Works of Annie Fields TRANSLATIONS FROM THE GERMAN OF GOETHE.
By Annie FieldsTRANSLATIONS
THERE where the roses now bloom, where vines round the laurel are twining;
Here where the. turtle-doves coo, where the blithe cricket is heard, --
Who lieth here! Whose grave is thus lovely with life and adornment?
Beautiful gift of the gods! Here doth Anacreon sleep.
Spring and summer and harvest brought joy to the glad-hearted poet;
Safe from the winter and snow under this hillock he lies.
OFTEN in the winter midnight
Called I on the gentle Muses:
"Though there be no morning roses,
And no light of day appear,
Bring me when the hour cometh,
Bring the lamp that softly shining,
Failing Phœbus and Aurora,
May arouse to quiet labor!"
Yet they left me to my dreaming,
Suffered me to sleep unquickened,
Every sluggish morning followed
By a day thus rendered useless.But as soon as spring-time opened,
To the nightingales thus said I:
"Dearest nightingales, complain ye
Early, early at my window,
Wake me from the heavy slumber
Holding, binding, youth so strongly!"
But the singers, full of loving,
Lingered all night round my window,
Chanting sweetest melodies, --
Held awake the soul within me,
Stirred my new and tender longings
In my freshly-quickened bosom.
Thus I passed the night in listening,
And Aurora found me sleeping, --
Yes, the sunshine scarcely waked me.Now at last is come the summer,
And the earliest glint of morning
Brings the busy fly whose buzzing
Rouses me from pleasant dreaming.
Often as I half awaken,
Brushing her away impatient,
She returns and mercilessly
Lures her unashamèd sisters;
Driving from my very eyelids
All my quiet pleasant slumber.
Quickly spring I from my pillow,
Seek for the belovèd Muses,
Find them underneath the beeches,
Where they joyfully receive me;
And the troublous little insects
Thank I, many a golden hour.
Be ye then, ye small discomforts,
Highly by the poet praisèd
As true servants of Apollo.
THE nightingale has gone away,
She will follow back the spring;
She has learned nothing new, they say,
But the old songs she will sing.
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
PROMETHEUS }.. Sons of Iapetus.
EPIMETHEUSPHILEROS.. Son of Prometheus
ELPORE }.. Daughters of Epimetheus.
[1] EPIMELEIA
[1. Fields apparently intended a note on Epimelia, but there is none in the text.]EOS.
PANDORA... Wife of Epimetheus.
DEMONS.
HELIOS.
SMITHS.
SHEPHERDS.
FIELD-LABORERS.
A WARRIOR.
ARTIFICERS.
A VINTNER.
A FISHERMAN.
EXCUSE, the offspring of AFTERTHOUGHT.
The Scene arranged according to the grand style of' Poussin.
PROMETHEUS' SIDE.
ON the left of the beholder rock and mountain, on the huge banks and masses of which natural and artificial caves are built up, near and over one another, connected by manifold paths and steps. A few of these caves arc closed at the entrance by pieces of rock, others have doors and bars, all rough and rude. Here and there something is seen built with regularity, especially the underpinnings, aiming at an artistic arrangement of the masses, and signifying already wore convenient dwellings, though devoid of symmetry. Climbing plants hang over, a few bushes appear here and there on the steeps; higher up they become thicker, and end at length in a vast wood which crowns the summit.
EPIMETHEUS' SIDE.
OPPOSITE, on the right, a building of wood, severe in style, of the most ancient form of art and construction, with pillars of the trunks of trees, the beams and sills rudely squared off. In the entrance hall a couch with skins and covers. Near the chief building, toward the background, similar small dwellings, with many arrangements of dry walls, planks, and fences which hedge about the different possessions; behind them the tops of fruit-trees may be seen, signs of well-kept gardens. Scattered around many buildings of the same kind.
In the background, various fields, hills, bushes, and groves; a river, with cascades and windings, flows down into a bay, which in the foreground is surrounded by steep rocks.
The horizon line of the sea, broken by islands, completes the whole.
PANDORA.
ACT I.
NIGHT.
EPIMETHEUS.
(Stepping forward from the middle of the landscape.)CHILDHOOD and days of youth I call ye but too sweet!
When, after turbulence and hours of ceaseless joy,
Swift-footed Sleep may grasp and hold ye strong embraced,
While wiping out each line the mighty now hath traced,
The past and future mingle, clad in shapes of air.
Such comfort now is far from me, from one grown old:
No longer day and night divide themselves for me,
The ancient burden still I bear of mine own name;
For Epimetheus was that my parents chose,
The past recalling thus, the deeds of rashness done,
Returning thus, in difficult play of the thought,
To haunted realms where dwell the ghosts of what might be.
So bitter was the task that weighed upon my youth,
Impatient I plunged on, seizing what life could give,
And thoughtless caught what came, grasping the present gift,
And found new cares therein with a new weight of pain.
Thus fleddest thou away, thou mighty time of youth,
Forever changing, yet consoling in thy change,
From fullness unto need, from gladness unto grief.
Despair before the wondrous forms of fancy fled;
I slept a dreamless sleep after both sun and storm.
Now do I wander in the night wakeful, and glide around,
And weep the fleeting bliss granted to mine who sleep;
I fear for them the crowing cock and morning-star
Too swift in shining. Better were it always night!
Though Helios mightily shake his glowing locks
He cannot fill with light the pathways of mankind.But what is this I hear? My brother's creaking door
Thus early open! Wakes he so soon the doer?
Impatient for his task does he already light
Again the hollow hearth with work-inciting flame,
And call the sooty crowd to share that happiness
The powerful must feel who beat and mould the brass?Not so! A light swift footstep turning hither comes,
In joyous measure timed to heart-uplifting song.PHILEROS.
(Approaching from the side of Prometheus.)To the air! To the fresh blowing air, let me go!
The four walls oppress me! The house is my foe!
For how can the skins of my couch give me pleasure?
Or rock me, a fire, to dream on earth's treasure?
Neither silence nor rest
Has the lover unblest.
What helps it though lowly his head may be lying,
And tired, his limbs are stretched out like one dying;
His heart is awake, it is eager and bright,
It lives a live day in the dark of the night.The planets look down with their tremulous glow,
And rejoice in the joy of a love that they know.
To seek for and follow the blossoming way
Where lately she sang and her feet loved to stray;
Where she stood, where she sat, where the blue-arching weather
Of the vast fragrant heaven enshrined us together;
And around us and toward us the flowers of the earth
Came nodding, possessed with the joy of new birth.
There yonder, O balm!
Is the silence, the calm!EPIMETHEUS.
What mighty hymn comes sounding through the night to me!PHILEROS.
Whom do I meet so soon, who wakens thus so early?EPIMETHEUS.
Say, Phileros, is 't thou? I seem to hear thy voice.PHILEROS.
Uncle, 't is I! But stay me not, I pray of thee.EPIMETHEUS.
But whither dost thou go? Thou early rising youth.PHILEROS.
Upon a path it suiteth not for age to tread.EPIMETHEUS.
To guess the ways of youth is never difficult.PHILEROS.
Then let me but proceed, and ask me nothing more.EPIMETHEUS.
Confide in me! The lover sometimes counsel needs.PHILEROS.
He stays no counsel, nor finds room for confidence.EPIMETHEUS.
Yet tell me but the name of her who is thy joy.PHILEROS.
Her name and parentage are both concealed from me.EPIMETHEUS.
Even this will bring thee woe, to injure one unknown.PHILEROS.
My happy pathway darken not, O thou good man.EPIMETHEUS.
I fear me much thy feet are hastening to grief.PHILEROS.
Phileros, go on to the blossoming Garden!
Where fullness of love shall be thy rich guerdon;
If Eos, the shy one, with color divine,
Makes the curtain to blush that veils the pure shrine,
Behind her own curtain my darling now waits
With yet ruddier color, --- toward Helios' gates
Stands gazing for me over garden and field,
And longing for what the future may yield.
Thou yearnest for me,
As I strive after thee.EPIMETHEUS (turns to the right of the beholder.)
O happy one, go on! Thou blest one, thither go!
If only this brief journey were a joy to thee
Thou wert a source of envy. Shall the hour of bliss
Not also strike for thee? Though swiftly it must pass.
So was it once with me, so joyful leaped my heart,
When first Pandora hither from Olympus came!
Beautiful and all gifted, loftily she moved,
Sublime to those who gazed, asking with her sweet face
If I should turn her off as my stern brother did.
Already was my bosom deeply stirred by her;
My lovely bride I took with senses all enslaved.
Her dowry, also, mystery-laden, I took home
In earthen vase enclosed, of stateliest design.
It stood unopened there. The fair one kindly brought
It me, and broke the heaven-made seal, and raised the lid,
When lo! a little smoke close shut therein arose,
As incense should arise to bear the Muse's praise,
And gayly shone one starry gleam from out the mist,
And then another: quickly others followed these.
Then I looked up and saw, there floating on the cloud,
Delightful phantasms, godlike figures, crowding thick.
Pandora showed them me, and named the floating forms.
"Yonder," she said, "thou seest where happy Love shines high!"
I cried, "There floats it! How! Have we it not with us!"
"And yonder, Luxury," again she said, "I see,
Whose wind-swept garment floats wave-like after her feet.
Still loftier there stands, with earnest lordly look,
A powerful figure pressing forever onward.
And opposite, one friendly, seeking favor, sweet,
Compelling, full of eagerness, and pleased with self,
A pretty face, endeavoring to catch thine eye.
Still others, mingling melt, and each in each dissolve;
As waves the smoke, they wave, obedient to the air,
Yet each desires to bring a pleasure for thy days."
Then cried I: "All in vain the starry host may shine;
In vain deceits mist-painted, worthy of desire!
Pandora, thou, the only, wilt deceive me not:
I ask no other joy, whether of real life,
Or fancy-painted; only stay thou ever mine!"
Meanwhile the new-formed choir of men drew near to us,
The neophytes now first gathered for our fête;
They gazed in joy upon the shining forms of air,
And snatched and strove to seize; but these again more swift
In motion, could not yield to earthly outstretched hands,
But floating, sometimes up, and sometimes downward sunk,
Continually deceived the crowd that followed them.
While I with trustfulness and speed approached my wife,
And made mine own that form of bliss the gods had sent,
Drawn close by these strong arms to my o'erflowing breast.
The blessedness of love in that one moment felt,
Immortal made the lovely fable of this life.(He goes to the couch in the hall and places himself upon it.)
Yonder wreath by godlike fingers
Pressed upon Pandora's ringlets,
As her forehead it o'ershadowed,
Lustre of her eyes subduing,
Floats before my soul and senses,
Floats as she herself, long-vanished,
Starry vision, over me.No more holds the wreath together;
Torn and scattered and dispelled,
Over all the greening meadows
Richly are its gifts dispersed.(Drowsily.)
O how gladly would I bind thee
Once again, thou lovely garland!
In a garland, in a posy,
Bind thy gifts, O Flora-Cypris!
Now no longer wreath or posy
Stay for me; they fall apart.
Singly dropping flower by flower,
Through the green of field and meadow;
Plucking go I, and go losing
All the plucked, how quickly vanished!
Roses, do I glean your beauty,
Whither, lilies, are ye gone![He sleeps.
PROMETHEUS.
(A torch in his hand.)Thou flaming torch more early than the morning-star,
Aloft the father's hand, a herald, hath thee swung
Of day before the day! God-like we honor thee!
For every industry most worthy of a man
Is born of morning's prime; thus only day affords
Content and growth and full delight of tired hours.
The evening ashes' holy treasure therefore now
Do I unveil and waken to a fresher glow,
Illuminating thus my strong work-loving men.
Thus, brass-subduers, do I call on ye aloud.
Your right arms lightly lift, swaying and keeping time
In one vast hammer-chorus, ringing loud and swift,
And from the molten store abundance take for use.(Many caves open, many fires begin to burn.)
SMITHS.
Now kindle the fire!
No power is higher.
He braved the gods' ire
Who snatched it and fled.
He who first kindled it,
He was allied to it,
Rounded and formed with it
Crowns for the head.Water that only flows,
Guided as Nature knows,
From the rocks through the meadows;
Wherever it goes,
Follow cattle and men.
Fishes are swarming there,
Birds are reflected there,
Theirs is the flood;
Water unstable,
Now sunny, now sable,
If one who knoweth her
Sometimes controlleth her,
That find we good.Thou, earth, who standest fast,
Though into torture cast,
Men hack thee and pain thee!
For gain do they rend thee!
And for their pride.
Slaves to their sweaty doom,
All scarred and seamed they roam,
Rending thy fair sweet home
And where no flowerets bloom
Thee do they chide.Stream ye, O air and light,
Far from my eager sight!
Keep ye no fire bright,
Worth ye have none.
When round the hearth ye play,
We bid ye welcome stay;
Your place is won.
Being in ye may not out,
Dance ye the flames about,
Till all is done.Quick to the labor fly!
Now flames the fire high,
Now beats against the sky;
Calm stands the father by
Who snatched it and fled.
He who first kindled it,
He was allied to it,
Rounded and formed with it,
Crowns for the head.PROMETHEUS.
The active man finds comfort in his favorite view!
And thus it pleases me to hear the praise of fire
Before all elements, ignoring others' worth.
Ye who now look within, and see the anvil work,
And mould the hard brass, even as the mind suggests,
Thus do I rescue ye from mine own ruined race, --
From those who reach for shapes of mist with drunken eyes
And open arms, striving to grasp and to attain
What may not be attained; or, what if it were reached
Were neither use nor joy; but ye are useful ones.
Unyielding mountains may not stand against your power,
The brazen hills must fall beneath your levers' might,
And molten, quickly fly into a tool transformed,
A double hand; a hundred fold increasing strength.
The swinging hammers weld, the dextrous tongs hold fast;
Thus single force and powers combined shall still advance
By aid of industry and wisdom, without end.
What might can work and subtlety suggest may be
Brought onward farther to perfection by your skill;
Alert and conscious, therefore, keep to daily work.
The crowds of your posterity even now approach,
Desiring the complete and worshipping the rare.SHEPHERDS.
Climb up the mountain height,
Follow the streamlet bright,
Where the rough steep doth bloom,
Where the spring flowers find room,
There drive your flock.Everywhere let them browse
Clover or dewy boughs,
Wandering after sweetest food,
Tripping, dumb and joyous brood,
Where it pleaseth them.FIRST SHEPHERD (to the Smiths).
O, mighty brothers, see
We need your aid!
We ask a knife of ye,
Sharpest is made!
Syrinx must sorrow!
Reeds we must borrow!
Give us the best there is!
Good make the steel!
Our joy and praise for this
Your heart shall feel.SECOND SHEPHERD (to the Smiths).
Thou hast for weaklings
Tenderly cared,
Hast done even more than that -
With them hast shared.
Give us thy brazen craft,
Steel broad and keen,
Turning our shepherd's crook
Into a foeman's shaft.Then we may meet the wolf,
Or man, unfriendly;
For even the friendly
Like not to have
Their rights interfered with:
Both feeble and brave
Contests must see;
He who no soldier is,
He shall no shepherd be.THIRD SHEPHERD (to the Smiths).
Who would a shepherd be
Long hours are his,
Many stars he may see,
The leaf his whistle is.
The tree may give us leaves,
The moor may give us reeds,
But come, thou artist smith,
Thou canst serve our needs!
Give us the iron reeds,
Pointed for the lips,
Slender as leafy tips!
Louder than singing words
Rings it afar;
Maidens who listening are
Hear the sweet chords.[The shepherds divide, with music and song, in the landscape.
PROMETHEUS.
Though ye may wander peaceful, peace ye may not find;
One fate were then decreed, alike for man and beast;
A better lot I pictured for the race of men,
That one against the other, singly or combined,
Should stand opposed, and, hating each, should each compel
To manifest himself the one superior.
Take courage, therefore. Children of one father ye!
Who stands, or falls, can be to him but little care.
A race remains to him, increasing still in power,
Which ever plots and plans to spread itself abroad;
Too crowded is the growth, and far too thickly pressed.
Now do they draw apart and master all the world.
How blessed is the moment of the wild farewell!Ye smiths and friends! Now only arms make ye for me;
To-day let go the wants that thoughtful ploughmen feel,
Or what from ye the fisher-people may demand.
Make only weapons! Then ye have accomplished all,
And for your hardiest sons full satisfaction heaped.
But first, to ye who painful strive through hours of dark,
A festival of rest! For he who nightly works
He shall enjoy when others early go to toil.(Approaches the sleeping Epimetheus.)
But thou, my sole twin-brother, dost thou rest thee here?
Night wanderer weighed down by care and bitter thought!
I pity thee, and yet I praise thy destiny.
Endurance is our lot! laboring or suffering.SMITHS.
He who first kindled it,
He was allied to it,
Rounded and formed with it
Crowns for the head.[They disappear in the caves, which close behind them.
EPIMETHEUS.
(Sleeping in the open hall.)ELPORE.
(The morning-star upon her head, in airy raiment, rises behind the hill.)EPIMETHEUS (dreaming).
I see the constellations coming thick!
One star shines brightly out above the rest!
What rises there so swift behind the star?
What lovely crownèd head doth it illume?
Not all unknown I see her moving on,
The slender, delicate, and gracious form.
Is 't thou, Elpore?ELPORE (from afar).
Dear father, yes.
To cool thy brow I hither breathe to thee.EPIMETHEUS.
Step this way, come.ELPORE
'T is now allowed to me.EPIMETHEUS.
A little nearer!ELPORE (approaching).
So then?
EPIMETHEUS.
Yes! still nearer.
ELPORE (very close).
Thus?
EPIMETHEUS.
No longer do I know thee!ELPORE
So I thought (drawing away)! But now?EPIMETHEUS.
Yes! 'T is thou, belovèd maiden,
Whom thy departing another tore from me.
Where dost thou stay? Come here to thy old father.ELPORE (stepping nearer).
I come, my father, yet it serves for nought.EPIMETHEUS.
What lovely child is this so near to me?ELPORE.
She whom thou know'st and know'st not is thy daughter.EPIMETHEUS.
Then come into my arms!ELPORE.
You cannot hold me.EPIMETHEUS.
Then kiss me.ELPORE (at his head).
I kiss thy brow
With gentle lips (departing). Now am I gone.EPIMETHEUS.
Whither! Whither!ELPORE.
I go to look for lovers.EPIMETHEUS.
Wherefore to seek them? They can need thee not.ELPORE.
Ah yes! They need me, no one needs me more.
EPIMETHEUS.
Then promise me!
ELPORE.
What shall I promise? What?EPIMETHEUS.
The joy of love, -- returning of Pandora.ELPORE.
The impossible it suits me well to promise.EPIMETHEUS.
And will she come again?ELPORE
Yes! Truly, yes!(To the beholders.)
Ye good people! Such a gentle,
Sympathetic heart the gods have
Placed within my youthful bosom,
What ye will and what ye long for
Never can I quite deny ye,
And from me, good-hearted maiden,
Ye shall only hear a "Yes."Ah! Behold the other demons
Disobliging and unkindly,
Shrieking ever, interrupting,
Malice-born, a bitter "No."Yet the morning breezes' sighing
Do I hear, and the cock crowing!
I, the child of morn, must hasten, --
Hasten to the waking ones.Yet how can I thus forsake ye!
Do ye wait for something tender?
For a sweet assenting word?Hear the storming! Hear the raging!
Are the waves of morning roaring?
Do the feet of Helios' horses
Stamp behind the golden portals?No! The murmuring waves of being,
Rushing of ungoverned wishes,
From the depth of hearts o'erfreighted, --
These come surging up to me.Ah! What will ye from the maiden?
Ye, unresting ye the striving!
Riches will ye, power and honor,
Gold and grandeur? These, the maiden,
Gifts like these she cannot give ye, --
All her gifts and all her accents,
Every one is maidenly.Would ye power? The powerful have it.
Would ye riches? Grasp and hold them!
Splendor? Deck ye! Influence? Cringe, then!
Hope ye not to have such bounties:
Who desires them, let him seize them!All is still! Yet hear I clearly,
While I bend mine ear, a sighing,
Whispering, -- yes, a lisping, sighing, --
O it is the voice of Love!Turn thyself to me, belovèd!
See in me the sweet, the true one,
Of thine own belovèd the vision!Speak as thou to her hadst spoken
If she stood before thee smiling,
And those lips which have been silent
Might and would confess to thee."Will she love, then?" Ah, yes! "Me?" Yes!
"Will be mine?" Yes. "Constant? say!" Yes!
"Shall we come once more together?"
Ah, yes! "Bind our troth together?"
"Not to part?" Yes, truly yes!(She veils herself and fades away while she repeats)
Truly, yes!EPIMETHEUS.
How sweet, O lovely dream-world! But thou fad'st away!(The piercing shrieks of a woman come from the garden.)
EPIMETHEUS (springing up).
How fearful falls the voice of pain when one first wakes.(Repeated shrieks.)
A woman shrieking! flying! nearer! nearer still!
EPIMELEIA (inside the garden, close by the hedge).
Ai! Ai! Woe, woe to me! Woe! Ai! Ai! Woe to me!EPIMETHEUS.
Epimeleia's voice: she is close behind the hedge.EPIMELEIA (hastily leaping over).
Woe! Murder and death! Ai! Woe to the murderer!PHILEROS (springing after). In vain! Already do I seize thy braided hair.
EPIMELEIA.
Upon my neck, alas! the murderer's breath I feel.PHILEROS.
Feel rather at thy neck, traitress, the axe's edge!EPIMETHEUS.
Off! Daughter, thee I free, if guilty or guiltless.EPIMELEIA (sinking down at the left side).
O father! Like a god a father is to us!EPIMETHEUS.
Who so audacious from this precinct drives thee?PHILEROS (at the right of Epimetheus).
Protect ye not a shameless woman's cursèd head.EPIMETHEUS (protecting her with his mantle).
I save her, murderer, from thee and every one.PHILEROS (going round to the left of Epimetheus).
But I will strike her even under thy mantle's night.EPIMELIA (turning and throwing herself on the right of her father).
O father! I am lost! Save me from violence!PHILEROS (behind Epimetheus, turning to the right).
The knife may miss, perchance, yet missing it shall strike.(He wounds Epimeleia in the neck.)
EPIMELEIA.
Ai! Ai! Woe is me!EPIMETHEUS (averting the blows).
Woe to us! Violence!PHILEROS.
But scratched! soon wider doors I'll open for thy soul!EPIMELEIA.
O misery! misery!EPIMETHEUS (defending her).
Help! Woe to us! Woe!PROMETHEUS (coming quickly forward).
What cry of murder do I hear in this still place?EPIMETHEUS.
Help, brother! Hasten to us with thy mighty arm.EPIMELEIA.
Quicken thy hurrying steps! Hasten, deliverer! here!PHILEROS.
Finish, O hand! and let deliverance lag behind.PROMETHEUS (stepping between them).
Go back, thou wretched man! Thou foolish raver, back!
Is it thou, Phileros? Madman, I hold thee fast.[He seizes him.
PHILEROS.
My father, let me go! Thy presence I respect.PROMETHEUS.
The father's absence also honors the good son.
I hold thee now! -- here in the grasp of my strong fist, --
That ye may learn how crime first seizes upon men,
And wise power holds at once the evil doer fast.
To murder here! the unarmed! Go hence to rob and fight
Whither unrule is rule! For where the law yet reigns,
Where parents' will itself is law, there thou art naught.
Hast thou not seen these chains, these mighty brazen chains?
From metal forged for the twin horns of the wild bull?
Yet for the unrestrained of human-kind more fit!
Thy limbs shall be weighed down by them; a clanking noise
Shall mark thy footsteps wheresoever thou shalt go.
And yet what need of chains? Thou art convicted now,
Condemned! Go yonder, seek and find the craggy rocks
Far over sea and land where justly we fling down
The madman, who like beast or like blind element
Reckless and headlong drives to perish in the void.
(He sets him free.)
But now I loose my grasp! Out with thee, get thee hence!
Repent thou mayst, or be thyself thy punishment.PHILEROS.
Thus thinkest thou, father, thy duty is done
If the course of inflexible justice be run?
And countest thou nothing the infinite power
Which brought me, once happy, to this wretched hour?
What lies on the ground in this bloody distress?
'T is my lady, 't is she I obeyed, I confess.
These hands that now struggle, these arms now fear-shaken,
These arms and these hands are the same love hath taken.
Why shudder, ye lips? Why complainest, thou, breast?
Ye are signals unspoken of treacherous quest.
Treacherous, yes! What she sacredly gave,
She granted a second, a third might yet have.
Now tell me, O father, who gave at her birth
This one fearful perfected power to earth?
And who brought her hither, by what hidden way
Came she from Olympus, or Hades, astray?
Far sooner from destiny's hand mayst thou fly
Than escape the devouring glance of her eye;
Far sooner the fates' unavoidable snare
Than the entangling meshes of that flowing hair;
Far sooner Sahara's bewildering stress
Than the restless environing waves of her dress.
(Epimetheus has raised Epimeleia and brought her round consolingly in such manner that her posture suits the words of Phileros.)Can this be Pandora? Her thou hast seen once,
The undoing of fathers, the woe of the sons;
Hephaistos adorned her with splendors untold,
Therein the gods ruin enwove with each fold.
How bright shone the vase! O how fairly 't was wrought!
Wherefrom heaven poured the bewildering draught.
What hides in this coyness? The boldness of wrong;
Unfaith here lies hid beneath laughter and song;
The light of her face, mock and jesting are found:
Under breasts of a goddess the heart of a hound.O tell me I lie! Only say she is pure!
More welcome unreason than reason made sure.
From unreason to reason how joyous the way,
From reason to unreason! what grief, what dismay!
Now is your stern command the breath of my breath;
I fly to fulfill it, I seek but for death;
Deep down to her life she sucked my life in,
There now remains nothing to lose or to win.[Goes.
PROMETHEUS (to Epimeleia).
Art thou ashamed! dost thou confess the charge he makes?EPIMETHEUS
Perplexed indeed am I by what has happened now.EPIMELEIA (stepping between the two).
Undisturbed, as one, together wandering;
Circling planets shine on us below them;
Moonlight touches all the peaks above us;
In the foliage stir the little breezes,
To the breezes whispers Philomela,
Breathes the gladness of her youthful bosom,
Wakened fresh from happy dreams of springtime.
Why, ye gods, O why is all unending
Save our happiness, all, all, unending!
Light of stars, the moon with her soft shimmer,
Cooling shadows, water's fall and murmur,
All unending, save alone our gladness.Hear how sweet! Upon a folded leaflet
Placed between his lips the shepherd whistles;
Cheerful prelude of the midday cricket
Early spreading wide throughout the meadows.
Yet is music of the chorded lyre
Different to the heart: to that we listen,
Saying, who wanders thitherward so early?
Who to golden strings can sing so ably?
Thus the maiden questions, now she opens
Quick the shutter, listens at the casement,
And the youth marks; there is some one stirring!
Who? He longs to know and lingers spying;
So both linger spring at each other;
Each the other sees in twilight glimmer.
What is seen they think enough is known of,
What they know, of that they wish possession.
Longing fills their heart, their arms outstretching
Soon embrace; it is a holy compact;
Hearts are glad in light of this fulfilling.Why, ye gods, ah why is all unending
All unchanging, save alone our gladness!
Light of stars, and love's dear affirmation;
Gleam of moon, and love's complete confiding;
Depth of shade, and love's inviolate longing, --
All unending, only ends our gladness.Leave my bleeding wound! O leave it, father!
Slowly the thickening stream will stay itself;
Let alone, the wound will soon be healing;
But the heart's blood stagnant in the bosom,
Will that current ever be set flowing?
Stricken heart, wilt thou renew thy beating?He is fled! Thy sternness drove him from us.
Ah! I could not stay him, the rejected,
While he raved at me and cursed blaspheming.
Welcome now, despite his rage and cursing;
For he loved me even while he scorned me;
I was sweet to him even while he cursed me:
Why did he mistake thus his belovèd?
Will he live that he may come to know her?Left unlatched for him the garden wicket,
I confess; for why should I deny it?
Trouble conquers shame. A shepherd, straying,
Pushed the gate and opened it exploring;
Bold and stealthy, soon the garden found he
Where I waited; there he seized upon me;
In an instant found himself was captured
By one closely following. This one left me,
Turned and fled, though he was followed swiftly
After, whether slain or not, what know I?
Phileros then chased me, pouring curses
On my footsteps; I sprang flying
Through the bush and blossoms till the hedgerow
Stopped me; then, fear-winged, I leaped me over
Into the open country: quickly also
Leaped he over; all the rest ye know of.Dearest father! Has Epimeleia
Suffered for thee many days of trouble,
Sadly now she beareth her own sorrow,
And remorse comes dogging sorrow's footsteps.
Still my cheeks may blush from Eos' kisses,
But no more from his! and Helios lighten
Pleasant paths he never more play visit.
Let me go, O fathers, and be hidden;
Scorn me not forlorn, nor still my weeping;
Ah, what sadness! Ah, what grief unending!
Losing of a love so wholly granted!PROMETHEUS.
Who is this child divine, wearing this noble form?
Like to Pandora, though she more caressing seems
And lovelier; HER beauty almost terrified.EPIMETHEUS.
Pandora's daughter proudly do I claim for mine.
Epimeleia did we name the thoughtful child.PROMETHEUS.
Why didst thou hide from me thy bliss of fatherhood?EPIMETHEUS.
Estranged was I from thee, O thou most excellent!PROMETHEUS.
Because of her whom I did not receive with love.EPIMETHEUS.
Her whom you sent away, and whom my heart took home.PROMETHEUS.
Didst thou give refuge, then, unto the dangerous one?EPIMETHEUS.
The heavenly one! avoiding brothers' bitter feud.PROMETHEUS.
How long remained the fickle one true unto thee?EPIMETHEUS.
Her image still is true: it stands forever near.PROMETHEUS.
And in her daughter's presence tortures thee afresh.EPIMETHEUS.
Even grief itself for such a treasure is delight.PROMETHEUS.
The hands of man can treasures daily find for him.EPIMETHEUS.
Unworthy they, if he find not the highest good.PROMETHEUS.
The highest good! methinks all good to me is like.EPIMETHEUS.
Ah, no! one passes all, and this one I have had!PROMETHEUS.
I seem to guess the path by which thou goest astray.EPIMETHEUS.
I do not go astray; the right path beauty takes.PROMETHEUS.
In form of woman all too lightly she misleads.EPIMETHEUS.
Thou formest women which in no way can mislead.PROMETHEUS.
Yet are they shaped of finest clay, even the most rude.EPIMETHEUS.
Foredestined by the man to serve him as his slave.PROMETHEUS.
Then be a servant, thou, who scorn'st the faithful maid.EPIMETHEUS.
I cease to answer thee; what on my heart and sense
Is graven, in the silence gladly I rehearse.
O, memory! what god-like power indeed is thine
Again dost thou restore her young and noble form.PROMETHEUS.
I, too, recall her lofty form from out the past;
Hephaistos himself could not succeed thus, twice.EPIMETHEUS.
But why must thou rehearse this fable of her birth?
From out the god-like old Titanic race she sprang;
Urania's child, sister of Here and of Zeus.PROMETHEUS.
Yet thoughtfully Hephaistos her grace adorned;
A golden head-net first he wove with skillful hand,
The finest threads enwrought in various colors knit.EPIMETHEUS.
This sacred confine could not hold her flowing hair,
That brawn, abounding, and defiant wealth of lair;
One flaming lock rose shining from above her brow.
PROMETHEUS.
And therefore did he wind about it well-wrought chains.EPIMETHEUS.
She wove that wondrous hair herself in shining braids,
which, serpent like, unbound, down to her ankles fell.PROMETHEUS.
Her diadem no rival lead save Aphrodite's!
Like fire, beyond all words to tell, it strangely shone.EPIMETHEUS.
I only see where the familiar garland droops
With full-blown flowers to hide her forehead and her brows,
The envious ones; as warriors do their archers hide
With shields, so cover they the arrows of her eyes.PROMETHEUS.
I saw that garland was confined by chain-like bands,
Which round her shoulders lightly curled and fluttered down.EPIMETHEUS.
The white pearls of her ears still float before my sight
As freely in its grace she turned her noble head.PROMETHEUS.
The threaded gifts of Amphitrite bound her throat.
And then her garments' blooming field, how wonderful!
Her bosom veiled with varied splendors rich as spring.EPIMETHEUS.
Upon that bosom where, I, happy, have been clasped!PROMETHEUS.
Above all things, the girdle's art is worthy praise.EPIMETHEUS.
That very girdle which I loving have unloosed!PROMETHEUS.
First learned I from the dragon which her arm enwound
How, serpent-like, hard metal may contract and stretch.EPIMETHEUS.
And me, with these affectionate arms she hath embraced.PROMETHEUS.
Her slender hand was greatened by her dazzling rings.EPIMETHEUS.
That hand outstretched so often giving my heart joy.PROMETHEUS.
Did not her skill in art rival Athene's power?EPIMETHEUS.
I know not: her soft fingers brought me but caressing.PROMETHEUS.
Her mantle was quite worthy of Athene's loom.EPIMETHEUS.
It swelling moved behind her steps in shimmering waves.PROMETHEUS.
The dazzling edge confused even the keenest eye.EPIMETHEUS.
She drew the world upon the path that she would go.PROMETHEUS.
Enwrought were giant flowers, a horn of plenty each.EPIMETHEUS.
Rich cups from whence leaped out quick creatures of the chase.PROMETHEUS.
The roe sprang forth to fly, the lion to pursue.EPIMETHEUS.
Who looked upon her robe, her moving foot once seen,
Responsive like the hand answering the touch of love!PROMETHEUS.
Here, too, unwearied, showed the artist's further skill;
Her footstep speeding with soft yielding soles of gold.EPIMETHEUS.
Like one with wings! she hardly seemed to touch the earth.PROMETHEUS.
The golden lacings lightly clasped her ankles round.EPIMETHEUS.
Recall not back to me the splendor of her form!
To her, all-gifted, I had nothing more to give:
The fairest, richest in adornment, she was mine!
I gave myself to her, and thus first found myself.PROMETHEUS.
And still unhappy, thus she tears thee from thyself!EPIMETHEUS.
And yet, forever is she mine, the shining one!
The fullness of blessedness, this have I found!
Beauty's self I possessed, by her I was bound;
With Spring, her attendant, she stepped gayly on,
I knew her and grasped her, and fate's work was done!
As the mist of delusion is chased by the sun,
She drew me from earth, and our heaven was won.Thou seekest for words the most worthy to praise her;
Wouldst thou place her on high, higher yet her steps raise her;
With the best wouldst compare her, how bad seems the best;
She speaks, has found truth, while thy mind is in quest.
She wins even while ye contend in hot zest;
Thou wouldst serve her, already her slave thou dost rest.Love and goodness are each in her shape to be seen.
What use is high station? She maketh it mean.
She stands at the goal, and she wingeth the flight;
If she crosses thy path, she stays thee at sight.
A bargain wouldst drive, gives the price a new height,
Thy wealth and thy wisdom must purchase her right.Descending she takes varied forms as her shield;
She floats on the water, she walks in the field;
Her bearing, her voice, are of standards divine,
And the form doth but render the essence more fine;
She gives unto both of all nature's best wine;
A woman and young, it is thus she was mine!PROMETHEUS.
The beauty and the bliss of youth are close allied;
Upon these summits mortals may not linger long.EPIMETHEUS.
And even in their change both are forever sweet;
Eternal to the chosen ones is joy once known.
So freshly glorified Pandora's face appeared,
Shining from out the veil woven of many hues,
Which now she throws around her, hiding god-like limbs.
Her countenance, alone revealed, far lovelier seems
Than when 't was rivaled by the beauty of her form.
It now becomes the perfect mirror of her soul.
And she, the loveliest, sweetest, most confiding, yea,
Trustful, was still more pleasing as a mystery.PROMETHEUS
Such transmutation signifies renewing joy.EPIMETHEUS.
And new joys, she, grief-bringing, unto me did give.PROMETHEUS.
Then tell me! follows grief so quickly after joy?EPIMETHEUS.
One perfect day -- the world was breaking into bloom --
She met me in the garden covered with her veil,
No more alone: for nestled in each arm she rocked
A darling child; two daughters, twins, these half concealed.
She lingered that my great astonishment and bliss
She might behold, -- my rapture as I pressed them close.PROMETHEUS.
Alike were the two children, say, or different?EPIMETHEUS.
Unlike and like; resembling each the other much.PROMETHEUS.
Perchance one wore the father's, one the mother's look.EPIMETHEUS.
Thou hast the truth, as fits the experienced mind.
Then said she to me: "Choose, -- one shall be trusted unto thee,
And one to me in keeping! Quickly make thy choice!
Epimeleia call thou this; Elpore this!"
I looked upon them. Roguishly the latter peeped
From out her mother's veil; when she had caught my look,
She drew her back and hid upon that loving breast.
Her sister, on the other hand, calm, almost sad,
After she first had fixed her gaze upon my face,
Still steadfast looked, holding mine eye fixed to her own,
And won my heart to her, and would not let me go:
She leaned toward me, stretching out her hand, and sought
My help with the strong glance of one who thirsts for love.
How could I withstand this? I took her in my arms,
Then feeling first a father, clasped her to my breast,
And strove to banish from her brow too early care.
So stood I, nor conceived Pandora vanished thus.
I followed gayly, calling her, already, far;
But she, half turning toward me as I chased her steps,
Waved with her hand an unmistakable farewell;
I stood and looked as turned to stone: I see her yet!
Three full-grown cypresses stand stretching up toward heaven
There, where she took her way. She, turning in her flight,
The child once more uplifted, once more showed it me,
Already unattainable within her arms;
And then, in the next instant, moving past those trees,
She vanished. Never have I seen her form again.PROMETHEUS.
Yet not so wonderful should this appear to one
Who binds himself unto the demons thus godsent.
Nor blame I thee for thy great woe, poor widower!
Who once was glad he still repeats his joy in grief.EPIMETHEUS.
Indeed do I repeat it! Still those cypress trees
Remain my only walk. There yet after my love
I gaze where last she faded, passing from my sight.
Perchance, I thought, by this same path she will return,
And while my tears ran fountains, clasped my child
Close, in its mother's stead. She looked on me and wept,
Wondering, and moved by innocent sympathy.
So do I live and wear the endless wasting time,
Supported by my daughter's ever tender care,
She who has now grown needful of her father's thought,
Beyond endurance tried by most unhappy love.PROMETHEUS.
Hast thou heard nothing from the twain in all this time?EPIMETHEUS.
Cruelly kind sometimes she comes, a morning dream
In splendor, led by Phosphoros: and flattering flow
Promises from her lips; caressing she draws near,
Then wavering vanishes. By eternal change
Thus she deceives my grief, -- deceives by her sweet "Yes,"
Me, the imploring one, that she will still return.PROMETHEUS.
I know Elpore, brother; therefore am I kind
Unto your pain, and grateful for my human race.
Thou and the goddess to it brought a lovely form,
Although so close allied to those, the mist-born ones;
Forever pleasing, she deceives the innocent;
No son of earth would be without her. To the short-sight
She is a second eye: may all have joy of her!
But thou, who strengthenest thy daughter, strengthen thou.....
What! canst thou not hear me? Has the past all thine heart?EPIMETHEUS.
Who from his fair one is doomed to be parted,
Let him flee, in his going, with face turned away!
If he, looking back, still must gaze broken-hearted,
She draws him, ah! drags him, forever astray.Question ye not by the side of the dear one,
Must she go? Must I go? A terrible pain
Would seize upon thee, turning thee into stone,
And despair would but make a loss of thy gain.
If thou canst weep, and while tears come thronging
See her, through distancing tears, as afar;
Stay! it may yet be! to love and to longing
Bendeth the night's most unmovable star.To hold her once more! once more feel the sweet wonder!
Joy to embrace and life dispossessed!
If no stroke of lightning shall rend ye asunder.
More closely press ye, then, breast unto breast.Who from his fair one is doomed to be parted,
Let him flee, in his going, with face turned away!
If be, looking back, still must gaze broken-hearted,
She draws him, ah! drags him, forever astray.PROMETHEUS.
May that be called a blessing, which by its presence
Shuts out and turns away whatever brings delight,
And, absent, torment gives, denying all comfort!
EPIMETHEUS.
To lovers, fairest solace is unsolaced grief;
Ever to strive for what is lost is finding more
Than to grasp after new. What sorrow and vain care!
Seeking to bring back what has passed so far, and win
The unrestorable! Ah! empty, fatal pain!Deep in the night plunges my sense
Down through the shadows, seeking afar
One figur,e one look! Scarcely so clear
She in the day stood to my view.Hardly to waver, seemed the sweet form;
Swiftly she steps, just as of yore!
Nearer she comes! Shall we embrace?
Now she is gone, thing of the clouds.Soon she returns, brought by desire,
Wavering now, floating in air,
Now like another, now like herself,
Vanishing still, keen though the sight.Hither she comes, yet once again,
Clearer than ever stands in my path;
Glorious! let me have chisel or brush!
Turning mine eye frights her away.Vain is the toil! There is no grief
Deeper than this, sadder than this!
Stern though the laws Minos hath made,
Shadows henceforth ever are dear.Once more let me strive hither to draw
Thee now, my wife! hold thee embraced,
Once more my joy! 't is but a shade!
Now it grows dim, now it dissolves.PROMETHEUS.
Dissolve thou not, my brother, swallowed up in grief!
Thou god-descended, think thou yet on nobler years!
Unfitly come not tears unto the eye of youth;
They strain the eye of age: I pray thee weep thou not.EPIMETHEUS.
The gift of tears can soften even the sharpest pain;
They gladly flow as if to heal the inner smart.PROMETHEUS.
Look up, beyond thy grief! See yonder the red heaven!
Hath Eos failed to find her accustomed path to-day?
From mid-sky hither see where dances a red glow!
A fire from out thy woods, thy dwellings it may be,,
Appears to flame! Fly thou! The presence of the lord
Is often cause of good, and may stem many a loss.EPIMETHEUS.
What have I now to lose, Pandora being gone!
Let these be burned! Much better may be built again.PROMETHEUS.
Undoing is a good when there is no more use;
And willingly I help! But accident we hate.
Fly quickly, therefore, seek the men most near to us
In thy command. Bid them withstand the raging flames.
Already do I hear the thickly swarming crowds,
Equally quick alike to ruin or protect.EPIMELEIA.
Help I cry for,
Not for me, no --
I have no need --
Listen, hear it!
Help those yonder;
Ruin threatens:
I was ruined
Long, how long, since.When he, death-struck,
Fell, my shepherd,
Luck then fled too;
Vengeance now works:
Waste and loss come
From his race here.Fall the fences,
Breaks the woodland,
Mighty flames rise.
Through the red smoke
Seethes the balsam
From the pitch-pine.Now the roof goes,
Quickly burns up.
Cracks the ridge-pole
Ah! it falls down,
Falls on my head,
Far though I be!
Guilt is seen clear!
Eyes bend on me,
Dark brows comma
Justice to seek.Turn I may not
Where my loved one
Phileros mad,
Hath cast him down
In the sea-wave.
Whom he loves shall
Worthy prove her!
Love and remorse drive
Me thus flameward,
Who in rage fled
Love's fierce burning.EPIMETHEUS.
I will save her, --
Her, my only!
I defend her
With my full strength,
Till Prometheus
Send his army.
Then renew we
Angry contests;
We shall free us;
They shall fly then,
Flames extinguished.PROMETHEUS.
Up, the work calls!
See them swarm now
Round the steep cliffs
Of your night home;
Up through bushes,
On the roof-top,
Buzzing, striving.Ere ye draw off
To the far land,
Be ye helpful
To your neighbor.
Seek to free him
From this blow of
Savage vengeance.WARRIORS.
The masters' call,
The fathers' need,
We follow, all,
At our best speed;
Born thus to find
Our way through strife;
Like storm and wind,
It is our life.We go, we go,
And nothing say
Of why we go,
Or what the way:
And sword or spear
We bear afar,
And there or here
We fear no scar.We follow brave,
To try our powers,
What gain we have
The gain is ours.
Would any keep
What we have won,
They waste and weep
Ere they have done.Has one enough,
Yet wishes more,
Then, wild and rough,
We snatch his store.
His home is sacked,
His house is burned,
His goods are packed,
Ere we have turned.Quick from the place
The first is gone,
And draws apace
The second on.
Through thick and thin
The best must break,
The last come in
Their rights to take.PROMETHEUS.
Ready are ye
For good or ill!
Devote ye, see
Ye work my will.
Up! Easy sons,
Bring your swift stroke,
The mighty ones
Shall feel the yoke.Here wise and gladly works the high compelling power
Of voluntary service; the fire already pales,
And, brother-like, my race their worthy labor brings.
Now Eos, undelaying, swiftly strives to mount,
In maiden beauty springing, -- scattering crimson flowers
From her full hands. See, on the fringe of every cloud,
How rich they bloom, shifting their hues in endless change!
So lovely steps she, such is her increasing charm
The son of earth is wont to veil his too weak sight,
Lest Helios' arrows should by chance my people blind;
The illumined they may look upon, but not the light.EOS (rising from the ocean).
Youth thy roses, day thy blossoms,
Sweeter bring I now than ever,
From the unexplored recesses,
From unsounded deeps of ocean.
Speedily the day hath banished
Sleep, that dwells around these waters,
Haunts this rock-encircled harbor;
Earnest fisher, fresh from slumber,
Take your implements in hand!Quickly now your nets unwinding,
Girdle ye the well-known precinct!
Certain of a lucky capture,
Cheerily I urge ye on.
Swim, O swimmer! Dive, O diver!
Watch, O watcher, from the cliff-side!
Banks shall swarm as swarm the waters
With the tide of busy doers.PROMETHEUS.
Thou flying one, why dost thou stay thy footstep here!
Why fixest thou thy glance upon this harbor shore?
Whom dost thou summon, ever-dumb, whom dost command?
Since no one hears beside, this time speak thou to me!EOS.
Save this youth, O save him, save him!
Who, despairing and love-drunken, --
Drunken for revenge and chided,
Down into the veiling waters,
From the rock hath flung himself.PROMETHEUS.
What do I hear? Hath Phileros obeyed the word,
And sought a watery death, -- himself condemned to die?
Up! let us fly, that I may give him back to life.EOS.
Stay, O Father! Has thy chiding
Driven him to seek his ending?
All thy wisdom, all thy striving,
Cannot bring him back to thee.
Only will of gods all mighty,
Moved by the unwasted striving
Of his life, so pure and simple,
Gives him, new-born, back to thee.PROMETHEUS.
Is he then rescued? Answer me, and seest thou him?EOS.
Yonder see the stalwart swimmer,
Down he dives beneath the waters;
For the joy of life upholds him,
Will not suffer him to sink.
Gently sport the waves around him,
Crisply curling, fresh as morning,
Bearing him their lovely burden,
Who but plays among the waves.
All the fishers, all the swimmers,
Lively gather round about him,
Linger near him, not to save him,
But to frolic in the bath.
There the dolphins dance around them,
Form a circle there together
Diving down and fetching upward
Him, the lovely, the refreshed;
All the floating crowd tumultuous
Swiftly bring him back to land.And in life as well as freshness
Land will nothing yield to ocean;
Every hill and every cliff-side,
Gladdened by the living crowd!
Every vintner from his wine-press,
Drawing from his rocky cellar,
One cup, then another offers,
To the animated waves.
Now the god-like one arises,
From the sea-foam all-embracing,
From the good sea-monsters friendly;
Richly decked with mine own roses,
He, an Anadyomen,
Seeks the rocks. The crownèd goblet
By the hand of age is offered,
One who, bearded, smiles contented
With an air most like to Bacchus.Clash, ye cymbals! Sound, ye timbrels!
Press ye round him, blessing him,
While I bathe his lovely person
With my glances full of love.
From his shoulders skins of panthers
Fall, his tender thighs half-hiding;
In his hands he holds the thyrsus,
And how like a god he steps.
Hear'st rejoicing? Hear'st the clanging?
Now the day's exalted festal,
Now the general joy begins.PROMETHEUS.
Why tell me of thy festivals? I love them not;
The weary find enough refreshment every night.
In doing, the true man finds his best holiday!EOS.
Varied riches changing hours bring to us;
But the hours of joy are the god-chosen!
Eos glances toward the heavenly spaces,
Where she sees the fate of day unfolded.
Thence the worthiest, loveliest, descending,
Hidden first, but soon to be laid open,
Is revealed, and soon again is hidden.
Phileros steps forth from out the waters,
From the flame comes out Epimeleia;
Now they meet again, and each the other
Feels as if the same and yet another.
Thus in love united, doubly joyful,
Take they up their journey. Heaven sends downward
Both by word and deed a blessing on them;
Gifts descend were formerly undreamed of.PROMETHEUS.
New things please me not, sufficient favor
Now already has this race of mortals.
Only in the present do they sojourn,
Rarely dwell on yesterday's achievements,
On its loss or gain; the whole is vanished.
Even grasp they roughly at the moment
What they meet with, take it to themselves, then,
Careless, fling it from them, never thinking
Of the seed that sleeps within its essence.
This I blame; yet neither speech nor lesson,
Nor example, even, can avail them.
They go onward like to thoughtless children,
Groping after what the day contains.
Could the past be treasured in their spirit,
Moulding fitly by its light the present,
This were well for all: thus could I wish it.EOS.
Longer I may not stay, for Helios' coming
Drives me unresisting with his arrows.
In his shining glance already tremble
Fainting drops of dew which star my garland.
Father of men, farewell! I pray you listen:
Remember, the desired is what earth wishes,
But what is best to give is known in heaven.
The Titans begin greatly; but to follow
On to eternal good, eternal beauty,
This is the gods' work; let us trust their working.
THE END.
Notes by Annie Fields
[ Page numbers are from the print edition of Under the Olive.]PANDORA. (Page 197.)
Mr. Symonds renders thus succinctly the story of Pandora as given by Hesiod.
"Work," he says "is necessary for men, because Zeus has concealed and hidden far away our means of livelihood, so that we are forced to toil and suffer in the search for sustenance. In old days the human race had fire, and offered burnt sacrifice to heaven; but Prometheus by his craft deceived the gods of their just portion of the victims, making Zeus take the bones and fat for his share. Whereupon Zeus deprived men of the use of fire. Prometheus then stole fire from heaven and gave it back to men. Then was cloud-gathering Zeus full wroth of heart, and he devised a great woe for all mankind. He bade Hephaistos mix earth and water, and infuse into the plastic form a human voice and human powers, and liken it in all points to a heavenly goddess. Athene was told to teach the woman thus made household work and skill in weaving. Aphrodite poured upon her head the charm of beauty, with terrible desire, and flesh-consuming thoughts of love. But Zeus commanded Hermes to give to her the mind of a dog and wily temper. After this fashion was the making of Pandora..... Then Pandora was sent under the charge of Hermes to Epimetheus, who remembered not his brother's words, how he had said: 'Receive no gift from Zeus but send it back again, lest evil should befall the race of men.'....
"Just as Prometheus signifies the forecasting reason of humanity, so Epimetheus indicates the overhasty judgment foredoomed to be wise too late. These are intellectual qualities." -- J. ADDINGTON SYMONDS.The translator cannot print this version of Goethe's poem without one word of gratitude to Bayard Taylor. It was his reference to Goethe's Pandora, in a paper written from Weimar some years since, which first called her attention to it, and it was his patient revision of her translation, a few years later, which first suggested the idea of giving it to the public. The beautiful line, "Depth of shade and love's inviolate longing" is Bayard Taylor's.
"Ein grösseres Werk begann Goethe 1807 für die Zeitschrift Prometheus des befreundeten Leo v. Seckendorf für dessen Neujahrstaschenbuch auf 1801 Goethe ehemals seinen Palophron and Neoterpe mitgetheilt. Er sagte auf den Wunsch des Herausgebers einen Beitrag zu, und wählte Pandora's Wiederkunft, wiederum wie das Vorspiel in antiken Trimetern, die ihm so viel Mühe machten, dass er nicht über Pandoren's abschied hinauskam. 'Wenn es mir so vieI Mühe macht,' scherzt er in einem Briefe an Frau v. Stein, 'sie wieder herbeizuholen, als es mir verursachte, sie fortzuschaffen, so weiss ich nicht, wann wir sie wiedersehen werden.'
So war es. Die Gestalten selbst traten ihm in die Ferne und er verwundete sich über das Titanische, wenn er später wieder hinein sah." -- GOETHE'S Werke, Erster Band, Stuttgart, 1866, p. cli.
Works of Annie Fields