The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume I Part 25

PYLADES

The day of his return, as from the bath Arose the monarch, tranquil and refresh'd, His robe demanding from his consort's hand, A tangled garment, complicate with folds, She o'er his shoulders flung and n.o.ble head; And when, as from a net, he vainly strove To extricate himself, the traitor, base aegisthus, smote him, and envelop'd thus Great Agamemnon sought the shades below.

IPHIGENIA

And what reward receiv'd the base accomplice?

PYLADES

A queen and kingdom he possess'd already.

IPHIGENIA

Base pa.s.sion prompted then the deed of shame?

PYLADES

And feelings, cherish'd long, of deep revenge.

IPHIGENIA

How had the monarch injured Clytemnestra?

PYLADES

By such a dreadful deed, that if on earth Aught could exculpate murder, it were this.

To Aulis he allur'd her, when the fleet With unpropitious winds the G.o.ddess stay'd; And there, a victim at Diana's shrine, The monarch, for the welfare of the Greeks, Her eldest daughter doomed, Iphigenia.

And this, so rumor saith, within her heart Planted such deep abhorrence that forthwith She to aegisthus hath resigned herself, And round her husband flung the web of death.

IPHIGENIA (_veiling herself_)

It is enough! Thou wilt again behold me.

PYLADES (_alone_)

The fortune of this royal house, it seems, Doth move her deeply. Whosoe'er she be, She must herself have known the monarch well;-- For our good fortune, from a n.o.ble house, She hath been sold to bondage. Peace, my heart!

And let us steer our course with prudent zeal Toward the star of hope which gleams upon us.

ACT III

SCENE I

IPHIGENIA, ORESTES

IPHIGENIA

Unhappy man, I only loose thy bonds In token of a still severer doom.

The freedom which the sanctuary imparts, Like the last life-gleam o'er the dying face, But heralds death. I cannot, dare not, say Your doom is hopeless; for, with murderous hand, Could I inflict the fatal blow myself?

And while I here am priestess of Diana, None, be he who he may, dare touch your heads.

But the incensed king, should I refuse Compliance with the rites himself enjoin'd, Will choose another virgin from my train As my successor. Then, alas! with naught, Save ardent wishes, can I succor you.

Much honored countrymen! The humblest slave, Who had but near'd our sacred household hearth, Is dearly welcome in a foreign land; How with proportion'd joy and blessing, then, Shall I receive the man who doth recall The image of the heroes, whom I learn'd To honor from my parents, and who cheers My inmost heart with flatt'ring gleams of hope!

ORESTES

Does prudent forethought prompt thee to conceal Thy name and race? or may I hope to know Who, like a heavenly vision, meets me thus?

IPHIGENIA

Yes, thou shalt know me. Now conclude the tale Of which thy brother only told me half Relate their end, who coming home from Troy, On their own threshold met a doom severe And most unlook'd for. Young I was in sooth When first conducted to this foreign sh.o.r.e, Yet well I recollect the timid glance Of wonder and amazement which I cast On those heroic forms. When they went forth It seem'd as though Olympus had sent down The glorious figures of a bygone world, To frighten Ilion; and above them all, Great Agamemnon tower'd preeminent!

Oh, tell me! Fell the hero in his home, Through Clytemnestra's and aegisthus' wiles?

ORESTES

He fell!

IPHIGENIA

Unblest Mycene! Thus the sons Of Tantalus, with barbarous hands, have sown Curse upon curse; and, as the shaken weed Scatters around a thousand poison-seeds, So they a.s.sa.s.sins ceaseless generate, Their children's children ruthless to destroy.-- Now tell the remnant of thy brother's tale, Which horror darkly hid from me before.

How did the last descendant of the race,-- The gentle child, to whom the G.o.ds a.s.sign'd The office of avenger,--how did he Escape that day of blood? Did equal fate Around Orestes throw Avernus' net Say, was he saved? and is he still alive?

And lives Electra, too?

ORESTES

They both survive.

IPHIGENIA

Golden Apollo, lend thy choicest beams!

Lay them an offering at the throne of Jove!

For I am poor and dumb.

ORESTES

If social bonds Or ties more close connect thee with this house, As this thy rapturous joy betrayeth to me, O then rein in thy heart and hold it fast!

For insupportable the sudden plunge From happiness to sorrow's gloomy depth.

Thou knowest only Agamemnon's death.

IPHIGENIA

And is not this intelligence enough?

ORESTES

Half of the horror only hast thou heard.

IPHIGENIA