Chapter 7

Chorus[chanting the epithalamium for the nuptials ofJasonandCreüsa]: Now on our royal nuptials graciously smiling,Here may the lords of heaven and the deeps of the oceanCome while the people feast in pious rejoicing!First to the gods who sway the scepter of heaven,Pealing forth their will in the voice of thunder,Let the white bull his proud head bow in tribute.60Then to the fair Lucina, her gift we offer,White as the driven snow, this beautiful heifer,Still with her neck untouched by the yoke of bondage.Thou who alone canst rule the heart of the war-god,Thou who linkest in peace the opposing nations,Out of thy generous hand abundance pouring—65Thee we offer a daintier gift, O Concord!Thou who, on the marriage torches attending,Night's dark gloom with favoring hand dispellest,Hither come with languishing footstep drunken,Binding thy temples fair with garlands of roses!70Star of the evening, thou who to twilight leadestThe day, and hailest again the dawn of the morning,All too slowly thou com'st for lovers impatient,Eager to see thy sign in the glow of the sunset.The fairest of girls is she,75The Athenian maids outshining,Or the Spartan maiden with armor laden,No burden of war declining.Not by Alpheus' sacred stream,Nor Boeotia's musical water,Is there any fair who can compare80With our lovely Corinthian daughter.Our Thessalian prince excels,In beauty of form and face,Even Bacchus, the son of the fierce-flaming one,Who yokes the wild tigers in place.85The murmuring tripod's lord,Though the fairest in heavenly story,The twins with their star bright gleaming afar—All yield to our Jason in glory.90When in her train of courtly maidens she mingles—Like the bright sunshine paling the starry splendor,95Or the full moonlight quenching the Pleiads' brilliance,So does she shine, all peerless, of fair ones the fairest.Now, O Jason, freed from the hateful wedlock100That held thee bound to the barbarous Colchian woman,Joyfully wed the fair Corinthian maiden,While at last her parents' blessings attend thee.105Ho then, youths, with licensed jest and rejoicing,Loud let the songs of gladness ring through the city;Rarely against our lords such freedom is given.Fair and noble band of Bacchus, the thyrsus-bearer,110Now is the time to light the glittering torches of pinewood.Shake on high the festal fire with languishing fingers;Now let the bold and merry Fescennine laughter and jestingSound through our ranks. Let Medea fare in silence and darkness,If perchance another lord she shall wed in her exile.115ACT IIMedea:We are undone! How harsh upon mine ears doth grateThe song! and even now I cannot comprehendThe vast extent of woe that hath befallen me.Could Jason prove so false? Bereft of native land,And home, and kingdom, could he leave me here aloneOn foreign shores? Oh, cruel, could he quite reject120My sum of service, he who saw the fire and seaWith crime o'ercome for his dear sake? And does he thinkThat thus the fatal chapter can be ended? Wild,Devoid of reason, sick of soul, my swift mind dartsIn all directions seeking whence revenge may come!I would he had a brother! But his wife—'gainst her125Be aimed the blow! Can thus my wrongs be satisfied?Nay, nay—to meet my sum of woe must be heaped highThe crimes of Greece, of strange barbaric lands, and thoseWhich even thy hands have not known. Now lash thy soulWith memory's scourge, and call thy dark deeds in review:130The glory of thy father's kingdom reft away;Thy brother, guiltless comrade of thy guilty flight,All hewn in pieces and his corpse strewn on the deep,To break his royal father's heart; and, last of crimes,Old Pelias by his daughters slain at thy command.135O impious one, what streams of blood have flowed to workThy ends! And yet, not one of all my crimes by wrathWas prompted. Love, ill-omened love, suggested all.Yet, what could Jason else have done, compelled to serveAnother's will, another's law? He should have diedBefore he yielded to the tyrant's will. Nay, nay,140Thou raging passion, speak not so! For, if he may,I would that Jason still may live and still be mine,As once he was; if not, yet may he still live on,And, mindful of my merits, live without my aid.The guilt is Creon's all, who with unbridled powerDissolves the marriage bond, my children separates145From me who bore them, yea, and makes the strongest pledge,Though ratified with straightest oath, of none effect.Let him alone sustain my wrath; let Creon payThe debt of guilt he owes! His palace will I bringTo utter desolation; and the whirling fireTo far-off Malea's crags shall send its lurid glare.150Nurse:Be silent now, I pray thee, and thy plaints confineTo secret woe! The man who heavy blows can bearIn silence, biding still his time with patient soul,Full oft his vengeance gains. 'Tis hidden wrath that harms;But hate proclaimed oft loses half its power to harm.Medea:But small the grief is that can counsel take and hideIts head; great ills lie not in hiding, but must rush155Abroad and work their will.Nurse:Oh, cease this mad complaint,My mistress; scarce can friendly silence help thee now.Medea:But fortune fears the brave, the faint of heart o'erwhelms.Nurse:Then valor be approved, if for it still there's room.160Medea:But it must always be that valor finds its place.Nurse:No star of hope points out the way from these our woes.Medea:The man who hopes for naught at least has naught to fear.Nurse:The Colchians are thy foes; thy husband's vows have failed;Of all thy vast possessions not a jot is left.165Medea:Yet I am left. There's left both sea and land and fireAnd sword and gods and hurtling thunderbolts.Nurse:The king must be revered.Medea:My father was a king.Nurse:Dost thou not fear?Medea:Not though the earth produced the foe.Nurse:Thou'lt perish.170Medea:So I wish it.Nurse:Flee!Medea:I'm done with flight.[9]Why should Medea flee?Nurse:Thy children!Medea:Whose, thou know'st.Nurse:And dost thou still delay?Medea:I go, but vengeance first.Nurse:Th' avenger will pursue.Medea:Perchance I'll stop his course.Nurse:Nay, hold thy words, and cease thy threats, O foolish one.Thy temper curb; 'tis well to yield to fate's decrees.175Medea:Though fate may strip me of all my, myself am left.But who flings wide the royal palace doors? Behold,'Tis Creon's self, exalted high in Grecian sway.[Medearetires to back of stage; exitNurse;enterCreon.]Creon:Medea, baleful daughter of the Colchian king,Has not yet taken her hateful presence from our realm.180On mischief is she bent. Well known her treach'rous power.For who escapes her? Who may pass his days in peace?This curséd pestilence at once would I have stayedBy force of arms; but Jason's prayers prevailed. She stillMay live, but let her free my borders from the fear185Her presence genders, and her safety gain by flight.[He seesMedeaapproaching.]But lo, she comes, with fierce and threatening mien, to seekAn audience with us.[To attendants.]Slaves defend us from her touchAnd pestilential presence! Bid her silence keep,And learn to yield obedience to the king's commands.190[ToMedea.]Go, speed thy flight, thou thing of evil, fell, and monstrous!Medea:But tell me what the crime, my lord, or what the guiltThat merits exile?Creon:Let the guiltless question thus.Medea:If now thou judgest, hear me; if thou reign'st, command.[10]Creon:The king's command thou must abide, nor question aught.195Medea:Unrighteous sovereignty has never long endured.Creon:Go hence, and to the Colchians complain.Medea:I go,But let him take me hence who brought me to thy shores.Creon:Thy prayer has come too late, for fixed is my decree.Medea:Who judges, and denies his ear to either side,Though right his judgment, still is he himself unjust.200Creon:Didst lend thine ear to Pelias, ere thou judgedst him?But come, I'll give thee grace to plead thy goodly cause.Medea:How hard the task to turn the soul from wrath, when onceTo wrath inclined; how 'tis the creed of sceptered kingsTo swerve not from the purposed course they once have taken,205Full well I know, for I have tasted royalty.For, though by present storms of ill I'm overwhelmed,An exile, suppliant, lone, forsaken, all forlorn,I once in happier times a royal princess shone,And traced my proud descent from heavenly Phoebus' self.210My father's realm extended wide o'er all the landWhere Phasis' gentle waters flow, o'er Scythia's plainsWhose rivers sweeten Pontus' briny waves; where, too,Thermodon's banks inclose the race of warlike maids,Whose gleaming shields strike terror to their foes. All this215My father held in sway. And I, of noble birth,And blessed of heaven, in royal state was high upraised.Then princes humbly sought my hand in wedlock, mine,Who now must sue. O changeful fortune, thou my throne220Hast reft away, and given me exile in its stead.Trust not in kingly realms, since fickle chance may strewTheir treasures to the winds. Lo, this is regal, thisThe work of kings, which time nor change cannot undo:To succor the afflicted, to provide at need225A trusty refuge for the suppliant. This aloneI brought of all my Colchian treasure, this renown,This very flower of fame,[11]that by my arts I savedThe bulwark of the Greeks, the offspring of the gods.My princely gift to Greece is Orpheus, that sweet bard230Who can the trees in willing bondage draw, and meltThe crag's hard heart. Mine too are Boreas' wingéd sons,And Leda's heaven-born progeny, and Lynceus, he,Whose glance can pierce the distant view—yea, all the Greeks,Save Jason; for I mention not the king of kings,The leader of the leaders; he is mine alone,My labor's recompense; the rest I give to you.235Nay, come, O king, arraign me, and rehearse my crimes.But stay! for I'll confess them all. The only crimeOf which I stand accused is this—the Argo saved.Suppose my maiden scruples had opposed the deed;Suppose my filial piety had stayed my hand:Then had the mighty chieftains fall'n, and in their fateAll Greece had been o'erwhelmed; then this, thy son-in-law,240Had felt the bull's consuming breath, and perished there.Nay, nay, let fortune, when she will, my doom decree;I glory still that kings have owed their lives to me.But what reward I reap for all my glorious deedsIs in thy hands. Convict me, if thou wilt, of sin,245But give him back for whom I sinned. O Creon, see,I own that I am guilty. This much thou didst know,When first I clasped thy knees, a humble suppliant,And sought the shelter of thy royal clemency.Some little corner of thy kingdom now I ask,In which to hide my grief. If I must flee again,250Oh, let some nook remote within thy broad domainBe found for me!Creon:That I my power in mercy wield,And spurn not those who seek my aid let Jason's selfMy witness be, who, exiled, overwhelmed by fate,255And smitten sore with fear, a refuge found with me.For Io, Thessalia's monarch, bent on vengeance dire,Seeks Jason at my hand. The cause, indeed, is just:For that his sire, o'erburdened with the weight of years,Was foully taken off, while by thy wicked guile260His guileless sisters' hands were nerved to do the deed.If now our Jason can unlink his cause from thine,'Tis easy his defense to make, for on his handsNo stain of blood is found. His arm no sword upraised,And he has had no part nor lot in this thy crime.265No, thou and thou alone the arch contriver art,Uniting in thy person woman's fertile witAnd man's effective strength; while in thy reckless heartNo thought of reputation dwells to check thy hand.Then go thou hence and purge our kingdom of its stain;Bear hence thy deadly poisons; free the citizens270From fear; abiding in some other land than this,Outwear the patience of the gods.Medea:Thou bid'st me flee?Then give me back my bark wherein to flee. RestoreThe partner of my flight! Why should I flee alone?I came not thus. Or if avenging war thou fear'st,Then banish both the culprits; why distinguish me275From Jason? 'Twas for him old Pelias was o'ercome;For him the flight, the plunder of my father's realm,My sire forsaken and my infant brother slain,And all the guilt that love suggests; 'twas all for him.Deep dyed in sin am I, but on my guilty soul280The sin of profit lieth not.Creon:Why seek delayBy speech? Too long thou tarriest.Medea:I go, but grantThis last request: let not the mother's fall o'erwhelmHer hapless babes.Creon:Then go in peace. For I to themA father's place will fill, and take them to my heart.Medea:Now by the fair hopes born upon this wedding day,285And by thy hopes of lasting sovereignty secureFrom changeful fate's assault, I pray thee grant from flightA respite brief, while I upon my children's lipsA mother's kiss imprint, perchance the last.Creon:A timeThou seek'st for treachery.290Medea:What fraud can be devisedIn one short hour?Creon:To those on mischief bent, be sure,The briefest time is fraught with mischief's fatal power.Medea:Dost thou refuse me, then, one little space for tears?Creon:Though deep-ingrafted fear would fain resist thy plea,A single day I'll give thee ere my sentence holds.295Medea:Too gracious thou. But let my respite further shrink,And I'll depart content.Creon:Thy life shall surely payThe forfeit if tomorrow's sun beholds thee stillIn Corinth. But the voice of Hymen calls awayTo solemnize the rites of this his festal day.300[Exeunt.]Chorus:Too bold the man who first upon the seas,The treacherous seas, his fragile bark confided;Who, as the well-known shore behind him glided,His life intrusted to the fickle breeze;And, as his unknown seaward course he sped305Within his slender craft with foolish daring,Midway 'twixt life and death went onward faring,Along the perilous narrow margin led.Not yet were sparkling constellations known,Or sky, all spangled with the starry glory;310Not yet could sailors read the warning storyBy stormy Hyades upon the heavens thrown.Not yet was Zeus's foster-mother famed,Nor slow Boötes round the north star wheeling;315Nor Boreas nor Zephyr gently stealing,Each feared or welcomed, though as yet unnamed.First Tiphys dared to spread his venturous sail,The hidden lesson of the breezes learning,Now all his canvas to the Zephyrs turning,320Now shifting all to catch the changing gale.Now midway on the mast the yard remains,Now at the head with all its canvas drawing,While eager sailors lure the breezes blowing,And over all the gleaming topsail strains.325The guiltless golden age our fathers saw,When youth and age the same horizon bounded;No greed of gain their simple hearts confounded;Their native wealth enough, 'twas all they knew.330But lo, the severed worlds have been brought nearAnd linked in one by Argo's hand uniting;While seas endure the oar's unwonted smiting,335And add their fury to the primal fear.This impious bark its guilt in dread atoned340When clashing mountains were together driven,And sea, from sea in mighty conflict riven,The stars besprinkled with the leaping foam.345Amid these perils sturdy Tiphys paled,And from his nerveless hand the vessel bounded;While stricken Orpheus' lyre no more resounded,And tuneful Argo's warning message failed.What sinking terror filled each quaking breast,When near the borders of sea-girt Pelorus,350There smote upon their ears the horrid chorusOf Scylla's baying wolves around them pressed.What terror when they neared the Sirens' lair,355Who soothe the troubled waves with witching measures!But Orpheus filled their souls with nobler pleasures,And left the foe in impotent despair.360And of this wild adventure what the prize,That lured the daring bark with heroes laden?The fleece of gold, and this mad Colchian maiden,Well fit to be the first ship's merchandize.The sea, subdued, the victor's law obeys;365No vessel needs a goddess' art in framing,Nor oars in heroes' hands, the ocean taming:The frailest craft now dares the roughest waves.Now, every bound removed, new cities rise370In lands remote, their ancient walls removing;While men of Ind by Caspian shores are roving,And Persia's face now greets the western skies.375The time will come, as lapsing ages flee,When every land shall yield its hidden treasure;When men no more shall unknown courses measure,For round the world no "farthest land" shall be.FOOTNOTES:[9]Reading,Medea fugiam, as a continuation of Medea's speech.[10]Retainingsi regnas, iubein Medea's speech.[11]Reading,gloriae.ACT III[Medeais rushing out to seek vengeance, while theNursetries in vain to restrain her.]Nurse:My foster-daughter, whither speedest thou abroad?380Oh, stay, I pray thee, and restrain thy passion's force.[Medeahastens by without answering. TheNursesoliloquizes.]As some wild Bacchanal, whose fury's raging fireThe god inflames, now roams distraught on Pindus' snows,And now on lofty Nysa's rugged slopes; so she,385Now here, now there, with frenzied step is hurried on,Her face revealing every mark of stricken woe,With flushing cheek and sighs deep drawn, wild cries, and tears,And laughter worse than tears. In her a medley strangeOf every passion may be seen: o'ertopping wrath,390Bewailings, bitter groans of anguish. Whither tendsThis overburdened soul? What mean her frenzied threats?When will the foaming wave of fury spend itself?No common crime, I fear, no easy deed of illShe meditates. Herself she will outvie. For wellI recognize the wonted marks of rage. Some deedIs threatening, wild, profane, and hideous.395[Re-enterMedea.]BeholdHer face betrays her madness. O ye gods, may theseOur fears prove vain forebodings!Medea[not noticing theNurse'spresence]: For thy hate, poor soul,Dost thou a measure seek? Let it be deep as love.And shall I tamely view the wedding torches's glare?And shall this day go uneventful by, this day,So hardly won, so grudgingly bestowed? Nay, nay,400While, poised upon her heights, the central earth shall bearThe heavens up; while seasons run their endless round,And sands unnumbered lie; while days, and nights, and sun,And stars in due procession pass; while round the poleThe ocean-fearing bears revolve, and tumbling streamsFlow downward to the sea; my grief shall never cease405To seek revenge, and shall forever grow. What rageOf savage beast can equal mine? What Scylla famed?What sea-engulfing pool? What burning Aetna placedOn impious Titan's heaving breast? No torrent stream,410Nor storm-tossed sea, nor breath of flame fanned by the gale,Can check or equal my wild storm of rage. My willIs set on limitless revenge!Will Jason say415He feared the power of Creon and Acastus' threats?True love is proof against the fear of man. But grantHe was compelled to yield, and pledged his hand in fear:He might at least have sought his wife with one last wordOf comfort and farewell. But this, though brave in heart,420He feared to do. The cruel terms of banishmentCould Creon's son-in-law not soften? No. One dayAlone was giv'n for last farewell to both my babes.But time's short space I'll not bewail; though brief in hours,In consequence it stretches out eternally.This day shall see a deed that ne'er shall be forgot.But now I'll go and pray the gods, and move high heaven425But I shall work my will!Nurse:Thy heart all passion-tossed,I pray thee, mistress, soothe, and calm thy troubled soul.Medea:My troubled soul can never know a time of restUntil it sees all things o'erwhelmed in common doom.All must go down with me! 'Tis sweet such death to die.[ExitMedea.]Nurse[calling after her]: Oh, think what perils thou must meet if thou persist!430No one with safety may defy a sceptered king.[EnterJason.]Jason:O heartless fate, if frowns or smiles bedeck thy brow,How often are thy cures far worse than the diseaseThey seek to cure! If, now, I wish to keep the troth435I plighted to my lawful bride, my life must payThe forfeit; if I shrink from death, my guilty soulMust perjured be. I fear no power that man can wield;But in my heart paternal love unmans me quite;For well I know that in my death my children's fateIs sealed. O sacred Justice, if in heaven thou dwell'st,440Be witness now, that for my children's sake I act.Nay, sure am I that even she, Medea's self,Though fierce she is of soul and brooking no restraint,Will see her children's good outweighing all her wrongs.With this good argument my purpose now is fixed,445In humble wise to brave her wrath.[EnterMedea.]At sight of meHer raging fury flames anew! Hate, like a shield,She bears, and in her face is pictured all her woe.Medea:Thou see'st, Jason, that we flee. 'Tis no new thingTo suffer exile, but the cause of flight is strange;For with thee I was wont to flee, not from thee. Yes,I go. But whither dost thou send me whom thou driv'st450From out thy home? Shall I the Colchians seek again,My royal father's realm, whose soil is steeped in bloodMy brother shed? What country dost thou bid me seek?What way by sea is open? Shall I fare againWhere once I saved the noble kings of Greece, and thee,455Thou wanton, through the threatening jaws of Pontus' strait,The blue Symplegades? Or shall I hie me backTo fair Thessalia's realms? Lo, all the doors which I,For thee, have opened wide, I've closed upon myself.But whither dost thou send me now? Thou bid'st me flee,460But show'st no way or means of flight.But 'tis enough:The king's own son-in-law commands and I obey.Come, heap thy torments on me; I deserve them all.Let royal wrath oppress me, wanton that I am,With cruel hand, and load my guilty limbs with chains;And let me be immured in dungeons black as night:465Still will my punishment be less than my offense.O ingrate! hast thou then forgot the brazen bull,And his consuming breath? the fear that smote thee, when,Upon the field of Mars, the earth-born brood stood forthTo meet thy single sword? 'Twas by my arts that they,470The monsters, fell by mutual blows. Remember, too,The long-sought fleece of gold I won for thee, whose guard,The dragon huge, was lulled to rest at my command;My brother slain for thee. For thee old Pelias fell,475When, taken by my guile, his daughters slew their sire,Whose life could not return. All this I did for thee.In quest of thine advantage have I quite forgotMine own.And now, by all thy fond paternal hopes,By thine established house, by all the monsters slain480For thee, by these my hands which I have ever heldTo work thy will, by all the perils past, by heavenAnd sea that witnessed at my wedlock, pity me!Since thou art blessed, restore me what I lost for thee:That countless treasure plundered from the swarthy tribesOf India, which filled our goodly vaults with wealth,485And decked our very trees with gold. This costly storeI left for thee, my native land, my brother, sire,My reputation—all; and with this dower I came.If now to homeless exile thou dost send me forth,Give back the countless treasures which I left for thee.490Jason:Though Creon in a vengeful mood would have thy life,I moved him by my tears to grant thee flight instead.Medea:I thought my exile punishment; 'tis now, I see,A gracious boon!Jason:Oh, flee while still the respite holds;Provoke him not, for deadly is the wrath of kings.495Medea:Not so. 'Tis for Creüsa's love thou sayest this;Thou wouldst remove the hated wanton once thy wife.Jason:Dost thou reproach me with a guilty love?Medea:Yea, that,And murder too, and treachery.Jason:But name me now,If so thou canst, the crimes that I have done.Medea:Thy crimes—Whatever I have done.Jason:Why then, in truth, thy guiltMust all be mine, if all thy crimes are mine.500Medea:They are,They are all thine; for who by sin advantage gains,Commits the sin. All men proclaim thy wife defiled.Do thou thyself protect her, and condone her sin.Let her be guiltless in thine eyes who for thy gainHas sinned.Jason:But gifts which sin has bought 'twere shame to take.Medea:Why keep'st thou then the gifts which it were shame to take?505Jason:Nay, curb thy fiery soul! Thy children—for their sakeBe calm.Medea:My children! Them I do refuse, reject,Renounce! Shall then Creüsa brothers bear to theseMy children?Jason:But the queen can aid thy wretched sons.Medea:May that day never dawn, that day of shame and woe,510When in one house are joined the low born and the high,The sons of that foul robber Sisyphus, and these,The sons of Phoebus.Jason:Wretched one, and wilt thou thenInvolve me also in thy fall? Begone, I pray.Medea:Creon hath heard my prayer.Jason:What wouldst thou have me do?515Medea:For me? I'd have thee dare the law.Jason:The royal powerDoth compass me.Medea:A greater than the king is here:Medea. Set us front to front and let us strive;And of this royal strife let Jason be the prize.Jason:O'erwearied by my woes I yield. But be thou ware,Medea, lest too often thou shouldst tempt thy fate.520Medea:Yet fortune's mistress have I ever been.Jason:But see,With hostile front Acastus comes, on vengeance bent,While Creon threatens instant death.Medea:Then flee them both.I ask thee not to draw thy sword against the kingNor yet to stain thy pious hands with kindred blood.Come, flee with me.Jason:But what resistance can we make,525If war with double visage rear his horrid front,If Creon and Acastus join in common cause?Medea:Add, too, the Colchian armies with my father's selfTo lead them; join the Scythian and Pelasgian hordes:In one deep gulf of ruin will I whelm them all.Jason:Yet on the scepter do I look with fear.Medea:Beware,Lest not the fear, but lust of power prevail with thee.Jason:Too long we strive: have done, lest we suspicion breed.530Medea:Now Jove, throughout thy heavens let the thunders roll!Thy mighty arm in wrath make bare! Thy darting flamesOf vengeance loose, and shake the lofty firmamentWith rending storms! At random hurl thy vengeful bolts,Selecting neither me nor Jason with thy aim;That thus whoever falls may perish with the brand535Of guilt upon him; for thy hurtling darts can takeNo erring flight.Jason:Recall thee and in calmness speakWith words of peace and reason. Then if any giftFrom Creon's royal house can compensate thy woes,Take that as solace of thy flight.Medea:My soul doth scorn540The wealth of kings. But let me have my little onesAs comrades of my flight, that in their childish breastsTheir mother's tears may flow. New sons await thy home.Jason:My heart inclines to yield to thee, but love forbids.For these my sons shall never from my arms be reft,545Though Creon's self demand. My very spring of life,My sore heart's comfort, and my joy are these my sons;And sooner could I part with limbs or vital breath,Or light of life.Medea[aside]:Doth he thus love his sons? 'Tis well;Then is he bound, and in his armored strength this flaw550Reveals the place to strike.[ToJason.]At least, ere I depart,Grant me this last request: let me once more embraceMy sons. E'en that small boon will comfort my sad heart.And this my latest prayer to thee: if, in my grief,My tongue was over bold, let not my words remain555To rankle in thy heart. Remember happier thingsOf me and let my bitter words be straight forgot.Jason:Not one shall linger in my soul; and curb, I pray,Thy too impetuous heart, and gently yield to fate.For resignation ever soothes the woeful soul.[ExitJason.]

Chorus[chanting the epithalamium for the nuptials ofJasonandCreüsa]: Now on our royal nuptials graciously smiling,

Here may the lords of heaven and the deeps of the ocean

Come while the people feast in pious rejoicing!

First to the gods who sway the scepter of heaven,Pealing forth their will in the voice of thunder,Let the white bull his proud head bow in tribute.60

First to the gods who sway the scepter of heaven,

Pealing forth their will in the voice of thunder,

Let the white bull his proud head bow in tribute.60

Then to the fair Lucina, her gift we offer,White as the driven snow, this beautiful heifer,Still with her neck untouched by the yoke of bondage.Thou who alone canst rule the heart of the war-god,Thou who linkest in peace the opposing nations,Out of thy generous hand abundance pouring—65Thee we offer a daintier gift, O Concord!Thou who, on the marriage torches attending,Night's dark gloom with favoring hand dispellest,Hither come with languishing footstep drunken,Binding thy temples fair with garlands of roses!70Star of the evening, thou who to twilight leadestThe day, and hailest again the dawn of the morning,All too slowly thou com'st for lovers impatient,Eager to see thy sign in the glow of the sunset.The fairest of girls is she,75The Athenian maids outshining,Or the Spartan maiden with armor laden,No burden of war declining.Not by Alpheus' sacred stream,Nor Boeotia's musical water,Is there any fair who can compare80With our lovely Corinthian daughter.Our Thessalian prince excels,In beauty of form and face,Even Bacchus, the son of the fierce-flaming one,Who yokes the wild tigers in place.85The murmuring tripod's lord,Though the fairest in heavenly story,The twins with their star bright gleaming afar—All yield to our Jason in glory.90When in her train of courtly maidens she mingles—Like the bright sunshine paling the starry splendor,95Or the full moonlight quenching the Pleiads' brilliance,So does she shine, all peerless, of fair ones the fairest.Now, O Jason, freed from the hateful wedlock100That held thee bound to the barbarous Colchian woman,Joyfully wed the fair Corinthian maiden,While at last her parents' blessings attend thee.105Ho then, youths, with licensed jest and rejoicing,Loud let the songs of gladness ring through the city;Rarely against our lords such freedom is given.Fair and noble band of Bacchus, the thyrsus-bearer,110Now is the time to light the glittering torches of pinewood.Shake on high the festal fire with languishing fingers;Now let the bold and merry Fescennine laughter and jestingSound through our ranks. Let Medea fare in silence and darkness,If perchance another lord she shall wed in her exile.115

Then to the fair Lucina, her gift we offer,

White as the driven snow, this beautiful heifer,

Still with her neck untouched by the yoke of bondage.

Thou who alone canst rule the heart of the war-god,Thou who linkest in peace the opposing nations,Out of thy generous hand abundance pouring—65Thee we offer a daintier gift, O Concord!

Thou who alone canst rule the heart of the war-god,

Thou who linkest in peace the opposing nations,

Out of thy generous hand abundance pouring—65

Thee we offer a daintier gift, O Concord!

Thou who, on the marriage torches attending,Night's dark gloom with favoring hand dispellest,Hither come with languishing footstep drunken,Binding thy temples fair with garlands of roses!70

Thou who, on the marriage torches attending,

Night's dark gloom with favoring hand dispellest,

Hither come with languishing footstep drunken,

Binding thy temples fair with garlands of roses!70

Star of the evening, thou who to twilight leadestThe day, and hailest again the dawn of the morning,All too slowly thou com'st for lovers impatient,Eager to see thy sign in the glow of the sunset.

Star of the evening, thou who to twilight leadest

The day, and hailest again the dawn of the morning,

All too slowly thou com'st for lovers impatient,

Eager to see thy sign in the glow of the sunset.

The fairest of girls is she,75The Athenian maids outshining,Or the Spartan maiden with armor laden,No burden of war declining.

The fairest of girls is she,75

The Athenian maids outshining,

Or the Spartan maiden with armor laden,

No burden of war declining.

Not by Alpheus' sacred stream,Nor Boeotia's musical water,Is there any fair who can compare80With our lovely Corinthian daughter.

Not by Alpheus' sacred stream,

Nor Boeotia's musical water,

Is there any fair who can compare80

With our lovely Corinthian daughter.

Our Thessalian prince excels,In beauty of form and face,Even Bacchus, the son of the fierce-flaming one,Who yokes the wild tigers in place.85

Our Thessalian prince excels,

In beauty of form and face,

Even Bacchus, the son of the fierce-flaming one,

Who yokes the wild tigers in place.85

The murmuring tripod's lord,Though the fairest in heavenly story,The twins with their star bright gleaming afar—All yield to our Jason in glory.90

The murmuring tripod's lord,

Though the fairest in heavenly story,

The twins with their star bright gleaming afar—

All yield to our Jason in glory.90

When in her train of courtly maidens she mingles—Like the bright sunshine paling the starry splendor,95Or the full moonlight quenching the Pleiads' brilliance,So does she shine, all peerless, of fair ones the fairest.

When in her train of courtly maidens she mingles—

Like the bright sunshine paling the starry splendor,95

Or the full moonlight quenching the Pleiads' brilliance,

So does she shine, all peerless, of fair ones the fairest.

Now, O Jason, freed from the hateful wedlock100That held thee bound to the barbarous Colchian woman,Joyfully wed the fair Corinthian maiden,While at last her parents' blessings attend thee.105

Now, O Jason, freed from the hateful wedlock100

That held thee bound to the barbarous Colchian woman,

Joyfully wed the fair Corinthian maiden,

While at last her parents' blessings attend thee.105

Ho then, youths, with licensed jest and rejoicing,Loud let the songs of gladness ring through the city;Rarely against our lords such freedom is given.

Ho then, youths, with licensed jest and rejoicing,

Loud let the songs of gladness ring through the city;

Rarely against our lords such freedom is given.

Fair and noble band of Bacchus, the thyrsus-bearer,110Now is the time to light the glittering torches of pinewood.Shake on high the festal fire with languishing fingers;

Fair and noble band of Bacchus, the thyrsus-bearer,110

Now is the time to light the glittering torches of pinewood.

Shake on high the festal fire with languishing fingers;

Now let the bold and merry Fescennine laughter and jestingSound through our ranks. Let Medea fare in silence and darkness,If perchance another lord she shall wed in her exile.115

Now let the bold and merry Fescennine laughter and jesting

Sound through our ranks. Let Medea fare in silence and darkness,

If perchance another lord she shall wed in her exile.115

Medea:We are undone! How harsh upon mine ears doth grateThe song! and even now I cannot comprehendThe vast extent of woe that hath befallen me.Could Jason prove so false? Bereft of native land,And home, and kingdom, could he leave me here aloneOn foreign shores? Oh, cruel, could he quite reject120My sum of service, he who saw the fire and seaWith crime o'ercome for his dear sake? And does he thinkThat thus the fatal chapter can be ended? Wild,Devoid of reason, sick of soul, my swift mind dartsIn all directions seeking whence revenge may come!I would he had a brother! But his wife—'gainst her125Be aimed the blow! Can thus my wrongs be satisfied?Nay, nay—to meet my sum of woe must be heaped highThe crimes of Greece, of strange barbaric lands, and thoseWhich even thy hands have not known. Now lash thy soulWith memory's scourge, and call thy dark deeds in review:130The glory of thy father's kingdom reft away;Thy brother, guiltless comrade of thy guilty flight,All hewn in pieces and his corpse strewn on the deep,To break his royal father's heart; and, last of crimes,Old Pelias by his daughters slain at thy command.135O impious one, what streams of blood have flowed to workThy ends! And yet, not one of all my crimes by wrathWas prompted. Love, ill-omened love, suggested all.Yet, what could Jason else have done, compelled to serveAnother's will, another's law? He should have diedBefore he yielded to the tyrant's will. Nay, nay,140Thou raging passion, speak not so! For, if he may,I would that Jason still may live and still be mine,As once he was; if not, yet may he still live on,And, mindful of my merits, live without my aid.The guilt is Creon's all, who with unbridled powerDissolves the marriage bond, my children separates145From me who bore them, yea, and makes the strongest pledge,Though ratified with straightest oath, of none effect.Let him alone sustain my wrath; let Creon payThe debt of guilt he owes! His palace will I bringTo utter desolation; and the whirling fireTo far-off Malea's crags shall send its lurid glare.150Nurse:Be silent now, I pray thee, and thy plaints confineTo secret woe! The man who heavy blows can bearIn silence, biding still his time with patient soul,Full oft his vengeance gains. 'Tis hidden wrath that harms;But hate proclaimed oft loses half its power to harm.Medea:But small the grief is that can counsel take and hideIts head; great ills lie not in hiding, but must rush155Abroad and work their will.Nurse:Oh, cease this mad complaint,My mistress; scarce can friendly silence help thee now.Medea:But fortune fears the brave, the faint of heart o'erwhelms.Nurse:Then valor be approved, if for it still there's room.160Medea:But it must always be that valor finds its place.Nurse:No star of hope points out the way from these our woes.Medea:The man who hopes for naught at least has naught to fear.Nurse:The Colchians are thy foes; thy husband's vows have failed;Of all thy vast possessions not a jot is left.165Medea:Yet I am left. There's left both sea and land and fireAnd sword and gods and hurtling thunderbolts.Nurse:The king must be revered.Medea:My father was a king.Nurse:Dost thou not fear?Medea:Not though the earth produced the foe.Nurse:Thou'lt perish.170Medea:So I wish it.Nurse:Flee!Medea:I'm done with flight.[9]Why should Medea flee?Nurse:Thy children!Medea:Whose, thou know'st.Nurse:And dost thou still delay?Medea:I go, but vengeance first.Nurse:Th' avenger will pursue.Medea:Perchance I'll stop his course.Nurse:Nay, hold thy words, and cease thy threats, O foolish one.Thy temper curb; 'tis well to yield to fate's decrees.175Medea:Though fate may strip me of all my, myself am left.But who flings wide the royal palace doors? Behold,'Tis Creon's self, exalted high in Grecian sway.

Medea:We are undone! How harsh upon mine ears doth grate

The song! and even now I cannot comprehend

The vast extent of woe that hath befallen me.

Could Jason prove so false? Bereft of native land,

And home, and kingdom, could he leave me here alone

On foreign shores? Oh, cruel, could he quite reject120

My sum of service, he who saw the fire and sea

With crime o'ercome for his dear sake? And does he think

That thus the fatal chapter can be ended? Wild,

Devoid of reason, sick of soul, my swift mind darts

In all directions seeking whence revenge may come!

I would he had a brother! But his wife—'gainst her125

Be aimed the blow! Can thus my wrongs be satisfied?

Nay, nay—to meet my sum of woe must be heaped high

The crimes of Greece, of strange barbaric lands, and those

Which even thy hands have not known. Now lash thy soul

With memory's scourge, and call thy dark deeds in review:130

The glory of thy father's kingdom reft away;

Thy brother, guiltless comrade of thy guilty flight,

All hewn in pieces and his corpse strewn on the deep,

To break his royal father's heart; and, last of crimes,

Old Pelias by his daughters slain at thy command.135

O impious one, what streams of blood have flowed to work

Thy ends! And yet, not one of all my crimes by wrath

Was prompted. Love, ill-omened love, suggested all.

Yet, what could Jason else have done, compelled to serve

Another's will, another's law? He should have died

Before he yielded to the tyrant's will. Nay, nay,140

Thou raging passion, speak not so! For, if he may,

I would that Jason still may live and still be mine,

As once he was; if not, yet may he still live on,

And, mindful of my merits, live without my aid.

The guilt is Creon's all, who with unbridled power

Dissolves the marriage bond, my children separates145

From me who bore them, yea, and makes the strongest pledge,

Though ratified with straightest oath, of none effect.

Let him alone sustain my wrath; let Creon pay

The debt of guilt he owes! His palace will I bring

To utter desolation; and the whirling fire

To far-off Malea's crags shall send its lurid glare.150

Nurse:Be silent now, I pray thee, and thy plaints confineTo secret woe! The man who heavy blows can bearIn silence, biding still his time with patient soul,Full oft his vengeance gains. 'Tis hidden wrath that harms;But hate proclaimed oft loses half its power to harm.

Nurse:Be silent now, I pray thee, and thy plaints confine

To secret woe! The man who heavy blows can bear

In silence, biding still his time with patient soul,

Full oft his vengeance gains. 'Tis hidden wrath that harms;

But hate proclaimed oft loses half its power to harm.

Medea:But small the grief is that can counsel take and hideIts head; great ills lie not in hiding, but must rush155Abroad and work their will.

Medea:But small the grief is that can counsel take and hide

Its head; great ills lie not in hiding, but must rush155

Abroad and work their will.

Nurse:Oh, cease this mad complaint,My mistress; scarce can friendly silence help thee now.

Nurse:Oh, cease this mad complaint,

My mistress; scarce can friendly silence help thee now.

Medea:But fortune fears the brave, the faint of heart o'erwhelms.

Nurse:Then valor be approved, if for it still there's room.160

Medea:But it must always be that valor finds its place.

Nurse:No star of hope points out the way from these our woes.

Medea:The man who hopes for naught at least has naught to fear.

Nurse:The Colchians are thy foes; thy husband's vows have failed;Of all thy vast possessions not a jot is left.165

Nurse:The Colchians are thy foes; thy husband's vows have failed;

Of all thy vast possessions not a jot is left.165

Medea:Yet I am left. There's left both sea and land and fireAnd sword and gods and hurtling thunderbolts.

Medea:Yet I am left. There's left both sea and land and fire

And sword and gods and hurtling thunderbolts.

Nurse:The king must be revered.

Medea:My father was a king.

Nurse:Dost thou not fear?

Medea:Not though the earth produced the foe.

Nurse:Thou'lt perish.170

Medea:So I wish it.

Nurse:Flee!

Medea:I'm done with flight.[9]Why should Medea flee?

Medea:I'm done with flight.[9]

Why should Medea flee?

Nurse:Thy children!

Medea:Whose, thou know'st.

Nurse:And dost thou still delay?

Medea:I go, but vengeance first.

Nurse:Th' avenger will pursue.

Medea:Perchance I'll stop his course.

Nurse:Nay, hold thy words, and cease thy threats, O foolish one.Thy temper curb; 'tis well to yield to fate's decrees.175

Nurse:Nay, hold thy words, and cease thy threats, O foolish one.

Thy temper curb; 'tis well to yield to fate's decrees.175

Medea:Though fate may strip me of all my, myself am left.But who flings wide the royal palace doors? Behold,'Tis Creon's self, exalted high in Grecian sway.

Medea:Though fate may strip me of all my, myself am left.

But who flings wide the royal palace doors? Behold,

'Tis Creon's self, exalted high in Grecian sway.

[Medearetires to back of stage; exitNurse;enterCreon.]

Creon:Medea, baleful daughter of the Colchian king,Has not yet taken her hateful presence from our realm.180On mischief is she bent. Well known her treach'rous power.For who escapes her? Who may pass his days in peace?This curséd pestilence at once would I have stayedBy force of arms; but Jason's prayers prevailed. She stillMay live, but let her free my borders from the fear185Her presence genders, and her safety gain by flight.[He seesMedeaapproaching.]But lo, she comes, with fierce and threatening mien, to seekAn audience with us.[To attendants.]Slaves defend us from her touchAnd pestilential presence! Bid her silence keep,And learn to yield obedience to the king's commands.190[ToMedea.]Go, speed thy flight, thou thing of evil, fell, and monstrous!Medea:But tell me what the crime, my lord, or what the guiltThat merits exile?Creon:Let the guiltless question thus.Medea:If now thou judgest, hear me; if thou reign'st, command.[10]Creon:The king's command thou must abide, nor question aught.195Medea:Unrighteous sovereignty has never long endured.Creon:Go hence, and to the Colchians complain.Medea:I go,But let him take me hence who brought me to thy shores.Creon:Thy prayer has come too late, for fixed is my decree.Medea:Who judges, and denies his ear to either side,Though right his judgment, still is he himself unjust.200Creon:Didst lend thine ear to Pelias, ere thou judgedst him?But come, I'll give thee grace to plead thy goodly cause.Medea:How hard the task to turn the soul from wrath, when onceTo wrath inclined; how 'tis the creed of sceptered kingsTo swerve not from the purposed course they once have taken,205Full well I know, for I have tasted royalty.For, though by present storms of ill I'm overwhelmed,An exile, suppliant, lone, forsaken, all forlorn,I once in happier times a royal princess shone,And traced my proud descent from heavenly Phoebus' self.210My father's realm extended wide o'er all the landWhere Phasis' gentle waters flow, o'er Scythia's plainsWhose rivers sweeten Pontus' briny waves; where, too,Thermodon's banks inclose the race of warlike maids,Whose gleaming shields strike terror to their foes. All this215My father held in sway. And I, of noble birth,And blessed of heaven, in royal state was high upraised.Then princes humbly sought my hand in wedlock, mine,Who now must sue. O changeful fortune, thou my throne220Hast reft away, and given me exile in its stead.Trust not in kingly realms, since fickle chance may strewTheir treasures to the winds. Lo, this is regal, thisThe work of kings, which time nor change cannot undo:To succor the afflicted, to provide at need225A trusty refuge for the suppliant. This aloneI brought of all my Colchian treasure, this renown,This very flower of fame,[11]that by my arts I savedThe bulwark of the Greeks, the offspring of the gods.My princely gift to Greece is Orpheus, that sweet bard230Who can the trees in willing bondage draw, and meltThe crag's hard heart. Mine too are Boreas' wingéd sons,And Leda's heaven-born progeny, and Lynceus, he,Whose glance can pierce the distant view—yea, all the Greeks,Save Jason; for I mention not the king of kings,The leader of the leaders; he is mine alone,My labor's recompense; the rest I give to you.235Nay, come, O king, arraign me, and rehearse my crimes.But stay! for I'll confess them all. The only crimeOf which I stand accused is this—the Argo saved.Suppose my maiden scruples had opposed the deed;Suppose my filial piety had stayed my hand:Then had the mighty chieftains fall'n, and in their fateAll Greece had been o'erwhelmed; then this, thy son-in-law,240Had felt the bull's consuming breath, and perished there.Nay, nay, let fortune, when she will, my doom decree;I glory still that kings have owed their lives to me.But what reward I reap for all my glorious deedsIs in thy hands. Convict me, if thou wilt, of sin,245But give him back for whom I sinned. O Creon, see,I own that I am guilty. This much thou didst know,When first I clasped thy knees, a humble suppliant,And sought the shelter of thy royal clemency.Some little corner of thy kingdom now I ask,In which to hide my grief. If I must flee again,250Oh, let some nook remote within thy broad domainBe found for me!Creon:That I my power in mercy wield,And spurn not those who seek my aid let Jason's selfMy witness be, who, exiled, overwhelmed by fate,255And smitten sore with fear, a refuge found with me.For Io, Thessalia's monarch, bent on vengeance dire,Seeks Jason at my hand. The cause, indeed, is just:For that his sire, o'erburdened with the weight of years,Was foully taken off, while by thy wicked guile260His guileless sisters' hands were nerved to do the deed.If now our Jason can unlink his cause from thine,'Tis easy his defense to make, for on his handsNo stain of blood is found. His arm no sword upraised,And he has had no part nor lot in this thy crime.265No, thou and thou alone the arch contriver art,Uniting in thy person woman's fertile witAnd man's effective strength; while in thy reckless heartNo thought of reputation dwells to check thy hand.Then go thou hence and purge our kingdom of its stain;Bear hence thy deadly poisons; free the citizens270From fear; abiding in some other land than this,Outwear the patience of the gods.Medea:Thou bid'st me flee?Then give me back my bark wherein to flee. RestoreThe partner of my flight! Why should I flee alone?I came not thus. Or if avenging war thou fear'st,Then banish both the culprits; why distinguish me275From Jason? 'Twas for him old Pelias was o'ercome;For him the flight, the plunder of my father's realm,My sire forsaken and my infant brother slain,And all the guilt that love suggests; 'twas all for him.Deep dyed in sin am I, but on my guilty soul280The sin of profit lieth not.Creon:Why seek delayBy speech? Too long thou tarriest.Medea:I go, but grantThis last request: let not the mother's fall o'erwhelmHer hapless babes.Creon:Then go in peace. For I to themA father's place will fill, and take them to my heart.Medea:Now by the fair hopes born upon this wedding day,285And by thy hopes of lasting sovereignty secureFrom changeful fate's assault, I pray thee grant from flightA respite brief, while I upon my children's lipsA mother's kiss imprint, perchance the last.Creon:A timeThou seek'st for treachery.290Medea:What fraud can be devisedIn one short hour?Creon:To those on mischief bent, be sure,The briefest time is fraught with mischief's fatal power.Medea:Dost thou refuse me, then, one little space for tears?Creon:Though deep-ingrafted fear would fain resist thy plea,A single day I'll give thee ere my sentence holds.295Medea:Too gracious thou. But let my respite further shrink,And I'll depart content.Creon:Thy life shall surely payThe forfeit if tomorrow's sun beholds thee stillIn Corinth. But the voice of Hymen calls awayTo solemnize the rites of this his festal day.300

Creon:Medea, baleful daughter of the Colchian king,

Has not yet taken her hateful presence from our realm.180

On mischief is she bent. Well known her treach'rous power.

For who escapes her? Who may pass his days in peace?

This curséd pestilence at once would I have stayed

By force of arms; but Jason's prayers prevailed. She still

May live, but let her free my borders from the fear185

Her presence genders, and her safety gain by flight.

[He seesMedeaapproaching.]

But lo, she comes, with fierce and threatening mien, to seek

An audience with us.

[To attendants.]

Slaves defend us from her touch

And pestilential presence! Bid her silence keep,

And learn to yield obedience to the king's commands.190

[ToMedea.]

Go, speed thy flight, thou thing of evil, fell, and monstrous!

Medea:But tell me what the crime, my lord, or what the guiltThat merits exile?

Medea:But tell me what the crime, my lord, or what the guilt

That merits exile?

Creon:Let the guiltless question thus.

Medea:If now thou judgest, hear me; if thou reign'st, command.[10]

Creon:The king's command thou must abide, nor question aught.195

Medea:Unrighteous sovereignty has never long endured.

Creon:Go hence, and to the Colchians complain.

Medea:I go,But let him take me hence who brought me to thy shores.

Medea:I go,

But let him take me hence who brought me to thy shores.

Creon:Thy prayer has come too late, for fixed is my decree.

Medea:Who judges, and denies his ear to either side,Though right his judgment, still is he himself unjust.200

Medea:Who judges, and denies his ear to either side,

Though right his judgment, still is he himself unjust.200

Creon:Didst lend thine ear to Pelias, ere thou judgedst him?But come, I'll give thee grace to plead thy goodly cause.

Creon:Didst lend thine ear to Pelias, ere thou judgedst him?

But come, I'll give thee grace to plead thy goodly cause.

Medea:How hard the task to turn the soul from wrath, when onceTo wrath inclined; how 'tis the creed of sceptered kingsTo swerve not from the purposed course they once have taken,205Full well I know, for I have tasted royalty.For, though by present storms of ill I'm overwhelmed,An exile, suppliant, lone, forsaken, all forlorn,I once in happier times a royal princess shone,And traced my proud descent from heavenly Phoebus' self.210My father's realm extended wide o'er all the landWhere Phasis' gentle waters flow, o'er Scythia's plainsWhose rivers sweeten Pontus' briny waves; where, too,Thermodon's banks inclose the race of warlike maids,Whose gleaming shields strike terror to their foes. All this215My father held in sway. And I, of noble birth,And blessed of heaven, in royal state was high upraised.Then princes humbly sought my hand in wedlock, mine,Who now must sue. O changeful fortune, thou my throne220Hast reft away, and given me exile in its stead.Trust not in kingly realms, since fickle chance may strewTheir treasures to the winds. Lo, this is regal, thisThe work of kings, which time nor change cannot undo:To succor the afflicted, to provide at need225A trusty refuge for the suppliant. This aloneI brought of all my Colchian treasure, this renown,This very flower of fame,[11]that by my arts I savedThe bulwark of the Greeks, the offspring of the gods.My princely gift to Greece is Orpheus, that sweet bard230Who can the trees in willing bondage draw, and meltThe crag's hard heart. Mine too are Boreas' wingéd sons,And Leda's heaven-born progeny, and Lynceus, he,Whose glance can pierce the distant view—yea, all the Greeks,Save Jason; for I mention not the king of kings,The leader of the leaders; he is mine alone,My labor's recompense; the rest I give to you.235Nay, come, O king, arraign me, and rehearse my crimes.But stay! for I'll confess them all. The only crimeOf which I stand accused is this—the Argo saved.Suppose my maiden scruples had opposed the deed;Suppose my filial piety had stayed my hand:Then had the mighty chieftains fall'n, and in their fateAll Greece had been o'erwhelmed; then this, thy son-in-law,240Had felt the bull's consuming breath, and perished there.Nay, nay, let fortune, when she will, my doom decree;I glory still that kings have owed their lives to me.But what reward I reap for all my glorious deedsIs in thy hands. Convict me, if thou wilt, of sin,245But give him back for whom I sinned. O Creon, see,I own that I am guilty. This much thou didst know,When first I clasped thy knees, a humble suppliant,And sought the shelter of thy royal clemency.Some little corner of thy kingdom now I ask,In which to hide my grief. If I must flee again,250Oh, let some nook remote within thy broad domainBe found for me!

Medea:How hard the task to turn the soul from wrath, when once

To wrath inclined; how 'tis the creed of sceptered kings

To swerve not from the purposed course they once have taken,205

Full well I know, for I have tasted royalty.

For, though by present storms of ill I'm overwhelmed,

An exile, suppliant, lone, forsaken, all forlorn,

I once in happier times a royal princess shone,

And traced my proud descent from heavenly Phoebus' self.210

My father's realm extended wide o'er all the land

Where Phasis' gentle waters flow, o'er Scythia's plains

Whose rivers sweeten Pontus' briny waves; where, too,

Thermodon's banks inclose the race of warlike maids,

Whose gleaming shields strike terror to their foes. All this215

My father held in sway. And I, of noble birth,

And blessed of heaven, in royal state was high upraised.

Then princes humbly sought my hand in wedlock, mine,

Who now must sue. O changeful fortune, thou my throne220

Hast reft away, and given me exile in its stead.

Trust not in kingly realms, since fickle chance may strew

Their treasures to the winds. Lo, this is regal, this

The work of kings, which time nor change cannot undo:

To succor the afflicted, to provide at need225

A trusty refuge for the suppliant. This alone

I brought of all my Colchian treasure, this renown,

This very flower of fame,[11]that by my arts I saved

The bulwark of the Greeks, the offspring of the gods.

My princely gift to Greece is Orpheus, that sweet bard230

Who can the trees in willing bondage draw, and melt

The crag's hard heart. Mine too are Boreas' wingéd sons,

And Leda's heaven-born progeny, and Lynceus, he,

Whose glance can pierce the distant view—yea, all the Greeks,

Save Jason; for I mention not the king of kings,

The leader of the leaders; he is mine alone,

My labor's recompense; the rest I give to you.235

Nay, come, O king, arraign me, and rehearse my crimes.

But stay! for I'll confess them all. The only crime

Of which I stand accused is this—the Argo saved.

Suppose my maiden scruples had opposed the deed;

Suppose my filial piety had stayed my hand:

Then had the mighty chieftains fall'n, and in their fate

All Greece had been o'erwhelmed; then this, thy son-in-law,240

Had felt the bull's consuming breath, and perished there.

Nay, nay, let fortune, when she will, my doom decree;

I glory still that kings have owed their lives to me.

But what reward I reap for all my glorious deeds

Is in thy hands. Convict me, if thou wilt, of sin,245

But give him back for whom I sinned. O Creon, see,

I own that I am guilty. This much thou didst know,

When first I clasped thy knees, a humble suppliant,

And sought the shelter of thy royal clemency.

Some little corner of thy kingdom now I ask,

In which to hide my grief. If I must flee again,250

Oh, let some nook remote within thy broad domain

Be found for me!

Creon:That I my power in mercy wield,And spurn not those who seek my aid let Jason's selfMy witness be, who, exiled, overwhelmed by fate,255And smitten sore with fear, a refuge found with me.For Io, Thessalia's monarch, bent on vengeance dire,Seeks Jason at my hand. The cause, indeed, is just:For that his sire, o'erburdened with the weight of years,Was foully taken off, while by thy wicked guile260His guileless sisters' hands were nerved to do the deed.If now our Jason can unlink his cause from thine,'Tis easy his defense to make, for on his handsNo stain of blood is found. His arm no sword upraised,And he has had no part nor lot in this thy crime.265No, thou and thou alone the arch contriver art,Uniting in thy person woman's fertile witAnd man's effective strength; while in thy reckless heartNo thought of reputation dwells to check thy hand.Then go thou hence and purge our kingdom of its stain;Bear hence thy deadly poisons; free the citizens270From fear; abiding in some other land than this,Outwear the patience of the gods.

Creon:That I my power in mercy wield,

And spurn not those who seek my aid let Jason's self

My witness be, who, exiled, overwhelmed by fate,255

And smitten sore with fear, a refuge found with me.

For Io, Thessalia's monarch, bent on vengeance dire,

Seeks Jason at my hand. The cause, indeed, is just:

For that his sire, o'erburdened with the weight of years,

Was foully taken off, while by thy wicked guile260

His guileless sisters' hands were nerved to do the deed.

If now our Jason can unlink his cause from thine,

'Tis easy his defense to make, for on his hands

No stain of blood is found. His arm no sword upraised,

And he has had no part nor lot in this thy crime.265

No, thou and thou alone the arch contriver art,

Uniting in thy person woman's fertile wit

And man's effective strength; while in thy reckless heart

No thought of reputation dwells to check thy hand.

Then go thou hence and purge our kingdom of its stain;

Bear hence thy deadly poisons; free the citizens270

From fear; abiding in some other land than this,

Outwear the patience of the gods.

Medea:Thou bid'st me flee?Then give me back my bark wherein to flee. RestoreThe partner of my flight! Why should I flee alone?I came not thus. Or if avenging war thou fear'st,Then banish both the culprits; why distinguish me275From Jason? 'Twas for him old Pelias was o'ercome;For him the flight, the plunder of my father's realm,My sire forsaken and my infant brother slain,And all the guilt that love suggests; 'twas all for him.Deep dyed in sin am I, but on my guilty soul280The sin of profit lieth not.

Medea:Thou bid'st me flee?

Then give me back my bark wherein to flee. Restore

The partner of my flight! Why should I flee alone?

I came not thus. Or if avenging war thou fear'st,

Then banish both the culprits; why distinguish me275

From Jason? 'Twas for him old Pelias was o'ercome;

For him the flight, the plunder of my father's realm,

My sire forsaken and my infant brother slain,

And all the guilt that love suggests; 'twas all for him.

Deep dyed in sin am I, but on my guilty soul280

The sin of profit lieth not.

Creon:Why seek delayBy speech? Too long thou tarriest.

Creon:Why seek delay

By speech? Too long thou tarriest.

Medea:I go, but grantThis last request: let not the mother's fall o'erwhelmHer hapless babes.

Medea:I go, but grant

This last request: let not the mother's fall o'erwhelm

Her hapless babes.

Creon:Then go in peace. For I to themA father's place will fill, and take them to my heart.

Creon:Then go in peace. For I to them

A father's place will fill, and take them to my heart.

Medea:Now by the fair hopes born upon this wedding day,285And by thy hopes of lasting sovereignty secureFrom changeful fate's assault, I pray thee grant from flightA respite brief, while I upon my children's lipsA mother's kiss imprint, perchance the last.

Medea:Now by the fair hopes born upon this wedding day,285

And by thy hopes of lasting sovereignty secure

From changeful fate's assault, I pray thee grant from flight

A respite brief, while I upon my children's lips

A mother's kiss imprint, perchance the last.

Creon:A timeThou seek'st for treachery.290

Creon:A time

Thou seek'st for treachery.290

Medea:What fraud can be devisedIn one short hour?

Medea:What fraud can be devised

In one short hour?

Creon:To those on mischief bent, be sure,The briefest time is fraught with mischief's fatal power.

Creon:To those on mischief bent, be sure,

The briefest time is fraught with mischief's fatal power.

Medea:Dost thou refuse me, then, one little space for tears?

Creon:Though deep-ingrafted fear would fain resist thy plea,A single day I'll give thee ere my sentence holds.295

Creon:Though deep-ingrafted fear would fain resist thy plea,

A single day I'll give thee ere my sentence holds.295

Medea:Too gracious thou. But let my respite further shrink,And I'll depart content.

Medea:Too gracious thou. But let my respite further shrink,

And I'll depart content.

Creon:Thy life shall surely payThe forfeit if tomorrow's sun beholds thee stillIn Corinth. But the voice of Hymen calls awayTo solemnize the rites of this his festal day.300

Creon:Thy life shall surely pay

The forfeit if tomorrow's sun beholds thee still

In Corinth. But the voice of Hymen calls away

To solemnize the rites of this his festal day.300

[Exeunt.]

Chorus:Too bold the man who first upon the seas,The treacherous seas, his fragile bark confided;Who, as the well-known shore behind him glided,His life intrusted to the fickle breeze;And, as his unknown seaward course he sped305Within his slender craft with foolish daring,Midway 'twixt life and death went onward faring,Along the perilous narrow margin led.Not yet were sparkling constellations known,Or sky, all spangled with the starry glory;310Not yet could sailors read the warning storyBy stormy Hyades upon the heavens thrown.Not yet was Zeus's foster-mother famed,Nor slow Boötes round the north star wheeling;315Nor Boreas nor Zephyr gently stealing,Each feared or welcomed, though as yet unnamed.First Tiphys dared to spread his venturous sail,The hidden lesson of the breezes learning,Now all his canvas to the Zephyrs turning,320Now shifting all to catch the changing gale.Now midway on the mast the yard remains,Now at the head with all its canvas drawing,While eager sailors lure the breezes blowing,And over all the gleaming topsail strains.325The guiltless golden age our fathers saw,When youth and age the same horizon bounded;No greed of gain their simple hearts confounded;Their native wealth enough, 'twas all they knew.330But lo, the severed worlds have been brought nearAnd linked in one by Argo's hand uniting;While seas endure the oar's unwonted smiting,335And add their fury to the primal fear.This impious bark its guilt in dread atoned340When clashing mountains were together driven,And sea, from sea in mighty conflict riven,The stars besprinkled with the leaping foam.345Amid these perils sturdy Tiphys paled,And from his nerveless hand the vessel bounded;While stricken Orpheus' lyre no more resounded,And tuneful Argo's warning message failed.What sinking terror filled each quaking breast,When near the borders of sea-girt Pelorus,350There smote upon their ears the horrid chorusOf Scylla's baying wolves around them pressed.What terror when they neared the Sirens' lair,355Who soothe the troubled waves with witching measures!But Orpheus filled their souls with nobler pleasures,And left the foe in impotent despair.360And of this wild adventure what the prize,That lured the daring bark with heroes laden?The fleece of gold, and this mad Colchian maiden,Well fit to be the first ship's merchandize.The sea, subdued, the victor's law obeys;365No vessel needs a goddess' art in framing,Nor oars in heroes' hands, the ocean taming:The frailest craft now dares the roughest waves.Now, every bound removed, new cities rise370In lands remote, their ancient walls removing;While men of Ind by Caspian shores are roving,And Persia's face now greets the western skies.375The time will come, as lapsing ages flee,When every land shall yield its hidden treasure;When men no more shall unknown courses measure,For round the world no "farthest land" shall be.

Chorus:Too bold the man who first upon the seas,The treacherous seas, his fragile bark confided;Who, as the well-known shore behind him glided,His life intrusted to the fickle breeze;

Chorus:Too bold the man who first upon the seas,

The treacherous seas, his fragile bark confided;

Who, as the well-known shore behind him glided,

His life intrusted to the fickle breeze;

And, as his unknown seaward course he sped305Within his slender craft with foolish daring,Midway 'twixt life and death went onward faring,Along the perilous narrow margin led.

And, as his unknown seaward course he sped305

Within his slender craft with foolish daring,

Midway 'twixt life and death went onward faring,

Along the perilous narrow margin led.

Not yet were sparkling constellations known,Or sky, all spangled with the starry glory;310Not yet could sailors read the warning storyBy stormy Hyades upon the heavens thrown.

Not yet were sparkling constellations known,

Or sky, all spangled with the starry glory;310

Not yet could sailors read the warning story

By stormy Hyades upon the heavens thrown.

Not yet was Zeus's foster-mother famed,Nor slow Boötes round the north star wheeling;315Nor Boreas nor Zephyr gently stealing,Each feared or welcomed, though as yet unnamed.

Not yet was Zeus's foster-mother famed,

Nor slow Boötes round the north star wheeling;315

Nor Boreas nor Zephyr gently stealing,

Each feared or welcomed, though as yet unnamed.

First Tiphys dared to spread his venturous sail,The hidden lesson of the breezes learning,Now all his canvas to the Zephyrs turning,320Now shifting all to catch the changing gale.

First Tiphys dared to spread his venturous sail,

The hidden lesson of the breezes learning,

Now all his canvas to the Zephyrs turning,320

Now shifting all to catch the changing gale.

Now midway on the mast the yard remains,Now at the head with all its canvas drawing,While eager sailors lure the breezes blowing,And over all the gleaming topsail strains.325

Now midway on the mast the yard remains,

Now at the head with all its canvas drawing,

While eager sailors lure the breezes blowing,

And over all the gleaming topsail strains.325

The guiltless golden age our fathers saw,When youth and age the same horizon bounded;No greed of gain their simple hearts confounded;Their native wealth enough, 'twas all they knew.330

The guiltless golden age our fathers saw,

When youth and age the same horizon bounded;

No greed of gain their simple hearts confounded;

Their native wealth enough, 'twas all they knew.330

But lo, the severed worlds have been brought nearAnd linked in one by Argo's hand uniting;While seas endure the oar's unwonted smiting,335And add their fury to the primal fear.

But lo, the severed worlds have been brought near

And linked in one by Argo's hand uniting;

While seas endure the oar's unwonted smiting,335

And add their fury to the primal fear.

This impious bark its guilt in dread atoned340When clashing mountains were together driven,And sea, from sea in mighty conflict riven,The stars besprinkled with the leaping foam.345

This impious bark its guilt in dread atoned340

When clashing mountains were together driven,

And sea, from sea in mighty conflict riven,

The stars besprinkled with the leaping foam.345

Amid these perils sturdy Tiphys paled,And from his nerveless hand the vessel bounded;While stricken Orpheus' lyre no more resounded,And tuneful Argo's warning message failed.

Amid these perils sturdy Tiphys paled,

And from his nerveless hand the vessel bounded;

While stricken Orpheus' lyre no more resounded,

And tuneful Argo's warning message failed.

What sinking terror filled each quaking breast,When near the borders of sea-girt Pelorus,350There smote upon their ears the horrid chorusOf Scylla's baying wolves around them pressed.

What sinking terror filled each quaking breast,

When near the borders of sea-girt Pelorus,350

There smote upon their ears the horrid chorus

Of Scylla's baying wolves around them pressed.

What terror when they neared the Sirens' lair,355Who soothe the troubled waves with witching measures!But Orpheus filled their souls with nobler pleasures,And left the foe in impotent despair.360

What terror when they neared the Sirens' lair,355

Who soothe the troubled waves with witching measures!

But Orpheus filled their souls with nobler pleasures,

And left the foe in impotent despair.360

And of this wild adventure what the prize,That lured the daring bark with heroes laden?The fleece of gold, and this mad Colchian maiden,Well fit to be the first ship's merchandize.

And of this wild adventure what the prize,

That lured the daring bark with heroes laden?

The fleece of gold, and this mad Colchian maiden,

Well fit to be the first ship's merchandize.

The sea, subdued, the victor's law obeys;365No vessel needs a goddess' art in framing,Nor oars in heroes' hands, the ocean taming:The frailest craft now dares the roughest waves.

The sea, subdued, the victor's law obeys;365

No vessel needs a goddess' art in framing,

Nor oars in heroes' hands, the ocean taming:

The frailest craft now dares the roughest waves.

Now, every bound removed, new cities rise370In lands remote, their ancient walls removing;While men of Ind by Caspian shores are roving,And Persia's face now greets the western skies.375

Now, every bound removed, new cities rise370

In lands remote, their ancient walls removing;

While men of Ind by Caspian shores are roving,

And Persia's face now greets the western skies.375

The time will come, as lapsing ages flee,When every land shall yield its hidden treasure;When men no more shall unknown courses measure,For round the world no "farthest land" shall be.

The time will come, as lapsing ages flee,

When every land shall yield its hidden treasure;

When men no more shall unknown courses measure,

For round the world no "farthest land" shall be.

FOOTNOTES:[9]Reading,Medea fugiam, as a continuation of Medea's speech.[10]Retainingsi regnas, iubein Medea's speech.[11]Reading,gloriae.

[9]Reading,Medea fugiam, as a continuation of Medea's speech.

[10]Retainingsi regnas, iubein Medea's speech.

[11]Reading,gloriae.

[Medeais rushing out to seek vengeance, while theNursetries in vain to restrain her.]

Nurse:My foster-daughter, whither speedest thou abroad?380Oh, stay, I pray thee, and restrain thy passion's force.[Medeahastens by without answering. TheNursesoliloquizes.]As some wild Bacchanal, whose fury's raging fireThe god inflames, now roams distraught on Pindus' snows,And now on lofty Nysa's rugged slopes; so she,385Now here, now there, with frenzied step is hurried on,Her face revealing every mark of stricken woe,With flushing cheek and sighs deep drawn, wild cries, and tears,And laughter worse than tears. In her a medley strangeOf every passion may be seen: o'ertopping wrath,390Bewailings, bitter groans of anguish. Whither tendsThis overburdened soul? What mean her frenzied threats?When will the foaming wave of fury spend itself?No common crime, I fear, no easy deed of illShe meditates. Herself she will outvie. For wellI recognize the wonted marks of rage. Some deedIs threatening, wild, profane, and hideous.395[Re-enterMedea.]BeholdHer face betrays her madness. O ye gods, may theseOur fears prove vain forebodings!Medea[not noticing theNurse'spresence]: For thy hate, poor soul,Dost thou a measure seek? Let it be deep as love.And shall I tamely view the wedding torches's glare?And shall this day go uneventful by, this day,So hardly won, so grudgingly bestowed? Nay, nay,400While, poised upon her heights, the central earth shall bearThe heavens up; while seasons run their endless round,And sands unnumbered lie; while days, and nights, and sun,And stars in due procession pass; while round the poleThe ocean-fearing bears revolve, and tumbling streamsFlow downward to the sea; my grief shall never cease405To seek revenge, and shall forever grow. What rageOf savage beast can equal mine? What Scylla famed?What sea-engulfing pool? What burning Aetna placedOn impious Titan's heaving breast? No torrent stream,410Nor storm-tossed sea, nor breath of flame fanned by the gale,Can check or equal my wild storm of rage. My willIs set on limitless revenge!Will Jason say415He feared the power of Creon and Acastus' threats?True love is proof against the fear of man. But grantHe was compelled to yield, and pledged his hand in fear:He might at least have sought his wife with one last wordOf comfort and farewell. But this, though brave in heart,420He feared to do. The cruel terms of banishmentCould Creon's son-in-law not soften? No. One dayAlone was giv'n for last farewell to both my babes.But time's short space I'll not bewail; though brief in hours,In consequence it stretches out eternally.This day shall see a deed that ne'er shall be forgot.But now I'll go and pray the gods, and move high heaven425But I shall work my will!Nurse:Thy heart all passion-tossed,I pray thee, mistress, soothe, and calm thy troubled soul.Medea:My troubled soul can never know a time of restUntil it sees all things o'erwhelmed in common doom.All must go down with me! 'Tis sweet such death to die.

Nurse:My foster-daughter, whither speedest thou abroad?380

Oh, stay, I pray thee, and restrain thy passion's force.

[Medeahastens by without answering. TheNursesoliloquizes.]

As some wild Bacchanal, whose fury's raging fire

The god inflames, now roams distraught on Pindus' snows,

And now on lofty Nysa's rugged slopes; so she,385

Now here, now there, with frenzied step is hurried on,

Her face revealing every mark of stricken woe,

With flushing cheek and sighs deep drawn, wild cries, and tears,

And laughter worse than tears. In her a medley strange

Of every passion may be seen: o'ertopping wrath,390

Bewailings, bitter groans of anguish. Whither tends

This overburdened soul? What mean her frenzied threats?

When will the foaming wave of fury spend itself?

No common crime, I fear, no easy deed of ill

She meditates. Herself she will outvie. For well

I recognize the wonted marks of rage. Some deed

Is threatening, wild, profane, and hideous.395

[Re-enterMedea.]

Behold

Her face betrays her madness. O ye gods, may these

Our fears prove vain forebodings!

Medea[not noticing theNurse'spresence]: For thy hate, poor soul,Dost thou a measure seek? Let it be deep as love.And shall I tamely view the wedding torches's glare?And shall this day go uneventful by, this day,So hardly won, so grudgingly bestowed? Nay, nay,400While, poised upon her heights, the central earth shall bearThe heavens up; while seasons run their endless round,And sands unnumbered lie; while days, and nights, and sun,And stars in due procession pass; while round the poleThe ocean-fearing bears revolve, and tumbling streamsFlow downward to the sea; my grief shall never cease405To seek revenge, and shall forever grow. What rageOf savage beast can equal mine? What Scylla famed?What sea-engulfing pool? What burning Aetna placedOn impious Titan's heaving breast? No torrent stream,410Nor storm-tossed sea, nor breath of flame fanned by the gale,Can check or equal my wild storm of rage. My willIs set on limitless revenge!Will Jason say415He feared the power of Creon and Acastus' threats?True love is proof against the fear of man. But grantHe was compelled to yield, and pledged his hand in fear:He might at least have sought his wife with one last wordOf comfort and farewell. But this, though brave in heart,420He feared to do. The cruel terms of banishmentCould Creon's son-in-law not soften? No. One dayAlone was giv'n for last farewell to both my babes.But time's short space I'll not bewail; though brief in hours,In consequence it stretches out eternally.This day shall see a deed that ne'er shall be forgot.But now I'll go and pray the gods, and move high heaven425But I shall work my will!

Medea[not noticing theNurse'spresence]: For thy hate, poor soul,

Dost thou a measure seek? Let it be deep as love.

And shall I tamely view the wedding torches's glare?

And shall this day go uneventful by, this day,

So hardly won, so grudgingly bestowed? Nay, nay,400

While, poised upon her heights, the central earth shall bear

The heavens up; while seasons run their endless round,

And sands unnumbered lie; while days, and nights, and sun,

And stars in due procession pass; while round the pole

The ocean-fearing bears revolve, and tumbling streams

Flow downward to the sea; my grief shall never cease405

To seek revenge, and shall forever grow. What rage

Of savage beast can equal mine? What Scylla famed?

What sea-engulfing pool? What burning Aetna placed

On impious Titan's heaving breast? No torrent stream,410

Nor storm-tossed sea, nor breath of flame fanned by the gale,

Can check or equal my wild storm of rage. My will

Is set on limitless revenge!

Will Jason say415

He feared the power of Creon and Acastus' threats?

True love is proof against the fear of man. But grant

He was compelled to yield, and pledged his hand in fear:

He might at least have sought his wife with one last word

Of comfort and farewell. But this, though brave in heart,420

He feared to do. The cruel terms of banishment

Could Creon's son-in-law not soften? No. One day

Alone was giv'n for last farewell to both my babes.

But time's short space I'll not bewail; though brief in hours,

In consequence it stretches out eternally.

This day shall see a deed that ne'er shall be forgot.

But now I'll go and pray the gods, and move high heaven425

But I shall work my will!

Nurse:Thy heart all passion-tossed,I pray thee, mistress, soothe, and calm thy troubled soul.

Nurse:Thy heart all passion-tossed,

I pray thee, mistress, soothe, and calm thy troubled soul.

Medea:My troubled soul can never know a time of restUntil it sees all things o'erwhelmed in common doom.All must go down with me! 'Tis sweet such death to die.

Medea:My troubled soul can never know a time of rest

Until it sees all things o'erwhelmed in common doom.

All must go down with me! 'Tis sweet such death to die.

[ExitMedea.]

Nurse[calling after her]: Oh, think what perils thou must meet if thou persist!430No one with safety may defy a sceptered king.

Nurse[calling after her]: Oh, think what perils thou must meet if thou persist!430

No one with safety may defy a sceptered king.

[EnterJason.]

Jason:O heartless fate, if frowns or smiles bedeck thy brow,How often are thy cures far worse than the diseaseThey seek to cure! If, now, I wish to keep the troth435I plighted to my lawful bride, my life must payThe forfeit; if I shrink from death, my guilty soulMust perjured be. I fear no power that man can wield;But in my heart paternal love unmans me quite;For well I know that in my death my children's fateIs sealed. O sacred Justice, if in heaven thou dwell'st,440Be witness now, that for my children's sake I act.Nay, sure am I that even she, Medea's self,Though fierce she is of soul and brooking no restraint,Will see her children's good outweighing all her wrongs.With this good argument my purpose now is fixed,445In humble wise to brave her wrath.[EnterMedea.]At sight of meHer raging fury flames anew! Hate, like a shield,She bears, and in her face is pictured all her woe.Medea:Thou see'st, Jason, that we flee. 'Tis no new thingTo suffer exile, but the cause of flight is strange;For with thee I was wont to flee, not from thee. Yes,I go. But whither dost thou send me whom thou driv'st450From out thy home? Shall I the Colchians seek again,My royal father's realm, whose soil is steeped in bloodMy brother shed? What country dost thou bid me seek?What way by sea is open? Shall I fare againWhere once I saved the noble kings of Greece, and thee,455Thou wanton, through the threatening jaws of Pontus' strait,The blue Symplegades? Or shall I hie me backTo fair Thessalia's realms? Lo, all the doors which I,For thee, have opened wide, I've closed upon myself.But whither dost thou send me now? Thou bid'st me flee,460But show'st no way or means of flight.But 'tis enough:The king's own son-in-law commands and I obey.Come, heap thy torments on me; I deserve them all.Let royal wrath oppress me, wanton that I am,With cruel hand, and load my guilty limbs with chains;And let me be immured in dungeons black as night:465Still will my punishment be less than my offense.O ingrate! hast thou then forgot the brazen bull,And his consuming breath? the fear that smote thee, when,Upon the field of Mars, the earth-born brood stood forthTo meet thy single sword? 'Twas by my arts that they,470The monsters, fell by mutual blows. Remember, too,The long-sought fleece of gold I won for thee, whose guard,The dragon huge, was lulled to rest at my command;My brother slain for thee. For thee old Pelias fell,475When, taken by my guile, his daughters slew their sire,Whose life could not return. All this I did for thee.In quest of thine advantage have I quite forgotMine own.And now, by all thy fond paternal hopes,By thine established house, by all the monsters slain480For thee, by these my hands which I have ever heldTo work thy will, by all the perils past, by heavenAnd sea that witnessed at my wedlock, pity me!Since thou art blessed, restore me what I lost for thee:That countless treasure plundered from the swarthy tribesOf India, which filled our goodly vaults with wealth,485And decked our very trees with gold. This costly storeI left for thee, my native land, my brother, sire,My reputation—all; and with this dower I came.If now to homeless exile thou dost send me forth,Give back the countless treasures which I left for thee.490Jason:Though Creon in a vengeful mood would have thy life,I moved him by my tears to grant thee flight instead.Medea:I thought my exile punishment; 'tis now, I see,A gracious boon!Jason:Oh, flee while still the respite holds;Provoke him not, for deadly is the wrath of kings.495Medea:Not so. 'Tis for Creüsa's love thou sayest this;Thou wouldst remove the hated wanton once thy wife.Jason:Dost thou reproach me with a guilty love?Medea:Yea, that,And murder too, and treachery.Jason:But name me now,If so thou canst, the crimes that I have done.Medea:Thy crimes—Whatever I have done.Jason:Why then, in truth, thy guiltMust all be mine, if all thy crimes are mine.500Medea:They are,They are all thine; for who by sin advantage gains,Commits the sin. All men proclaim thy wife defiled.Do thou thyself protect her, and condone her sin.Let her be guiltless in thine eyes who for thy gainHas sinned.Jason:But gifts which sin has bought 'twere shame to take.Medea:Why keep'st thou then the gifts which it were shame to take?505Jason:Nay, curb thy fiery soul! Thy children—for their sakeBe calm.Medea:My children! Them I do refuse, reject,Renounce! Shall then Creüsa brothers bear to theseMy children?Jason:But the queen can aid thy wretched sons.Medea:May that day never dawn, that day of shame and woe,510When in one house are joined the low born and the high,The sons of that foul robber Sisyphus, and these,The sons of Phoebus.Jason:Wretched one, and wilt thou thenInvolve me also in thy fall? Begone, I pray.Medea:Creon hath heard my prayer.Jason:What wouldst thou have me do?515Medea:For me? I'd have thee dare the law.Jason:The royal powerDoth compass me.Medea:A greater than the king is here:Medea. Set us front to front and let us strive;And of this royal strife let Jason be the prize.Jason:O'erwearied by my woes I yield. But be thou ware,Medea, lest too often thou shouldst tempt thy fate.520Medea:Yet fortune's mistress have I ever been.Jason:But see,With hostile front Acastus comes, on vengeance bent,While Creon threatens instant death.Medea:Then flee them both.I ask thee not to draw thy sword against the kingNor yet to stain thy pious hands with kindred blood.Come, flee with me.Jason:But what resistance can we make,525If war with double visage rear his horrid front,If Creon and Acastus join in common cause?Medea:Add, too, the Colchian armies with my father's selfTo lead them; join the Scythian and Pelasgian hordes:In one deep gulf of ruin will I whelm them all.Jason:Yet on the scepter do I look with fear.Medea:Beware,Lest not the fear, but lust of power prevail with thee.Jason:Too long we strive: have done, lest we suspicion breed.530Medea:Now Jove, throughout thy heavens let the thunders roll!Thy mighty arm in wrath make bare! Thy darting flamesOf vengeance loose, and shake the lofty firmamentWith rending storms! At random hurl thy vengeful bolts,Selecting neither me nor Jason with thy aim;That thus whoever falls may perish with the brand535Of guilt upon him; for thy hurtling darts can takeNo erring flight.Jason:Recall thee and in calmness speakWith words of peace and reason. Then if any giftFrom Creon's royal house can compensate thy woes,Take that as solace of thy flight.Medea:My soul doth scorn540The wealth of kings. But let me have my little onesAs comrades of my flight, that in their childish breastsTheir mother's tears may flow. New sons await thy home.Jason:My heart inclines to yield to thee, but love forbids.For these my sons shall never from my arms be reft,545Though Creon's self demand. My very spring of life,My sore heart's comfort, and my joy are these my sons;And sooner could I part with limbs or vital breath,Or light of life.Medea[aside]:Doth he thus love his sons? 'Tis well;Then is he bound, and in his armored strength this flaw550Reveals the place to strike.[ToJason.]At least, ere I depart,Grant me this last request: let me once more embraceMy sons. E'en that small boon will comfort my sad heart.And this my latest prayer to thee: if, in my grief,My tongue was over bold, let not my words remain555To rankle in thy heart. Remember happier thingsOf me and let my bitter words be straight forgot.Jason:Not one shall linger in my soul; and curb, I pray,Thy too impetuous heart, and gently yield to fate.For resignation ever soothes the woeful soul.

Jason:O heartless fate, if frowns or smiles bedeck thy brow,

How often are thy cures far worse than the disease

They seek to cure! If, now, I wish to keep the troth435

I plighted to my lawful bride, my life must pay

The forfeit; if I shrink from death, my guilty soul

Must perjured be. I fear no power that man can wield;

But in my heart paternal love unmans me quite;

For well I know that in my death my children's fate

Is sealed. O sacred Justice, if in heaven thou dwell'st,440

Be witness now, that for my children's sake I act.

Nay, sure am I that even she, Medea's self,

Though fierce she is of soul and brooking no restraint,

Will see her children's good outweighing all her wrongs.

With this good argument my purpose now is fixed,445

In humble wise to brave her wrath.

[EnterMedea.]

At sight of me

Her raging fury flames anew! Hate, like a shield,

She bears, and in her face is pictured all her woe.

Medea:Thou see'st, Jason, that we flee. 'Tis no new thingTo suffer exile, but the cause of flight is strange;For with thee I was wont to flee, not from thee. Yes,I go. But whither dost thou send me whom thou driv'st450From out thy home? Shall I the Colchians seek again,My royal father's realm, whose soil is steeped in bloodMy brother shed? What country dost thou bid me seek?What way by sea is open? Shall I fare againWhere once I saved the noble kings of Greece, and thee,455Thou wanton, through the threatening jaws of Pontus' strait,The blue Symplegades? Or shall I hie me backTo fair Thessalia's realms? Lo, all the doors which I,For thee, have opened wide, I've closed upon myself.But whither dost thou send me now? Thou bid'st me flee,460But show'st no way or means of flight.But 'tis enough:The king's own son-in-law commands and I obey.Come, heap thy torments on me; I deserve them all.Let royal wrath oppress me, wanton that I am,With cruel hand, and load my guilty limbs with chains;And let me be immured in dungeons black as night:465Still will my punishment be less than my offense.O ingrate! hast thou then forgot the brazen bull,And his consuming breath? the fear that smote thee, when,Upon the field of Mars, the earth-born brood stood forthTo meet thy single sword? 'Twas by my arts that they,470The monsters, fell by mutual blows. Remember, too,The long-sought fleece of gold I won for thee, whose guard,The dragon huge, was lulled to rest at my command;My brother slain for thee. For thee old Pelias fell,475When, taken by my guile, his daughters slew their sire,Whose life could not return. All this I did for thee.In quest of thine advantage have I quite forgotMine own.And now, by all thy fond paternal hopes,By thine established house, by all the monsters slain480For thee, by these my hands which I have ever heldTo work thy will, by all the perils past, by heavenAnd sea that witnessed at my wedlock, pity me!Since thou art blessed, restore me what I lost for thee:That countless treasure plundered from the swarthy tribesOf India, which filled our goodly vaults with wealth,485And decked our very trees with gold. This costly storeI left for thee, my native land, my brother, sire,My reputation—all; and with this dower I came.If now to homeless exile thou dost send me forth,Give back the countless treasures which I left for thee.490

Medea:Thou see'st, Jason, that we flee. 'Tis no new thing

To suffer exile, but the cause of flight is strange;

For with thee I was wont to flee, not from thee. Yes,

I go. But whither dost thou send me whom thou driv'st450

From out thy home? Shall I the Colchians seek again,

My royal father's realm, whose soil is steeped in blood

My brother shed? What country dost thou bid me seek?

What way by sea is open? Shall I fare again

Where once I saved the noble kings of Greece, and thee,455

Thou wanton, through the threatening jaws of Pontus' strait,

The blue Symplegades? Or shall I hie me back

To fair Thessalia's realms? Lo, all the doors which I,

For thee, have opened wide, I've closed upon myself.

But whither dost thou send me now? Thou bid'st me flee,460

But show'st no way or means of flight.

But 'tis enough:

The king's own son-in-law commands and I obey.

Come, heap thy torments on me; I deserve them all.

Let royal wrath oppress me, wanton that I am,

With cruel hand, and load my guilty limbs with chains;

And let me be immured in dungeons black as night:465

Still will my punishment be less than my offense.

O ingrate! hast thou then forgot the brazen bull,

And his consuming breath? the fear that smote thee, when,

Upon the field of Mars, the earth-born brood stood forth

To meet thy single sword? 'Twas by my arts that they,470

The monsters, fell by mutual blows. Remember, too,

The long-sought fleece of gold I won for thee, whose guard,

The dragon huge, was lulled to rest at my command;

My brother slain for thee. For thee old Pelias fell,475

When, taken by my guile, his daughters slew their sire,

Whose life could not return. All this I did for thee.

In quest of thine advantage have I quite forgot

Mine own.

And now, by all thy fond paternal hopes,

By thine established house, by all the monsters slain480

For thee, by these my hands which I have ever held

To work thy will, by all the perils past, by heaven

And sea that witnessed at my wedlock, pity me!

Since thou art blessed, restore me what I lost for thee:

That countless treasure plundered from the swarthy tribes

Of India, which filled our goodly vaults with wealth,485

And decked our very trees with gold. This costly store

I left for thee, my native land, my brother, sire,

My reputation—all; and with this dower I came.

If now to homeless exile thou dost send me forth,

Give back the countless treasures which I left for thee.490

Jason:Though Creon in a vengeful mood would have thy life,I moved him by my tears to grant thee flight instead.

Jason:Though Creon in a vengeful mood would have thy life,

I moved him by my tears to grant thee flight instead.

Medea:I thought my exile punishment; 'tis now, I see,A gracious boon!

Medea:I thought my exile punishment; 'tis now, I see,

A gracious boon!

Jason:Oh, flee while still the respite holds;Provoke him not, for deadly is the wrath of kings.495

Jason:Oh, flee while still the respite holds;

Provoke him not, for deadly is the wrath of kings.495

Medea:Not so. 'Tis for Creüsa's love thou sayest this;Thou wouldst remove the hated wanton once thy wife.

Medea:Not so. 'Tis for Creüsa's love thou sayest this;

Thou wouldst remove the hated wanton once thy wife.

Jason:Dost thou reproach me with a guilty love?

Medea:Yea, that,And murder too, and treachery.

Medea:Yea, that,

And murder too, and treachery.

Jason:But name me now,If so thou canst, the crimes that I have done.

Jason:But name me now,

If so thou canst, the crimes that I have done.

Medea:Thy crimes—Whatever I have done.

Medea:Thy crimes—

Whatever I have done.

Jason:Why then, in truth, thy guiltMust all be mine, if all thy crimes are mine.500

Jason:Why then, in truth, thy guilt

Must all be mine, if all thy crimes are mine.500

Medea:They are,They are all thine; for who by sin advantage gains,Commits the sin. All men proclaim thy wife defiled.Do thou thyself protect her, and condone her sin.Let her be guiltless in thine eyes who for thy gainHas sinned.

Medea:They are,

They are all thine; for who by sin advantage gains,

Commits the sin. All men proclaim thy wife defiled.

Do thou thyself protect her, and condone her sin.

Let her be guiltless in thine eyes who for thy gain

Has sinned.

Jason:But gifts which sin has bought 'twere shame to take.

Medea:Why keep'st thou then the gifts which it were shame to take?505

Jason:Nay, curb thy fiery soul! Thy children—for their sakeBe calm.

Jason:Nay, curb thy fiery soul! Thy children—for their sake

Be calm.

Medea:My children! Them I do refuse, reject,Renounce! Shall then Creüsa brothers bear to theseMy children?

Medea:My children! Them I do refuse, reject,

Renounce! Shall then Creüsa brothers bear to these

My children?

Jason:But the queen can aid thy wretched sons.

Medea:May that day never dawn, that day of shame and woe,510When in one house are joined the low born and the high,The sons of that foul robber Sisyphus, and these,The sons of Phoebus.

Medea:May that day never dawn, that day of shame and woe,510

When in one house are joined the low born and the high,

The sons of that foul robber Sisyphus, and these,

The sons of Phoebus.

Jason:Wretched one, and wilt thou thenInvolve me also in thy fall? Begone, I pray.

Jason:Wretched one, and wilt thou then

Involve me also in thy fall? Begone, I pray.

Medea:Creon hath heard my prayer.

Jason:What wouldst thou have me do?515

Medea:For me? I'd have thee dare the law.

Jason:The royal powerDoth compass me.

Jason:The royal power

Doth compass me.

Medea:A greater than the king is here:Medea. Set us front to front and let us strive;And of this royal strife let Jason be the prize.

Medea:A greater than the king is here:

Medea. Set us front to front and let us strive;

And of this royal strife let Jason be the prize.

Jason:O'erwearied by my woes I yield. But be thou ware,Medea, lest too often thou shouldst tempt thy fate.520

Jason:O'erwearied by my woes I yield. But be thou ware,

Medea, lest too often thou shouldst tempt thy fate.520

Medea:Yet fortune's mistress have I ever been.

Jason:But see,With hostile front Acastus comes, on vengeance bent,While Creon threatens instant death.

Jason:But see,

With hostile front Acastus comes, on vengeance bent,

While Creon threatens instant death.

Medea:Then flee them both.I ask thee not to draw thy sword against the kingNor yet to stain thy pious hands with kindred blood.Come, flee with me.

Medea:Then flee them both.

I ask thee not to draw thy sword against the king

Nor yet to stain thy pious hands with kindred blood.

Come, flee with me.

Jason:But what resistance can we make,525If war with double visage rear his horrid front,If Creon and Acastus join in common cause?

Jason:But what resistance can we make,525

If war with double visage rear his horrid front,

If Creon and Acastus join in common cause?

Medea:Add, too, the Colchian armies with my father's selfTo lead them; join the Scythian and Pelasgian hordes:In one deep gulf of ruin will I whelm them all.

Medea:Add, too, the Colchian armies with my father's self

To lead them; join the Scythian and Pelasgian hordes:

In one deep gulf of ruin will I whelm them all.

Jason:Yet on the scepter do I look with fear.

Medea:Beware,Lest not the fear, but lust of power prevail with thee.

Medea:Beware,

Lest not the fear, but lust of power prevail with thee.

Jason:Too long we strive: have done, lest we suspicion breed.530

Medea:Now Jove, throughout thy heavens let the thunders roll!Thy mighty arm in wrath make bare! Thy darting flamesOf vengeance loose, and shake the lofty firmamentWith rending storms! At random hurl thy vengeful bolts,Selecting neither me nor Jason with thy aim;That thus whoever falls may perish with the brand535Of guilt upon him; for thy hurtling darts can takeNo erring flight.

Medea:Now Jove, throughout thy heavens let the thunders roll!

Thy mighty arm in wrath make bare! Thy darting flames

Of vengeance loose, and shake the lofty firmament

With rending storms! At random hurl thy vengeful bolts,

Selecting neither me nor Jason with thy aim;

That thus whoever falls may perish with the brand535

Of guilt upon him; for thy hurtling darts can take

No erring flight.

Jason:Recall thee and in calmness speakWith words of peace and reason. Then if any giftFrom Creon's royal house can compensate thy woes,Take that as solace of thy flight.

Jason:Recall thee and in calmness speak

With words of peace and reason. Then if any gift

From Creon's royal house can compensate thy woes,

Take that as solace of thy flight.

Medea:My soul doth scorn540The wealth of kings. But let me have my little onesAs comrades of my flight, that in their childish breastsTheir mother's tears may flow. New sons await thy home.

Medea:My soul doth scorn540

The wealth of kings. But let me have my little ones

As comrades of my flight, that in their childish breasts

Their mother's tears may flow. New sons await thy home.

Jason:My heart inclines to yield to thee, but love forbids.For these my sons shall never from my arms be reft,545Though Creon's self demand. My very spring of life,My sore heart's comfort, and my joy are these my sons;And sooner could I part with limbs or vital breath,Or light of life.

Jason:My heart inclines to yield to thee, but love forbids.

For these my sons shall never from my arms be reft,545

Though Creon's self demand. My very spring of life,

My sore heart's comfort, and my joy are these my sons;

And sooner could I part with limbs or vital breath,

Or light of life.

Medea[aside]:Doth he thus love his sons? 'Tis well;Then is he bound, and in his armored strength this flaw550Reveals the place to strike.[ToJason.]At least, ere I depart,Grant me this last request: let me once more embraceMy sons. E'en that small boon will comfort my sad heart.And this my latest prayer to thee: if, in my grief,My tongue was over bold, let not my words remain555To rankle in thy heart. Remember happier thingsOf me and let my bitter words be straight forgot.

Medea[aside]:Doth he thus love his sons? 'Tis well;

Then is he bound, and in his armored strength this flaw550

Reveals the place to strike.

[ToJason.]

At least, ere I depart,

Grant me this last request: let me once more embrace

My sons. E'en that small boon will comfort my sad heart.

And this my latest prayer to thee: if, in my grief,

My tongue was over bold, let not my words remain555

To rankle in thy heart. Remember happier things

Of me and let my bitter words be straight forgot.

Jason:Not one shall linger in my soul; and curb, I pray,Thy too impetuous heart, and gently yield to fate.For resignation ever soothes the woeful soul.

Jason:Not one shall linger in my soul; and curb, I pray,

Thy too impetuous heart, and gently yield to fate.

For resignation ever soothes the woeful soul.

[ExitJason.]

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