thing. The thought hath poisoned all my years.
  Howbeit, I now will make the burial due
To this dead Queen. Be assembled, all of you;
And, after, raise your triumph-song to greet
This pitiless Power that yawns beneath our feet.
  Meantime let all in Thessaly who dread
My sceptre join in mourning for the dead
With temples sorrow-shorn and sable weed.
Ye chariot-lords, ye spurrers of the steed,
Shear close your horses' manes! Let there be found
Through all my realm no lute, nor lyre, nor sound
Of piping, till twelve moons are at an end.
For never shall I lose a closer friend,
Nor braver in my need. And worthy is she
Of honour, who alone hath died for me.

[The body of ALCESTIS is carried into the house by mourners; ADMETUS follows it.]

CHORUS.
Daughter of Pelias, fare thee well,
  May joy be thine in the Sunless Houses!
For thine is a deed which the Dead shall tell
  Where a King black-browed in the gloom carouses;
    And the cold grey hand at the helm and oar
    Which guideth shadows from shore to shore,
Shall bear this day o'er the Tears that Well,
  A Queen of women, a spouse of spouses.

Minstrels many shall praise thy name
  With lyre full-strung and with voices lyreless,
When Mid-Moon riseth, an orbèd flame,
  And from dusk to dawning the dance is tireless;
    And Carnos cometh to Sparta's call,
    And Athens shineth in festival;
For thy death is a song, and a fullness of fame,
  Till the heart of the singer is left desireless.

LEADER.
Would I could reach thee, oh,
  Reach thee and save, my daughter,
Starward from gulfs of Hell,
Past gates, past tears that swell,
Where the weak oar climbs thro'
  The night and the water!

SECOND ELDER.
Belovèd and lonely one,
  Who feared not dying:
Gone in another's stead
Alone to the hungry dead:
Light be the carven stone
  Above thee lying!

THIRD ELDER.
Oh, he who should seek again
  A new bride after thee,
Were loathed of thy children twain,
  And loathed of me.

LEADER.
Word to his mother sped,
  Praying to her who bore him;
Word to his father, old,
Heavy with years and cold;
"Quick, ere your son be dead!
  What dare ye for him?"

SECOND ELDER.
Old, and they dared not; grey,
  And they helped him never!
'Twas she, in her youth and pride,
Rose up for her lord and died.
Oh, love of two hearts that stay
  One-knit for ever….

THIRD ELDER.
'Tis rare in the world! God send
  Such bride in my house to be;
She should live life to the end,
  Not fail through me.

[As the song ceases there enters a stranger, walking strongly, but travel-stained, dusty, and tired. His lion-skin and club show him to be HERACLES.]

HERACLES.
Ho, countrymen! To Pherae am I come
By now? And is Admetus in his home?

LEADER.
Our King is in his house, Lord Heracles.—
But say, what need brings thee in days like these
To Thessaly and Pherae's wallèd ring?

HERACLES.
A quest I follow for the Argive King.

LEADER.
What prize doth call thee, and to what far place?

HERACLES.
The horses of one Diomede, in Thrace.

LEADER.
But how…? Thou know'st not? Is he strange to thee?

HERACLES.
Quite strange. I ne'er set foot in Bistony.

LEADER.
Not without battle shalt thou win those steeds.

HERACLES.
So be it! I cannot fail my master's needs.

LEADER.
'Tis slay or die, win or return no more.

HERACLES.
Well, I have looked on peril's face before.

LEADER.
What profit hast thou in such manslaying?

HERACLES.
I shall bring back the horses to my King.

LEADER.
'Twere none such easy work to bridle them.

HERACLES.
Not easy? Have they nostrils breathing flame?

LEADER.
They tear men's flesh; their jaws are swift with blood.

HERACLES.
Men's flesh! 'Tis mountain wolves', not horses' food!

LEADER.
Thou wilt see their mangers clogged with blood, like mire.

HERACLES.
And he who feeds such beasts, who was his sire?

LEADER.
Ares, the war-lord of the Golden Targe.

HERACLES.
Enough!—This labour fitteth well my large
Fortune, still upward, still against the wind.
How often with these kings of Ares' kind
Must I do battle? First the dark wolf-man,
Lycaon; then 'twas he men called The Swan;
And now this man of steeds!… Well, none shall see
Alcmena's son turn from his enemy.

LEADER.
Lo, as we speak, this land's high governor,
Admetus, cometh from his castle door.

Enter ADMETUS from the Castle.

ADMETUS.
Zeus-born of Perseid line, all joy to thee!

HERACLES.
Joy to Admetus, Lord of Thessaly!

ADMETUS.
Right welcome were she!—But thy love I know.

HERACLES.
But why this mourning hair, this garb of woe?

ADMETUS (in a comparatively light tone).
There is a burial I must make to-day.

HERACLES.
God keep all evil from thy children!

ADMETUS.
                                      Nay,
My children live.

HERACLES.
                   Thy father, if 'tis he,
Is ripe in years.

ADMETUS.
                   He liveth, friend, and she
Who bore me.

HERACLES.
              Surely not thy wife? 'Tis not
Alcestis?

ADMETUS (his composure a little shaken).
           Ah; two answers share my thought,
Questioned of her.

HERACLES.
                   Is she alive or dead?

ADMETUS.
She is, and is not; and my heart hath bled
Long years for her.

HERACLES.
                     I understand no more.
Thy words are riddles.

ADMETUS.
                        Heard'st thou not of yore
The doom that she must meet?

HERACLES.
                              I know thy wife
Has sworn to die for thee.

ADMETUS.
                            And is it life,
To live with such an oath hung o'er her head?

HERACLES (relieved).
Ah,
Weep not too soon, friend. Wait till she be dead.

ADMETUS.
He dies who is doomed to die; he is dead who dies.

HERACLES.
The two are different things in most men's eyes.

ADMETUS.
Decide thy way, lord, and let me