Chapter: SCENE II
          HIPPOLYTUS, ARICIA, ISMENE


          HIPPOLYTUS
          Lady, ere I go
          My duty bids me tell you of your change
          Of fortune. My worst fears are realized;
          My sire is dead. Yes, his protracted absence
          Was caused as I foreboded. Death alone,
          Ending his toils, could keep him from the world
          Conceal'd so long. The gods at last have doom'd
          Alcides' friend, companion, and successor.
          I think your hatred, tender to his virtues,
          Can hear such terms of praise without resentment,
          Knowing them due. One hope have I that soothes
          My sorrow: I can free you from restraint.
          Lo, I revoke the laws whose rigour moved
          My pity; you are at your own disposal,
          Both heart and hand; here, in my heritage,
          In Troezen, where my grandsire Pittheus reign'd
          Of yore and I am now acknowledged King,
          I leave you free, free as myself,--and more.

          ARICIA
          Your kindness is too great, 'tis overwhelming.
          Such generosity, that pays disgrace
          With honour, lends more force than you can think
          To those harsh laws from which you would release me.

          HIPPOLYTUS
          Athens, uncertain how to fill the throne
          Of Theseus, speaks of you, anon of me,
          And then of Phaedra's son.

          ARICIA
          Of me, my lord?

          HIPPOLYTUS
          I know myself excluded by strict law:
          Greece turns to my reproach a foreign mother.
          But if my brother were my only rival,
          My rights prevail o'er his clearly enough
          To make me careless of the law's caprice.
          My forwardness is check'd by juster claims:
          To you I yield my place, or, rather, own
          That it is yours by right, and yours the sceptre,
          As handed down from Earth's great son, Erechtheus.
          Adoption placed it in the hands of Aegeus:
          Athens, by him protected and increased,
          Welcomed a king so generous as my sire,
          And left your hapless brothers in oblivion.
          Now she invites you back within her walls;
          Protracted strife has cost her groans enough,
          Her fields are glutted with your kinsmen's blood
          Fatt'ning the furrows out of which it sprung
          At first. I rule this Troezen; while the son
          Of Phaedra has in Crete a rich domain.
          Athens is yours. I will do all I can
          To join for you the votes divided now
          Between us.

          ARICIA
          Stunn'd at all I hear, my lord,
          I fear, I almost fear a dream deceives me.
          Am I indeed awake? Can I believe
          Such generosity? What god has put it
          Into your heart? Well is the fame deserved
          That you enjoy! That fame falls short of truth!
          Would you for me prove traitor to yourself?
          Was it not boon enough never to hate me,
          So long to have abstain'd from harbouring
          The enmity--

          HIPPOLYTUS
          To hate you? I, to hate you?
          However darkly my fierce pride was painted,
          Do you suppose a monster gave me birth?
          What savage temper, what envenom'd hatred
          Would not be mollified at sight of you?
          Could I resist the soul-bewitching charm--

          ARICIA
          Why, what is this, Sir?

          HIPPOLYTUS
          I have said too much
          Not to say more. Prudence in vain resists
          The violence of passion. I have broken
          Silence at last, and I must tell you now
          The secret that my heart can hold no longer.
          You see before you an unhappy instance
          Of hasty pride, a prince who claims compassion
          I, who, so long the enemy of Love,
          Mock'd at his fetters and despised his captives,
          Who, pitying poor mortals that were shipwreck'd,
          In seeming safety view'd the storms from land,
          Now find myself to the same fate exposed,
          Toss'd to and fro upon a sea of troubles!
          My boldness has been vanquish'd in a moment,
          And humbled is the pride wherein I boasted.
          For nearly six months past, ashamed, despairing,
          Bearing where'er I go the shaft that rends
          My heart, I struggle vainly to be free
          From you and from myself; I shun you, present;
          Absent, I find you near; I see your form
          In the dark forest depths; the shades of night,
          Nor less broad daylight, bring back to my view
          The charms that I avoid; all things conspire
          To make Hippolytus your slave. For fruit
          Of all my bootless sighs, I fail to find
          My former self. My bow and javelins
          Please me no more, my chariot is forgotten,
          With all the Sea God's lessons; and the woods
          Echo my groans instead of joyous shouts
          Urging my fiery steeds.

          Hearing this tale
          Of passion so uncouth, you blush perchance
          At your own handiwork. With what wild words
          I offer you my heart, strange captive held
          By silken jess! But dearer in your eyes
          Should be the offering, that this language comes
          Strange to my lips; reject not vows express'd
          So ill, which but for you had ne'er been form'd.




SCENE III
          HIPPOLYTUS, ARICIA, THERAMENES, ISMENE


          THERAMENES
          Prince, the Queen comes. I herald her approach.
          'Tis you she seeks.

          HIPPOLYTUS
          Me?

          THERAMENES
          What her thought may be
          I know not. But I speak on her behalf.
          She would converse with you ere you go hence.

          HIPPOLYTUS
          What shall I say to her? Can she expect--

          ARICIA
          You cannot, noble Prince, refuse to hear her,
          Howe'er convinced she is your enemy,
          Some shade of pity to her tears is due.

          HIPPOLYTUS
          Shall we part thus? and will you let me go,
          Not knowing if my boldness has offended
          The goddess I adore? Whether this heart,
          Left in your hands--

          ARICIA
          Go, Prince, pursue the schemes
          Your generous soul dictates, make Athens own
          My sceptre. All the gifts you offer me
          Will I accept, but this high throne of empire
          Is not the one most precious in my sight.




SCENE IV
          HIPPOLYTUS, THERAMENES


          HIPPOLYTUS
          Friend, is all ready?
          But the Queen approaches.
          Go, see the vessel in fit trim to sail.
          Haste, bid the crew aboard, and hoist the signal:
          Then soon return, and so deliver me
          From interview most irksome.

 Hippolytus enters and confirms Ismene's reports. Theseus is dead: Aricia is henceforth free to go where she pleases, to marry if she wills. But Hippolytus has more to add. Athens is uncertain whom to choose to succeed Theseus as its ruler: Phaedra's older son; Aricia; or himself. He himself is content to be king of Troezen; he feels that Aricia has the best right to Athens, and he is leaving immediately for Athens to declare his views and to unite their partisans to insure her victory. Aricia is overwhelmed. Such generosity, she says, makes her think she must be dreaming. Indeed, for her part, she has been grateful enough to Hippolytus in the past simply because he did not hate her like the rest of the court. Hippolytus exclaims that he could not resist her! Aricia is startled; Hippolytus hesitates, then plunges into a declaration of love. He has said more than he meant to; his common sense has been overwhelmed by the violence of his passion; but he loves her. He has long defied the power of love, but now love has had its revenge: For six months, he has been its slave. He is, he fears, a poor capture of which to boast, and he has expressed his love very awkwardly, but he has never spoken to anyone of love before and has had no practice at it. At this inconvenient moment, Theramenes arrives to tell Hippolytus that Phaedra is seeking an interview with him. Hippolytus is reluctant, but Aricia reminds him that he owes his father's widow this courtesy. Hippolytus consents, but protests that Aricia is departing without having given him an answer to his proposals. She replies, "Go, prince, and carry out your generous plans; make Athens my tributary: I accept all the gifts you seek to give me. But that great and glorious empire is not, in my eyes, the most cherished present you have offered me."

