narbas.
Her son! Ægisthus! gods!
And is Ægisthus dead?
ismenia.
All know it here
Too well
narbas.
Her son?
ismenia.
A barbarous assassin
Did slay him at Messene’s gates.
narbas.
O death,
I did foretell thee: horror and despair!
Is the queen sure, and art thou not deceived?
ismenia.
O ’tis too plain; we have undoubted proofs;
It must be so: he is no more.
narbas.
Is this
The fruit of all my care?
ismenia.
The wretched queen,
Abandoned to despair, will scarce survive him:
She lived but for her child, and now the ties
Are loosed that bound her to this hated life:
But, ere she dies, with her own hand she waits
To pierce the murderer’s heart, and be revenged;
Ev’n at Cresphontes’ tomb his blood shall flow.
Soon will the victim, by the king’s permission,
Be hither brought, to perish at her feet:
But Mérope is lost in grief, and therefore
Would wish to be alone: you must retire.
narbas.
If it be so, why should I seek the queen?
I will but visit yonder tomb, and die.
SCENE III.
ismenia.
[Alone.
This old man seems most worthy: how he wept!
Whilst the unfeeling slaves around us seem,
Like their proud master, but to mock our sorrows:
What interest could he have? yet tranquil pity
Doth seldom shed so many tears; methought
He mourned the lost Ægisthus like a father:
He must be sought—but here’s a dreadful sight.
SCENE IV.
mérope, ismenia, euricles, ægisthus in chains, Guards, Sacrificers.
mérope.
[Near the tomb.
Bring forth that horrid victim to my sight;
I must invent some new unheard of torment,
That may be equal to his crime; alas!
Not to my grief, that were impossible.
ægisthus.
Dear have I bought thy momentary kindness,
Guardians of innocence, protect me now!
euricles.
Before the traitor suffers, let him name
His vile accomplices.
mérope.
[Coming forward.
He must; he shall:
Say, monster, what induced thee to a crime
So horrible to nature! How had I
E’er injured thee?
ægisthus.
Now bear me witness, gods,
You who avenge the perjuries of men,
If e’er my lips knew fraud or base imposture;
I told thee naught but simple truth: thy heart,
Fierce as it was, relented at my tale,
And you stretched forth a kind, protecting hand;
So soon is justice weary of her talk?
Unwitting I have shed some precious blood:
Whose was it, tell me, what new interest sways thee?
mérope.
What interest? barbarian!
ægisthus.
O’er her cheek
A deadly paleness spreads: it wounds my soul
To see her thus. O I would spill my blood
A thousand times to save her.
mérope.
Subtle villain!
How artfully dissembled is that grief!
He kills me, and yet seems to weep my fate.
[She falls back into the arms of Ismenia.
euricles.
Madam, avenge yourself, avenge the laws,
The cause of nature, and the blood of kings.
ægisthus.
Is this the royal justice of a court?
Ye praise and flatter first, and then condemn me.
Why did I leave my peaceful solitude!
O good old man, what will thy sorrows be,
And thou, unhappy mother, whose dear voice
So oft foretold—
mérope.
Barbarian, and hast thou
A mother? I had been a mother yet
But for thy rage, thou hast destroyed my son.
ægisthus.
If I am thus unhappy, if he was
Indeed thy son, I ought to suffer for it;
But though my hand was guilty, yet my heart
Was innocent: heaven knows I would have given
This day my life to save or his or thine.
mérope.
Didst thou take this armor from him?
ægisthus.
No:
It is my own.
mérope.
What sayest thou?
ægisthus.
Yes; I swear
By thee, by him, by all thy ancestors,
My father gave to me that precious gift.
mérope.
Thy father! where? in Elis: how he moves me!
What was his name? speak, answer.
ægisthus.
Polycletes:
I’ve told thee so already.
mérope.
O thou rivest
My heart: what foolish pity stopped my