ACT II
[_In the palace of_ Deianira _at Trachin_.]
_Nurse of_ Deianira: Oh, bitter is the rage a woman feels, When in one house both wife and mistress dwell! No wrecking Scylla, no Charybdis dire, 235 The wild upheavers of Sicilia's waves, No savage beast, is more untamed than she. For when the maiden's beauty was revealed, And Iole shone like the cloudless sky, Or gleaming stars within the heavens serene, Then did Alcides' bride like one distraught 240 Stand gazing fiercely on the captive maid; As when a tigress, lying with her young Beneath some rock in far Armenia, Leaps up to meet an enemy's approach; Or as a Maenad, by the god inspired, And bidden shake the thyrsus, stands awhile In wonder whither she shall take her way. Then she throughout the house of Hercules 245 Goes madly rushing; nor does all the house Give space enough. Now here, now there she runs, At random wandering; and now she stands, Her face reflecting woe in every line, The inmost feelings of her heart revealed. She threatens fiercely, then a flood of tears Succeeds to threats. No mood for long endures, 250 Nor can one form of rage content her long. Now flame her cheeks with wrath; pale terror now Drives out the flush of anger, and her grief Takes every form that maddened sorrow knows: Complainings, prayers, and groans. But now the doors Are creaking: see, she comes in frenzied haste, With words confused revealing all her heart. 255
[_Enter_ Deianira.]
_Deianira:_ O wife of Jove, where'er in heaven thou dwell'st, Against Alcides send some raging beast That shall be dire enough to sate my wrath. If any hydra rears its fertile head Too vast to be contained in any pool, Impossible of conquest, send it forth. If anything is worse than other beasts, 260 Enormous, unrelenting, horrible, From which the eye of even Hercules Would turn in fear, let such an one come out From its huge den. But if no beasts avail, This heart of mine into some monster change; For of my hate can any shape be made That thou desir'st. Oh, mould my woman's form 265 To match my grief. My breast cannot contain Its rage. Why dost thou search the farthest bounds Of earth, and overturn the world? Or why Dost thou demand of hell its evil shapes? This breast of mine will furnish for thy use All fearful things. To work thy deadly hate 270 Use me as tool. Thou canst destroy him quite. Do thou but use these hands for what thou will. Why dost thou hesitate, O goddess? See, Use me, the raging one. What impious deed Dost thou command? Decide. Why doubtful stand? Now mayst thou rest awhile from all thy toils, For my rage is enough. 275
_Nurse:_ O child of mine, These sad outpourings of thy maddened heart Restrain, quench passion's fire, and curb thy grief. Show now that thou art wife of Hercules.
_Deianira:_ Shall captive Iole unto my sons Give brothers, and a lowly slave become The daughter-in-law of Jove? In common course Will fire and rushing torrent never run; 280 The thirsty Bear will never taste the sea-- And never shall my woes go unavenged. Though thou didst bear the vasty heavens up, Though all the world is debtor unto thee, 'Twill not avail thee now, for thou shalt find A monster greater far than Hydra's rage, An angry wife's revenge, awaiting thee. The flames that leap from Aetna's top to heaven 285 Burn not so fiercely as my passion's fire Which shall outvie whate'er thou hast o'ercome. Shall then a captive slave usurp my bed? Before, I feared the monsters dire; but now, Those pests have vanished quite, and in their stead This hated rival comes. O mighty God, 290 Of all gods ruler, O thou lustrous Sun, 'Tis only in his perils, then, it seems, Have I been wife to Hercules. The gods Have granted to the captive all my prayers; For her behoof have I been fortunate. Ye heard, indeed, my prayers, O gods of heaven, And Hercules is safe returned--for her! 295 O grief, that no revenge can satisfy, Seek out some dreadful means of punishment, By man unthought of and unspeakable. Teach Juno's self how slight her hatred is. She knows not how to rage. O Hercules, For me didst thou thy mighty battles wage; For me did Acheloüs dye his waves 300 With his own blood in mortal strife with thee, When now a writhing serpent he became, Now to a threatening bull he turned himself, And thou a thousand beasts didst overcome In one sole enemy. But now, alas, Am I no longer pleasing in thy sight, And this base captive is preferred to me. But this she shall not be. For that same day 305 Which ends our married joys shall end thy life. But what is this? My rage begins to fail And moderate its threats. My anger's gone. Why dost thou languish thus, O wretched grief? Wilt thou give o'er thy passion, be again The faithful, uncomplaining wife? Ah no! Why dost thou strive to check the flames of wrath? 310 Why quench its fire? Let me but keep my rage, And I shall be the peer of Hercules, And I shall need to seek no heavenly aid. But still, though all uncalled, will Juno come To guide my hands.
_Nurse:_ What crime dost thou intend, O foolish one? Wilt slay thy noble lord, 315 Whose praises from the east to west are known, Whose fame extends from earth to highest heaven? For all the earth will rise to avenge his death; And this thy father's house and all thy race Will be the first to fall. Soon rocks and brands 320 Will be against thee hurled, since every land Will its protector shield; and thou alone Wilt suffer many, many penalties. Suppose thou canst escape the world of men; Still must thou face the thunderbolts of Jove, The father of Alcides. Even now His threat'ning torches gleam athwart the sky, 325 And all the heavens tremble with the shock. Nay, death itself, wherein thou hop'st to find A place of safe retreat--fear that as well; For there Alcides' uncle reigns supreme. Turn where thou wilt, O wretched woman; there Shalt thou behold thy husband's kindred gods. 330
_Deianira:_ A fearful crime it is, I do confess; But Oh, my passion bids me do it still.
_Nurse:_ Thou'lt die.
_Deianira:_ But as the wife of Hercules I'll die; no night shall ever bring the day That shall behold me cheated of my own, Nor shall a captive mistress have my bed. Sooner shall western skies give birth to day; 335 Sooner shall men of India make their home Beneath the icy pole, and Phoebus tan With his hot rays the shivering Scythians, Than shall the dames of Thessaly behold My downfall. For with my own blood I'll quench The marriage torches. Either he shall die, Or slay me with his hand. To all the beasts 340 Whom he has slaughtered let him add his wife; Let me be numbered 'mongst his mighty deeds; But in my death my body still shall claim The couch of Hercules. Oh, sweet, 'tis sweet To fare to Hades as Alcides' bride, And not without my vengeance. If, indeed, 345 From Hercules my rival has conceived, With my own hands I'll tear the child away Untimely, and that shameless harlot face Within her very wedding torches' glare. And though in wrath upon his nuptial day He slay me as a victim at the shrine, Let me but fall upon my rival's corse, And I shall die content. For happy he Who drags with him his enemy to death. 350
_Nurse:_ Why dost thou feed thy passion's flames, poor child, And nurse thy grief? Why cherish needless fear? He did feel love for Iole, 'tis true; But in the time while yet her father reigned, And while she was a haughty monarch's child. The princess now has fallen to the place Of slave, and love has lost its power to charm, 355 Since her unhappy state has stol'n from her Her loveliness. The unattainable Is ever sought in love. But from the thing That is within his reach love turns away.
_Deianira:_ Nay: fallen fortunes fan the flames of love; And for this very reason does he love, Because her home is lost, and from her head The crown of gleaming gold and gems has fallen. 360 For these her woes he pities her--and loves. 'Twas e'er his wont to love his captive maids.
_Nurse:_ 'Tis true, he loved the captive Trojan maid, Young Priam's sister; but he gave her up. Recall how many dames, how many maids Aforetime he has loved, this wandering swain. 365 The Arcadian maiden Auge, while she led The choral dance of Pallas, roused his love And suffered straight his passionate embrace. But from his heart she quickly fell away, And now retains no traces of his love. Why mention others? The Thespiades Enjoyed the passing love of Hercules, 370 But are forgotten. Soon, a wanderer Upon Timolus, he caressed the queen Of Lydia, and, smitten by her love, He sat beside the whirling distaff there, His doughty fingers on the moistened thread. His neck no longer bears the lion's spoil; But there he sits, a languid, love-sick slave, His shaggy locks with Phrygian turban bound, 375 And dripping with the costly oil of myrrh. Yes, everywhere he feels the fires of love, But always does he glow with transient flame.
_Deianira:_ But lovers after many transient flames, Are wont at last to choose a single love.
_Nurse:_ And could Alcides choose instead of thee A slave, the daughter of his enemy? 380
_Deianira:_ As budding groves put on a joyous form When spring's warm breezes clothe the naked boughs; But, when the northwind rages in their stead, And savage winter strips the leaves away, Thou seest naught but bare and shapeless trunks: So this my beauty, which has traveled far 385 Along the road of life, has lost its bloom, And gleams less brightly than in former years. Behold that loveliness--but Oh, whate'er Was once by many suitors sought in me, Has vanished quite; for toils of motherhood Have stolen my beauty, and with speeding foot Advancing age has hurried it away. 390 But, as thou seest, this slave has not yet lost Her glorious charms. Her queenly robes, 'tis true, Have yielded to the garb of poverty; Still, through her very grief her beauty shines, And nothing save her kingdom has she lost By this hard stroke of fate. This fear of her 395 Doth vex my heart and take away my sleep. I once was in the eyes of all the world The wife most to be praised; and every bride Longed for a mate like mine with envious prayers; And every soul that asked the gods for aught, Took me as type and measure of her vows. 400 What father shall I ever find, O nurse, To equal Jove? What husband like to mine In all the world? Though he, Eurystheus' self, Beneath whose power my Hercules is placed, Should take me for his wife, 'twould not suffice. A trifling thing, to miss a royal couch; 405 But far she falls who loses Hercules.
_Nurse:_ But children often win a husband's love.
_Deianira:_ My rival's child perchance will win him too.
_Nurse:_ I think that slave is but a gift for thee.
_Deianira:_ This fellow whom thou seest wandering 410 Throughout our Grecian cities, big with fame, A tawny lion's spoils upon his back, And in his dreadful hand a massive club; Who takes their realms away from haughty kings, And gives them to the weak; whose praise is sung By men of every land throughout the world: 415 This man is but a trifler, without thought Of winning deathless glory for himself. He wanders through the earth, not in the hope That he may rival Jupiter, or go With great renown throughout the towns of Greece; His quest is ever love, the maiden's couch. He takes by force what is refused to him; 420 He rages 'gainst the nations, seeks his brides Amidst the ruins of a people's hopes. And this wild carnival of lustful crime Is by the honored name, heroic, called. But now, illustrious Oechalia fell; One sun, one day beheld it stand--and fall. And of the strife the only cause was love. As often as a father shall refuse 425 To give his daughter unto Hercules, And be the father of his enemy, So often need he be in mortal fear. If he is not accepted as a son, He smites in rage. Why then do I preserve In harmless inactivity these hands, Until he feign another fit of rage, And stretch his bow with deadly aim at me, And slaughter both his wife and child at once? 430 Thus 'tis his wont to put away his wives; And such his cruel method of divorce. But he cannot be held the guilty one! For he contrives to make the world believe That Juno is the cause of all his crimes. O sluggish passion, why inactive stand? Anticipate his crime, and act at once While still thy hands are burning for the deed. 435
_Nurse:_ Wilt kill thy husband?
_Deianira:_ And my rival's too.
_Nurse:_ The son of Jove?
_Deianira:_ Alcmena's son as well.
_Nurse:_ With the sword?
_Deianira:_ The sword.
_Nurse:_ If not?
_Deianira:_ With guile I'll slay.
_Nurse:_ What madness this?
_Deianira:_ That which I learned of him.
_Nurse:_ Whom Juno could not harm wilt thou destroy? 440
_Deianira:_ Celestial anger only wretched makes Those whom it touches; mortal wrath destroys.
_Nurse:_ Oh, spare thy husband, wretched one, and fear.
_Deianira:_ The one who first has learned the scorn of death, Scorns everything. 'Tis sweet to meet the sword.
_Nurse:_ Thy grief is all too great, my foster-child; Let not his fault claim more than equal hate. 445 Why dost so sternly judge a light offense? Nay, suit thy grieving to thine injury.
_Deianira:_ But dost thou call a mistress light offense? Of all that feeds my grief, count this the worst.
_Nurse:_ And has thy love for great Alcides fled?
_Deianira:_ Not fled, dear nurse, believe me; still it lies 450 Securely fixed within my inmost heart. But outraged love is poignant misery.
_Nurse:_ By magic arts united to their prayers Do wives full oft their wandering husbands bind. I have myself in midst of winter's cold Commanded trees to clothe themselves in green, The thunderbolt to stop; I've roused the sea 455 When no wind blew, and calmed the swollen waves; The thirsty plain has opened at my touch To springs of water; rocks give way to me, And doors fly open; when I bid them stand The shades of hell obey, and talk with me; The infernal dog is still at my command; 460 Midnight has seen the sun, midday the night. For sea, land, heaven, and hell obey my will, And nothing can withstand my potent charms. Then let us bend him; charms will find the way.
_Deianira:_ What magic herbs does distant Pontus yield, 465 Or Pindus 'neath the rocks of Thessaly, Where I may find a charm to bend his will? Though Luna leave the stars and fall to earth, Obedient to thy magic; though the crops In winter ripen; though the hurtling bolt Stand still at thy command; though all the laws 470 Of nature be reversed, and stars shine out Upon the noonday skies--he would not yield.
_Nurse:_ But Love has conquered e'en the heavenly gods.
_Deianira:_ Perhaps by one alone he will himself Be conquered, and give spoils of war to him, And so become Alcides' latest task. But by each separate god of heaven I pray, 475 By this my fear: what secret I disclose Keep hidden thou and close within thy breast.
_Nurse:_ What secret wouldst thou then so closely guard?
_Deianira:_ I mean no weapons, arms, or threatening flames.
_Nurse:_ I can give pledge of faith, if it be free 480 From sin; for sometimes faith itself is sin.
_Deianira:_ Lest someone hear my secret, look about; In all directions turn thy watchful gaze.
_Nurse:_ Behold, the place is free from curious eyes.
_Deianira:_ Deep hidden, far within this royal pile, 485 There is a cave that guards my secret well. Neither the rising sun can reach the spot With its fresh beams; nor can its latest rays, When Titan leads the weary day to rest, And plunges 'neath the ruddy ocean's waves. There lies a charm that can restore to me 490 The love of Hercules. I'll tell thee all. The giver of the charm was Nessus, he Whom Nephele to bold Ixion bore, Where lofty[27] Pindus towers to the skies, And high above the clouds cold Othrys stands. For when, compelled by dread Alcides' club 495 To shift with ready ease from form to form Of beasts, and, overcome in every form, At last bold Acheloüs bowed his head With its one horn defiled; then Hercules, Exulting in his triumph, claimed his bride And bore me off to Argos. Then, it chanced, 500 Evenus' stream that wanders through the plain, Its whirling waters bearing to the sea, Was swollen beyond its banks[28] with turbid flood. Here Nessus, well accustomed to the stream, Required a price for bearing me across; 505 And on his back, where beast and human join, He took me, boldly stemming every wave. Now was fierce Nessus well across the stream, And still in middle flood Alcides fared, Breasting with mighty strides the eager waves; When he, beholding Hercules afar, 510 Cried, "Thou shalt be my wife, my booty thou, For Hercules is held within the stream;" And clasping me was galloping away. But now the waves could not thwart Hercules. "O faithless ferryman," he shouted out, "Though Ganges and the Ister join their floods, 515 I shall o'ercome them both and check thy flight." His arrow sped before his words were done, Transfixing Nessus with a mortal wound, And stayed his flight. Then he, with dying eyes Seeking the light, within his hand caught up 520 The flowing[29] gore; and in his hollow hoof, Which he with savage hand had wrenched away, He poured and handed it to me, and said: "This blood, magicians say, contains a charm, Which can a wavering love restore; for so Thessalian dames by Mycale were taught, 525 Who only, 'midst all wonder-working crones, Could lure the moon from out the starry skies. A garment well anointed with this gore Shalt thou present to him," the centaur said, "If e'er a hated rival steal thy couch, If e'er thy husband in a fickle mood To heavenly Jove another daughter give. 530 Let not the light of day shine on the charm, But in the thickest darkness let it lie. So shall the blood its magic power retain." So spake he; o'er his words a silence fell, And the sleep of death upon his weary limbs. Do thou, who knowest now my secret plans, 535 Make haste and bring this charm to me, that so Its force, imparted to a gleaming robe, May at the touch dart through his soul, his limbs, And through the very marrow of his bones.
_Nurse:_ With speed will I thy bidding do, dear child. And do thou call upon the god of love, Invincible, who with his tender hand 540 Doth speed his arrows with unerring aim.
[_Exit_ Nurse.]
_Deianira_ [_invoking_ Cupid]: O wingéd boy, by earth and heaven feared, By creatures of the sea, and him who wields The bolts in Aetna forged; and dreaded too By thy relentless mother, queen of love: Aim with unerring hand thy swiftest dart. Not harmless be the shaft, but choose, I pray 545 One of thy keenest arrows, which thy hand Has never used; for such must be thy dart If mighty Hercules be forced to love. Make firm thy hands and strongly bend thy bow; Now, now that shaft let loose which once thou aim'dst 550 At Jove the terrible, what time the god Laid down his thunderbolts, and as a bull With swelling forehead clove the boisterous sea, And bore the Assyrian maiden as his prize. Now fill his heart with love; let him surpass All who have ever felt thy passion's power-- And learn to love his wife. If Iole 555 Has kindled flames of love within his heart, Extinguish them, and let him dream alone Of me. Thou who hast often conquered Jove, The Thunderer, and him whose scepter dark Holds sway within the gloomy underworld, The king of countless throngs, the lord of Styx; 560 Whom angry Juno cannot quell: win thou Alone this triumph over Hercules.
_Nurse_ [_returning with robe and charm ready_]: The charm from its dark hiding-place is brought, And that fair robe upon whose cunning web Thy maidens all have wrought with wearied hands. Now bring the poisoned blood and let the robe 565 Drink in its magic power, while by my prayers Will I the charm augment. [_Enter_ Lichas.] But at the word The faithful Lichas comes. Quick! hide the charm, Lest by his mouth our plot may be revealed.
_Deianira_ [_to_ Lichas]: O Lichas, ever faithful to thy lord, A name which mighty houses may not boast: 570 Take thou this garment woven by my hands, While Hercules was wandering o'er the earth, Or, spent with wine, was holding in his arms The Lydian queen, or calling Iole. And yet, perchance, I still may turn his heart To me again by wifely service. Thus Have evil men full often been reclaimed. 575 Before my husband puts this tunic on, Bid him burn incense and appease the gods, His rough locks wreathed with hoary poplar leaves. [Lichas _takes the robe and departs upon his mission_.] I will myself within the palace go And pray the mother of relentless love. 580 [_To her Aetolian attendants._] Do ye, who from my father's house have come, Bewail the sad misfortunes of your queen.
[_Exit._]
_Chorus of Aetolian women:_ We weep for thee, O lady dear, And for thy couch dishonored--we, The comrades of thy earliest years, Weep and lament thy fate. 585 How often have we played with thee In Acheloüs' shallow pools, When now the swollen floods of spring Had passed away, and gently now, With graceful sweep, the river ran; When mad Lycormas ceased to roll 590 His headlong waters on. How oft have we, a choral band, To Pallas' altars gone with thee; How oft in Theban baskets borne 595 The sacred Bacchic mysteries, When now the wintry stars have fled, When each third summer calls the sun; And when, the sacred rites complete To Ceres, queen of golden grain, Eleusin hides her worshipers Within her mystic cave. Now too, whatever fate thou fear'st, 600 Accept us as thy trusted friends; For rare is such fidelity When better fortune fails. O thou, who wield'st the scepter's power, Whoe'er thou art, though eagerly The people throng within thy courts, 605 And press for entrance at thy doors; And though the crowds press thick about Where'er thou tak'st thy way: be sure That in so many seeming friends, Scarce one is true. Erinys keeps the gilded gate; And when the great doors swing apart, 610 Then cunning treachery creeps in And fraud, and murderous dagger points. Whene'er thou think'st to walk abroad, Base envy as thy comrade goes. As often as the morning dawns Be sure a king from fear of death 615 Has been delivered. Few there are Who love the king, and not his power. For 'tis the glitter of the throne That fires most hearts to loyalty. Now one is eager next the king To walk before the gaze of men, And so gain luster for himself; For greed of glory burns his heart. 620 Another from the royal stores Seeks to supply his own desires; And yet not all the precious sands Of Hister's streams could satisfy, Nor Lydia sate his thirst for gold; Nor that far land where Zephyr blows, Which looks in wonder on the gleam 625 Of Tagus' golden sands. Were all the wealth of Hebrus his; If rich Hydaspes were his own; If through his fields, with all its stream, He saw the Ganges flowing: still 630 For greed, base greed 'twould not suffice. One honors kings and courts of kings, Not that his careful husbandmen Forever stooping o'er the plow May never cease their toil for him; Or that his peasantry may till 635 His thousand fields: but wealth alone, Which he may hoard away, he seeks. Another worships kings, that so All other men he may oppress, May ruin many, none assist; And with this sole aim covets power, That he may use it ill. How few live out their fated span! 640 Whom yesternight saw radiant With joy, the newborn day beholds In wretched case. How rare it is To find old age and happiness Combined. More soft than Tyrian couch, The greensward soothes to fearless sleep; 645 But gilded ceilings break our rest, And sleepless through the night we lie On beds of luxury. Oh, should the rich lay bare their hearts, What fears which lofty fortune breeds Would be revealed! The Bruttian coast 650 When Corus lashes up the sea Is calmer far. Not so the poor: His heart is ever full of peace. From shallow beechen cups he drinks, But not with trembling hands; his food Is cheap and common, but he sees 655 No naked sword above his head. 'Tis in the cup of gold alone That blood is mingled with the wine. The poor man's wife no necklace wrought Of costly pearls, the red sea's gift, 660 May wear; no gems from eastern shores Weigh down her ears; nor does she wear Soft scarlet wools in Tyrian dye Twice dipped; not hers with Lydian art To 'broider costly silks whose threads 665 The Serians under sunlit skies From orient treetops gather; she With common herbs must dye the web Which she with unskilled hands has wov'n: But still her husband is her own, 670 Her couch by rivals undisturbed. But favored brides, whose wedding day The thronging people celebrate, Fate with her cruel torch pursues. The poor no happiness can know Unless he sees the fortunate From their high station fallen. Whoever shuns the middle course 675 Can never in safe pathways go. When once bold Phaëthon essayed Within his father's car to stand And give the day, and did not fare Along the accustomed track, but sought With wandering wheels to make his way 680 With Phoebus' torch 'midst unknown stars-- Himself he ruined and the earth In one destruction. Daedalus The middle course of heaven pursued, And so to peaceful shores attained And gave no sea its name. His son, 685 Young Icarus, dared rival birds In flight, despised his father's wings, And soared high up into the realm Of Phoebus' rays: headlong he fell And to an unknown sea his name He gave. So are great fortunes joined 690 To mighty ills. Let others then as fortunate And great be hailed; I wish no share Of popular renown. My boat Is frail and needs must hug the shore. And let no strong wind force my bark 695 Far out to sea; for fortune spares Safe-harbored boats, but seeks the ships In mid sea proudly sailing on, Their topsails in the clouds. But why with pallid face, in fear, 700 Like some Bacchante smitten sore With madness, comes our princess forth? What new reverse of fortune's wheel Has come to vex thy tortured soul? For though thou speakest ne'er a word, poor queen, Whate'er thou hidest, in thy face is seen.
FOOTNOTES:
[27] Reading, _celsus_.
[28] Reading, _ripis_.
[29] Reading, _fluentem_.