Four Tragedies and Octavia (7 page)

A king is he who has no ill to fear,

Whose hand is innocent, whose conscience clear;

Who scorns licentious greed, who has not bowed

To the false favour of the fickle crowd.

The minerals unearthed in western lands,

The ore washed down in Tagus' glittering sands,

Are not for him; nor all the golden grain

Threshed from the harvests of the Libyan plain.

He is the man who faces unafraid

The lightning's glancing stroke; is not dismayed

By storm-tossed seas; whose ship securely braves

The windy rage of Adriatic waves;

Who has escaped alive the soldier's arm,

The brandished steel; who, far removed from harm,

Looks down upon the world, faces his end

With confidence, and greets death as a friend.

   Above the king whose broad domain

   Covers the far-flung Scythian plain,

   The king who holds his court beside

   The ruby sea whose blood-red tide

   Sparkles with gems, the king who wards

   The Caspian pass from Slavic hordes;

   Above the king whose feet dare tread

   Upon the Danube's icebound bed,

   Or him who rules (where'er be these)

   The famed silk-farms of the Chinese:

   Above all, innocence alone

   Commands a kingdom of its own.

   This kingdom needs no armed defence,

   No horseman, nor that vain pretence

   Of Parthian archers who, in flight,

   Shoot arrows to prolong the fight.

   It has no need of cannon balls

   And guns to batter city walls.

   To have no fear of anything,

   To want not, is to be a king.

   This is the kingdom every man

   Gives to himself, as each man can.

Let others scale dominion's slippery peak;

Peace and obscurity are all I seek.

Enough for me to live alone, and please

Myself with idleness and leisured ease.

A man whose name his neighbours would not know,

I'd watch my stream of life serenely flow

Through years of quietness, until the day

When an old man, a commoner, passed away.

Death's terrors are for him who, too well known,

Will die a stranger to himself alone.
¹

THYESTES
: The place that I have most desired to see –

House of my fathers, majesty of Argos;

My native soil – the exile's greatest joy,

The outcast's hope; gods of my fatherland,

If there be any gods. These now I see

With my own eyes; and there the sacred walls,

The Cyclops' work, of more than human grandeur;

And there the course where the young men resort,

Where I myself gained honours more than once

Driving to victory in my father's chariot.

All Argos, all her people, will be here

To meet me. I shall meet my brother, Atreus…

No! Back! Go back, man, to the forest's shelter,

The leafy glades, your life among the beasts,

Shared with the beasts. This blaze of royalty

Cannot deceive your eyes with its false show.

When you are tempted to admire the gift,

Observe the giver. I was confident

And happy in a life which most would think

Intolerable; now my fears return.

My spirit falters and arrests my body;

I am unwilling to go on my way.

TANTALUS
: Why does my father move with such slow steps

As in a trance, and cast his eyes around

Seeming to be uncertain of himself?

THYESTES
: What, can you doubt, my brain? The course is clear

And needs no anxious thought. A throne? A brother?

What could be more unworthy of your trust

Than those uncertain things? Are you afraid

Of hardships which you have already tamed

And learnt to overcome? Do you now seek

Escape from comfortable indigence?

No, better far to be a beggar still.

Turn back, while yet you can; get safe away.

TANTALUS
: Why, father, what can make you turn away

From home, now you have seen it? Why refuse

To embrace such happiness? Here is your brother

Returned to you in reconciliation;

He gives you back your share of sovereignty,

Makes you yourself again, and reunites

The broken members of our family.

THYESTES
: You ask me why, I cannot tell you why

I am afraid; I see no cause for fear,

And yet I am afraid. I would go on;

But I am paralysed, my knees are weak,

My legs refuse to carry me; some force

Repels me from the way I try to go,

As when a ship labours with oar and sail

But oar and sail are powerless to resist

The driving of the current.

TANTALUS
:                         Set aside

Those obstacles that hinder your intention,

And think what prizes wait on your return.

Father, you can be king.

THYESTES
:                      As I can die.

TANTALUS
: Power supreme –

THYESTES
:                             Is nothing, when a man Wants nothing.

TANTALUS
:            You have sons to follow you.

THYESTES
: One kingdom cannot have two kings at once.

TANTALUS
: Choose misery when happiness is offered?

THYESTES
: Take it from me, my son, great prizes tempt us

By their false aspects, and our fear of hardship

Is likewise a delusion. While I stood

Among the great, I stood in daily terror;

The very sword I wore at my own side

I feared. It is the height of happiness

To stand in no man's way,
¹
to eat at ease

Reclining on the ground. At humble tables

Food can be eaten without fear; assassins

Will not be found in poor men's cottages;

The poisoned drink is served in cups of gold.

I speak as one who knows, and make my choice

The life of hardship, not prosperity.

Mine is no lofty dwelling-place built high

Upon a mountain top to overawe

The common folk below; I have no ceilings

Lined with white ivory, I need no watch

Outside my door to guard me while I sleep.

I own no fishing fleet, no piers of mine

Intrude their massive blocks upon the sea.

My stomach is no glutton, to be filled

With every nation's tribute; not for me

Are harvests reaped from fields in farthest east.

No man burns incense at a shrine for me;

I am no god with altars to my name

More richly served than those of Jupiter.

Roof-gardens of luxurious foliage

Are not for me; for me no steamy baths

Stoked by the labour of a hundred hands.

My day is not a time for sleep, my night

An endless vigil in the cause of Bacchus.
²

But neither am I feared by any man;

My house is undefended, but secure.

Great is my peace, as my estate is small:

Kingdom unlimited, without a kingdom!

TANTALUS
: You have no need to ask, nor to refuse,

A kingdom offered to you by a god.

Your brother asks you to be king with him.

THYESTES
: Does he? There's danger there; some hidden trap.

TANTALUS
: Brotherly love can often live again

In hearts that once have lost it; true affection

Broken can be repaired.

THYESTES
:                      My brother love me?

Sooner will Ocean wash the Seven Stars,

The fury of the wild Sicilian currents

Rest, the Ionian sea become a field

Of ripening corn, night's darkness be our daylight;

Sooner will water come to terms with fire,

Wind make a peace with sea, or life with death.

TANTALUS
: But what harm do you fear?

THYESTES
:                                          All kinds of harm.

Why should my fear have limits, when his power

Is boundless as his hate?

TANTALUS
:                      How can he hurt you?

THYESTES
: I know – not for myself, for you, my sons,

I know that I must fear the power of Atreus.

TANTALUS
: You fear some trap, in spite of all your caution?

THYESTES
: Caution is late, when you are in the trap.

Let us go on, then. But – your father speaks –

Remember this: 'tis you that lead, I follow.

TANTALUS
: God will look kindly on your good intentions.

Go boldly on.

     [
Enter Atreus, aside
]

ATREUS
: The net is spread, the game is in the trap.

I see my brother, with his hateful sons

Close by his side. Vengeance is now assured.

I have Thyestes in my hands at last,

Himself and all he has.
¹
I am impatient,

And find it difficult to curb my wrath.

Thus does a keen-nosed Umbrian hunting-dog

In quest of game, while held in leash, silent

Follow the trail, nose to the ground, obedient

While still the scent is weak, the quarry distant;

But at close quarters with his prey, he'll fight

With every muscle of his neck, protesting

Against restraint, and strive to slip the leash;

And when he sniffs the scent of blood, his rage

Is almost uncontrollable, but still

Must be controlled.… Look at him, how his hair

Hangs all unkempt over his ruined face;

His chin unshaved. But we must offer him

A reassuring welcome.…

                                        Welcome, brother!

How glad I am to see you! Let me feel

That long-desired embrace.… Let us forget

The anger that has parted us; henceforth

Let love and kinship ever be our law,

All enmity condemned and put away.

THYESTES
: I could plead innocent; but as you come

In this kind mood, I cannot but confess,

Freely confess, my brother, I am guilty

Of all you have believed of me. This love

Has robbed me of my plea. Only to seem

Guilty in a devoted brother's eyes

Is guilt enough. I can but plead with tears –

Though no man ever saw me plead before –

And with these hands, that have touched no man's feet.

Be all your anger set aside, your heart

Eased of the tumult of your indignation.

For the assurance of my trust, brother,

My innocent sons shall be your hostages.

ATREUS
: Touch not my knees, but come into my arms.

And you three lads, an old man's sentinels,

Embrace me too. Take off that ragged garment,

Brother, its sight offends me, and be dressed

In robes like mine; accept with a good will

Your part and share of our fraternal kingdom.

It cannot but be counted to my credit

That I admit my brother, safe returned,

To the enjoyment of his royal birthright.

To own a kingdom is a man's good fortune;

To give one is an act of charity.

THYESTES
: And may the gods, my brother, so reward you

As your good deed deserves. As for the crown,

That mark of royalty would scarce become

This ruined head; this sorely troubled hand

Can never hold a sceptre. Let me live

Unseen, among the humblest of your subjects.

ATREUS
: This realm is wide enough to hold two kings.

THYESTES
: I know that what is yours is mine, my brother.

ATREUS
: What man would spurn abundant fortune's gifts?

THYESTES
: The man who knows how fast abundance ebbs.

ATREUS
: May I not have this honour that I seek?

THYESTES
: Your honour is assured; but what of mine?

I am determined to refuse the crown.

ATREUS
: If you refuse your share, I give up mine.

THYBSTES
: Well… I accept the title thrust upon me,

But on condition all my arms, my powers,

And I, shall be devoted to your service.

ATREUS
: Come then, and let your venerable head

Suffer the yoke that I shall put upon it.

Then I shall offer to the gods above

The sacrifice I have prepared for them.

Would any man believe it possible?

Atreus, that hard, that bitter man, that man of unrepentant cruelty,

Stands checked, awed into impotence, before his brother.

Truly there is no greater power on earth

Than natural affection.

Strife between strangers may go on for ever,

But where it has bound once

The chain of love will always bind again.

Peace had been broken by a storm of strife

For causes not to be despised.

The call to arms was heard,

The tramp of horsemen and the clink of harness,

Bright steel flashed to and fro at the command

Of Mars the God of Battle, armed and angry

And thirsting for fresh blood.

Yet now

Love has conquered the sword,

Bound the contesting hands,

And brought the combatants, despite themselves,

To reconciliation.

Which of the gods has given us this peace

So soon, after such bitter strife?

Loud was the noise of civil war, but yesterday,

Throughout Mycenae. Mothers stood pale with terror

Clutching their infants; wives watched fearfully

While husbands armed, grasping reluctantly

The long-forgotten sword, now dulled

With the rust of peaceful days.

Then there were crumbling walls to be repaired,

Towers, weakening with age, to be restored,

Gates to be hurriedly locked with iron bolts;

While on the battlements the anxious guard

Watched for the night's alarms.

Worse than war is the fearful waiting for war.

Now, stilled is the threat of the killer's sword;

Now, silent the trumpet's thrilling call,

Silent the bugle's piercing note. Deep peace

Comes back to the city, and all is joy again.

So, when the north gales fall upon the Bruttian sea

And breakers roll in from the deep, the caves of Scylla

Echo their pounding beat, and sailors yet ashore

Tremble to see the swirling waters which Charybdis

Greedily swallows down and vomits up again.

Fear grips the brutish Cyclops sitting in the depths

Of Etna's burning crater: will his father soon

Put out with his cascade the everlasting fires

That feed the furnaces of their unresting forge?

Ithaca shakes, and the ill-used Laertes

Expects to see his little kingdom drowned.

But when the winds lay by their force,

The sea lies calmer than a lake,

The ships that feared to cross the deep

Spread their bright sails on every side,

Boats dance upon a level floor

So clear, the eye can count the fishes

Swimming beneath the waters, where

Lately the fury of the gale

Had lashed the waves, and Cyclad islands

Trembled beneath their shock.

No state of life endures; pleasure and pain

Take each their turn; and pleasure's turn is shorter.

Time swiftly changes highest into lowest.

That king – who can give crowns away;

Before whose feet nations have bowed