Second Episode

ALCESTIS.O Sun, O light of the day that falls!O running cloud that races along the sky!

ADMETUS.They look on thee and me, a stricken twain,Who have wrought no sin that God should have thee slain.

ALCESTIS.Dear Earth, and House of sheltering walls,And wedded homes of the land where my fathers lie!

ADMETUS.Fail not, my hapless one. Be strong, and prayThe o'er-mastering Gods to hate us not alway.

ALCESTIS (faintly, her mind wandering).A boat two-oared, upon water; I see, I see.And the Ferryman of the Dead,His hand that hangs on the pole, his voice that cries;"Thou lingerest; come. Come quickly, we wait for thee."He is angry that I am slow; he shakes his head.

ADMETUS.Alas, a bitter boat-faring for me,My bride ill-starred.--Oh, this is misery!

ALCESTIS (as before).Drawing, drawing! 'Tis some one that draweth me ...To the Palaces of the Dead.So dark. The wings, the eyebrows and ah, the eyes!...Go back! God's mercy! What seekest thou? Let me be!...(Recovering)Where am I? Ah, and what paths are these I tread?

ADMETUS.Grievous for all who love thee, but for meAnd my two babes most hard, most solitary.

ALCESTIS.Hold me not; let me lie.--I am too weak to stand; and Death is near,And a slow darkness stealing on my sight.My little ones, good-bye.Soon, soon, and mother will be no more here....Good-bye, two happy children in the light.

ADMETUS.Oh, word of pain, oh, sharper acheThan any death of mine had brought!For the Gods' sake, desert me not,For thine own desolate children's sake.Nay, up! Be brave. For if they rendThee from me, I can draw no breath;In thy hand are my life and death,Thine, my belovèd and my friend!

ALCESTIS.Admetus, seeing what way my fortunes lie,I fain would speak with thee before I die.I have set thee before all things; yea, mine ownLife beside thine was naught. For this aloneI die.... Dear Lord, I never need have died.I might have lived to wed some prince of pride,Dwell in a king's house.... Nay, how could I, tornFrom thee, live on, I and my babes forlorn?I have given to thee my youth--not more nor less,But all--though I was full of happiness.Thy father and mother both--'tis strange to tell--Had failed thee, though for them the deed was well,The years were ripe, to die and save their son,The one child of the house: for hope was none,If thou shouldst pass away, of other heirs.So thou and I had lived through the long years,Both. Thou hadst not lain sobbing here aloneFor a dead wife and orphan babes.... 'Tis doneNow, and some God hath wrought out all his will.Howbeit I now will ask thee to fulfillOne great return-gift--not so great withalAs I have given, for life is more than all;But just and due, as thine own heart will tell.For thou hast loved our little ones as wellAs I have.... Keep them to be masters hereIn my old house; and bring no stepmotherUpon them. She might hate them. She might beSome baser woman, not a queen like me,And strike them with her hand. For mercy, spareOur little ones that wrong. It is my prayer....They come into a house: they are all strifeAnd hate to any child of the dead wife....Better a serpent than a stepmother!A boy is safe. He has his father thereTo guard him. But a little girl!(Taking the LITTLE GIRL to her)What goodAnd gentle care will guide thy maidenhood?What woman wilt thou find at father's side?One evil word from her, just when the tideOf youth is full, would wreck thy hope of love.And no more mother near, to stand aboveThy marriage-bed, nor comfort thee pain-tossedIn travail, when one needs a mother most!Seeing I must die.... 'Tis here, across my way,Not for the morrow, not for the third day,But now--Death, and to lie with things that were.Farewell. God keep you happy.--Husband dear,Remember that I failed thee not; and you,My children, that your mother loved you true.

LEADER.Take comfort. Ere thy lord can speak, I swear,If truth is in him, he will grant thy prayer.

ADMETUS.He will, he will! Oh, never fear for me.Mine hast thou been, and mine shalt ever be,Living and dead, thou only. None in wideHellas but thou shalt be Admetus' bride.No race so high, no face so magic-sweetShall ever from this purpose turn my feet.And children ... if God grant me joy of these,'Tis all I ask; of thee no joy nor easeHe gave me. And thy mourning I will bearNot one year of my life but every year,While life shall last.... My mother I will knowNo more. My father shall be held my foe.They brought the words of love but not the deed,While thou hast given thine all, and in my needSaved me. What can I do but weep alone,Alone alway, when such a wife is gone?...An end shall be of revel, and an endOf crowns and song and mirth of friend with friend,Wherewith my house was glad. I ne'er againWill touch the lute nor ease my heart from painWith pipes of Afric. All the joys I knew,And joys were many, thou hast broken in two.Oh, I will find some artist wondrous wiseShall mould for me thy shape, thine hair, thine eyes,And lay it in thy bed; and I will lieClose, and reach out mine arms to thee, and cryThy name into the night, and wait and hearMy own heart breathe: "Thy love, thy love is near."A cold delight; yet it might ease the sumOf sorrow.... And good dreams of thee will comeLike balm. 'Tis sweet, even in a dream, to gazeOn a dear face, the moment that it stays.O God, if Orpheus' voice were mine, to singTo Death's high Virgin and the Virgin's King,Till their hearts failed them, down would I my pathCleave, and naught stay me, not the Hound of Wrath,Not the grey oarsman of the ghostly tide,Till back to sunlight I had borne my bride.But now, wife, wait for me till I shall comeWhere thou art, and prepare our second home.These ministers in that same cedar sweetWhere thou art laid will lay me, feet to feet,And head to head, oh, not in death from theeDivided, who alone art true to me!

LEADER.This life-long sorrow thou hast sworn, I too,Thy friend, will bear with thee. It is her due.

ALCESTIS.Children, ye heard his promise? He will wedNo other woman nor forget the dead.

ADMETUS.Again I promise. So it shall be done.

ALCESTIS (giving the children into his arms one after the other).On that oath take my daughter: and my son.

ADMETUS.Dear hand that gives, I accept both gift and vow.

ALCESTIS.Thou, in my place, must be their mother now.

ADMETUS.Else were they motherless--I needs must try.

ALCESTIS.My babes, I ought to live, and lo, I die.

ADMETUS.And how can I, forlorn of thee, live on?

ALCESTIS.Time healeth; and the dead are dead and gone.

ADMETUS.Oh, take me with thee to the dark below,Me also!

ALCESTIS.'Tis enough that one should go.

ADMETUS.O Fate, to have cheated me of one so true!

ALCESTIS (her strength failing).There comes a darkness: a great burden, too.

ADMETUS.I am lost if thou wilt leave me.... Wife! Mine own!

ALCESTIS.I am not thy wife; I am nothing. All is gone.

ADMETUS.Thy babes! Thou wilt not leave them.--Raise thine eye.

ALCESTIS.I am sorry.... But good-bye, children; good-bye.

ADMETUS.Look at them! Wake and look at them!

ALCESTIS.I must go.

ADMETUS.What? Dying!

ALCESTIS.Farewell, husband!(She dies.)

ADMETUS (with a cry).Ah!... Woe, woe!

LEADER.Admetus' Queen is dead!

(While ADMETUS is weeping silently, and the CHORUS veil their faces, the LITTLE BOY runs up to his dead Mother.)

LITTLE BOY.Oh, what has happened? Mummy has gone away,And left me and will not come back any more!Father, I shall be lonely all the day....Look! Look! Her eyes ... and her arms not like before,How they lie ...Mother! Oh, speak a word!Answer me, answer me, Mother! It is I.I am touching your face. It is I, your little bird.

ADMETUS (recovering himself and going to the Child).She hears us not, she sees us not. We lieUnder a heavy grief, child, thou and I.

LITTLE BOY.I am so little, Father, and lonely and coldHere without Mother. It is too hard.... And you,Poor little sister, too.Oh, Father!Such a little time we had her. She might have stayedOn till we all were old....Everything is spoiled when Mother is dead.

(The LITTLE BOY is taken away, with his Sister, sobbing.)

LEADER.My King, thou needs must gird thee to the worst.Thou shalt not be the last, nor yet the first,To lose a noble wife. Be brave, and knowTo die is but a debt that all men owe.

ADMETUS.I know. It came not without doubts and fears,This thing. The thought hath poisoned all my years.Howbeit, I now will make the burial dueTo this dead Queen. Be assembled, all of you;And, after, raise your triumph-song to greetThis pitiless Power that yawns beneath our feet.Meantime let all in Thessaly who dreadMy sceptre join in mourning for the deadWith temples sorrow-shorn and sable weed.Ye chariot-lords, ye spurrers of the steed,Shear close your horses' manes! Let there be foundThrough all my realm no lute, nor lyre, nor soundOf piping, till twelve moons are at an end.For never shall I lose a closer friend,Nor braver in my need. And worthy is sheOf honour, who alone hath died for me.

(The body of ALCESTIS is carried into the house by mourners; ADMETUS follows it.)