Collected Works (Vol. II)

116 THE ARGONAUTS The sense is riven, and the soul Goes glimmering to the abode, Where aeons in one moment roll, And one thought shapes to its control Body’s forgotten load. Our lady sleeps! Our lady smiles In far Elysian isles ! FIRST WOMAN. Thrice have I crept towards the bed, and thrice An unseen hand has caught the uplifted knife, A grinning face lurked out from the blank air Between me and that filthy sorceress. SECOND WOMAN. Daily I poison the she-devil’s drink, And nothing harms her ! THIRD WOMAN. I have a toad whose breath Destroys all life CHORUS. Thou dealest in such arts? ‘THIRD WOMAN. Ay ! for this hate’s sake. Herein? Are we sisters all CHORUS. _ True sisters ! THIRD WOMAN. The familiar soul Sucks at her mouth—She sickens not nor dies ; More poisonous than he. FIRST WOMAN. Ah! beast of hell ! What may avail us? SECOND WOMAN. Jason is quite lost In her black sorceries. FOURTH WOMAN. Our chance gone ! FIRST WOMAN. Our life Degraded to her service. SECOND WOMAN. We, who are Born nobly, are become her minions. THIRD WOMAN. Slaves, not handmaidens ! ALCESTIS. Ototototoi ! Ai Ai! What misery ! FIRST WOMAN. See! the lady weeps! ALCESTIS. Ai Ai! the black fiend, how he dogs my feet ! The fatal day! Ai! Ai! CHORUS. What sorrow thus, ‘Maiden, removes the feet of fortitude? ALCESTIS. Who shall arouse him? CHORUS. Peace, our lady sleeps. ALCESTIS. Ah ine! but she must wake ! deed Hangs on the house. A black, black MEDEA. What meets my waking ear ?. Alcestis !