Page:The Plays of Euripides Vol. 1- Edward P. Coleridge (1910).djvu/169

Rh the homes of Hellas? Wherefore shall he never say his generous deeds were lavished on a worthless wretch.

[Exeunt and Servant.

. Ah me! I loathe this entering in, and loathe to see my widowed home. Woe, woe is me! Whither shall I go? Where stand? what say? or what suppress? Would God that I were dead! Surely in an evil hour my mother gave me birth. The dead I envy, and would fain be as they, and long to dwell within their courts. No joy to me to see the light, no joy to tread the earth; such a hostage death hath reft me of and handed o'er to Hades.

. Move forward, go within the shelter of thy house.

. Woe is me!

. Thy sufferings claim these cries of woe.

. Ah me!

. Through anguish hast thou gone, full well I know.

. Alas! alas!

. Thou wilt not help the dead one whit.

. O misery!

. Nevermore to see thy dear wife face to face is grief indeed.

. Thy words have probed the sore place in my heart. What greater grief can come to man than the loss of a faithful wife? Would I had never married or shared with her my home! I envy those 'mongst men who have nor wife nor child. Theirs is but one life; to grieve for that is no excessive burden; but to see children fall ill and bridal beds emptied by death's ravages is too much to bear, when one might go through life without wife or child.

. A fate we cannot cope with is come upon us.

. Woe is me!

. But thou to sorrow settest no limit.

. Ah! ah!

. 'Tis hard to bear, but still—

. Woe is me!