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ACT V. - Voltaire, The Works of Voltaire, Vol. IX The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Alzire, Orestes, Sémiramis, Catiline, Pandora) and Part II (The Scotch Woman, Nanine, The Prude, The Tatler). [1901]

Edition used:

From The Works of Voltaire, A Contemporary Version, (New York: E.R. DuMont, 1901), A Critique and Biography by John Morley, notes by Tobias Smollett, trans. William F. Fleming. Vol. IX The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Alzire, Orestes, Sémiramis, Catiline, Pandora) and Part II (The Scotch Woman, Nanine, The Prude, The Tatler).

Part of: The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version, in 21 vols.

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ACT V.

SCENE I.

electra.

  • I am forbid to enter here; oppressed
  • With fears, in vain I lift these hands to heaven:
  • Iphisa comes not; but behold the gates
  • Are opened: ha! she’s here, I tremble.

SCENE II.

electra, iphisa.

electra.

  • Say,
  • My dear Iphisa, what have I to hope,
  • Will Clytemnæstra dare to be a mother?
  • Has she the power, has she the will to make us
  • Some poor amends for all the cruel evils
  • She has inflicted on us? Could she e’er—
  • But she’s a slave to guilt, and to Ægisthus:
  • I am prepared to hear the worst; O speak,
  • Say, all is past, and we must die.

iphisa.

  • I hope,
  • And yet I fear: Ægisthus hath received
  • Some dark suggestions, but is doubtful still,
  • Whether Orestes is his prisoner here,
  • And Clytemnæstra never named her son:
  • She seems to feel a mother’s fondness for him,
  • And, pierced with anguish, trembles for his life:
  • She struggles with herself, and fears alike
  • To speak or to be silent; strives to soothe
  • The tyrant’s rage, and save them from his vengeance:
  • But should Orestes once be known, he dies.

electra.

  • O cruel thought! perhaps when I implored
  • My barbarous mother I destroyed Orestes;
  • Her grief will but enrage the fierce Ægisthus;
  • Nature is ever fatal here: I dread
  • Her silence, and yet would not have her speak;
  • Danger is on every side: but say, Iphisa,
  • What hath Pammenes done?

iphisa.

  • His feeble age
  • Seems strengthened by misfortune, and our dangers
  • But breathe new spirit o’er his ardent zeal
  • To serve our cause; he animates our friends
  • With double vigor; even the servile throng,
  • That cringe around the tyrant’s throne, begin
  • To murmur at the name of great Orestes:
  • Veterans, who served beneath the father, burn
  • With honest ardor to support the son:
  • Such power have justice and the sacred laws
  • O’er mortal minds, howe’er by vice corrupted.

electra.

  • O that Electra could inflame their souls
  • With glowing virtue, breathe her own fierce spirit
  • Into their timid hearts, and animate
  • Their cold resentment! would I had but known,
  • Ere he arrived on this detested shore,
  • That my Orestes lived! or that Pammenes
  • Had further urged—

SCENE III.

ægisthus, clytemnæstra, electra, iphisa,Guards.

ægisthus.

  • Guards, seize that hoary traitor,
  • And let him be confronted with those strangers
  • Whom I have doomed to death; he is their friend,
  • And confidant, the accomplice in their crimes:
  • How dreadful was the snare which they had laid!
  • O, Claytemnæstra, ’tis the cursed Orestes,
  • It must be he; do not deceive thyself,
  • Do not defend him: O, I see it all,
  • It is too plain: alas! this urn contains
  • The ashes of my son: the murderers brought
  • This fatal present to his weeping father.

clytemnæstra.

  • Canst thou believe—

ægisthus.

  • I can; I must rely
  • On the sworn hatred ’twixt the unhappy children
  • Of Atreus and Thyestes; must believe
  • The time, the place, the rage of fierce Electra,
  • Iphisa’s tears, your undeserved compassion,
  • Your ill-timed pity for these base assassins;
  • Orestes lives, and I have lost my son;
  • But I have caught him in the toils; whiche’er
  • It be, for yet I know not, I’ll be just,
  • I’ll sacrifice the murderer to my son,
  • And to his mother.

clytemnæstra.

  • Horrid sacrifice!
  • I must not see it.

ægisthus.

  • Horrible to thee?

clytemnæstra.

  • O yes; already blood enough hath flowed
  • In this sad scene of slaughter: O ’tis time
  • To end the woes of Pelops’ hapless race:
  • If after all it should not be Orestes,
  • Wouldst thou, on dark suspicion’s vague report,
  • Murder the innocent? and if it be
  • Indeed my son, my lord, I must defend him,
  • Must gain his pardon at thy hands, or perish.

ægisthus.

  • I cannot, dare not yield to thy request;
  • For thy own sake I dare not; thy fond pity
  • May be thy ruin; all that melts thy heart
  • To soft compassion, sharpens mine to rage
  • And fierce resentment: one of them I know
  • Must be Orestes, therefore both shall die;
  • I ought not even to hesitate a moment:
  • Guards, do your office.

iphisa.

  • O, my lord, behold me
  • Low at your feet; must all our hapless race
  • Thus humbly bend, thus supplicate in vain?
  • Electra, kneel with me, embrace his knees,
  • Thy pride destroys us.

electra.

  • Can I stoop so low?
  • Shall I bring foul disgrace on thee, my brother,
  • And ignominy, and shame? it shocks my soul;
  • But I will suffer all to save Orestes.
  • [Turning to Ægisthus.
  • It thou wilt save him, here I promise thee,
  • (Not to forget my father’s murder, that
  • I never can, but) in respectful silence
  • To pay thee homage, still to live with thee
  • A willing slave, let but my brother live.

ægisthus.

  • Thy brother dies, and thou shalt live a slave;
  • My vengeance is complete: thy pride is humbled,
  • And sues in vain.

clytemnæstra.

  • Ægisthus, ’tis too much,
  • To trample thus on the unhappy race
  • Of him who was thy master once; away,
  • Spite of thy rage, I will defend my son;
  • Deaf as thou art to a fond sister’s prayers,
  • A mother’s may prevail: O think, my lord,
  • Think on thy happy state, above the reach
  • Of adverse fortune no, Orestes ne’er
  • Can hurt thee, and Electra bends submissive
  • Beneath thy power, Iphisa at thy feet;
  • Can nothing move thee? I have gone too far
  • Already with thee in the paths of guilt,
  • And offered up a dreadful sacrifice.
  • Thinkest thou I’ll yield thee up my purest blood
  • To glut thy rage? Am I forever doomed
  • To take a murderous husband to my arms?
  • At Aulis one a lovely daughter slew,
  • The other threatens to destroy my son
  • Before my eyes, close to his father’s tomb:
  • O rather let this fatal diadem,
  • Hateful to Greece, and to myself a load
  • Of misery, fall with me, and be no more
  • Remembered! O Ægisthus, well thou knowest,
  • I loved thee, ’tis amongst my blackest crimes,
  • And stands the foremost; but I love my children,
  • And will defend them; against thy arm upraised
  • To shed their blood will lift my vengeful hand,
  • And blast thy purpose: tremble, for thou knowest me:
  • The bands are sacred that united us,
  • Thy interest is most dear to Clytemnæstra:
  • Remember still, Orestes is my son,
  • And fear his mother.

electra.

  • You surpass my hopes.
  • Surely a heart like thine could ne’er be guilty;
  • Go on, my honored mother, and avenge
  • Your children, and your husband.

ægisthus.

  • Slave, thou fillest
  • The measure of thy crimes: gods! shall Ægisthus
  • Withhold his vengeance for a woman’s cries,
  • For Agamemnon’s widow, and her children?
  • Unhappy queen! say, whom dost thou accuse?
  • Whom dost thou plead for? hear me and obey.
  • Away with them to instant death.

SCENE IV.

ægisthus, clytemnæstra, electra, iphisa, dymas.

dymas.

  • My lord?

ægisthus.

  • Thou seemest disordered: what has happened? Speak.

dymas.

  • Orestes is discovered.

iphisa.

  • Ha! where is he?

clytemnæstra.

  • My son!

electra.

  • My brother?

ægisthus.

  • Have you punished him
  • As he deserves?

dymas.

  • My lord, as yet he lives.

ægisthus.

  • And wherefore were my orders disobeyed?

dymas.

  • His friend and fellow-captive, Pylades,
  • Pointed him out, and to the soldiers showed
  • Great Agamemnon’s son; they seemed much moved;
  • I dread the consequence.

ægisthus.

  • I must prevent it,
  • For they shall die: who dares not to revenge me
  • Shall feel my justice: Dymas, follow me:
  • Stay thou and guard his sisters; I defy
  • The blood of Agamemnon: from the father
  • Of Plisthenes, and great Thyestes’ son,
  • What mortal, or what god, shall save Orestes?

SCENE V.

clytemnæstra, electra, iphisa.

iphisa.

  • Fear not, but follow him; Electra, speak,
  • Exhort our friends, and animate their zeal.

electra.

  • [To Clytemnæstra.
  • O, in the name of powerful nature, now
  • Complete thy noble work; conduct us, fly—

clytemnæstra.

  • You must not hence, the guards will not permit it:
  • Stay here, my children, and rely on me,
  • On a fond mother, and a tender wife:
  • I will perform the double task, and take
  • Orestes and Ægisthus to my care.

SCENE VI.

electra, iphisa.

iphisa.

  • Alas! the avenging god pursues us still;
  • Though she defends Orestes, still Ægisthus
  • Is at her heart; perhaps the tender cries
  • Of pity and remorse shall naught avail
  • Against the tyrant; he is proud, revengeful,
  • Implacable, and furious; who shall save
  • If he condemns? we must submit, and die.

electra.

  • O that before my death I had not fallen
  • So low as to entreat him, to belie
  • My honest heart, and supplicate the tyrant!
  • Despair and horror sink me to the tomb
  • With infamy and shame; my vain endeavors
  • To save Orestes but urge on his fate.
  • Where are these boasted friends Pammenes talked of,
  • Who, with fell rancor, and determined hate,
  • Pursued Ægisthus? Where those vengeful gods
  • Who hid Orestes from my sight, upraised
  • His righteous arm, and promised to support him?
  • Where are ye now, infernal goddesses,
  • Daughters of night, ye who so lately shook
  • Your dreadful torches here? all nature once
  • United seemed to guard and to protect us,
  • But all desert us now, all court Ægisthus,
  • And men and gods, and heaven and hell betray me.

SCENE VII.

electra, pylades, iphisa.

electra.

  • What sayest thou, Pylades? the deed is done?

pylades.

  • It is: Electra’s free, and heaven obeyed.

electra.

  • How?

pylades.

  • Yes, Orestes reigns: he sent me hither.

iphisa.

  • Just gods!

electra.

  • Orestes! is it possible!
  • I faint, I die with joy.

pylades.

  • Orestes lives,
  • And has avenged the blood of innocence.

electra.

  • What wondrous power hath wrought this strange event.

pylades.

  • His father’s name, Electra’s, and his own;
  • His valor, and his virtue; our misfortunes,
  • Justice, and pity; and the power that pleads
  • In human hearts for wretchedness like thine.
  • Pammenes, by the tyrant’s order bound,
  • Was led with us to death; in weeping crowds
  • The people followed, and deplored our fate:
  • I saw their rage was equal to their fears,
  • But the guards watched them closely: then Orestes
  • Cried, “Strike, ye slaves, and sacrifice the last
  • Of Argos’ kings; ye dare not.” When he spoke,
  • On his fair front such native majesty
  • And royal lustre shone, we almost thought
  • Great Agamemnon’s spirit from the tomb
  • Had risen, and came once more to bless mankind.
  • I spoke, and friendship’s happy voice prevailed;
  • The people rose, the soldiers stood aghast,
  • And dropped the uplifted falchions from their hands;
  • The crowd encircled us, and desperate love,
  • With friendship joined, fought nobly for Orestes;
  • The joyful people bore him off in triumph:
  • Ægisthus flew to seize his destined prey,
  • And in the slave he meant to punish, found
  • A conqueror: pleased I saw his humbled pride;
  • His friends deserted, and his guards betrayed him:
  • The insulting people triumphed in his fall.
  • O glorious day! O all discerning justice!
  • Ægisthus wears the chains that bound Orestes;
  • The queen alone attends, protects, and saves him
  • From the mad crowd, that press tumultuous on,
  • Big with revenge, and thirsting for his blood;
  • While Clytemnæstra holds him in her arms,
  • And shields him from their rage, implores Orestes
  • To save her husband: he respects her still,
  • Fulfils the duties of a son and brother:
  • Safe from the foe you will behold him soon
  • Triumphant here, a conqueror and a king.

iphisa.

  • Let us away, to greet the loved Orestes,
  • And comfort our afflicted mother.

electra.

  • Gods!
  • What unexpected bliss! O Pylades,
  • Thou best of friends, thou kind protector, haste,
  • Let us begone.

pylades.

  • [To his attendants.
  • Take off those shameful bonds;
  • [They take off her chains.
  • Fall from her hands, ye chains, for they were made
  • To wield a sceptre.

SCENE VIII.

electra, iphisa, pylades, pammenes.

electra.

  • O Pammenes, where,
  • Where is my Orestes, my deliverer?
  • Why comes he not?

pammenes.

  • This is a dreadful moment,
  • And full of terror, for his father’s spirit
  • Demands a sacrifice, and justice waits
  • To pay it, so hath heaven decreed: this tomb
  • Must be the altar where the victim’s blood
  • Shall soon be shed; that sacred duty done,
  • He will attend thee; but thou must not see
  • A sight so terrible: thou knowest the laws
  • Of Argos suffer not thy spotless hands
  • To join with her ere the appointed time.

iphisa.

  • But say, Pammenes, what of Clytemnæstra,
  • How acts she in this dreadful crisis?

pammenes.

  • Vainly
  • She deprecates the wrath of fierce Orestes,
  • And strives to save Ægisthus; kneels for pardon,
  • And craves that boon she never will obtain:
  • Meantime the furies, deaf to her entreaties,
  • And thirsting for the cruel murderer’s blood,
  • Throng round Orestes, and demand his life.

iphisa.

  • O may this day of terror be a day
  • Of pardon and forgiveness; may it finish
  • The cruel woes of our unhappy race!
  • Hark, Pylades, Electra, heard ye not
  • A dreadful groan?

electra.

  • My mother’s sure.

pammenes.

  • ’Tis she.

clytemnæstra.

  • [Behind the scenes.
  • O spare me!

iphisa.

  • Heaven!

clytemnæstra.

  • [Behind the scenes.
  • My son!

electra.

  • He kills Ægisthus.
  • O hear her not, Orestes, but go on,
  • Revenge, revenge, dissolve the horrid tie,
  • And sacrifice the murderer in her arms:
  • Strike deep.

clytemnæstra.

  • My son! O, thou hast slain thy mother.

pylades.

  • O cruel fate!

iphisa.

  • O guilt!

electra.

  • O wretched brother!
  • Crimes punish crimes; forever be this day
  • Lamented by us!

SCENE IX.

orestes.

  • [Enters.
  • Open wide, thou earth,
  • And swallow me: O Clytemnæstra, Atreus,
  • And Tantalus, I come, I follow you
  • To Erebus, a partner in your crimes,
  • To share your tortures.

electra.

  • O what hast thou done?

orestes.

  • She strove to save him, and I smote them both—
  • I can no more—

electra.

  • She fell then by thy hand!
  • O dreadful stroke! and couldst thou—

orestes.

  • ’Twas not I;
  • ’Twas not Orestes; some malignant power
  • Guided my hand, the hateful instrument
  • Of heaven’s eternal wrath: Orestes lives
  • But to be wretched; banished from my country,
  • When my dear father fell, my mother slain,
  • And by my hand; an exile from the world,
  • Bereft of parents, country, fortune, friends,
  • Now must I wander: all is lost to me:
  • O thou bright orb, thou ever glorious sun,
  • Shocked at our crimes, and Atreus’s horried feast,
  • Thou didst withdraw thy beams, and yet thou shinest
  • On me! O wherefore in eternal night
  • Dost thou not bury all? O tyrant gods,
  • Merciless powers, who punished me for guilt
  • Yourselves commanded, O for what new crime
  • Am I reserved? speak—ye pronounce the name
  • Of Tauris, there I’ll seek the murderous priestess,
  • Who offers blood alone to the angry gods,
  • To gods less cruel, less unjust than you.

electra.

  • Stay, and conjure their justice and their hate.

pylades.

  • Where’er the gods may lead, thy Pylades
  • Shall follow still, and friendship triumph o’er
  • The woes of mortals, and the wrath of heaven.

End of the Fifth and Last Act.

SÉMIRAMIS