ELECTRA [14]
him no evil, but a friend, or haply a
kinswoman in blood.
(The urn is placed in ELECTRA'S hands.)
ELECTRA
Ah, memorial of him whom I loved best on earth! Ah, Orestes, whose
life hath no relic left save this,- how far from the hopes with
which I sent thee forth is the manner in which I receive thee back!
Now I carry thy poor dust in my hands; but thou wert radiant, my
child, when I sped the forth from home! Would that I had yielded up my
breath, ere, with these hands, I stole thee away, and sent thee to a
strange land, and rescued the from death; that so thou mightest have
been stricken down on that self-same day, and had thy portion in the
tomb of thy sire!
But now, an exile from home and fatherland, thou hast perished
miserably, far from thy sister; woe is me, these loving hands have not
washed or decked thy corpse, nor taken up, as was meet, their sad
burden from the flaming pyre. No! at the hands of strangers, hapless
one, thou hast had those rites, and so art come to us, a little dust
in a narrow urn.
Ah, woe is me for my nursing long ago, so vain, that I oft
bestowed on thee with loving toil I For thou wast never thy mother's
darling so much as mine; nor was any in the house thy nurse but I; and
by thee I was ever called 'sister.' But now all this hath vanished
in a day, with thy death; like a whirlwind, thou hast swept all away
with thee. Our father is gone; I am dead in regard to thee; thou
thyself hast perished: our foes exult; that mother, who is none, is
mad with joy,- she of whom thou didst oft send me secret messages, thy
heralds, saying that thou thyself wouldst appear as an avenger. But
our evil fortune. thine and mine, hath reft all that away, and hath
sent thee forth unto me thus,- no more the form that I loved so
well, but ashes and an idle shade.
Ah me, ah me! O piteous dust! Alas, thou dear one, sent on a
dire journey, how hast undone me,- undone me indeed, O brother mine!
Therefore take me to this thy home, me who am as nothing, to thy
nothingness, that I may dwell with thee henceforth below; for when
thou wert on earth, we shared alike; and now I fain would die, that
I may not be parted from thee in the grave. For I see that the dead
have rest from pain.
LEADER
Bethink thee, Electra, thou art the child of mortal sire, and
mortal was Orestes; therefore grieve not too much. This is a debt
which all of us must pay.
ORESTES
Alas, what shall I say? What words can serve me at this pass? I
can restrain my lips no longer!
ELECTRA
What hath troubled thee? Why didst thou say that?
ORESTES
Is this the form of the illustrious Electra that I behold?
ELECTRA
It is; and very grievous is her plight.
ORESTES
Alas, then, for this miserable fortune!
ELECTRA
Surely, sir, thy lament is not for me?
ORESTES
O form cruelly, godlessly misused!
ELECTRA
Those ill-omened words, sir, fit no one better than me.
ORESTES
Alas for thy life, unwedded and all unblest!
ELECTRA
Why this steadfast gaze, stranger, and these laments?
ORESTES
How ignorant was I, then, of mine own sorrows!
ELECTRA
By what that hath been said hast thou perceived this?
ORESTES
By seeing thy sufferings, so many and so great.
ELECTRA
And yet thou seest but a few of my woes.
ORESTES
Could any be more painful to behold?
ELECTRA
This, that I share the dwelling of the murderers.
ORESTES
Whose murderers? Where lies the guilt at which thou hintest?
ELECTRA
My father's;- and then I am their slave perforce.
ORESTES
Who is it that subjects thee to this constraint?
ELECTRA
A mother-in name, but no mother in her deeds.
ORESTES
How doth she oppress thee? With violence or with hardship?
ELECTRA
With violence, and hardships, and all manner of ill.
ORESTES
And is there none to succour, or to hinder?
ELECTRA
None. I had one; and thou hast shown me his ashes.
ORESTES
Hapless girl, how
kinswoman in blood.
(The urn is placed in ELECTRA'S hands.)
ELECTRA
Ah, memorial of him whom I loved best on earth! Ah, Orestes, whose
life hath no relic left save this,- how far from the hopes with
which I sent thee forth is the manner in which I receive thee back!
Now I carry thy poor dust in my hands; but thou wert radiant, my
child, when I sped the forth from home! Would that I had yielded up my
breath, ere, with these hands, I stole thee away, and sent thee to a
strange land, and rescued the from death; that so thou mightest have
been stricken down on that self-same day, and had thy portion in the
tomb of thy sire!
But now, an exile from home and fatherland, thou hast perished
miserably, far from thy sister; woe is me, these loving hands have not
washed or decked thy corpse, nor taken up, as was meet, their sad
burden from the flaming pyre. No! at the hands of strangers, hapless
one, thou hast had those rites, and so art come to us, a little dust
in a narrow urn.
Ah, woe is me for my nursing long ago, so vain, that I oft
bestowed on thee with loving toil I For thou wast never thy mother's
darling so much as mine; nor was any in the house thy nurse but I; and
by thee I was ever called 'sister.' But now all this hath vanished
in a day, with thy death; like a whirlwind, thou hast swept all away
with thee. Our father is gone; I am dead in regard to thee; thou
thyself hast perished: our foes exult; that mother, who is none, is
mad with joy,- she of whom thou didst oft send me secret messages, thy
heralds, saying that thou thyself wouldst appear as an avenger. But
our evil fortune. thine and mine, hath reft all that away, and hath
sent thee forth unto me thus,- no more the form that I loved so
well, but ashes and an idle shade.
Ah me, ah me! O piteous dust! Alas, thou dear one, sent on a
dire journey, how hast undone me,- undone me indeed, O brother mine!
Therefore take me to this thy home, me who am as nothing, to thy
nothingness, that I may dwell with thee henceforth below; for when
thou wert on earth, we shared alike; and now I fain would die, that
I may not be parted from thee in the grave. For I see that the dead
have rest from pain.
LEADER
Bethink thee, Electra, thou art the child of mortal sire, and
mortal was Orestes; therefore grieve not too much. This is a debt
which all of us must pay.
ORESTES
Alas, what shall I say? What words can serve me at this pass? I
can restrain my lips no longer!
ELECTRA
What hath troubled thee? Why didst thou say that?
ORESTES
Is this the form of the illustrious Electra that I behold?
ELECTRA
It is; and very grievous is her plight.
ORESTES
Alas, then, for this miserable fortune!
ELECTRA
Surely, sir, thy lament is not for me?
ORESTES
O form cruelly, godlessly misused!
ELECTRA
Those ill-omened words, sir, fit no one better than me.
ORESTES
Alas for thy life, unwedded and all unblest!
ELECTRA
Why this steadfast gaze, stranger, and these laments?
ORESTES
How ignorant was I, then, of mine own sorrows!
ELECTRA
By what that hath been said hast thou perceived this?
ORESTES
By seeing thy sufferings, so many and so great.
ELECTRA
And yet thou seest but a few of my woes.
ORESTES
Could any be more painful to behold?
ELECTRA
This, that I share the dwelling of the murderers.
ORESTES
Whose murderers? Where lies the guilt at which thou hintest?
ELECTRA
My father's;- and then I am their slave perforce.
ORESTES
Who is it that subjects thee to this constraint?
ELECTRA
A mother-in name, but no mother in her deeds.
ORESTES
How doth she oppress thee? With violence or with hardship?
ELECTRA
With violence, and hardships, and all manner of ill.
ORESTES
And is there none to succour, or to hinder?
ELECTRA
None. I had one; and thou hast shown me his ashes.
ORESTES
Hapless girl, how