Scene V

(Athens. The market place. In the centre, the tribune. At one side of the foreground an open corridor of the temple with its statues of the Gods, garlands of flowers and altars.)

(Eve as Lucia, wife of the general Miltiades, with her son Cimon, attended by several servants, bearing offerings for sacrifice, goes up to the corridor of the temple. A beggarly throng surging about. Bright morning.)

EVE.
This way, this way, beloved little son!
See, yonder sailed thy sire, with swiftest fleet,
To battle on the realm's remote confines,
Where dwells a savage race, which boldly dares
The freedom of our native land to menace.
So let us pray, O, let us pray, my son,
That Heaven protect our native country's rights,
And thy brave father bring again to us.

CIMON.
Why does my father thus in distant lands
Fight to defend this dastard beggar race,
While his fair spouse laments and pines at home?

EVE.
Ah! thy good father mayest thou not judge,
For such a child is cursed of the gods,
It is the right but of the loving spouse
To grieve and murmur at his course, though if
He did not thus, it is she would feel the shame.
Thy father's acts beseem him, as a man.

CIMON.
Fear'st mother, he may weaken and surrender?

EVE.
No, no, my son ; Thy valiant sire will win ;
One thing alone, there is which I might fear;
He may not triumph o'er himself.

CIMON.
How so?

EVE.
A mighty word within the soul exists—
Ambition! Dormant in the slave it lies,
Or in his narrow sphere becomes a crime,
Though, when 't is roused, doth fill his whole existence,

But nourished with the blood of liberty,
It grows to civic virtue brightly glowing,
Which calleth into being all things great
And beautiful ; but in excess, it turns
To combat with the mother, till one fall.
So if this tendency within his breast
Should grow to such extent that he betray
This sacred fatherland, it is I who then
Would curse him. Let us pray, and pray, my son.
(They pass into the hall of the temple. Meanwhile, the crowd in the square has increased.)

ONE OF THE PEOPLE.
One heareth no exciting news ; it seems
Our hosts have not yet met the enemy.

ANOTHER SPEAKER.
And here at home, so drowsy are they all,
Perhaps not one doth even forge a plan,
As in the olden time, to carry out,
The voices of the people needed were.
Since early morn, I've trod this place, and yet
Found not a single buyer for my vote.

FIRST SPEAKER.
How wearisome is life! what can we do?

THIRD SPEAKER.
No harm could come, from just a little turmoil.

(Meanwhile Eve has lit the altar fires, washed her hands and prepared the sacrifice. Her servants intone a hymn, which is continued, stanza by stanza, during the scene. The market place fills with citizens and people. Two demagogues strive for the tribune.)

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
Begone! This place belongs to me. The land
Will be in peril, if I do not speak.

(The people cheer.)

SECOND DEMAGOGUE.
It will be, if thou speakest Hireling, down!

(The people laugh and cheer.)

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
No hireling thou, because not worth the hire.
Compatriots, in grief I raise my voice:
It wounds a noble heart, a great one thus
To trample in the dust, and a mighty man
I now must drag from his triumphal car...

SECOND DEMAGOGUE.
Thou scoundrel, well begun ; with flowers adorning
The beast, which thou to sacrifice hast doomed.
FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
Begone !

VOICES FROM THE PEOPLE.
Why to this scoffer do we list?

(They pull at the second demagogue.)

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
But though it wounds my heart, yet must I speak ;
For thee, O worthy, princely race, I hold
Above thy general.

SECOND DEMAGOGUE.
This starved out mob,

So sordid souled, cow'ring like dogs, to catch
The leavings from the masters' board? Coward,
Thy taste I cannot envy.

FROM THE PEOPLE.
A traitor too
Is he. Down with him, down!

(They press closer to him.)

EVE.
(Sacrificing on the altar, two doves and incense.)
Holy Aphrodite, O receive
The sacrifice I on thy altar leave!
No laurels ask I for my spouse's brow,
The peace of home thou may'st on him bestow.
(Amid the smoke of the incense, Eros appears smiling, surrounded by the Charites strewing roses over him. Group of worshipers sing in adoration.)

THE SERVANTS.
O grant her this behest!

EROS.
O'er her, may ever rest
The blessing of a guileless heart.
THE CHARITES.
And loving care, be the Charites' part!

SERVANTS.
O Aphrodite, we
Pour forth our thanks to thee!

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
Ye people hear the accusation then!
The great Miltiades betrays the land!

SECOND DEMAGOGUE.
Thou liest! Listen, or in shame ye'll come
To late repentance.

FIRST SPEAKER.
(From the people.)
Thou audacious one!
Down from here!

(They pitch him down into the crowd.)

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
The flower of your youth
Is in his hand, and Lemnos at one blow
He could have taken ; but now he rests at Pharos,
For he is bought.

THIRD VOICE.
Then he must die!

FIRST CITIZEN.
Shout well,
Or I will turn you from my tenements!

(The sacrifice ended, the divinities vanish.)

EVE (Rising.)
What is that noise without? Let us inquire
My son.
CIMON.
A traitor is condemned, my mother.

EVE.
(Stepping out on the stairs of the temple hall.)
My heart is ever grieved, to see the great,
Subject to judgment by rapacious hordes ;
When in the mire such splendor falls, with joy
Malignant gapes the mob, as if thereby
Their vileness, somehow, might be justified.

SECOND SPEAKER.
Oh! Sir, I'm hoarse, and I would like to yell.
SECOND CITIZEN.
Well here is aught, wherewith to oil thy throat.

SECOND VOICE.
(From the people.)
What am I to shout?

SECOND CITIZEN.
Say, "Death unto him!"
FROM THE CROWD.
Death ! Death !

EVE.
Of whom now do they cry?

SECOND DEMAGOGUE.
Of whom, but of the one, who overtops
His fellows? That they cannot well endure.

EVE.
Of Miltiades? Ye Gods! and thou,
Old Crispos, whom my husband freed from bondage,
Now callest for his death!

CRISPOS.
Forgive, my lady,
But one of us may live, and he who bids
Me shout, supports me and three children.

EVE.
Woe
To thee if so thy fate can lower thee.
I can forgive, for thou must live; and thou,
Thersites ! All, each one of you, each one,
Who lives in affluence and peace, which he
Secured for you by his great victory,
Ye ingrates!

THERSITES.
Ah! my lady, it is bitter.
But what do we do? 'T is the people's voice:
For who doth hazard his possessions all,
The rising billows at defiance setting?

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
The people's verdict, I will now pronounce.

LUCIFER.
(As a warrior flying with terror in his face.)
I give alarm. The foe is at the gates.

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
It cannot be, for our victorious leader
Doth march before!

LUCIFER.
The foe is even he.
He heard of your intent; his noble heart
Embittered by your foul, ungrateful acts,
E'en as ye speak — he comes with fire and sword.

SECOND DEMAGOGUE.
And this ye traitors have upon us brought!

FROM THE CROWD.
Then let them die ! Long live our general !
Woe unto us! and flee whoever can,
For all is lost.

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
Not yet. Let all of us
Before him, at the city gates, appear,
And unto him our loving tribute pay.

EVE.
Ye Gods! The sentence that doth take my spouse
From me, gives pain, but oh! more bitter this,
'T is justified! Though still, I wish him back.

FIRST VOICE (From the crowd.)
Arrest his wife, and if he harm our city,
She and her child shall both be put to death!

EVE.
Most gladly would I die for thee, my spouse,
Did not the nations' curse rest on my child.

CIMON.
Fear not for me, my mother, come with me:
This holy place will shield us from all harm.
(They escape from the crowd into the temple; two nymphs drop chains of roses between them and the crowd, causing the latter to retreat. The blare of trumpets is heard without, and the people scatter with lamentations. The nymphs vanish.)

LUCIFER (Laughing as he rubs his hands.)
'T was a fine jest! Cold reason jokes can make
Where human hearts in agony will break.

(Turning toward the temple.)
If but the sight of that which is so fair
Rejuvenating, did not e'er impair
My work! it puts me in a chilly mood
Of discontent, in this strange sphere, where nude
Is chaste and pure, and e'en ennobled, sin,
The kiss of innocence, with roses, win
For fate, sublimity. When will descend
My world, that monster of dread doubt, to lend
Its force, to ridicule th' illusion fair,
Which raises man, e'en when bowed in despair.
To earth ; but when he once encountereth
The terrors, and the agonies of death,
Will not this weary shadow come at last,
Tol such an end, as that I have forecast?

(Adam as Miltiades, is carried in, wounded, at the head of an armed regiment. People and demagogues suppliant before him.)

VOICE FROM THE CROWD.
Long live our general! Have mercy on us,
O great man!

ADAM.
What is your guilt, and why
Do ye entreat? For what can strong ones ever
From the weak demand? But neither wife
Nor child doth come to give me greeting, though
I hope that unto them, no harm has come.

EVE.
Why com'st Miltiades, if thine own spouse
Cannot rejoice o'er thy return? My son,
Thy mother swoons. Uphold — uphold her now —
Of thy good name, thy father hath bereft thee.

ADAM.
What's this? I do not comprehend. The crowd
For mercy begs; my own wife curses me,
While bleeds my bosom for my native land.

EVE.
The nation's heart, my own, doth bleed still more.
Why at the head of this great army com'st?

ADAM.
Doth not this escort suit my lofty rank?
I came, because this wound so serious
Allowed no longer to fulfill my trust;
And to account for every act of mine,
To those who sent me forth ; and render back
To the majestic people, my commission.
My comrades, now ye are at liberty;
For ye have earned your hearth-stone's sweet repose
And now, Pallas Athena, on this shrine,
I consecrate to thee, this sword of mine.
(He is borne to the steps of the temple. The soldiers disperse.)

EVE (Embracing him.)
Ah! Miltiades, where could be found,
A happier spouse than thine, great, noble man!
And see, thy son, how like he is to thee;
How tall, how handsome grown !

ADAM.
My dear ones, ye!

CIMON.
Well did I know, whate'er my father did,
Was well.

EVE.
Oh! shame me not, for better far
Should I have known this spouse.

ADAM.
Present, my son,
Thy father's sword here as a sacrifice.

CIMON (Hanging up the sword.)
This sword so dear, take goddess, to thy care:
Until I come to claim it, once to wear!

EVE.
And to this double sacrifice, in turn
The mother comes, sweet incense here to burn.

(Offers the incense.)

FIRST DEMAGOGUE (From the Tribune.)
Spoke I not true that he a traitor is,
That to Darius, he is sold? The wound
Is but a subterfuge, not wishing now,
Against him to bear arms.

FROM THE PEOPLE.
Death unto him!
ADAM.
What is that noise without?

EVE.
A dreadful cry.
Miltiades, again they call thee traitor.

ADAM.
A traitor ! Accusation ludicrous !
What, I, who won the day at Marathon?

EVE.
Alas, that it be so! A wicked world
Around us breathes.
FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
Why do ye not seize him?

(The people rush up to the Temple, Lucifer among them.)

EVE.
Safe art thou here within the temple's gate,
Miltiades, oh ! do not move from here.
Why did'st disperse thy retinue of state?
To this vile nest, why did'st thou not set fire?
This worthless crowd deserves but slavery's chains ;
They feel that thou art born o'er them to reign ;
And feel that thou art nobler than them all,
And in their hatred, they would gladly slay thee,
That on their bended knees they may not fall
Beneath thy sway.

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
Ye hear, now, how doth speak
A traitor's wife?

EVE.
It is the woman's right,
Her husband, e'en when guilty, to defend;
The more, if he be pure and true, like mine:
His enemy, a bastard race, like this.

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
Why does this worthy race allow itself
To be bemeaned?

FIRST VOICE (From the crowd.)
But if she speaks the truth?

FIRST CITIZEN.
Who e'er holds to them, is a traitor too.
Yell, tattered herd, or famish, all of you !
FROM THE PEOPLE.
Death unto him !

ADAM.
Hide thou, my son, that ye
See not my blood. Flee woman, from my arms
Away ! May'st thou escape the light'ning, which
Must strike the cliff; for I alone, must die.
Why should I live, knowing what folly, 't is,
The freedom for which all my life I've striven?

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
Why do ye hesitate?
FROM THE PEOPLE.
Death unto him!

ADAM.
And still this cowardly race I do not curse;
They are not culpable ; their nature it is
That want should make them slaves ; and slavery
Degrade them thus to envious grovelers ;
But I alone have been the fool, believing
That such a race had need of liberty.

LUCIFER (Aside.)
Now, thine own epitaph thou hast pronounced;
'Twill serve for many great ones after thee.

ADAM.
Lead me below ! No longer will I claim
This temple's shelter.
(Having laid Eve tenderly in the arms of the servants, he is carried to the steps.)
Now then I am ready.

SECOND DEMAGOGUE.
Defend thyself, for nothing yet is lost.

ADAM.
Did I defend myself, 't would be to make
My wound but pain the more.

SECOND DEMAGOGUE.
Oh ! do but speak !
For did the crowd not crawl just now in dust
Before thee?

ADAM.
This e'en makes speech unavailing;
For its own shame, the people ne'er forgive.
LUCIFER.
Hast thou regained thy senses?

ADAM.
Yes, indeed.
LUCIFER.
And see'st now, thou hast been a nobler ruler
To the people, than they have been to thee?

ADAM.
It may be, but corruption in them both
I find, although each bears a different name;
And both alone fulfill but fate's decree.
But then, oh! wherefore, wherefore, burneth e'er,
A soul, for aspirations high and great?
For self to live, 'twere better, seeking bliss,
Wherewith to fill this span of human life,
Inebriated, down to Hades roll.
Into new paths, now lead me, Lucifer,
And laughing, let me others' virtues view,
And others' woes, while all delights are mine.
Thou, woman, who (it dawns upon my soul)
Once in the wilderness, a bower for me
Did conjure, if thou, as a mother chaste,
My son dost raise to a good citizen,
A fool thou art, well meriting the jeers
Of the painted jade, who in the brothel sits,
Heated with wine, with longing, am'rous lips.
Be 'merry ! Pleasure seek, denying virtue.
Now to the judgment bench, to expiate
My guilt, though not as one to low deeds fallen,
But like a great soul with high aims inspired.
(Meanwhile the block is placed in front of the steps,)
by the side of which Lucifer stands, with an axe.
Adam bends his neck.)

FIRST DEMAGOGUE.
Let him be put to death! Long live our land!

LUCIFER (Whispering.)
A fine farewell, is 't not? Now, my brave lord,
Does not the raw, chill breeze of awful death
A faint and unknown shiver through thee strike?

EVE.
Pallas, thou has answered not my prayer!
(From the temple flies the genius of death, a mild)
youth, holding a lowered torch and a garland,
who approaches Adam.)

ADAM.
Pallas has heard thy prayer, and Heaven is with thee,
For peace, my Lucia, to my heart is come.

LUCIFER.
Accurs'd be thou, vain world of dreams ; once more
Thou has destroyed the bliss I was to gain.

EVE.
My curse on thee, thou heartless, pygmy crowd!
O'er happiness thou'st cast a blighting shroud;
And withered droop its blossoms fair, to die ;
And all the sunshine freedom brought to thee
Was naught, as was its bitterness to me.