The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume I Part 33

I have acquainted Arkas with the reasons.

THOAS

From thee I wish to hear them more at large.

IPHIGENIA

The G.o.ddess for reflection grants thee time.

THOAS

To thee this time seems also opportune.

IPHIGENIA

If to this cruel deed thy heart is steel'd, Thou shouldst not come! A king who meditates A deed inhuman, may find slaves enow, Willing for hire to bear one-half the curse, And leave the monarch's presence undefil'd.

Enrapt in gloomy clouds he forges death, Flaming destruction then his ministers Hurl down upon his wretched victim's head, While he abideth high above the storm, Calm and untroubled, an impa.s.sive G.o.d.

THOAS

A wild song, priestess, issued from thy lips.

IPHIGENIA

No priestess, king! but Agamemnon's daughter; While yet unknown, thou didst respect my words A princess now,--and think'st thou to command me?

From youth I have been tutor'd to obey, My parents first and then the deity; And thus obeying, ever hath my soul Known sweetest freedom. But nor then nor now Have I been taught compliance with the voice And savage mandates of a man.

THOAS

Not I, An ancient law doth thy obedience claim.

IPHIGENIA

Our pa.s.sions eagerly catch hold of laws Which they can wield as weapons. But to me Another law, one far more ancient, speaks And doth command me to withstand thee, king!

That law declaring sacred every stranger.

THOAS

These men, methinks, lie very near thy heart, When sympathy with them can lead thee thus To violate discretion's primal law, That those in power should never be provok'd.

IPHIGENIA

Speaking or silent, thou canst always know What is, and ever must be, in my heart.

Doth not remembrance of a common doom, To soft compa.s.sion melt the hardest heart?

How much more mine! in them I see myself.

I trembling kneel'd before the altar once, And solemnly the shade of early death Environ'd me. Aloft the knife was rais'd To pierce my bosom, throbbing with warm life; A dizzy horror overwhelm'd my soul; My eyes grew dim; I found myself in safety.

Are we not bound to render the distress'd The gracious kindness from the G.o.ds receiv'd?

Thou know'st we are, and yet wilt thou compel me?

THOAS

Obey thine office, priestess, not the king.

IPHIGENIA

Cease! nor thus seek to cloak the savage force Which triumphs o'er a woman's feebleness.

Though woman, I am born as free as man.

Did Agamemnon's son before thee stand, And thou requiredst what became him not, His arm and trusty weapon would defend His bosom's freedom. I have only words; But it becomes a n.o.ble-minded man To treat with due respect the words of woman.

THOAS

I more respect them than a brother's sword.

IPHIGENIA

Uncertain ever is the chance of arms, No prudent warrior doth despise his foe; Nor yet defenceless 'gainst severity Hath nature left the weak; she gives him craft And, w.i.l.l.y, cunning; artful he delays, Evades, eludes, and finally escapes.

Such arms are justified by violence.

THOAS

But circ.u.mspection countervails deceit.

IPHIGENIA

Which a pure spirit doth abhor to use.

THOAS

Do not incautiously condemn thyself.

IPHIGENIA

Oh, couldst thou see the struggle of my soul, Courageously to ward the first attack Of an unhappy doom, which threatens me!

Do I then stand before thee weaponless?

Prayer, lovely prayer, fair branch in woman's hand, More potent far than instruments of war, Thou dost thrust back. What now remains for me Wherewith my inborn freedom to defend?

Must I implore a miracle from heaven?

Is there no power within my spirit's depths?

THOAS

Extravagant thy interest in the fate Of these two strangers. Tell me who they are For whom thy heart is thus so deeply mov'd.

IPHIGENIA

They are--they seem at least--I think them Greeks.

THOAS