Orest. Nay t is your priuat'st room View me well mother ha do you know me yet Here here 's the drugs my Art hath thought vpon Puts off his gowne Be pittilesse now Pylades be my friend Child O Helpe me father else these men will kill mee Aegyst. O my boy my boy Orest. O yee 'r fast bound Yes hee is thine thy face thy eyes thy heart And would I knew where Nature had couchd most Of thy damnd blood I thus would let it out Stabs the child And thus 't should spirt in thy most loathed face Aegy. O now the heauens raine vengeance on our head Child O mother mother saue me saue me father Orest. Hold Pylades be stedfast for by heauen He wounds mee that perswades me not to wound Clyt. O turne thy bloody weapon on my brest 'T was this wombe that brought forth this Babe and thee If that be guilty I haue made it so Rip vp this place which first did bring thee forth 'T is I'intreat thee 't is the mother she Which gaue thee house-roome here within this brest Vpon whose dugs thy infant lips did hang Orest. It was my father he intreated you Who many a time had clipt you in his armes Who made you Queene of Greece yes it was hee Good Agamemnon he did plead for life Aegyst. Bathe not thy hands in a poore infants blood Nor in thy mothers I deserue to die And yet remember how my doome sau'd thee How easily mercy did obtaine her suit Orest. Nay but Aegystheus you can aggrauate To doe a haynous murther and i' th Court I' th place of Iustice where the King might heare Vpon a chiefe attendant of the Kings Murther it selfe is past all expiation A crime that nature most of all abhorres And looke how manhood and ciuility Stand at the barre of Iustice and there plead How much they 'r wrong'd and how much defac'd When man doth dye his hands in blood of man Now harken King I 'll vse thy Rhetorique Thou didst a haynous murther in the Court Not which the King did heare but which he felt When no petition could good man preuaile Therefore this dies this first shall haue his due Stabs it againe that the blood spirts in his face Turnes it to her This mischiefe done reuenge shall prompt a new Aeg. O the Gods blush and heauen looks pale at this A fathers face besmear'd with his owne blood Ore My haste deceiues my wil tush al this yet May be call'd piety you shall taste too mother Cly. O why dos't banish nature from his place Looke on thy mothers teares worse then those grones And pangs she had when she first brought thee forth When of thy friends or parents thou hast wrong Patience not fury doth to thee belong Is this the blessing that thy knee should aske Repay'st thou thus my kisses and my teares Which flow'd from mee to thee in tender yeeres Orest. O why did you so banish woman-hood When you and this damn'd villaine base adulterer Made in my fathers side so many wounds And brought a braue old King into this state Pulls bones from his pocket See here 's his bones my pocket can containe Great Agamemnon and repayd you thus His kind embraces all his louing signes Aegysteus you are thirsty you shall drinke Fills two cups with the Heniochus childs blood giues it them Yes you shal cleare your throat by heauen you shal Aeg. O mischief aboue mischief what Bred on a stony rock could e'r endure To see a fathers thirst quench'd with such blood Hast thou no measure hath reuenge no end Ore Who first doth mischiefe may keep mean i' th deed But who reuengeth must all meane exceed Nay mother wee 'll not barre you of your draught Clyt. O Nature see here all thy lawe infring'd A mothers prayers preuaile not with her sonne Orest. Pray with Thyestes it shall neuer moue me But first Aegystheus do thou haste reuenge Stabs him Aegyst. O I am wounded O when do'st thou end Or. Nay I haue scarce begun now mother you Stabs her So now I 'll stand and looke and on hell call Nay my reuenge must not be vsuall One more for thee Aegystheus onely let out The blood you dranke before Aegyst. O my heart feeles it Orest. Now mother you and your loue the same Clyt. O kill me quickly time prolongs my woe And since I must die let me quickly goe Orest. You know your sentence let him feele hee dies Who strait threats death knowes not to tyrannize Aegy. This brings ten deaths Or. Would 't would a hundred bring One death 's too little to reuenge a King Hence hence adulterous soule to Tantalus And let hell know who 't was sent thee thither He dies Now mother you shall follow but he first Lest that like louers you goe hand in hand Clyt. Why sonne whose death is it thou dost reuenge Thy fathers but on whom vpon thy mother On her which brought thee forth which took most care To bring thee vp from whom thou tookst thy selfe Thou' rt sure thou art mine but dost not know Who t was begat thee Ore Wil 't Bastardize me Yes mother yes I know I was his sonne Alas why what are you a senselesse peece Of rotten earth can doe as much to corne As you to me beare it and bring it forth But Agamemnon he that seed did sow And onely vnto him my selfe I owe And for him thou shalt die Cly. O I confesse My conscience tells mee I deserue no lesse And thus thy mother from thee doth depart Leauing vexation to torment thy heart She dies Orest. Now friend I see my father liue againe And in his royall state at Argos Court This is the night in which hee first came home O blessed powers of hell diuine Canidia Now am I satisfied now hath reuenge perfection And nothing grieues me but that Tyndarus My mothers father did not see her dye I le in and tell him my thoughts must reueale Those acts I doe this night who would conceale Now soule triumph whilst that my deeds shall shine I' th face o' th Court and all the world know 't mine ACT. V. SCEN. I. Enter Orestes in his gowne Tyndarus Strophius Electra Pylades two Lords Orest. MY Lord your daughters potion works most rarely The King 's asleepe God blesse his Maiesty O doe not wake him faith 't is pitty la Tyn. What doe I see ha blood the little child Dead his daughter bleed Aegysteus kill'd Orest. Your Lordships eyes doe faile 't is but spilt w 〈…〉 Tynd. Lay hands o' th villaine 't is the Physicians de 〈…〉 Orest. Nay friends hands off 't is no Physician now D 〈…〉 uers him 〈…〉 See see old Tyndarus dost thou know me yet Fetch me my Crowne and robes nay I 'll ascend Is not Atrides eldest sonne your King Tyn. What hast thou done foule Viper to eat out Thy mothers bowells what was this thy deede Thy silence saies 't was thine what Tanais Tygris or Rhenus or
THE TRAGEDY OF ORESTES Written by THOMAS GOFFE Master of Arts and Student of Christs Church in OXFORD AND Acted by the STVDENTS of the same HOVSE LONDON Printed by I. B. for RICHARD MEIGHEN and are to be sold at his shop at the middle Temple-gate neere Temple-barre in Fleetstreet 1633 The Prologue THe hush'd contentment of two silent howres Breath pleasing ayres on these attentiue eares And since wee see in this well furnish'd roome All our best neighbours are so kindely met Wee would deuise some pleasing talke to spend The lazie howres of the tedious night But for our owne inuention 't was too weake Whereon our young Muse durst wholly leane We heere present for to reuiue a tale Which once in Athens great Eurypedes In better phrase at such a meeting told The learn'd Athenians with much applause The same we will retell vnto your eares Whose Atticke iudgement is no lesse then theirs We here as builders which doe oft take stones From out old buildings then must hew and cut To make them square and fitting for a new So from an old foundation we haue ta'n Stones ready squar'd for our new aedifice VVhich if in pleasing our weake skill offends In making corners disproportionate Some roome too narrow or some loft too high Yet we will hope if the whole structure fall Your bands like props will serue to beare vp all Spoken by the Authour himselfe The names of the Actors Agamemnon King of Greece Clytemnestra The Queene Tyndarus Clytemnestra's father Strophius Father to Pylades Orestes son to Agam Pylades son to Stroph Two deare friends Electra Daughter to Agamemnon Aegystheus Adulterer with Clytemnestra Mysander A Fauorite and Parasite A young Childe of Aegystheus Nurse Two Lords Chamberlaine A Boy Attendants The Tragedie of ORESTES Actus primus Scaena prima Enter as from warre Agamemnon Clytemnestra Orestes Pylades Aegysteus cum caeteris Agam. NOw a faire blessing blesse my dearest earth And like a Bride adorne thy royall brow With fruits rich Garand a new married Bride Vnto thy King and Husband who too long Hath left thee widdowed O me thinks I see How all my Grecians with vnsatiate lookes Turnes to the spectators And greedy eyes doe bid mee welcome home Each eare that heares the clamour seemes to grieue It cannot speake and giue a welcome King Come Clytemnestra let not anger make His wrinkled seat vpon my loues faire brow I haue too long beene absent from thy bed Chide me for that anon when arme in arme I shall relate those proiects in loue termes Which when they first were acted made Mars feare To see each man turn'd to a God of warre Clyt. O my deare Lord absence of things wee loue Thus intermixt makes them the sweeter proue That your departure pierc'd my tender soule Witnesse those Christall floods which in my eyes Did make a sea when you should goe to sea Those streames which then flow'd from the veines of griefe At your returne doe ouerflow the banks But t is with ioy Agam. Now these eares indeed Haue chang'd their place they which were wont to heare No musique but the summoning of warre Blowne thorow discords brazen instrument Are blessed now with accents that doe fill My age-dry'd veynes with youthfull blood againe These eyes which had no other obiect once But Hector twixt the armes of Greece and Troy Hewing downe men and making euery field Flow with a sea of blood now see 's blood flow In my Orestes cheeke heauen blesse this plant Orestes kneeles Sprung from the sap of this now iuicelesse oake Now be thy branches greene vnder whose shade I may be shaddowed from the heat of warre Rise young Orestes Oh how it glads my soule To see my Queene and Sonne my Sonne and Queene Clyt. But come my Lord true loue still hates delayes Let no eares first be blessed with your breath Till on my brest resting your wearied head You tell your warre where that the field 's your bed Aga. My Queen shal haue her wil see how times change I that last night thought all the world a sea As if our common mother earth had now Shot her selfe wholly into Neptunes armes And the strong hindges of the world had crackt Letting the moone fall into th' swelling waues Such watry mountaines oft did seeme to rise And quite o'rwhelme vs all the winds at warre Banded the sea one to the others coasts Ioue thinking Neptune gan to striue for heauen Sent a new sea from thence and with his thunder Bad silence to the waues they vncontrold Kept on their noyse and let their fury swell Turning heauen earth sea clouds and all to hell Such Troian that was saued then 'gan to cry Happy were they that did with Priam die It glads mee now to thinke that that night was No starre no not Orion there appear'd But this night 's turnd to day and heere doth shine For a good Omen my imbraced Queene With whom her Agamemnon still will stay Till age and death shall beare him quite away Exeunt Agamemnon Clytemnestra eumeateris SCEN. II. manet Egysteus Aegyst. ANd that shall be ere long tush shall be 's slow My vengefull thoughts tell mee thou now art dead Fie saint Apollo weakling infant-God Why wouldst thou let lame Vulcan's hammers beat Downe those braue Turrets which thou help'dst to build Venus I see thou art a woman now Which here are like to take a double foyle For me that whilome reueld in thy campe In the sweet pleasures of incestuous sheets Must leaue our lou'd vnsatiate desires But now begin thou blacke Eumenides You hand-mayds of great Dis let such a flame Of anger burne mee as doth Etna's forge On fury on our hate shall not die thus I 'll draw my poysonous arrow to the length That it may hit the marke and fly with strength Exit SCEN. III Enter Orestes Pylades Orest. COme now my dearest friend my other selfe My empty soule is now fild to the top Brimfull with gladnesse and it must runne o'r Into my deare friends heart those siluer hayres Which Time hath crown'd my Fathers brow withall Doe shine within mine eyes and like the Sunne Extract all drossie vapors from my soule Like as the earth whom frost hath long benumb'd And brought an Icie drinesse on her face Her veines so open at a sudden thaw That all plants fruits flowers and tender grafts Kept as close prisoners in their mothers wombe Starts out their heads and on a sudden doth The sad earths countenance with a summer looke So in this brest here in this brest deare friend Whiles Annus ten times circled in the world Ten clumzie winters and ten lagging springs Hath with my Fathers absence frozen beene All thoughts of ioy which now shall make a spring In my refreshed soule Things that wee daily see th' affections cloy Hopes long desired bring the greatest ioy Pyl. Nay but deare Cousin giue not the reines too much To new receiued ioyes lest that they runne With so much speed
creatures they haue such Maeanders Their teares will come and goe with such Art Come now my Queene one sweet Ambrosian kisse O Nectar prethe hadst thou taught thy teares How they should flow before Clyt. No trust me loue I knew my teares would soon be at command And faith the boy had almost made me weepe Really once were not my curses rare Aegyst. Yes all was woman like but yet that boy He tooke it deepely would he were with his father So gon it skills not how were he away We would act freely all our lustfull play Clyt. O but my loue hee 's mine nor can the rauen Dig her sharpe beake into her owne birds brest He will forget his father woe will breake 'T is not the greatest griefe that most doth speake Egyst. O but hee 'll beare a still suspitious eye And who in bloudy Scenes doth act a part Thinks euery eye doth penetrate his heart Nor can we ere be free or I inioy True pleasures we must be but theeues at most Close in delights and haue a Pander still To be a Factor 'twixt thy bed and mine This we could haue before what now we doe The world should see done and applaud it too Clyt. Why my deare Loue I that would set my hand To staine my marriage sheets with husbands blood Would let these hands instructed now in ill Not leaue one arme of that vprooted tree Could but Aegystheus giue me any hope That from this top there should one spreading branch Grow vp and flourish Aegyst. Now thou art thy selfe Yes yes my loue there shall one spring from vs Shall be a lofty Pine let this be cropt Murder must murder guard guilt adde to guilt After one drop whole streams of blood be spilt walks away SCEN. III Enter Pylades Orestes Electra Strophius DEare friend what mean you to o'rwhelme your selfe In such a sea of griefe Orest. Father deare Agamem Pyl. Nay let this tempest fall thou hast lost a father Why t is but change my father shall be thine I 'll be thy brother nay I 'll be thy selfe Weepe when thou weep'st and where thou go'st I 'll goe And bring thee on thy pilgrimage of woe Elect. Brother looke vp haue not I lost a father Yes and would a riuer of fresh teares Turne Lethes streame and bring him from the wharf With a North gale of windy blowing sighs I would expire my soule become all teares Stroph. Come you haue lost a father I a brother The Queene a Husband all the Land a King Yet all thi 's but a man Therefore must die Our woes may all be in one ballance poys'd His booke of life the Fates had ouer-read And turn'd the leafe where his last period stood Now an immortall wreath circles his brow And makes him King in heauen who was before At most a God on earth Hence difference springs Kings are earths Gods and Gods are heauenly Kings Orest. Let vs ioyne words then now and Swan-like sing The dolefull dirge to a departed King Thou friend didst of this misery diuine Therefore the burthen of the song is mine Words Orators for woe which plead the cause When griefe 's the Iudge and sighs are all the lawes Each one a sob for Diapason beares Our tunes shall drowne the musique of the spheares O what Hirudo with vnsatiate thirst Could draw the blood from out those Princely veynes From whence flowes comfort to so many soules Spies his mother goes to her Mother when wept you last heere take a scarfe Dry your eyes now by Ioue you need none What shine of comfort hath dri'd vp your teares Clyt. Our sonne 's too sawcie with his mother Queene Why Sir shall you tell vs a time to weepe Orest. Vs good Who is 't makes the plurality 'T was wont to be my father does he liue Clyt. Sir curbe this lauish speech or I 'll forget You are my sonne and make you but a subiect Aegyst. Good Cousin adde not disobedience Vnto your mothers griefes Orrst. My mother no She is not here no she hath hid her selfe In some odde nooke or angle vnperceiu'd She might not see this impious stygian world Clyt. Aegistheus canst thou still suffer thy dul sword i' th sheath Take the ranke head from this o'r-growing weed Stro. Remember Clytemnestra he 's your sonne Clyt. He is so and I 'll learne him to be so Had I a brazen bull it should be heat Hotter then for the Tyrant Disobedient More harsh then Adders hisses is thy voyce Sir you shall die but with a liuing death He still shall liue but liue to know he dies Who strait threats death knowes not to Tyrannize Exeunt Aegystheus Clytemnestra Stro. What temper 's growne on the distracted Queene Hath griefe conceiu'd for her late husbands death Brought her so farre shee hath forgot her selfe Orest. No Vncle no by heauen I doe suspect O my propheticke soule diuines much ill Well I will flie but heare this stratagem It shall be rumor'd i' th eare o' th Court I was found dead I 'll put a new shape on And liue alone to heare how things goe here Pyl. Nay not alone Orestes whilst I liue Shouldst make thy bed vpon the rigid Alps Or frozen Caucasus wrapt in sheets of snow I 'd freeze vnto thy side we will tell tales Of Troian warriers and deposed Kings Tell of strange shipwracke of old Priams fall How mad Andromacha did teare her hayre When the wild horses tore braue Hectors limbs Wee 'll thinke they all doe come and weepe with vs Griefe loues companions and it helpeth woe When it heares euery one grone forth his Oh It easeth much and our plaints fall more sweet When a whole consort in one tune doe meet The halfe-dead ship-man which hath shipwracke borne Seeing many drown'd it makes him lesse to mourne It made Deucalion care the lesse to die When hee had all the world in company Thus we will sit and our teares turnes shall keepe Thou for thy father I for thee will weepe If actors on the stage hauing no cause But for to winne an hearers hands applause Can let fall teares wee 'll thinke wee Actors be And onely doe but play griefes Tragedie Orest. O but deare friend should we but act a part The play being ended passion left the heart And we should share of ioy but my whole age Must neuer moue from off this wofull Stage But we must take our leaue Vncle farewell Remember what I spake and Sister you Must tarry here my thoughts shall busied be To finde the man that let my father blood Can I but finde Aegystheus did consent To spill one drop O I would pierce his heart With venom'd daggers and so butcher him That all Apollo's skill in physicke hearbs Nor Aesculapius th' Epidaurian God Should keepe his soule out of Enio's hand Come my deare friend to all the rest farewell If heauen relate it not I 'll know 't from hell Exeunt Pylades Orestes SCEN. IIII Enter Aegysteus Clytemnestra
Mysander Strophiues Electra another way Aegyst. WHat is Orestes fled sure there 's some plot If you deare Queen but search Elect well You 'll finde she knowes whither her brothers gone Clyt. If in her heart there be but lodg'd a thought Vnknowne to mee this hand shall rip her brest And search her inparts but I 'll finde it out Mysander call Electra Aegyst. O were that moat tane from our comforts beams No cloud could euer then o'rshade our ioyes His life must be cut off without delay Mischiefe by mischiefe findes the safest vvay But here 's Electra Clyt. Why how now Minion what a blubbering still Huswife pray vvhere 's your brother where 's my sonne Elect. Mother pray wher 's my father wher 's your husband Haile to my gratious Queene here 's one at doore Enter Strophius and speaks Brings you a message hee vvill not relate To any but your selfe he saies t is sad Clyt. Why the more dismall the more vvelcome 't is But as for you Elect. Good mother doe your worst No plague can euer make me more accurst Nothing is worse then death that I 'll not flye Clyt. Yes life is worse to those that faine vvould die But vvhere 's the messenger SCEN. V. Enter Nuncius WHat whirlewind rising from the wombe of earth Doth raise huge Pelion vnto Ossa's top That both being heapt I stand vpon them both And with an hundred Stentor-drowning voyce Relate vnto the world the saddest tale That euer burdned the weake iawes of man Aegyst. Why what portentuous newes Amaze vs not Tell vs what e'r it be Nun. Were my minde settled would the gellid feare That freezeth vp my sense set free my speech I would vnfold a tale which makes my heart Throb in my intralls when I seeme to see 't Clyt. Relate it quickly hold 's not in suspence Nun. Vpon the mount of yonder rising cliffe Which the earth hath made a bulwarke for the sea Whose peerlesse head is from the streames so high That whosoe'r lookes downe his braine will swim With a vertigo The space remou'd so farre The obiect from the eye that a tall ship Seem'd a swift flying bird vpon this top Saw I two men making complaints to heauen One's voyce distinctly still cry'd Father King Great Agamemnon whose diuiner soule Fled from thy corps exil'd by buchers hands His friend still sought to keepe his dying life With words of comfort that it should not rush Too violently vpon the hands of Fate He deafe as sea to which he made his plaints Still cryed out Agamemnon I will come And finde thy blessed soule where e'r it walke In what faire Tempe of Elisium So e'r it be my soule shall find it out With that his friend knit him within his armes Striuing to hold him but when t was no boot They hand in hand thus plung'd into the maine Strait they arose and striu'd me thought for life But swelling Neptune not regarding friends Wrapt their embraced limbs in following waues Vntill at last their deare departing soules Hastned to Styx and I no more cloud see Stro. O 't was Orestes 't was my Pylades Which arme in arme did follow him to death Elect. O my Orestes O my dearest brother 'T is he 't is he that thus hath drown'd himselfe Aegyst. Why then if Agamemnon and his sonne Haue brought their leafe of life to the full end I am Thyestes sonne and the next heyre To sit in Argos Throne of Maiesty Thanks to our Alpheus sea who as' t'ad striu'd To gratifie Aegystheus rais'd his force And gathered all his waters to one place They might be deepe inough to drowne Orestes But come my Queene let vs command a feast To get a kingdome who 'ld not thinke it good To swim vnto it through a sea of blood ACT. III SCEN. I. Enter Tyndarus Misander Tynd. OVr daughter send for vs how fares she well She mournes I 'm sure for her husbands death Mis. My Lord shee tooke it sadly at the first But time hath lessen'd it Tynd. I griefe soone ends That flowes in teares they still are womens friends But how is 't rumord now in Argos though That Agamemnon dyde Mys. Why hee was old And death thought best to seise on him at home Tynd. 'T was a long home hee got by comming home Well well Misander I like not the course The peoples murmure makes my cheekes to blush Mis. My gracious Lord who trusts their idle murmure Must neuer let the blush goe from his cheeke They are like flagges growing on muddy banks Whose weake thin heads blowne with one blast of winde They all will shake and bend themselues one way Great mindes must not esteeme what small tongues say All things in state must euer haue this end The vulgar should both suffer and commend If not for loue for feare great maiesty Should doe those things the vulgar dare not see Tynd. O Sir but those that doe commend for feare Doe in their hearts a secret hatred beare Euer learne this the truest praise indeed Must from the heart and not from words proceed I feare some foule play doth Aegystheus meane Then totally for to inuest himselfe In Agamemnons seat Where 's young Orestes Mis. Why my Lord hee for the great griefe conceiu'd Being young not knowing well to rule himselfe With sway of reason ranne vpon his death And threw himselfe with my Lord Strophius sonne Into the midst of Alpheus so was drown'd Tynd. How took my daughter that Mis. Why wisely too And like her selfe not being in despaire Her royall wombe will bring forth many more Shall be as deare as e'r Orestes was Tynd. I feare heauen cannot looke with equall eyes Vpon so many deaths but meanes to send Plague after plague for in a wretched state One ill begets another dismall Fate But goe and tell my daughter I will come And helpe to solemnize her nuptiall night Her hasty wedding and the old Kings neglect Makes my coniecturall soule some ill suspect Exeunt SCEN. II. Enter Orestes and Pylades Orest. IF euer God lent any thing to earth Whereby it seem'd to symphatize with heauen It is this sacred friendship Gordian knot Which Kings nor Gods nor Fortune can vndoe O what Horoscopus what constellation Held in our birth so great an influence Which one affection in two mindes vnites How hath my wo beene thine my fatall ill Hath still beene parted and one share beene thine Pyl. Why dearest friend suppose my case were thine And I had lost a father wouldst not thou In the like sort participate my griefe Orest. Yes witnesse heauen I would Pyl. So now thou hast lost a father Orest. True Pylades thou putst me well in mind I haue lost a father a deare deare father A King a braue old King a noble souldier And yet he was murdered O my forgetfull soule Why should not I now drawe my vengefull sword And strait-way sheath it in the murderers heart Minos should neuer haue vacation Whilst any of our progeny remain'd Well I
blacke deede indeede and past all thought Orest. O hell it selfe has not the patterne to 't Some stench some fogs vapours stop their breath Exhald from out the dampish wombe of Styx Did euer foule disastrous friendlike hands Cast vp so huge a heape of hell-bred mischiefe Were I to diue to 'th depth of Phlageton Or fetch young Ganimed from the armes of Ioue To rend Proserpina from Pluto's bed Or take the vulture from off Titius heart And set it on my mothers I 'd do 't I 'll breake ope doores and nayle 'em to their bed Harka reuenge calls mee I I come I come Pyl. Nay still outragious friend good now containe Your heady fury in wisedomes reyne Harken to my aduice Orest. I will deare friend Thou hast plaid musique to my dolefull soule And when my heart was tympaniz'd with griefe Thou lauedst out some into thy heart from mine And kepst it so from bursting thou hast tide With thy kinde counsell as these loosned strings They should not cracke asunder with their weight Pyl. Then listen now the best plot I can thinke Is this wee here will liue a while vnknowne Orestes thy profession shall be physicke I as your friend t' company you at Court Carry it neatly learne a few strange words Palliate your woe a while and coope vp griefe You may in time so minister to the King Physiques occasion fit reuenge may bring Orest. Rarely inuented I 'll speake Amphorismes Sublim'd purgations Quintessence distill'd Each dose I giue shall make a heart to bleed And proue a true Physician so indeed Enter Misander hauing o'r-heard their talke Mis. 'T was my good Genius guided me here now To heare conspiracie wherefore I 'll attach them Saue you Gentlemen Ore Saue you too if you please Pyl. Sir 't was small manners to interrupt our talke And giue no warning of your being neere Mis. Warning you shall haue warning yes I know I heard you both and vnderstood your plot You 'll turne Physician Sir and giue rare glisters Shall worke like Stibium to purge out hearts You thought to act well true Physicians parts Ore Therefore on thee our medicine first shall worke Mis. Help murder Ore Nay Parasite I 'll gag you Stabs him You shall not fawne againe or wag your tayle When the King nods Mis. O help me I am slaine Stop his breath quickly if but he be dead We may escape the danger of the treason Nay he is silent O but we are beset SCEN. III Enter a Lord and others at the out-cry Lor. LOoke out me thought I heard one cry out murder Some voyce I am sure did disturbe the court It was Misanders voyce me thought that cried Spies him dead And see hee 's slaine one whom the Kings esteeme Did ranke among the best there are the murderers Fellowes how durst you thus abuse the court Goe haste to 'th Kings tell him the men be here Pylad. Gentlemen we as louers to the court Came here as strangers for to see the King This man being comming out too soone for vs And for himselfe vs'd vs vnciuilly We haue been gentlemen though our Fortunes now Haue put on beggars weeds vpon our backs Who answering in the same sort he propos'd He strooke vs and men cannot indure blows So thinking much to be strooke againe He grew so hot he drew and made a Stab At which encounter both inclosing him 'Twixt vs he tooke a wound worse then we thought To giue for we did thinke to haue giuen none But since 't is thus we must appeale to th' King Lor. Yes and here comes his Maiesty in person SCEN. IV. Enter Aegystous with a guard Aegy A Guard there on vs here is murder don What is Misander kild our trusty seruant Where are the villaines Orest. O hold good heart harke harke he cals vs villaines Aegyst What is the matter speake how came he dead They shall die two deaths that did cause him one Orest. O I am now vndon he must sit iudge To condemne vs that should massacre him Pyl. Nay keepe a temper hold good friend a while Lord My gracious Soueraigne these two be the men Which haue confess'd the deed AEgyst. Are you the men which thus abus'd our state Was 't one or both if both you both shall die If one that one we are iust in our decree SCEN. V. Enter Clyt. Tynd. Strophius Electra WHat is my Queene come here to heare the cause Wee 'll then ascend and iudge them instantly Ascends the throne Or. O crack my eye-strings let these balls drop out Or the quick sights like darts fly to their souls And pierce their entralls he King my mother Queen The Briseis and Achilles that in my dreame We come to be condemnd amongst our friends I will to speake to them Electra's there And Strophius your old father Pylades Pyl. Shew thy selfe valerous o'recome thy selfe If we be known we surely are condemn'd Aegyst. Father Lord Strophius sit and heare the cause Clyt. Why my Lord what is 't makes the busines thus Aegyst. My queene shall strait way know bring them away Although it is not fallen out of our minde Of a free act or pardon of all faults Committed in the date of such a time Our hand of mercy must not be so soft To couer or'e with gentle lenity Such vlcerous sores as these there is no place For mercy left murder must not find grace Therefore our doome is past one needs must die Blood still for blood vnto the gods will cry Orest Then if thy doome be spent great King here stands The man that did it shewing his guilty hands Pylad. O hold thy doome a while it was not he His serious studies in the learned Arts Hearing acute Philosophers dispute 'twixt life and death and of a future state Would faine haste to it but the man was I Beleeue not him 't was his desire to die Orest. No King 't is he which in his desperate thoughts Would loose the bands betwixt his soule and him Ones selfe against ones selfe is witnes store My selfe confesses what wouldst thou haue more kneels Pyl. Beleeue him not vpon my knees I vow These hands are only branded with the guilt And for ones blood let not two liues be spilt Orest. And on my knees I the like oath doe take I gaue the stab my dagger 's bloody yet Pylad. That was my dagger King he took 't from me Or. He do's me wrong by heauen 't was euer mine Aegyst. This doth amaze vs I ne're yet saw two Turns Rhetoricians so to plead for death Would not the pardon of this odious fact Like a foule stench or an vnwholesome ayre Send an infectious vapour through the land And choake vp Iustice this fidelity Should for this one time set two murderers free Cly. Now good my loue me thinkes I pitty them And prethee for my sake I know them not Abate thy edge of Iustice for this once Orest. O what she spoke to dambe it had been better Aegyst. My
'de see my mother burnt before I de goe Why shouldst thou bring her she would stifle thee Stifle thee in thy bed as my mother did Pylad. Still harping on thy mother Orest. Harping no Let Orpheus harpe O I she was she was A very very Harpie Pyl. Thus madnes playes And keeps a certaine measure in his words Orest. O I suckt out my mothers dearest blood I did indeed O she plagues me for 't now O I must goe lie downe in Tytius place Ixion too he Sir would faine resigne I scorne your petty plagues I 'll haue a Worse O the vulture the wheele the vulture Pyl. See how his conscious thoughts like fiends of hell Doe arme themselues and lash his guilty soule He see 's no vulture nor no Scorpion strikes Yet doth his conscience whip his bloody heart He needs no witnesses he hath within A thousand thoughts which testifie his sin No punishment so strickt no deadly smart As priuate guilt that smiteth on the heart Orest. I did I confesse I did I kild them all Ript vp the wombe that bare me nay I did O Tantalus thy plague some meate some meate Who pulls those apples hence let them alone Nay sinke to the bottom I will follow thee Lies downe to drinke The riuer 's drie my mother hath drunke all Pyl. Alas come goe with me we will finde drinke Orest. Is Pluto's buttry ope his drinks too hot I doubt 't will scald me but I 'll taste on 't yet Th' Eumenides stand to whip me as I goe Nay I will passe you I will out-slip them all Exit currens Pyl. See in his conscience lies hels punishment Our own thoughts iudges none are innocent Exit SCEN. VI. Enter 2. Lords 1 Lord WE that haue here ben born to see this change May leaue the court and tell our children tales Of the dire fall of Inachus great house The young Prince mad the Princesse kild her selfe Old Strophius dead from griefe and murder heapt Corps vpon corps as if they ment t' inuite All hell to supper or som Iouiall night 2 Lor. Nay but my Lord this is most pittifull That the yong Prince should thus from dore to dore Beg for his foode and yet none dare to giue I saw him wandring yesterday alone Flying from euery crow or pratling Pie Crying out mother and as if there had Tormenting Furies following him with fraud And truth I thought to tell old Tyndarus To moue his ruthfull yeeres to pitty him And will you ioyne petitioner with me Wee 'll tell the cause 't is good to ease misery 1 Lord My Lord I like your motion and will ioyne For Agamemnons sake my honor'd Master Exeunt SCEN. VII. Enter Orestes Pylades with naked rapiers Orest. MY Fury leaues me now I 'me at my last And now me thinks thou truely art a friend Now with vndaunted spirit preuent my griefe And let thy rapier drinke blood greedily As if it lou'd it cause it is thy friend Now rid me of my woe thy friendly vow Neuer did truely shew it selfe till now Pyl. Why then deare friend I thus erect this arme And will be strong to thee as thou to me Wee 'll looke vpon our deathes with better face Then others doe on life come Tyndarus see We scorne to liue when all our friends are dead Nor shall thy Fury make base famine be The executioner to my dearest friend Whilst I can kill him therefore spight of thee Wee 'll free our selues past all calamity Orest. Yes Pylades we will beguile our time And make him search through euery nooke a' th world If he in all his race can euer spie Two that like vs did liue like vs did die But we delay our death now brauely come And the last parting word shall be strike home they run at one another run again Pyl. O brauely strook deare friend yet once again Orst. Yes at one thrust two friends must not be slain O how I loue these wounds heauen dropping showers When the outragious dogge makes clouds of dust Vpon the thirsty earth come not more sweet Then the blest streames of blood thy rapier raines Hence weapon for my loynes now scorne all props But my friends armes O beare good leggs a while The weight of murder sits vpon my soule And bends my staggering ioynts vnto the earth Pyl. Haste haste I faint but O yet let my strength Be Atlas to sustaine the falling world Breath breath sweet vapours of two trusty hearts And let our breaths ascend to heauen before To make a roome hard by the frozen pole Where that our winged soules shall mount and sit More glorious then the Concubines of loue Wreath'd with a crowne of rich enamel'd starres Leauing all ages to deplore our death That friendships abstract perish with our breath Orest. Fly thou best part of man where Hecate Borne on the swarthy shoulders of the Euen Sits in a groue of oakes till gray eye'd morne Bids her to throw off nights blacke Canopie Pyl. Wil 't die before me Stay stay I come Orest. O graspe me then our names like Gemini Shall make new starres for to adorne the skie Is thy breath gone Pyl. O yes 't is almost past Then both together thus wee 'll breath our last They fall downe dead embracing each other SCEN. VIII. Enter in haste Tyndarus Lords with others Tynd. WEnt they this way my Lords you moue mee much Could I find him now I would seat him new In his right Kingdome which doth weigh downe mee 1 Lord I see my Lord Orestes and his friend Without your leaue haue made themselues an end Tynd. Then now is Argos Court like to some stage When the sad plot fills it with murdred Trunckes And none are left aliue but onely one To aske the kinde spectators plaudite All else haue bid valete to the world The man reseru'd for that is Tyndarus Who thus hath seen his childrens childrens end His Grandchild a bad sonne a most deare friend The Scene must now be ouerflow'd with grones Each man sits downe to waile his priuate mones One for the Queen doth weep one for the King All taste the bitter waters of this Spring The Nurse bewails the child that part she beares All haue their subiects to bedew with teares Each one yet haue but one but all of mee Challenge a part in griefes sad sympathy Orestes Clytemnstra I must call These all for mine thus must I weepe for all Let none belieue this deed or if they doe Let them belieue this punishment then too 'T is vile to hate a Father but such loue As breeds a hate to 'th mother worse doth proue Our life consists of ayre our state of winde All things we leaue behind vs which wee find Sauing our faults witnesse Orestes here VVho was his owne tormentor his owne feare VVho flying all yet could not fly him selfe But needs must shipwrack vpon murders shelfe And so his brest made hard with miserie He grew himselfe to be his enemy Thus griefe and gladnesse still by turnes do come But pleasure leastwhile doth possesse the roome Long nights of griefe may last but lo one day Of shining comfort slideth soone away He whom all feare on earth must feare a fate For all our powers are subordinate Three howres space thus well can represent Vices contriu'd and murders punishment A Monarchs life can in this little space Shew all the pompe that all the time doth grace His risings and his falls and in one span Of time can shew the vanity of man For none of vs can so command the powers That we may say to morrow shall be ours Now Fortunes wheele is turn'd and time doth call To solemnize this friendly funerall No force so great no so disaster wrong As can vnknit the bands which holdeth strong Vnited hearts who since they thus are dead One roome one tombe shall hold them buried And as these friends ioyn'd hands to beare their Fate So we desire you to imitate VVho since they all are dead we needs must craue Your gentle hands to bring them to their graue THE END