Chorus
Woe! woe! alas! Thou son of Pheres, woe! Ah, thy fate in losing thy wife!
Is not this enough to make thee slay thyself, ah! more than cause enough to tie the noose aloft and fit it to the neck?
Yea, for to-day wilt thou witness the death of her that was not merely dear, but dearest of the dear.
Look, look! she cometh even now, her husband with her, from the house.
Cry aloud and wail, O land of Pherae,
230
wail for the best of women, as with sickness worn she passes ’neath the earth to Hades, lord below.
235
Is not this enough to make thee slay thyself, ah! more than cause enough to tie the noose aloft and fit it to the neck?
Yea, for to-day wilt thou witness the death of her that was not merely dear, but dearest of the dear.
Look, look! she cometh even now, her husband with her, from the house.
Cry aloud and wail, O land of Pherae,
Alcestis. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
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