gods.
And chaste Diana, and Juno, the august,
All the gods, in short, witnessing my tenderness, 1405
Will guarantee the faith of my sacred promise.
Aricia
The King approaches. Leave, Prince. Go, this instant.
To mask my departure I'll stay here a moment.
Go, now, leave me a faithful servant, though,
Who can direct my timid steps towards you. 1410
Act V Scene II (Theseus, Aricia, Ismene)
Theseus
You gods, lighten my trouble, and deign to show
To my eyes, the truth I'm seeking here below.
Aricia
Think of everything, Ismene, prepare our flight.
Act V Scene III (Theseus, Aricia)
You seem troubled, Lady, and your face is white.
Why was Hippolytus here with you as well? 1415
Aricia
My Lord, he was speaking an eternal farewell.
Theseus
Your eyes have tamed that rebellious heart:
His first sighs resulted from your happy art.
Aricia
My lord, I cannot deny the truth to you:
He did not inherit your unjust hatred too. 1420
He never treated me like a criminal.
Theseus
I understand, he swore a love, eternal.
Don't rely though on a heart that's so unsure:
He's sworn as much to other girls before.
Aricia
He, my Lord?
Theseus
You should have made him less fickle though: 1425
How is it you could endure to share him so?
Aricia
And how could you endure that terrible lies
Should darken the course of so fine a life?
Have you so little knowledge of his heart's reality?
Do you understand crime and innocence so poorly?
