Andromache [15]
and batter his corpse. So his whole body, once so fair, was marred with savage wounds. At last they cast the lifeless clay, Iying near the altar, forth from the fragrant fane. And we gathered up his remains forthwith and are bringing them to thee, old prince, to mourn and weep and honour with a deep-dug tomb. This is how that prince who vouchsafeth oracles to others, that judge of what is right for all the world, hath revenged himself on Achilles' son, remembering his ancient quarrel as a wicked man would. How then can he be wise?
(The MESSENGER withdraws as the body of Neoptolemus is carried in on a bier. The following lines between PELEUS and the CHORUS are chanted responsively.)
CHORUS Lo! e'en now our prince is being carried on a bier from Delphi's land unto his home. Woe for him and his sad fate, and woe for thee, old sire! for this is not the welcome thou wouldst give Achilles' son, the lion's whelp; thyself too by this sad mischance dost share his evil lot. PELEUS Ah! woe is me! here is a sad sight for me to see and take unto my halls! Ah me! ah me! I am undone, thou city of Thessaly! My line now ends; I have no children left me in my home. Oh! the sorrows seem born to endure! What friend can I look to for relief? Ah, dear lips, and cheeks, and hands! Would thy destiny had slain the 'neath Ilium's walls beside the banks of Simois! CHORUS Had he so died, my aged lord, he had won him honour thereby, and thine had been the happier lot. PELEUS O marriage, marriage, woe to thee! thou bane of my home, thou destroyer of my city! Ah my child, my boy, would that the honour of wedding thee, fraught with evil as it was to my children and house, had not thrown o'er thee, my son, Hermione's deadly net! that the thunderbolt had slain her sooner! and that thou, rash mortal, hadst never charged the great god Phoebus with aiming that murderous shaft that spilt thy hero-father's blood! CHORUS Woe! woe! alas! With due observance of funeral rites will I begin the mourning for my dead master. PELEUS Alack and well-a-day! I take up the tearful dirge, ah me! old and wretched as I am. CHORUS 'Tis Heaven's decree; God willed this heavy stroke. PELEUS O darling child, thou hast left me all alone in my halls, old and childless by thy loss. CHORUS Thou shouldst have died, old sire, before thy children. PELEUS Shall I not tear my hair, and smite upon my head with grievous blows? O city! of both my children hath Phoebus robbed me. CHORUS What evils thou hast suffered, what sorrows thou hast seen, thou poor old man! what shall be thy life hereafter? PELEUS Childless, desolate, with no limit to my grief, I must drain the cup of woe, until I die. CHORUS 'Twas all in vain the gods wished thee joy on thy wedding day. PELEUS All my hopes have flown away, fallen short of my high boasts. CHORUS A lonely dweller in a lonely home art thou. PELEUS I have no city any longer; there! on the ground my sceptre do cast; and thou, daughter of Nereus, 'neath thy dim grotto, shalt see me grovelling in the dust, a ruined king. CHORUS Look, look! (A dim form of divine appearance is seen hovering mid air.) What is that moving? what influence divine am I conscious of? Look, maidens, mark it well; see, yonder is some deity, wafted through the lustrous air and alighting on the plains of Phthia, home of steeds. THETIS (from above) O Peleus! because of my wedded days with thee now long agone, I Thetis am come from the halls of Nereus. And first I counsel thee not to grieve to excess in thy present distress, for I too who need ne'er have borne children to my sorrow, have lost the child of our love, Achilles swift of foot, foremost of the sons of Hellas. Next will I declare why I am come, and do thou give ear. Carry yonder corpse, Achilles' son, to the Pythian altar and there bury it, a reproach to Delphi, that his tomb may proclaim the violent death he met at the hand of Orestes. And for his captive
(The MESSENGER withdraws as the body of Neoptolemus is carried in on a bier. The following lines between PELEUS and the CHORUS are chanted responsively.)
CHORUS Lo! e'en now our prince is being carried on a bier from Delphi's land unto his home. Woe for him and his sad fate, and woe for thee, old sire! for this is not the welcome thou wouldst give Achilles' son, the lion's whelp; thyself too by this sad mischance dost share his evil lot. PELEUS Ah! woe is me! here is a sad sight for me to see and take unto my halls! Ah me! ah me! I am undone, thou city of Thessaly! My line now ends; I have no children left me in my home. Oh! the sorrows seem born to endure! What friend can I look to for relief? Ah, dear lips, and cheeks, and hands! Would thy destiny had slain the 'neath Ilium's walls beside the banks of Simois! CHORUS Had he so died, my aged lord, he had won him honour thereby, and thine had been the happier lot. PELEUS O marriage, marriage, woe to thee! thou bane of my home, thou destroyer of my city! Ah my child, my boy, would that the honour of wedding thee, fraught with evil as it was to my children and house, had not thrown o'er thee, my son, Hermione's deadly net! that the thunderbolt had slain her sooner! and that thou, rash mortal, hadst never charged the great god Phoebus with aiming that murderous shaft that spilt thy hero-father's blood! CHORUS Woe! woe! alas! With due observance of funeral rites will I begin the mourning for my dead master. PELEUS Alack and well-a-day! I take up the tearful dirge, ah me! old and wretched as I am. CHORUS 'Tis Heaven's decree; God willed this heavy stroke. PELEUS O darling child, thou hast left me all alone in my halls, old and childless by thy loss. CHORUS Thou shouldst have died, old sire, before thy children. PELEUS Shall I not tear my hair, and smite upon my head with grievous blows? O city! of both my children hath Phoebus robbed me. CHORUS What evils thou hast suffered, what sorrows thou hast seen, thou poor old man! what shall be thy life hereafter? PELEUS Childless, desolate, with no limit to my grief, I must drain the cup of woe, until I die. CHORUS 'Twas all in vain the gods wished thee joy on thy wedding day. PELEUS All my hopes have flown away, fallen short of my high boasts. CHORUS A lonely dweller in a lonely home art thou. PELEUS I have no city any longer; there! on the ground my sceptre do cast; and thou, daughter of Nereus, 'neath thy dim grotto, shalt see me grovelling in the dust, a ruined king. CHORUS Look, look! (A dim form of divine appearance is seen hovering mid air.) What is that moving? what influence divine am I conscious of? Look, maidens, mark it well; see, yonder is some deity, wafted through the lustrous air and alighting on the plains of Phthia, home of steeds. THETIS (from above) O Peleus! because of my wedded days with thee now long agone, I Thetis am come from the halls of Nereus. And first I counsel thee not to grieve to excess in thy present distress, for I too who need ne'er have borne children to my sorrow, have lost the child of our love, Achilles swift of foot, foremost of the sons of Hellas. Next will I declare why I am come, and do thou give ear. Carry yonder corpse, Achilles' son, to the Pythian altar and there bury it, a reproach to Delphi, that his tomb may proclaim the violent death he met at the hand of Orestes. And for his captive