Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/107

Rh Creon: Go hence, and to the Colchians complain. Medea: I go, But let him take me hence who brought me to thy shores. Creon: Thy prayer has come too late, for fixed is my decree. Medea: Who judges, and denies his ear to either side, Though right his judgment, still is he himself unjust. Creon: Didst lend thine ear to Pelias, ere thou judgedst him? But come, I'll give thee grace to plead thy goodly cause. Medea: How hard the task to turn the soul from wrath, when once To wrath inclined; how 'tis the creed of sceptered kings To swerve not from the purposed course they once have taken, Full well I know, for I have tasted royalty. For, though by present storms of ill I'm overwhelmed, An exile, suppliant, lone, forsaken, all forlorn, I once in happier times a royal princess shone, And traced my proud descent from heavenly Phoebus' self. My father's realm extended wide o'er all the land Where Phasis' gentle waters flow, o'er Scythia's plains Whose rivers sweeten Pontus' briny waves; where, too, Thermodon's banks inclose the race of warlike maids, Whose gleaming shields strike terror to their foes. All this My father held in sway. And I, of noble birth, And blessed of heaven, in royal state was high upraised. Then princes humbly sought my hand in wedlock, mine, Who now must sue. O changeful fortune, thou my throne Hast reft away, and given me exile in its stead. Trust not in kingly realms, since fickle chance may strew Their treasures to the winds. Lo, this is regal, this The work of kings, which time nor change cannot undo: To succor the afflicted, to provide at need A trusty refuge for the suppliant. This alone I brought of all my Colchian treasure, this renown, This very flower of fame, that by my arts I saved The bulwark of the Greeks, the offspring of the gods. My princely gift to Greece is Orpheus, that sweet bard Who can the trees in willing bondage draw, and melt The crag's hard heart. Mine too are Boreas' winged sons, And Leda's heaven-born progeny, and Lynceus, he,