ORESTES
To form devices quick is woman's wit.

IPHIGENIA
And say, thy mother slain, thou fledd'st from Argos.

ORESTES
If to aught good, avail thee of my ills.

IPHIGENIA
Unmeet then at this shrine to offer thee.

ORESTES
What cause alleged? I reach not thine intent.

IPHIGENIA
As now impure: when hallow'd, I will slay thee.

ORESTES
How is the image thus more promptly gain'd?

IPHIGENIA
Thee I will hallow in the ocean waves.

ORESTES
The statue we would gain is in the temple.

IPHIGENIA
That, by thy touch polluted, I would cleanse.

ORESTES
Where? On the waterymargin of the main?

IPHIGENIA
Where thy tall bark secured with cables rides.

ORESTES
And who shall bear the image in his hands?

IPHIGENIA
Myself; profaned by any touch, but mine.

ORESTES
What of this blood shall on my friend be charged?

IPHIGENIA
His hands, it shall be said, like thine are stain'd.

ORESTES
In secret this, or to the king disclosed?

IPHIGENIA
With his assent; I cannot hide it from him.

ORESTES
My bark with ready oars attends thee near.

IPHIGENIA
That all be well appointed, be thy charge.

ORESTES
One thing alone remains; that these conceal

Our purpose: but address them, teach thy tongue
Persuasive words: a woman hath the power

To melt the heart to pity: thus perchance
All things may to our warmest wish succeed.

IPHIGENIA
Ye train of females, to my soul most dear,

On you mine eyes are turn'd, on you depends
My fate; with prosperous fortune to be bless'd,

Or to be nothing, to my country lost,
Of a dear kinsman and a much-loved brother

Deprived. This plea I first would urge, that we
Are women, and have hearts by nature form'd

To love each other, of our mutual trusts
Most firm preservers. Touching our design,

Be silent, and assist our flight: naught claims
More honour than the faithful tongue. You see

How the same fortune links us three, most dear
Each to the other, to revisit safe

Our country, or to die. If I am saved,
That thou mayst share my fortune, I to Greece

Will bring thee safe: but thee by this right hand,
Thee I conjure, and thee; by this loved cheek

Thee, by thy knees, by all that in your house
Is dearest to you, father, mother, child,

If you have children. What do you reply?
Which of you speaks assent? Or which dissents?

But be you all assenting: for my plea
If you approve not, ruin falls on me,

And my unhappy brother too must die.
LEADER

Be confident, loved lady and consult
Only thy safety: all thou givest in charge,

Be witness, mighty Jove, I will conceal.
IPHIGENIA

O, for this generous promise be you bless'd.
(To ORESTES and PYLADES)

To enter now the temple be thy part,
And thine: for soon the monarch of the land

Will come, inquiring if the strangers yet
Have bow'd their necks as victims at the shrine.

Goddess revered, who in the dreadful bay
Of Aulis from my father's slaughtering hand

Didst save me; save me now, and these: through thee,
Else will the voice of Phoebus be no more

Held true by mortals. From this barbarous land
To Athens go propitious: here to dwell

Beseems thee not; thine be a polish'd state!
(ORESTES, PYLADES, and IPHIGENIA enter the temple.)

CHORUS (singing)
strophe 1

O bird, that round each craggy height
Projecting o'er the sea below,

Wheelest thy melancholyflight,
Thy song attuned to notes of woe;

The wise thy tender sorrows own,
Which thy lost lord unceasing moan;

Like thine, sad halcyon, be my strain,
A bird, that have no wings to fly:

With fond desire for Greece I sigh,
And for my much-loved social train;

Sigh for Diana, pitying maid,
Who joys to rove o'er Cynthus' heights.

Or in the branching laurel's shade,
Or in the soft-hair'd palm delights,

Or the hoar olive's sacred boughs,
Lenient of sad Latona's woes;

Or in the lake, that rolls its wave
Where swans their plumage love to lave;

Then, to the Muses soaring high,
The homage pay of melody.

antistrophe 1
Ye tears, what frequent-falling showers

Roll'd down these cheeks in streams of woe,
When in the dust my country's towers

Lay levell'd by the conquering foe;
And, to their spears a prey, their oars

Brought me to these barbaric shores!
For gold exchanged, a traffic base,

No vulgar slave, the task is mine,
Here at Diana's awful shrine,

Who loves the woodland hind to chase,
The virgin priestess to attend,

Daughter of rich Mycenae's lord;
At other shrines her wish to bend,

Where bleeds the victim less abhorr'd:
No respite to her griefs she knows;

Not so the heart inured to woes,
As train'd to sorrow's rigid lore:

Now comes a change; it mourns no more:
But lo long bliss when ill succeeds,

The anguish'd heart for ever bleeds.
strophe 2

Thee, loved virgin, freed from fear
Home the Argive bark shall bear:

Mountain Pan, with thrilling strain,
To the oars that dash the main

In just cadence well agreed,
Shall accord his wax-join'd reed:

Phoebus, with a prophet's fire
Sweeping o'er his seven-string'd lyre,

And his voice attuning high
To the swelling harmony,

Thee shall guide the wild waves o'er
To the soft Athenian shore.

Leaving me, thy oars shall sweep
Eager o'er the foaming deep:

Thou shalt catch the rising gales
Swelling in thy firm-bound sails;

And thy bark in gallant pride
Light shall o'er the billows glide.

antistrophe 2
Might I through the lucid air

Fly where rolls yon flaming car,
O'er those loved and modest bowers,

Where I pass'd my youthful hours,
I would stay my weary flight,

Wave no more my pennons light,
But, amid the virgin band,

Once my loved companions, stand:
Once mid them my charms could move,

Blooming then, the flames of love;
When the mazy dance I trod,

While with joy my mother glow'd;
When to vie in grace was mine,

And in splendid robes to shine;
For, with radiant tints impress'd,

Glow'd for me the gorgeous vest;
And these tresses gave new grace,

As their ringlets shade my face.
(THOAS and his retinue enter.)

THOAS
Where is the Grecian lady, to whose charge

This temple is committed? Have her rites
Hallow'd the strangers? Do their bodies burn

In the recesses of the sacredshrine?
LEADER OF THE CHORUS

She comes, and will inform thee, king, of all.
(IPHIGENIA comes out of the temple. She is carrying the sacred

statue of Diana.)
THOAS

Daughter of Agamemnon, what means this?
The statue of the goddess in thine arms

Why dost thou bear, from its firm base removed?
IPHIGENIA

There in the portal, monarch, stay thy step.
THOAS

What of strange import in the shrine hath chanced?
IPHIGENIA

Things ominous: that word I, holy, speak.
THOAS

To what is tuned thy proem? Plainly speak.
IPHIGENIA

Not pure the victims, king, you lately seized.
THOAS

What showd thee this? Or speak'st thou but thy thought?
IPHIGENIA

Back turn'd the sacred image on its base.
THOAS

Spontaneous turn'd, or by an earthquake moved?

• promptly [´prɔmptli] ad.敏捷地；即时地 (初中英语单词)
• statue [´stætʃu:] n.塑像，雕像 (初中英语单词)
• prosperous [´prɔspərəs] a.繁荣的；顺利的 (初中英语单词)
• assist [ə´sist] v.协助；援助；搀扶 (初中英语单词)
• flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)
• approve [ə´pru:v] v.赞成；同意；批准 (初中英语单词)
• unhappy [ʌn´hæpi] a.不幸的；不快乐的 (初中英语单词)
• witness [´witnis] n.见证人 vt.目击 (初中英语单词)
• generous [´dʒenərəs] a.慷慨的；丰盛的 (初中英语单词)
• temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)
• monarch [´mɔnək] n.君主；(大)王 (初中英语单词)
• dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)
• greece [gri:s] n.希腊 (初中英语单词)
• sacred [´seikrid] a.神圣的；庄严的 (初中英语单词)
• traffic [´træfik] n.交通，运输 (初中英语单词)
• victim [´viktim] n.牺牲者；受害者 (初中英语单词)
• accord [ə´kɔ:d] n.&vi.符合 vt.给与 (初中英语单词)
• gallant [´gælənt, gə´lænt] a.英勇的；华丽的 (初中英语单词)
• modest [´mɔdist] a.谦虚的；朴素的 (初中英语单词)
• youthful [´ju:θfəl] a.年轻的；青年的 (初中英语单词)
• goddess [´gɔdis] n.女神 (初中英语单词)
• import [im´pɔ:t, ´impɔ:t] vt.&n.进口；输入 (初中英语单词)
• plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)
• lately [´leitli] ad.近来，不久前 (初中英语单词)
• shrine [ʃrain] n.神龛；神殿；圣地 (高中英语单词)
• margin [´mɑ:dʒin] n.边缘；空白；余地 (高中英语单词)
• assent [ə´sent] vi.&n.同意，赞成 (高中英语单词)
• mutual [´mju:tʃuəl] a.相互的；共同的 (高中英语单词)
• naught [nɔ:t] n.无；零 (高中英语单词)
• confident [´kɔnfidənt] a.有信心的，自信的 (高中英语单词)
• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
• athens [´æθinz] n.雅典 (高中英语单词)
• melancholy [´melənkəli] n.忧郁 a.忧郁的 (高中英语单词)
• homage [´hɔmidʒ] n.敬意，尊敬 (高中英语单词)
• woodland [´wudlənd] n.树林，林地 (高中英语单词)
• virgin [´və:dʒin] a.处女(般)的 n.处女 (高中英语单词)
• radiant [´reidiənt] a.发光的 n.光源(体) (高中英语单词)
• gorgeous [´gɔ:dʒəs] a.华丽的；宜人的 (高中英语单词)
• earthquake [´ə:θkweik] n.地震；大变动 (高中英语单词)
• hallow [´hæləu] vt.使神圣，视为神圣 (英语四级单词)
• touching [´tʌtʃiŋ] a.动人的 prep.提到 (英语四级单词)
• conjure [´kʌndʒə] v.祈求；召(鬼)；变魔术 (英语四级单词)
• barbarous [´bɑ:bərəs] a.野蛮的；不规范的 (英语四级单词)
• vulgar [´vʌlgə] a.粗俗的；大众的 (英语四级单词)
• cadence [´keidəns] n.抑扬；节奏；韵律 (英语四级单词)
• flaming [´fleimiŋ] a.熊熊燃烧的；热情的 (英语四级单词)
• portal [´pɔ:tl] n.(正)门；隧道 (英语四级单词)
• ominous [´ɔminəs] a.不祥的；预示的 (英语四级单词)
• watery [´wɔ:təri] a.水的；像水的 (英语六级单词)
• phoebus [´fi:bəs] n.太阳神 (英语六级单词)
• plumage [´plu:midʒ] n.羽毛；漂亮衣服 (英语六级单词)
• respite [´respait] n.暂缓 vt.缓期执行 (英语六级单词)
• athenian [ə´θi:njən] a.雅典(人)的n.雅典人 (英语六级单词)
• grecian [´gri:ʃən] a.古希腊的 n.希腊人 (英语六级单词)