Four Tragedies and Octavia (9 page)

It is strange work for her

To lead the tired horses to the water,

To see them sink their steaming necks into the sea.

The Sun himself is like a stranger lost in a strange land,

Meeting the morning as he goes to rest,

Calling for darkness when no night has come.

The stars have not appeared, there is no light in all the sky,

No moon to break the darkness.

What darkness it may be, we cannot tell,

But pray that it be nothing else than night.

This is the fear, the fear that knocks at the heart,

That the whole world is now to fall in the ruin

Which Fate foretells; that Chaos will come again

To bury the world of gods and men; that Nature

A second time will wipe out all the lands

That cover the earth and the seas that lie around them,

And all the stars that scatter their bright lights

Across the universe.

Never again will the Lord of Stars lift his undying fire

To guide the march of time and give his signals to the world

For summer and for autumn. Never again

Will there be Moon to catch the Sun's fire in her face

And take night's terrors from us, as she runs, outstripping

Her brother's pace upon her shorter orbit.

All mingled into one vast void will fall

The multitude of gods.

That belt of constellations that marks out the passage of the years,

The highway of the holy stars that lies oblique across the zones,

Will fall away, and see the stars fall with it.

The
Ram
, at whose approach, even before the spring's full warmth,

Ships may spread sails to balmy zephyrs – he who once

Carried the frightened Helle
¹
over the sea,

Into the sea himself will fall.

The
Bull
, who holds the Hyades between his shining horns,

Falling will drag the
Gemini
down, and down will fall

The bent-armed
Crab
.

Leo
, resplendent with the fires of summer,

Victim of Hercules, will fall again.

Virgo
will fall, back to the earth that once she knew;

Libra's
true-balanced scales will fall, and after them

Sharp
Scorpio
. So too the aged
Chiron
,
²

With feathered arrows and Thessalian bow,

Will lose both bow and arrows.
Capricornus
,

Slow winter's icy harbinger, will fall and break the urn

Of the unknown one whom we call
Aquarius;
³

And last of the twelve signs, the
Fish
, will disappear.

Into the universal deluge will the
Wain
descend,

Which never touched the sea before;

The
Snake
, like a meandering river sliding

Between the
Bears
; and the great
Dragon's
smaller neighbour,

The freezing
Cynosura
;
¹
and the slow-footed watcher

Beside the wagon,
Arctophylax
,
²
will be shaken

And fall into the deep.

And are we chosen out of all earth's children

To perish in the last catastrophe

Of a disjointed universe? Are we

To see the world's end come?

A cruel fate brought us to birth, if we

Have lived to lose the Sun, or if our sins

Have driven him away.

But we must not complain, nor fear;

Too fond of life is he who would not die

When all the world dies with him.

ATREUS
: I walk among the stars! Above the world

My proud head reaches up to heaven's height!

Mine is the kingdom and the glory now,

Mine the ancestral throne. I need no gods;

I have attained the summit of my wishes.
¹

Well done – and more than well. I ask no more.…

No more? Enough? Nay, but I will do more.

I will yet see this father eat his fill

Of his dead offspring. Shame need not deter me;

Daylight is gone. Yes… I need have no fear

While heaven itself is empty; gods have fled;

Would I could stop them, drag them back by force

And make them see this banquet of revenge!

Yet
he
shall see it; that will be enough.

Day hides its face, but I will bring a light

Into your darkness, brother, and unseal

Your sorrows from the night that covers them.

You have sat long enough at your repast,

Now it is time to rouse you from your rest

And change that happy smile. I need Thyestes

Sober, to face so terrible a sight.…

    Slaves, open wide the doors! Let all men see

Our hall, our temple of festivity!

    Now… to watch his face!… to see its colour

Change, when he sees the faces of his sons!

To listen to his first tormented cries,

To see his body stiffen with the shock

As if struck dead. This will be my reward

For all my pains – I must not only see him

Broken, but watch the breaking when it comes.…

    There – now the doors are open and the hall

Is bright with torches. There, upon a couch

Of gold and purple he reclines full length,

His left hand propping up his drunken head.…

His stomach heaves.… Now I am god of gods

And king of kings! My prayers are more than answered.…

He has fed full, and now he drinks again

From a great silver goblet. Drink it up!

There's blood to spare from all those slaughtered cattle,

Of colour to match well with that old wine.…

Ay, try that cup to finish off the banquet!…

I want to see him drinking up that potion

Made with his children's blood; he would have drunk

Mine if he could!… Now he begins to sing

A song of jollity… his wits are wandering.

THYESTES
: Heart, dulled with long despair,

    Rise up, and banish care.

    Let fear and sorrow flee;

    Begone, chill poverty

    That banishment must know.

    Begone, the shame

    That clings to those brought low.

    Man, think not of your plight

    When down, but of the height

    From which you fell.
¹
'Twas good

    When, fallen from where you stood

    Upon a dizzy peak, you found

    Your footing firm on level ground.

    'Twas good, that in your state

    Of humbled misery

    You stood under the weight

    Of ruined royalty

    With back unbowed and head held high,

    An undefeated soul

    Courageous in calamity.

    Away, then, every mark

    Of ill, away the dark

    Shadows of destiny!

    Greet happy days with happy face;

    Forget the old,

    And put a new Thyestes in his place.

And yet, with those that have known evil days

One fault remains: the good time, when it comes,

Seems unbelievable; they will not trust it.

Fortune may smile again,

Those that have felt her heavy hand

Have little heart for laughter.

Grief, dost thou pluck my sleeve again?

Dost thou deny me this day's happiness?

Grief, dost thou rise unbidden, unprovoked,

And wouldst thou have me weep?

Dost thou forbid me crown my head with flowers?

She does, she does.…

So, there they go… roses of summer.…

Now they are off. And what is this?

My scented and anointed hair

Stands stiff with horror… tears on my cheeks

Not of my bidding… sobs in my voice

When I would speak.…

'Tis sorrow's way; she will not be denied

The tears that she has grown to love. Weep then!

Yes! I will weep, though in this time of joy.

Yes! I will weep and howl

And tear these Tyrian purple clothes. My brain

Forewarns me of a thing

That I shall have to weep for by and bye;

It knows the coming evil; just as sailors

Know that a storm is brewing, when the sea

Begins to rise and swell, though no wind blows.

Why, fool, what griefs, what dangers

Does your imagination see?

Believe your brother with an open heart.

Your fears, whatever they may be,

Are either groundless, or too late.…

It is no use; against my will some fear pervades my being;

I have no cause to weep, yet tears start from my eyes.

Is it for grief, or fear? Can a man weep

For too much happiness?

ATREUS
: Brother, we two must celebrate together

This memorable day, which will confirm

My kingdom and assure my confidence

In everlasting peace.

THYESTES
:                  I have dined well;

And you have wined me well. Only one thing

Can add a culmination to my pleasure –

That I should share my pleasure with my sons.

ATREUS
: Consider them already with you here

In your embrace. They are, and will be, with you

For evermore. No member of your family

Can now be taken from you. You shall see,

As you desire, their faces very soon,

And I shall see a father well content

Rejoicing in the presence of his loved ones.

Your cup shall be filled full; have no more fear.

Your sons are taking part in the enjoyment

Of festive fare – all the young folk together;

They shall be sent for. Let me offer you

A cup of wine from our ancestral vintage.

THYESTES
: I shall accept your hospitable toast,

Brother, with pleasure. A libation first

To our paternal gods; then drain the cup.…

But what is this? My hand will not obey me,

The cup grows heavy, I can hardly lift it.

The wine I try to drink avoids my lips –

Some trick? – the liquor dribbles down my chin.…

And see, the table rocked, the floor is shaking.

The torches' light sinks low; the sky itself

Hangs dull and heavy, seeming to be lost

Between the daylight and the dark. And why –

The ceiling of the heavens seems to shake

With violent convulsions – more and more!

The murk grows darker than the deepest darkness,

Night is engulfed in night; all stars have fled.

Whatever be this peril, may it spare

My brother and my sons; on my vile head

Let the storm break. But let me see my children!

ATREUS
: I shall; no day shall ever take them from you.

THYESTES
: What agitation in my stomach swells?

What moves within me? Some protesting burden

Lies on my heart, and in my breast a voice

That is not mine is groaning. O my children!

Where are you? Come! Your ailing father calls you.

If I can see your faces, all my pain

Will soon be ended. Do I hear them? Where?

ATREUS
[
exhibiting the children's heads
]: Embrace your children, father! They are here

Beside you. Do you recognize your sons?

THYESTES
: I recognize my brother! Canst thou bear,

O Earth, the weight of so much wickedness?

Wilt thou not break, and drown thyself and us

In the infernal Styx? Wilt thou not open

Into a vast abyss and sink in chaos

Kingdom and king? Not overturn Mycenae

And tear it stone by stone from its foundations?

We two should now be joined with Tantalus.

Unlock thy gates, O Earth, open them wide,

And to whatever dungeon lower lies

Than Tartarus, where our forefathers are,

Dispatch us quickly, down the steep descent

Into thy awful bosom, there to lie

Entombed under the weight of Acheron.

Above our heads let guilty spirits float,

Above our prison let the fierce hot flood

Of Phlegethon stir up the scorching sands!…

Dost thou lie idle, Earth, unmoved, inert?

The gods are fled.

ATREUS
:                 But here are your dear sons,

Whom you have asked to see. Receive them gladly.

Kiss them, make much of them, embrace them all.

Your brother will not stop you.

THYESTES
:                                  Treachery!

Was this our pact? Is this your brotherly love

And reconciliation? Is this peace?

What can I ask for now? Not as a father

To have my children given back to me

Alive; but as a brother I will beg

This from my brother, which can be no loss

To his most infamous revenge: to give

A funeral to my sons. Can you not give me

Something which you will see immediately

Thrown on the fire? A gift, not to be kept,

But to be lost, is all this father asks.

ATREUS
: You have them – all that now remains of them;

And all that is not here – is with you too.

THYESTES
: What, are they lying out for birds of prey

To make a meal of? Are they set aside

For savage beasts or creatures of the field?

ATREUS
:
You
, you yourself have dined on your sons' flesh!

You
have consumed this monstrous banquet!

THYESTES
:                                                       Gods!

This was the sight you could not bear to see!

This was the sin that drove the daylight back

To where it came from. O what words can tell,

What grieving can assuage my agony?

There are not words enough to speak of it.

Here are their severed heads, I see, their hands

Chopped off, the feet left from their broken legs,

The leavings of their father's gluttony.

My stomach moves; the sin within me strives

To find escape – cannot escape its prison.

Lend me your sword, brother, lend me that sword

Already glutted with my blood; its blade

Shall set my children free. You will not? Hands,

Beat on this breast until it break in pieces!…

No! Strike not, wretch! We must respect the dead.

When was such horror seen – when, in the days

Of Heniochus upon the awful crags

Of barren Caucasus, or in Procrustes' den,

The terror of the land of Attica?

I press my sons to death – they press their father.

Is sin illimitable?

ATREUS
:                There are bounds

To limit wilful sin; but sin's requital

Acknowledges no limits. I have done

Too little yet. I should have drained their blood

Warm from their wounds into your open mouth;

You should have drunk it from their living bodies.

I was too hasty, I rebuffed my rage;

I did it all myself – drove in the sword

To slay them at the altar, washed my hearth

With sacrificial blood, cut off the limbs

From the dead bodies, chopped them into pieces,

And threw the pieces into boiling cauldrons

Or had them slowly roasted on the fire;

Sinews and limbs I severed, warm with life;

I saw the meat impaled on slender spits

And heard it squealing; I heaped up the fires.

I should have made the father do all this!

His torture came too late; he never knew

What he was doing when his cursed teeth

Gnawed at those bones! His children never knew it!

THYESTES
: Hear him, all seas that wash the winding shores!

Gods, wheresoe'er ye be, now fled from us,

Hear all this wickedness! Hear, powers below,

Hear, Earth! And thou, deep night of Tartarus,

Give ear to these my prayers; to thee alone

I come; thy starless dark, like this black day,

Alone can look upon my misery.

I will not pray for any evil thing;

I will ask nothing for myself – what good

Could ever now be mine? For you I pray:

Almighty ruler of the sky, great king

Of heaven's realm – wrap all the universe

In awful darkness, let the winds make war,

From every quarter of the sky let thunder

Loudly resound; not with thy gentler hand

That tempers its assault upon the homes

Of innocent men, but with that hand of wrath

Which overthrew the triple-mountained pile,

Ay, and the mountain-topping Giants too,

Prepare thy weapons and discharge thy fires.

Avenge the darkness of this stolen day,

Send thunderbolts and lightnings to supply

The place of this lost sun. Thou hast no need

To weigh the issue; count us guilty, both;

Or else on me alone pronounce thy sentence.

Strike at this head, let triple forks of fire

Impale this breast – how else should I expect

To give my sons a burial, or commit