THE SIRENS. Hail, you Helios devotees,
Sacred to calm skies and seas!
See, the moon too can excite
Homage on her festive night!
THE TELCHINES.
Sweet goddess high up in the zenith, rejoice
For your brother the sun is extolled with one voice!
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From the blest isle of Rhodes his praises ascend
To your listening ear in a hymn without end.
When he starts his day’s journey and when it is done,
His face glows on us, the great fiery sun;
On our mountains, our cities, our shore and our sea,
The god’s favour shines, they are lovely to see.
No clouds linger round us; if any intrude,
With a ray and a breeze his pure sky is renewed.
Now his hundred reflections the god may behold,
The ephebe, the colossus his greatness unfold.
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For we were the first who such images made
And in man’s noble likeness the high gods displayed.
PROTEUS. Let them sing on in vain self-praise!
The sacred sun’s life-giving rays
Mock their dead handiwork to scorn.
They carry on, they sculpt, they cast,
A lump of bronze stands up at last,
And they think something has been born.
Why, these proud forgers, they’re no good!
Look now where their god-statues stood:
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An earthquake knocked them flat! Since then
They’ve all been melted down again.
Say what you will, terrestrial life
Is one long toil and one long strife;
Water-life’s better! Now I’ll be
Proteus-Dolphin. Come with me
To the eternal deep!
[He transforms himself] It’s done!
Mount on my back, you’ll be well carried,
And all will turn out well. Be married
To the great ocean from now on.
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THALES. Yield to your laudable temptation:
Seek the beginnings of creation!
Be poised to act, don’t hesitate!
Move onward by eternal norms
Through many thousand thousand forms,
And reach at last the human state.
[THE HOMUNCULUS mounts the PROTEUS-DOLPHIN.]
PROTEUS. Come, as a spirit, to the wet
Expanse! Full freedom there you’ll get
To live and move, to grow and be.
But don’t strive to a higher level:
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You’ll go completely to the devil
Once you achieve humanity.
THALES. Well, that depends; it’s no bad thing, I’d say,
To be a sound man in one’s day.
PROTEUS. One of your sort, perhaps; they do
Last a while longer, that is true.
For many centuries I’ve seen your face
Among the pale shades in this place.
THE SIRENS [on the rocks].
See, a ring of cloudlets round it,
Shines the moon in rich display:
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Doves aflame with love surround it,
Silver-pinioned, white as day!
Paphian Aphrodite’s favour
Sends her amorous love-birds here,
Lends our feast its fullest savour,
Makes our joy complete and clear.
NEREUS [approaching THALES].
That moon-halo’s what the night-
Farer calls imagination,
But we spirits see it right,
Know the proper explanation:
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Those are sacred doves, attendant
On my daughter’s shell-borne throne,
In mysterious flight resplendent,
Learnt of old and strangely known.
THALES. That is how I see it too:
An honest man’s contented view
Of what is holy, what is best,
Snugly in his heart will nest.
PSYLLI and MARSI [riding on sea-bulb, sea-calves, andsea-rams.] In Cyprus’s rude hollow caves,
Undrowned by seaquake waves,
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By earthquake shock unmarred:
As in days long ago
The deepest joy we know,
For ever the breezes blow,
The goddess’s chariot we guard;
And where nights murmur and play
We bring through the weave of sweet water
The sea’s loveliest daughter,
Unseen by eyes of today.
Our activity, quiet, incessant,
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Fears no Eagle, no Lion with wings,
Cares neither for Cross nor Crescent;*
Above us they dwell, these things
That war for their changing sway,
That rule and usurp and slay,
Sweeping crops and cities away.
But we, as ever before,
Bring the dear goddess here once more.
THE SIRENS. Circling swiftly, lightly moving,
Round the chariot, in and out,
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Line by line all interweaving,
Coil by coil and turn about:
Come, you stalwart Nereids, wild
Buxom womenfolk! And you,
Tender Dorids, bring her too,
Galatea, your mother’s child!
She is like the gods, for she
Has a deathless gravity,
Though a mortal woman’s grace
Draws men to her lovely face.
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THE DORIDS [riding past NEREUS as a chorus, all on dolphins].
Lend us, moon, your light and shade,
For our father now must see
These sweet youths with whom we played
And have wedded instantly!
[To NEREUS.]
These young men we saved from death
In the roaring breakers’ greed,
Warmed them back to light and breath,
Bedding them on moss and reed.
They give thanks for life restored:
Ardent passion’s our reward—
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Look upon them favourably!
NEREUS. Excellent! Two advantages in one:
A work of mercy which is also fun.
THE DORIDS. Since you praise us, father, surely
You’ll not grudge our well-earned joys:
Let us have and hold securely
Ever-young, immortal boys!
NEREUS. Enjoy your captives; fine grown men
You’ll make of them. But why ask me
To grant them immortality?
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That’s something only Zeus can do.
The sea-waves rock and cradle you:
Nothing lasts there, not even love.
So when it flits away, just shove
Them gently back ashore again.
THE DORIDS. Dear boys, we love you, but sad goodbyes
We must say, and our bonds must sever!
We asked for love that would last for ever;
The gods decree otherwise.
THE YOUTHS. That’s quite all right for a sailor-lad!
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Just carry on kissing; we’ve never had
It so good before, such a time as this;
And what we don’t have we don’t miss.
[GALATEA approaches, riding the shell-chariot.]
NEREUS. It’s you, my beloved!
GALATEA. Oh father! I gaze
With such joy! Oh, how briefly the chariot stays!
NEREUS. Gone, gone from me already; out of sight,
Drawn past by the circling dolphin motion;
What do they care for the innermost heart’s devotion!
Take me with you! Alas, if they might!—
And yet with that one look I am cont
ent
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For my whole year of banishment.
THALES. Hail, and all hail to you!
How beautiful, how true
This sense that flowers, that fills me through and through:
In water all things began to thrive!!
By water all things are kept alive!
Grant us your bounty for ever, great ocean:
Send us clouds, for if you did not,
Abundant streams, for if you did not,
And rivers in meandering motion,
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And great waterways—for if you did not,
Where would the mountains, the plains, and the world be then?
By you fresh life lives and is sustained again.
ECHO [from the general chorus of all present]. From you fresh life flows and is born again.
NEREUS. Back into the distance swerving,
Their eyes and my eyes meet no more;
In a great chain of circles curving,
Dancing, in festive spirit moving,
The countless host forsakes the shore.
But Galatea’s chariot-shell
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I still see, yes, again I see:
Bright as a star to me
Through the crowd I know it well.
What we love shines through
The throng, far though it seems;
Still it glistens, still gleams,
Ever near, ever true.
THE HOMUNCULUS. In this sweet water-world,
Wherever I shed my light
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Is beautiful and bright.
PROTEUS. In this, life’s water-world,
As never before, your light
Makes music loud and bright.
NEREUS. What new mystery now in the midst of the dancing
Reveals itself to us, our vision entrancing?
What flames round the shell at the goddess’s feet?
It blazes up strongly, then gently and sweet,
As if touched by the pulses of love and desire.
THALES. The Homunculus, ravished by Proteus!… That fire
Is his powerful longing, its symptoms I know;
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I sense his loud anguish, the throb of his woe.
He will shatter his glass on her glistening throne:
Now he flashes, he gleams, now he spills and is gone.
THE SIRENS. What fiery wonder transfigures the sea?
The waves splinter and glitter, what storm can this be?
All shining and swaying, a progress of light,
Those bodies aglow as they move through the night,
And the whirl of the fire all about and around!
Now let Eros, first cause of all, reign and be crowned!
Hail to the sea, the shifting tide,
8480
By sacred fire beautified!
Hail to the waves, hail to the flame,
Hail, this event without a name!
TUTTISSIMI. Hail to the mild and gentle breeze!
Hail, caverns rich with mysteries!
Fire, water, air, and earth as well:
You elements all four, all hail!
ACT THREE
11.IN FRONT OF THE PALACE OF MENELAUS IN SPARTA*
[Enter HELEN and the CHORUS of captive Trojan
women, PANTHALIS, leader of the Chorus.]
HELEN. So much admired and so much censured, Helena,
Now from the sea I come; we are not long ashore,
And drunken still with rocking upon the lively waves
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Which on their high-uptossing backs, from Troy’s wide plain,
By great Poseidon’s favour and by the east wind’s force
Brought us once more to harbours of our fatherland.
Down there the king, my husband Menelaus, now
With his most valiant fighters feasts his homecoming.
But you must bid your queen here welcome, noble house
Built by my father Tyndareus on his return,
Nearby the slopes of Pallas Athene’s lofty hill:
Here with my sister Clytemnestra and the twins
Castor and Pollux happily playing I grew up, 8500
While he adorned it like no other in the land.
All hail to you now, mighty doors of bronze! You once
Stood open wide in hospitable welcome, when
It came about that Menelaus, the elect
Of many wooers, shiningly appeared to me.
Let them once more be opened! for as a loyal wife
I must fulfil an urgent bidding of the king.
So let me enter, and let all the storms of fate
That have been raging round me now be left behind.
For since I crossed this threshold last, as duty bade,
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All unsuspecting, visiting Cythera’s shrine,
And there was ravished by an adventurer from Troy,
Much has befallen: far and wide men tell the tale
And take their pleasure in it. But no tale can please
One round whose name long legend spins its false report.
CHORUS. Most noble lady, do not despise
What is yours with honour, this highest of gifts!
For supreme good fortune is yours alone
In the fame of beauty, excelling all.
A hero’s name before him resounds,
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And he walks with pride.
But even the most stiff-necked of men
Before all-conquering Beauty will bow.
HELEN. Enough! My husband brought me back in his own ships
And to his city sends me now ahead of him:
But what his purpose may be, that I cannot guess.
Do I come here as wife? Do I come here as queen?
Or will the king avenge on me his bitter grief
And all these long misfortunes that the Greeks have borne?
I am a prize of war, perhaps a prisoner!
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For by heaven’s will, my reputation is two-edged
As is my fate—and both, the ambiguous followers
Of beauty, even now beset me with their dark
And menacing presence, on this threshold of my home.
For on the hollow ship, indeed, my husband looked
Askance at me and seldom; no good word he spoke,
But sitting opposite me, seemed to brood on evil things.
Then, when the first ships’ prows advanced into the deep
Eurotas estuary and had scarcely touched the land
In greeting, then he spoke, as if divinely moved:
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‘Here in due order all my men will disembark
And on the sea’s shore stand for me to muster them.
You, for your part, proceed up-river, ride along
Sacred Eurotas’ fruitful banks, and travel on,
Guiding the horses through the rich moist meadowlands,
Until you reach the city in its noble plain:
Here Lacedaemon, once a wide and fertile field,
Was built in our grave mountains’ far-surrounding shade.
Enter the high-towered palace then, and muster all
The women, our maidservants whom I left behind,
8550
Also that wise old beldame, keeper of the house.
Next bid her show you my rich treasury of wealth,
Bequeathed us by your father, which I have myself
Nurtured with constant increase both in peace and war.
All will be in good order, you will find it so;
It is the ruler’s privilege, on returning home,
To find his house unchanged and all things faithfully
Preserved and in their place, as when he left them there;
For servants make no change without authority.’
CHORUS. Now feast your eyes on this ever-new
8560
And most splendid treasure, refreshing your
heart!
For here they lie, the bejewelled crowns
And necklaces, self-complacent and proud;
But enter, challenging them yourself:
They will spring to arms!
I watch with joy when beauty makes war
Against gold and gems and pearls of great price.
HELEN. Thus then my lord spoke further with commanding words:
‘Next, having passed all things in orderly review,
Take brazier tripods, judging how many are required,
8570
And all such vessels as the celebrant may need
To have to hand for sacred sacrificial rites:
The pots, the dishes for the blood, the offering-dish.
Let purest water from the holy spring be poured
Into tall jars; and bring dry wood that rapidly
Catches the hot flames; all this hold in readiness,
And not forgetting, lastly, a well-sharpened knife.
As for the rest, I must entrust it to your care.’
So saying, he motioned me to leave; but careful though
His orders were, they told me of no living thing,
8580
No offering he would slaughter for the Olympian gods.
This troubles me; and yet I put this care aside,
Letting all these things lie upon the high gods’ lap
Who must and will accomplish all they have in mind,
Whether by human reckoning it be counted good
Or evil. We must bear it, being mortal men.
Often it has happened that the sacrificial priest
Has raised the sharp blade over the cowering victim’s neck
But could not strike the blow, because his hand was stayed
By intervention of some enemy or some god.
8590
CHORUS. To discern the future is not in our power;
So with good courage, oh queen,
Enter the house!
Good and ill fortune come
Upon man without warning;
We disbelieve even what is foretold.
Was not Troy burning, did we not see
Death confronting us, shameful death?
And are we not here,
Your companions, serving you gladly,
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Seeing the dazzling sun in the heavens
And earth’s loveliest treasure,
Fortunate that she favours us?
HELEN. Be it or be it not so: whatever may befall,
I must without delay enter this royal house,
So longed for, lost for so long, almost for ever lost,
And which so strangely stands before me once again.
Less willingly my feet move now as they ascend
These lofty steps they tripped down lightly long ago. [Exit.]
CHORUS. Sisters, you sorrowing
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Captives, now cast away,
Cast away all your suffering!
Share in her happiness,
Our lady’s happiness:
Helen has now returned with joy,
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