Racine: Phaedra

99
EURIPIDES
I do not pray, because he is my lord
Yet treacherous to his friends hath he been found.
Attendant.—Who is not treacherous? Hast thou Uved so long
Without discerning how self-love prevails
O'er social ? Some by glory, some by gain.
Are prompted. Then what wonder, for the sake
Of a new consort, if the father slight
These children ?
'Nurse.— Go, all will be well, go in.
Keep them as far as possible away,
Nor suffer them to come into the presence
Of their afflicted mother ; for her eyes
Have I just seen with wild distraction fired,
As if some horrid purpose against them
She meant to execute ; her wrath I know
Will not be pacified, till on some victim
It like a thunderbolt from Heaven descends
May she assail her foes alone, nor aim
The stroke at those she ought to hold most dear.
Medea [within],—Ah me! how grievous are my woes! What
means
Can I devise to end this hated life?
Nurse.— 'Tis as I said : strong agitations seize
Your mother's heart, her choler's raised. Dear children,
Beneath these roofs hie instantly, nor come
Into her sight, accost her not, beware
Of these ferocious manners and the rage
Which boils in that ungovernable spirit.
Go with the utmost speed, for I perceive
Too clearly that her plaints, which in thick clouds
Arise at first, will kindle ere 'tis long
With tenfold violence. What deeds of horror
From that high-soaring, that remorseless soul.
May we expect, when goaded by despair
[Exeunt Attendant and Sons.
Medea [imthin].—I have endured, alas! I have endured^-
Wretch that I am !—such agonies as call
For loudest plaints. Ye execrable sons
Of a devoted mother, perish ye
With your false sire, and perish his whole house