CROESUS 
 
 KING OF LYDIA 
 
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Croesus, King of Lydia 
 
 A DRAMA 
 
 BY 
 
 L. GORDON RYLANDS, B.A^ B.Sc. 
 
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 DRAMATIS PERSON.E. 
 
 Croesus, King of Lydia. 
 
 Atys, Son of Croesus. 
 
 Adrastus, Son of Gordius, King of Phrygia. 
 
 Solon of Athens, one of the Seven Wise Men of 
 
 Greece. 
 Bias of Priene, one of the Seven Wise Men of 
 
 Greece. 
 Aesop, a Visitor at the Court of Croesus. 
 Sardanis, a Lydian Nobleman. 
 First Mysian. 
 A Messenger. 
 An Officer. 
 
 Hesione, Daughter of Sardanis. 
 Nurse. 
 
 Soldiers f Attendants, Maidens, &c. 
 
 917835 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 A Room in the Palace of Croesus at Sardis, Enter Solon 
 and Aesop. 
 
 Solon. 
 Aesop ! I grow aweary of this place ; 
 Frivolity and flattery and sport 
 Fill up the time, but fill it even so 
 As air a box, which is but empty still. 
 He who to wisdom would allegiance give, 
 Unmixed and undivided, fits as ill 
 With kings and courtiers, as in wheeling sport 
 The ant or toiling bee with summer flies. 
 
 Aesop. 
 Yet is such converse not unprofitable 
 To one who makes a study of mankind : 
 
2 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Here is a stage where we may see displayed 
 
 Each passion, vice, and folly in its turn ; 
 
 No scene of grandeur truly, yet from such 
 
 Observant minds may no small profit win. 
 
 But he who would explore these mysteries 
 
 And reach the hidden secrets of these shows, 
 
 Must learn the language of the place, so steep 
 
 His character in its pervading air 
 
 As to become himself a part of it ; 
 
 And be in his society dissolved 
 
 As salt in water ; thou art like the rock 
 
 Which never will be mingled with the waves, 
 
 But roughly shocks them when they meet with it. 
 
 Kings do not such unyielding temper love. 
 
 And Croesus more than most it must offend, 
 
 Who never met refusal or rebufif. 
 
 Or adverse fortune ; from the Grecian sea 
 
 To where the stream of swerving Halys rolls, 
 
 Men bow before him and revere his power; 
 
 The very rivers golden tribute pay, 
 
 And earth her bosomed treasures for him opens. 
 
 Such wealth and might as his are never schooled 
 
 To suffer contradiction, or accept 
 
 Advice with patience : blunt and honest words 
 
 Like thine beat icily on royal minds. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 3 
 
 Solon. 
 
 'Tis true. I see full well my sojourn here 
 Grows irksome to the King. I cannot frame 
 The flatteries for which his daily fare 
 Has bred an appetite. This very day 
 He bade attendants guide me through the rooms 
 Wherein he keeps his gold, and in my view 
 Set all his treasure forth : he now expects 
 Doubtless my praise of his felicity ; 
 But never to my mind excessive wealth 
 Appeared a blessing 5 nor, to please a King, 
 Will my tongue utter what my thoughts deny. 
 
 Aesop. 
 
 I cannot blame thee : but he who would dwell 
 
 In courts must be more supple ; 'tis the taint 
 
 Of kings to hate unpleasing honesty. 
 
 Still, would we be no less than just to Croesus, 
 
 We must admit his faults are such as grow 
 
 As naturally in the royal state 
 
 As fungi in a moist and gloomy wood : 
 
 But search beneath that forced, unwholesome growth, 
 
 You find much good in him. He does not rule 
 
 His realm unjustly ; he's not merciless, 
 
 B — 2 
 
4 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Made cruel by suspicion ; oft he shows 
 His native kindness and good-fellowship. 
 
 Soloftf 
 
 I have observed it ; and report extols 
 
 His open-handed generosity. 
 
 'Tis known how royally he once repaid 
 
 Alcmaeon for some kindness that he did 
 
 To certain Lydians ; and how he laughed 
 
 To see him stagger from his treasury 
 
 Laden with gold, which in his boots he stuffed, 
 
 And in his bulging tunic ; all his hair 
 
 With gold dust sprinkled, and his mouth crammed 
 
 full. 
 Had Croesus not been Fortune's favourite, 
 To use the vulgar phrase, he would have been, 
 I'm sure, a man to honour and esteem : 
 And if in days to come it please the gods. 
 As easily it may, to send him griefs, 
 And bring him to humility and pain. 
 He will emerge ennobled : could he see 
 ' That which is worthiest, he would desire 
 A rise which wears the semblance of a fall. 
 Nor with complaints receive the award divine. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Aesop. 
 It does not well appear how such mishap 
 Could come upon him ; for he has subdued 
 All that have met with him ; no foe remains 
 To challenge him ; the Assyrians and Medes 
 Hold sway too far aloof to vex his reign. 
 
 Solon. 
 Sesostris proudly trampled all the land 
 Of Asia, from the Nile to golden Colchis, 
 Farther from him than Sardis from the Mede. 
 
 Enter Croesus.'] 
 
 Croesus^ 
 Well Solon, dost thou think that any king 
 Who ever ruled in Egypt or in Greece 
 Or Babylon possessed a granary 
 So heaped with precious grain as this of mine ? 
 
 Solon. 
 I well believe, O King, that so much gold 
 Was never garnered in one place before. 
 
 Croesus, 
 
 Now Solon, thy acquaintance with the world 
 Is not of recent date, nor to one land 
 
6 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Or city circumscribed ; a host of men 
 
 Thou must thyself, or by report, have known : 
 
 Tell me ; of all who thus within thy view 
 
 Have passed, how name you him whose state appears 
 
 In all respects most blessed and fortunate. 
 
 Solon. 
 I have indeed known many men, O King, 
 Of very varied lands, degrees, and fortune; 
 And of them all, a fellow citizen, 
 A man of Athens, Tellus, seemed to me 
 In life and death alike most enviable. 
 
 Croesus. 
 That name you uttered was until this hour 
 A stranger to my ears : I marvel much 
 Fame never spoke of one so fortunate : 
 His birth was noble doubtless, and his wealth 
 The wonder and the envy of the Greeks. 
 
 Solon. 
 No scion of a lordly stock was he : 
 Of wealth he had sufficient for his needs ; 
 So much as, with content possessed, invites 
 Felicity as pure as earth can give. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Croesus. 
 You jest, Athenian : how could such a man 
 Be held most fortunate of human kind ? 
 
 Solon. 
 No unconsidered words, O King, I speak: 
 The man's desires were bounded, and his means 
 Were amply correspondent ; he espoused 
 A wife who brought sweet peace into his home. 
 And bore him offspring marred by no defect 
 Of form or understanding; his last years 
 Were cheered and lightened by the merry pranks 
 Of children's children rendering love for love : 
 His most harmonious life a splendid close 
 Obtained, expiring with a swell 
 Of martial music in the Doric mode. 
 It chanced that in a skirmish fiercely fought 
 Betwixt the men of Athens and Eleusis 
 Our party had the worst, and with dashed hopes 
 Gave ground before the hotly pressing foe. 
 But in the very crisis, when despair 
 Was gripping the Athenians, o'er the plain 
 Came swiftly running on with rattling arms 
 A company of hoplites fresh from Athens : 
 *Twas Tellus who this welcome succour led, 
 
8 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 And, fired by his example and his words, 
 
 They smote with so impetuous a charge 
 
 The Eleusinian flank, that in dismay 
 
 Their shattered files were harried from the field. 
 
 But Tellus lived no longer : he had won 
 
 A glorious death, and pierced with gashes lay. 
 
 His grateful fellow countrymen with pomp 
 
 And show of grief interred him where he fell : 
 
 Untenanted was Athens on the day 
 
 When he was laid to rest : above his bones 
 
 A monument records his famous deed ; 
 
 And by our laws his children reapv— 
 
 Croesus, 
 
 Enough ; 
 Many before this man have nobly died ; 
 Or lived a happy uneventful life ; 
 In this no special favour of the gods 
 Appears : You do surprise me much. 
 And show strange judgment in this preference 
 Of mediocre fortunes to a state 
 Of wealth and power unrivalled, such as mine. 
 Say then who second in your judgment stands 
 In point of fortune. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Solon. 
 Next, O King, I deem 
 Two men of Argos, Cleobis and Bito, 
 Most fortunate in life, and in their death 
 Blessed beyond the lot of mortal men. 
 Their course was prosperous ; as far removed 
 From shoals of poverty, and other ills 
 Which often wreck men's Uves, as from the blasts 
 Of envious malice, or anxiety, 
 Which ruffle and distract the wealthy great. 
 To means sufficient and a healthy mind 
 In both was added, in a like degree, 
 Surpassing comeliness, and strength of frame 
 So eminent that each as conqueror 
 Received the garland at the public games. 
 Their mother was the priestess at the shrine 
 Of heaven's high queen, the spouse of awful Zeus ; 
 And at a certain ancient festival 
 In honour of the goddess, custom old 
 Requiring her the temple to approach. 
 Borne in a chariot which two oxen drew ; 
 And, by some negligence or strange mishap, 
 The oxen in default, her stalwart sons. 
 Yoking their thews and sinews to the car, 
 Drew car and priestess to the sacred place. 
 
10 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 A toilsome course of hard upon two leagues ; 
 
 Which feat the multitude beheld amazed, 
 
 The young men's piety and wondrous strength 
 
 Applauding highly ; while the women's voice 
 
 Spoke envying the mother who had born 
 
 Such offspring. She, with pride and gladness filled, 
 
 And thankfulness at deed so filial 
 
 And glorious, erect before the shrine, 
 
 With hands and eyes upraised in tearful prayer, 
 
 The goddess thus addressed : — Hera divine ! 
 
 Thou seest all, and knowest well what deed, 
 
 How piou^, in thy service, my dear sons, 
 
 And to thine honour, have this day performed: 
 
 I know not what to crave, for ignorant 
 
 Is man of what is worthiest and best ; 
 
 But, well assured of thy benign regard 
 
 For me, so long thy servant, I implore, 
 
 O favourable goddess, if my prayer 
 
 Be not displeasing, that thou would'st reward 
 
 This lustre shed upon thy name and shrine. 
 
 Bestowing on my sons, as seems thee good. 
 
 The highest blessing that can come to men. — 
 
 Such, Croesus, was the mother's prayer. That night 
 
 Cleobis and Bito in the temple slept ; 
 
 And when the priestess in the morning came 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA II 
 
 To learn what blessed boon might be their lot, 
 She found them dead. 
 
 Croesus. 
 'Tis well : I question not 
 Those men were fortunate in their degree ; 
 But what a mean opinion thou must have 
 Of my prosperity, thus praising more 
 The lives of men so humble and obscure ! 
 
 Solon. 
 Croesus, the life of man is like a thread ; 
 How beautiful and smooth soe'er it be, 
 Ere long it may be tangled, all in knots, 
 Which cannot be, but by the knife, unloosed ; 
 And no one may foresee what fatal hitch 
 Shall one day check his freely running line. 
 How many famous kings with sudden fall 
 Have stooped from power and pride to wretchedness 
 Most low and miserable ; or lost their lives 
 In ignominious wise. From affluence 
 Have many plunged to depths of poverty. 
 Call no man happy till thou know'st his end, 
 And can survey in its complete extent 
 His winding path of life. The poor man too 
 
12 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 By moderate desires is made as rich, 
 And oft far happier than the heir to wealth ; 
 This last call fortunate ; but happiness 
 Is in the sphere of poor and rich alike. 
 
 Croesus. ' 
 
 Thy words displease me ; I approve them not ; 
 Nor see in them much evidence of wisdom : 
 Who could attaint my power ? or what destroy 
 My treasury's immeasurable store ? 
 The gods whom 1 have honoured and enriched 
 Will not desert me. It offends me much 
 To hear thee set my fortune thus beneath 
 The state of men so mean and undistinguished : 
 Ungratefully methinks thou dost receive 
 My hospitality ; I press thee not 
 To lengthened stay with one thou dost despise. 
 
 [Exit Croesus. 
 
 Aesop. 
 Now, Solon, well thou seest how it stands : 
 We either must avoid the eye of kings, 
 Or else, approaching them, administer, 
 As mental food, but comfits and confections. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 1$ 
 
 Solon. 
 Nay, rather take this maxim for a guide ; 
 Keep silence if you will, but if you speak, 
 Let truth and usefulness direct your voice : 
 Offer to every man the best you have, 
 Be he or king or slave ; if he despise 
 The proffered gift, no blame accrues to you, 
 But loss to him ; your self-respect preserved. 
 Well, I must shortly hence ; wherefore I'll go 
 Prepare what's needful for my journeying. 
 
 A esop. 
 I'll go along with you ; it grieves me greatly 
 That Croesus was so much offended with you. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
SCENE II. 
 
 A H.ill in the Palace of Croesus. Croesus, Aesop, Courtiers, 
 Attendants, S'C. 
 
 Croesus. 
 Aesop ! my mind is troubled by a dream 
 Which visited my sleep this night that's past. 
 Think'st thou those flickering pictures of the night 
 Of serious import, or delusive shows, 
 Sent by some mocking monarch of the shades 
 To play the antic and deceive with lies ? 
 
 Aesop. 
 The cause of dreams, O King, is like the night 
 Which gives them birth ; dark, and involved in shades 
 Of mystery. Some say that near the gate 
 Of Hades, where, 'mid gloom and murky fogs 
 The cold Cimmerians dwell, a horrid den 
 Yawns blackly, and reveals its fearful throat, 
 Whence falls a noxious and profound abyss : 
 There reigns the god of sleep ; and round him throng 
 Fantastic shapes, strange images and forms 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA . 1 5 
 
 Of beauty, horror, ugliness, and dread, 
 
 Which hover to and fro, and, like the clouds, 
 
 Dissolve, appear, or don some new disguise. 
 
 Three chieftains near the King attendant stand ; 
 
 Morpheus, the prince of those who wear the shape 
 
 And guise of men, in honour next the King ; 
 
 Phobetor then, who leads the hideous tribe 
 
 Of bestial forms, familiar some to view. 
 
 With harpies and chimaeras, uncouth shapes, 
 
 The monsters that torment the frenzied mind : 
 
 Third, Phantasus commands the airy troop 
 
 Of counterfeited objects without life. 
 
 But restless ever with incongruous change 
 
 And frequent motion. These three chieftains lead, 
 
 Conjoined or separate, their ghostly bands, 
 
 At Somnus' bidding, to the upper air ; 
 
 And send them forth by companies and files 
 
 To storm the unguarded ears of sleeping men. 
 
 And sometimes, it is thought, the world of shades 
 
 Vomits its phantoms to delude and vex 
 
 The slumber-chained man. While other dreams 
 
 Are born of Hecate, and her obey. 
 
 Howe'er this be, I cannot but believe 
 
 These nightly visitants mere cheats and mimics. 
 
 And yet I am reluctant to deny 
 
1 6 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 That, at rare intervals, some god may send 
 Advice or warning to the pious man, 
 By visions seen in sleep ; and such belief 
 Is not unwarranted by ancient tales. 
 But how to tell the genuine from the false 
 I have no touchstone. 
 
 Croesus. 
 Ah ! I fain would think 
 This dream of mine a web of fantasy, 
 Embroidered with such mimes and counterfeits 
 As thou hast spoken of; and I have tried 
 To pass it by, as claiming slight regard : 
 But all in vain : look where I will, I see 
 The horrid vision that destroyed my rest, 
 Awaking fear continually renewed 
 By recollection ; and it has a power 
 So irresistible to draw and fix 
 My struggling thoughts, that I must think it sent, 
 To warn me, by some god ; for sure no shade 
 In falsehood clad could so compel the mind. 
 If it be as I fear, I must devise 
 Some plan to cope with this foreboded mischief, 
 More terrible than hostile panoply 
 Of charging squadrons flashing from their breasts 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 17 
 
 And pointed spears a blaze of borrowed light : 
 For dangers visible may be opposed ; 
 But blows which, like the levin from the cloud, 
 Fall from an ambush unexpectedly, 
 Are hard to parry : so, being ignorant 
 What place gives birth or where is hatching now 
 This threatened evil, blindfold I should grope 
 And strike at random. Gladly I would know 
 If thou canst any word of counsel give, 
 Whence light may spring to guide me. Hearken 
 then 
 
 Whilst I describe the vision that I saw 
 
 I seemed to stand upon a mountain side, 
 And, looking down into a rocky gorge, 
 I saw a band of men, but indistinct 
 As through a mist, their features not revealed: 
 They brandished weapons, as engaged in fight ; 
 And, as I watched, one suddenly sprang forth, 
 And hurled his javelin at the opposing line, 
 With fatal aim ; ah me ! I shudder now 
 To think what followed ; for his face who fell 
 Grew plain before my eyes, and I beheld 
 My son : O horrible ! 'twas he who lay. 
 With pallid upturned face and glazing eyes, 
 Bleeding to death. — Then all was dark, 
 
 c 
 
l8 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 And I awoke : O that I could forget 
 
 That dreadful sight !— What thinkest thou of this ? 
 
 Aesop. 
 It is no wonder if thy mind is swayed 
 And dominated by a dream so tragic : 
 But since to counsel thou invitest me, 
 I would advise thou brood not much thereon ; 
 For oft do Morpheus and his myrmidons, 
 Or spirits sent by some malicious god, 
 In wanton frolic don familiar guise, 
 The better to deceive and vex the soul : 
 And, granting it be true, in what sense true 
 'Twere hard to tell ; for Phoebus mostly speaks 
 In riddling sentence and ambiguous phrase ; 
 And if this picture of the night be his, 
 Though it import some danger to thy son. 
 It may be of a fashion different far 
 From that in which thou sawest it arrayed. 
 This further may dissuade from anxious thought 
 And over-hasty action : voice of fame 
 And song of poet do indeed relate 
 Strange instances of warnings sent in dreams ; 
 But never in such case, that I have heard, 
 Did any man avert the ill foretold, 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 1 9 
 
 How cunningly so e'er he laid his plans ; 
 Nay rather, ofttimes the accomplishment 
 Has been the issue of the very means 
 Designed to strangle it. As when a man, 
 In terror lest an earthquake should o'erthrow 
 His house, and he beneath its walls be crushed, 
 Runs forth into the street, and there is slain, 
 Struck lifeless by a fragment from the roof. 
 
 Croesus, 
 There is some reason, I dispute it not, 
 In what thou urgest : but I cannot rest 
 In calmness waiting for the blow to fall. 
 To plan some measures, futile though they be, 
 And quite at random, is no small relief 
 To anxious minds. He will not seem a fool 
 Who holds his towns well garrisoned and stored, 
 Though it may chance they never be besieged : 
 And should the worst befall, what keen regret 
 Would point my grief if haply I could think 
 That my omission left the gate unbarred ! 
 
 Aesop* 
 Such promptings of our nature are most strong, 
 And not to be successfully opposed. 
 
20 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Since, then, thy anxious love, if not employed, 
 
 Must brood and fret, and, feeding on surmise, 
 
 Grow feverish, 'twere well to take some steps, 
 
 Such as may seem to close the door to mischief. 
 
 Yet free from risk of incidental issues 
 
 Of dangerous consequence. The swords and spears 
 
 And daggers, hanging on the palace walls, 
 
 Might be removed into some secret place ; 
 
 And let thy officers be strictly charged 
 
 That no one carry arms within the palace, 
 
 Or bring in any, if he love his life : 
 
 And if to Prudence we give ear at all, 
 
 Surely the Prince should go no more to war, 
 
 Nor longer lead the Lydian cavalry, 
 
 In fields where he in truth hath won renown, 
 
 But where thy boding is most like to find 
 
 Its dread fulfilment. 
 
 Croesus. 
 Thou advisest well. 
 And, lest my son should think that we herein 
 Make question of his valour or his skill, 
 And be offended, I will lay the grounds 
 Of my resolve in policy of state ; 
 My wish to see this kingdom, ere I die. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 21 
 
 Secured in due succession of my blood ; 
 Which to be master of I must require 
 His hasty marriage. He shall know my will 
 At once. Ho ! Let Prince Atys be informed 
 That I would speak with him. Had I more sons 
 Of strength to sway this sceptre, when my hand 
 Must lay it down, I should not, like a coward. 
 Thus tremble at an unsubstantial dream ; 
 But Ardys, as thou knowest, is from birth 
 Incapable of speech ; and, more than this, 
 Perchance because of this, is of so dwarfed 
 And weak intelligence as could not cope 
 With cares of government. By Fate's award. 
 Save that, no gift unwelcome ever came ; 
 That is as yet the only patch of cloud 
 Upon the bright cerulean canopy 
 Of my good fortune : now I trembling peer 
 Into the future, never feared before. 
 Enter A tys."] 
 
 Aesop, 
 Receive my salutation, noble Prince ! 
 
 Atys. 
 Mine take thou in exchange, most worthy Aesop ! 
 My King and father, I am come to learn 
 
22 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Wherefore thou didst desire my presence here ; 
 Pleased ever if I may in aught please thee. 
 
 Croesus. 
 Atys ! thou hast thy courage well approved, 
 Thy skill and prudent conduct in the field, 
 When o'er the hoof-scarred plain thy long-speared 
 
 knights 
 Chased the scampering Phrygians to their lairs. 
 Enough is done for honour ; now 'tis time 
 To think of policy, which must' forbid 
 Needless exposure of a life whose loss 
 Would snap the chain of Gyges' royal race : 
 Age creeps upon me ; and I fain would see 
 My grandsons, joyful pledges that this realm 
 Shall not fall ripe into some stranger's lap. 
 Now four and twenty times the rugged brow 
 Of Taurus has been wreathed in dazzling white, 
 And four and twenty times hath Spring renewed, 
 With vivifying touch, the varied tints 
 And pleasant shades that deck sweet Cayster's vale. 
 Since first thou lookedst on thy mother's face : 
 Full time it is thou take to thee a wife, 
 A duty to thy country that thou owest, 
 Lest, like a ship that hath her master lost. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 2$ 
 
 She fall an easy prey to some rude rover : 
 To me thou owest somewhat too ; a debt 
 Unclaimed hitherto ; and, if thy love 
 Repudiate it not, as I scarce think 
 It will, remove a care which presses me, 
 Exchanging arms for sweet domestic peace. 
 
 Atys, 
 My father ! it has ever been my joy 
 To do thee pleasure ; and I will not now 
 Make a beginning of opposing thee : 
 At thy desire a wife I will receive. 
 As touching my renouncement of the feats 
 And glorious risks of war, I do consent 
 To intermit them till thy gladdened eyes 
 Shall lusty issue of my blood behold. 
 For more than this I think thou would'st not ask : 
 'Twere shame indeed if I, the son of Croesus, 
 And grandson of the warlike Alyattes, 
 Who have so mightily for Lydia wrought, 
 Neglecting such examples, dulled my name 
 In luxury and tame uxorious sloth. 
 
 Croesus. 
 This shall content me for the nonce, my son ; 
 Hereafter we will further speak of this : 
 
24 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Thy speedy marriage claims our present care. 
 Which nothing need delay ; for I, this hour 
 Foreseeing, have attentively sought out 
 A fit alliance ; not with fruitless pains ; 
 For Sardanis, my trusted counsellor, 
 To whom few: worth and old nobility 
 None equal is in Lydia, hath a daughter, 
 Hesione, whose form and excellence 
 In all the qualities that grace a wife 
 I oft had heard commended, which report 
 Tested by me has proved no flattering tale. 
 I have this matter broached with Sardanis, 
 And nothing hinders but to-morrow's sun 
 May witness your betrothal. 
 
 Aty%. 
 
 I have heard 
 This maiden*s praises ; but, if naught oppose, 
 I would myself see and converse with her : 
 I would not buy a war-horse on report. 
 And shall I take a wife more heedlessly, 
 Who cannot be so easily cast off? 
 
 Croesus. 
 Thou hast my warranty : is that not good 
 For horse or wife ? Art nice, and difficult. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 25 
 
 In sooth. And custom reckons it immodest, 
 For maiden to reveal her face unveiled 
 For man's perusal ere betrothal bonds 
 Have linked her to him ; yet to Croesus' son 
 That may be granted which is not allowed 
 To most ; and since thou dost demand to taste 
 Ere thou consent to eat, ir shall be so. 
 
 Enter an Officer.] 
 
 What would'st thou ? Speak ! 
 
 Officer. 
 
 O King ! there stands without 
 Adrastus, son of Gordius, King of Phrygia, 
 And prays you will receive him. 
 
 Croesus. 
 
 Bring him in. 
 With what attendance ? 
 
 Officer. 
 
 None: he is alone; 
 And looks like one by fear to haste impelled. 
 
 [Exit Officer. 
 
26 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Croesus. 
 
 'Tis strange that unattended thus he comes : 
 And like a fugitive whom terror drives, 
 Or black remorse by wicked deeds begotten ; 
 For never heard I evil of the man, 
 But from report and knowledge deemed him upright. 
 Enter Officer with Adrastus, who kneels before Croesus.] 
 
 Croesus. 
 Arise, Adrastus, and unfold thy mind ; 
 Why com'st thou hither in such meagre wise ? 
 
 Adrastus. 
 O King ! a wretched fugitive I come, 
 With blood-stained hands, though not with guilty soul, 
 To make my expiation to the gods ; 
 And, with the sacred rites their laws ordain, 
 Purge off the foul defilement they abhor : 
 Perform, O King, the ceremonies due, 
 Which may assuage the dire Eumenides, 
 And break the bond which bars me from the shrines. 
 
 Croesus. 
 O son of Gordius ! truly in my heart 
 Compassion grows for thee whom late I knew 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 27 
 
 High raised above thy fellows ; now, it seems, 
 
 Abjectly fallen ; weighted with the wrath 
 
 Of gods and men, though not with guilt, thou 
 
 sayest : 
 But were thy guilt most flagrant, thy request 
 For purifying rites thou should'st obtain ; 
 For never should I dare, a mortal man, 
 To stand between the criminal and heaven. 
 
 {To an Attendant) 
 Go thou, and fetch some water from the spring 
 Which, with refreshing breath and drowsy song, 
 Pours forth its sparkling wavelets in the court ; 
 Dissolve some salt therein ; and with thee bring 
 An olive branch ; for purifying drops 
 From olive sprinkled are of wondrous virtue. 
 Meanwhile, Adrastus, I would gladly hear 
 What brought thee to this lamentable pass. 
 
 Adrastus. 
 Alas! O King! thou biddest me recall 
 Things painful to remember ; words of wrath. 
 And violent act ; yet may I not refuse 
 The hard recital which to thee is due. — 
 There rose a certain rivalry of sport 
 'Twixt Agathon, my brother, and myself, 
 
28 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Which, pure at first, ere long unwholesome grew, 
 
 And turned to bitterness and sharp dispute : 
 
 Then passion was enkindled, whose dull flame 
 
 Flashed words that scorch and lacerate the soul : 
 
 My brother, frenzied by a stinging taunt 
 
 Which anger struck from me, unsheathed his sword ; 
 
 But as it hissing clove the yielding air 
 
 I nimbly leapt aside, eluding death : 
 
 Then blazed my wrath and all my sense consumed ; 
 
 On my deaf ears in vain then Zeus had pealed 
 
 His loudest thunder ; in a dream I saw 
 
 A swaying form, and rapid blades confused ; 
 
 Yet heard no clash, nor felt the weapon's jar. 
 
 Then suddenly the cloud which wrapped my sense 
 
 Appeared to break, and at my feet I saw 
 
 My brother bleeding, in the throes of death. 
 
 Ah ! vainly weeping then, I cursed my wrath : 
 
 How paltry then the plea of self-defence 
 
 Appeared ! Alas ! far better had I stood 
 
 And in my undefended breast received 
 
 My brother's sword ; now should I be at peace. 
 
 What followed scarce I know ; my father raged, 
 
 And drove me forth with curses : thence I came 
 
 To thee, O King ! that from the stain of blood 
 
 I might be cleansed, and cease to offend the gods. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 29 
 
 Croesus, 
 
 Thy grievous tale, Adrastus, moves me much ; 
 
 And wakes ray pity for the royal house 
 
 Of Gordius : I thy father long have known, 
 
 And honoured ; and full well my heart can read, 
 
 And, in the language of its own affections 
 
 And fears, interpret his distracted soul. 
 
 Thee too I pity that thou know'st thyself 
 
 The cause of so much misery and grief : 
 
 But brooding o'er the past can naught undo ; 
 
 New scenes, new friends, and kindly words and 
 
 looks, 
 Although at first they chafe, and irksome seem 
 To minds which hard affliction chains and galls. 
 Yet do insensibly benumb the weals 
 Whose rawness shrank from the physician's touch : 
 Wherefore, remain thou here ; I do not say 
 A guest ; be thou a comrade to my son ; 
 Here find a brother and a second home ; 
 And may the pleasant converse of this court, 
 Like cheerful sunshine, banish from thy heart 
 The gloom and mist which now have settled 
 
 there ; 
 Waking in thee the buds of calm content 
 And spring-like growths of new-born happiness. 
 
30 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Adrastus, 
 
 King ! how far thy gracious words transcend 
 My poor desert ! which meaner doth appear 
 Neighboured with so great generosity. 
 Prosperity is always well received ; 
 
 But they whom their own fault, or adverse chance, 
 Has overthrown most commonly are crushed 
 By every proud wayfarer's trampling feet : 
 Had'st thou but in compassion turned aside, 
 Disdaining to insult a fallen man, 
 
 1 should have thanked thee ; but to raise me up, 
 Refresh me, salve my bruises, take my hand 
 With words of comfort such as might befit 
 
 A father's lips, O King ! thou fill'st my heart 
 With feelings that would fain find utterance, 
 But must in painful impotence be dumb. 
 
 Croesus, 
 
 Too highly dost thou rate a few kind words ; 
 And I am not so poor that I must groan 
 Beneath the load of hospitality. 
 
 Enter Servant, with a howl and an olive branch.] 
 But see ! here comes the liquid pure and clear 
 From living fount collected, whose bright drops 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 3 1 
 
 Are foes to every foul defiling stain ; 
 Here too the sacred leaves, whose parent tree 
 Is dear to gods ; to whom I make my prayer 
 That they now favour and accept this rite. 
 Croesus takes the olive branch, dips it into the mater, and 
 sprinkles Adrastus three times, 
 
 Croesus. 
 By cleansing water, and by salt the foe 
 To all corruption, may the taint of blood 
 Be so expunged that thou cease to be 
 Obnoxious to the virgin deities, 
 The blood-avengers, nor displease the gods. 
 Now come thou straight and pour from brimming cups 
 Libations to the stern Eumenides ; 
 Three golden cups of honey shalt thou empty, 
 And, after, three of oil ; such sober bowls 
 The ever watchful virgins most delight : 
 Thereafter thou wilt dread not to approach 
 With sacrifice the deities benign. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
SCENE III. 
 
 A Room in the Women's Apartments in the House of Sardanis. 
 Hesione and Nurse discovered. 
 
 Nurse* 
 Art glad, Hesione ? thou must be glad 1 
 And yet thou dost not laugh ; but in thy face, 
 Which well I can construe, I read the signs 
 Of pensiveness ; though from displeasure free : 
 But joy I sought ; for what in woman's lot 
 Can be compared with marriage ? 'tis the door 
 That leads from bondage to a larger life : 
 And when it hides a stair whose splendid top 
 Is royalty, what maid would not rejoice 
 To hear that she must climb it ? Dost not thou ? 
 
 Hesione. 
 I am not sorry, Nurse ; for well I knew 
 That I must wed ! and, as my duty bids, 
 My parents' choice is mine ; and few indeed 
 At such a choice would cavil ; yet some thoughts 
 Of sober hue win access to my mind. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 33 
 
 I am not yet betrothed ; and to receive 
 
 And bear the gaze of one whom I as yet 
 
 Am stranger to, I should have thought immodest, 
 
 But that my father has approved it : 
 
 And even so I do not like it much : 
 
 To know myself examined, scanned, and measured, 
 
 As I were merchandise displayed for sale. 
 
 Must needs abash me, and imbrue my cheeks 
 
 With shame's emblazonry. My veil I'll wear 
 
 Till, by the favour of its kindly screen, 
 
 I teach myself to bear his hardy looks ; 
 
 And 'twill be my advantage to peruse 
 
 His face ere he have leave to look on mine. 
 
 But how if I displease him ? what a shock 
 
 My pride will suffer ! offered and rejected ! 
 
 O dreadful thought ! expect not gaiety 
 
 With contemplation such as this to dwell. 
 
 Nurse. 
 Tut, tut ! fret not thyself ! the prince hath eyes, 
 And skill to tell a ring-dove from a raven : 
 Dismiss these fancies, and give room to joy. 
 What are young women come to ? One would think 
 A flawed advantage offered ; when in truth 
 Thou in the contest hast secured the crown. 
 
 D 
 
34 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Not thine the lot, which I have known befall, 
 
 To wed some testy and decrepit lord. 
 
 Or scoundrel whom the sufferance of Heaven 
 
 Has left in life for some ignoble use, 
 
 Bartering youth and beauty for high birth 
 
 Or necessary gold, a helpless pawn 
 
 Of policy ; or with the bait of wealth 
 
 To be snapped up by heartless egotist. 
 
 Not often is it maiden's hap to find 
 
 A bridegroom handsome, brave, and generous, 
 
 On whose tried virtue jealousy alone 
 
 Her slimy venom all in vain discharges ; 
 
 Heir to a throne and boundless wealth to boot : 
 
 Were I thy age, owning a face and form 
 
 Worth looking on, all day I'd gladly stand 
 
 A mark for his fixed gaze, to be his wife. 
 
 Commendable is modesty in maids; 
 
 Yet there be times when boldness better serves : 
 
 Then thank the gods, and smile upon the Fates 
 
 Who such rare splendour in thy web have woven. 
 
 Hesione. 
 
 Ah ! Nurse ! the promise of to-day is fair ; 
 
 Phoebus in glory rides benignant forth ; 
 
 But what beyond the darkness lies concealed ? 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 35 
 
 Thou lov'st me, but my feelings canst not share : 
 I am content, though gaiety stands aloof. 
 
 Nurse. 
 Well, well, my dear, I can be well content 
 That thou art so, and will be gay for both. 
 But yonder shadow in its silent course 
 Now warns me that the appointed hour is nigh : 
 Therefore I'll go meet Atys as he comes. 
 
 [Exit Nurse. 
 
 Hesione. 
 Now were it well to wish that I could feel 
 As that good creature might, were my lot hers ? 
 I think not so, though thus I might attain 
 More happiness : nay, not more happiness, 
 But less discomfort ; for the blunt of sense 
 Buy their immunity with keenest joys. 
 Dreary at best is woman's lot : in youth 
 Confined at home, a slave to loom and shuttle ; 
 Marriage her only hope of liberty. 
 Which may be but a lighter servitude, 
 With many a care encompassed : cold neglect, 
 Or even harshness may dethrone sweet love. 
 I've heard that Atys hath a noble nature ; 
 Methinks he should be kind; why should he not ? 
 
 D — 2 
 
36 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 'Twould be my wish to please him : here within 
 Is plenteous store of love, which should be his 
 If he disdain it not. To me 'tis strange, 
 If it be true, that men, as I have heard, 
 Grow weary oft to sip the wonted stream, 
 And seek new fountains : O may gods ordain 
 I be not thus neglected. Full of doubt 
 The future lies, from whose dark urn may come 
 Much happiness, or pain in various forms: 
 Propitious be the Fates, and grant me bliss ! 
 He comes. Kind veil, be thou my courage now ! 
 {Covers her head with her veil.) 
 
 Enter A tys and Nurse. Nurse remains in the background, 
 Atys and Hesione stand a little distance apart. 
 
 A tys. 
 Fairest Hesione ! for well I feel 
 That thou art fair; though, like the jealous cloud 
 That Phoebe's full-orbed splendour doth obscure, 
 Thy veil conceals the whiteness of thy brow. 
 And quenches the bright cressets of thine eyes : 
 Not seldom, through a peaceful summer night 
 Walking abroad, I have beheld the moon 
 With gauzy cloud-wreaths veiled, which, from her 
 sheen 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 37 
 
 Tints delicate and misty borrowing, 
 
 Have but enhanced the beauty they would hide: 
 
 Such sweetly-tempered loveliness methinks 
 
 Delights me now; and for a little while 
 
 I can endure that screen, that so my sight 
 
 May learn to bear unclouded brilliancy. 
 
 Too plain in sooth my hardihood appears: 
 
 It seemed an easy thing ere here I came 
 
 To beg this interview ; but now amaze 
 
 At my rude trespass checks my utterance. 
 
 What shall I say to thee ? I will retire^ 
 
 Unblessed by sight of thy unveiled face, 
 
 Rather than wound thy tender modesty : 
 
 Dismiss me by a sign and I will go: 
 
 And yet I pray thee give me leave to stayl 
 
 Here to remain I count a privilege 
 
 Not to be bought with gold, or all the realms 
 
 That call my father king. And ere I go 
 
 I fain would know that thou forgiv'st my boldness 
 
 In this invasion : of thy kindness, speak ! 
 
 And say that thou canst pardon me. 
 
 Hesione, 
 
 My lord ! 
 Where is no injury, there needs no pardon ; 
 
38 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Yet if it please thee that I say I pardon, 
 I do say so. 
 
 Atys. 
 
 As pleasant to mine ear 
 Thy voice, as sweetest song of tuneful birds, 
 Or sound of lyre well struck by minstrel's hand. 
 To say my presence gives thee no offence 
 Is to permit it: therefore I will stay: 
 And like a watcher for the dawn I'll stand 
 And pray to see thy face. But hear me first. 
 While I entreat thee for a precious gift — 
 Thyself: lest thou should'st feel that, like a slave 
 Exposed in the mart, thou ofFerest 
 Thy features to my critical review, 
 I ask thee now to promise me thy hand, 
 Which solemnly I here agree to take. 
 
 Hesione. 
 My lord ! it is my honoured parents' will, 
 Whom it becomes me not to disobey. 
 
 Atys, 
 'Tis well! to wed thee by thy parents' will 
 Is something ; but if thine go not therewith, 
 Joy blesses not our hymeneal feast : 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 39 
 
 More bitter than delightful 'twere to take 
 A cold reluctant hand, or press a kiss 
 On irresponsive lips. I do not wish 
 A soulless body in my arms to clasp ; 
 If then thy will thy parents' seconds not, 
 
 let me know it, and I thee will woo, 
 Until I lure thy soul to cling to mine, 
 Powerless to wander: at thy door I'll hang 
 Fresh garlands daily, turning thy abode 
 To Eros' Temple ; where, a worshipper, 
 I'll pour libations at thy honoured shrine: 
 With incantations, and with love-knots true 
 
 I'll bind thy love ; and charm thine ear with hymns 
 Most passionate, with note of well-strung lyre 
 And Lydian melody from pipe and flute. 
 Not like rough Peleus would I snatch my bride, 
 But see her, dove-like, timidly approach. 
 
 1 pray thee tell me ; can thy love unforced 
 Respond to mine ? Hesione 1 I wait 
 Thy answer : speak ! 
 
 Hesioite, 
 My lord ! until this hour 
 I never heard your voice, nor saw your face: 
 Love comes not to maturity so fast : 
 
40 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Some say indeed that he at times doth spring 
 
 Full-grown to birth, and has no infancy ; 
 
 Howbeit to me that seems not credible. 
 
 And thou my face hast not yet seen at all ; 
 
 Perchance at sight of it thy new-bom love, 
 
 If it be born indeed, will frighted die : 
 
 Thou scarce canst love me whom thou knowest not. 
 
 Atys, 
 Well I believe, Hesione, that Love 
 May in an hour put forth Titanic strength ; 
 For is he not a god ? Nor is it true 
 That thee I know not, for all-seeing Fame 
 Has drawn thy portrait, which thy voice and air 
 Confirming have my love to vigour fed. 
 Canst thou not love me, fair Hesione ? 
 
 Hesione. 
 My lord ! obedient to my parents' will, 
 I give myself to thee : yet not as forced. 
 Reluctant to a hateful doom, I come ; 
 Nor does my will against their will rebel. 
 
 Atys, 
 Sweetest Hesione ! I am content ; 
 My love shall teach thy budding love to grow. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 4 1 
 
 And since thou dost consent to be my wife, 
 Thou may'st unveil without disparagement 
 Of modesty. 
 
 (Hesione removes her veil.) 
 
 Atys. 
 Now o'er the distant hills 
 I seem to see Aurora stepping forth. 
 With blushes all suffused, and radiant brow, 
 Encircling mists with rosy beams dispelling. 
 Here could I gaze unsated all the day. 
 Unsated ! Nay, mine eyes thus pasturing 
 Would sharpen appetite still more and more. 
 So vainly longing I'll forbear to stand, 
 But rather go to hasten the betrothal ; 
 My father's willingness needs not the spur. 
 Who covets thee already for a daughter. 
 I go then now, that I may soon return. 
 Farewell, Hesione ! about thee play 
 Graces and Nymphs ! and pleasant be thy thoughts ! 
 And may I be to darkness ever doomed, 
 In deepest Erebus, if aught of grief 
 Through me e'er stain and furrow thy fair cheeks ! 
 
 Hesione. 
 Thee, too, may Heaven with favourable eye 
 Regard ! 
 
42 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Atys. 
 
 I thank thee. Once more, fare thee well ! 
 [Exit Atys^ followed by Nurse. 
 
 Hesione. 
 As when a sunbeam from the western sky 
 Down through the window leaping, lights his lamp 
 And gleams upon the wall, but, as the sun 
 Rolls down the sky and summons back his child. 
 Reluctantly it goes, how dull then seems 
 The place it brightened ; so now looks this room 
 Dreary and dark as ne'er it looked before. 
 And yet a strange new happiness invades 
 My throbbing breast ; but with it enters too 
 A vague and formless fear : oft have I heard 
 That when the flowing tide of happiness 
 Comes to the full, it then begins to ebb : 
 Kind Heaven, I do not ask excess of bliss; 
 Exalt me not whence I must fall again. 
 Nor send me joys whose aftermath is pain. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
SCENE IV. 
 Hall in the Palace of Croesus. Enter Croesus and Sardanis. 
 
 Croesus. 
 I now have opened to thee, Sardanis, 
 The reasons which so urged me to desire 
 My son's immediate marriage, and the fear 
 Whose spectral admonitions I obeying 
 By soft enmeshments of connubial joy 
 Design to keep him near my watchful eye. 
 
 Sardanis. 
 
 O King ! I understand thy anxious care ; 
 
 And for a while no doubt thy nets will hold : 
 
 Strong are Love's fetters when they're newly forged ; 
 
 But iron better bears the brunt of Time : 
 
 And 'tis not likely that a mettled youth 
 
 Who once has quaffed intoxicating war 
 
 Will long lie tamely in a woman's lap. 
 
 But let the future for its own provide ; 
 
 The day is not too long to deal aright 
 
 With what the day brings forth : a matter now 
 
44 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Craves thy attention. Lately hither came, 
 Requesting audience, messengers from Mysia ; 
 But thou being then immersed in the flood 
 Of nuptial ceremonies and rejoicings, 
 I bade them wait on thy convenience. 
 Is it thy pleasure to receive them now ? 
 
 Croesus, 
 Yes, let them enter ! 
 
 Sardanis {to an officer). 
 By the King's command, 
 Admit the Mysians, who await without ! 
 Enter Mysians, who kneel before Croesus."] 
 
 First Mysian. 
 Hail ! mighty Croesus ! lord of many lands ! 
 
 Croesus. 
 Arise, my friends ! and say what news ye bring 
 From Mysia. Did some trouble wing your feet 
 To bear you hitherward ? Or is all well ? 
 
 First Mysian. 
 O King ! to thee as to a father looking 
 Benign and powerful, in our distress 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 45 
 
 We come, confiding in thy ready help. 
 
 The case is thus : among the rugged slopes 
 
 Of high Olympus now for many moons 
 
 A boar of monstrous size hath kept its lair, 
 
 Whence making frequent sallies on our herds 
 
 And crops, it hath dire devastation wrought : 
 
 A brute of such ferocity and strength 
 
 Has never plagued mankind since that which lurked 
 
 In Erymanthus, or that through the heights 
 
 Of Calydon was hunted. Vain the skill 
 
 And force of our best hunters, who have dared 
 
 In horrid duel to confront him ; all 
 
 Have by his murderous tusks been slain or mangled. 
 
 No longer venture any to oppose 
 
 His ravenous rage, as o'er our fields he roves, 
 
 Devouring and destroying. Now, O King, 
 
 To thee as to a father we appeal : 
 
 Our countrymen have sent us to thy feet, 
 
 To pray thee that thou wouldest send thy son 
 
 With men and dogs to extirpate this pest 
 
 Which thus oppresses us. 
 
 Croesus, 
 
 'Tis not in vain, 
 O men of Mysia ! that you here appeal 
 
46 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 To my compassion. I will send forthwith 
 
 The boldest hunters that in Lydia dwell, 
 
 And dogs of such a breed that ye might search 
 
 All Asia for their like : a valued gift 
 
 From Sparta's king they came. But for my son, 
 
 Dismiss him from your thoughts ! he cannot go ; 
 
 For he a wife has taken, and his vows 
 
 To Hymen are no more than two days old. 
 
 Go, Sardanis ! and set at once in train 
 
 This expedition. [Exit Sardanis. 
 
 And do ye return. 
 And to your country be the harbingers 
 Of better days, and freedom from this scourge. 
 
 First Mysian, 
 Most gracious King and father of thy people ! 
 The gods upon thee shower unnumbered blessings ! 
 
 [Exeunt Mysians. 
 
 Croesus. 
 My plan has in its building and its launch 
 Gone smoothly : Atys now is in my trap ; 
 And with his gentle bride seems well content ; 
 O may she, like a tendril lithe and tough, 
 Twine round his heart and bind him to his home. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 47 
 
 But hard is youthful courage to confine 
 
 Or tame ; and therefore dread still haunts my mind. 
 
 Enter Atys, followed by Admsttis.} 
 
 Atys. 
 My father! I am told that, on the ground 
 Of marriage newly joined, thou hast refused 
 For me the conduct of the hunting foray 
 Which at the Mysians' suit has been decreed : 
 But if nought else but that withstands my going, 
 I pray thee let me go : to face a boar 
 Which demigods might not disdain to hunt 
 I well can bear a few days' severance 
 From home and wife : sweet is connubial love ; 
 But on sweetmeats alone what man can live ? 
 
 Croesus. 
 My son ! the reason that I showed the men 
 Was but a cloak ; of full validity 
 Is that which forced me to oppose thy going. 
 Be satisfied; I've business for thee here. 
 
 Atys. 
 
 In ancient times, as I full oft have heard. 
 No business or pursuit was worthier deemed, 
 
48 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 And more becoming men of royal birth, 
 Than war and hunting. All my ancestors 
 Have been renowned for skill in both of these ; 
 And must I be alone for future times 
 A shade, a name, no more, by no exploit 
 Distinguished above the common crowd ? 
 And what a low opinion of my valour 
 Must be engendered in the mind of her 
 Whom I have wedded, when she sees me sit 
 Thus woman-like in guarded ease at home \ 
 You wrong me, father, like a tender child 
 To coop me thus ; as though I were too soft 
 To deal with danger or hardship endure. 
 I pray thee let me go : or marshal forth 
 Such reasons as must conquer my desire ! 
 
 Croesus. 
 Atys ! thy life to me and to this state 
 Is dear beyond the sum of all my wealth : 
 Ten thousand of her bravest warriors 
 Could Lydia better spare than thee alone : 
 Reason enough is here why I should guard 
 That life with care more fearful than my own. 
 But yet this is not all ; and thou shalt hear 
 What further doth imperiously command 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 49 
 
 My present wariness ; that thou may'st know 
 My mind no slave to vague unreasoning fear 
 Or doting father's love. As late in sleep 
 My body lay enthralled, my conscious mind 
 A terrifying vision entertained ; 
 But whence I know not. Thee, my son, I saw 
 In battle's fierce contention, as it seemed, 
 By hostile weapon pierced, and dying fall. 
 Now if this dream were sent me by some god 
 To warn me, it were impiously done, 
 And most ungratefully, to toss aside 
 The warning, as in scorn and disbelief. 
 I cannot choose but block each avenue 
 Which danger may to thy dear life admit. 
 
 Atys, 
 
 Far be it from my thoughts to throw contempt 
 On things divine ; or view with scornful eyes 
 Heaven's premonitions : if 'twere now proposed 
 To levy war on men, whose steel-tipped spears 
 Might threaten life, I would not enter plea 
 Against thy judgment : but with no tall spear 
 Nor javelin brandished the boar attacks; 
 Therefore the application of thy dream 
 
 £ 
 
50 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Fits not this hunting ; since 'twas by the thrust 
 Of human hand the vision showed me stricken. 
 
 Croesus. 
 The vision truly seemed to bode thy fall 
 In fight with men and by a human arm : 
 But who can tell if some marauding band 
 May not attack you ; or a rebel force 
 Of Mysians discontented with our sway, 
 Which, newly laid upon them, haply galls ? 
 
 Atys. 
 It seems to me, my father, — with respect 
 I speak it — that small is the likelihood 
 Of such encounter : for thy hand and eye, 
 In every part of this extended realm 
 Efficient through thy zealous officers, 
 Have traced and broken every brigand's hive. 
 If still some scattered remnants roam at large, 
 They rather will retire into their dens, 
 Than seek an enterprise where blows and thrusts 
 Await them, with slight promise of reward. 
 And though the Mysians be not reconciled 
 To our new yoke, will they attack us now 
 Going to rid them of a plague, a sore 
 Which smarts and festers so as our control 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDTA 5 1 
 
 I'm sure does not ? O, I shall be as safe — 
 The very indication of thy dream 
 Confirms it — agoing thither as at home ; 
 For from no place can Death be barred out. 
 Send, if it please thee, of the bravest men 
 That guard thy throne, a troop so panoplied 
 That none shall dare attack ; and I engage,— 
 A promise hard to make, harder to keep, 
 Yet for the love I bear thee I will make 
 And keep it too — should any be so bold 
 To challenge us, I, with a chosen guard, 
 Avoiding danger, will retire ; the rest 
 For the aggressors shall employment find, 
 Which will not leave them leisure to pursue. 
 Wherefore, O father, from thy mind expel 
 Unfounded fears, and give me leave to go ! 
 
 Croesus. 
 My son ! I am convinced : thy reasoning 
 Hath chased away opposing doubts and fears. 
 Go then, and needful preparation make 
 For thy departure. 
 
 Afys. 
 O receive my thanks ! 
 
 [Exit Atys. 
 
5 2 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Croesus. 
 Adrastus ! I desire some speech with thee. 
 Remain awhile ! 
 
 Thou, in thy book of memory, methinks, 
 Hast entered me thy creditor : no need 
 Is there that I should reckon up the sum ; 
 Or fear lest thou repudiate the debt ; 
 For thou art rather apt to overvalue 
 A service which to render no expense 
 Of trouble or annoyance laid on me. 
 And now hath Time the ripe occasion brought 
 Which I have heard thee pray for, and the means 
 To strike the balance even. Thou hast heard 
 How I have yielded to my son's desire 
 To hunt this boar, in spite of anxious fear : 
 Thus may'st thou serve me ; with my son depart ; 
 And separate not from him ; where he goes, 
 Go thou ; and be alert ; with watchful mind 
 Foresee and fend oflF every threatened harm ; 
 And bring him to my sight again unscathed. 
 
 Adrastus. 
 
 Croesus ! I owe thee all ; my life is thine, 
 A loan, and to thy service consecrate ; 
 1 did not think it fitting to compete 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 53 
 
 In honourable rivalry with men 
 
 Whose hands are pure from homicidal stain ; 
 
 Nor like a shameless roisterer to flaunt 
 
 My tarnished title in the public glare ; 
 
 And therefore had I purposed to abide 
 
 In such retirement as thou would'st permit. 
 
 And modesty enjoined. But thy command 
 
 Is paramount ; and every wish must yield 
 
 To gratitude. In me shall Atys find 
 
 Another pair of eyes and ready hands ; 
 
 A shield not for a moment laid aside ; 
 
 Nay more, a second life ; for e'er the blow 
 
 That threatens him his body's citadel 
 
 Can once assault, I first, his outer wall, 
 
 Must be thrown down ; be sure he shall not fall, 
 
 Nor come to harm while I remain alive : 
 
 Henceforth he owns two lives ; and of the twain 
 
 He first must lose the one that lives in me. 
 
 Croesus. 
 For this devotion, friend, I thank thee much, 
 And will with love requite it. Come with me, 
 That we may further speak upon this matter. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
SCENE V. 
 
 Tlu Same, Enter Croesus, Bias, Sardanis, Aesop, and 
 Attendants. 
 
 Croesus. 
 Bias ! it hath been ever my delight 
 To honour wisdom and exalted virtue : 
 Of much which I could boast not this the least 
 I reckon, that this place is the resort 
 Of those whose names shine first among the Greeks 
 For probity and wisdom. Not the dullest 
 Art thou among the pole-encircling stars 
 Of intellect : thou didst my father teach 
 That one transcendant mind can more avail 
 To hold at bay the foes that throng around 
 A city's walls than all the stalwart guards 
 That keep it, armour-clad and skilled in fight. 
 Me, too, thou keptst long waiting at the gates 
 Of proud Priene : but I can admire 
 Worth in a foe ; nor have I cause to hate, 
 Since on my enterprise the favouring gods 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 55 
 
 Did smile, and placed thy city in my hands : 
 
 Thou hadst the worst ; but since magnanimous 
 
 Thou comest as a guest, nor bearest grudge, 
 
 I give thee hearty welcome ; and no boon 
 
 That thou canst ask shall seem to pass due bounds. 
 
 Bias. 
 
 King ! I thank thee for thy friendly speech. 
 And kindly offer ; but I nothing lack : 
 
 1 once was rich ; no longer am I so ; 
 But loss of wealth to me no evil seems : 
 Him deem I wretched who knows not to bear 
 Misfortune patiently. Bless thou the gods 
 Who have so prospered thee ; and ever seek 
 To know and do their will. 
 
 Croesus. 
 Thus have I done ; 
 And still have been the favourite of heaven : 
 All Asia west of Halys calls me king ; 
 Of all the Grecian cities that o'erlook 
 The western sea, not one disputes my power : 
 'Tis now my purpose presently to build ^ 
 
 A fleet of triremes which upon the isles 
 Shall swoop like eagles ; that those foam-set gems 
 
56 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 May be an added glory to my crown. 
 Thou hast been lately there a visitor : 
 Tell me how fare the islanders ; what strength 
 Of vessels have they to defend their rocks ? 
 
 Bias. 
 
 Secure, O King I behind their watery walls, 
 Which better far than stone or earth hold off 
 The covetous aggressor, they prepare 
 Squadrons of cavalry, which, ferried o'er 
 The moaning deep, may meet thy Lydian horse 
 In battle shock upon the steadfast main. 
 
 Croesns. 
 Thanks to that god which hath inspired their minds 
 With so great madness, that unforced they leave 
 Their wonted element to dare my power 
 In conflict strange wherein I most excel : 
 How I rejoice in this intelligence ! 
 
 Bias. 
 
 And dost thou not consider then, O King ! 
 That they will no less gladly hear the news 
 Of thy design to meet them on the waves, 
 Where use and wont will on their side contend. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 57 
 
 Their force redoubling, so that they may hope 
 To deal thee such a blow as shall relax 
 Thy grip upon the cities of the coast ? 
 
 Croesus^ 
 
 Ah ! say'st thou so ? I had not thought of that : 
 And yet maybe there's wisdom in thy words : 
 I will at least further reflect on this 
 Ere I embark in it. Well, Sardanis ! 
 Should we not soon have tidings of my son ? 
 Methinks there has been fully time enough 
 For men to go to Mysia and return. 
 
 Sardanis. 
 
 In truth, O King, without excessive haste 
 They might be seen this very day in Sardis : 
 For were a spear propelled with might enough 
 To send it speeding hence to pierce the side 
 Of old Olympus, hissing through the air 
 It would a thousand stadia measure out ; 
 A three days journey for a mounted man 
 Considerate of his horse : seven times the sun 
 Hath scorched the crags of Tmolus with his fires 
 Since Atys hence departed, wending north. 
 
5$ CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Croesus. 
 *Tis well : I long to see him back again : 
 For I cannot an inward whisper quell 
 That speaks ill-omened words, and wakens thoughts 
 Which I would banish from my anxious mind. 
 Enter a Messenger, who kneels before Croesus.] 
 
 Messenger. 
 Wide-ruling king ! grant pardon to thy slave ! 
 
 Croesus. 
 What crime hast thou committed ? Hast thou slain 
 By inadvertence, or by rage impelled ? 
 Speak ! thou shalt find me not unmerciful 
 So justice be not shaken from her throne. 
 
 Messenger. 
 No man, great King, by me hath suffered harm : 
 But I am sent to wound thy happiness 
 With so keen-edged words that. Death except, 
 No surgeon hath the skill to make it sound. 
 Thy son, O King ! alas ! how shall I say it ? 
 
 Croesus. 
 My son ? what hath befallen ? Ah ! my dream ! 
 Speak man ! thy words have brought a sudden fear 
 Like night upon me. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 59 
 
 Messenger. 
 
 Would I could dispel it ! 
 A grievous accident, most gracious King ! 
 Hath lopped away from thee thy fairest bough : 
 Prince Atys lives no more. 
 
 Croesus. 
 
 It cannot be ! 
 Dead ? dead ? My son, Prince Atys dead ? 
 
 Messenger. 
 
 Alack ! 
 
 Croesus. 
 Gone, gone for ever is the salt of life ! 
 O gods ! O Phoebus ! do ye thus reward 
 One who with steadfast and with pious heart 
 Has paid you honour, glorified your name. 
 Enriched your shrines and temples ? Is it true 
 That gods are jealous of too happy men ? 
 What profits it their nostrils to invade 
 With steaming savour from the gushing veins 
 Of bvdls and sheep, by hundreds sacrificed ? 
 With golden cisterns, bowls, and images 
 In large profusion to endow their dwellings, 
 If, greedily exacting, they begrudge 
 
6o CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Such happiness as in this broken stream 
 
 Of mortal life may spring from pure affection? 
 
 Atys ! all my pride, and all the hope 
 Of Lydia, and the sceptred race of Gyges ! 
 
 1 have no heart to hear, and yet would know 
 How fate o'ertook thee. Stand thou, and relate 
 How chanced this evil ! 
 
 Messenger. 
 
 At the first, O King ! 
 Our journey prospered : time-beguiling mirth 
 And gay anticipation winged our way, 
 And carried us, not far behind our hope, 
 To Mysia and the slopes of high Olympus. 
 Nor wandered long at fault the eager hounds ; 
 But swiftly, baying open-mouthed, led on. 
 Until, with clamour hoarse and vehement, 
 A narrow cavern fiercely they besieged, 
 Ensconced within a gorge whose rocky sides 
 Re-echoed to the din. Soon then were spread 
 The nets ; and from his lair the monstrous boar 
 Was driven foaming ; horrid in his rage : 
 And soon his gleaming tusks were stained with gore 
 That from the dogs' ripped flanks and bellies streamed. 
 But with constricted circle round him close 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LVDIA 6 1 
 
 The fearless huntsmen ; and with levelled spears 
 Await his charge. A moment he surveyed 
 With angry eyes the hemming ring of iron ; 
 And then, as though disdaining meaner blood 
 Than that which flows in royal veins, he rushed 
 Swiftly, with sullen snarl, and low-bent head, 
 Straight on the Prince ; and with prodigious force 
 Wrenched from his firmly gripping hand the spear : 
 He straightway threw himself along the earth, 
 And thus the monster's upward-glancing tusk 
 Barely escaped. The Phrygian stranger then, 
 Adrastus, fearing for the Prince's life, 
 Ran up, and with his spear attacked the beast ; 
 But in his eagerness o'ershot the mark, 
 And pierced the body of thy noble son. 
 Another javelin, aimed with greater heed, 
 Transfixed the monster ; but the Prince, thy son, 
 Alas 1 O King ! lay dead upon the sward. 
 
 Croesus. 
 
 Thou may'st retire. 
 
 [Exit Messenger. 
 O why was I so weak 
 And easy to subject my riper judgment 
 To boyish ardour and headstrong desire 
 
62 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 That outruns reason ? What avails the fruit 
 Experience bears, if wisdom tamely bow 
 In homage to impatient ignorance ? 
 Nor did the wisdom well attest its claim 
 To govern, which entrusted so great wealth 
 Of happiness to one whom wrath divine 
 Already had so plainly linked with grief. 
 I by that weak surrender am the cause : 
 I am the slayer of my own delight. 
 O sun ! in vain for me henceforth thou shinest 
 How dark and joyless now will time crawl on ; 
 Day ranked with day in dull monotony ! 
 
 Aesop, 
 
 O Croesus ! ancient rhapsodists aver 
 That Zeus himself, the cloud-compelling king. 
 Hath not the power to ravel out the thread 
 That Clotho spins, or stay the fatal shears : 
 The vision which forewarned thee of this day 
 Thereby declared this mischief fore-ordained, 
 Hence unavoidable ; else were the god 
 Who sent it thee with falsehood chargeable : 
 Accuse not then thyself ; thou didst not cause 
 What even thy great might could not prevent. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 63 
 
 Croesus. 
 Of what advantage is it then to know 
 Ills threatened, if we cannot counterwork them ? 
 Apollo ! little cause had I to thank 
 Thee for this warning ; for thus twice descends 
 The stroke, and with anticipated grief 
 The intervening time is slowly racked. 
 But what avails complaint against the gods ? 
 For them can neither mortal railings vex, 
 Nor arm disturb upon their blissful seats ; 
 But he whose hand accomplished this woe, 
 And planted in the heart of my dear son 
 A pang which propagates itself in mine, 
 Not thence in life to be eradicated, 
 He hath a sensitive and mortal frame, 
 Which can be brought to torture, stripes, and death : 
 Could I behold him writhing, hear him groan, 
 Who hath so evilly requited me, 
 A bitter joy would temper my despair. 
 Thou Zeus ! whose care unsleeping guardeth round 
 The stranger guest, and guest-receiving host, 
 Protecting hospitality's due rites, 
 I summon thee to witness and reward 
 My benefactions to this bloodstained man ! 
 He hither, like Orestes, fury-driven, 
 
64 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 A wretched exile, bowed beneath a curse. 
 Came wandering ; his burden I removed ; 
 The blood that stained his fratricidal hand 
 I cleansed away with rites thereto ordained ; 
 And made him welcome with the best I had : 
 How should I know that Fate's directing hand 
 Had aimed him hither as a weapon barbed, 
 To which I bared my unsuspecting breast ? 
 
 Zeus ! if charity be thus repaid, 
 Who will in future dare to entertain 
 
 And soothe and cheer a wretched fugitive ? 
 
 So will thy office come to disrepute ; 
 
 And thou, the guardian of those kindly rites, 
 
 For negligent connivance be despised. 
 
 Then grant me that which now alone thou canst, 
 
 To lay my hand upon this murderer. 
 
 And, gazing on his torment, dull my own. 
 
 Go, Sardanis ! take men, seek out and hale 
 
 Adrastus hither : come not back again 
 
 Till thou with him canst feed my hungry sight ; 
 
 And see thou harm him not ; for he must live, 
 
 That I may pour my heaped grief upon him : 
 
 1 burn within ; he therefore too shall burn. 
 Slow fire shall scorch and blister all his flesh. 
 Delay not ! Go ! and may'st thou soon return ! 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 6$ 
 
 Sardanis, 
 
 I'll find him, though he traverse half the world. 
 Through Scjrthian wastes, or Libya's deserts wide. 
 
 King ! behold ! here comes the man himself ! 
 
 Enter Adrastus, who throws himself at the feet of Croesus.] 
 
 Adrastus, 
 
 O, Croesus, slay me ! Lo ! I bow my neck 
 Before thee ! let thy just resentment slake 
 Its thirst for vengeance in my fatal blood ! 
 
 1 am accursfed : surely at my birth 
 Some god did lay a ban upon my head, 
 That by my hand, against my will, do flow 
 Death and disaster to my dearest friends. 
 Never did life to any seem so sweet 
 
 As death to me : then grant me death, O King ! 
 Naught more acceptable canst thou bestow. 
 
 Croesus. 
 
 Adrastus ! ill for good hast thou repaid ; 
 And loudly did my griefs importune me 
 To sink with ample weight the swinging scale ; 
 And, with a double dose of drawn-out anguish, 
 
 F 
 
66 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Cancel the good thou tookest, and repay 
 The evil lately at thy hand received. 
 Of all the black mishaps that from the urn 
 Of Destiny could come, this is the worst ; 
 No evil like to this could wring my heart ; 
 And, as the wounded lion grips the spear, , 
 And vents his torture on the splintered wood, 
 So did my anguish vehemently crave 
 Relief and outlet in the death of thee, 
 Of thee who art the javelin to my wound. 
 But man is not a beast ; and after all, 
 Thou'rt nothing but the unforeseeing dart 
 By Fate directed, or unerring hand 
 Of some immortal god, hurtful yet blind : 
 And when I see thee here prostrate thyself, 
 And cry in wretchedness of heart for death, 
 I needs must pity thee ; nor can I hold 
 My hatred for the unintending tool. 
 The butt of Destiny no less than I. 
 I was forewarned of this ; now he who sent 
 The warning has accomplished the fact ; 
 And would have used another if not thee. 
 I then forgive thee : live ! depart in peace ; 
 And speedily depart ! henceforth with pain 
 Unbearable thy face must I behold. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 07 
 
 Adrastus. 
 
 King magnanimous ! though men hug hfe, 
 A boon to be received with thanks and joy, 
 
 1 ask it not ; nor can I thank thee for it. 
 Yet for thy favourable words to such 
 
 A wretch as I, and clemency displayed, 
 
 I thank thee ; though they pierce me with a thrust 
 
 More sharp than that wherewith I slew thy son : 
 
 I was before abhorrent to myself ; 
 
 But now my load is more than I can bear. 
 
 Croesus. 
 
 Arise, and go thy way ! Let me not see 
 Thy features more ! and would that I might blot 
 Thy very name from off my memory ! 
 Go ! Cursed was the day whereon thou camest ! 
 
 {^Exit Adrastus. 
 Come hither, Sardanis ! Go thou with speed, 
 Choose such attendance as the case demands, 
 So sorted, so apparelled, to escort 
 Yon train returning with its load of woe ; 
 That solemn pomp and honourable state 
 May not be wanting when the son of Croesus 
 
 Makes his last entry to the capital. 
 
 F — 2 
 
68 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Sardanis, 
 O King ! all this shall fittingly be done. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Croesus. 
 Bias ! thou art reputed wise ; for me 
 Un coffer now the treasures of thy mind : 
 Resolve me this ; for I am much perplexed : 
 I never have, as rulers often do, 
 Oppressed the people, nor with scornful joy 
 Beheld men shrink in terror from my gaze : 
 'Twas not in me to be in love with Fear ; 
 Nor wished I such a grim, dark minister : 
 I dare avouch there lives no man on earth, 
 Nor shade of those that people Pluto's realm, 
 Who would come forth and say, thou didst me 
 
 wrong ! 
 I know that Nemesis doth set a term 
 To course too swift and arrogantly run ; 
 Mine has been smooth and prosperous till now ; 
 Yet Fortune never wafted me on wings 
 Of overweening pride : I have enriched, 
 No niggard of my wealth, both gods and men ; 
 Why am I now condemned to this rough pain ? 
 Have gods no power to shield the pious man ? 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 69 
 
 Bias. 
 
 King ! no wisdom ever reached so high, 
 That men thereon might scale the Court of Zeus, 
 And question his decree. Thou hast proposed 
 A problem wider than the wit of man : 
 
 Send to Dodona, or the Delphian shrine ; 
 
 1 am not of the council of the gods. 
 
 Croesus. 
 
 Yet Wisdom, delving in the buried past, 
 And with discrimination sifting facts. 
 May surely trace the thread and trend of fate : 
 Can'st thou not thus discover aught of worth ? 
 
 Bias. 
 Old History indeed, questioned aright. 
 And ancient answers of the Oracles 
 May furnish hints to Wisdom. Hearken then, 
 O King ! let History her lore unfold. 
 A King of Egypt, Mycerinus, son 
 To Cheops, mighty builder of a tomb. 
 Excelled in justice all his ancestors, 
 And who before had swayed Nile- watered Egypt: 
 Expecting then feUcity, and length 
 Of honoured days, he from the gods received 
 
70 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 This heavy recompense, loss of his child, 
 
 His only child, a maiden, whom he loved 
 
 It may be overmuch ; in that unwise. 
 
 Astonied at the blow, he wished to learn 
 
 What further slings of Fortune might assail ; 
 
 So sent to Butos to the oracle ; 
 
 Which answer thus returned : Thy tale of years 
 
 Must sum its total at the third from now. 
 
 Whereon he sent once more with this complaint, 
 
 My father and my uncle ground the folk 
 
 And crushed them dry, uprearing of their wealth 
 
 Huge monuments, to keep alive their names. 
 
 And house their mummies; hated both of men. 
 
 A hundred years they drained the groaning realm. 
 
 And mulcted of their dues the nation's gods : 
 
 I, like the loamy, fertilizing Nile, 
 
 Refreshed the land, and peace and justice gave. 
 
 Yet in three years I am condemned to die ; 
 
 Not such as this the justice I dispense. 
 
 Now, Croesus, mark the answer of the god : 
 
 By Fate's inexorable high decree, 
 
 Egypt thrice fifty years must be oppressed ; 
 
 This not unknown to Chephren and to Cheops, 
 
 They made themselves the ministers of Fate, 
 
 Which favoured and preserved them for that end : 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 7 1 
 
 But thee, who still dost sedulously thwart 
 
 Her fixed will, and bless where thou should'st curse, 
 
 She dashes, an obstruction, from her path. 
 
 Croesus. 
 No doubtful lesson, nor ambiguous 
 This oracle, O Bias, seems to yield ; 
 And yet with darksome and perplexing doubts 
 It chills the heart. I ever thought the just 
 Were pleasing to the gods ; but now I learn 
 That wickedness may win the chief award, 
 And justice bring for dowry early death. 
 
 Bias. 
 Natheless, O Croesus, I will close my mind 
 To any thought that honours not the gods ; 
 Nor in necessity do such proceed 
 From what I have related. I discern 
 Two doorways that from such dark dungeon lead. 
 The main events of life, it seems, for men 
 And nations are determined by the fates, 
 Which gods may modify but not annul ; 
 This tendency impressed on things by Fate 
 May be for ultimate and general good, 
 Yet cannot, but by partial suffering 
 
72 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 And incidental sorrow, be secured. 
 
 The second point is this : I am not sure 
 
 That life is chief of goods, and death much worse ; 
 
 Life is a vessel worthless in itself, 
 
 And good or bad as it is full or void, 
 
 Heaped up with jewels or with rubbish laden. 
 
 And ever have I held prosperity 
 
 An obol in the scale with wisdom weighed : 
 
 Who boards with wisdom never lacks a friend 
 
 To comfort and console ; and heaps up wealth 
 
 Which nothing can diminish or impair. 
 
 Croesus. 
 
 Vain words ! mere breath ! none ever made of such 
 A salve for bruises of the heart or limb. 
 I see no profitable growth to men 
 From my affliction, nor, could such accrue, 
 Would that assuage the grief which now I feel. 
 Talk not of wisdom ! can I hear it speak 
 And call me father ; feel its kind embrace ! 
 Enjoy its loving smile, converse with it, 
 Naming it Atys ? Can it raise me up 
 Successors of my blood to rule this kingdom ? 
 O mockery ! Hast thou e'er lost a son ? 
 And O ! the biting edge of parents' pain 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA y^ 
 
 Is sharpened when it is forbidden them 
 
 To close their children's eyes ; hear their last words ; 
 
 And catch the subtle breath as from its home 
 
 It takes its final flight. 
 
 Sounds of lamentation without. 
 Ah ! woful sound ! 
 Which ushers in a still more woful sight. 
 
 Enter men carrying a bier, on which is the body of Atys, 
 accompanied by soldiers; the bier is set down in the 
 middle of the stage. At a sign from Croesus, exeunt 
 soldiers and bearers. 
 
 Croesus. 
 Friends ! pray you leave me here alone awhile, 
 To nurse my grief, and draw sweet agony 
 From poring o'er the face of my dear dead. 
 
 [Exeunt all except Croesus. 
 
 Croesus. 
 
 Atys ! my son ! my son ! how weak are words, 
 Which cannot bring thy spirit back to earth ! 
 My mind is numb and bruised as with a blow, 
 And can but cry, My son, my son is dead ! 
 Why should'st thou die, and I be left alone, 
 Possessed of wealth and empire, once a pride, 
 
74 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Now hateful since it cannot ransom thee ? 
 
 Strangers must reap where I with care have sown ; 
 
 For, like a stream drunk up by thirsty sand, 
 
 Here ends the river that from Gyges flowed, 
 
 In one dead son, and one but half a man : 
 
 It sprang in blood, and finds a bloody end. 
 
 Alas ! alas ! what can I do ? what say ? 
 
 Shall I reproach the gods and rail on Fate ? 
 
 But if I curse until I crack my throat. 
 
 Wilt thou the less lie there ? O Atys, Atys ! 
 
 Or shall I weep and wail, and rend my clothes, 
 
 And pass the remnant of my wretched life 
 
 With tears and groans invoking thy dear name ? 
 
 I could do so, and thus the bosom's load 
 
 Is lightened ; but soon comes the mocking thought — 
 
 No rain of tears will make the dead to bloom — 
 
 And lacerates afresh the bleeding heart. 
 
 How blind is mortal man ! who neither knoweth 
 
 When he should groan, nor when he should be glad. 
 
 Alas ! reality may yet be worse 
 
 Than worst anticipation ! When I thought 
 
 That thou should'st fall in battle, 1 recoiled 
 
 In horror from the picture : blind, O blind I 
 
 For now I could rejoice to have it so. 
 
 A glorious death ! should that not be preferred 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 75 
 
 To an ignoble life ? Such was the choice 
 
 Of Thetis' son : unworthy were my fears 
 
 And schemes to guard my son from such a fate ! 
 
 Then would he in the Elysian fields have mixed 
 
 Witjjr heroes, honoured, and their bliss have shared : 
 
 Now, fallen by unhonourable blow, 
 
 He wins no meed of praise among the dead, 
 
 But wanders in obscurity alone. 
 
 O, Heaven and Earth ! if I think much on this 
 
 I shall be mad ! Yet how can I not think ? 
 
 Great Mother of the gods ! if breasts divine 
 
 To soft maternal sympathy are tuned. 
 
 In pity hear a father's deep-drawn groans ; 
 
 And with Nepenthe, or some drowsy herb 
 
 That gods employ, so medicine my mind, 
 
 That grief may sleep, in deep oblivion drowned. 
 
 How peaceful dost thou lie ! how still, and calm ! 
 
 O would that such a peace enwrapped me ! 
 
 And yet perchance thy shade — O dreadful thought ! — 
 
 Roaming uneasily the shores of Styx, 
 
 May even now be sorrowing as I. 
 
 And soon before the awful tribunal 
 
 Of Hades must thou stand ; though there no fault 
 
 Save such as aye consort with heady youth 
 
 Can thee accuse, I will placate and soothe 
 
76 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 The dreadful judges and the infernal king 
 
 With vows and victims such as they desire : 
 
 A hundred sheep unspecked by spot of white 
 
 Shall be provided for the sacrifice : 
 
 What else may dignify the obsequies 
 
 Of Lydia's frustrate hope shall be prepared, — 
 
 The oil, the garland, and the snowy shroud ; 
 
 And Phrygian flutes shall pour such plaintive dirge 
 
 As e'en the fickle air to move to sighs 
 
 And moanings moistened with soft-weeping dews. 
 
 This melancholy service is the sole 
 
 My love can render now. Ah me ! Ah me ! 
 
 A dreary, dreary road far stretched I see. 
 
 lExit Croesus. 
 Enter Hesione, accompanied by maidens, beating their 
 cheeks and breasts, and uttering lamentations.] 
 
 Maidens. 
 Woe ! woe ! woe ! woe ! 
 We come to drop the ready tear, 
 And wail around the mournful bier 
 Where Lydia's royal stem lies low. 
 
 HesioM. 
 Ah ! wretched me ! unhappy bride ! 
 Too short a while — ah ! well-a-way ! — 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 77 
 
 Wert thou belovM by my side. 
 Too soon has night devoured my day, 
 
 For I shall never hear 
 
 Again thy accents dear ; 
 
 Ne'er feel the sweet caress, 
 
 When heart to heart doth press ; 
 Farewell to loving glance and laughter gay ! 
 
 Maidens, 
 Woe ! woe ! woe ! woe ! 
 For royal Atys lying low. 
 
 Hesione. 
 
 Look black, ye clouds, and frown ! 
 
 Weep, weep your raindrops down ! 
 O sun, in sorrow veil thy pitying eye ! 
 
 For here my Atys lies. 
 
 Deaf to my words and sighs. 
 My love ! my sweet ! Alas ! he hears no cry. 
 
 Maidens. 
 Alas ! alas ! weep clouds ! and breezes sigh ! 
 
 Hesione. 
 No longer earth seems fair, 
 But desert, bleak and bare, 
 
78 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 For Atys was my mountain, stream, and wood ; 
 All lovely did appear, 
 When he, my love, stood near ; 
 
 Now beauty is eclipsed and naught is good 1 
 
 Maidens. 
 Woe ! woe ! woe ! woe ! 
 
 Hesione. 
 
 Come forth, old Boreas, rudely blow ! 
 
 And challenge Eurus to contend ! 
 
 Now, Aeolus, thy vassals send 
 To join with them in awful battle loud ! 
 Hurling athwart the sky the missile cloud ; 
 
 Until the raging seas arise, 
 
 And furiously storm the skies ; 
 
 Howl o'er the mountain tops, and strew 
 Afar the shattered trees ; 
 
 Let lightning burst the welkin through 
 Confusion earth and sky and ocean seize : 
 
 Let Nature groan with dreadful din. 
 
 To match the agony within ; 
 
 For lo ! my love is lying dead, 
 
 And peace is from my bosom fled. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 79 
 
 Strange is the ordinance of Fate, 
 A dark enigma to the mind, 
 
 Which dooms me to deplore my mate, 
 Alone, with useless weeping blind : 
 
 To lighten every other ill 
 
 That did Pandora's casket fill, 
 And swarmed on men when she the lid did lift, 
 
 Consoling Hope, a precious gift, 
 
 Remained, much sorrow countervailing, 
 
 Else ne'er were truce to groans and wailing ; 
 But Hope can never lighten with relief 
 My long and dreary years of widowed grief-: 
 
 Stern Death alone, who killed my joy. 
 
 My days of mourning can destroy. 
 
 How wretched, how unspeakably forlorn 
 Is her condition, who in life's bright mom, 
 While yet the blood maintains its course 
 With all its young torrential force ; 
 While Venus yet the supple cheek 
 With her ethereal dye imbues ; 
 While eyes do yet a language speak 
 
 More eloquent than tongue can use ; 
 Is left to wither day by day 
 
 In lonely widowhood unblessed ; 
 
8o CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 
 
 Her cheerless breast 
 Unvisited by frolic-waking guest, 
 In sadness wearing uselessly away. 
 
 Upon a mountain moorland bleak, 
 
 Gloomy and wild and brown and bare, 
 Where heaven's blasts their will do wreak, 
 
 And keen and cruel is the air, 
 A solitary tree I've seen, 
 
 Gnarled, stunted, hungry, stretching wide 
 Beseeching arms grotesque and lean, 
 Whose nakedness but pitifully hide 
 Some paltry quivering shreds of brown and green : 
 
 So friendless, cheerless, and alone. 
 To winds uncouth and cruel frosts exposed, 
 
 Is she whose life in youth is closed. 
 And must her widowed lot from day to day bemoan. 
 
 O Cybele ! great mother throned on high ! 
 Disdain not thou to bend thy pitying eye 
 Upon a mortal maiden bowed with grief : 
 Salve, if thou canst, my sorrow with relief ! 
 
 Yet vainly I thy charity implore : 
 For this one medicine alone could heal, 
 Could'st thou my Atys' doom repeal ; 
 
 My joy with him is stabbed and breathes no more. 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 8 1 
 
 This now, my Atys ! this alone remains, 
 One solace bitter-sweet ; 
 To join when Philomel complains 
 
 In unison in dirges meet : 
 Outpouring oft the votive tear, 
 Libation to thy worshipped name { 
 Appeasing with the perfumed flame 
 Thy shade that sadly haunts Cocytus drear ; 
 While slowly wears away the weary year. 
 Alack, alack-a-day ! 
 The hours that late did swiftly bound, 
 And gaily frolic e'er the ground, 
 Now, leaden-footed, moping, crawl away. 
 
 Maidens. 
 Alas! alas! ah! wel-a-way 
 Alas! alas! ah! wel-a-way. 
 
 Scene closes. 
 
SCENE VI. 
 
 The Tomb of A tys. Enter A drastus with a drawn sword. 
 
 Adrastus. 
 Atys ! my friend ! my brother ! at thy tomb 
 I come to lay my hateful burden down : 
 No longer can my spirit bear to dwell 
 Within its blood-stained prison. O ye Fates ! 
 Ye Fates unkind ! what an abhorred lot 
 Ye have apportioned me ! I am not one 
 By nature to delight in spilling blood, 
 E'en of an enemy : yet have I slain 
 A brother first ; and now one whom I loved 
 With all a brother's love. O tortured heart ! 
 Soon shalt thou be at rest. O memory, 
 That with such anguish tearest my vexed soul ! 
 Soon in kind Lethe's wave shalt thou be drowned. 
 Well had I ne'er been born ! why was I born ? 
 Unanswerable question ! What but grief 
 And pain have dogged my footsteps till this hour ? 
 O grief! O pain ! I will escape you now ; 
 
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA 8 
 
 To Hades surely ye will not pursue ! 
 Atys ! I come to thee ! Not long alone 
 Shalt thou retrace among the dismal shades 
 Thy melancholy way. Thou wilt forgive 
 The man who sacrificed no brutish bull, 
 But his own body at thy honoured tomb, 
 And left the light, to be thy fere for aye. 
 O speed me, Hermes ! and accept a part 
 In this outpouring of my votive blood ! 
 
 Earth ! without regret a last farewell 
 
 Of thee I take ; and look my last upon thee. 
 Fair art thou when thou smilest ; wondrous fair : 
 And passing lovely is the garb thou wearest 
 To greet the glowing kisses of the sun. 
 And mark thy gladness in his hot embrace. 
 But not for me thou smilest : I have found 
 Small comfort on thy cold and flinty breast : 
 A hard stepmother hast thou been to me ! 
 
 1 spurn thee ! and the ever-brimming cup 
 
 Of bitterness thou still would'st have me drink 
 I here spill out : one pang shall end all pain ! 
 Farewell ye skies ! Atys, I follow thee ! 
 
 Stabs himself and falls upon the tomb. 
 The End. 
 
 o 
 
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