Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/101



Medea: Ye gods of wedlock, thou the nuptial couch's guard, Lucina, thou from whom that tamer of the deep, The Argo's pilot, learned to guide his pristine bark, And Neptune, thou stern ruler of the ocean's depths, And Titan, by whose rays the shining day is born, Thou triformed maiden Hecate, whose conscious beams With splendor shine upon the mystic worshipers— Upon ye all I call, the powers of heaven, the gods By whose divinity false Jason swore; and ye Whose aid Medea may more boldly claim, thou world Of endless night, th' antipodes of heavenly realms, Ye damnéd ghosts, thou lord of hades' dark domain, Whose mistress was with trustier pledge won to thy side— Before ye all this baleful prayer I bring: Be near! Be near! Ye crime-avenging furies, come and loose Your horrid locks with serpent coils entwined, and grasp With bloody hands the smoking torch; be near as once Ye stood in dread array beside my wedding couch. Upon this new-made bride destruction send, and death Upon the king and all the royal line! But he, My husband, may he live to meet some heavier doom; This curse I imprecate upon his head; may he, Through distant lands, in want, in exile wander, scorned And houseless. Nay, may he once more my favor woo; A stranger's threshold may he seek where now he walks A well-known guest; and—this the blackest curse I know— May children rise to him to emulate their sire, Their mother's image bear.—Now won is vengeance, won! For I have children borne.—Nay, nay, 'tis empty plaints And useless words I frame. Shall I not rather rush Against the foe and dash the torches from their hands, The light from heaven? Does Father Phoebus suffer this? Do men behold his face, as, seated in his car, He rolls along th' accustomed track of sky serene? Why does he not return to morning's gates, the law