Alcestis
Euripides
Euripides. The Plays of Euripides, Translated into English Prose from the Text of Paley. Vol. I. Coleridge, Edward P., translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1906.
- Thou hast lost a noble wife; who shall gainsay it?
- Life henceforth hath lost all charm for me.
- Time will soothe the smart; as yet thy grief is young.
- Time! use that word, if death and time are one.
- A new wife and a longing for a fresh marriage will stay thy sorrow.
- Peace! What words are thine? I ne’er of thee had thought it.
- What! wilt never wed, but preserve thy widowed state?
- There is no woman living that shall share my couch.
- Dost think that this will help the dead at all?
- My reverence she deserves, where’er she is.
- I praise thee, yes; but still thou bringest on thyself the charge of folly.
- So that thou never call’st me bridegroom, praise me if thou wilt.
- I praise thee for thy loyalty to thy wife.
- Come death! if ever I betray her, dead though she be.
- Well, take this maiden to the shelter of thy noble house.
- Spare me, I entreat thee by Zeus, thy sire.
- Be sure, if thou refuse, ’twill be a sad mistake.
- If I comply, remorse will gnaw my heart.
- Yield; for in god’s good time maybe thou wilt give me thanks.
- Ah! would thou hadst never won her in the games!