UC-NRLF 1& ^B lb? ms »<«iwiit>wi»in aM(aaw aii$p3ippi5P8iS ti]mHHHiiti iiiaKBitkma minttimitmiH^tmf*'^''iii 9i!^!!v fOBBHSaaSSIBSS .fiitriWMBBEBlWtlBSp ^ n yf REESE LIBRARY ( ' OF THK tjNIVERSlTY OF CALIFORNIA is Accessions No, _^:^:>r.^}^^_ Shetf No._^^^i^_^ '■ 3$ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/ariadneinnaxosOOrossrich ARIADNE IN NAXOS. BALLANTYNH, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON ARIADNE IN NAXOS BY R. S. ROSS 'AXAa Tt K€v pe'^ai/mi ; Oeo^ 5io Travra T«Act;T^, Tlpta^a Albs tJvYaTTjp'ATTj, ij naPTa^ aarai, OifXojuieVij, T^s ^eV 0' a»raXot i7ofies" ov yap iir ovfiet UtAvaTat aAX' apa rjye xar' ai^pwi/ Kpaara ^atVel, BXoffTous' ai'dptiirovs' — Homer. . 'AAA' ouTi TttVTTj t6i/8* eptara xprj nea-fiv' — Eiiripidi's. XafjiiTphi 6' ioiKev fjKiov n-pb? avToAas wdttiv i'C(oyjLieVas TruXas 'ASou, Of patriot longing for the common good, I Nerved was the sinewy arm with swerveless will, \ And dauntless resolution or to free, .. f f;r, ; , Or fall within the fetters, whose cold links .rv^« ...n, No fire melts off from the firm-holden prey, Desired of Hades for his; chill grey realms. Theseus. , ^ .: jj l Something of this, but thought went not so far,^ Nor winged my mind desires as high as these. 30 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Yet dost thou shadow something of my soul : For truly utmost masterdom, or loss Irreparable, waited such emprize — Irreparable loss, no middle mean And poor, covets the insatiate soul whose shafts Know aims no lower than those planned of gods ; And what high thing that mortal man doth prize,- If high, and he be high t' appraise its worth, — Will crown the brows if he nor strain for it, Nor clutch it with an eager iron grip When, striving near at length, his longing grasp May fetter it with unrelenting hold ? If he not know, nor see, nor care to toil |And spend his mortal breath and beauty of life I To attain all grace that Gods and men esteem, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. To his indifferent self-high-valued soul Will come the most desired grace ? will't pray Him take this fortune and this heaped content, While nor his patient feet and reined-in hand Spring forth to arrest the winged dream, nor stirs His unaspiring soul ? I did desire >j Great praise of men and gods, nor burnt desire v f With ineffectual flame. I strove and won. v' ■ Ariadne. Theseus, it needed not, let not thy speech Outrun the memory of thine ancient deeds. E'er this last feat the praise of Gods and men Was thine, nor needed greater measure of praise Of men nor favour of all Gods, for thou 32 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Before hadst won o'erflowing chalices. Of favour, and all praise from Gods and men. Not fame alone, but duteous pity moved thee. Theseus. Thou look'st too high, but part may'st fairly see ; High aiming marked the way, but sore the work Needed achievement and none rose to save ; The Cretan yoke pressed hard on Athens' neck For slain Androgens, Minos' son, thy brother. Ariadne. Unerring, unremitting, sleepless Fate ! Bitter the blow ! Androgens, my loved brother ! Oh, he was fleet and fair as is the dawn. And godlike in all prizM feats ; great fame ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 33 His conquering skill in Athens won for him — Great fame, and death, an envious, cruel death Calling for peremptory retribution ; But direful was the vengeance which engulfed The Athenian flower of youth for his dear sake. Theseus. Yet had he not sailed forth in quest of fame, Had he not died, perchance I ne'er had set My eager foot on Minos' tribute-craving soil, Nor won the crowning fame of all my fame. Ariadne. True, no excelling day had brought to Crete Athenian Theseus in the swift-oared ships. Still, to my view, like some empyrean-clasped 34 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Heaven-climbing peak, out-dazzling its white fellows, Stands out that shining day, unveiled of mists, Rising above all other heights, beyond All other luminous days, peerless, alone. Phaedra and I, young sister Phssdra, sitting In our high tower, a little off the court, Were tracing silken tales of varied scenes ; Weaving, she sang of silvery Artemis, The cruel huntress queen, but I stretched forth My trembling fingers to her rosy lips And bade her stop, nor turn the golden day To shivering night. The shuttle then flew swift Along the woof awhile I spun my tale. Apollo was my theme, and down the heavens The Sun-god urged his coursers to the marge. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 35 Then seemed to stay them, flashing to my prayer Soft flames of ardent variegated light And himinous-coloured rays athwart the place Where I with stretched-forth hands sounded his praise. Into my heart and breast and o'er my lips, Fulfilling my desire, his power he poured. And gazing through the hazy moted hour I looked, and saw the coming, and the ways, And good and ill, and how to assert and hold ; Kor did my paean cease its upward note, But ever while I saw and knew, I praised. And fastened all within my mind and voice ; Transfixed I saw, I felt, I knew, I sang. The beautiful; the bright-tressed, sunny Phaedra 36 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Stood near, much loved and loving ; the gold tone And rich accordant hues drew o'er her cheek A changing flush ; and when the web was wove, She, casting back her sun-smit tresses, sprang To me and cried : You spin a magic thread Of power to pierce the innermost recess Of hidden mystic life, you stir the pulse From imperceptible calm to lofty spires Of palpitating, wild, victorious thought, — And yet I know not what you say and sing. While still she spake, I, leaning 'gainst the bar Which opened towards the court, looked down and saw As 'twere Apollo's self, but bound and led By twain side-guarding soldiers towards the cells ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Prepared for those most miserable prisoners Destined to glut the man-devouring beast. Jarringly on the spring- tide music fell :-: '>;; '*7'>.r(? J The clanking of thy chains, as, led away From lower depths to lowest, thou didst pass. The shadow of thy state fell on us twain i Where leaning forth we gazed, and gazing wept ; The glory and the shining of the eve v- ,"? i .;->,fs > /. Faded to sullen gray, and from the sea A slight but darkening cloud approached, and threw A chilly veil around us both, meseemed. She shivered up to me, I stroked her brow And hands and clasped her tight, and knew I not In full, nor clearly, why one chilling shaft Should strike both hearts, and one cold cloud enveil 38 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Her fate and mine, yet separate, in one. Oh, murmured sister Phsedra in her grief. Is there no cunning may deliver him From out the horrid maze ? Contrive, contrive ! She thrilling clasped and drove me to the door. I knew — for all was fastened in my mind ; Straight down the spiral stair I fled to one. An ancient servitor, who oft had borne Me on his brawny shoulders in his prime While I a child. Now him beseechingly (For lightning-swift my brain had spun the thread To save thee from the monster's deathful jaws) : ' Who is the prince in iron bondage 'twixt The stalwart guards ? ' ' Theseus, the prince of Athens. ' ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 39 Then, when with Phaedra's aid the glueing wax, With many hidden charms and midnight spells And ancient magic songs of powerful bent. Was kneaded with the tangling tow to balls To be by thee, upon the beast's assault, Thrown in the yawning chasm of his jaws, I wove the guiding clue with many a tone, And ground the mighty blade to severing keenness With Hadean incantations, offering too Upon the sacred altar in the temple The finest peplus of our handiwork And other gifts propitious. This achieved, Our hoary warder led us to thy cell. From manacled dejection up thou sprang'st To greet the light the creaking hinge announced. 40 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Theseus. The light of hope and swift deliverance. Promptly thy palpitating words explained The dazzling visitation and intent ; The guards, beguiled with wine and many a gift, Obstructed not my passing forth to seek Within thy tower the enchanted implements ; And there until the fateful hour drew nigh I dwelt securely and in great content. Ariadne. In great content, but ah, too fleet the moons ! And swift the fierce fate-laden day drew on That summoned thee to battle with the beast. Relate again thy struggle and his death. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 41 Theseus. >, Armed with thy supple magic-tempered sword, Thy silken clue, and balls of wax and tow, I passed between the warders, near the den Whence first thou rescued'st me ; hard by in cells Lay my six Attic comrades, nigh to them 1 The seven fair maidens who should glut the rago f Of the devouring monster unappeased, c Unsatiate at my death with his repast, ..: .-.; i Should I fall in the fray ; their cries and prayers, Their lamentable moanings, pierced and whetted My lingering spirit yearning still to thee, And tying to a wall-embedded nail Thy silken thread, which in my hand unwound As eagerly I sped on through the close 42 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Thick-folded alleys, I my gloomy way Pursued, by one sole-guiding thought possessed. Dense silence as of Hades compassed me ; So long the winding way, I 'gan to think, Perchance no Minotaur was here encaged, That Minos' son was but a fabled monster, The human tribute victims to fierce famine, When on my ears a yell, unlike all yells (So human and unhuman was the sound) Had e'er assailed my sense, smote thunderingly. And roused my blood to know my foe at last So near. With answering shouts bounding I leaped To feast his eyes and mine on destined prey. Sudden the windings ceased, and lo, he lay Right in the spacious midst, crouching to spring. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 4$ As in the agora when the wrestler waits, With bended limbs, lowered neck and up-turned head, The rushing onslaught of his athlete foe ; So rested, balancing his hideous form On one firm-planted forward foot, this huge Man-monster, backward thrown the other limb And hand with open palm and fingers bent To gi'ip accordant with the forward claws The appearing prey. Fierce 'neath his horned brow The eyes glared flamingly. Soon as he saw Me there, his mouth yawned chasm-like, And on he sprang with an unearthly roar. Into his gaping jaws I quickly flung Thy tow-mixed wax, and while his glueing teeth Strove with the tangling stuff, I slashed thy sword 44 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Across his outstretched arms. The crimson tide Poured from the gaping gashes, maddening him, And stirring all my blood to savage strife — But why again affright thee with the tale ? Enough, thou knowest the end ; content thee so. Ariadne. Ah, well the throbbing moments I recall ! Silent the night when, looking towards the bay Where the brave bark which soon should bear us hence Was moored, I heard the faithful warder's voice. And knew thy desperate enterprise afoot ; And in that self-same night knew thee victorious, Victorious and safe for evermore — Oh what a joyful morn upon the waves 1 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 45 Theseus. But willingly thou went'st not forth, and fair Young Phaedra would'st have borne away with thee But for my counsel she were with us now ; I think I wronged thee there, she should have shared Thy faring. Hast no wish to see her, say — *Tis not so far to Crete in favouring gales, Though long has been our way with adverse storms. Ariadne. What would'st thou, say. Would'st not retrace our way ? Approach to Greta's shores were death for theo And me. Phaedra I ne'er may see again. 46 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Thesbus. Breathe not so mournfully. Return I meant not, But ift should be our lot here to abide A space, 'twere not impossible to send Some trusty slave with greeting to your sister, And means of transport to this fragrant isle. Ariadne. Shall we abide so long ? and art thou fain To have her with us 1 'Twere a smiling hour That brought young Phaedra to us lingering here. Theseus. Reflect on it, if lonesome moments e'er Betide thee, or oppressive clouds pack up Betwixt thee and the happier hours to come. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 47 Ariadne. What clouds can shadow while the light burns bright Beneath the steadfast brows in eyes that turn To light as steadfast, whatsoe'er the way The wandering footsteps tread in sun or storm 1 Theseus. Yet see clouds thicken angrily about; We'll seek some pleasant place of rest, till gloom And storm abata Let's haste to seek repose, We will not rashly quit this Naxian shelter. See here Nyctileus' honoured altar's decked, And well 'tis we were driven upon these shores. For fertile is the hospitable land And full of sweet allurements, yet may these 48 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Not hold me idling here. Sore was the way, And tedious the delays of angry waves, Us driving from our homeward course to this ; And now, after long days of toil and wrack, (The end for which 'mid cares and fears I sailed Attained, conquered the tribute-craving beast, Defied its guardian, Europa's son — The fierce and ancient foe of Pallas' city — ), I yearn me back to ^^Egeus, who in doubt And grave suspense awaits my tardy coming. Anxious my mind, for restless are our foes ; The Amazonian queen Hippolyta Threatens the sacred soil of Attica ; The bordering fields are desolate, for like A cloud of swift sharp-stinging gnats ARIADNE IN NAXOS, 49 These women-warriors afflict the folk. I would release the land from this scourge also ; iEgeus, to lay the strife and still to hold In full subjection these fierce women-foes, Desired me wed their warrior-queen, and place Her by my side on Athens' royal throne. Wliat says my Naxian-bound enchantress-queen 1 • Ariadne. Desired you wed Hippolyta ? Theseus, Darkly will lower his brows on me from Crete ! Theseus. Nay, darken not the clouds, which soon may clear, With darker thoughts and forecast sad and chill Of coming gloom, nor peer with moistened eye D so ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Into the distant ill which ne'er may gather. I meant to win the incredulous smile of thee. Ariadne. Will he not happily reflect and say : No less a scourge than are these women-foes Was that of Crete, the vanquished Minotaur ? Will he not ponder in this wise awhile 1 No more, like scarce fledged birds by cruel claws Torn from the nourishing nest, shall Athens' children Be dragged to feed the pitiless human pest ? Theseus. Full apt is man to think what ill betides Had ne'er o'erflooded him, had he but wrought Some deed undone, undreamt of while the low R£f. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. ^^^vW^ '^^r Still tide marred not the flowery banks and meads, Where now the ill is ended by some means Unpleasing to him, or irksome to be borne. Ariadne. Will he not grant, the fierce dishonouring fee With no remission still were wrung from out The throbbing breast of Athens' purest life ? Theseus. The thwarted will is often fain to glance Back from the cankering evil of the past Which smarts no more to that which chafing frets- iFrom memory of past pain allayed to this. Ariadxb. Thou hast not seen her ? is she fair as fierce 1 Mia. 52 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Theseus. Nay, question not, but choose some happier theme. Ariadne. But is her bearing warlike as her mind ? Or hath she gentle eyes 1 hath she been wed ? Theseus. She is not wed, her warrior- women love Their virgin Queen. Before their ranks she rides A wild and supple form. Oft it fell out, Whilst flying spears glanced woundingly, her eyes Flashing their steely fires smote full on mine. As, clinging lithe as agile spotted pard To her fleet, foaming steed, she past me gleamed. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 53 Ariadne. I see her in the cloud that veils thy fate. Theseus. Be not disquieted, bring back thy thoughts ; The storm abates, propitious calm returns, Thy slumbers will be soft and deep to-night. Abiadnb. No thought of her, but only strong desire To rid thy country of its foes now moves thee ? Theseus. No thought but that of Athens and of u3ilgcus ; These stinging Amazons must be subdued, And speedily, for Attic's fertile soil 54 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Is trampled down to arid barrenness By unremitting, ravaging warrior hoof ; E'en ^geus' royal towers are scarce beyond The spoiling sweep of their audacious aims. But cease our argument of gain and loss, Eather receive the profit and repose Which court thee in these soft embracing glades, While I see placed within some sheltering cove Our strained ship, till clouds sail far from hence. CHORDS. Stro. I. Ay, slowly and lingeringly walk by his side, O helpful enchantress, O strange Cretan bride, For heavy the air is with change and with sorrow, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 55 The unwilling feet shrink from the unveiling morrow, And curses may fall on the dawning which bore Great iEgides, a stranger, to Greta's fair shore, Though he left it victorious with thee, For thou gav'st him a sword and a clue, By thee Dsedalus' labyrinth he knew, By thy magic was Athens set free. Antis. I. In the oft-folded den where he gropingly strayed Thou shon'st in the darkness, nor wast thou afraid Of the peril, the wrath of the father forsaken. Of remorse which the sundering of bonds must awaken ; On the fame-f orging-steel, on the future his eyes, Thine on Athens and his ; then were rent all the ties 56 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. That bound thee to Minos and Crete. Helios, arrest thee to-day, For Pasiphae's child thy course stay, Thy joy-giving hours are too fleet. Theseus. Uninjured at her moorings lies my ship, And when these close-drawn clouds unweave their mesh 1 should embark. Yet are there shifting sands Where sinks the foot, and slippery rocks where grates The wave-left keel, while strive the anxious hands To float the tardy craft, before the tide. Receding quite, leaves her up high and far From destined sailing at the hoped-for hour. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 57 Such rocks, such sands do we of our own will Oft run upon, well-nigh to our undoing. Will iEgeus hail the home-returning son Who leads a hated Cretan to his halls 1 Or place paternal hancjs on head of one Whose sire imposed a galling tribute yoke On free Athenian necks, sore to be borne ? And rid of this, will our Athenians bow Before a Cretan reigning as a Queen On Attic soil — in Athens' royal halls ? Will Minos' child, Minos, our long time foe, The sister of Androgens, envy-slain. For whom our choicest flowers were yearly culled And cast before the fierce bull-headed man, — The terrible ofi'spring of this Cretan's mother, 58 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Queen Pasiphae, — think, will this stranger bride, This daughter of the tyrant who exacted The virgin tribute for his cagM beast, Be welcomed as a throne-mate for the heir ? I see the folk's ill-smothered wrath burst out, I see, too, calm derisive smiles, and hear Their swift smart speaking, iEgeus' long-nursed thought, To end this war and bring a daughter home By union with the Amazonian queen, (That so, before Aidoneus claims his prey, And darkness veils his venerable sight, His eyes may see great Athens firmly fixed In planted peace and glad prosperity) Would be confounded, if I homeward led ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 59 A daughter of the royal Cretan house. Here lie the rocks o'er which my ship must float To farther homeward waters, or by which Lingering she'll lose the tide of fortune's wave And find on these strange shores her end of sailing ; Yet how to cut the moorings dexterously, And leave unwarned the lonely wanderer here Upon this island desolate and far From Crete? Will not her prescient power pierce down The close-enwoven threads of tangled Time And snatch and pierce the flaws to my undoing 1 Mystic and strange her arts ; I see as 'twere A fate-ordainfed priestess in her mien ; Her eyes are fed with fires of ancient light, 6o ARIADNE IN NAXOS. The cycled past linked with the veiled to- come. Such light it was, mysterious, in the den Lit up the shrouded labyrinthian ways, And such Olympian kindled flame it is Which seemeth now to weld the present hour And circumstance with time and deeds to come, Thus piecingly to weave inseparably The strains of life we clutch, and those the hands Impatient strive to sever, tearing them From off the distaff's 'portioned, measured mass. jYet who consentingly will live and breathe iTo be the tool of Fate, by which she spinning sits Treading her will out, for behoof of whom ? Behoof of States, and swelling increment Of the great world hive. 'Mongst the gross, dull drones, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Or swarming workers (plodding, toiling on Unquestioning, unreflecting for whose weal, Whose profit, this day-labour unremitting), Who will be reckoned ? or unreckoned ? or (Nearer the exacter truth) unrecked of, sit, Or swarm, or drone, or work away the span Of life's allotted year-count ? Who will thus ? Why all the herd, or willing it or not, All save the few who, willing, greater toil Confront, and grapple with the dangerous stress Of fierce antagonistic elements, Not easily allayed, (though easily roused,) Kor quickly quelled ; all, save the rarer few, Grind the same mill, content or discontent ; Why be the wheel, the loom, the thread, the distaff 62 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. When strong to hold, to tread, to weave, to cut ? Why under foot be trodden, when of power To trample on the foe and cast away The arbiters, reject their arbitration ; And in their high usurped controlling seat Each God-filled man, ruling his fate, may reign King of himself, and for himself devise (And for the swayed of him) such web as he^ Has skill, and will, and might to execute ? Thus have I ever wrought, and though with strain Severe have e'er o'ermastered force opposing, And intricate and mazy schemes fulfilled, Scaling towered rocks and rugged pinnacles, Or groping through gray Hadean fastnesses Or labyrinthian underneath-world dens, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 63 Seeing but one end ever, clinging to't And shaking sheer away all weights soe'er (That cling as drowning men do use to cling, Cling to their own perdition and the ruin Of those who fain had snatched them from the jaws Of yawning woe and placed them on the shore Of safe repose), I've sped to strenuous deeds, Yet unachievM onward beckoning me. One is the drowner here, we swam awhile In stormy seas, and now stem Fate decrees Division of our onward course, one sinks, Or both, if one holds desperate on, apart One swimmer crests the swelling forward wave To clasp again the flowing purple hem Of rock-enthroned Fame's enswathing mantle 64 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. And rises to her side victorious. Unconscious sleeper ! may all fair content And this and all the fragrant dreams which now Possess thee stay with thee ; ne'er know thou less Of comfort, but aye greater, if perchance Thy dreams now owe thee aught of perfect joy ; May yet undreamed-of bliss be thine for aye. To thee. Great Goddess, I return again Unrivalled mistress of my earliest youth And days continuous thence to present hour ; Since I elected thee, and thou, Fame, Didst give thyself to my most eager will And striving of unquenchable desire, No thought nor wish has fallen away from thee, Nor weaker grown with weight of added years ; ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 65 Flawless my faith, no lesser deity Has ever held me thrall to her fair sway — Lesser in my esteem, though others bow. And own supremacy of deities Who throne and rule, and wide allegiance boast Of multitudes within this busy world-hive, Claiming and holding cream of much fair life. The rarest syrup of the downiest flowers, And finest honey of the well-filled comb. I ne'er have swerved from thy steep ways, Fame, Nor stayed to taste the offered wine cup wreathed With tangling tendrils, nor the o'erflowing comb, Save in such measure as the traveller needs For strength's renewing way-side entertainment, Receipt of hospitable offerings. 66 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Acceptance of such bounty as demands Acceptance for its payment in just fee ; Yet never has a shadow fall'n between Thy glory and mine ever-steadfast eyes ; Not unobscurely hast thou shone, nor wilt Thou now, though clouds veil up the sky, Obscure thy shining Godhead, nor remove Far from me while I struggle in the toils Spread ever for the wand'rer's passing feet. The cloudy network somewhat of its force And close cohesion slackens, clears away (While pales the sun of the eventful hours) The might of untimed heavy hindrance, The coast is free for rapid sailing hence And lasts some light to point the homeward course. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 67 CHORDS. Stro. I. O i^gides, great and glorious Are thy Herculean feats ! Thou unceasingly hast striven For the fame such prowess greets ; "With thy Periphetian club And mighty arm thou hast o'erthrown Many a monster, many a plague ; Even great Alcides' own Olympian strength derived of gods (Encased in mail Hephsestus-forged, Armed with weapons, gifts divine) 68 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. The groaning earth of plagues scarce purged More potently, more conqueringly, ^geus' progeny ! than thou ; Ay, even the Pallantidse famed, And all opponents to thee bow. Antis. I. Ay, we will sing (as sings the world) Of all thy rare achievements' grace ; For when the fifty thou laid'st low. Thy agM father to his place On Athens' throne thou didst restore Where Pallas' sons aspired to reign ; Then when the devastating "bull Of Marathon thou'dst caught and slain. ARIADNE IN NAXOS, 69 To Greta's shores thou sailed'st to free Thy country from the cruel yoke Europa's son imposed, the Gods In thy great cause thou did'st invoke ; They stirred the heart and filled the breast Of Minos' child with holy fire, Thus fresh laurelled fame didst thou, God-led, God-lighted, there acquire. Stro. 2. Great the fame a mortal man May win who strongly sets his soul And all his being's strength to one Fixed aim, as needle to the pole, Which ao seductive Syrian aire^ 70 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Nor shifting storms may ever win From that determined point his eyes Unflinchingly embrace ; no din, No mirthful revelry, no song Of siren e'er his ear attains. Deaf to all utterances save one, The one his swerveless aim sustains, Ay, such an one will win of men great praise, His name will live and shine. Indelibly engraven Upon the glittering scroll of time. Antis. 2. But oh, fierce striver for applause, Striver for trumpet-tonguM fame. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 71 Dost hear no higher, finer voice, | -- ** Dost feel no finer, higher claim By various-sided nature pressed ? Does hope of fame, the people's shrill Applausive cry, their clam'rous : Hail ! Thy being satisfy and fill ? '^L Or does't but gratify self-love Increasing ever as it feeds, Which, craving still, destroys the germs Of holier thoughts, of higher needs And generous impulses which spurred In youth to high attainment, not For fame, but that the soul must soar / Heavenward, world's praise and blame forgot ? 72 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Stro. 3. World's praise, world's blame unrecked of, Self unsought, the eyes of youth upturned To clearer atmosphere whence truth And faith drawn down may be inurned In fane of his untainted heart, In holiest fane therein to light One flame undeviating, love Of fellow man and love of right. What though a mortal ne'er attain To mortal-builded pinnacle. But silently by kindly deeds Men's noblest feelings manacle. He shall, as sorrowing Psyche erst. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 73 Striving by virtuality Of God-imposed tasks achieved k^/^ With love win immortality. j jK" Antis. 3. Erst, ere the unwing^d soul fell sheer From joys Olympian, God-forlorn, She, for the unallaying draught Of frail-tongued praise, thirsting, had drawn Into her veins the poison sweet Which prompted untrod heights to assail, To penetrate the undivined, : To tear away the sheltering veil, She raised the lamp, the curtaining night Was rent with gross disclosing glare ; 74 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. The Godhead fled and left the soul Shivering amid the mortal blare Of loud-voiced commendation ; this Alone remained henceforth to sate The yearning soul fulfilling tasks Fixed by inexorable fate. Epode. Ah, e'en while thou speakest 1 tremble with fear 'Neath the desolate chill of the clouds lowering near, The folds of their heavy drenched raiment fall round, There the bolt falls to earth, and Zeus' thunders re- sound ! Ah ! whose are the forms I perceive in the glare Where lurid the light as of torches' fierce flare ? ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Whose the scorpion thongs and the heads wreathed with snakes? , .j^. The eyes whence flash fiercely these fiery flakes ? See, sulphurous-visaged and swarth they arise From Tartarus' flames ; the white sea, the gray skies Are hidden, and blackened to denseness of night — Let us haste to escape from this horrible sight. TISIPHONE, ALECTO, MEG^ERA. TiSIPHONE. Sister, where are these web-enmeshM ones ? Alecto. One wanders here about, the deed not done, : Tlie intent within his heart but newly sprung. 76 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Mbq^ra. 'Tis rooted, swiftly has the weed upgrown, When once 'tis in the seething caldron thrown, ' Of fierce up-bubbling action 'twill exhale With dire effect the fumes of mortal bale. TiSIPHONE. Whence sprang the deadly seed ? in his own breast ? Albcto. Ay, there it roots and blooms, a flourishing guest. Meg-era. What nourishes the fast up-springing weed 1 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 77 Alecto. Man's vain self-seeking, fierce and fiery greed Of mortal praise for marvellous exploits ; Let this repay ; there's that too which requites. TiSIPHONB. His other hatching project shall bring forth An instrument for Aphrodite's wrath. Prepare, avenging sisters, whips and scourge. Alecto. But first the wind to bear him o'er the surge. And fill his sails and him with triumphing. Till he forget the bleachM tarpauling Old ^geus waits for on the jutting clifi*. The agM eyes discern the dusky skiff 78 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Lacking the sign ; the monarch hnrtles down Into the foaming billows, life and crown "With fatal swoop renouncing. Sister, speak ! MEGiERA. Bring forth, bring forth another of this brood ! Alecto. See, other callow, crookM beaks emerge ! Meg^era. Shall these with strengthening claw his mind assail ? Alecto. Deeper and deadlier far the final grip. Meg^ra and Tisiphone. Disclose, disclose ! sister, disclose ! disclose ! ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 79 Alecto. When youth and strength are past, all fame achieved, When fierce ambition's fires are laid to rest, And love of strife and toil has found an end, When regal round and purple him enfold. And beautiful and brave the huntress' son (For Theseus will espouse the Amazon) White-souled devotes his manhood to the Gods ; When the pale, pain-fed Phaedra, Athens' queen, Sits silently and hides her deadly woe. At Aphrodite's call we will again Uprise from lowest hell, and in the heart Of Theseus' wife implant those scorpion pangs Which breed unslakM thirst for dire revenge ; Hippolyta's young son shall scorn the queen, 8o ARIADNE IN NAXOS. And for her hidden love of him (revealed By treachery) upon his father's wife Shall pour indignity, and threats to blast Her on her throne ; then will we hasten up And pour the poison in her riven breast, And there engender such a knotted broil As shall entwine and strangle to their deaths King Theseus' wife, this Ariadne's sister, And Theseus' son, white-souled Hippolytus. MBGiERA. Oh, deadly wise ! Oh, direful brooding brain ! Nostril-assailing vapours thick from hell Steam up to warm these fledglings newly hatched. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 8i TiSIPHONE. Gather these fumes about us, and descend, Gather them in, nor leave a trace behind, Gather as skirts the steaming stench of hell, Gather the fruitful odours and descend. Ariadne. Where has he wandered 1 or is't I have strayed ? Obscuring clouds are 'twixt us, thick and swift They've gathered in while I in slumbers lay. I know not where to seek, I fain would call But fear to break the silent gloom which reigns Around — a gloom as if infernal Gods Here wandered. Gray, as dense and limitless As Hades' chill dread void. And yet this isle F 82 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. To laughter-loving Bromios decks itself, And when I here set foot but now 'twas gay With song and breeze and scents of flower and shrub. How soft the moss and wami unto my feet, Now't seems but stiff and chill and colourless ; Hushed is all sound, deeper than night this hush — A hush as 'twere precedent of some storm, And ominous of some thunderbolt of ill ; A cold heart-sickness creeps through all my veins, Untunes me, blurs mine eyes and every sense. And discords nature's harmonies that were. This outer change is but the evil note Of change (within my fate) which stirs in me. And as it curdles all the past, doth run Shivering adown the rapids of my life, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 83 And on the stream-torn rock I stand all bare Of warmth and life, and gaze into the flood Which once did bear me gaily on my way, But leaves me now unsheltered in the void Of Time on-coming. In the sunny past JSTot one slight point but sparkled o'er with rays Of varied, ever-changing, radiant light ; 'Twas like a rainbow-threaded zephyrous space, A bright gem-studded earth where toil was joy, And violet-curtained night a light sublime. Wherein the peace-draped body lulled in waves Of starry ether, floated to the dawn. How bright the awakening, when the opal gates. Beneath the touch of fingers rosy-tipped. Rolled back to let the safi'ron-kirtled queen — 84 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Hyperion's daughter — guide her eager steeds And golden chariot from the Ocean's stream Through the bright barrier up to flowery earth And breezy-scented heights melodious ; Now this awaking is not of the dawn, Nor musical, nor soft, nor filled with life, But gray and stagnant as of nether night ; Yet will I press this darkness from mine eyes, And rise above these clouds, if I may pierce To some keen point, some distant gem of light — No ray above, nor forward, nor around ! Below my eager feet some beauty yet, And fragrance lingers, sweet though drooped and chilled ; , Would this night pass and but the morrow rise, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 85 Certain I should be joyful as of yore. Now one approaches — welcome sound of life. Theseus. Thou art aroused ? conies on the night apace 1 Ariadne. Would it were morn, or noon, or e'en bright eve ! I fain would stay the chariot of the sun And rein his champing steeds to lengthen day, If anywhere about the brighter world They linger yet unconquered of dire Doom. Theseus. Surely though ardours at this hour burn low. And of the moderated heat and light 86 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Of slackening coursers men refreshed grow glad, The now grave Hours with lighter step will soon Upon the Sun-god's glowing horses place The fine- wrought harness and the tempering reins, And they will course the heavens as gloriously, Ere thou hast well dreamt out thy tarrying dream, As e'er they coursed when in thy Cretan bowers Thou sought'st the shadowing shelter of the leaves. Ariadne. I know't ; but if they course until the skies Crack with their coursing will they bring us rays As bright, as gladdening as the rays which pierced The tangled foliage of our Cretan grots ? ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 87 Theseus. Nay, doubt not that they will : a passing cloud Will not prevail against the Gods' intent. Ariadne. I fear — I know not, who can measure brightness ? But this one thing I know, no hour from out The long dim glades of time can ever come Which shall reflect more brightness on my path Than those which fell on the glad shores of Crete. Theseus. Perchance thou err'st ; shall subtle arts and sense Instruct thee how to peer through all the glades And narrowing avenues of enshrouded time ? 88 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Ariadne. Enshrouded are the coming hours, meseems, In pale dull pall of ominous hue ; my skill Suffices not to scan, t' interpret this. A shadow lowering sits upon some brood, I fear, of ill ; I feel the clammy claw, Formless as yet, stretch from the vaporous nest Out towards my inmost. Theseus, speak to me ! Some fiend looks through the murk to grip my soul Theseus. 'Tis but the shade of yon approaching storm. Ariadne. 'Tis more ! 'tis more ! it layeth hold on me ! ARIADNE IN NAXOS. It comes from out the bosom of the future, Living, yet curdling cold. Theseus, speak ! Theseus. I'll pluck this flower and place it on thy heart, And it shall speak to thee in far-off days Of the fair fleeting hours we've known together, The strifeless intervals of toilful life. ArIA-DNB. May never days dawn on me if the rapture Of those we've known fleet with the hours that were. Theseus. Now pluck and give me one to take with me. 90 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Ariadne. To take with tkee ? I'll pluck this heather bloom. Theseus. We shall not always stay in Naxos' isle ; I'll guard the flower in memory of past hours. Ariadne. Let not thy love with its frail blossoms fade. Theseus. Do not the poets sing that love is deathless ? But long I may not linger in this isle. Ariadne. Nor would I have thee rust in idleness, Nor stay thee here from Athens long-expectant ; ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 91 I would not have thy Herculean powers, Thy pride of victory, thy thirst for honour, Thy mightiness for work, and need of it, Dulled, quenched, or laid aside even for a space ; I would not have thee stay thy chariot wheels, Nor see the rivals following in thy wake O'ertake thy fiery coursers at the goal. Untiring would I have thee as a star Of ceaseless splendour and of ceaseless joy. Apart from others, unapproachable, Unrusting and unresting in thy course. Theseus. Thou firest me with new ambitious zeal. 92 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Ariadne. So would I help thee to 't as in the past. Theseus. I saw in thee the priestess at whose hands Alone I might receive the mystic gifts "Wherewith to reach my latest, highest aim. Ariadne. Nor only these were needful ; fire I took From off the holy altar of the God Who doth inspire to deeds of highest worth And kindled in thy breast the conquering flame. Theseus. And gave me to achieve this highest toil, Which shall again wring out men's clamorous praise. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 93 Ariadne. Theseus, I love that men should honour thee, But not for their acclaim I fired thy soul. I yearn to highest heights for thy behoof ; Would I could climb the skies for sacred fire Wherewith thou might'st burn up earth's basenesses. Scorch out its meanness and its low desires, Consume to ashes all its pride of custom, Melt off the metal chains which hold the soul Grovelling, to smirk appearance holding close Till it diminish to the body's size, And level of surrounding pigmy forms. I scorn the smooth appraisement of success Which passes by the higher worth which failed, To lavish honours where the circumstance, 94 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Perchance alone, of favouring time and place Bore on the fortune-favoured to renown. Would thou couldst climb to unattained heights, And highest deeds achieve for their own worth. And thence look down upon the puny world Which could not hold, and could not follow thee. Theseus. Would'st have me reign alone without compeer, Without companions, over subjects, slaves 1 Ariadne. I'd have thee reign and lead, not follow men ; I'd have thee break the cramping chains asunder Which hold thee fettered still to slavish forms. Ay, thou should'st break the freezing hardening bonds, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 95 The soul-contracting trammels of convenience, By wise men forged to tame ungainly manners, Constraining, where no graces are, to show Of graces ; right and just I deem such bonds, For they restrain, and by restraining oft Raise habit up to virtue where before No virtue was ; no man need scorn such bonds, Though lower souls but need them. But beware, While scorning not, while valuing at their worth, Nay, guarding, cherishing them, beware, beware. To weld them in with virtue, reverencing The show, the form, the outward rite and seeming, As it were virtue's self. Let not thine eyes Be blurred or blinded by the rain or rays Which may to grosser, more unheedful sense 96 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Obscure, or make to mingle obdurate weeds And delicate flower-buds, or confound the wild, The bitter ocean with the pearl-hued sky. Theseus. Thou'dst have me rein the mass with tightened curb, And hang the bridle loosely o'er my neck. Ariadne. Not so ; I'd have thee curb thyself and them In all where curbs are useful, reining in The restless, unobedient, hard-mouthed steed, Thy own recalcitrant will or will of others ; But still have care to know thy faithful coursers, Nor chafe and cut with cruel needless steel The glorious steed that wings thee to thy goal. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 97 Theseus. That goal above the clouds, whence I may look Down on the grovelling grasshoppers of earth ? Ariadne. Even there and thus. I'd have thee aim above Thy highest aim, which is too low ; for see, Thou hast achieved all thou hast ever aimed at, And know man's aim should ever be beyond His seeming powers to attain, or 'tis too low. Thou hast achievM more than other men, Hast had the power to prove thee king of men ; So now, no longer more thou should'st achieve, But higher. Gaze like eagle on the peak With fixed undazzled eyes upon the sun, 98 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Which flames from east to west to make men live; Yet not for their applause doth he appear Immutably within yon boundless vault, Whelming the purple skies in seas of gold ; Nor, sinking slow into his amber couch, Doth he bejewel in the silent eve The burnished clouds and radiant restless sea For our shrill paeans ; uttered we no cry Of ecstasy when he sinks down below The lulling wave, or when the blushing Dawn Steps forth and draws aside the golden portals Which veiled her lord and ours from mortal sight. Though we were unobservant, blind, and dull. Still would he bless the universe with light, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. And ever steadfast, though we heeded not, Would steep infinity in living beauty. / /• Theseus. Thou soarest high, — would'st wing me in thy car To those aerial realms which only eye Of spirit can reach, where only spirit can live ? Ariadne. Yea, thou should'st aim so high in thy desires, Yea, thou should'st strive t' o'erleap those obstacles Which earth-bound souls affright. I'd have thee see With eyes of seer, with eyes of god-filled man, Nor ever should'st thou walk with earth-drawn eyes, But constant on the grandeur of the heavens Thy eager glance to draw instruction thence. loo ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Theseus. Will these exalted aims and God-like thoughts Have power, when grief shall bear the spirit down Even to the soil it spurns, to raise it up, Sustain and wing it from the clay-coJcl bed Whereon despair hath stretched it numb and stiff? Ariadne. If light and fire and sun and moon died out, If riving bolts smote light from life asunder As forked flash the bark from off the tree. Or branch from trunk, felling one charred part Prone to the earth, why then, the gorgeous heaven Of day, the diamond canopy of night, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. loi The ethereal power which upwards draws all life^ r^HT Could have no power, methinks, to raise again That blasted tree, though through one tiny strip Of tough unsmitten rind the living sap Flowed onward yet to feed a leafy branch. Theseus. Thy dreams, thy eager thoughts, thy magic work Would they avail thee in a blasting hour ? Ariadne. When the warm blood is wrung from out the heart Who can have power to lift his eyes, his palms, To draw inspiring breath from Gods above ? The lids droop powerless down, inert the hands, I02 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. The knees refuse their burden, and the clay The feet once spurned is couch for clay as cold. Theseus. I cannot think this fair strong body would fail, Nor yet the flaming soul burn down less bright Before the fixed time, whate'er befell. But why dwell thus on gloomy fantasies 1 This flowery isle should brighter thoughts evoke ; The way from Crete was rough, thou need'st repose ; On yonder mossy bank a fair soft couch 111 weave of asphodel and fern ; there lay Thee down, and Sleep within his gentle arms Shall fold thee, till these storms be overpast. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 103 CHOROS. Stro. I. Oh, that I once might set my foot On some unclambered height, Whence mortal work might be o'erlooked, And to my mortal sight The whole complexM web displayed With springs of action all o'erlaid. Not hidden below The woof, or woven through meshes to and fro. Antis. I. Oh, that upon yon heaven-lit crag I, mounting, might see through The thick-wove skein or tattered rag, 104 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Knit witli the mystic clue : Oh, that to these my straining eyes Were once disclosed the power that lies In man t' achieve All good, yet pricks him ill therein to weave. Stro. 2. Oh, that some bright reflex from her Who bears the shield and spear Would to this flickering web transfer A radiance bright and clear Of her own ^rescienc^; thus to man The power of insight give to scan His mazy way, So he no more from wisdom's paths might stray ! ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 105 Antis. 2. Oh, all ye Gods ! say how it liaps So oft that who aspires To mightiest deeds, his soul enwraps In desolating fires ; They know, yet not avoid the ills, And eager quaff the cup that kills ; They scale the peak Where sit th' avenging Fates their ire to wreak. Stro. 3. But who stays not to recognise. Or seeing deems no wrong, Feels late, hut sure, the sting that lies In fate's avenging thong ; io6 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. The past shall be redeemed with pain And torment till the sin be slain ; Or, late to slay, Continues to the shades the vengeance day. Antis. 3. Behold who set his life to save Athenians from their yoke, Who wept for those who crossed the wave, For their sakes hailed the stroke Which should to loathsome den urge down The martyr or deliverer ; none Save he arose To deal the monster life-destroying blows. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 107 Stro. 4. rt rntri'i Lo ! now his eye is blind to griefs He weaves for one whose life Is interlaced with his ; the reefs He recks not of are rife With woe and wreck and ruinous death ; The stormy waters hide beneath Their billows' roar The ills borne on towards Athens' distant shore. Antis. 4. -^gides, pause ! find out the way To reconcile thy fate ; To those who seek will shine some ray To guide them and t' abate io8 ARIADNE IN NAXOS, The rigour of the hand that becks Them to a goal amid the wrecks Of sundered ties And crushing hopes and mortal agonies. Theseus. What are these 'plaining sounds, these warning words ? Were ye Athenians, different were your thoughts ! Know I am bound by duty to my sire And to my country ; sire and country both Bade me go forth to strive for Attica, They bid me now return to fight for them, And look to me to give them peace and rest, Shall I rebellious turn against the state Which nurtured me and lays on me behests ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 109 To assure her peace and future weal ? Shall I Stand arrogantly forth in face of him ' '' HiY/" Who eager mounts the cliff to welcome me, " ^'■- -^ "^0 And place before his deprecating eyes A wife unhid, a wife unwelcome to him ? *• Nor he, nor Athens would admit the bride ; A- And worse by far were it for her to face i The scornful gaze or cold averted mien -• h^i^^qm^i Than live apart untouched by Athens' hate. Far better then she in this isle remain, For ties precedent claim our first respect ; And he who treads unwaveringly the path Of duty to his country's laws and Gods Must reap approval both of Gods and men. This fragrant isle doth well approve itself no ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Unto her mind, and life and loveliness Will woo her to content, as now this couch Of soft caressing blossoms woos to sleep The sometime storm-tossed wanderer. Nor I doubt This isle inhabited by winning creatures And kind, who'll tend and love her speedily, For, lo ! this decorated altar stands Prepared and garlanded by delicate hands To service of the laughter-giving God, Who calls his votaries from every land And blesses them with mirth and happiness. Here reigns great plenty, corn and wine and mead. And soft thick furry skins for winter's cold, And foliaged bowers and grots where summer's sun Can scarce peer in to wake the slumberer. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. ' in Meseems all that is needful for content And joy is here, nor could we happily ' T cf;.'* r ' ' Have found a pleasanter, more suiting spot. Then, Ariadne, think 'tis better so. Cretan, thy path and mine are not the same ; If we essayed in this to rule our fate, rr^rfW The years would prove 'twere not for thy content. Then rest thee there, 'tis easier so for thee And me ; and while kind sleep doth gently veil Thine eyes and senses I'll depart, and save Thee words which only could thy grief enhance, And grief thus gently falling will, I doubt It not, soon yield to kindly offices Of friends and gay compeers who'll find thee here. 'Twere better thou should'st wake and find an end 112 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Of all the past, and learn to teach thy heart, Unschooled before, some newer, brighter faith Than waking listen to the stern decree Of fate irrevocable from these lips. But now why stay I breathing idle words When there she lies, oblivious of all harm, Cradled in happy visions ? Why, when there My ship with oars in rank doth seem to rise And dip, as beckoning me to haste and seize The favouring gale ? — why turn I back to gaze Once more ? why hesitate my feet, my mind Being fixed immovably ? Meseems my fate Is written there, written as heretofore ; There dwells an ominous future in her face, I cannot read the signs, but pallid lights A RIA DNE IN NAXOS. 113 Gleam fitfully like dying fires across The alabaster brow, like sundering blades Cutting the future from the fiery past. Are all my highest deeds achieved, perchance ? And lies my future low and near an end ? I would she slept not, would her eyes could read For me ; I am not prescient ; warrior, Not seer, am I ; yet 'tis as though some cords Invisible still held me bound. I'll on And mock at shadows ; shall my strength give way To feeble fancies ? No. Surely she moved ; She'll wake and I yet here ! No ; motionless As carven ivory. What was't ? that sound 1 A leopard creeping through these tangled branches ? H 114 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Or breath of passing Godhead ? Does she breathe ? Ay, softly, not so loud nor harsh^as these Weird sounds. They grow, they near me, low and sharp, Now hissing as of snakes and poisonous things ; The air grows thick and heavy ; I must hence For storm is hovering round, I'm wrapped in it. Encircled in a dense dim cloud of hell. Yet stay ! methought I heard a voice, a laugh, Ay, mocking laughter ; now, so murk the air, I see not Ariadne. There, instead. Rise shadowy, incomplete, and formless shapes, Nearer, more definite in deformity, Three huge-boned shrunken hags of hell approach ; From skinny shoulders shoot forth gratingly ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 115 The unfledged iron wings whose rattling rends The air they beat upon ; foul stench and flames ''• Hiss from their toothless jaws and bloodshot Their sharp-clawed fingers writhe round scori^ion thongs mca'i Of many forkM tongues, and fiercely grasp M 4iaiv oT The hell-lit torches belching lurid smoke. Now all the air is thick with noisome fumes, — "Where is the road that leads unto my ship ? I'll call these fiends, and learn how I may best Escape from hence. Who are ye ? Speak to me. TiSIPHONE. Theseus, we hail thee ! hail thee, Theseus hail ! ii6 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Theseus. If friends ye are I also give ye hail, But say, who are ye ? whence 1 and wherefore here ? TiSIPHONE. We are the ne'er-forgetting spirits that roam From nethermost abysses through all space To visit those who even in our despite, Forgetful of us and our watchful care, Work out their own dear wills, their cherished thoughts. We know thee, Theseus, and we hail thee, hail ! Theseus. Why then I also give ye hail again, But tell me more, as yet I know ye not. A RIA DNE IN NAXOS. 117 TlSIPHONE. We are the daughters of the ancient Earth, The Heavens onr father, Night and Darkness too Delight in ns as in their own begotten ; Aidoneus' ministers are we, and rise From Phlegethon's red banks in Tartarus' realms ; We are the deities who hold the ends Of mortal actions in our balancing grasp ; Man works and we award, 'tis ours to knot The due result of every human aim On to the cord whose strains were its beginnings ; 'Tis ours to bring to birth the timely fruits That deeds engender ; ours it is to fill The cup with wine which man has toiled to press, We are his cupbearers, and to his lips ii8 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. "We hold the cup he mixed, we^our notjn^ ^ Of_ouT_owrLniixing ; if he finds therein Gall and the nightshade, he 'twas seized the weeds With his own hand while gathering the grapes ; And if our torches light his final draught, *Tis that no other light shines for him where His own deciding hand cuffed out all light. Know we are just, no harm accrues from us, iU^»>w ? MijL. We ever bring to man his rightful own. Theseus. If just ye are, and visit mortal man But to award what he has justly won, Impose not now the fine for that I erred In robbing Cretan Minos of his child, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 119 l^ov place this veil of hell before my sight, To hinder me upon my settled course. tfdW TiSIPHONE, MEGiERA, AlECTO. We hinder not, nor help. What would'st thou have 1 Theseus. These fumes obscure the way, how should I hence ? How quickly hence avoiding where she sleeps ? Mbg^ra. White-livered ! does a sleeping woman fright Thee from the way thy fixed mind has chosen 'i Theseus. Who says white-livered ? Were ye not in hell When I its terrors braved for Hades' queen t I20 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Alecto. What lion lies across this hero's path ? Theseus. Though ye be deities, your words are vain ] Know, fiends or friends, no lion nor no woman, No slight thing, nor no strong, shall fetter me, Nor stay me once I've fixed my settled course ; But how cut straightly through these Hadean fumes ? MEGiERA. Thou fear'st th' awakening. AVhere's thy magic sword? A keenly-tempered blade cuts clear all paths. Theseus. It was my thought, but strong unflinching will Shall easier cut the tangle of this skein. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 121 Mbg^ra. Ay, easier for thee now, easier for us Hereafter, sisters, when the avenging hour Shall call us up to execute the award In full. There lies thy way, we will withdraw This murky veil. 'Tis done, sisters, away ! Our work is done, a keener doom's prepared Than death for this forsaker of her father's house. And all the train is laid for his undoing ; In heaven and hell the web is weaving up. Hence, hence ! Hero, behold thy ship ! and there Thy Cretan sorceress, mindless of thy steps ; Unsheathe thy Minotaur-stained sword, and with't Cut all the threads that tangle up thy path. Sisters, shroud in your skirts, withdraw, withdraw ! 122 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Theseus. First name your names, ye cloud-enwrapp6d guests ! Ha ! they have passed as storm-torn vapours pass, And only now a mist lies low on earth. Her sword, the cunning sword and silken clue, Her own proud gifts, I'll not take with me hence, I'll lay them on the turf beside her couch. Now, Ariadne, fare thee well ! farewell ! CHOROS. Stro. I. Infernal are the sounds I hear ! Infernal are the sights I see ! I shrink ! I shrink ! I fain would flee ! But fettering pity holds me here. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. >. v^>^-//. ^<> W3' Antis. I. The clangour of the iron wings Like muttering thunder distant dies, Like ebbing tide the rolling eyes ; These twain are girt with hell-forged rings. Stro. 2. The deeds thrust back, the bonds remain, Faded the flower, the fruit holds on, And feeds ye when the sunshine's gone ; Ye strive to rend the past in vain. Antis. 2. The ebbing wave in fixed hour Runs back and leaves the scattered weed 124 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Awhile from whelming sea-power freed, Returning tides resume their power. Stro. 3. Beside her sleeping 'neath the tree He lays the gifts which bore him on To highest wave of victory won For Athens' state and youth set free, Antis. 3. He lays them down, and to the shore With hurrying footsteps swift he hies "Where rocks his ship 'neath clouding skies. The ship the Cretan hither iDore. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 125 Stro. 4. The sword was sharp to smite the woe Which fettered Attica to shame, Was sharp to win undying fame, Was sharp to lay the monster low. Antis. 4. Will it be sharp to cut the cord Which binds the Cretan fate to his 1 Which binds the Cretan house to this Of Athens 1 blunt for this the sword. Stro. 5. The magic coil which led him through The Daidal labyrinthine ways, 126 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Will it unite the vanished days And pride to days and glory new ? Antis. 5. The Cyclops throws his hammer down, The chains are forged, the chains are broke ; Can burnt-out embers be awoke ? Will end with these the Erinyes' frown ? Stro. 6. The curse has fallen now on twain ; On Cretan Pasiphae erst, And Greta's shores became accurst When fair Europa crossed the main. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 127 Antis. 6. The veilM Godhead thither bore Agenor's daughter, and the same Huge form he chose from ocean came, Curse-laden to the fated shore. If:./, iti)dT 'i io froimd& oiiT Stro. 7. Europa's son was cursed for her, !i.| v»7f And cursed brought down, by broken vows, The curse on progeny and spouse — Fruit of the curse the Minotaur. Antis. 7. . ..rv When linked was Attica with Crete, When weeping human tribute sailed 128 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. To sate the Cretan monster, quailed The burden of the sable fleet ; Stro. 8. Then Ariadne fell within The shadow of the lingering curse, By her the hero must everse Her father's beast, by her must win. Antis. 8. Thus twain of three have fallen beneath The doom Europa's race must fill. And other hearts with woe must thrill Ere fate the avenging sword will sheathe. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 129 Stro. 9. Th' Erinyes spoke the doom decreed O'er Dionysos' holy shrine, The mutterings of the curse divine Fell from their wings on Minos' seed. Lyfc^it »[imliA oT Antis. q. Then on the sands the waves rolled back, And on the shoreless sea of Time I saw the doom of coming crime Writ, by the Erinyes, fiercely black. '\ Stro. 10. The doom's pronounced : that once again The heaven-sent mightiness will rise I30 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. From out the storm-tossed wave 'neath skies Wliere conquering Theseus soon shall reign. Antis. io. Phsedra shall trail the curse along To Athens freed from galling yoke, To Theseus and the vows he broke, For sister Ariadne's wrong. Stro. II. For her in Naxos cast aside, For her sake shall he seek in vain Th' unbroken faith he cannot gain Of her the Cretan sister bride. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 131 Antis. II. For her, avenging crime and shame Shall fall upon his fated roof, Th' Erinyes spin th' enmeshing woof, IS'ot peace but w^ie^shaU crown his f ame. Stro. 12. The white-souled Amazonian son, The splendour of Athene's home, Shall curb his coursers where the foam Bears gift of King Poseidon. Antis. i 2. "While faithless Theseus' crime-stained bride Hangs by the column in the hall. 132 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. (By her own handwork Orcus' thrall) His son lies gulph^d in the tide. Epode. We would flee, we would flee, From the record we see ! From th' Erinyes' pursuing would the fated ones free, We would free them ! would free ! But as foam flakes of ocean Tom by Notos' commotion, Are flung from the wave toward the sky Whence scattering swiftly they lie Evanescent, consumed on the rock Immovably built, which no shock ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 133 Of the unstable tide Can displace or divide ; So mortals who rise to assail Preordinate laws sink in bale 'Neath the fangs of the Furies who wait To shatter and rend in the hour When they falter within the fell power Of Ate's implacable hate. DiONYSOS. From banks of old Aigyptos' quickening stream, Where teems the rich moist earth with luscious plants And plenteous well-filled ears of swelling grain, O'er Syria's watered plains and vine -clad hills To distant Ind I've wandered, where the gates 134 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Of golden day, by dainty-footed Eos — Hyperion's peerless child — are backward flung When Helios, rising from his jewelled couch, Brings promise to the world of life and hope. There tawny men from their dark creeds I've won (And from their darker rites), though with some toil, To plant the vine and twine its tendrils round Their swarthy brows, to press the juicy fruit And hold the cheering chalice to their lips. And dance, and song, and culture have I taught, Though oft, I fear, in vain to gloomy minds Worshipping gloomier gods, cruel and rude. Then Greece, old Argos, native Thebes, where most I'm glorified, I've sojourned in ; Yet nowhere do I more delight to dwell A RIA DNE IN NA XOS. 135 Than in this verdant, wave-washed Naxian isle. Ah ! well (while looking on these swelling waves Yet foaming, turbid, from subsiding storm) Do I remember me the toil I had, And sport too, with those false Tyrrhenian slaves Who steered towards Asia's pirate shores t' enslave And sell me, Dionysos ! Oh, I laugh While thinking on the pains I pierced them with ! What sport to watch their 'wildered, haggard mien When singing, whistling, screaming, siren flutes Tickled their ears ; their horror and dismay When in their thievish hands the grasped oars To coiling serpents grew and bound their arms. When ivy stems and sprays like knotting cords Twined round their bodies. Ah me, what a sight ! 136 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. The masts to snakes had grown, I, turned to lion, Sat calmly watching the side-splitting fray, Then oh, I laughed until my sides nigh cracked. They, knowing not who'd wrought the fearful change, Nigh dead with terror, frenzied, sprang ahout. Now here, now there, t' escape the wonderment, Till wrought to madness o'er the bark they leaped Into the surging sea, where, rolling round Between the soft green waves, I turned them straight To great plump dolphins, then addressed myself (Leaving my shipwrecked sailors in the main Happier as playful fish than thievish knaves) To these surpassing shores of loveliness. Nor I alone have made these ravishing glades My chosen haunt ; great Zeus in olden times ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 137 Descended to these meadow-girded peaks And called them by his name, and here his bird Loves still to circle o'er the granite blocks And glistening marble boulders, perching oft Upon the heathered cloud-embraced crags. Also bright Loxias here whilom abode, And where he sets his fertilising foot, Beauty and strength spring up and dwell as one. There towers Coronis too, whom Loxias loved ; Ah, nymph Coronis, cruel was thy fate ! Once wandering here upon soft olive slopes And 'neath the shining leaves and golden fruit, Or staying thy fairy steps to pluck and eat The crimson pomegranate or the purple fig. How little did'st thou dream Helios would rise 138 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Upon this blessed isle and warm thee not, That all thy well-filled veins of living blood Would stagnate so, not even Loxias' self. And all his fierce effulgence, could dissolve The fixed purple current in the stone Which now thou art. Nor could thy fancy paint That here for radiant Loxias' return Thou'dst raise thy frozen marble to the clouds O'ershadowing thee in cheerless solitude. Where Loxias loved, remains now but his shrine And marble statue scarce to beauty grown, Silent and cold as thou, to comfort thee. Oh cruel huntress-queen ! oh Artemis, No mirth, no joy thou knowest save only one. One joy to hunt the living down to death. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 139 See ! where the bounding hart, with timid eyes And loving, hastes to meet her antlered mate ; Swift speeds a silver arrow flashing straight Into the palpitating breast, and cold And stiff the slender gracefulness, unharmful, Lies motionless, love's soft reproach within The glazing eyes. Thus each starred eve Coronis, Eagerly gazing through the purple night. Waited the God her yearning heart had power To drawiio earth. Artemis, sister-goddess, Rending the sapphire veil, looked down, and knew Great Loxias hastening here to greet the nymph. Coldly she passed behind a curtaining cloud, Nor long could she endure this sylvan spot. Her chosen haunt, should desecrated be I40 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. By foot of her who not her votaress was. The startled deer had turned to sniff the air, He fled, as up she raised and bent her bow ; Her aim was not for him, the shaft sped home Where Loxias ne'er again should lay his head. And now the marble mountain towering stands- The tender nymph transformed to veined stone, A monument raised up of huntress' hate — Now Artemis no longer here abides Nor visits us, she shuns our mysteries. Abhors the decorated shrine and rites ; Slain victims only deck her altars stem, And crimson tide for pressed pomegranate juice Brims o'er her sacred vessels. Richly decked To-day my altars. Ha ! who lieth here ? ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 141 What beauty at my shrine reclining charms The entranced soil ? Who is this peerless dame, Can't be great Artemis, the cruel queen. In sweetest slumber 1 Soft, too soft for her ! Where is the sparkling bow ? the deadly darts 1 The well-filled quiver ? no, it is not she, No, straighter, slenderer is the huntress-maid, And not so bright in hue nor yet so waved Her sheltering tresses. Nor doth she resemble In aught my Msenades, unlike to them As unto Artemis, statelier, more white And graver even in slumber than the dames Who chant my mirthful songs and gladdening rites ; Who may it be 1 Some priestess, by her mien. Oh, would I had Apollo's mighty power 142 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Of divination ! Is't, perchance, Coronis ? Coronis never dead 1 or newly changed ' To life again by his resistless will? Does she here wait his coming in sweet dreams 1 As Aphrodite's self seems she to me, Shining so fair through clustering golden locks ; A goddess 'tis, methinks ! and yet not so ; Why, I will waken her to speak to me, Nor let her lie till King Apollo comes To take, what lying at my shrine, is mine. CHOROS. Stro. I. Joy-loving God, let her lie ! Arrest thee ! awaken her not ! ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 143 Peace, while close-fringed her eye, Is her scant, her ephemeral lot ; Waken, oh, waken her not ! , Antis. I. Press not the dew-crispM grass, Utter no sigh nor no sound, Stay e'en the breezes that pass Euffling the shadows around In soft sleep on the flower-bearing ground. DiONYSOS. W^y stay I lingeringly 1 why fear to tread The charmM soil ? why pause afar to gaze On trancM eyes, which, opening to my summons. Would question me, and soon those ruby lips 144 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Would move and yield ungrudgingly the knowledge I long to have. The air is filled with tones, Low dulcet sounds replaced with ominous flutterings ; No longer I forbear. But soft — what's this Lies gleaming in the grass 1 'Mongst shining blades A blade of glittering steel lies heavily, Mocking their innocence with sharper light ; Some warrior-maiden surely should this be, Yet seems she fashioned not for warlike deeds ; Here's brave perplexity indeed ! Cords, too, To bind her captives ? twisted up of silk, Unharmful as herself. Yet doth she wield This sword I not unwarily would brave The strength of her light arm. So, lady mine, You use this mighty rope to fetter those ARIADNE IN NAXOS. \^^?4i'^-S'% ^^\ You vanquish in the strife ! No need, no need, I'm holden faster than great coils could bind ; So, delicate traveller, burden not yourself With terrible sword and flimsy silken threads. Lo ! there your weapons, yet I stand enthralled, And can nor backwards go, nor yet advance y'^"^^ -'^^ I'll not be stayed — ho, maiden ! ho ! awake ! - ■ ■ Ha ! now she stirs, I'll stand aside awhile ^"^ yii->i/. For half I dread, half long for her awaking. Ariadne. )n*>^^f'^ Ere yet my veilM eyes throw back their lids To let the lustrous light of deeper orbs Again invade my soul and steep my sense In all of liquid beauty that for me 146 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. This universe contains, ears, drink in The sounds that now shall greet thee. I have slept, And through my visions lurked phantasma grim, And unmelodious sounds ; then towards the morn, If morn it were, came milder human tones. And mingled with the dreams of home and Crete ; Far, far from Crete am I ! upon this isle Alone with Theseus ; his then was the voice Recalled my deep sleep- sated senses back ; Deep sleep, but scarcely kind, for in my dreams Mcseemed I wandered by a ravening stream, A torrent foaming over splintered rocks And torn up-heav6d masses, then in pools. Black, bottomless, and silent, eddying round, And further on in gentle current running. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 147 With clear, still) shadow-bearing margent waters. There were two swimmers in the urgent stream, Who struggled with the torrent as it roared And pressed them sunderingly from side to side ; Yet ever as it lashed and beat them back, Apart they strove, and still reached hand to hand. I wondered with great dread and shudderingly Should the black eddy sweep and suck one in. Or should they, conquering these assailing waves, Defy the flood and reach that shining water Of peace and safety Ijy the flowery bank. And then the torrent changed to stealthy stream, And dark, and slipping o'er the brink I sank Deep, deep, therein, till all the stagnant flood Gulfed me entire, and sun and moon and stars 148 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. And all sweet sounds and sights vanished away, And nought I knew but that I was alone In Hades' ghastly realms. Gray silence reigned, Bleak, colourless space unflecked of any ray Or beam of light or brightness, no green plant Nor lowly herb, nor smallest flower, nor weed, No towering leafy tree, nor great dim wood To break the dreary void ; no rugged peak Snowflaked, nor sunny, gently sloping vale, No undulating sweep nor rising mound O'er all the low, vast level of the plain ; No song, no scent, no movement, not a breath. For only breathless things inhabit there, If aught inhabits it which yet I saw not ; No rushing torrent nor no sparkling stream ; ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 149 Yet water was there level as the plain, And gray, and dense, and rippleless, and dull, It flowed not — it but stood on muddy bed;:— -^^^ -■*-■' No banks, no reeds, no rocks, no source, no end. Then horror-frozen looked I round for life. For sign, for sound, yet none perceived awhile, ^ CcjTT But only stagnant, boundless space and drear. And still my ears and eyes strained out to catch Some sight, some sound, how slight so e'er, of life, Or even of death. I stretched my numbing hands, Tight wrung, on high and desperate prayer to Zeus (Libations I had none) that he would send Relief, no matter what the form. He heard, nor did he not refuse assent. My aching ears felt the blank silence stirred. I50 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. My wearying eyes perceived a blurring mass, Thin shades moved by me, moaning inwardly, But sending forth no sound, as sound we know ; I would have moved, or cried aloud to them, But "Will benumbed attended not Desire. Then swelled the silent wailing into sound, And all the passing of those formless forms Caused stir and pulse ; then rose a faint, light tone And glad, which drew me on to peaceful waking- Awaking where I slept. I shudder now At thought of that grim place, at sterner thought That this gray dream should prescient omen prove Of coming ill, of loneliness, or death. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 151 CHOROS. Stro. I. Dead is the calm that has fall'ii on the ocean, Dead is the wind that erst lashed to commotion The god-bearing, life-giving sea ; Dead is the foam whence (early arisen) Anadyomene, from her wave prison First dawned on the Paphian lea. Antis. I. Dead is the magic, the fetters are riven, Broken the spells and the cords which were given To conquer and bind evermore. Broken the links in the hour of your wrecking, 152 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Broken and dead as the foam which lies flecking The sands of the desolate shore. Ariadne. These wailing tones are not the sounds which fell Upon my wakening ear and drew me up With brightening summons from the Lethean wave. Theseus, where art thou ? Theseus ! Thou'rt not he — Theseus ! Away, I say ! or tell me where, If thou hast seen him, Theseus awaiteth me. DiONYSOS. Goddess, or queen, war-loving Amazon, Or whatsoever name thy loveliness Is named by, I alone await thee here. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 153 Ariadne. Art thou transformed then ? Theseus stood here. DiONYSOS. I know him not, nor thee, though many a day This isle has been my favoured dwelling-place ; Nor has a human foot approached this spot While thou hast slept, for I have tarried here Impatiently for thy awaking. Say, Who art thou, splendid mortal ? Art a queen ? Ariadne. A monarch's daughter I, and Theseus' bride; Him wandering in this isle, perchance thou'st seen ? 154 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. DiONYSOS. Who he may be thou speakest of I know not, But this I may impart : nor man, nor God, Has wandered here, save only I on wait To catch thy rising rays, Divinity. Ariadne. Theseus, lead me from this dreadful spot ! DiONTSOS. Leave calling one who may not answer thee, Who will not, if he be a God, nor cannot, Be he a mortal. In this isle I reign Sole sovereign, all to me are known who dwell Hereon, save thou, mysterious vision. Whence Art thou descended ? From beside Zeus' throne ? ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 155 Or art thou risen from the green sea wave, Like Aphrodite whom thou dost resemble, Excelling loveliness ? Nay, longer now Thou must not clothe thyself in mystery, For know, I love thee ; wilt thou be my wife ? / ^ Ariadne. Oh, shamelessness ! intruder hence, I say ! ^ DiONYSOS. Lo, Eris ! verily the War-God's sister ! Great Eris ! well thy warlike frown becomes thee, Thy fierce commanding gestures too, and fit Thou seem'st to wield the mighty sword. Ariadne. I will not stay to hear thee, foolish dreamer. iS6 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. DiONYSOS. What scornful flashes lighten from her eyes ! As scornful and as swift as Artemis. Ha, stay thy steps ! I will not let thee pass ! Art thou then, Artemis, that thus in pride Thy seeming-winged feet flee like the deer She loves to follow ? or whilst fleeing me Dost thou pursue — what name did'st thou pro- nounce ? Ariadne. No longer question me, but let me go. DiONYSOS. Thou shalt not go till thou hast heard my love. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 157 Ariadne. Now if thou art a God thou should'st refrain, And thou should'st know the Athenian is not far, And that no mortal, no, nor God, could win The fixed mind, once ruled by Fate to speed Down certain ways, to deviate from its path. Wilt thou now let me pass to seek out Theseus ? DiONYSOS. Ah, Theseus, say'st thou ? let me think a space. Ariadne. Thou'st seen him then 1 thou knowest where he bides ? DiONYSOS. This Theseus is perchance the Attic hero ? 158 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Ariadne. Ay, he ! Thou know'st these ways, point out the path That likeliest will take me where he strays. DiONYSOS. Ho likeliest strays in Attica, my queen ; If thou would'st follow him, full long and sore Thou'dst find the way ; but hither hie thy steps. And mount this mossy knoll, that I may point The road that leads to Attica and him. Now look along the winding glen that skirts This tangled thicket and the far pine wood, Down to that stretch of yellow sand that lies Beyond those rocks ; now bear thy sight away Gently, but straight as 'twere in line with it. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 159 Sce'st thou not there a tiny fading sail ? Well, that small bark makes straight for Attic coasts, Now thou may'st think where Attic Theseus bides. Ariadne. 'Tis false ! avaunt ! thou art some evil thing In likeness of a God, avaunt ! avaunt ! DiONYSOS. Nay, cruel, know 'tis Dionysos speaks. Ariadne. And wert thou Zeus himself, I would not hear. Dionysos. Be patient, sit thee down and think on it ; If Theseus was but lately on this isle, i6o ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Doubtless his bark it is which now flies far, Scudding before the wind. Why he should fly I know not, yet if he desires thy love Why does he sail away 1 if thee he loves • Say, why not tarry here ? why leave thee lone To bear the brunt of evil fortune ? none To wait on thee and tend thy footsteps, none To cheer thy day and guard thy couch by night From fierce approach of savage beast, or foes Wherewith this lonely island might be peopled. Be patient now awhile, think it is well I found thee first, for I am strong to guard, And have the will to cherish and protect. I'll wed thee, though I never learn thy name, And tend and wait on thy unspoken wish ; ARIADNE IN NAXOS. i6i Know, I can give thee choicest things of earth, And spread the daintiest conch of odorous flowers Thou e'er hast lain upon. Say, is this isle Xot sweet ? It shall be thine, and thou shalt reign Therein as Queen, as Goddess. Though I be a God, I'll cull for thy delight the sweetest flowers, And wreathe them in thy fragrant sunny hair ; The clearest water from the bubbling spring That in a nook high on Coronis' shoulder Wells up and ripples through cool crevices (I wot well of its fine refreshing power) Shall lave thy troubled brows and tender palms. And for thy thirst the big, black, swelling grape Shall burst upon thy scornful curling lips : Thou know'st not half the joys I'll give thee, sweet. 1 62 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Ariadne. I know how thou canst torture with thy words, And yet I'd thank thee would'st thou let me go. DiONYSOS. Where would'st thou go ? I'll lead thee where thou wilt. Ariadne. Take me to Theseus and I'll worship thee ; Since thou'rt a God, act as beseems a God. DiONYSOS. How know I where this Theseus may be found ? But I would take thee, knew I where to go ; Think, if he wishes thee, why comes he not ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 163 To find thee ? Better thou believe the truth : He'll ne'er revisit thee, or he'd not fled. Turn not away, nor hide those dewy eyes ; I will not let thee weep, I'll fetch thee birds, Sweet nightingales, to charm thee with their music. And when thou'rt lulled I'll tell thee wondrous tales, And strange and fanciful (yet true withal). That soon will draw thy downcast eyelids up And gladder beams from out thy wondering eyes. Or I will ask of all the yet unknown To me within thy past thou may'st desire To teU, and I will speak of all thou most Dost love to hear of, or I will lie and listen When thou hast will to speak ; or forth I'll go And leave thee when thou cravest solitude, 1 64 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. r And graceful maidens here shall wait on thee, Early and late to do thee services ; And when thou'rt weary, by thy couch I'll stay, If so thou wilt ; and when thou art refreshed, I'll guide thee through these woods and o'er these hills Where thou may'st gaze on scenes of rich enchant- ment. Say, wilt thou try this gentle life with me ? Ariadne. Xay, were it gentle as thy gentle words. Kind stranger, know I ne'er can turn my gaze From looking down the radiant ways I trod Erewhile with one who was to me as king. Hero, and God ; if he no more should turn, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 165 How could another rise to that high place, That chrysolite pinnacle whereon my fancy, Exalting this rare-seeming mortal, throned him 1\ For know, if I have erred in this conception, "Where most it doth import that instinct, ay, And judgment point unerringly, my faith In mine own self is irredeemably Shattered to just negation ; nor is't fit That I should answer yea or nay to reason, Nor any sanction give to any impulse ; Nor could I have the power nor wield the will To solve or to determine argument ; I must become an outcast from myself, A priestess scourged away from her own altar, Driven o'er the threshold of the shrine she tended, i66 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. The lamps, the fires gone out ; her only sense (Her prophet power and her aspirings gone) The sense of crusliing ruin borne to her By the hoarse barring of the temple doors That close behind her downward lagging steps — j Her fate the fate of all whose reason fails ' iTo guide the footsteps in the hour of need. And still to enhance the fiery rankling pain This only sense one fact would ever hold Clinchfed inseverably : the deity To whom she'd burned her incense day and night Had fallen from his lofty pedestal, And being not of marble but of clay, And being not sustained with sacred fire, But moulded of the unadhering dust ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 167 Of the cold mortal earth, was, in his fall, Shattered to fragments on the low cold earth From whence he native sprang — his kindred clay. DiONYSOS. My senses never yet have felt the touch Of such benumbing sounds ; the clammy dews Of her despair fall cold upon my brow, And chill my tongue ; so I know neither thoughts Nor words wherewith to comfort her, nor yet To urge her will to cast some kinder glance Upon her fate and me. She turns away Wearily patient ; I will leave awhile. Lady and queen, think not so bitterly Of what betides thee in this sorry hour ; 168 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Eest thee awhile, and I will fetch refreshment, Some fine gold comb of honey from the hive, And new-drawn milk, and cakes of kneaded meal All wreathed round with odorous eglantine. Lilies and violets, and the sweetest blooms ; These will delight thine eyes and every sense. Also I'll fetch the snowiest, thickest fleece Of all the soft white flock for thy content When thou shalt stretch thy languid limbs to rest ; And swifter shall my eager feet in this Thy service fly, hence swifter, swifter hither, Than silver-sandelled Artemis when she Ungirds her frozen peplus for the joy And warmth she hath in harrying down the fleet. Shaft-fearing deer through tangled bracken glades. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 169 CHOROS. Stro. I. Ay ! swiftly the Godhead may pass, and swiftly may hitherwards hie, Swiftly, but oh, not so swift as shafts winged with mortality fly, And oh, not so swift as the keenly-clasped joys which in upspringing die. Antis. I. Rolls back swift on the steep-terraced shingle the tide stream, the white wave fades down. Fade swiftly fair roses, and swiftly the fragrant, the flower-wreathed crown, I70 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. But oh, not so swift as the bloom withering 'neath the dire sisters' dark frown. Epode. Nor the song of the lark, nor the flight of the swallow, Nor the scent-laden breezes afar on the morrow, None of these fly so swiftly None of all pass so fleetly As the gold the Hours strew on the thread round the spindle, Or the glow on the woof where the gray sisters mingle The glory, the grimness of life. The passionate joy, the fierce strife ; Or the rainbow-hued froth sparkling up as we grip ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 171 The chalice of life while its fragrance we sip, Sinking swiftly away from the touch of the lip. Ariadne. In vain ! in vain ! where ever-springing fount Of inexhaustible, bright hope purled up, Now stagnant gloom doth bear me heavily down ; Darkness and chilling dews benumb my limbs, And black despair doth grimly clutch my soul. And yet if hope is dead, what pricks me on To clamour forth his name in wild appeal ? Theseus ! again in sickening fear I call, Again I shrill thy name athwart the night ; Theseus, return ! if thou art hidden here. Or errest in some tangled thicket maze, 172 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Why heralds not thy voice the pathless track, Or horrid grove which doth encompass thee 1 Have I not in the afflicting, terrible night Of sore perplexity and complex doubt, Woven the certain threads which led thy steps Back from the horrid centre of the maze, Back from the den through all the murky windings, And shall my entreaties fail to bring thee now ? Have I not, fame-regardless, for thy sake, Embarked upon the sund'ring billowy deep ? For thy sake have I not renounced my home, My ties of kindred, royal father's love, A mother's tenderness, and pastimes sweet With clinging, youthful sister ? my renown. Have I not stripped it off and blown it from me 6f ARIADNE IN NAXOS. ^^^^^^^^^> ^ E'en as the feathery down of meadow flowers, And left me bare as they when thus despoiled ? And shall I fear to seek thee through the thorns Of densest forest, e'en though howling beasts And ravenous pursue with fiercest feet ? listening leaves, lulled winds, grots And tender groves, O dense black shades, and caves And broken chasms, where does Theseus stray t whispering glooms, and strange mysterious ways, Now desolate of golden beams which late Were lavish here, why darkly fold ye up His longed-for glory from my tear-dimmed sight 1 Theseus ! thou art the Olympian prize I crave ; Theseus ! thou art the sun, Helios, to me ; Theseus ! thou art the air I stifle for, 174 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. The wave where only I renew my strength, The cup which only holds wine for my lips, The vessel which alone contains my food ; Theseus ! thou art the fount whence springs my life, Thy arms the only couch my limbs can know, Thy breast the only pillow for my head ; Theseus ! thou art the fire that warms my veins, Thy pulse the only pulse that beats in me. Thy breath the only breath that I can draw, Thy thought the only thought that throbs in me ; Thou art not near, I fail, I fade, I cease ! Persephone, receive the sinking shade ! The last pale star of night shoots to eclipse, Sky, sea, and earth to ashen chaos fuse — ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 175 [Artemis passes in the distance.) Not yet ! a glimmer in the Hesperian sky, 'Tis huntress Artemis wandering through the night, A pale, cold gleam beliind the wrackful cloud Pointing, with pitiless steely shafts, the edge Of piled-up masses of gray desolation ; Alas ! bright Artemis, thou'rt heavenly fair. But cruel cold ! I shiver in thy beams ! And thou the only Godhead looking down Shinest unmoved at rending of my heart. And glid'st away unheedful of my woes, Hiding thy silvery self within the veil Which curtains off the dear heavens from my sight. But ah ! thy last chill ray is pitiless kind. Cruelly glints it sharp across his sword, 176 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Confounding thy pale radiance with the blue, Cold, shimmering reflex of his deadly steel, Sundering, with seeming innocence, my heart At sight of all I have of him ; discovering too The weapon which shall smite my pain to death. Come ! I will kiss thee, cruel gleaming blade, Will clasp thee into kindness, cruel sword. Within the smiting of the crueller ray Which lights thee to the riven heart of me. Yet art thou chill and awful in mine arms, I shudder from thy sharpened edge and point ; Thou dost not woo me with a gentle touch, But stay'st inflexible and hard as he Whom I invoke in vain, vainly as thee ! He will not hear my cry ; silent as thou. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 177 He answereth not the wail of my despair. I have no kinder lover left than thou, For thou, not wooing, yet wilt flee me not, Wilt not resist my desperate fettering arms, Have they but firmness to caress thee close, But they're not strong to hold or him or thee. Wilt thou be kinder, coil ? wilt thou not lace My shrinking throat about, and hold it tight 1 His sword is part of him, and doth partake By long acquaintance with his pitiless touch, His cold unpitying nature. 'Tis not so ; Some unforeseen aflfairs detain him hence ; But e'en as thou sink'st down, heavy sword, So sinks my heavier heart overcharged with weight Of dreadful prescience that he'll ne'er return. 178 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. sword, while thus I slander, and coil, While feigning thee to coax to my desire, Within my rending heart I truly know 1 shrink from self-assault and violence Unto my life, and when I most need nerve To give the one fierce blow which shall arrest The current of my being, fails my strength — Ay, fails my courage for the savage stroke ; I pause dismayed, the vast abyss I see. The limitless, the horrent nebulous void. I see the King, a huge black formless shade, Aidoneus, seated on his palled throne. And sad Persephone, the shrouded Queen, Ivy and nightshade purpling her dark brows ; And further in the chaos yet unpierced ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 179 A frowning shapelessness, immense, unclear, But faintly like my wrathful father, Minos. Doth he precede me there ? No, I go first, But shudder at the horror of the going. And shudder at the horror of the state, The infinite, gray, everlasting void, The blank stagnation, chilly, desolate waste. The terror, floating through the murky air, Of crime and anguish and of damning wrath Flashing as flames from eyes of dooming judges Passing fierce sentence on remorseful shades. Ah, now the beauteous forms of those I loved In Crete rise up and float before my swimming eyes, Beauteous but sad, distraught, angry withal. Minos, father ! mother, Pasiphae ! i8o ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Avert not thus your glances from your child ! Phajdra, sweet sister, stay and look at me ! Flee not away, or take me with you then ; Take me, oh ! take me to my once-loved home, The many-chambered mansions of my father ; Leave me not here to sink down hopeless gulfs Of black despair, fleeing before my thoughts — Before my thoughts pursuing as fierce fiends, Piercing and stabbing me to thousand deaths. Oh ! stay — let me take breath. My heart, be strong Nor faint before these phantoms self-evolved. They are not here ; we ne'er shall meet again. I am alone in Naxos. Let me think ! So, calmly now I view the dreary whole. Why linger I in life 1 what charm have years, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. i8i Years that but dull the edges of the soul And blunt the finer lustres of its temper ? Would I live on an unwinged, smiling life, And reach my hand to him across the seas And send him tamely message of forgiveness, Or joy that he finds joy in other arms ? Oh, whip me the poor slaves that thus can speak ! And why live on to earn the honour of age 1 What honour in life is there could charm me now ? And what hath age of beauty that fine youth Hath not also ? All calm and steadfast ways, Clear-tempered patience, and the kindly calm Age prides itself to have (not always hath) Hath lofty youth when youth is high indeed, Adding youth's fire, (which age goes halting for) 1 82 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Possessing still its flame in strenuous grasp Of powerful eagerness and trembling strength. I've looked down those descending darkling paths 'Mongst Minos' counselling senators from a child E'en until now, and know no jot therein Of subtle beauty that fine youth has not. What boots existence when the chosen good Doth cease to own affinity with us Who chose it I Nought. Then, let us make an end. Come, curling coils, be kind unto my neck ; Weave round about it with a close embrace, Nor leave thy loving pressure till my last Expiring sigh has breathed itself away Over the billowy sea to my lost joy. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 183 What, knotted up so close? tangled so stiff? E'en as he wove thee round his conquering hands When swiftly threading back the mazy ways, E'en as I wound and crushed thee from his arms. steadfast cords ! be frail unto my prayer And steadfast ever after ! loosen now These ties as he has loosened his, but swift Repent, and turning back reknit yourselves In lasting bonds about my captive neck. 1 struggle with you now, but only now ; Lace but my throat about, and I will yield Me gently, lovingly, to your embrace. The dusky, jagged clouds set sail again, And Artemis doth light me unto death. 1 84 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. MONOCHOROS. Stay, passing clouds ! stay, oh stay ! Sweep your long-fringed, dark skirts O'er the clear sapphire floor of the sky ; Unveil not night's unpitying Queen, Weave o'er her merciless whiteness, Over her death-lighting brightness. Over her coldness your raiment ; Weave up your measureless gray, Your rain-threads knit up into robes Of silvery enveloping showers. We're athirst, we're athirst for your moisture ! Bear, bear not your waters away ! Our eyelids, our eyes are too weary. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 185 Too weary of watching the hours 3 We are parched, we are withered, we languish ! Let the woof of your soft draping curtain Be heavy, and close, and thick woven. Screen Artemis darkly from sight. And bathe us in rain-deepening night. Artemis. The last of all the swift, soft-footed beasts, Meseems, has fled o'er uncrushed blooms beyond The winging of my untired shafts, and sought, In unlit glades, safety from following death. And sweet repose in heather- scented clefts. Woods, blooms, and beasts, wearied alike with strife Of blustering day and hurrying winds, are hushed 1 86 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. And silent, hid from searching ken, save where The silvery reflex of my bow reveals Their unstirred sleep. I only wander here, Gliding o'er snowy heights and purple hills. And through the spaced entwinement of the boughs Glancing o'er violet-beds and glades of fern Down to the fair moss-margent of the pool Wherein I look and linger unmolest Through the sweet summer night-tide to the dawn. The earth in these pale hours is fair to see, Undesecrate by laughter and wild mirth. Haloed with tremulous lustre of the stars. And folded round in purple robe of night. Divest of rufiling passion 'tis a place Fit for heaven's deities to wander in. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 187 Apollo, Brother-God ! if at high'st noon I gazed upon thy scarce created image Glowing within an amber sea of light, With wondering, awe-toned love, how, at this hour, Should I admiring yearn towards the gray stone Athwart the mellowing light, where thou, but half Enshrined and dimly, lookest forth 1 But hark ! A sound ? Surely not yet doth Eos leave Her couch, and robe her to ascend heaven's heights ! And yet a trembling — no, the east is wan And pallid still, and Oceanus yet Untinged by the first shimmer of her eyes. A stifled moan, a sigh ! ah, I will haste, For here, I do remember me, doth stand The Dionysian altar, here perchance ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Lingers some orgie-worn, exhausted ^faenad, Sunk down in feverish sleep from recent revel ; Nay, turn and seek — perhaps a wounded deer Yet stirring in the stiffening cramp of death ; Out then, my keenest shaft, and end her woe, Speed swift and straight ! Where art thou, wounded one 1 Ah yes, the heather shivers, through the fern A staggering step — bow, be not bent in vain, But through the gloom dismiss unerringly My willing arrow winged with pitying death. MONOCHOROS. Veilless, unshadowed, unquivering. Flawless, the radiance revealing ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 189 The deed that is done in the night ; Gleaming as dart from her quiver, Flashing as flashes the river She hastens to flood with her light. Like lightning, undevious, unerring, (Nor hare, nor antlered prey stirring) As the toil-worn to waters they crave ; Silvery as plumM shaft gliding Deep down the stream of life, guiding A mortal to death's shadowy wave. Ariadne. life ! my life ! what chanceth to thee now 1 How keen and sore and sudden is this smart ! Yet not so sore, Athenian, as the wound I90 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Wherewith thou'st wounded my too-eager life ! Now, kind sharp barb, I thank thee for thy pains, Kinder than coil and sword art thou to me, For these but won me bright, swift-passing bliss, And following gnawing pain insatiate ; But thou immeasurably long surcease Of grievous anguish, speeding me away To grave oblivion in the stagnant stream. MONOCHOROS. Sped ! sped ! sped ! The light, the loveliness dead ! The gleam the fair Godhead shed. The beams, the bright rays, with her fled ; Dead ! dead ! dead ! ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Ye clouds ! ye clouds thickly woven ! Your shuttle was tardy and fickle, Your late-falling tears slowly trickle O'er the heart lying cruelly cloven. The keen life, the fierce joy, the desire, Ashened, and darkened, and drenched, Her fire in your waters lies quenched, Broken the strings of life's lyre. Yet, as e'en from your thick- threaded rain Mixed with flowers, will rank poison plants spring. So her clouding o'er Theseus will fling, 'Mongst his joys a full, rank-rooted pain. Wail ! wail ! wail ! The triumphs, the joys that have been ! The son of the Amazon queen, 192 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Chaste Artemis' votary, I ween, "Will be chosen the victim and flail. DiONYSOS. Lit by the veiled beams of the pallid moon, (Capricious, grudging e'en her meagre light) I've penetrated to the leafy layers Of luscious berries, and have seized the soft Pink, juicy fruit ; also to drowsy hives Where lies close hidden in most secret cells The sweetest honey cased in amber wax, And borne away the richest, crispest comb ; From their leaf-shaded, dew-drenched beds I've plucked Down-drooping delicate lilies for her smiles ; And, ere the lark 'gan dream of his first song. ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 193 I urged the dairy maidens to the stalls To brim their blanched pails with frothing milk, And pile their brown meal cakes. And here the crown Of precious gold, set with seven starry gems, T'adorn the pearly brow and radiant head Of my bright lady and Queen. Where is the nymph I late left clouded in her radiant tears 1 Here is her couch of soft scarce-ruffled moss Whence she sprang forth disdainful, in a storm, A whirlwind, of bewildered doubts and sighs, Of billowy hopes and fears, and tangled cries Of wild entreaty and fierce indignation. Useless, when ocean torn with passionate winds, Lashed by conflicting hurricanes, assails The firmament, and foaming from its heights 194 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. Descends to the black nethermost abyss, To launch the pleasing skiff, to grasp the smooth, Well-fashioned oars which fittingly caress Fair Aphrodite's gentle cradling wavelets. The tempest now is lulled, no sound, no sigh ; Has she perchance found her deserting friend. And fled with him across the favouring sea 1 Or has she wandered through the mazy wood In search of her base scomer ? Ah, the thorns Of such pursuit, methinks, should soon lame feet And heart aUke ! Perchance she's lying prone In smarting restlessness, or wearied quite Has fallen again to sleep's deluding arms. I'll seek her through the isle ; I know each nook Where fairy foot What glistening, steely beam ARIADNE IN NAXOS, 195 Afflicts the flowerets and my scanning eye 1 Her sword, — and ah ! upon the grassy blades What lustre ? Shining ivory transpierced With silver shaft ? Surely not dead, my Queen 1 Arise ! arise ! speak, cry and shrill aloud. Rail on me, sweet, as erst, and flaunt me forth E'en as thou wilt, but only rise and speak. Live, beauteous stranger, live ! a God entreats ; If I offend thy sight I will away. Oh, let me succour thee ! say who it was Who, cruel, wounded thee ! I will withdraw The wicked shaft and suck the poison forth ; Ah, hideous stream purpling the pallid side ! fixM eyes, flash once again and blast Me with thy scorn ! Cruel e'en now 196 ARIADNE IN NAXOS. In cruel death as in thy cruel life, When fate was keen and emulant with thee In cruelty. Now thou'rt outdone, and fate Is victrix here. Eager I clasp the cold Unyielding form, and shiver from the stiff Repelling chill which yet not kills, nor stays, Nor tempers aught the fever of my love. When thou wast quick thy ardent-breathing soul Lit up this flame, consumed, but did not still ; Now thou art changed, hast armed thyself anew, And with thy frigid eyes doth pierce my heart Be gentle, oh relax thine icy stiffness, And yield thee to the life-restoring kiss Of a great God. In vain ! in vain ! Grim Orcus EnamourM hath waited here and me ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 197 Forestalled ; within his hated arms he holds Her with unsevering clasp, and she descends Mute, passive, unresisting to the shades. But shall Death have her all, while I, a God, Remain to rescue part ? No, by Zeus' throne ! Not wholly can this grimmest groom of death Ravish to realms of unimpassioned night The living mystery which charmed and chained A God to rapturous gaze, to feel content That on the earth he loves, a beauteous breath Incarnate from above did waft across These lower levels, raising struggling growths And perishable blooms tlirough higher airs Towards ever-longed-for unattained heights. Thus, then, infernal King, abate your prize, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. And yield to me the imperishable fire Which lit these ways ere thy dark foot did freeze The glory which has faded down with her. I snatch the heaven-lit flame from thy dark palm, And bear it, far from thy fire-quenching grasp, Upwards, above these ever-changing scenes Through azure waves to high empyrean dome. And there within a sapphire vaulted palace I will enthrone and crown with living stars The light that shone (while she was animate And tarried in this grosser tenement) Athwart the bright revealing body of her. Here is the crown I would have crowned her with. Here are the starry gems for her fair brow ; My Queen, be crowned ! thy name shall never pass, ARIADNE IN NAXOS. 199 I will extol, exalt, and bear thee hence, m bear thy starry light away to heaven. Will bear it up among the spheres, and place it On unassailable pinnacle of heaven To glad the skies and all this lower world. Thus shall the pure, undeathly flame be raised To lasting state of luminosity, And there in starry splendour shall she shine For ever in the brilliant court above. PRINTED DY BALLANTYNK, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON FOURTEEN DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 25May'56GB v ■ '"■'mem LD 21-100m-2.'55 General Library CDDbBSlSSl