| |
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 | 5 |
| 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 | 10 |
| 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 | 15 |
| 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 | 20 |
| 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, | 25 |
| 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 | 30 |
| And quietude of sleep! | |
| |
| Set all thy silent sentinels | |
| To bar and guard the Ivory Gate, | |
| And keep the evil dreams of fate | |
| And falsehood and infernal hate | 35 |
| 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 | 40 |
| 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, | 45 |
| 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; | 50 |
| O son of Erebus | |
| And Night, behold! we thus | |
| Elude your watchful warders on the towers! | |
| |
| From gloomy Tartarus | |
| The Fates have summoned us | 55 |
| 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, | 60 |
| The Gods themselves inspire, | |
| To vex mankind with evils manifold, | |
| So that disease and pain | |
| O’er the whole earth may reign, | |
| And nevermore return the Age of Gold. | 65 |
| |
PANDORA (waking). A voice said in my sleep: “Do not delay: | |
| Do not delay; the golden moments fly! | |
| The oracle hath forbidden; yet not thee | |
| Doth it forbid, but Epimetheus only!” | |
| I am alone. These faces in the mirrors | 70 |
| Are but the shadows and phantoms of myself; | |
| They cannot help nor hinder. No one sees me, | |
| Save the all-seeing Gods, who, knowing good | |
| And knowing evil, have created me | |
| Such as I am, and filled me with desire | 75 |
| Of knowing good and evil like themselves. She approaches the chest. | |
| I hesitate no longer. Weal or woe, | |
| Or life or death, the moment shall decide. She lifts the lid. A dense mist rises from the chest, and fills the room. PANDORA falls senseless on the floor. Storm without. | |
| |
CHORUS OF DREAMS FROM THE GATE OF HORN. Yes, the moment shall decide! | |
| It already hath decided; | 80 |
| And the secret once confided | |
| To the keeping of the Titan | |
| Now is flying far and wide, | |
| Whispered, told on every side, | |
| To disquiet and to frighten. | 85 |
| |
| Fever of the heart and brain, | |
| Sorrow, pestilence, and pain, | |
| Moans of anguish, maniac laughter, | |
| All the evils that hereafter | |
| Shall afflict and vex mankind, | 90 |
| All into the air have risen | |
| From the chambers of their prison; | |
| Only Hope remains behind. | |
| |
