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Deianira
672
Oh ! 'twas wonderful !
For you shall hear it. Know then, the white wool
Wherein 1 wrapped th' anointed vest, untouched
By any hand, dropped self -consumed away,
And down the stone, e'en like a liquid, flowed
Dissolving — but 'tis fit I tell you all —
Whate'er the wounded centaur did enjoin me
Mindful to practise, sacred as the laws
On brazen tablets graved, I have performed :
Far from the fire, and from the sun's warm beams
He bade me keep the charm ; from every eye
In secret hid, till time should call on me
To anoint and use it. This was done : and now,
The fleece m secret plucked, the charm prepared,
Long from the sun within a chest concealed ;
At length I brought it forth, and sent the gift
675
To my Alcides, when behold a wonder,
675
Most strange for tongue to tell, or heart of man
675
E'en to conceive ! Perchance the wool I cast
675
Into the sunshine ; soon as it grew warm
675
It fell to dust, consuming all away
In most strange manner, then from th' earth uprose
In frothy bubbles, e'en as from the grape
In yellow autumn jBlows the purple wine.
I know not what to thinly ; but much I fear
I've done a horrid deed. For, why, my friends,
Why should the dying savage wish to serve
His murderer ? That could never be. Oh no !
He only meant by flattery to destroy
Me, his destroyer. Truth is come too late,
And I alone have slain my dear Alcides ;
I know that by his arrows Chiron fell,
I know whate'er they touched they still were fatal,
That very poison mingled with the blood
Of dying Nessus, will not that too kill
My Hercules? It must : but if he dies,
My resolution is to perish with him ;
Those, who their honour and their virtue prize,
Can never live with infamy and shame.
Oh ! 'twas wonderful !
For you shall hear it. Know then, the white wool
Wherein 1 wrapped th' anointed vest, untouched
By any hand, dropped self -consumed away,
And down the stone, e'en like a liquid, flowed
Dissolving — but 'tis fit I tell you all —
Whate'er the wounded centaur did enjoin me
Mindful to practise, sacred as the laws
On brazen tablets graved, I have performed :
Far from the fire, and from the sun's warm beams
He bade me keep the charm ; from every eye
In secret hid, till time should call on me
To anoint and use it. This was done : and now,
The fleece m secret plucked, the charm prepared,
Long from the sun within a chest concealed ;
At length I brought it forth, and sent the gift
675
To my Alcides, when behold a wonder,
675
Most strange for tongue to tell, or heart of man
675
E'en to conceive ! Perchance the wool I cast
675
Into the sunshine ; soon as it grew warm
675
It fell to dust, consuming all away
In most strange manner, then from th' earth uprose
In frothy bubbles, e'en as from the grape
In yellow autumn jBlows the purple wine.
I know not what to thinly ; but much I fear
I've done a horrid deed. For, why, my friends,
Why should the dying savage wish to serve
His murderer ? That could never be. Oh no !
He only meant by flattery to destroy
Me, his destroyer. Truth is come too late,
And I alone have slain my dear Alcides ;
I know that by his arrows Chiron fell,
I know whate'er they touched they still were fatal,
That very poison mingled with the blood
Of dying Nessus, will not that too kill
My Hercules? It must : but if he dies,
My resolution is to perish with him ;
Those, who their honour and their virtue prize,
Can never live with infamy and shame.
Trachiniae. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.