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Creusa
Ha! what unlooked-for sight is here?
1395
Ha! what unlooked-for sight is here?
1395
Ion
Peace, woman! now, as erst, thou art my enemy.
Peace, woman! now, as erst, thou art my enemy.
Creusa
Silence is not for me. Bid me not be still; for lo! I see the ark wherein I did expose thee, my child, in days gone by, whilst yet a tender babe
in the cavern of
Cecrops, ’neath the rocky roof of Macrae. So now will I leave this altar, though death await me.
1400
Silence is not for me. Bid me not be still; for lo! I see the ark wherein I did expose thee, my child, in days gone by, whilst yet a tender babe
in the cavern of
Cecrops, ’neath the rocky roof of Macrae. So now will I leave this altar, though death await me.
1400
Ion
Seize her; she is mad, springing thus from the shelter of the carved altar. Bind her arms.
Seize her; she is mad, springing thus from the shelter of the carved altar. Bind her arms.
Creusa
Kill! spare not! for I to thee will cleave,
and to this ark, and all that is within it.
1405
Kill! spare not! for I to thee will cleave,
and to this ark, and all that is within it.
1405
Ion
Is not this monstrous? here am I laid claim to on a specious pretext.
Is not this monstrous? here am I laid claim to on a specious pretext.
Creusa
Nay, nay, but as a friend art thou by friends now found.
Nay, nay, but as a friend art thou by friends now found.
Ion
I a friend of thine! and wouldst thou, then, have slain me privily?
I a friend of thine! and wouldst thou, then, have slain me privily?
Creusa
Thou art my child, if that is what a parent holds most dear.
Thou art my child, if that is what a parent holds most dear.
Ion
An end to thy web of falsehood! Right well will I convict thee.
1410
An end to thy web of falsehood! Right well will I convict thee.
1410
Creusa
My child, that is my aim; God grant I reach it!
My child, that is my aim; God grant I reach it!
Ion
Is this ark empty, or hath it aught within?
Is this ark empty, or hath it aught within?
Creusa
Thy raiment wherein I exposed thee long ago.
Thy raiment wherein I exposed thee long ago.
Ion
Wilt put a name thereto before thou see it?
Wilt put a name thereto before thou see it?
Creusa
Unless I describe it, I offer to die.
1415
Unless I describe it, I offer to die.
1415
Ion
Say on; there is something strange in this thy confidence.
Say on; there is something strange in this thy confidence.
Creusa
Behold the robe my childish fingers wove.
Behold the robe my childish fingers wove.
Ion
Describe it; maidens weave many a pattern.
Describe it; maidens weave many a pattern.
Creusa
’Tis not perfect, but a first lesson, as it were, in weaving.
’Tis not perfect, but a first lesson, as it were, in weaving.
Ion
Describe its form; thou shalt not catch me thus.
1420
Describe its form; thou shalt not catch me thus.
1420
Creusa
A Gorgon figures in the centre of the warp.
A Gorgon figures in the centre of the warp.
Ion
Great Zeus! what fate is this that dogs my steps?
Great Zeus! what fate is this that dogs my steps?
Creusa
’Tis fringed with snakes like an aegis.
’Tis fringed with snakes like an aegis.
Ion
Lo! ’tis the very robe; how true we find the voice of God!
Lo! ’tis the very robe; how true we find the voice of God!
Creusa
Ah! woven work that erst my virgin shuttle wrought.
1425
Ah! woven work that erst my virgin shuttle wrought.
1425
Ion
Is there aught beside, or stays thy lucky guessing here?
Is there aught beside, or stays thy lucky guessing here?
Creusa
There be serpents, too, with jaws of gold, an old-world symbol.
There be serpents, too, with jaws of gold, an old-world symbol.
Ion
1
Is that Athena’s gift, bidding her race grow up under their guardianship?
1
Is that Athena’s gift, bidding her race grow up under their guardianship?
Creusa
Yes, to copy our ancestor Erichthonius.
Yes, to copy our ancestor Erichthonius.
Ion
What is their object? what the use of these golden gauds? pray, tell.
1430
What is their object? what the use of these golden gauds? pray, tell.
1430
Creusa
Necklaces for the new-born babe to wear, my child.
Necklaces for the new-born babe to wear, my child.
Ion
Lo! here they lie. Yet would I know the third sign.
Lo! here they lie. Yet would I know the third sign.
Creusa
About thy brow I bound an olive-wreath that day, plucked from the tree Athena first made grow on her own rock.
If haply that is there, it hath not lost its verdure yet, but still is fresh, for it came from the stock that grows not old.
1435
About thy brow I bound an olive-wreath that day, plucked from the tree Athena first made grow on her own rock.
If haply that is there, it hath not lost its verdure yet, but still is fresh, for it came from the stock that grows not old.
1435
Ion. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
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