Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/200

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Nurse [to Diana]: Queen of forests, thou who dwell'st alone
In mountain tops, and thou who only art
Within their desert haunts adored, convert,
We pray, to better issue these sad fears.
Mighty goddess of the woods and groves,
Bright star of heaven, thou glory of the night, 410
Whose torch, alternate with the sun, illumes
The sky, thou three-formed Hecate—Oh, smile,
We pray, on these our hopes; the unbending soul
Of stern Hippolytus subdue for us.
Teach him to love; our passion's mutual flame
May he endure. May he give ready ear
To our request. His hard and stubborn heart 415
Do thou make soft to us. Enthral his mind.
Though stern of soul, averse to love, and fierce,
May he yet yield himself to Venus' laws.
Bend all thy powers to this. So may thy face
Be ever clear, and through the rifted clouds
Mayst thou sail on with crescent shining bright;
So, when thou driv'st thy chariot through the sky, 420
May no Thessalian mummeries prevail
To draw thee from thy nightly journey down;
And may no shepherd boast himself of thee.
Lo, thou art here in answer to our prayer;
⁠[Hippolytus is seen approaching.]
I see Hippolytus himself, alone,
Approaching to perform the yearly rites
To Dian due. 425
⁠[To herself.]
⁠Why dost thou hesitate?
Both time and place are given by fortune's lot.
Use all thy arts. Why do I quake with fear?
It is no easy task to do the deed
Enjoined on me. Yet she, who serves a queen,
Must banish from her heart all thought of right;
For sense of shame ill serves a royal will. 430
⁠[Enter Hippolytus.]
Hippolytus: Why dost thou hither turn thine agéd feet,
O faithful nurse? Why is thy face so sad,