Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/209

Rh See, at thy feet I kneel and pray, resolved This day shall end my misery or life. Oh, pity her who loves thee— Hippolytus: God in heaven, Great ruler of all gods, dost thou this sin So calmly hear, so calmly see? If now Thou hurlest not thy bolt with deadly hand, What shameful cause will ever send it forth? Let all the sky in shattered ruins fall, And hide the light of day in murky clouds. Let stars turn back, and trace again their course Athwart their proper ways. And thou, great star Of stars, thou radiant Sun, let not thine eyes Behold the impious shame of this thy stock; But hide thy face, and to the darkness flee Why is thy hand, O king of gods and men, Inactive? Why by forked lightning's brands Is not the world in flames? Direct thy bolts At me; pierce me. Let that fierce darting flame Consume me quite, for mine is all the blame. I ought to die, for I have favor found In my stepmother's eyes. [To Phaedra.] Did I seem one To thee to do this vile and shameful thing? Did I seem easy fuel to thy fire, I only? Has my virtuous life deserved Such estimate? Thou, worse than all thy kind! Thou woman, who hast in thy heart conceived A deed more shameful than thy mother's sin, Whose womb gave monstrous birth; thou worse than she! She stained herself with vilest lust, and long Concealed the deed. But all in vain: at last, Her two-formed child revealed his mother's crime, And by his fierce bull-visage proved her guilt. Of such a womb and mother art thou born. Oh, thrice and four times blessed is their lot Whom hate and treachery give o'er and doom To death. O father, how I envy thee!