Racine: Phaedra

924
CALDERON
Of holy faith, and in such other lore
As may solace his life-imprisonment,
And tame perhaps the Savage prophesied
Toward such a trial as I aim at now,
And now demand your special hearing to.
What in this fearful business I have done,
Judge whether lightly or maliciousiy
I, with my own and only flesh and blood,
And proper lineal inheritor!
I swear, had his foretold atrocities
Touch'd me alone, I had not saved myself
At such a cost to him ; but as a king
A Christian king—I say, advisedly.
Who would devote his people to a tyrant
Worse than Caligula fore-chronicled ?
But even this not without grave misgiving,
Lest by some chance misreading of the stars,
Or misdirection of what rightly read,
I wrong my son of his prerogative.
And Poland of her rightful sovereign.
For, sure and certain prophets as the stars,
Although they err not, he who reads them may
Or rightly reading—seeing there is One
Who governs them, as, under Him, they us,
We are not sure if the rough diagram
They draw in heav'n and we interpret here,
Be sure of operation, if the Will
Supreme, that sometimes for some special end
The course of providential nature breaks
By miracle, may not of these same stars
Cancel his own first draft, or overrule
What else fore-written all else overrules.
As, for example, should the Will Almighty
Permit the Free-will of particular man
To break the meshes of else strangling fate—
Which Free-will, fearful of foretold abuse,
I have myself from my own son forclosed
From ever possible self-extrication
A terrible responsibility,
Not to the conscience to be reconciled