2ND SEMI-CHORUS.-- Yet a gift from the Gods was breath, Not a curse, O sister, O friend! For the search of my heart hath shown How life is sweet to the taste; And the sorrow that waits in the end For the feet which haste Is death! God gave me a little breath: Shall I not cleave to it now? (_Enter_ ALCESTIS _leaning upon the hands of_ WOMEN, _and accompanied by her_ NURSE. _They seat her upon the throne. She remains motionless._) 1ST SEMI-CHORUS.-- And thou, that returnest to earth, For our lord’s delight, and this land’s, Is there no light on thy brow, No warmth in thy hands, No gladness of heart, when thou hearest The voice of our mirth? 2ND SEMI-CHORUS.-- Lo, robes for the bridal thou wearest, Though a shroud was thy robe of late; And home, O Beloved and fairest, Thou comest, redeemed from Fate. (_A pause._ ALCESTIS _makes no response_.) 1ST SEMI-CHORUS.-- Ye say that the world is old: But spring and the years are young, And summer to earth gives joy. Surely to man, not alone For grief, hath this tale been told, When the song of the bridal is sung In the heart of maiden and boy? NURSE.-- O women, speak to her! Let living fruit Be on your tongues! These lips to me are mute, And the eyes know me not! LEADER.-- How hath it come? NURSE.-- Death’s hold is loosed; but mouth and heart stay dumb. Lo, from the grave she looks, yet sees not life! LEADER.-- What woe thou tellest! Shall not the name of wife Or mother move her? NURSE.-- She hath heard them all: And even as wind and water, or the call Of lowing herds, the murmur of them goes by. SEMI-CHORUS.-- I know a valley in the hills, Where echoes in the rocks and rills Make melody; and there the cry Of flocks is heard; and clamorous lambs Bleat and hearken for their dams. Whom when they hear, from far or nigh, Swiftly along the meads they leap, To where the milky udders swell; And stoop, and thrust, and, nuzzling deep, Under the heavy fleeces creep. Then for them the world is well. SEMI-CHORUS.-- I know a pool Of waters clear and deep, With wood-boughs overhung And mosses green; There in the cool At noon, when song-birds sleep, Oft have I seen The swan amid her young. LEADER.-- I know a bed Fair-strewn with linen white, Where in my sight One that I loved lay dead. Her hands and her feet were bound; With myrtle her head we crowned; Fair she lay as a bride, And heeded us not. Her children clung round her and cried; And her lord, bewailing his lot, Bowed down at her side: And we wept, because she had died! (ALCESTIS _rises to her feet, and stands with half-lifted arms in an attitude of prayer_.) NURSE.-- Now thou hast touched her! Lo, the unlighted wick Of life stands there revealed! Go, women, quick! Bring in the children!