Part 2 (1/2)

Then princes huht eful Fortune, thou iven ly realms, since fickle chance al, this The work of kings, which tie cannot undo: To succor the afflicted, to provide at need A trusty refuge for the suppliant This alone I brought of all my Colchian treasure, this renown, This very flower of fame,--that byof the Gods

My princely gift to Greece is Orpheus, that sweet bard, Who can the trees in willing bondage draw, and ed sons, And Leda's heaven-born progeny, and Lynceus, he Whose glance can pierce the distant view; yea, all the Greeks, Save Jason; for I s, The leader of the leaders: he is ive to you

Nay, con me, and rehearse my crimes

But stay! for I'll confess them all The only crio_ saved

Suppose my maiden scruples had opposed the deed; Suppose hty chieftains fall'n, and in their fate All Greece had been o'erwhel breath, and perished there

Nay, nay, let Fortune when she will s have owed their lives to lorious deeds Is in thy hands Convict ive hiuilty This much thou didst know, When first I clasped thy knees, a huht the shelter of thy royal cledoain, O let some nook remote within thy broad domain Be found forshi+elded Jason and Medea all these years fro of Thessaly

Jason's cause would be easy enough to defend, for he has been innocent of guilt; but it is ier to shi+eld Medea, who has committed sothe like again

_Creon_ Then go thou hence and purge our kingdoht thy fatal poisons; free The state fro in some other land, Outwear the patience of the Gods

_Medea_ Thou bidst ive me back ht Why should I flee alone?

I ca war thou fear'st, Then banish both the culprits; why distinguish me From Jason? 'Twas for hiht, the plunder of my father's realuilt that love suggests; 'twas all for hiuilty soul The sin of profit lieth not

_Creon_ Why seek delay By speech? Too long thou tarriest

_Medea_ I go, but grant This last request: let not the mother's fall o'erwhelo in peace; for I to them A father's place will fill, and take them to my breast

_Medea_ Now by the fair hopes born upon this wedding day, And by thy hopes of lasting sovereignty secure Froht A respite brief, while I upon my children's lips A mother's kiss imprint, perchance the last

_Creon_ A time Thou seek'st for treachery

_Medea_ What fraud can be devised In one short hour?

_Creon_ To those on ht with mischief's fatal power

_Medea_ Dost thou refuse h deep-ingrafted fear would fain resist thy plea, A single day I'll give thee ere racious thou But let my respite further shrink, And I'll depart content

_Creon_ Thy life shall surely pay The forfeit if to-morrow's sun beholds thee still In Corinth

But the voice of Hymen calls away To soleoes out toward his palace Medea re darkly after him for a few moments, and then takes her way in the opposite direction

The chorus sings in ree, the sie when each man was content to dithin the horizon of his birth; the ionauts, their dreadful experiences in consequence, their wild adventure's prize of fatal gold and s of the consequences in after years, when the sea shall be a highway, and all hidden places of the world laid bare Medea coeance the day which Creon has granted her The nurse tries in vain to restrain her

_Nurse_ My foster daughter, whither speedest thou abroad?

O stay, I pray thee, and restrain thy passion's force

But Medea hastens by without answering or noticing her The nurse, looking after her, reflects in deep distress:

As so fire The God inflaht on Pindus' snows, And now on lofty Nysa's rugged slopes; so she Now here, now there, with frenzied step is hurried on, Her face revealing every hs deep draild cries and tears, And laughter worse than tears In her awrath, Bewailings, bitter groans of anguish--Whither tends This overburdened soul? Whatwave of fury spend itself?

No common crime, I fear, no easy deed of ill She nize the wonted , wild, profane and hideous Behold, Her face betrays her madness O ye Gods, inations and our fears keep pace with those of the devoted nurse, and we listen in fearful silence while Medea, co and hate into which she has been plunged

_Medea_ For thy hate, poor soul, Dost thou a measure seek? Let it be deep as love

And shall I talare?