Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/264

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But this alone of all his mighty deeds
Alcides could not do. Yet striving still
To tear the garment off, he tore the flesh.
The robe seemed part of that gigantic form, 830
Yea, pail and parcel of the flesh itself.
The cause of this dire suffering is hid,
But yet there is a cause. His pain at length
Unable to endure, prone on the earth
He grovels; now for cooling water calls.
But water has no power to soothe his pain. 835
He seeks the shore and plunges in the sea,
The while his servant's hands direct his steps.
Oh, bitter lot, that mighty Hercules
Should come to be the mate of common men!
And now a vessel from Euboea's shore
Bears off the ponderous bulk of Hercules,
The gentle southwind wafting it along. 840
His spirit from his mighty frame has fled,
And o'er his eyes have fall'n the shades of night.
Deianira: Why dost thou hesitate? why stand amazed,
O soul, that thus at last the deed is done?^[1]
But Jove demands again his son of thee;
Juno, her rival; yea, to all the world
Must he be given back. Vain such appeal.
Make then what reparation^[2] yet thou mayst:
Through this my guilty body let the sword 845
Be driven. Thus, thus, 'tis well that it be done.
But can this puny hand of mine atone
For crime so great? O sire of Hercules,
Destroy me with thy hurtling thunderbolt,
Thy guilty daughter. With no common dart
Arm thine avenging hand; but use that shaft
With which, had Hercules ne'er sprung from thee, 850
Thou wouldst have scorched the hydra. As a pest
Unprecedented smite me, as a scourge
Far worse to bear than any stepdame's wrath.
Such bolt as once at wandering Phaethon
Thou hurledst, aim at me. For I myself

1. Reading, quid stupes factum scelus?
2. Reading, reddi.