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Truce to this utterance! to its dimmest verge I do foreknow the future, hour by hour, Nor can whatever pang may smite me now Smite with surprise. The destiny ordained I must endure to the best, for well I wot That none may challenge with Necessity. Yet is it past my patience, to reveal, Or to conceal, these issues of m... |
[_A pause._] Listen! what breath of sound, what fragrance soft hath risen Upward to me? is it some godlike essence, Or being half-divine, or mortal presence? Who to the world’s end comes, unto my craggy prison? Craves he the sight of pain, or what would he behold? Gaze on a god in tortures manifold, Heinous to Zeus, an... |
Enter the CHORUS OF OCEANIDES in winged cars. CHORUS. Ah, fear us not! as friends, with rivalry Of swiftly-vying wings, we came together Unto this rock and thee! With our sea-sire we pleaded hard, until We won him to our will, And swift the wafting breezes bore us hither. The heavy hammer’s steely blow Thrilled to our ... |
PROMETHEUS. Ah well-a-day! ye come, ye come From the Sea-Mother’s teeming home— Children of Tethys and the sire Who around Earth rolls, gyre on gyre, His sleepless ocean-tide! Look on me—shackled with what chain, Upon this chasm’s beetling side I must my dismal watch sustain! |
CHORUS. Yea, I behold, Prometheus! and my fears Draw swiftly o’er mine eyes a mist fulfilled of tears, When I behold thy frame Bound, wasting on the rock, and put to shame By adamantine chains! The rudder and the rule of Heaven Are to strange pilots given: Zeus with new laws and strong caprice holds sway, Unkings the a... |
PROMETHEUS. Had he but hurled me, far beneath The vast and ghostly halls of Death, Down to the limitless profound Of Tartarus, in fetters bound, Fixed by his unrelenting hand! So had no man, nor God on high, Exulted o’er mine agony— But now, a sport to wind and sky, Mocked by my foes, I stand! |
CHORUS. What God can wear such ruthless heart As to delight in ill? Who in thy sorrow bears not part? Zeus, Zeus alone! for he, with wrathful will, Clenched and inflexible, Bears down Heaven’s race—nor end shall be, till hate His soul shall satiate, Or till, by some device, some other hand Shall wrest from him his ster... |
PROMETHEUS. Yet,—though in shackles close and strong I lie in wasting torments long,— Yet the new tyrant, ’neath whose nod Cowers down each blest subservient god, One day, far hence, my help shall need, The destined stratagem to read, Whereby, in some yet distant day, Zeus shall be reaved of pride and sway: And no pers... |
CHORUS. O strong in hardihood, thou striv’st amain Against the stress of pain! But yet too free, too resolute thy tongue In challenging thy wrong! Ah, shuddering dread doth make my spirit quiver, And o’er thy fate sits Fear! I see not to what shore of safety ever Thy bark can steer— In depths unreached the will of Zeus... |
PROMETHEUS. Ay, stern is Zeus, and Justice stands, Wrenched to his purpose, in his hands— Yet shall he learn, perforce, to know A milder mood, when falls the blow— His ruthless wrath he shall lay still, And he and I with mutual will In concord’s bond shall go. |
CHORUS. Unveil, say forth to us the tale entire, Under what imputation Zeus laid hands On thee, to rack thee thus with shameful pangs? Tell us—unless the telling pain thee—all! |
PROMETHEUS. Grievous alike are these things for my tongue, Grievous for silence—rueful everyway. Know that, when first the gods began their strife, And heaven was all astir with mutual feud— Some willing to fling Cronos from his throne, And set, forsooth, their Zeus on high as king, And other some in contrariety Strivi... |
CHORUS. A heart of steel, a mould of stone were he, Who could complacently behold thy pains I came not here as craving for this sight, And, seeing it, I stand heart-wrung with pain. |
PROMETHEUS. Yea truly, kindly eyes must pity me! CHORUS. Say, didst thou push transgression further still? PROMETHEUS. Ay, man thro’ me ceased to foreknow his death. |
CHORUS. What cure couldst thou discover for this curse? PROMETHEUS. Blind hopes I sent to nestle in man’s heart. CHORUS. This was a goodly gift thou gavest them. |
PROMETHEUS. Yet more I gave them, even the boon of fire. CHORUS. What? radiant fire, to things ephemeral? PROMETHEUS. Yea—many an art too shall they learn thereby! |
CHORUS. Then, upon imputation of such guilt, Doth Zeus without surcease torment thee thus? Is there no limit to thy course of pain? |
PROMETHEUS. None, till his own will shall decree an end. CHORUS. And how shall he decree it? say, what hope? Seëst thou not thy sin? yet of that sin It irks me sore to speak, as thee to hear. Nay, no more words hereof; bethink thee now, From this ordeal how to find release. |
PROMETHEUS. Easy it is, for one whose foot is set Outside the slough of pain, to lesson well With admonitions him who lies therein. With perfect knowledge did I all I did, I willed to sin, and sinned, I own it all— I championed men, unto my proper pain. Yet scarce I deemed that, in such cruel doom, Withering upon this ... |
CHORUS. To willing hearts, and schooled to feel, Prometheus, came thy tongue’s appeal; Therefore we leave, with lightsome tread, The flying cars in which we sped— We leave the stainless virgin air Where winged creatures float and fare, And by thy side, on rocky land, Thus gently we alight and stand, Willing, from end t... |
The CHORUS alight from their winged cars. Enter OCEANUS mounted on a griffin. OCEANUS. Thus, over leagues and leagues of space I come, Prometheus, to thy place— By will alone, not rein, I guide The winged thing on which I ride; And much, be sure, I mourn thy case— Kinship is Pity’s bond, I trow; And, wert thou not akin... |
PROMETHEUS. Ho, what a sight of marvel! what, thou too Comest to contemplate my pains, and darest— (Yet how, I wot not!) leaving far behind The circling tide, thy namefellow, and those Rock-arched, self-hollowed caverns—thus to come Unto this land, whose womb bears iron ore? Art come to see my lot, resent with me The i... |
OCEANUS. Yea, I behold, Prometheus! and would warn Thee, spite of all thy wisdom, for thy weal! Learn now thyself to know, and to renew A rightful spirit within thee, for, made new With pride of place, sits Zeus among the gods! Now, if thou choosest to fling forth on him Words rough with anger thus and edged with scorn... |
PROMETHEUS. O enviable thou, and unaccused— Thou who wast art and part in all I dared! And now, let be! make this no care of thine, For Zeus is past persuasion—urge him not! Look to thyself, lest thine emprise thou rue. |
OCEANUS. Thou hast more skill to school thy neighbour’s fault Than to amend thine own: ’tis proved and plain, By fact, not hearsay, that I read this well. Yet am I fixed to go—withhold me not— Assured I am, assured, that Zeus will grant The boon I crave, the loosening of thy bonds. |
PROMETHEUS. In part I praise thee, to the end will praise; Goodwill thou lackest not, but yet forbear Thy further trouble! If thy heart be fain, Bethink thee that thy toil avails me not. Nay, rest thee well, aloof from danger’s brink! I will not ease my woe by base relief In knowing others too involved therein. Away th... |
OCEANUS. Nay, but, Prometheus, know’st thou not the saw— _Words can appease the angry soul’s disease?_ PROMETHEUS. Ay—if in season one apply their salve, Not scorching wrath’s proud flesh with caustic tongue. |
OCEANUS. But in wise thought and venturous essay Perceivest thou a danger? prithee tell! PROMETHEUS. I see a fool’s good nature, useless toil. |
OCEANUS. Let me be sick of that disease; I know, Loyalty, masked as folly, wins the way. PROMETHEUS. But of thy blunder I shall bear the blame. |
OCEANUS. Clearly, thy word would send me home again. PROMETHEUS. Lest thy lament for me should bring thee hate. OCEANUS. Hate from the newly-throned Omnipotence? |
PROMETHEUS. Be heedful—lest his will be wroth with thee! OCEANUS. Thy doom, Prometheus, cries to me _Beware!_ PROMETHEUS. Mount, make away, discretion at thy side! |
OCEANUS. Thy word is said to me in act to go: For lo, my hippogriff with waving wings Fans the smooth course of air, and fain is he To rest his limbs within his ocean stall. |
[_Exit OCEANUS._] CHORUS. For the woe and the wreck and the doom, Prometheus I utter my sighs; O’er my cheek flows the fountain of tears from tender, compassionate eyes. For stern and abhorred is the sway of Zeus on his self-sought throne, And ruthless the spear of his scorn, to the gods of the days that are done. And ... |
PROMETHEUS. Deem not that I in pride or wilful scorn Restrain my speech; ’tis wistful memory That rends my heart, when I behold myself Abased to wretchedness. To these new gods I and none other gave their lots of power In full attainment; no more words hereof I speak—the tale ye know. But listen now Unto the rede of mo... |
CHORUS. A rueful doom is thine! distraught of soul, And all astray, and like some sorry leech Art thou, repining at thine own disease, Unskilled, unknowing of the needful cure. |
PROMETHEUS. More wilt thou wonder when the rest thou hearest— What arts for them, what methods I devised. Foremost was this: if any man fell sick, No aiding art he knew, no saving food, No curing oil nor draught, but all in lack Of remedies they dwindled, till I taught The medicinal blending of soft drugs, Whereby they... |
CHORUS. Nay, aid not mortal men beyond their due, Holding too light a reckoning of thyself And of thine own distress: good hope have I To see thee once again from fetters free And matched with Zeus in parity of power. |
PROMETHEUS. Not yet nor thus hath Fate ordained the end— Not until age-long pains and countless woes Have bent and bowed me, shall my shackles fall; Art strives too feebly against destiny. |
CHORUS. But what hand rules the helm of destiny? PROMETHEUS. The triform Fates, and Furies unforgiving. CHORUS. Then is the power of Zeus more weak than theirs? |
PROMETHEUS. He may not shun the fate ordained for him. CHORUS. What is ordained for him, save endless rule? PROMETHEUS. Seek not for answer: this thou may’st not learn. |
CHORUS. Surely thy silence hides some solemn thing. PROMETHEUS. Think on some other theme: ’tis not the hour, This secret to unveil; in deepest dark Be it concealed: by guarding it shall I Escape at last from bonds, and scorn, and pain. |
CHORUS. O never may my weak and faint desire Strive against God most high— Never be slack in service, never tire Of sacred loyalty; Nor fail to wend unto the altar-side, Where with the blood of kine Steams up the offering, by the quenchless tide Of Ocean, Sire divine! Be this within my heart, indelible— _Offend not wit... |
Enter IO, horned like a cow. IO. Alack! what land, what folk are here? Whom see I clenched in rocky fetters drear Unto the stormy crag? for what thing done Dost thou in agony atone? Ah, tell me whither, well-a-day! My feet have roamed their weary way? Ah, but it maddens, the sting! it burns in my piteous side! Ah, but ... |
PROMETHEUS. Hear Zeus or not, I hear and know thee well, Daughter of Inachus; I know thee driven, Stung by the gadfly, mazed with agony. Ay, thou art she whose beauty fired the breast Of Zeus with passion; she whom Hera’s hate Now harasses o’er leagues and leagues of land. |
IO. Alack, thou namest Inachus my sire! Wottest thou of him? how, from lips of pain, Comes to my woeful ears truth’s very strain? How knowest thou the curse, the burning fire The god-sent, piercing pest that stings and clings? Ah me! in frenzied, foodless wanderings Hither I come, and on me from on high Lies Hera’s ang... |
PROMETHEUS. Lo, clearly will I show forth all thy quest— Not in dark speech, but with such simple phrase As doth befit the utterance of a friend. I am Prometheus, who gave fire to men. |
IO. O daring, proven champion of man’s race, What sin, Prometheus, dost thou thus atone? PROMETHEUS. One moment since, I told my woes and ceased. |
IO. Then should I plead my suit to thee in vain? PROMETHEUS. Nay, speak thy need; nought would I hide from thee. IO. Pronounce who nailed thee to the rocky cleft. |
PROMETHEUS. Zeus, by intent; Hephaestus, by his hand. IO. For what wrongdoing do these pains atone? PROMETHEUS. What I have said, is said; suffice it thee! |
IO. Yet somewhat add; forewarn me in my woe What time shall bring my wandering to its goal? PROMETHEUS. Fore-knowledge is fore-sorrow; ask it not. |
IO. Nay, hide not from me destiny’s decree. PROMETHEUS. I grudge thee not the gift which I withhold. IO. Then wherefore tarry ere thou tell me all? |
PROMETHEUS. Nothing I grudge, but would not rack thy soul. IO. Be not compassionate beyond my wish. PROMETHEUS. Well, thou art fain, and I will speak. Attend! |
CHORUS. Nay—ere thou speak, hear me, bestow on me A portion of the grace of granted prayers. First let us learn how Io’s frenzy came— (She telling her disasters manifold) Then of their sequel let her know from thee. |
PROMETHEUS. Well were it, Io, thus to do their will— Right well! they are the sisters of thy sire. ’Tis worth the waste and effluence of time, To tell, with tears of perfect moan, the doom Of sorrows that have fallen, when ’tis sure The listeners will greet the tale with tears. |
IO. I know not how I should mistrust your prayer; Therefore the whole that ye desire of me Ye now shall learn in one straightforward tale. Yet, as it leaves my lips, I blush with shame To tell that tempest of the spite of Heaven, And all the wreck and ruin of my form, And whence they swooped upon me, woe is me! Long, l... |
As I parted thence, In form and mind I grew dishumanized, And horned as now ye see me, poison-stung By the envenomed bitings of the brize, I leapt and flung in frenzy, rushed away To the bright waters of Cerchneia’s stream And Lerna’s beach: but ever at my side, A herdsman by his heifer, Argus moved, Earth-born, malevo... |
CHORUS. Woe! woe! avaunt—thou and thy tale of bane! O never, never dared I dream Such horror of strange sounds should pierce mine ear; Such loathly sights, such tortures hard to bear, Outrage, pollution, agony supreme, Wasting my heart with double edge of pain! Ah Fate, ah Fate! I gaze on Io’s dole, And shudder to my s... |
PROMETHEUS. Thou wailest all too soon, fulfilled of fear— Tarry awhile, till thou have learned the whole. CHORUS. Say on, reveal it! suffering souls are fain To know aright what yet remains to bear. |
PROMETHEUS. Lightly, with help of mine, did ye achieve That which ye first desired: from Io’s mouth craved to hear, recounted by herself, The story of her strivings. Listen now To what shall follow, to what woefulness The wrath of Hera must compel this maid. (_To_ Io) And thou, O child of Inachus, within Thine inmost h... |
So, from the wilds of Europe wander’d o’er, To Asia’s continent thou com’st at last. (_To the_ CHORUS) And ye, what think ye? Seems he not, that lord And tyrant of the gods, as tyrannous Unto all other lives? A high god’s lust Constrained this mortal maid to roam the world! (_To_ Io) Poor maid! a brutal wooer sure was ... |
IO. Alas for me, alas! PROMETHEUS. Again thou criest, with a heifer’s low. What wilt thou do, learning thy future woes? CHORUS. What, hast thou further sorrows for her ear? |
PROMETHEUS. Yea, a vext ocean of predestined pain. IO. What profit then is life to me? Ah, why Did I not cast me from this stubborn crag? So with one spring, one crash upon the ground, I had attained surcease from all my woes. Better it is to die one death outright Than linger out long life in misery. |
PROMETHEUS. Ill would’st thou bear these agonies of mine— Mine, with whose fate it standeth not to win The goal of death, which were release from pain! Now, there is set no limit to my woe Till Zeus be hurled from his omnipotence. |
IO. Zeus hurled from pride of place! Can such things be? PROMETHEUS. Thou wert full fain, methinks, to see that sight! IO. Even so—his overthrow who wrought my pain. |
PROMETHEUS. Then may’st thou know thereof; such fall shall be. IO. And who shall wrench the sceptre from his hand? PROMETHEUS. By his own mindless counsels shall he fall. |
IO. And how? unless the telling harm, say on! PROMETHEUS. Wooing a bride, his ruin he shall win. IO. Goddess, or mortal? tell me, if thou may’st. |
PROMETHEUS. No matter which—more must not be revealed. IO. Doth then a consort thrust him from his throne? PROMETHEUS. The child she bears him shall o’ercome his sire. |
IO. And hath he no avoidance of this doom? PROMETHEUS. None, surely—till that I, released from bonds— IO. Who can release thee, but by will of Zeus? |
PROMETHEUS. Fate gives this duty to a child of thine! IO. How? Shall a child of mine undo thy woes? PROMETHEUS. Yea, of thy lineage, thirteen times removed. |
IO. Dark beyond guessing grows thine oracle. PROMETHEUS. Yea—seek not therefore to foreknow thy woes. IO. As thou didst proffer hope, withdraw it not. |
PROMETHEUS. Two tales I have—choose! for I grant thee one. IO. And which be they? reveal, and leave me choice. PROMETHEUS. I grant it: shall I in all clearness show Thy future woes, or my deliverance? |
CHORUS. Nay! of the two, vouchsafe her wish to her And mine to me, deigning a truth to each— To her, reveal her future wanderings— To me, thy future saviour, as I crave! |
PROMETHEUS. I will not set myself to thwart your will Withholding aught of what ye crave to know. First to thee, Io, will I tell and trace Thy scared circuitous wandering mark it well, Deep in retentive tablets of the soul. When thou hast overpast the ferry’s flow That sunders continent from continent, Straight to the ... |
Lo, I have said: if aught hereof appear Hard to thy sense and inarticulate, Question me o’er again, and soothly learn— God wot, I have too much of leisure here! |
CHORUS. If there be aught beyond, or aught pass’d o’er, Which thou canst utter, of her woe-worn maze, Speak on! if all is said, then grant to us That which we asked, as thou rememberest. |
PROMETHEUS. She now hath learned, unto its utmost end, Her pilgrimage; but yet, that she may know That ’tis no futile fable she hath heard, I will recount her history of toil Ere she came hither; let it stand for proof Of what I told, my forecast of the end. So, then—to sum in brief the weary tale— I turn me to thine e... |
And on their track, astir with wild desire, Like falcons fierce closing on doves that flee, Shall speed the suitors, craving to achieve A prey forbidden, a reluctant bride. Yet power divine shall foil them, and forbid Possession of the maids, whom Argive land Shall hold protected, when unsleeping hate, Horror, and watc... |
IO. O woe, O rending and convulsive pain, Frenzy and agony, again, again Searing my heart and brain! O dagger of the sting, unforged with fire Yet burning, burning ever! O my heart, Pulsing with horror, beating at my breast! O rolling maddened eyes! away, apart, Raving with anguish dire, I spring, by frenzy-fiends poss... |
[_Exit IO._] CHORUS. O well and sagely was it said— Yea, wise of heart was he who first Gave forth in speech the thought he nursed— _In thine own order see thou wed!_ |
Let not the humble heart aspire To the gross home of wealth and pride; Nor be it to a hearth allied That vaunts of many a noble sire. |
O Fates, of awful empery! Never may I by Zeus be wooed— Never give o’er my maidenhood To any god that dwells on high. A shudder to my soul is sent, Beholding Io’s doom forlorn— By Hera’s malice put to scorn, Roaming in mateless banishment. |
From wedlock’s crown of fair desire I would not shrink—an idle fear! But may no god to me draw near With shunless might and glance of fire! |
That were a strife wherein no chance Of conquest lies: from Zeus most high And his resolve, no subtlety Could win me my deliverance. |
PROMETHEUS. And yet shall Zeus, for all his stubborn pride, Be brought to low estate! aha, he schemes Such wedlock as shall bring his doom on him, Flung from his kingship to oblivion’s lap! Ay, then the curse his father Cronos spake As he fell helpless from his agelong throne, Shall be fulfilled unto the utterance! No ... |
CHORUS. Beware! thy wish doth challenge Zeus himself. PROMETHEUS. I voice my wish and its fulfilment too. CHORUS. What, dare we look for one to conquer Zeus? |
PROMETHEUS. Ay—Zeus shall wear more painful bonds than mine CHORUS. Darest thou speak such taunts and tremble not? PROMETHEUS. Why should I fear, who am immortal too? |
CHORUS. Yet he might doom thee to worse agony. PROMETHEUS. Out on his dooming! I foreknow it all. CHORUS. Yet do the wise revere Necessity. |
PROMETHEUS. Ay, ay—do reverence, cringe and crouch to power Whene’er, where’er thou see it! But, for me, I reck of Zeus as something less than nought. Let him put forth his power, attest his sway, Howe’er he will—a momentary show, A little brief authority in heaven! Aha, I see out yonder one who comes, A bidden courier... |
Enter HERMES. HERMES. Thou, double-dyed in gall of bitterness, Trickster and sinner against gods, by giving The stolen fire to perishable men! Attend—the Sire supreme doth bid thee tell What is the wedlock which thou vauntest now, Whereby he falleth from supremacy? Speak forth the whole, make all thine utterance clear,... |
PROMETHEUS. Pompous, in sooth, thy word, and swoln with pride, As doth befit the lacquey of thy lords! O ye young gods! how, in your youthful sway, Ye deem secure your citadels of sky, Beyond the reach of sorrow or of fall! Have I not seen two dynasties of gods Already flung therefrom? and soon shall see A third, that ... |
HERMES. Think—it was such audacities of will That drove thee erst to anchorage in woe! PROMETHEUS. Ay—but mark this: mine heritage of pain I would not barter for thy servitude. |
HERMES. Better, forsooth, be bond-slave to a crag, Than true-born herald unto Zeus the Sire! PROMETHEUS. Take thine own coin—taunts for a taunting slave! |
HERMES. Proud art thou in thy circumstance, methinks! PROMETHEUS. Proud? in such pride then be my foemen set, And I to see—and of such foes art thou! |
HERMES. What, blam’st thou me too for thy sufferings? PROMETHEUS. Mark a plain word—I loathe all gods that are, Who reaped my kindness and repay with wrong. |
HERMES. I hear no little madness in thy words. PROMETHEUS. Madness be mine, if scorn of foes be mad. HERMES. Past bearing were thy pride, in happiness. |
PROMETHEUS. Ah me! HERMES. Zeus knoweth nought of sorrow’s cry! PROMETHEUS. He shall! Time’s lapse bringeth all lessons home. HERMES. To thee it brings not yet discretion’s curb. |
PROMETHEUS. No—else I had not wrangled with a slave! HERMES. Then thou concealest all that Zeus would learn? PROMETHEUS. As though I owed him aught and should repay! |
HERMES. Scornful thy word, as though I were a child— PROMETHEUS. Child, ay—or whatsoe’er hath less of brain— Thou, deeming thou canst wring my secret out! No mangling torture, no, nor sleight of power There is, by which he shall compel my speech, Until these shaming bonds be loosed from me. So, let him fling his blazin... |
HERMES. Bethink thee if such words can mend thy lot. PROMETHEUS. All have I long foreseen, and all resolved. HERMES. Perverse of will! constrain, constrain thy soul To think more wisely in the grasp of doom! |
PROMETHEUS. Truce to vain words! as wisely wouldst thou strive To warn a swelling wave: imagine not That ever I before thy lord’s resolve Will shrink in womanish terror, and entreat, As with soft suppliance of female hands, The Power I scorn unto the utterance, To loose me from the chains that bind me here— A world’s d... |
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