Racine: Phaedra

238
CALDERON
Segismund.— Were to revolt
Against the stars, belike
Clotaldo.— And him who reads them;
And by that right, and by the sovereignty
He wears as you shall wear it after him
Ay, one to whom yourself
Yourself, ev'n more than any subject here.
Are bound by yet another and more strong
Allegiance—King Basilio— your Father
Segismund.—Basilio—King—my father !
Clotaldo.— Oh, my Lord,
Let me beseech you on my bended knee,
For your own sake—for Poland's—and for his,
Who, looking up for counsel to the skies.
Did what he did under authority
To which the kings of earth themselves are subject,
And whose behest not only he that suffers.
But he that executes, not comprehends.
But only He that orders it
Segismund.— The King—
My father !—Either I am mad already.
Or that way driving fast—or I should know
That fathers do not use their children so.
Or men were loosed from all allegiance
To fathers, kings, and heav'n that order'd alL
But, mad or not, my hour is come, and I
Will have my reckoning—Either you lie.
Under the skirt of sinless majesty
Shrouding your treason ; or if that indeed,
Guilty itself, take refuge in the stars
That cannot hear the charge, or disavow—
You, whether doer or deviser, who
Come first to hand, shall pay the penalty
By the same hand you owe it to
[Seizing Clotaldo's sword and about to strike him.
Enter Rosaura suddenly.
RoSAURA.—Fie, my lord—forbear.
What! a young hand raised against silver hair?
[She retreats through the crowd.