Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/216

198 Theseus: No chance of death thou'll find. Phaedra: Death cannot fail the heart that's bent on death. Theseus: Confess what sin must be atoned by death. Phaedra: My life. Theseus: Will not my tears avail with thee? Phaedra: That death is best which one's own friends lament. Theseus: She still persists in silence. By the lash And chains shall her old nurse be forced to tell What she will not declare. Put her in chains. Now let the lash lay bare her hidden thoughts. Phaedra: Hold, stay thy hand, for I myself will speak. Theseus: Why dost thou turn thy grieving face away, And hide the quickly rising shower of tears Behind thy robe? Phaedra: Thee, thee do I invoke, O father of the gods, and thee, O Sun, Thou shining glory of the heavenly dome, On whom as founder doth our house depend, I call ye both to witness that I strove Against his prayers, though sorely tried. To threats Of death my spirit did not yield; but force O'ercame my body. This the shameful stain Upon my honor which my blood must cleanse. Theseus: Come, tell, who hath defiled our honor so? Phaedra: Whom thou wouldst least expect. Theseus: But who is he? I wait to hear his name. Phaedra: This sword shall tell, Which in his terror at our loud laments, The adulterer left, fearing the citizens. Theseus: Ah me! What villainy do I behold? What monstrous deed is this? The royal sword, Its ivory hilt with tiny signs engraved, Shines out, the glory of the Athenian race. But he—where has he gone? Phaedra: These slaves have seen How, borne on speeding feet, he fled away. Theseus: Oh, holy piety! O thou who reign'st In heaven, and thou who rulest in the seas,