And deathlike pallor overspreads her face.
⁠[Hippolytus hastens to raise her up in his arms.]
Lift up thy face, Speak out, my daughter, see,
Thine own Hippolytus embraces thee.
Phaedra [recovering from her faint]: Who gives me back to griefs, and
⁠floods again
My soul with heavy care? How well for me
Had I sunk down to death! 590
Hippolytus: ⁠But why, poor soul,
Dost thou lament the gift of life restored?
Phaedra [aside]: Come dare, attempt, fulfil thine own command.
Speak out, and fearlessly. Who asks in fear
Suggests a prompt refusal. Even now
The greater part of my offense is done.
Too late my present modesty. My love, 595
I know, is base; but if I persevere,
Perchance the marriage torch will hide my sin.
Success makes certain sins respectable.
Come now, begin.
⁠[To Hippolytus].
⁠Bend lower down thine ear,
I pray; if any comrade be at hand,
Let him depart, that we may speak alone. 600
Hippolytus: Behold, the place is free from witnesses.
Phaedra: My lips refuse to speak my waiting words;
A mighty force compels my utterance,
A mightier holds it back. Ye heavenly powers,
I call ye all to witness, what I wish— 605
Hippolytus: Thy heart desires and cannot tell its wish?
Phaedra: Light cares speak out, the weighty have no words.
Hippolytus: Into my ears, my mother, tell thy cares.
Phaedra: The name of mother is too proud and high;
My heart dictates some humbler name than that. 610
Pray call me sister—slave, Hippolytus.
Yes, slave I'd be. I'll bear all servitude;
And shouldst thou bid me tread the driven snows,
To walk along high Pindus' frozen peaks,
I'd not refuse; no, not if thou shouldst bid