ORESTES. A cruel life! How much I pity you.

  ELECTRA. You are the only one who pities me!

  1200

  ORESTES. I am the only one who shares your sorrow.

  ELECTRA. Who are you? Can it be you are some kinsman?

  ORESTES. If I may trust these women I would tell you.

  ELECTRA. Yes, you may trust them: they are friends, and loyal.

  ORESTES. Give back the urn, and I will tell you all.

  ELECTRA. No, no, I beg you; do not be so cruel!

  ORESTES. Do as I ask; you will do nothing wrong.

  ELECTRA. It is all I have! You cannot take it from me!

  ORESTES. You may not keep it.

  ELECTRA. O, my dear Orestes,

  How cruel! I may not even bury you.

  1210

  ORESTES. Your talk of burial, your tears, are wrong.

  ELECTRA. How is it wrong to mourn my brother’s death?

  ORESTES. You must not speak of him in words like these.

  ELECTRA. Must I be robbed of all my rights in him?

  ORESTES. You are robbed of nothing! This is not for you.

  ELECTRA. Yes, if I hold Orestes in my arms!

  ORESTES. This is Orestes only by a fiction.

  ELECTRA. Then where is my unhappy brother’s grave?

  ORESTES. Nowhere. The living do not have a grave!

  ELECTRA. My friend!* What do you mean?

  ORESTES. I mean—

  1220

  the truth.

  ELECTRA. My brother is alive?

  ORESTES. If I’ m alive!

  ELECTRA. You are Orestes?

  ORESTES. Look upon this ring—

  Our father’s ring.*—Do you believe me now?

  ELECTRA. O day of happiness!

  ORESTES. Great happiness!

  ELECTRA. It is your voice?—And have you come?

  ORESTES. My voice,

  And I am here!

  ELECTRA. I hold you in my arms?

  ORESTES. You do—and may we nevermore be parted.

  ELECTRA. O look, my friends! My friends of Argos, look!

  It is Orestes!—dead, by artifice,

  And by that artifice restored to us.

  CHORUS. To see him, and to see your happiness,

  1230

  My child, brings tears of joy into my eyes.

  [From here until line 1288, ELECTRA sings, ORESTES speaks.] 142

  Strophe

  ELECTRA. My brother is here! the son of my own dear father!

  You longed to see me, and now, at last,

  You have found me! O, you have come to me!

  ORESTES. Yes, I have come: but wait;* contain your joy

  In silence; they will hear us in the palace.

  ELECTRA. O by the virgin-goddess, by Artemis,

  I despise them, those in the palace—

  1240

  Women, useless and helpless!

  O, why should I fear them?

  ORESTES. Remember: women may not be too weak

  To strike a blow.* You have seen proof of it.

  ELECTRA. Ah me! The foul crime, that no

  Darkness can ever hide, that no

  Oblivion can wash away, no

  Power on earth remove.

  1250

  ORESTES. All this I know; but we will speak of it

  When we can speak of it without restraint.

  Antistrophe

  ELECTRA. Each moment of time, now or to come, is time

  To proclaim aloud the abomination.

  At last, at last, I can speak with freedom.

  ORESTES. You can; and yet,* until the hour has come,

  By speaking freely we may lose our freedom.

  ELECTRA. How can I chain my tongue and repress my

  1260

  joy?

  Can I look upon you and be silent,

  Safe returned, my brother?

  It is more than I dared hope.

  ORESTES. I waited long, but when the voice of God

  Spoke, then I made no more delay. *

  ELECTRA. O, this is joy crowning joy, if

  Heaven has brought you home to me!

  I see the hand of God

  Working along with us.

  1270

  ORESTES. To stem your flood of joy is hard, but yet

  There is some danger in this long rejoicing.

  Epode

  ELECTRA. So weary was the time of waiting!

  Now when you have come at last

  And all my sorrows have reached their end,*

  O, do not check my happiness.

  ORESTES. Nor would I do it—but we must be

  1280

  prudent. *

  ELECTRA. My friends, I heard my brother’s voice,

  And I had thought

  That I would never hear his voice again:

  How could I restrain my joy?

  Ah, now I have you; I can look upon

  The well-loved face that I could not forget

  Even in darkest sorrow.

  ORESTES. How much there is to hear!—our mother’s sin

  And cruelty, that our ancestral wealth

  Is plundered, ravished, wantonly misused

  1290

  By that usurper. Yet our time is short

  And their misdeeds are more than can be told.

  But tell me what may help our present venture:

  Where can I hide, or where can I confront

  Our foes, to turn their laughter into silence?

  And see to this: our mother must not read

  Our secret in your face. Conceal your joy

  When we go in; look sad, and mourn, as if

  The tale that you have heard were true. There will

  Be time enough to smile when we have conquered.

  1300

  ELECTRA. My brother, what seems good to you shall be

  My law; your pleasure shall be mine, for mine

  Is nothing, except what you have brought to me,

  And to win all there is I would not cause

  A moment’s pain to you, nor would that serve

  The favour of the gods, which now is with us.

  Now as to what you ask.—You surely know

  Aegisthus is abroad, not in the palace;

  But she is there, and you need have no fear

  That she will see a look of happiness

  1310

  Upon my face. The settled hatred which

  I have for her will banish any smile.

  I shall be weeping!—though my tears will be

  Of joy at your return. My tears today

  Flow in abundance; I have seen you dead,

  And now alive. So strange the day has been

  That if our father came and greeted us

  I should not think it was a ghost; I should

  Believe it. Therefore, being yourself a miracle

  In your return, command me as you will;

  For had you died, had I been left alone,

  I should myself have ventured all, and found

  1320

  Glorious deliverance, or a glorious death.

  ORESTES. Hush! I can hear the steps of someone coming

  Out of the palace.

  ELECTRA.

  You are welcome, strangers.

  Enter; the burden that you bring is such

  As no one could reject—and no one welcome.

  Enter the TUTOR, from the palace

  TUTOR. You reckless fools! What, have you got no sense?

  Do you not care whether you live or die?

  Are you demented? Don’t you understand

  The peril you are in? Not one that threatens;

  1330

  No, it is here! Had I not stood on guard

  Inside the door they would have known your plot

  Before they saw you. As it is, I took

  Good care of that. So, make an end of talk

  And these interminable cries of joy.

  Go in; delay is dangerous at such

  A moment. You must act, and make an end.

  ORESTES. When I go in, how shall I find it there?

  TUTOR. All’s well. Rely on this: they will not know you.

  1340

  ORESTES. You have reported, then, that I am dead?

  TUTOR. I have; in their eyes you are dead and gone.

  ORESTES. And are they glad? Or what have they been saying?

  TUTOR. We’ll speak of that hereafter. All is well

  Within the palace—even what is shameful.

  ELECTRA. In Heaven’s name, who is this man, Orestes?

  ORESTES. Do you not know him?

  ELECTRA.

  I cannot even guess.

  ORESTES. You know the man to whom you gave me once?

  ELECTRA. Which man? What are you saying?

  ORESTES.

  The man

  by whom

  You had me secretly conveyed to Phokis.

  1350

  ELECTRA. What, this is he?—the only one I found

  Remaining loyal at our father’s murder?

  ORESTES. That is the man; no need to ask for proof.

  ELECTRA. How glad I am! Dear friend, to you alone

  The house of Agamemnon owes deliverance.

  How come you here? Can you be really he

  That saved us both from all that threatened us?

  Come, let me take your hands, those faithful hands,*

  My friend! How could I not have known you, when

  You came to bring me joy—but joy concealed

  1360

  In words of deadly grief? I’ll call you father,

  Give you a daughter’s greeting—for to me

  You are a father. How I hated you

  A while ago; how much I love you now!

  TUTOR. It is enough. Though there is much to tell,

  There will be many days and many nights

  In which, Electra, you may tell it all.

  One word with you, Orestes, Pylades:

  This is your moment; now she is alone,

  No men-at-arms are near. But if you wait,

  Then you will have to face not only them,

  1370

  But many more—men trained to use their weapons.

  ORESTES. Pylades, there is no longer time for talk;

  It seems the hour has come. So, let us go;

  And as I go I give my reverence

  To all the gods that stand before the house. *

  [ORESTES enters the palace with PYLADES, praying before images on either side of the gate. ELECTRA goes to the altar where Clytemnestra’s offerings are still visible.

  Exit the TUTOR

  ELECTRA. O Lord Apollo, listen to their prayers,

  Be gracious to them! Listen too to mine!

  How often have I been thy suppliant

  Bringing what gifts I had; and therefore now,

  Although my hands are empty, I beseech thee,

  I beg thee, I implore thee, Lord Apollo:

  1380

  Give us thy favour, help our purposes,

  And show mankind what chastisement the gods

  Inflict on those who practise wickedness.

  [Exit ELECTRA,into the palace

  Strophe

  CHORUS [sings]. Look where the god of death* makes his way,

  Fierce and implacable.

  The Furies, champions of Justice,

  Hounds of the gods, hot on the trail of crime,

  Have entered the palace.

  Before me rises a vision:

  Soon shall I see fulfilment.

  1390

  Antistrophe

  The minister of the gods,* with stealthy foot,

  Ushered within the palace,

  The ancient home of his fathers,

  Holds in his hand a keen whetted sword,

  With Hermes to guide him,*

  To shroud his designs in darkness

  And lead him straight to vengeance.

  Enter ELECTRA

  ELECTRA. My friends, keep silent; wait. It will not be

  For long. Their hands are ready; soon they’ll strike.

  CHORUS. What are they doing now?

  ELECTRA.

  She has the urn,

  1400

  Preparing it for burial; they are near her.

  CHORUS. And why have you come out?

  ELECTRA.

  To stand on

  guard;*

  To give the warning if Aegisthus comes.