See ye to her;
unqueenly
'tis for me,
Unheeded thus to cast away my words.
Unheeded thus to cast away my words.
Aeschylus
What, haughty still?
Step from the car; Alcmena's son, 'tis said,
Was sold perforce and bore the yoke of old.
Ay, hard it is, but, if such fate befall,
'Tis a fair chance to serve within a home
Of ancient wealth and power. An upstart lord,
To whom wealth's harvest came beyond his hope,
Is as a lion to his slaves, in all
Exceeding fierce, immoderate in sway.
Pass in: thou hearest what our ways will be.
CHORUS
Clear unto thee, O maid, is her command,
But thou--within the toils of Fate thou art--
If such thy will, I urge thee to obey;
Yet I misdoubt thou dost nor hear nor heed.
CLYTEMNESTRA
I wot--unless like swallows she doth use
Some strange barbarian tongue from oversea--
My words must speak persuasion to her soul.
CHORUS
Obey: there is no gentler way than this.
Step from the car's high seat and follow her.
CLYTEMNESTRA
Truce to this bootless waiting here without!
I will not stay: beside the central shrine
The victims stand, prepared for knife and fire--
Offerings from hearts beyond all hope made glad.
Thou--if thou reckest aught of my command,
'Twere well done soon: but if thy sense be shut
From these my words, let thy barbarian hand
Fulfil by gesture the default of speech.
CHORUS
No native is she, thus to read thy words
Unaided: like some wild thing of the wood,
New-trapped, behold! she shrinks and glares on thee.
CLYTEMNESTRA
'Tis madness and the rule of mind distraught,
Since she beheld her city sink in fire,
And hither comes, nor brooks the bit, until
In foam and blood her wrath be champed away.
See ye to her; unqueenly 'tis for me,
Unheeded thus to cast away my words.
[_Exit Clytemnestra. _
CHORUS
But with me pity sits in anger's place.
Poor maiden, come thou from the car; no way
There is but this--take up thy servitude.
CASSANDRA
Woe, woe, alas! Earth, Mother Earth! and thou
Apollo, Apollo!
CHORUS
Peace! shriek not to the bright prophetic god,
Who will not brook the suppliance of woe.
CASSANDRA
Woe, woe, alas! Earth, Mother Earth! and thou
Apollo, Apollo!
CHORUS
Hark, with wild curse she calls anew on him,
Who stands far off and loathes the voice of wail.
CASSANDRA
Apollo, Apollo!
God of all ways, but only Death's to me,
Once and again, O thou, Destroyer named,
Thou hast destroyed me, thou, my love of old!
CHORUS
She grows presageful of her woes to come,
Slave tho' she be, instinct with prophecy.
Step from the car; Alcmena's son, 'tis said,
Was sold perforce and bore the yoke of old.
Ay, hard it is, but, if such fate befall,
'Tis a fair chance to serve within a home
Of ancient wealth and power. An upstart lord,
To whom wealth's harvest came beyond his hope,
Is as a lion to his slaves, in all
Exceeding fierce, immoderate in sway.
Pass in: thou hearest what our ways will be.
CHORUS
Clear unto thee, O maid, is her command,
But thou--within the toils of Fate thou art--
If such thy will, I urge thee to obey;
Yet I misdoubt thou dost nor hear nor heed.
CLYTEMNESTRA
I wot--unless like swallows she doth use
Some strange barbarian tongue from oversea--
My words must speak persuasion to her soul.
CHORUS
Obey: there is no gentler way than this.
Step from the car's high seat and follow her.
CLYTEMNESTRA
Truce to this bootless waiting here without!
I will not stay: beside the central shrine
The victims stand, prepared for knife and fire--
Offerings from hearts beyond all hope made glad.
Thou--if thou reckest aught of my command,
'Twere well done soon: but if thy sense be shut
From these my words, let thy barbarian hand
Fulfil by gesture the default of speech.
CHORUS
No native is she, thus to read thy words
Unaided: like some wild thing of the wood,
New-trapped, behold! she shrinks and glares on thee.
CLYTEMNESTRA
'Tis madness and the rule of mind distraught,
Since she beheld her city sink in fire,
And hither comes, nor brooks the bit, until
In foam and blood her wrath be champed away.
See ye to her; unqueenly 'tis for me,
Unheeded thus to cast away my words.
[_Exit Clytemnestra. _
CHORUS
But with me pity sits in anger's place.
Poor maiden, come thou from the car; no way
There is but this--take up thy servitude.
CASSANDRA
Woe, woe, alas! Earth, Mother Earth! and thou
Apollo, Apollo!
CHORUS
Peace! shriek not to the bright prophetic god,
Who will not brook the suppliance of woe.
CASSANDRA
Woe, woe, alas! Earth, Mother Earth! and thou
Apollo, Apollo!
CHORUS
Hark, with wild curse she calls anew on him,
Who stands far off and loathes the voice of wail.
CASSANDRA
Apollo, Apollo!
God of all ways, but only Death's to me,
Once and again, O thou, Destroyer named,
Thou hast destroyed me, thou, my love of old!
CHORUS
She grows presageful of her woes to come,
Slave tho' she be, instinct with prophecy.
