{"id":748,"date":"2013-07-13T01:30:09","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=748"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:30:09","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:30:09","slug":"11-act-three-scene-3-vol-06-collected-plays-part-i-volume-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/06-collected-plays-part-i-volume-06\/11-act-three-scene-3-vol-06-collected-plays-part-i-volume-06","title":{"rendered":"-11_Act Three-Scene-3.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n
\nSCENE III<\/b><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/b><\/span>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n <\/div>\n

\nDarkness. The Temple of Poseidon.
\nPolydaon enters.<\/i><\/font> <\/font> <\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nCireas! Why, Cireas! Cireas! Knave, I call you!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nIs the rogue drunk or sleeps ? Cireas! you, Cireas!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nMy voice comes echoing from the hollow shrine<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nTo tell me of solitude. Where is this drunkard ?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nA dreadful thing it is to stand alone<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nIn this weird temple. Forty years of use<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nHave not accustomed me to its mute threatening.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt seems to me as if dead victims moved<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWith awful faces all about this stone<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nInvisibly here palpable. And Ocean<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nGroans ever like a wounded god aloud<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAgainst our rocky base, his voice at night<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWeirdly insistent. I will go and talk<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWith the Chaldeans in their chains: better<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nTheir pleasing groans and curses than the hush.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nHe goes out and after a while<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\ncomes back, disordered.<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nWake, sleeping Syria, wake. Thou art violated,
\nThy heart cut out: thou art outraged Syria, outraged,
\nThy harvests and thy safety and thy sons
\nAlready murdered! O hideous sacrilege!
\nWho can have dared this crime? Could the slave Cireas
\nHave ventured thus ? <\/b> O, no, it is the proud
\nGod-hating son of Cepheus, Iolaus,
\nAnd that swift stranger borne through impious air
\nTo upheave the bases of our old religion.
\nThey have rescued the Chaldeans. Cireas lies
\nMurdered perhaps on the sound-haunted cliffs
\nWho would have checked their crime. I’ll strike the gong
\nThat only tolls when dread calamity
\nStrides upon Syria. Wake, doomed people, wake.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 97<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nHe rushes out. A gong sounds for <\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nsome moments. It is silent and he returns,<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nstill more disordered.<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nWake! Wake! Do you not hear Poseidon raging
\nBeneath the cliffs with tiger-throated menace?
\nDo you not hear his feet upon the boulders
\nSounding, a thunderous report of peril,
\nAs he comes roaring up his stony ramparts
\nTo slay you? Ah, the city wakes. I hear
\nA surge confused of hurrying, cries and tumult.
\nWhat is this darkness moving on me? Gods!
\nWhere is the image? Whose is this awful godhead?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe shadow of Poseidon appears, vague <\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nand alarming at first, then distinct and <\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nterrible in the darkness.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OSEIDON
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nMy victims, Polydaon, give me my victims.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON
\n\t<\/font>(falling prostrate)<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt was not I, it was not I, but others.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OSEIDON<\/font><\/p>\n

\nMy victims, Polydaon, give me my victims.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nO dire offended god, not upon me
\nFall thy loud scourges! I am innocent.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OSEIDON
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHow art thou innocent, when the Chaldeans
\nEscape ? Give me my victims, Polydaon.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI know not how they fled nor who released them.
\nGnash not thy blood-stained teeth on me, O Lord,<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 98<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nNor slay me with those glaring eyes. Thy voice
\nThunders, a hollow terror, through my soul.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OSEIDON
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHear me, unworthy priest. While thou art scheming<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nFor thy own petty mortal aims abroad,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nI am insulted in my temple, laughed at<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nBy slaves, by children done injurious wrong,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nMy victims snatched from underneath my roof<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nBy any casual hand, my dreadful image<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nLooking deserted on: for none avenges.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nDeclare thy will, O Lord, it shall be done.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OSEIDON
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nTherefore I will awake, I will arise,
\nAnd you shall know me for a god. This day
\nThe loud Assyrians shall break shouting in
\nWith angry hooves like a huge-riding flood
\nUpon this country. The pleasant land of Syria .
\nShall be dispeopled. Wolves shall howl in Damascus,
\nAnd Gaza and Euphrates bound a desert.
\nMy resonant and cliff-o’ervaulting seas,
\nBlack-cowled, with foaming tops thundering shall climb
\nInto your lofty seats of ease and wash them
\nStrangled into the valleys. From the deep
\nMy ravening herds pastured by Amphitrite
\nShall walk upon your roads, devour your maidens
\nAnd infants, tear your strong and armed men
\nHelplessly shrieking like weak-wristed women,
\nTill all are dead. And thou, neglectful priest,
\nShalt go down living into Tartarus
\nWhere knives fire-pointed shall disclose thy breast
\nAnd pluck thy still-renewing heart from thee
\nFor ever: till the world cease shall be thy torments.<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 99<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nO dreadful Lord!<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOSEIDON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIf thou wouldst shun the doom,
\nAnd keep my Syria safe, discover then
\nThe rescuer of the Babylonian captives
\nAnd to the monsters of my deep expose
\nFor a delicious banquet. Offer the heart
\nOf Iolaus here still warmly alive
\nAnd sobbing blood to leave his beautiful body;<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nSlaughter on his yet not inanimate bosom,
\nThe hero for whose love he braved my rage,
\nAnd let the sacrilegious house of Cepheus
\nBe blotted from the light. Thy sordid aims
\nPut from thy heart: remember to be fearless.
\nI will inhabit thee, if thou deserve it.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nHe disappears thundering.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nYes, Lord! shall not thy dreadful will be done?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPhineus enters and his Tyrians with torches.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWherefore has the gong’s ominous voice tonight
\nAffrighted Syria? Are you Polydaon
\nWho crouch here ?<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON
\n\t<\/font>(rising)<\/i><\/font>
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWelcome, King Phineus.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWho art thou?
\nThine eyes roll round in a bright glaring horror
\nAnd rising up thou shak’st thy gloomy locks
\nAs if they were a hungry lion’s mane
\nPreparing for the leap. Speak, Polydaon.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 100<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nYes, I shall speak, of sacrilege and blood,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nIts terrible forfeit, and the wrath of Heaven.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nCepheus enters with Dercetes and Syrian
\nsoldiers, Therops, Perissus and a throng
\nof Syrians; scores of torches.<\/i><\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>EPHEUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhat swift calamity, O Polydaon,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nHas waked to clamorousness the fatal gong<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAt which all Syria trembles ? What is this face<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThou showest like some grim accusing phantom’s<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nIn the torches’ light? Wherefore rang’st thou the bell?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt rang the doom of thee and all thy house,
\nCepheus.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>EPHEUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nMy <\/b>doom!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS
\n\t<\/font>(aside)<\/i><\/font>
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI glimpse a striking plot
\nAnd ’tis well-staged too.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe victims are released,
\nThe victims bound for terrible Poseidon.
\nThou and thy blood are guilty.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>EPHEUS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThou art mad!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n‘Tis thou and thy doomed race are seized with madness<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWho with light hearts offend against Poseidon.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nBut they shall perish. Thou and thy blood shall perish.<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 101<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tC<\/font>EPHEUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nO,<\/b> thou appal’st me. Wherefore rings out thy voice
\nAgainst me like a clamorous bell of doom
\nIn the huge darkness ? <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPoseidon’s self arose
\nIn the dim night before me with a voice
\nAs angry as the loud importunate surge
\nDenouncing thee. Thou and thy blood shall perish.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nCepheus, let search be made. Perhaps the victims
\nHave not fled far, and all may yet be saved.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>EPHEUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nScour, captain, scour all Syria for the fugitives.
\nDercetes and thy troop, down to the coast,
\nScan every boulder: out, out, Meriones,
\nCallias, Oridamas and Pericarpus,
\nRing in the country-side with cordons armed,
\nEnter each house, ransack most private chambers,
\nBut find them.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nDercetes and the captains go
\nout with their soldiers, the people
\nmaking way\/or them.<\/i><\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPeople of Syria, hearken, hearken!
\nPoseidon for this sacrilege arouses
\nThe Assyrian from the land and from the sea
\nHis waves and all their sharp-toothed monsters: your men
\nShall be rent and disembowelled, your women ravished,
\nButchered by foemen or by Ocean’s dogs
\nHorribly eaten: what’s left, the flood shall swallow.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nCries and groans.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 102<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tV<\/font>OICES
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSpare us, Poseidon, spare us, dread deity!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWould you be spared? Obey Poseidon, people.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tT<\/font>HEROPS<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThou art our King, command us.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBring the woman,
\nChaldean Cassiopea, and her daughter.
\nTell them that Syria’s King commands them here.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nTherops and others go out to do his bidding.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhat mean you, priest?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>EPHEUS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWherefore my queen and princess ?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI do the will of terrible Poseidon.
\nThou and thy blood shall perish.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThou then art mad!
\nI thought this was a skilful play. Think’st thou
\nI will permit the young Andromeda,
\nMy bride, to be mishandled or exposed
\nTo the bloody chances of wild popular fury
\nIn such a moment?<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPhineus, I know not what thou wilt permit:<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nI know what terrible Poseidon wills.<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 103<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPoseidon! thou gross superstitious fool,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nHast thou seen shadows in the night and took’st them<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nFor angry gods ? <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nRefrain from impious words,
\nOr else the doom shall take thee in its net.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nRefrain thyself from impious deeds, or else
\nA hundred Tyrian blades shall search thy brain
\nTo look for thy lost reason.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON
\n\t<\/font>(recoiling)<\/i><\/font>
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPatience, King Phineus!
\nIt may be, thou shalt have thy whole desire
\nBy other means.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nDercetes returns.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tD<\/font>ERCETES<\/font><\/p>\n

\nOne of the fugitives is seized.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhere, where?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tD<\/font>ERCETES
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nCreeping about the sea-kissed rocks we found him
\nWhere the ship foundered, babbling greedily
\nOf his lost wealth, in cover of the darkness.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nNow we shall know the impious hand. Tremble,
\nTremble, King Cepheus.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>EPHEUS
\n\t<\/font>(aside)<\/i><\/font>
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI am besieged, undone.<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 104<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nNo doubt it is my rash-brained Iolaus
\nRuins us all.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nSoldiers enter, driving in Smerdas.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nS<\/font>MERDAS <\/font><\/p>\n

(groaning)<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nI am dragged back to hell.
\nI am lost and nothing now can save me.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nChaldean,
\nThe choice is thine. Say, wilt thou save thy life
\nAnd see the green fields of thy land once more
\nAnd kiss thy wife and children ?<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nYou mock me, mock me!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nNo, man! thou shalt have freedom at a price
\nOr torture gratis.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPrice ? price ? I’ll give the price.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe names of those whose impious hands released thee;<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhich if thou speak not, thou shalt die, not given
\nTo the dire god, for he asks other victims,
\nBut crushed with fearful tortures.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nO kind Heaven!
\nHave mercy! Must I give her up,\u2014 that smile
\nOf sweetness and those kindly eyes, to death ?
\nIt is a dreadful choice! I cannot do it.<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 105<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was a woman did this!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI will say no more.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>EPHEUS<\/font><\/p>\n

\nI breathe again: it was not Iolaus.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSeize him and twist him into anguished knots!
\nLet every bone be crushed and every sinew
\nWrenched and distorted, till each inch of flesh
\nGives out its separate shriek.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nO spare me, spare me:<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nI will tell all.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSpeak truth and I will give thee
\nBushels of gold and shipment to Chaldea.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS<\/font><\/p>\n

\nGold? Gold? Shall I have gold?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThou shalt.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS
\n\t<\/font>(after a pause)<\/i><\/font>
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe youth
\nYou would have taken on the beach, arrived,
\nAnd his the sword bit through my iron fetters.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPalter not! Who was with him? Thou shalt have gold.<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 106<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS<\/font><\/p>\n

\nYoung Iolaus.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>EPHEUS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAlas!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThus far is well.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThou hast a shifty look about the eyes.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThou spokest of a woman. Was’t the Queen?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nHast thou told all? His face grows pale. To torment!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS
\n\t<\/font>(groaning)<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nI will tell all. Swear then I shall have gold
And safety.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBy grim Poseidon’s head I swear.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nO hard necessity! The fair child princess,
\nAndromeda, with her young slave-girl came,
\nShe was my rescuer.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThere is a deep silence of amazement.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI’ll not believe this! could that gentle child
\nDevise and execute so huge a daring?
\nThou liest: thou art part of some foul plot.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe has the accent of unwilling truth.
\nPhineus, she is death’s bride, not thine. Wilt thou
\nBe best man in that dolorous wedding? Forbear ^
\nAnd wait Poseidon’s will.<\/font> <\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 107<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS
\n\t<\/font>(low)<\/i><\/font>
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nShall I have Syria?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhen it is mine to give thee.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nTherops returns.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/font>T<\/font>HEROPS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Queen arrives.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nRemove the merchant.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe soldiers take Smerdas into the background,
\nCassiopea enters with Andromeda and Diomede,
\nNebassar and the Chaldean guard.<\/i><\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>ASSIOPEA <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nKeep ready hands upon your swords, Chaldeans.
\nWhat is this tumult? Wherefore are we called
\nAt this dim hour and to this solemn place ?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nCom’st thou with foreign falchions, Cassiopea,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nTo brave the Syrian gods? Abandon her,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nChaldeans. ‘Tis a doomed head your swords encompass.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>ASSIOPEA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSince when dost thou give thy commands in Syria
\nAnd sentence queens ? My husband and thy King
\nStands near thee; let him speak.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLet him. There stands he.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>ASSIOPEA <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhy hidest thou thine eyes, monarch of Syria,
\nSinking thy forehead like a common man<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 108<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nUnkingly? What grief o’ertakes thee?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nYou see he speaks not.
\nTis I command in Syria. Is’t not so,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nMy people ?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tT<\/font>HEROPS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nTis so.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nStand forth, Andromeda.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>ASSIOPEA<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhat would you with my child? I stand here for her.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe is accused of impious sacrilege,
\nAnd she must die.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>ASSIOPEA
\n\t<\/font>(shuddering)<\/i><\/font>
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nDie! Who accuses her?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON<\/font><\/p>\n

\nBring the Chaldean.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tDIOMEDE <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOh, the merchant’s seized
\nAnd all is known. Deny it, my sweet lady,
\nAnd we may yet be saved.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>NDROMEDA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOh poor, poor merchant!
\nDid I unloose thy bonds in vain?<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tD<\/font>IOMEDE <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSay nothing.<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 109<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tA<\/font>NDROMEDA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd why should I conceal it, Diomede?
\nWhat I had courage in my heart to do,
\nSurely I can have courage to avow.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tD<\/font>IOMEDE <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut they will kill us both. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>NDROMEDA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI am a princess.
\nWhy should I lie? From fear? But I am not afraid.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nMeanwhile the soldiers have brought Smerdas to the front.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLook, merchant. Say before all who rescued thee?
\nShe was it?<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt is she. Oh, do not look
\nWith that sad smile upon me. I am compelled.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON<\/font><\/p>\n

\nIs this the slave-girl?<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt is she.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>ASSIOPEA <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThis wretch
\nLies at thy bidding. Put him to the question.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON<\/font><\/p>\n

\nI’ll not permit it.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>ERISSUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhy man, it is the law. We’ll not believe
\nOur little princess did the crime.<\/font> <\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 110<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tC<\/font>ASSIOPEA <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSyrians!
\nLook at the paltering priest. Do you not see
\nIt is a plot, this man his instrument
\nWho lies so wildly? He’ll not have him questioned.
\nNo doubt ’twas he himself released the man, \u2014
\nWho else could do it in this solemn temple
\nWhere human footsteps fear to tread? He uses
\nThe name of great Poseidon to conceal
\nHis plottings. He would end the line of Cepheus
\nAnd reign in Syria.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>ERISSUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThis sounds probable.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tV<\/font>OICES
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nDoes he misuse Poseidon’s name? unbind
\nVictims? Kill him!<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>ASSIOPEA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLook how he pales, O people!
\nIs’t thus that great Poseidon’s herald looks
\nWhen charged with the god’s fearful menaces?
\nHe diets you with forgeries and fictions.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>RIES<\/font><\/p>\n

\nLet him be strangled!<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThis is a royal woman.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWell, let the merchant then be put to question.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>ERISSUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nCome and be tickled, merchant. I am the butcher.
\nDo you see my cleaver? I will torture you kindly.<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 111<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tS<\/font>MERDAS<\/font><\/p>\n

\nO help me, save me, lady Andromeda.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>NDROMEDA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOh,<\/b> do not lay your cruel hands upon him.
\nI did release him.’<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>ASSIOPEA <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAh, child Andromeda.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>ERISSUS<\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou, little princess! Wherefore did you this ?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>NDROMEDA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBecause I would not have their human hearts
\nMercilessly uprooted for the bloody
\nMonster you worship as a god! because
\nI am capable of pain and so can feel
\nThe pain of others! For which if you I love
\nMust kill me, do it. I alone am guilty.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nNow, Cassiopea! You are silent. <\/b>Queen.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nLo, Syrians, lo, my forgeries and fictions!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nLo, my vile plottings! Enough. Poseidon wills<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThat on the beach this criminal be bound<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nFor monsters of the sea to rend in fragments,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAnd all the royal ancient blood of Syria<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nMust be poured richly forth to appease and cleanse.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tC<\/font>ASSIOPEA
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSwords from the scabbard! gyre in your King from harm,
\nChaldeans! Hew your way through all opposers!
\nThou in my arms, my child Andromeda!
\nI’ll keep my daughter safe upon my bosom
\nAgainst the world.<\/font> <\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 112<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nPOLYDAON <\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhat dost thou, Babylonian?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nC<\/font>ASSIOPEA <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTo the palace,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nMy trusty countrymen!<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOppose them, soldiers!
\nThey cheat the god of the crime-burdened heads
\nDoomed by his just resentment.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tD<\/font>ERCETES <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWe are few:<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAnd how shall we lay hands on royalty ?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON<\/font><\/p>\n

\nNebassar, darest thou oppose the gods ?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tN<\/font>EBASSAR<\/font><\/p>\n

\nOut of my sword’s way, priest! I do my duty.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON<\/font><\/p>\n

\nDraw, King of Tyre!<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n‘Tis not my quarrel, priest.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nNebassar and the Chaldeans with drawn swords
\ngo out from the Temple, taking the King and
\nQueen, Andromeda and Diomede.<\/i><\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>OLYDAON <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPeople of Syria, you have let them pass!
\nYou fear not then the anger of Poseidon?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>ERISSUS<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWould you have us spitted upon the Chaldean swords? Mad<\/font>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 113<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\npriest, must we be broached like joints and tossed like pan-cakes? We have no weapons. Tomorrow we will go to the
\nPalace and what must be done shall be done. But ’tis not just
\nthat many should be slain for the crime of one and the house of
\nSyria outrooted. Follow me and observe my commands, brave
\naristocracy of the shop, gallant commoners of the lathe and anvil,
\nfollow Perissus. I will lead you tonight to your soft downy beds
\nand tomorrow to the Palace.<\/font>  <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAll the Syrians go out led by Therops and Perissus.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tP<\/font>HINEUS <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThou hast done foolishly in this, O priest.
\nHadst thou demanded the one needful head
\nOf Iolaus, it was easy: but now
\nThe tender beauty of Andromeda
\nCompels remorse and the astonished people
\nRecoil from the bold waste of royal blood
\nThou appointest them to spill. I see that zeal
\nAnd frantic superstition are bad plotters.
\nHenceforth I work for my sole hand, to pluck
\nMy own good from the storms of civic trouble
\nThis night prepares.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nHe goes out with his Tyrians.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPOLYDAON <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nO terrible Poseidon,
\nThyself avenge thyself! hurl on this people
\nThe sea and the Assyrian. Where is the power
\nThou said’st should tarry with me? I have failed.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nHe remains sunk in thought for a<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nwhile, then raises his head.<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nTomorrow, Syrian? tomorrow is Poseidon’s.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nC u r t a i n<\/i><\/b><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 114<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCENE III   Darkness. The Temple of Poseidon. Polydaon enters.   POLYDAON Cireas! Why, Cireas! Cireas! Knave, I call you! Is the rogue drunk or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-06-collected-plays-part-i-volume-06","wpcat-15-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}