In Argos were sure signal of revolt

Against the tyrant.

Chry.

He spoke confidently,

To keep us from despair.

It may be so.

Elec.
But the Gods rule us: Nature holds her course:
The sun is in the heavens: and things of night
Fly his discovering beams. Eternal Themis !
Thou on thy pure throne sittest still on high,
And yet the earth is cumber'd with this monster.
Chry. My grief so blinds me, that I see but dimly.
Dear sister, look if aught thou canst discern
Of movement near the city.

Elec.
I descry
Afar off figures, as of men in haste,

That to a centre move.

That higher ground: our view will thence be clearer. Elec. Give me thy hand.

Chry.

My heart beats fearfully.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III-A principal apartment of the Palace CLYTEMNESTRA thrown on a seat, back in the scene EGISTHUS forward, near the side, listening.

Eg. Heavily hang the moments, till my ear Is gladden'd by the footstep of Adrastus.

So slow an executor of my will,

So dull I never knew him.

On the rack

I lie, until I know they are despatch'd.

They should have died i' th' palace, but that so
Their death had been less infamous; and I
Had lost the highest zest of my revenge.

Cly. Oh, savage heart! implacable by blood!
And is it not enough that he must die,

But thou must pour out in a mother's hearing
These horrid breathings of no human spirit?

Eg. Peace! Thou disturb'st me. I would have the air

So still, that I might list my own heart's motion.
All senses I would have absorb'd in one,

And make my ear the centre of perception.-
Dost thou not hear a step?

Cly

I hear a voice,

That cries within me: the dread utterance
Of my heart, sounding to the touch of power:
And clearly I translate the tremulous tone.
We are not safe, Ægisthus; nor can be,
By ways like thine. Thy remedy for danger
Heaps up the evil, that, like gather'd snow
Piled on the brow of huge Olympus, falls
The heavier for delay.-Thy last attempt
Cost thee a son. Alas, for mine! There are
Powers, that, on bloody deeds, requital send.
Witness my torments, borne even from the day
We met in guilt.

Eg. [Going up to her.] Thy temporising mind,
Aye hovering between the will and deed.

Is all our peril's cause. Thou wouldst be safe,
Yet fear'st the means of safety:

Cly.
Had I fear'd
Sufficiently, this hand were free from blood,
And I in peace.

Eg.

Security is peace:

Ne'er by half-measures won. But half an act
Was done by us, when Agamemnon fell:

And thou wouldst have the fruit of perfect action
Cly. And wouldst thou double on my soul the load,
Beneath whose weight I groan?

Hast thou forgotten

Eg
With what deep oaths our compact was made fast?
Hast thou forgotten with what resolute grasp
Thy will embraced my fortunes, purposes,

And destiny? Didst thou not swear to stand
Fast by my side through all impediments,

And make all means for my advancement lawful?

Cly. I knew thee not: and so was, by thy cunning And my strong passions, miserably blinded

And I have made a covenant with guilt,

And sold myself to everlasting woe.

Thine I have made myself, and our joint acts
Forbid me to believe we shall be sever'd,

When we are dealt with by the powers that fix
The doom of our imperishable natures.-

Yet from thy bloody lessons I have turn'd.

14

Eg. The first found thee a willing scholar.—Hark ! I hear the tread of feet.-He comes, he comes ! Exult, my soul, and feed on thy revenge!

Enter CHRYSOTHEMIS, L.

How!. not Adrastus! Hast thou seen him?

Chry.

But, looking to the city, I could see

No.

The road all throng'd with men, and hear the sound
Of some great stir. And one this way is running
In haste, yet halting in his course at times,

As if for lack of breath or strength. Electra
Waits for his tidings.

Eg.

Let her not detain him

A moment from my presence. [Exit CHRYSOTHEMIS, L.] "What is this?

Commotion in the city!-'Tis the time,-
Nay, past the time, appointed for the games;
And he who comes, perchance, is sent to tell me
The judges wait our presence to commence

The ushering pomp.

[To CLYTEMNESTRA.] Wilt thou go forth with me? Cly. Go forth! What! meet the cruel messenger, Perchance the executioner, yet fresh

From my son's death, and of his blood unwash'd?
And wilt thou go? a father! Has that urn
Pass'd from thy thoughts so soon?
Eg.
Ah! thou hast waked
The slumbering horrors of my soul. Who comes?

Enter LYCUS, L., wounded, with an Attendant.

And in such ghastly plight! What, thou!-Good fellow, What may this mean? Who gave those wounds?

Ly.

Eg. Orestes! arm'd!

Cly. Oh heaven! my son then lives! Ly. Thy soldiers fall before him. Some of them Fight on his side. The city is in arms.

Eg. Curse on my folly, that permitted him Alive to leave the palace! Who are with him? What numbers?-Tell me how

Ly.

Adrastus brought him,

With Pylades, close guarded, to the place
Intended for their death.

With festive throngs

Eg.

This was forgotten.

The way was fill'd

Oh madness In my rage

Lu

Gathering round they came;
When suddenly rush'd Arcas through the crowd.
To arm Orestes with a sword, and strike
Adrastus down, was but a moment's work.

66

People of Argos!" then aloud he cried,
"And you, my old companions in the field !
Behold Orestes !-See your lawful king.”
Eg. Ah! Traitor!

Ly.

"Who for Agamemnon's son

With me will stand?" At once a thousand voices
Shouted his name, and down the way the cry
Roll'd on,

"Orestes live! long live Orestes!" Eg. Vile changelings! all is lost!

Ly.

The suddenness,

And their commander's loss, amazed the guards;
Yet part are steady to thy cause. Myself
Essay'd to strike Orestes, but his arm

Again was powerful on me, and I fled
To warn thee of thy danger.

Æg.

What resource

Is left? or whither shall I turn me?

Ly.

Promptness

And resolution only now can save thee.
Collect thy guards, yet left within the palace,
And sally forth, or ere the insurrection

Has spread through all the city. I am faint,-
I bleed apace.

Eg. Tend him. [Exeunt LYCUs and Attendant, L.
Rouse up, my soul!
Be sudden.-Now one only course is left.

[To CLY.] Remember thy strong oaths!-Now,

Myrtilus,

I come to join thee, or avenge thy death.

Cly. A moment hear me.

My life.

Ey.

On a moment hangs

To my great danger.

Cly. Thou art not guilty of his blood. His mother

May plead for thee.

Eg.

I go.

Plead rather for thyself.

Cly. To certain death.-Hear me, Ægisthus!

[Holding him. Eg. What! Traitress! thou wouldst bargain for

thy life,

And give me unresisting to his hands,

The purchase of thy safety! Hark! the uproar
Approaches. Hold me not:-I will not fall

Into his hands alive. My guards! my guards! [Exit, L. Chry. I, too, would stay him, lest his desperate rage Should harm Orestes. How has he deserved

Thy wish to save him?

Cly.
This is not a time
To tell how all the guilt I have incurr'd
Binds me the faster to him. Hark! again,
And louder-louder !-'Tis a terrible

And fatal hour.

Chry. Ye Gods! the event is yours." [Exit, R.

SCENE IV.-A large court of the Palace, with colonnade, entrances to various apartments, baths, &c.

Enter ELECTRA from an apartment, R., with a sword.
Elec. This, this was wanting to a day of justice.
Well have I kept thee, dreadful instrument
Of crime and retribution. Thou dumb minister
Of wrath, I almost fear to look upon thee.
Clear is thy polish; and no spot or stain
Tells the pleased eye how many deaths are on thee.
Think they, who forge these instruments, what work
The steel they labour may perform ?-Who comes?-
Only to one can I resign this weapon. [Conceals it.

-

Enter CLYTEMNESTRA, R., and CHRYSOTHEmis, L. Cly. Electra here! Say, hast thou seen Ægisthus? Elec. Oh, wretched woman! is thy care for him? Think of thy noble son, from death redeem'd; Nor wound my ears with that vile ribald's name. His meed awaits him. Hark! the cry of vengeance Is in the gate. "Tis he-I know the voice

Cly. How shall I meet him?

[ORESTES is heard without, R., gradually nearer. Orest. [Without.] Ho! come forth, Ægisthus! Come forth, thou coward!

Chry. [To CLYTEMNESTRA] We will intercedeA sister's prayers—

Enter ORESTES, R., in a paroxysm of fury

Orest. Ægisthus! Where, where is he?