第 115 节
作者:空白协议书      更新:2021-02-21 16:30      字数:9322
  Every note of song we sing;
  Every murmur; every tone;
  Is of love and love alone。
  ECHO。
  Love alone!
  EPIMETHEUS。
  Who would not love; if loving she might be
  Changed like Callisto to a star in heaven?
  PANDORA。
  Ah; who would love; if loving she might be
  Like Semele consumed and burnt to ashes?
  EPIMETHEUS。
  Whence knowest thou these stories?
  PANDORA。
  Hermes taught me;
  He told me all the history of the Gods。
  CHORUS OF REEDS。
  Evermore a sound shall be
  In the reeds of Arcady;
  Evermore a low lament
  Of unrest and discontent;
  As the story is retold
  Of the nymph so coy and cold;
  Who with frightened feet outran
  The pursuing steps of Pan。
  EPIMETHEUS。
  The pipe of Pan out of these reeds is made;
  And when he plays upon it to the shepherds
  They pity him; so mournful is the sound。
  Be thou not coy and cold as Syrinx was。
  PANDORA。
  Nor thou as Pan be rude and mannerless。
  PROMETHEUS (without)。
  Ho!  Epimetheus!
  EPIMETHEUS。
  'T is my brother's voice;
  A sound unwelcome and inopportune
  As was the braying of Silenus' ass;
  Once heard in Cybele's garden。
  PANDORA。
  Let me go。
  I would not be found here。  I would not see him。
  (She escapes among the trees。)
  CHORUS OF DRYADES。
  Haste and hide thee;
  Ere too late;
  In these thickets intricate;
  Lest Prometheus
  See and chide thee;
  Lest some hurt
  Or harm betide thee;
  Haste and hide thee!
  PROMETHEUS (entering。)
  Who was it fled from here?  I saw a shape
  Flitting among the trees。
  EPIMETHEUS。
  It was Pandora。
  PROMETHEUS。
  O Epimetheus!  Is it then in vain
  That I have warned thee?  Let me now implore。
  Thou harborest in thy house a dangerous guest。
  EPIMETHEUS。
  Whom the Gods love they honor with such guests。
  PROMETHEUS。
  Whom the Gods would destroy they first make mad。
  EPIMETHEUS。
  Shall I refuse the gifts they send to me?
  PROMETHEUS。
  Reject all gifts that come from higher powers。
  EPIMETHEUS。
  Such gifts as this are not to be rejected。
  PROMETHEUS。
  Make not thyself the slave of any woman。
  EPIMETHEUS。
  Make not thyself the judge of any man。
  PROMETHEUS。
  I judge thee not; for thou art more than man;
  Thou art descended from Titanic race;
  And hast a Titan's strength; and faculties
  That make thee godlike; and thou sittest here
  Like Heracles spinning Omphale's flax;
  And beaten with her sandals。
  EPIMETHEUS。
  O my brother!
  Thou drivest me to madness with thy taunts。
  PROMETHEUS。
  And me thou drivest to madness with thy follies。
  Come with me to my tower on Caucasus:
  See there my forges in the roaring caverns;
  Beneficent to man; and taste the joy
  That springs from labor。  Read with me the stars;
  And learn the virtues that lie hidden in plants;
  And all things that are useful。
  EPIMETHEU5。
  O my brother!
  I am not as thou art。  Thou dost inherit
  Our father's strength; and I our mother's weakness:
  The softness of the Oceanides;
  The yielding nature that cannot resist。
  PROMETHEUS。
  Because thou wilt not。
  EPIMETHEUS。
  Nay; because I cannot。
  PROMETHEUS。
  Assert thyself; rise up to thy full height;
  Shake from thy soul these dreams effeminate;
  These passions born of indolence and ease。
  Resolve; and thou art free。  But breathe the air
  Of mountains; and their unapproachable summits
  Will lift thee to the level of themselves。
  EPIMETHEUS。
  The roar of forests and of waterfalls;
  The rushing of a mighty wind; with loud
  And undistinguishable voices calling;
  Are in my ear!
  PROMETHEUS。
  O; listen and obey。
  EPIMETHEUS。
  Thou leadest me as a child; I follow thee。
  (They go out。)
  CHORUS OF OREADES。
  Centuries old are the monntains;
  Their foreheads wrinkled and rifted
  Helios crowns by day;
  Pallid Selene by night;
  From their bosoms uptossed
  The snows are driven and drifted;
  Like Tithonus' beard
  Streaming dishevelled and white。
  Thunder and tempest of wind
  Their trumpets blow in the vastness;
  Phantoms of mist and rain;
  Cloud and the shadow of cloud;
  Pass and repass by the gates
  Of their inaccessible fastness;
  Ever unmoved they stand;
  Solemn; eternal; and proud;
  VOICES OF THE WATERS。
  Flooded by rain and snow
  In their inexhaustible sources;
  Swollen by affluent streams
  Hurrying onward and hurled
  Headlong over the crags;
  The impetuous water…courses;
  Rush and roar and plunge
  Down to the nethermost world。
  Say; have the solid rocks
  Into streams of silver been melted;
  Flowing over the plains;
  Spreading to lakes in the fields?
  Or have the mountains; the giants;
  The ice…helmed; the forest…belted;
  Scattered their arms abroad;
  Flung in the meadows their shields?
  VOICES OF THE WINDS。
  High on their turreted cliffs
  That bolts of thunder have shattered;
  Storm…winds muster and blow
  Trumpets of terrible breath;
  Then from the gateways rush;
  And before them routed and scattered
  Sullen the cloud…rack flies;
  Pale with the pallor of death。
  Onward the hurricane rides;
  And flee for shelter the shepherds;
  White are the frightened leaves;
  Harvests with terror are white;
  Panic seizes the herds;
  And even the lions and leopards;
  Prowling no longer for prey;
  Crouch in their caverns with fright。
  VOICES OF THE FOREST。
  Guarding the mountains around
  Majestic the forests are standing;
  Bright are their crested helms;
  Dark is their armor of leaves;
  Filled with the breath of freedom
  Each bosom subsiding; expanding;
  Now like the ocean sinks;
  Now like the ocean upheaves。
  Planted firm on the rock;
  With foreheads stern and defiant;
  Loud they shout to the winds;
  Loud to the tempest they call;
  Naught but Olympian thunders;
  That blasted Titan and Giant;
  Them can uproot and o'erthrow;
  Shaking the earth with their fall。
  CHORUS OF OREADES。
  These are the Voices Three
  Of winds and forests and fountains;
  Voices of earth and of air;
  Murmur and rushing of streams;
  Making together one sound;
  The mysterious voice of the mountains;
  Waking the sluggard that sleeps;
  Waking the dreamer of dreams。
  These are the Voices Three;
  That speak of endless endeavor;
  Speak of endurance and strength;
  Triumph and fulness of fame;
  Sounding about the world;
  An inspiration forever;
  Stirring the hearts of men;
  Shaping their end and their aim。
  VII
  THE HOUSE OF EPIMETHEUS
  PANDORA。
  Left to myself I wander as I will;
  And as my fancy leads me; through this house;
  Nor could I ask a dwelling more complete
  Were I indeed the Goddess that he deems me。
  No mansion of Olympus; framed to be
  The habitation of the Immortal Gods;
  Can be more beautiful。  And this is mine
  And more than this; the love wherewith he crowns me。
  As if impelled by powers invisible
  And irresistible; my steps return
  Unto this spacious hall。  All corridors
  And passages lead hither; and all doors
  But open into it。  Yon mysterious chest
  Attracts and fascinates me。  Would I knew
  What there lies hidden!  But the oracle
  Forbids。  Ah me!  The secret then is safe。
  So would it be if it were in my keeping。
  A crowd of shadowy faces from the mirrors
  That line these walls are watching me。  I dare not
  Lift up the lid。  A hundred times the act
  Would be repeated; and the secret seen
  By twice a hundred incorporeal eyes。
  (She walks to the other side of the hall。)
  My feet are weary; wandering to and fro;
  My eyes with seeing and my heart with waiting。
  I will lie here and rest till he returns;
  Who is my dawn; my day; my Helios。
  (Throws herself upon a couch; and falls asleep。)
  ZEPHYRUS。
  Come from thy caverns dark and deep。
  O son of Erebus and Night;
  All sense of hearing and of sight
  Enfold in the serene delight
  And quietude of sleep!
  Set all the silent sentinels
  To bar and guard the Ivory Gate;
  And keep the evil dreams of fate
  And falsehood and infernal hate
  Imprisoned in their cells。
  But open wide the Gate of Horn;
  Whence; beautiful as planets; rise
  The dreams of truth; with starry eyes;
  And all the wondrous prophecies
  And visions of the morn。
  CHORUS OF DREAMS FROM THE IVORY GATE。
  Ye sentinels of sleep;
  It is in vain ye keep
  Your drowsy watch before the Ivory Gate;
  Though closed the portal seems;
  The airy feet of dreams
  Ye cannot thus in walls incarcerate。
  We phantoms are and dreams
  Born by Tartarean streams;
  As ministers of the infernal powers;
  O son of Erebus
  And Night; behold! we thus
  Elude your watchful warders on the towers!
  From gloomy Tartarus
  The Fates have summoned us
  To whisper in her ear; who lies asleep;
  A tale to fan the fire
  Of her insane desire
  To know a secret that the Gods would keep。
  This passion; in their ire;
  The Gods themselves inspire;
  To vex