Or be revenged on both; a word from you
Decides his fate, or punishment, or pardon;
Or as his mother I shall look upon you
As his accomplice; therefore make your choice:
I will receive your answer at the temple
Before the attesting gods.
[To the soldiers.
Guard well your prisoner:
Come, follow me:
[Turning to Mérope.
I shall expect you, madam;
Be quick in your resolve; confirm his birth
By giving me your hand; your answer only
Saves or condemns him; and as you determine
He is my victim, madam, or—my son.
mérope.
O grant me but the pleasure to behold him;
Restore him to my love, to my despair.
poliphontes.
You’ll see him at the temple.
ægisthus.
[As the guards are carrying him off.
O great queen,
I dare not call thee by the sacred name
Of mother, do not, I beseech thee, aught
Unworthy of thyself, or of Ægisthus;
For, if I am thy son, thy son shall die
As a king ought.
SCENE III.
mérope.
[Alone.
Ye cruel spoilers, why
Will you thus tear him from me? O he’s gone,
I’ve lost him now forever; wherefore, heaven,
Didst thou restore him to a mother’s vows,
Or why preserve him in a foreign land,
To fall at last a wretched sacrifice,
A victim to the murderer of his father?
O save him, hide him in the desert’s gloom;
Direct his steps, and shield him from the tyrant!
SCENE IV.
mérope, narbas, euricles.
mérope.
O Narbas, knowest thou the unhappy fate
To which I am doomed?
narbas.
Well I know the king
Must die; I know Ægisthus is in chains.
mérope.
And I destroyed him.
narbas.
You?
mérope.
Discovered all:
But thinkest thou, Narbas, ever mother yet
Could see a child, as I did, and be silent?
But it is past: and now I must repair
My weakness with my crimes.
narbas.
What crimes?
SCENE V.
mérope, narbas, euricles, ismenia.
ismenia.
O madam,
Now call forth all the vigor of your soul,
The hour of trial comes: the fickle crowd,
Still fond of novelty, with ardent zeal,
Press forward to behold the expected nuptials;
Each circumstance conspires to serve the tyrant:
Already the bribed priest has made his god
Declare for Poliphontes: “He received
Your vows, Messene was a witness to them,
And heaven will see the contract is fulfilled:”
Thus spoke the holy seer; the people answered
With acclamations loud, and songs of joy;
They little know the grief that wrings thy heart;
But thank the gods for these detested nuptials,
And bless the tyrant for his cruelty.
mérope.
And are my sorrows made the public joy?
narbas.
O these are dreadful means to save thy son.
mérope.
They are indeed: thou shudderest at the thought:
It is a crime.
narbas.
But to destroy thy child
Were still more horrible.
mérope.
Away: despair
Has given me courage, and restored my virtue:
Let’s to the temple; there I’ll show the people
My dear Ægisthus; ’twixt myself and the altar
Will place my son; the gods will see him there;
They will defend him, for from them he sprang:
Too long already persecuting heaven
Hath scourged his helpless innocence; and now
It will avenge him: O I will set forth
His savage murderer in the blackest colors,
Till vengeance shall inspire each honest heart
With tenfold rage: now dread a mother’s cries,
Ye cruel tyrants, for they will be heard:
They come; alas! I tremble yet, despair
And horror seize me: hark, they call, my son
Is dying: see the cruel murderer plants
A dagger in his breast: a moment more
And he is lost: ye savage ministers
[Turning to the sacrificers.
Of the base tyrant, you must drag the victim
Up to the altar; can you, must you do it?
O vengeance, duty, tenderness, and love,
And thou great nature, what will ye ordain,
What will ye do with an unhappy queen,
Abandoned to despair?
End of the Fourth Act.
ACT V.
SCENE I.