Chapter 13

Hercules[about to sacrifice to Cenaean Jove]: O sire of gods, from whose almighty handBoth homes of Phoebus feel thy darting bolt:Rule now serene, for I have 'stablished peaceWherever Nereus checks the spreading lands.Now let thy thunders rest; for treacherous kings5And savage tyrants are in ruin laid.Whatever merited thy blasting dartsHave I o'erthrown and crushed. But, father, whyIs heaven still denied to me, thy son?For surely have I ever shown myselfA worthy child of Jove; and Juno's self,My hard task-mistress, testifies to this,That I am born of thee. Why dost thou still10Contrive delays? Am I thy cause of fear?Will Atlas not avail to prop the skiesIf to their bulk the weight of HerculesBe superadded? Why, O father, whyDost thou deny the stars to me? To theeDid death restore me; every monstrous shapeWhich had its source in earth or sea or air,Or hell itself, has yielded to my arms.15No lion treads the Arcadian cities now;Stymphalus fears no more its noxious birds;The wondrous stag of Maenalus is dead;The watchful dragon spattered with its bloodThe golden grove; the hydra's force is gone;Those famous horses to the Hebrus known,Which fattened on the blood of murdered guests,20Have I destroyed, and spoils of war obtainedIn victory o'er my Amazonian foe.I saw the silent realms; nor all aloneDid I return, but shuddering day beheldDark Cerberus, and he beheld the sun.No more Antaeus, Libya's monarch huge,His strength renews; before his bloody shrines25Busiris lies o'erthrown; by my sole handThe threefold Geryon was o'ercome and slain,And that dread terror of a hundred tribes,The Cretan bull, yea all the monstrous thingsTo which the hostile world has given birth,Have fallen in utter ruin by my hand.If now the earth can show no monsters more,30If now my stepdame has her wrath fulfilled,Restore the father to his son; yea, more—Admit the hero to his proper skies.I ask not that thou point the way to me;Permit it only, father, and the wayI'll find. Or, if thou fearest that the earthShall to the light new shapes of terror bring,Let them make haste to come, whate'er they be,35While still the earth beholds her Hercules.For who will e'er again these fearsome thingsAttack, or who, throughout the towns of Greece,Will e'er be worthy of great Juno's hate?In truth, my praises have I safe bestowed,Since now there is no land but sings of me.The Scythian, dwelling in the frozen North,40The Indian, smitten by the burning raysOf Phoebus, and the tropic African:All know my fame. O glowing Sun, I theeAs witness call: I have encountered theeWhere'er thou shin'st; nor have thy darting beamsAvailed to follow my triumphant course.I've gone beyond the reaches of the sun,And daylight halted far within my bounds.45The world of nature yielded; for my stepsNo earth remained. She was exhausted first.But night and utter chaos met me there.From that dark realm whence no one e'er returns,Have I come back to earth. Old Ocean's threatsHave I endured; no raging storm of his50Has e'er prevailed to overcome the barkIn which I fared. How small a part I tell![25]Exhausted is the air and can no moreSuffice to feed the hatred of thy wife;The earth in fear brings forth no monster moreFor me to conquer, no wild beasts of prey.These are denied to me, and in the stead55Of monster have I come myself to be.How many evils have I overcome,Though all unarmed! Whatever monstrous thingOpposed, these empty hands have overthrown;Nor did there ever live a savage beastWhich I as boy or infant feared to meet.My bidden labors have seemed always light,And no day ever dawned that brought to me60No strenuous toil. How many monstrous tasksHave I fulfilled which no king set to me!A harder master has my courage beenThan ever Juno was. But what availsThat I have saved the human race from fear?The gods in consequence have lost their peace.The freed earth sees whatever she has feared65Now set in heaven; for Juno thitherwardHath borne the beasts I slew. Restored to life,The Crab fares safely in his torrid path,A constellation now in southern skies,And ripens Libya's waving fields of grain.The Lion to the heavenly Virgin givesThe flying year; but he, with beaming mane70Upon his wild neck tossing, dries the windsWhich drip with moisture, and the clouds devours.Behold, the beasts have all invaded heaven,Forestalling me. Though victor, here I standUpon the earth, and view my labors there.For Juno to the monsters and the beastsHas given stars, that so the heavenly realm75Might be for me a place of terror made.But no! Though in her wrath she fill the skiesWith monsters, though she make the heavens worseThan earth and hell, yet shall a place be givenTo Hercules. If, after beasts and wars,If, after I subdued the Stygian dog,I have not earned a place among the stars,80Then shall Sicilian Pelorus touchHesperia's shores, and both shall be one land.I'll put the intervening sea to flight;Or, if thou wilt that severed seas be joined,Then Isthmus shall give passage to the waves,And Attic vessels by a new-found wayShall sail united seas. I'll change the world.85Along new channels shall the Hister flow,And Tanaïs find new passage to the sea.Grant, grant, O Jupiter, this boon to me,That I at least may shield the gods from harm.There mayst thou lay aside thy thunderbolts,Where I stand guard against thy enemies.Whether thou bid'st me guard the icy pole,Or o'er the torrid regions watch, be sure90That on that side the gods may be at rest.Apollo earned the shrine of PythiaAnd heaven, because he slew the Python huge;But Oh, how many Pythons did I slayIn that dire hydra! Bacchus, Perseus, too,Have found a place among the heavenly gods.95How small that eastern portion of the earthWhich he subdued! How meager is the spoilWhich Perseus in the stony Gorgon gained!What son of thine from Juno born has earnedA place in heaven because of his renown?I seek the skies which I myself have borne.[Turning toLichas.]But thou, O Lichas, comrade of my toils,Go tell my triumphs over Eurytus,100His lares conquered and his realm o'erthrown.[To his attendants.]Do you with speed the victims hurry onTo where the temple of Cenaean JoveLooks off upon the wild Euboean sea.Band of captive Oechalian maidens:The mate of the immortals he,Whose life and fortune hand in handGo on apace. But worse than death105Is life, dragged on with many groans.Whoe'er has trodden under footThe greedy fates, and can disdainThe boat that plies on death's dark stream,Will never feel the galling chainsUpon his captive arms; nor grace,As noble spoil, the victor's train.110For he who faces death with joyCan ne'er be wretched. Should his barkBe wrecked upon the stormy seaWhere Africus with Boreas,And Zephyrus with Eurus strive,And rend the seas; he does not seekTo gather up the broken parts115Of his wrecked ship, that, far at sea,He still may cherish hopes of land.For he, who ever ready standsTo give his life, alone is safeFrom all the perils of the storm.But we are held by shameful grief,The gaunt, drawn face, the streaming tears,By the ashes of our fatherlandBesprinkled. Us no whirling flame,120Nor crash of falling walls o'erwhelms.Thou dost pursue the fortunate,O death, but fleest from wretched souls.Behold, we live: but Oh, no more,Our country's walls[26]remain; their placeShall soon be hidden by the woods,And all our temples fall awayTo squalid hovels. Even now125The cold Dolopian will comeAnd o'er the ashes, glowing yet,Sad remnants of Oechalia,Will drive his flocks. And soon, alas,Within our walls, the shepherd rudeShall sing upon his rustic pipes,With doleful voice, our history.130And when the hand of God shall speedA few more generations on,The very place where once we dweltWill be forgotten. Happy once,I kept no barren hearth at home;Not mine the hungry acres thenOf Thessaly. But now I'm calledTo Trachin's rough and stony land,135To ridges parched and jungle-set,To groves which e'en the mountain goatWould not inhabit. But, perchance,Some milder fate the captives calls.Then will they see the Inachus,Whose rapid waves shall bear them on,Or dwell within Dircaean walls140Where flows Ismenus' scanty stream—And where was once the mother wedOf mighty Hercules.False is that tale of doubled night,When overlong the stars delayedWithin the skies, and HesperusIn place of Lucifer arose,And Delia with tardy car145Kept back the sun. What Scythian cragBegot thee, or what stony mount?Like some wild Titan wast thou bornOn Rhodope, or Athos rough?What savage beast on Caspian shores,What spotted tigress, suckled thee?150Impervious to wounds is he.Sharp spears are blunted, steel is bentAgainst his heart; and glittering swords,Upon his naked members struck,In broken fragment drop apart;Stones strike, but harmlessly rebound.And so he scorns the deadly fates,155And, all invincible, provokesHis death. No spears can pierce his heart,No arrow shot from Scythian bow,No darts which cold Sarmatians bear,Or they who dwell beneath the dawn,The Parthians, whose fatal shaftsMore deadly than the Cretan dart,160The neighboring Nabathaeans wound.Oechalia's walls he overthrewWith his bare hands. Naught can withstandHis onslaught. For whate'er he plansTo overcome, is by that factAlready overcome. How fewThe foes who by his wounds have fallen!His angry countenance means death;165And to have met his threatening gazeIs worse than death. What Gyas huge,What vast Briareus, who stoodUpon Thessalia's mountain heapAnd clutched at heaven with snaky hands,Would not have frozen at the glanceOf that dread face? But mighty ills170Have mighty recompense: no moreIs left to suffer—we have seen,Oh, woe! the angry Hercules!Iole:But I, unhappy one, must mourn,Not temples with their gods o'erthrown,Not scattered hearths and burning homes,Where lie in common ruin mixedFathers with sons, and gods with men,175Temples and towns—the common woe;But fortune calls my tears awayTo other grief. Fate bids me weepO'er other ruins. What lament180Shall I make first? What greatest illShall I bewail? All equallyI'll weep. Ah me, that mother earthHath not more bosoms given me,That worthily they might resoundUnto my grief. But, O ye gods,Transform me to a weeping rockOn Sipylus; or set me where,185Between its grassy banks, the PoGlides on, where grieving woods respondTo the mourning of the sisters sadOf Phaëthon; or to the shoresOf Sicily transport me. There,Another Siren, let me mourn190The woeful fate of Thessaly.Or bear me to the Thracian woods,Where, underneath Ismarian shade,The Daulian bird bewails her son.Give me a form to fit my tears,And let rough Trachin echo back195My cries of woe. The Cyprian maidStill soothes her grieving heart with tears;Still Ceyx's royal spouse bemoansHer vanished lord; and Niobe,Surviving life and grief, weeps on;Her human form has PhilomelEscaped, and now with doleful notesThe Attic maid bewails her dead.200Oh, that my arms were feathered wings!Oh, then, how happy would I be,When, hidden in the forest depths,I might lament in plaintive strain,205And live in fame as Iole,The maiden bird. I saw, alas,I saw my father's dreadful fate,When, smitten with that deadly club,He fell, in mangled fragments dashed210Throughout the palace hall. If thenHis fate had granted burial,How often had I searched, O sire,For all thy parts!How could I look upon thy death,O Toxeus, with thy tender cheeksUnbearded yet, thy boyish veinsNot yet with manhood's vigor filled?But why do I bewail your fates,215O parents, whom to safety nowKind death has borne? My fortune bidsThat I bewail myself instead.Soon, ah too soon, in captive state,Shall I the flying spindle turnFor some proud mistress in her hall.O cruel beauty, how hast thou220Decreed my death! For thee aloneAm I and all my house undone,Since when my sire to HerculesRefused my hand, because he fearedGreat Hercules as son-in-law.And now, not wife, but captive maid,I seek my haughty mistress' home.Chorus:Why dost thou, foolish, ever dwell225Upon thy sire's illustrious realm,And on thy own unhappy fate?Forget thy former station now;For only is he happy who,As king or slave, knows how to bearHis lot, and fit his countenanceTo changing circumstance. For he230Who bears his ills with steadfast soulHas from misfortune reft awayIts strength and heaviness.FOOTNOTES:[25]Reading,quam prosequor.[26]Reading,patriae moenibus.ACT II[In the palace ofDeianiraat Trachin.]Nurse ofDeianira: Oh, bitter is the rage a woman feels,When in one house both wife and mistress dwell!No wrecking Scylla, no Charybdis dire,235The 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 distraught240Stand gazing fiercely on the captive maid;As when a tigress, lying with her youngBeneath 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 awhileIn wonder whither she shall take her way.Then she throughout the house of Hercules245Goes madly rushing; nor does all the houseGive 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 tearsSucceeds to threats. No mood for long endures,250Nor can one form of rage content her long.Now flame her cheeks with wrath; pale terror nowDrives out the flush of anger, and her griefTakes every form that maddened sorrow knows:Complainings, prayers, and groans. But now the doorsAre creaking: see, she comes in frenzied haste,With words confused revealing all her heart.255[EnterDeianira.]Deianira:O wife of Jove, where'er in heaven thou dwell'st,Against Alcides send some raging beastThat shall be dire enough to sate my wrath.If any hydra rears its fertile headToo vast to be contained in any pool,Impossible of conquest, send it forth.If anything is worse than other beasts,260Enormous, unrelenting, horrible,From which the eye of even HerculesWould turn in fear, let such an one come outFrom its huge den. But if no beasts avail,This heart of mine into some monster change;For of my hate can any shape be madeThat thou desir'st. Oh, mould my woman's form265To match my grief. My breast cannot containIts rage. Why dost thou search the farthest boundsOf earth, and overturn the world? Or whyDost thou demand of hell its evil shapes?This breast of mine will furnish for thy useAll fearful things. To work thy deadly hate270Use 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 deedDost thou command? Decide. Why doubtful stand?Now mayst thou rest awhile from all thy toils,For my rage is enough.275Nurse:O child of mine,These sad outpourings of thy maddened heartRestrain, quench passion's fire, and curb thy grief.Show now that thou art wife of Hercules.Deianira:Shall captive Iole unto my sonsGive brothers, and a lowly slave becomeThe daughter-in-law of Jove? In common courseWill fire and rushing torrent never run;280The 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 findA monster greater far than Hydra's rage,An angry wife's revenge, awaiting thee.The flames that leap from Aetna's top to heaven285Burn not so fiercely as my passion's fireWhich 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 steadThis hated rival comes. O mighty God,290Of all gods ruler, O thou lustrous Sun,'Tis only in his perils, then, it seems,Have I been wife to Hercules. The godsHave 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!295O 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 waves300With 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 overcomeIn 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 day305Which ends our married joys shall end thy life.But what is this? My rage begins to failAnd moderate its threats. My anger's gone.Why dost thou languish thus, O wretched grief?Wilt thou give o'er thy passion, be againThe faithful, uncomplaining wife? Ah no!Why dost thou strive to check the flames of wrath?310Why 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 comeTo guide my hands.Nurse:What crime dost thou intend,O foolish one? Wilt slay thy noble lord,315Whose 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 raceWill be the first to fall. Soon rocks and brands320Will be against thee hurled, since every landWill its protector shield; and thou aloneWilt 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 nowHis threat'ning torches gleam athwart the sky,325And all the heavens tremble with the shock.Nay, death itself, wherein thou hop'st to findA place of safe retreat—fear that as well;For there Alcides' uncle reigns supreme.Turn where thou wilt, O wretched woman; thereShalt thou behold thy husband's kindred gods.330Deianira: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 HerculesI'll die; no night shall ever bring the dayThat shall behold me cheated of my own,Nor shall a captive mistress have my bed.Sooner shall western skies give birth to day;335Sooner shall men of India make their homeBeneath the icy pole, and Phoebus tanWith his hot rays the shivering Scythians,Than shall the dames of Thessaly beholdMy downfall. For with my own blood I'll quenchThe marriage torches. Either he shall die,Or slay me with his hand. To all the beasts340Whom he has slaughtered let him add his wife;Let me be numbered 'mongst his mighty deeds;But in my death my body still shall claimThe couch of Hercules. Oh, sweet, 'tis sweetTo fare to Hades as Alcides' bride,And not without my vengeance. If, indeed,345From Hercules my rival has conceived,With my own hands I'll tear the child awayUntimely, and that shameless harlot faceWithin her very wedding torches' glare.And though in wrath upon his nuptial dayHe slay me as a victim at the shrine,Let me but fall upon my rival's corse,And I shall die content. For happy heWho drags with him his enemy to death.350Nurse: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 placeOf slave, and love has lost its power to charm,355Since her unhappy state has stol'n from herHer loveliness. The unattainableIs ever sought in love. But from the thingThat 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 headThe crown of gleaming gold and gems has fallen.360For 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 maidsAforetime he has loved, this wandering swain.365The Arcadian maiden Auge, while she ledThe choral dance of Pallas, roused his loveAnd 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 ThespiadesEnjoyed the passing love of Hercules,370But are forgotten. Soon, a wandererUpon Timolus, he caressed the queenOf 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,375And 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 theeA slave, the daughter of his enemy?380Deianira:As budding groves put on a joyous formWhen 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 far385Along the road of life, has lost its bloom,And gleams less brightly than in former years.Behold that loveliness—but Oh, whate'erWas once by many suitors sought in me,Has vanished quite; for toils of motherhoodHave stolen my beauty, and with speeding footAdvancing age has hurried it away.390But, as thou seest, this slave has not yet lostHer 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 lostBy this hard stroke of fate. This fear of her395Doth vex my heart and take away my sleep.I once was in the eyes of all the worldThe wife most to be praised; and every brideLonged 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.400What father shall I ever find, O nurse,To equal Jove? What husband like to mineIn 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;405But 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 wandering410Throughout 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 sungBy men of every land throughout the world:415This man is but a trifler, without thoughtOf winning deathless glory for himself.He wanders through the earth, not in the hopeThat he may rival Jupiter, or goWith 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;420He rages 'gainst the nations, seeks his bridesAmidst the ruins of a people's hopes.And this wild carnival of lustful crimeIs 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 refuse425To 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 preserveIn 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?430Thus '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 believeThat Juno is the cause of all his crimes.O sluggish passion, why inactive stand?Anticipate his crime, and act at onceWhile still thy hands are burning for the deed.435Nurse: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?440Deianira:Celestial anger only wretched makesThose 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.445Why 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 lies450Securely fixed within my inmost heart.But outraged love is poignant misery.Nurse:By magic arts united to their prayersDo wives full oft their wandering husbands bind.I have myself in midst of winter's coldCommanded trees to clothe themselves in green,The thunderbolt to stop; I've roused the sea455When no wind blew, and calmed the swollen waves;The thirsty plain has opened at my touchTo springs of water; rocks give way to me,And doors fly open; when I bid them standThe shades of hell obey, and talk with me;The infernal dog is still at my command;460Midnight 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,465Or 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 cropsIn winter ripen; though the hurtling boltStand still at thy command; though all the laws470Of nature be reversed, and stars shine outUpon the noonday skies—he would not yield.Nurse:But Love has conquered e'en the heavenly gods.Deianira:Perhaps by one alone he will himselfBe conquered, and give spoils of war to him,And so become Alcides' latest task.But by each separate god of heaven I pray,475By this my fear: what secret I discloseKeep 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 free480From 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,485There is a cave that guards my secret well.Neither the rising sun can reach the spotWith 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 me490The love of Hercules. I'll tell thee all.The giver of the charm was Nessus, heWhom 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' club495To shift with ready ease from form to formOf beasts, and, overcome in every form,At last bold Acheloüs bowed his headWith its one horn defiled; then Hercules,Exulting in his triumph, claimed his brideAnd bore me off to Argos. Then, it chanced,500Evenus' 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;505And 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,510Cried, "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,515I 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 eyesSeeking the light, within his hand caught up520The 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 soThessalian dames by Mycale were taught,525Who only, 'midst all wonder-working crones,Could lure the moon from out the starry skies.A garment well anointed with this goreShalt thou present to him," the centaur said,"If e'er a hated rival steal thy couch,If e'er thy husband in a fickle moodTo heavenly Jove another daughter give.530Let 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,535Make haste and bring this charm to me, that soIts 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 hand540Doth speed his arrows with unerring aim.[ExitNurse.]

Hercules[about to sacrifice to Cenaean Jove]: O sire of gods, from whose almighty hand

Both homes of Phoebus feel thy darting bolt:

Rule now serene, for I have 'stablished peace

Wherever Nereus checks the spreading lands.

Now let thy thunders rest; for treacherous kings5

And savage tyrants are in ruin laid.

Whatever merited thy blasting darts

Have I o'erthrown and crushed. But, father, why

Is heaven still denied to me, thy son?

For surely have I ever shown myself

A worthy child of Jove; and Juno's self,

My hard task-mistress, testifies to this,

That I am born of thee. Why dost thou still10

Contrive delays? Am I thy cause of fear?

Will Atlas not avail to prop the skies

If to their bulk the weight of Hercules

Be superadded? Why, O father, why

Dost thou deny the stars to me? To thee

Did death restore me; every monstrous shape

Which had its source in earth or sea or air,

Or hell itself, has yielded to my arms.15

No lion treads the Arcadian cities now;

Stymphalus fears no more its noxious birds;

The wondrous stag of Maenalus is dead;

The watchful dragon spattered with its blood

The golden grove; the hydra's force is gone;

Those famous horses to the Hebrus known,

Which fattened on the blood of murdered guests,20

Have I destroyed, and spoils of war obtained

In victory o'er my Amazonian foe.

I saw the silent realms; nor all alone

Did I return, but shuddering day beheld

Dark Cerberus, and he beheld the sun.

No more Antaeus, Libya's monarch huge,

His strength renews; before his bloody shrines25

Busiris lies o'erthrown; by my sole hand

The threefold Geryon was o'ercome and slain,

And that dread terror of a hundred tribes,

The Cretan bull, yea all the monstrous things

To which the hostile world has given birth,

Have fallen in utter ruin by my hand.

If now the earth can show no monsters more,30

If now my stepdame has her wrath fulfilled,

Restore the father to his son; yea, more—

Admit the hero to his proper skies.

I ask not that thou point the way to me;

Permit it only, father, and the way

I'll find. Or, if thou fearest that the earth

Shall to the light new shapes of terror bring,

Let them make haste to come, whate'er they be,35

While still the earth beholds her Hercules.

For who will e'er again these fearsome things

Attack, or who, throughout the towns of Greece,

Will e'er be worthy of great Juno's hate?

In truth, my praises have I safe bestowed,

Since now there is no land but sings of me.

The Scythian, dwelling in the frozen North,40

The Indian, smitten by the burning rays

Of Phoebus, and the tropic African:

All know my fame. O glowing Sun, I thee

As witness call: I have encountered thee

Where'er thou shin'st; nor have thy darting beams

Availed to follow my triumphant course.

I've gone beyond the reaches of the sun,

And daylight halted far within my bounds.45

The world of nature yielded; for my steps

No earth remained. She was exhausted first.

But night and utter chaos met me there.

From that dark realm whence no one e'er returns,

Have I come back to earth. Old Ocean's threats

Have I endured; no raging storm of his50

Has e'er prevailed to overcome the bark

In which I fared. How small a part I tell![25]

Exhausted is the air and can no more

Suffice to feed the hatred of thy wife;

The earth in fear brings forth no monster more

For me to conquer, no wild beasts of prey.

These are denied to me, and in the stead55

Of monster have I come myself to be.

How many evils have I overcome,

Though all unarmed! Whatever monstrous thing

Opposed, these empty hands have overthrown;

Nor did there ever live a savage beast

Which I as boy or infant feared to meet.

My bidden labors have seemed always light,

And no day ever dawned that brought to me60

No strenuous toil. How many monstrous tasks

Have I fulfilled which no king set to me!

A harder master has my courage been

Than ever Juno was. But what avails

That I have saved the human race from fear?

The gods in consequence have lost their peace.

The freed earth sees whatever she has feared65

Now set in heaven; for Juno thitherward

Hath borne the beasts I slew. Restored to life,

The Crab fares safely in his torrid path,

A constellation now in southern skies,

And ripens Libya's waving fields of grain.

The Lion to the heavenly Virgin gives

The flying year; but he, with beaming mane70

Upon his wild neck tossing, dries the winds

Which drip with moisture, and the clouds devours.

Behold, the beasts have all invaded heaven,

Forestalling me. Though victor, here I stand

Upon the earth, and view my labors there.

For Juno to the monsters and the beasts

Has given stars, that so the heavenly realm75

Might be for me a place of terror made.

But no! Though in her wrath she fill the skies

With monsters, though she make the heavens worse

Than earth and hell, yet shall a place be given

To Hercules. If, after beasts and wars,

If, after I subdued the Stygian dog,

I have not earned a place among the stars,80

Then shall Sicilian Pelorus touch

Hesperia's shores, and both shall be one land.

I'll put the intervening sea to flight;

Or, if thou wilt that severed seas be joined,

Then Isthmus shall give passage to the waves,

And Attic vessels by a new-found way

Shall sail united seas. I'll change the world.85

Along new channels shall the Hister flow,

And Tanaïs find new passage to the sea.

Grant, grant, O Jupiter, this boon to me,

That I at least may shield the gods from harm.

There mayst thou lay aside thy thunderbolts,

Where I stand guard against thy enemies.

Whether thou bid'st me guard the icy pole,

Or o'er the torrid regions watch, be sure90

That on that side the gods may be at rest.

Apollo earned the shrine of Pythia

And heaven, because he slew the Python huge;

But Oh, how many Pythons did I slay

In that dire hydra! Bacchus, Perseus, too,

Have found a place among the heavenly gods.95

How small that eastern portion of the earth

Which he subdued! How meager is the spoil

Which Perseus in the stony Gorgon gained!

What son of thine from Juno born has earned

A place in heaven because of his renown?

I seek the skies which I myself have borne.

[Turning toLichas.]

But thou, O Lichas, comrade of my toils,

Go tell my triumphs over Eurytus,100

His lares conquered and his realm o'erthrown.

[To his attendants.]

Do you with speed the victims hurry on

To where the temple of Cenaean Jove

Looks off upon the wild Euboean sea.

Band of captive Oechalian maidens:The mate of the immortals he,Whose life and fortune hand in handGo on apace. But worse than death105Is life, dragged on with many groans.Whoe'er has trodden under footThe greedy fates, and can disdainThe boat that plies on death's dark stream,Will never feel the galling chainsUpon his captive arms; nor grace,As noble spoil, the victor's train.110For he who faces death with joyCan ne'er be wretched. Should his barkBe wrecked upon the stormy seaWhere Africus with Boreas,And Zephyrus with Eurus strive,And rend the seas; he does not seekTo gather up the broken parts115Of his wrecked ship, that, far at sea,He still may cherish hopes of land.For he, who ever ready standsTo give his life, alone is safeFrom all the perils of the storm.But we are held by shameful grief,The gaunt, drawn face, the streaming tears,By the ashes of our fatherlandBesprinkled. Us no whirling flame,120Nor crash of falling walls o'erwhelms.Thou dost pursue the fortunate,O death, but fleest from wretched souls.Behold, we live: but Oh, no more,Our country's walls[26]remain; their placeShall soon be hidden by the woods,And all our temples fall awayTo squalid hovels. Even now125The cold Dolopian will comeAnd o'er the ashes, glowing yet,Sad remnants of Oechalia,Will drive his flocks. And soon, alas,Within our walls, the shepherd rudeShall sing upon his rustic pipes,With doleful voice, our history.130And when the hand of God shall speedA few more generations on,The very place where once we dweltWill be forgotten. Happy once,I kept no barren hearth at home;Not mine the hungry acres thenOf Thessaly. But now I'm calledTo Trachin's rough and stony land,135To ridges parched and jungle-set,To groves which e'en the mountain goatWould not inhabit. But, perchance,Some milder fate the captives calls.Then will they see the Inachus,Whose rapid waves shall bear them on,Or dwell within Dircaean walls140Where flows Ismenus' scanty stream—And where was once the mother wedOf mighty Hercules.False is that tale of doubled night,When overlong the stars delayedWithin the skies, and HesperusIn place of Lucifer arose,And Delia with tardy car145Kept back the sun. What Scythian cragBegot thee, or what stony mount?Like some wild Titan wast thou bornOn Rhodope, or Athos rough?What savage beast on Caspian shores,What spotted tigress, suckled thee?150Impervious to wounds is he.Sharp spears are blunted, steel is bentAgainst his heart; and glittering swords,Upon his naked members struck,In broken fragment drop apart;Stones strike, but harmlessly rebound.And so he scorns the deadly fates,155And, all invincible, provokesHis death. No spears can pierce his heart,No arrow shot from Scythian bow,No darts which cold Sarmatians bear,Or they who dwell beneath the dawn,The Parthians, whose fatal shaftsMore deadly than the Cretan dart,160The neighboring Nabathaeans wound.Oechalia's walls he overthrewWith his bare hands. Naught can withstandHis onslaught. For whate'er he plansTo overcome, is by that factAlready overcome. How fewThe foes who by his wounds have fallen!His angry countenance means death;165And to have met his threatening gazeIs worse than death. What Gyas huge,What vast Briareus, who stoodUpon Thessalia's mountain heapAnd clutched at heaven with snaky hands,Would not have frozen at the glanceOf that dread face? But mighty ills170Have mighty recompense: no moreIs left to suffer—we have seen,Oh, woe! the angry Hercules!

Band of captive Oechalian maidens:The mate of the immortals he,

Whose life and fortune hand in hand

Go on apace. But worse than death105

Is life, dragged on with many groans.

Whoe'er has trodden under foot

The greedy fates, and can disdain

The boat that plies on death's dark stream,

Will never feel the galling chains

Upon his captive arms; nor grace,

As noble spoil, the victor's train.110

For he who faces death with joy

Can ne'er be wretched. Should his bark

Be wrecked upon the stormy sea

Where Africus with Boreas,

And Zephyrus with Eurus strive,

And rend the seas; he does not seek

To gather up the broken parts115

Of his wrecked ship, that, far at sea,

He still may cherish hopes of land.

For he, who ever ready stands

To give his life, alone is safe

From all the perils of the storm.

But we are held by shameful grief,

The gaunt, drawn face, the streaming tears,

By the ashes of our fatherland

Besprinkled. Us no whirling flame,120

Nor crash of falling walls o'erwhelms.

Thou dost pursue the fortunate,

O death, but fleest from wretched souls.

Behold, we live: but Oh, no more,

Our country's walls[26]remain; their place

Shall soon be hidden by the woods,

And all our temples fall away

To squalid hovels. Even now125

The cold Dolopian will come

And o'er the ashes, glowing yet,

Sad remnants of Oechalia,

Will drive his flocks. And soon, alas,

Within our walls, the shepherd rude

Shall sing upon his rustic pipes,

With doleful voice, our history.130

And when the hand of God shall speed

A few more generations on,

The very place where once we dwelt

Will be forgotten. Happy once,

I kept no barren hearth at home;

Not mine the hungry acres then

Of Thessaly. But now I'm called

To Trachin's rough and stony land,135

To ridges parched and jungle-set,

To groves which e'en the mountain goat

Would not inhabit. But, perchance,

Some milder fate the captives calls.

Then will they see the Inachus,

Whose rapid waves shall bear them on,

Or dwell within Dircaean walls140

Where flows Ismenus' scanty stream—

And where was once the mother wed

Of mighty Hercules.

False is that tale of doubled night,

When overlong the stars delayed

Within the skies, and Hesperus

In place of Lucifer arose,

And Delia with tardy car145

Kept back the sun. What Scythian crag

Begot thee, or what stony mount?

Like some wild Titan wast thou born

On Rhodope, or Athos rough?

What savage beast on Caspian shores,

What spotted tigress, suckled thee?150

Impervious to wounds is he.

Sharp spears are blunted, steel is bent

Against his heart; and glittering swords,

Upon his naked members struck,

In broken fragment drop apart;

Stones strike, but harmlessly rebound.

And so he scorns the deadly fates,155

And, all invincible, provokes

His death. No spears can pierce his heart,

No arrow shot from Scythian bow,

No darts which cold Sarmatians bear,

Or they who dwell beneath the dawn,

The Parthians, whose fatal shafts

More deadly than the Cretan dart,160

The neighboring Nabathaeans wound.

Oechalia's walls he overthrew

With his bare hands. Naught can withstand

His onslaught. For whate'er he plans

To overcome, is by that fact

Already overcome. How few

The foes who by his wounds have fallen!

His angry countenance means death;165

And to have met his threatening gaze

Is worse than death. What Gyas huge,

What vast Briareus, who stood

Upon Thessalia's mountain heap

And clutched at heaven with snaky hands,

Would not have frozen at the glance

Of that dread face? But mighty ills170

Have mighty recompense: no more

Is left to suffer—we have seen,

Oh, woe! the angry Hercules!

Iole:But I, unhappy one, must mourn,Not temples with their gods o'erthrown,Not scattered hearths and burning homes,Where lie in common ruin mixedFathers with sons, and gods with men,175Temples and towns—the common woe;But fortune calls my tears awayTo other grief. Fate bids me weepO'er other ruins. What lament180Shall I make first? What greatest illShall I bewail? All equallyI'll weep. Ah me, that mother earthHath not more bosoms given me,That worthily they might resoundUnto my grief. But, O ye gods,Transform me to a weeping rockOn Sipylus; or set me where,185Between its grassy banks, the PoGlides on, where grieving woods respondTo the mourning of the sisters sadOf Phaëthon; or to the shoresOf Sicily transport me. There,Another Siren, let me mourn190The woeful fate of Thessaly.Or bear me to the Thracian woods,Where, underneath Ismarian shade,The Daulian bird bewails her son.Give me a form to fit my tears,And let rough Trachin echo back195My cries of woe. The Cyprian maidStill soothes her grieving heart with tears;Still Ceyx's royal spouse bemoansHer vanished lord; and Niobe,Surviving life and grief, weeps on;Her human form has PhilomelEscaped, and now with doleful notesThe Attic maid bewails her dead.200Oh, that my arms were feathered wings!Oh, then, how happy would I be,When, hidden in the forest depths,I might lament in plaintive strain,205And live in fame as Iole,The maiden bird. I saw, alas,I saw my father's dreadful fate,When, smitten with that deadly club,He fell, in mangled fragments dashed210Throughout the palace hall. If thenHis fate had granted burial,How often had I searched, O sire,For all thy parts!How could I look upon thy death,O Toxeus, with thy tender cheeksUnbearded yet, thy boyish veinsNot yet with manhood's vigor filled?But why do I bewail your fates,215O parents, whom to safety nowKind death has borne? My fortune bidsThat I bewail myself instead.Soon, ah too soon, in captive state,Shall I the flying spindle turnFor some proud mistress in her hall.O cruel beauty, how hast thou220Decreed my death! For thee aloneAm I and all my house undone,Since when my sire to HerculesRefused my hand, because he fearedGreat Hercules as son-in-law.And now, not wife, but captive maid,I seek my haughty mistress' home.

Iole:But I, unhappy one, must mourn,

Not temples with their gods o'erthrown,

Not scattered hearths and burning homes,

Where lie in common ruin mixed

Fathers with sons, and gods with men,175

Temples and towns—the common woe;

But fortune calls my tears away

To other grief. Fate bids me weep

O'er other ruins. What lament180

Shall I make first? What greatest ill

Shall I bewail? All equally

I'll weep. Ah me, that mother earth

Hath not more bosoms given me,

That worthily they might resound

Unto my grief. But, O ye gods,

Transform me to a weeping rock

On Sipylus; or set me where,185

Between its grassy banks, the Po

Glides on, where grieving woods respond

To the mourning of the sisters sad

Of Phaëthon; or to the shores

Of Sicily transport me. There,

Another Siren, let me mourn190

The woeful fate of Thessaly.

Or bear me to the Thracian woods,

Where, underneath Ismarian shade,

The Daulian bird bewails her son.

Give me a form to fit my tears,

And let rough Trachin echo back195

My cries of woe. The Cyprian maid

Still soothes her grieving heart with tears;

Still Ceyx's royal spouse bemoans

Her vanished lord; and Niobe,

Surviving life and grief, weeps on;

Her human form has Philomel

Escaped, and now with doleful notes

The Attic maid bewails her dead.200

Oh, that my arms were feathered wings!

Oh, then, how happy would I be,

When, hidden in the forest depths,

I might lament in plaintive strain,205

And live in fame as Iole,

The maiden bird. I saw, alas,

I saw my father's dreadful fate,

When, smitten with that deadly club,

He fell, in mangled fragments dashed210

Throughout the palace hall. If then

His fate had granted burial,

How often had I searched, O sire,

For all thy parts!

How could I look upon thy death,

O Toxeus, with thy tender cheeks

Unbearded yet, thy boyish veins

Not yet with manhood's vigor filled?

But why do I bewail your fates,215

O parents, whom to safety now

Kind death has borne? My fortune bids

That I bewail myself instead.

Soon, ah too soon, in captive state,

Shall I the flying spindle turn

For some proud mistress in her hall.

O cruel beauty, how hast thou220

Decreed my death! For thee alone

Am I and all my house undone,

Since when my sire to Hercules

Refused my hand, because he feared

Great Hercules as son-in-law.

And now, not wife, but captive maid,

I seek my haughty mistress' home.

Chorus:Why dost thou, foolish, ever dwell225Upon thy sire's illustrious realm,And on thy own unhappy fate?Forget thy former station now;For only is he happy who,As king or slave, knows how to bearHis lot, and fit his countenanceTo changing circumstance. For he230Who bears his ills with steadfast soulHas from misfortune reft awayIts strength and heaviness.

Chorus:Why dost thou, foolish, ever dwell225

Upon thy sire's illustrious realm,

And on thy own unhappy fate?

Forget thy former station now;

For only is he happy who,

As king or slave, knows how to bear

His lot, and fit his countenance

To changing circumstance. For he230

Who bears his ills with steadfast soul

Has from misfortune reft away

Its strength and heaviness.

FOOTNOTES:[25]Reading,quam prosequor.[26]Reading,patriae moenibus.

[25]Reading,quam prosequor.

[26]Reading,patriae moenibus.

[In the palace ofDeianiraat Trachin.]

Nurse ofDeianira: Oh, bitter is the rage a woman feels,When in one house both wife and mistress dwell!No wrecking Scylla, no Charybdis dire,235The 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 distraught240Stand gazing fiercely on the captive maid;As when a tigress, lying with her youngBeneath 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 awhileIn wonder whither she shall take her way.Then she throughout the house of Hercules245Goes madly rushing; nor does all the houseGive 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 tearsSucceeds to threats. No mood for long endures,250Nor can one form of rage content her long.Now flame her cheeks with wrath; pale terror nowDrives out the flush of anger, and her griefTakes every form that maddened sorrow knows:Complainings, prayers, and groans. But now the doorsAre creaking: see, she comes in frenzied haste,With words confused revealing all her heart.255

Nurse ofDeianira: 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 distraught240

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 Hercules245

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

[EnterDeianira.]

Deianira:O wife of Jove, where'er in heaven thou dwell'st,Against Alcides send some raging beastThat shall be dire enough to sate my wrath.If any hydra rears its fertile headToo vast to be contained in any pool,Impossible of conquest, send it forth.If anything is worse than other beasts,260Enormous, unrelenting, horrible,From which the eye of even HerculesWould turn in fear, let such an one come outFrom its huge den. But if no beasts avail,This heart of mine into some monster change;For of my hate can any shape be madeThat thou desir'st. Oh, mould my woman's form265To match my grief. My breast cannot containIts rage. Why dost thou search the farthest boundsOf earth, and overturn the world? Or whyDost thou demand of hell its evil shapes?This breast of mine will furnish for thy useAll fearful things. To work thy deadly hate270Use 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 deedDost thou command? Decide. Why doubtful stand?Now mayst thou rest awhile from all thy toils,For my rage is enough.275Nurse:O child of mine,These sad outpourings of thy maddened heartRestrain, quench passion's fire, and curb thy grief.Show now that thou art wife of Hercules.Deianira:Shall captive Iole unto my sonsGive brothers, and a lowly slave becomeThe daughter-in-law of Jove? In common courseWill fire and rushing torrent never run;280The 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 findA monster greater far than Hydra's rage,An angry wife's revenge, awaiting thee.The flames that leap from Aetna's top to heaven285Burn not so fiercely as my passion's fireWhich 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 steadThis hated rival comes. O mighty God,290Of all gods ruler, O thou lustrous Sun,'Tis only in his perils, then, it seems,Have I been wife to Hercules. The godsHave 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!295O 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 waves300With 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 overcomeIn 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 day305Which ends our married joys shall end thy life.But what is this? My rage begins to failAnd moderate its threats. My anger's gone.Why dost thou languish thus, O wretched grief?Wilt thou give o'er thy passion, be againThe faithful, uncomplaining wife? Ah no!Why dost thou strive to check the flames of wrath?310Why 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 comeTo guide my hands.Nurse:What crime dost thou intend,O foolish one? Wilt slay thy noble lord,315Whose 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 raceWill be the first to fall. Soon rocks and brands320Will be against thee hurled, since every landWill its protector shield; and thou aloneWilt 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 nowHis threat'ning torches gleam athwart the sky,325And all the heavens tremble with the shock.Nay, death itself, wherein thou hop'st to findA place of safe retreat—fear that as well;For there Alcides' uncle reigns supreme.Turn where thou wilt, O wretched woman; thereShalt thou behold thy husband's kindred gods.330Deianira: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 HerculesI'll die; no night shall ever bring the dayThat shall behold me cheated of my own,Nor shall a captive mistress have my bed.Sooner shall western skies give birth to day;335Sooner shall men of India make their homeBeneath the icy pole, and Phoebus tanWith his hot rays the shivering Scythians,Than shall the dames of Thessaly beholdMy downfall. For with my own blood I'll quenchThe marriage torches. Either he shall die,Or slay me with his hand. To all the beasts340Whom he has slaughtered let him add his wife;Let me be numbered 'mongst his mighty deeds;But in my death my body still shall claimThe couch of Hercules. Oh, sweet, 'tis sweetTo fare to Hades as Alcides' bride,And not without my vengeance. If, indeed,345From Hercules my rival has conceived,With my own hands I'll tear the child awayUntimely, and that shameless harlot faceWithin her very wedding torches' glare.And though in wrath upon his nuptial dayHe slay me as a victim at the shrine,Let me but fall upon my rival's corse,And I shall die content. For happy heWho drags with him his enemy to death.350Nurse: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 placeOf slave, and love has lost its power to charm,355Since her unhappy state has stol'n from herHer loveliness. The unattainableIs ever sought in love. But from the thingThat 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 headThe crown of gleaming gold and gems has fallen.360For 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 maidsAforetime he has loved, this wandering swain.365The Arcadian maiden Auge, while she ledThe choral dance of Pallas, roused his loveAnd 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 ThespiadesEnjoyed the passing love of Hercules,370But are forgotten. Soon, a wandererUpon Timolus, he caressed the queenOf 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,375And 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 theeA slave, the daughter of his enemy?380Deianira:As budding groves put on a joyous formWhen 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 far385Along the road of life, has lost its bloom,And gleams less brightly than in former years.Behold that loveliness—but Oh, whate'erWas once by many suitors sought in me,Has vanished quite; for toils of motherhoodHave stolen my beauty, and with speeding footAdvancing age has hurried it away.390But, as thou seest, this slave has not yet lostHer 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 lostBy this hard stroke of fate. This fear of her395Doth vex my heart and take away my sleep.I once was in the eyes of all the worldThe wife most to be praised; and every brideLonged 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.400What father shall I ever find, O nurse,To equal Jove? What husband like to mineIn 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;405But 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 wandering410Throughout 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 sungBy men of every land throughout the world:415This man is but a trifler, without thoughtOf winning deathless glory for himself.He wanders through the earth, not in the hopeThat he may rival Jupiter, or goWith 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;420He rages 'gainst the nations, seeks his bridesAmidst the ruins of a people's hopes.And this wild carnival of lustful crimeIs 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 refuse425To 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 preserveIn 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?430Thus '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 believeThat Juno is the cause of all his crimes.O sluggish passion, why inactive stand?Anticipate his crime, and act at onceWhile still thy hands are burning for the deed.435Nurse: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?440Deianira:Celestial anger only wretched makesThose 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.445Why 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 lies450Securely fixed within my inmost heart.But outraged love is poignant misery.Nurse:By magic arts united to their prayersDo wives full oft their wandering husbands bind.I have myself in midst of winter's coldCommanded trees to clothe themselves in green,The thunderbolt to stop; I've roused the sea455When no wind blew, and calmed the swollen waves;The thirsty plain has opened at my touchTo springs of water; rocks give way to me,And doors fly open; when I bid them standThe shades of hell obey, and talk with me;The infernal dog is still at my command;460Midnight 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,465Or 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 cropsIn winter ripen; though the hurtling boltStand still at thy command; though all the laws470Of nature be reversed, and stars shine outUpon the noonday skies—he would not yield.Nurse:But Love has conquered e'en the heavenly gods.Deianira:Perhaps by one alone he will himselfBe conquered, and give spoils of war to him,And so become Alcides' latest task.But by each separate god of heaven I pray,475By this my fear: what secret I discloseKeep 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 free480From 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,485There is a cave that guards my secret well.Neither the rising sun can reach the spotWith 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 me490The love of Hercules. I'll tell thee all.The giver of the charm was Nessus, heWhom 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' club495To shift with ready ease from form to formOf beasts, and, overcome in every form,At last bold Acheloüs bowed his headWith its one horn defiled; then Hercules,Exulting in his triumph, claimed his brideAnd bore me off to Argos. Then, it chanced,500Evenus' 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;505And 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,510Cried, "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,515I 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 eyesSeeking the light, within his hand caught up520The 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 soThessalian dames by Mycale were taught,525Who only, 'midst all wonder-working crones,Could lure the moon from out the starry skies.A garment well anointed with this goreShalt thou present to him," the centaur said,"If e'er a hated rival steal thy couch,If e'er thy husband in a fickle moodTo heavenly Jove another daughter give.530Let 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,535Make haste and bring this charm to me, that soIts 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 hand540Doth speed his arrows with unerring aim.

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 form265

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 hate270

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 heartRestrain, quench passion's fire, and curb thy grief.Show now that thou art wife of Hercules.

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 sonsGive brothers, and a lowly slave becomeThe daughter-in-law of Jove? In common courseWill fire and rushing torrent never run;280The 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 findA monster greater far than Hydra's rage,An angry wife's revenge, awaiting thee.The flames that leap from Aetna's top to heaven285Burn not so fiercely as my passion's fireWhich 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 steadThis hated rival comes. O mighty God,290Of all gods ruler, O thou lustrous Sun,'Tis only in his perils, then, it seems,Have I been wife to Hercules. The godsHave 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!295O 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 waves300With 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 overcomeIn 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 day305Which ends our married joys shall end thy life.But what is this? My rage begins to failAnd moderate its threats. My anger's gone.Why dost thou languish thus, O wretched grief?Wilt thou give o'er thy passion, be againThe faithful, uncomplaining wife? Ah no!Why dost thou strive to check the flames of wrath?310Why 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 comeTo guide my hands.

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 heaven285

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 waves300

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 day305

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,315Whose 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 raceWill be the first to fall. Soon rocks and brands320Will be against thee hurled, since every landWill its protector shield; and thou aloneWilt 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 nowHis threat'ning torches gleam athwart the sky,325And all the heavens tremble with the shock.Nay, death itself, wherein thou hop'st to findA place of safe retreat—fear that as well;For there Alcides' uncle reigns supreme.Turn where thou wilt, O wretched woman; thereShalt thou behold thy husband's kindred gods.330

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 brands320

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.

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 HerculesI'll die; no night shall ever bring the dayThat shall behold me cheated of my own,Nor shall a captive mistress have my bed.Sooner shall western skies give birth to day;335Sooner shall men of India make their homeBeneath the icy pole, and Phoebus tanWith his hot rays the shivering Scythians,Than shall the dames of Thessaly beholdMy downfall. For with my own blood I'll quenchThe marriage torches. Either he shall die,Or slay me with his hand. To all the beasts340Whom he has slaughtered let him add his wife;Let me be numbered 'mongst his mighty deeds;But in my death my body still shall claimThe couch of Hercules. Oh, sweet, 'tis sweetTo fare to Hades as Alcides' bride,And not without my vengeance. If, indeed,345From Hercules my rival has conceived,With my own hands I'll tear the child awayUntimely, and that shameless harlot faceWithin her very wedding torches' glare.And though in wrath upon his nuptial dayHe slay me as a victim at the shrine,Let me but fall upon my rival's corse,And I shall die content. For happy heWho drags with him his enemy to death.350

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 beasts340

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 placeOf slave, and love has lost its power to charm,355Since her unhappy state has stol'n from herHer loveliness. The unattainableIs ever sought in love. But from the thingThat is within his reach love turns away.

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 headThe crown of gleaming gold and gems has fallen.360For these her woes he pities her—and loves.'Twas e'er his wont to love his captive maids.

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 maidsAforetime he has loved, this wandering swain.365The Arcadian maiden Auge, while she ledThe choral dance of Pallas, roused his loveAnd 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 ThespiadesEnjoyed the passing love of Hercules,370But are forgotten. Soon, a wandererUpon Timolus, he caressed the queenOf 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,375And dripping with the costly oil of myrrh.Yes, everywhere he feels the fires of love,But always does he glow with transient flame.

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.

Deianira:But lovers after many transient flames,

Are wont at last to choose a single love.

Nurse:And could Alcides choose instead of theeA slave, the daughter of his enemy?380

Nurse:And could Alcides choose instead of thee

A slave, the daughter of his enemy?380

Deianira:As budding groves put on a joyous formWhen 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 far385Along the road of life, has lost its bloom,And gleams less brightly than in former years.Behold that loveliness—but Oh, whate'erWas once by many suitors sought in me,Has vanished quite; for toils of motherhoodHave stolen my beauty, and with speeding footAdvancing age has hurried it away.390But, as thou seest, this slave has not yet lostHer 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 lostBy this hard stroke of fate. This fear of her395Doth vex my heart and take away my sleep.I once was in the eyes of all the worldThe wife most to be praised; and every brideLonged 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.400What father shall I ever find, O nurse,To equal Jove? What husband like to mineIn 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;405But far she falls who loses Hercules.

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 far385

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 her395

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 wandering410Throughout 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 sungBy men of every land throughout the world:415This man is but a trifler, without thoughtOf winning deathless glory for himself.He wanders through the earth, not in the hopeThat he may rival Jupiter, or goWith 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;420He rages 'gainst the nations, seeks his bridesAmidst the ruins of a people's hopes.And this wild carnival of lustful crimeIs 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 refuse425To 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 preserveIn 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?430Thus '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 believeThat Juno is the cause of all his crimes.O sluggish passion, why inactive stand?Anticipate his crime, and act at onceWhile still thy hands are burning for the deed.435

Deianira:This fellow whom thou seest wandering410

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 refuse425

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 makesThose whom it touches; mortal wrath destroys.

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.

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.445Why dost so sternly judge a light offense?Nay, suit thy grieving to thine injury.

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.

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 lies450Securely fixed within my inmost heart.But outraged love is poignant misery.

Deianira:Not fled, dear nurse, believe me; still it lies450

Securely fixed within my inmost heart.

But outraged love is poignant misery.

Nurse:By magic arts united to their prayersDo wives full oft their wandering husbands bind.I have myself in midst of winter's coldCommanded trees to clothe themselves in green,The thunderbolt to stop; I've roused the sea455When no wind blew, and calmed the swollen waves;The thirsty plain has opened at my touchTo springs of water; rocks give way to me,And doors fly open; when I bid them standThe shades of hell obey, and talk with me;The infernal dog is still at my command;460Midnight 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.

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 sea455

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,465Or 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 cropsIn winter ripen; though the hurtling boltStand still at thy command; though all the laws470Of nature be reversed, and stars shine outUpon the noonday skies—he would not yield.

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 laws470

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 himselfBe conquered, and give spoils of war to him,And so become Alcides' latest task.But by each separate god of heaven I pray,475By this my fear: what secret I discloseKeep hidden thou and close within thy breast.

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 free480From sin; for sometimes faith itself is sin.

Nurse:I can give pledge of faith, if it be free480

From sin; for sometimes faith itself is sin.

Deianira:Lest someone hear my secret, look about;In all directions turn thy watchful gaze.

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,485There is a cave that guards my secret well.Neither the rising sun can reach the spotWith 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 me490The love of Hercules. I'll tell thee all.The giver of the charm was Nessus, heWhom 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' club495To shift with ready ease from form to formOf beasts, and, overcome in every form,At last bold Acheloüs bowed his headWith its one horn defiled; then Hercules,Exulting in his triumph, claimed his brideAnd bore me off to Argos. Then, it chanced,500Evenus' 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;505And 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,510Cried, "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,515I 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 eyesSeeking the light, within his hand caught up520The 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 soThessalian dames by Mycale were taught,525Who only, 'midst all wonder-working crones,Could lure the moon from out the starry skies.A garment well anointed with this goreShalt thou present to him," the centaur said,"If e'er a hated rival steal thy couch,If e'er thy husband in a fickle moodTo heavenly Jove another daughter give.530Let 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,535Make haste and bring this charm to me, that soIts force, imparted to a gleaming robe,May at the touch dart through his soul, his limbs,And through the very marrow of his bones.

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 me490

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' club495

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 up520

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 hand540Doth speed his arrows with unerring aim.

Nurse:With speed will I thy bidding do, dear child.

And do thou call upon the god of love,

Invincible, who with his tender hand540

Doth speed his arrows with unerring aim.

[ExitNurse.]

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