[POLYPHONTES _comes forth, following_ MEROPE. _Laias_ Not so! thy heart would pay its moment's speech By silence ever after, for, behold! The King (I know him, even through many years) Follows the approaching Queen, who stops, as call'd. No lingering now! straight to the city I; Do thou, till for thine entrance to this house The happy moment comes, lurk here unseen Behind the shelter of thy father's tomb; Remove yet further off, if aught comes near. But, here while harbouring, on its margin lay, Sole offering that thou hast, locks from thy head; And fill thy leisure with an earnest prayer To his avenging Shade, and to the Gods Who under earth watch guilty deeds of men, To guide our vengeance to a prosperous close. [LAIAS _goes out_. POLYPHONTES, MEROPE, _and_ THE CHORUS _come forward. As they advance_, AEPYTUS, _who at first conceals himself behind the tomb, moves off the stage_. _Polyphontes_ (_To_ THE CHORUS) Set down your pitchers, maidens, and fall back! Suspend your melancholy rites awhile; Shortly ye shall resume them with your Queen. (_To_ MEROPE) I sought thee, Merope; I find thee thus, As I have ever found thee; bent to keep, By sad observances and public grief, A mournful feud alive, which else would die. I blame thee not, I do thy heart no wrong! Thy deep seclusion, thine unyielding gloom, Thine attitude of cold, estranged reproach, These punctual funeral honours, year by year Repeated, are in thee, I well believe, Courageous, faithful actions, nobly dared. But, Merope, the eyes of other men Read in these actions, innocent in thee, Perpetual promptings to rebellious hope, War-cries to faction, year by year renew'd, Beacons of vengeance, not to be let die. And me, believe it, wise men gravely blame, And ignorant men despise me, that I stand Passive, permitting thee what course thou wilt. Yes, the crowd mutters that remorseful fear And paralysing conscience stop my arm, When it should pluck thee from thy hostile way. All this I bear, for, what I seek, I know: Peace, peace is what I seek, and public calm; Endless extinction of unhappy hates, Union cemented for this nation's weal. And even now, if to behold me here, This day, amid these rites, this black-robed train, Wakens, O Queen! remembrance in thy heart Too wide at variance with the peace I seek-- I will not violate thy noble grief, The prayer I came to urge I will defer. _Merope_ This day, to-morrow, yesterday, alike I am, I shall be, have been, in my mind Tow'rd thee; toward thy silence as thy speech. Speak, therefore, or keep silence, which thou wilt. _Polyphontes_