Æg.

I keep my vow:

This is the day that raised me to a throne,
And 'stablish'd my authority in Argos.

Thy mut'nous spirit still resists my power.

Elec. I was not born to bow before Ægisthus. Eg. Not born!-Who then is master of thy fate? What voice but mine shall sentence thee? what power Stay the swift execution of thy doom?

I banish thee from Argos. On the day

Thy foot henceforth infests its soil, thou diest.
Nor will I leave obedience to thy fears.
A slave whom I can trust, howe'er far off,
Shall call thee wife; or by a looser title
Command thy person.

Elec.

Infamous the thought!

And worthy of Ægisthus.

Eg.

Before night,

Willing or not, thou go'st; therefore be brief
In preparation. Hence, for a short hour,
I go. When I return, expect to hear
Another, of the race of Agamemnon,

My dearest foe, is made secure for ever.

Cly. What means that threat? Has thy rage vow'd the death

Of all my children?

Eg.
Tell me-seems their death
A crime of deeper dye than was their father's?
Cly. Oh horrible reproof! and must my soul,
Trammell'd by thee in guilt, by thee be stung
With that our mutual act?

Elec.

Where'er I go,

Whate'er my fate, I cannot know or see

More misery than I leave behind me here.

Plagues are ye both, and scorpions each to the other. Lo, the endearments ye have bought with blood, Your confidence of heart and home of peace.

Such ever come to nuptials so cemented.

I need not wish you other than you are,
For your much torment.

Eg.

Instantly begone,

Thou matchless insolence! Where thou art found,
A source of discord never will be wanting.

Thou art our bane and torment. Hence! begone:
Reply not, but begone.

Elec.

I go, and gladly.

Exit, R.

Eg. No-never peace nor comfort can come near us

While she remains. Ever upon our ears
Harshly her voice has jarr'd. Sorrow and strife
Have been to us the fruit of her reproaches.

Our grief has been her scorn, our strife her mirth.
"Twas weak in thee to intercede for her

Cly. She is my daughter.
Eg.

Weaker still in me

To listen to thee.-More than banishment
Her death had served me.

Cly.

Still thy words give notice Of dreadful thoughts.. Alas! what would'st thou more? Eg. I would be king in Argos..safely king

Cly. And art thou not, with absolute dominion?

Of life and death, of property and honour,
Thy voice disposes freely. To thy nod
Obedience runs, swift as the forked bolt
That executes the will of highest Jove.
What more is wanting to thee?
Eg.
Safety-safety.
Not always from the will obedience flows:
The knee may bend, e'en when the heart rebels.
Dark rumours are afloat: secret repinings
Are breathed, that slur my just authority:
And knots of men, in corners met, disperse
O' the sudden from the eye of observation.
Whispers I hear, and faces in the crowd
I see, that please me not. I know Orestes
Has friends in Argos: these cabal together,
And wish me dead. He is the source and fountain
Of every ill that threatens me: he dies,

And their sole band of union is dissever'd.

Cly. He dies! my son-Orestes dies! Oh Heaven!
And would'st thou perpetrate a crime so useless?—
Far hence he wanders in obscurity:

Too far to work thee harm. He is my son.
Much have I done,-much bear for thee, Ægisthus.
Be this my only guerdon-spare my son.

Eg. And hast thou gone thus far with me in blood
To pluck me back, even now-when my soul grasps
Her full desire ?-I go right on-nor pause
To weigh the value of a stripling's head,
That stands between me and security.
To thee the father's death was needful-I
Require the son's.-It is resolved-he dies.

Cly. Not if a mother's arm has power to save. Eg. One husband found it strong-I fear its power Is weak for safety.

Cly.

Oh, ferocious heart!

Not fully known till now!-Though deep in guilt
A fatal passion plunged me, in my breast
Amid sad wreck some natural feelings live:
Wake not a mother's fury.

Æg.

Well I know

A husband sleeps not safely by thy side.

Thyself beware my wrath.-Orestes dies.

[EGISTHUS goes out, L.-CLYTEMNESTRA stands for a time in agitation—then goes out on the opposite side, R.

ACT II.

SCENE I.-The skirts of a Grove near the Palace of
the Pelopida. In the midst, the Tomb of Agamem-
non. Argos in the distance-not too remote.
Enter ORESTES and PYLADES down the steps, R. U. E.,
with an Urn.

Orest. Here is the scene of our great enterprise.
Days of my childhood, rise not on my soul:
Awhile ye must give way to sterner thoughts.
Poor is thy welcome, Pylades, in Argos.
We come not like undoubted heirs of empire,
No; nor like men that bear Heaven's awful warrant
With nature's, to avenge a father's death.
Methinks it shames my great progenitors,
Thus, like a spy, in darkness and disguise
To steal even on a murderer.

Pyl. (L.)

Remember, No way, but this, the oracle permitted.

Orest. (R.) Oh, let not his escape be possible, All righteous Powers! Give empire where you will!

I welcome any fate that may befall me,

Let but this hand avenge my father's death.

Pyl. When from the fate-foretelling shrine of Delphos Apollo deigns to answer mortal men,

The sacred voice admits no question-Death

And ruin follow on the least infraction

Of his high mandate. When with thee I bow'd
Within the fane, thus spoke the voice divine:
"By fraud the deed was done: with fraudful hand

In secret take thou vengeance of the crime.

Thy faithful friend alone be thy companion.
Beware: to none disclose thy name or purpose.'
Orest. The solemn sounds seem yet to thrill my car.
Pyl. But, dear Orestes, in thy zeal not always
Their caution is retain'd.

Orest.

"Tis true, my spirit Abhors and starts from this dark creeping practice.

Pyl. The hand of fate is on us even now:
And we are destined to achieve this work-
Whether with good or evil to ourselves,
Our strict or loose obedience may determine.
"Twas not a mere chance motion of the billows
That drove us on this shore, when we alone
Of all that climb'd the bark on Crissa's strand
Escaped the fury of the insatiate wave.

Orest. Nor without influence of some power divine, Amid the wild confusion of the wreck,

Grasp'd I this urn, as to the plank I clung,

When rose the last shriek of the crew; and suck'd
Within the merciless gurge the ship went down.
The powers that saved me when Ægisthus' son
Came darkly plotting on my life in Phocis,
These from the wreck have saved with me his ashes
Closed in this urn, buoy'd up and floated on

Above the oozy bottoms of the deep,

An omen of destruction to Ægisthus.

Pyl. What surer omen have we than our safety, When all else perish'd? Though not even a weapon Is left to us, do I the more despond?

The Gods require not armed multitudes;

The naked hand is mightier than the sword,

If they accept and bless its ministry.

Orest. They leave me thee, my Pylades: in thee I have a thousand swords.

Pyl.

No more, no more.

Be cautious. For my care, that sole return

I ask thee. Now, indeed, our task begins.

Orest. From this time shall I count each hour of life
Left to Ægisthus as my shame: one wish
Alone burns in me: even at once to enter-
To seek the murderer-to rush upon him-

Though girt by all his guards around and pierce
His felon bosom with a thousand wounds.

Pyl. This is the feeling that must bear thee through;
But it must serve, not master thee. Thy fury
Looks out too madly from those flashing eyes

If I but name Ægisthus.

In his house

Be thou to him as a consuming fire,

But cover close the dangerous element.

Let nothing seen give warning of his peril.

Orest. Blame me not, Fylades! Think what I am: Think where we stand: look there: within those walls

Was my dear father treacherously murder'd.

There have the murderers revell'd for long years,
Exulting in their spoil. Oh! I am tame,

Base, cowardly, and spiritless.

Pyl.

Be patient.
Orest. Why burst I not at once upon the tyrant?
Why haste I not to rouse up in my favour
The people, by one passionate appeal?

Pyl. Madness! what hath the oracle enjoin'd?
Think'st thou the guilty have no spies ?-Thy head
Were cheaply bought by all the tyrant's treasures:
One word in public utter'd were thy ruin

Orest. I will, I will be wary—I resign
Myself to thee.
Pyl.
The tidings of thy death,
Feign'd, to deceive Ægisthus, and this urn,
In which, for his son's ashes, he shall think
Those of Orestes glut his hate, will give
A ready entrance to the tyrant's presence.
When face to face we stand with him, Orestes,
Let me declare our tidings: I shall speak
More calmly than the son of Agamemnon
To that assassin may.

Orest.

Even as thou wilt.

So I may quickly act, say what thou wilt.
Only remember this: whate'er may happen,
No arm but mine must touch the murderer's life.
No, not a drop of that devoted blood
Will I concede to any he that lives,
Not even to thee-Touch not a hair of him,—
Mine is the victim-mine.-

[Vehemently

Now, by the powers,

Pyl.
That thus far have conducted us in safety,
I think thou hast resolved to scoff at caution
Here stand we in the very jaws of danger,
Close by the palace, and thou ravest as loudly
As though gisthus lay beneath thy sword,
Master'd, and shrinking from the blow. At hand
Is other witness than these cypresses

That wave around. And, lo there! by my fears,
The women of the house come forth, and bend