View:
By Scene
Medea
(within). Ah, me! a wretched suffering woman I! O would that I could die!
(within). Ah, me! a wretched suffering woman I! O would that I could die!
Nurse
’Tis as I said, my dear children; wild fancies stir your mother’s heart, wild fury goads her on.
Into the house without delay, come not near her eye, approach her not, beware her savage mood, the fell tempest of her reckless heart.
100
In, in with what speed ye may. For ’tis plain she will soon redouble her fury; that cry is but the herald of the gathering storm-cloud whose lightning soon will flash; what will her proud restless
105
soul, in the anguish of despair, be guilty of?
[Exit Attendant with the children.
110
’Tis as I said, my dear children; wild fancies stir your mother’s heart, wild fury goads her on.
Into the house without delay, come not near her eye, approach her not, beware her savage mood, the fell tempest of her reckless heart.
100
In, in with what speed ye may. For ’tis plain she will soon redouble her fury; that cry is but the herald of the gathering storm-cloud whose lightning soon will flash; what will her proud restless
105
soul, in the anguish of despair, be guilty of?
[Exit Attendant with the children.
110
Medea
(within). Ah, me! the agony I have suffered, deep enough to call for these laments! Curse you and your father too, ye children damned, sons of a doomed mother! Ruin seize the whole family!
(within). Ah, me! the agony I have suffered, deep enough to call for these laments! Curse you and your father too, ye children damned, sons of a doomed mother! Ruin seize the whole family!
Nurse
Ah me! ah me! the pity of it! Why, pray, do thy children share their father’s crime? Why hatest thou them? Woe is you, poor children, how do I grieve for you lest ye suffer some outrage! Strange are the tempers of princes,
115
and maybe because they seldom have to obey, and mostly lord it over others, change they their moods with difficulty. ’Tis better then to have been trained to live on equal terms. Be it mine to reach old age, not in proud pomp, but in security!
120
Moderation wins the day first as a better word for men to use, and likewise it is far the best course for them to pursue; but greatness that doth o’erreach itself, brings no blessing to mortal men; but pays a penalty of greater ruin whenever
125
fortune is wroth with a family.
130
Ah me! ah me! the pity of it! Why, pray, do thy children share their father’s crime? Why hatest thou them? Woe is you, poor children, how do I grieve for you lest ye suffer some outrage! Strange are the tempers of princes,
115
and maybe because they seldom have to obey, and mostly lord it over others, change they their moods with difficulty. ’Tis better then to have been trained to live on equal terms. Be it mine to reach old age, not in proud pomp, but in security!
120
Moderation wins the day first as a better word for men to use, and likewise it is far the best course for them to pursue; but greatness that doth o’erreach itself, brings no blessing to mortal men; but pays a penalty of greater ruin whenever
125
fortune is wroth with a family.
130
Medea. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by Tufts University.