Nor did the bravest of his godlike race

Tread with such early hopes the paths of honour.

Thes. What can this mean? declare ambiguous Phædra,

"Say, whence these shifting gusts of clashing rage?
"Why are thy doubted speeches dark and troubled,
"As Cretan seas when vex'd by warring winds?"
Why is a villain, with alternate passion,
Accus'd and prais'd, detested and deplor'd?
Phad. Canst thou not guess?

Canst thou not read it in my furious passions?
In all the wild disorders of my soul?

Couldst thou not see it in the noble warmth
That urg'd the darling youth to acts of honour?
"Couldst thou not find It in the gen'rous truth
"Which sparkled in his eyes, and open'd in his face?"
Couldst not perceive it in the chaste reserve,
In every word and look, each godlike ačt,
Couldst thou not see Hippolitus was guiltless?

Thes. Guiltless! O all ye gods! what can this mean?
Phad. Mean that the guilt is mine, that virtuous
Phædra,

The maid's example, and the matron's theme,
With bestial passion woo'd your loathing son.
And when deny'd, with impious accusation
Sullied the lustre of his shining honour;

Of my own crimes accus'd the faultless youth,
And with ensnaring wiles destroy'd that virtue
I tried in vain to shake.

Thes. Is he then guiltless?

Guiltless! then what art thou?-and oh, just Heav'n!

What a detested parricide is Theseus !

Phad. What am I? what indeed, but one more black Than earth or hell e'er bore! "O horrid mixture "Of crimes and woes, of parricide and incest, "Perjury, murder,-to arm the erring father "Against the guiltless son." O impious Lycon, In what a hell of woes thy arts have plung'd me! Thes. Lycon!-Here, guards.-O most abandon'd villain !

Secure him, seize him, drag him piece-meal hither.

Guards enter.

Guard. Who has, my Lord, incurr'd your high displeasure?

Thes. Who can it be, ye gods, but perjur'd Lycon ! Who can inspire such storms of rage, but Lycon ? Where has my sword left one so black, but Lycon ? Where, wretched Theseus! in thy bed and heart, The very darling of my soul and eyes.

O beauteous fiend! But trust not to thy form. "You too, my son, was fair; your manly beauties "Charm'd ev'ry heart (O Heav'ns!) to your destruc

tion;

"You too were good, your virtuous soul abhorr'd "The crimes for which you died. O impious Phædra!” Incestuous fury! execrable murd'ress!

Is there revenge on earthy, or pain in hell,

Can art invent, or boiling rage suggest,

Ev'n endless torture, which thou shalt not suffer ?

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Phad. And is there aught on earth I would not

suffer?

Oh, were there vengeance equal to my crimes,
Thou needst not claim it, most unhappy youth,
From any hands but mine; t' avenge thy fate
I'd court the fiercest pains, "and sue for tortures,"
And Phædra's suff'rings should atone for thine;
Ev'n now I fall a victim to thy wrongs;

Ev'n now a fatal draught works out my soul;
Ev'n now it curdles in my shrinking veins
The lazy blood, and freezes at my heart.

LYCON brought in.

Thes. Hast thou escap'd my wrath? Yet, impious Lycon,

On thee I'll empty all my hoard of vengeance,

And glut my boundless rage.

Lyc. O mercy, mercy!

Thes. Such thou shalt find as thy best deeds deserve; "Such as thy guilty soul can hope from Theseus ; “Such as thou shew'd'st to poor Hippolitus.”

Lyc. "Oh! chain me; whip me; let me be the scorn "Of sordid rabbles, and insulting crowds ;" Give me but life, and make that life most wretched. "Phæd. Art thou so base, so spiritless a slave? Not so the lovely youth thy arts have ruin'd; Not so he bore the fate to which you doom'd him," Thes. “O abject villain!—Yet it gives me joy To see the fears that shake thy guilty soul,

H

"Enhance thy crimes, and antedate thy woes.
"Oh, how thou'lt howl thy fearful soul away!
"While laughing crowds shall echo to thy cries,
"And make thy pains their sport. Haste, hence,
away with him,"

Drag him to all the torments earth can furnish;
Let him be rack'd and gash'd, impal'd alive;

Then let the mangled monster, fix'd on high,

Grin o'er the shouting crowds, and glut their vengeance.

Hence! away!

[Lycon borne off.

And is this all? and art thou now appeas'd?

Will this atone for poor Hippolitus?

O ungorg'd appetite! O rav'nous thirst

Of a son's blood! what, not a day, a moment?

Phaed. A day, a moment! oh, thou shouldst have staid

Years, ages, all the round of circling time,

Ere touch the life of that consummate youth.
Thes. And yet with joy I flew to his destruction,
Boasted his fate, and triumph'd in his ruin.
Not this I promis'd to his dying mother,
When in her mortal pangs she sighing gave me
The last cold kisses from her trembling lips,

Her last words now falt'ring from her tongue,

"And reach'd her feeble wand'ring hands to mine; "When her last breath now quiv'ring at her mouth," Implor'd my goodness to her lovely son,

To her Hippolitus. He, alas! descends
An early victim to the lazy shades,

(O Heav'n and earth!) by Theseus doom'd, descends,

Phaed. He's doom'd by Theseus, but accus'd by

Phædra,

By Phædra's madness, and by Lycon's hatred. Yet with my life I expiate my phrenzy, And die for thee my headlong rage destroy'd. "Thee I pursue, (O great ill-fated youth !) "Pursue thee still, but now with chaste desires; "Thee through the dismal waste of gloomy death, "Thee through the glimm'ring dawn, and purer day, "Through all th' Elysian plains -O righteous

Minos!

'Elysian plains! There he and his Ismena "Shall sport for ever, shall for ever drink

"Immortal love; while I far off shall howl

"In lonely plains; while all the blackest ghosts "Shrink from the baleful sight of one more monstrous, "And more accurst than they."

Thes. I too must die;

I too must once more see the burning shore
Of livid Acheron and black Cocytus,

Whence no Alcides will release me now.

Phaed. Then why this stay? come on, let's plunge

together.

See, Hell sets wide its adamantine gates;

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"See, through the sable gates the black Cocytus
"In smoaky circles rolls its fiery waves ;"
Hear, hear the stunning harmonies of woe,
The din of rattling chains, of clashing whips,
Of groans, or loud complaints, of piercing shrieks,
That wide through all its gloomy world resound.