diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 77760-0.txt | 3446 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 77760-h/77760-h.htm | 4945 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 77760-h/images/cbr-5.jpg | bin | 0 -> 11748 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 77760-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 250394 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 77760-h/images/frontispiece.jpg | bin | 0 -> 92453 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
8 files changed, 8407 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/77760-0.txt b/77760-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a52829a --- /dev/null +++ b/77760-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3446 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77760 *** + + + + +Transcriber’s Notes: + + Underscores “_”; before and after a word or phrase indicate _italics_ + in the original text. + Equal signs “=” before and after a word or phrase indicate =bold= + in the original text. + Small capitals have been converted to SOLID capitals. + Deprecated spellings have been preserved. + Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected. + + + + +[Illustration: _Photograph by Messrs. Alexander Corbett, Orchard +Street, W._ + +Miss Gertrude Kingston in the Title Rôle of Lysistrata.] + + + + + LYSISTRATA + + A MODERN PARAPHRASE + FROM + THE GREEK OF ARISTOPHANES + + BY + LAURENCE HOUSMAN + + LONDON: + THE WOMAN’S PRESS + + 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD, W.C. + 1911 + + + CHARACTERS + + LYSISTRATA } + CALONICE } _Athenians._ + MYRRHINA } + STRATYLLIS } + + LAMPITO _A Spartan._ + + 1ST LEADER OF CHORUS + 2ND LEADER OF CHORUS + 3RD LEADER OF CHORUS + CHORUS OF WOMEN + 1ST ATHENIAN WOMAN + 2ND ATHENIAN WOMAN + 3RD ATHENIAN WOMAN + 4TH ATHENIAN WOMAN + + _Athenian, Spartan, Bœotian, and Corinthian Women._ + + PEACE + CINESIAS _Myrrhina’s Husband._ + MANES _His Servant._ + CHILD _Son to Cinesias._ + + A COMMITTEE-MAN + SPARTAN HERALD + 1ST SPARTAN AMBASSADOR + 2ND SPARTAN AMBASSADOR + 1ST LEADER OF CHORUS + 2ND LEADER OF CHORUS + 3RD LEADER OF CHORUS + 4TH LEADER OF CHORUS + CHORUS OF OLD MEN + POLICEMEN + ATHENIANS + SPARTANS + + SCENE: _A street in Athens, with steps leading to the + Acropolis_. + + [_Dramatic Rights Reserved_]. + + + + +Lysistrata + + +SCENE I. + + TIME: _Before dawn._ + + (_Enter_ LYSISTRATA. _She walks to and fro + and looks anxiously to right and left._) + + LYS. None here! The place is void, the streets are dumb: + Though I have called, the women have not come! + Ah, had it been for Bacchus, or for Pan, + Or Her who casts her woman-wiles on man,-- + White foam-born Aphrodite--swift and loud + With beat of drums had thronged the giddy crowd + To do them honour! Now I stand alone + Uncomraded; and these soft hearts are stone + While stricken Greece goes stumbling to her death. + Yet here comes one! + + (_Enter_ CALONICE, _very slowly, dragging her + feet, yawning and still dressing herself_.) + + What! Are you out of breath + With running, Calonice? Good, indeed! + O swift of foot, I praise you for your speed! + + CAL. Nay, peace, Lysistrata! What trouble now? + Why look you sad, my child? That darkened brow + Becomes you not. + + (_Tries to embrace her._ LYSISTRATA _turns away_.) + + LYS. Oh, Calonice, flame + Eats at my heart, and wrath, and heavy shame + That there be women whom men can rightly hold + In base esteem. + + CAL. (_adjusting her dress._) Aye, true! + + LYS. So when ’twas told + How here a voice should speak and bid them rouse + For Athen’s sake, naught did they care! They drowse + Lapt in fond dreams. + + CAL. Well, they must sleep sometimes! + + LYS. Yes, and make sleep the cover of their crimes! + Not sleep alone-- + + CAL. “Not sleep _alone_!” + + LYS. --but sloth and slavish lust + Have made them tame! + + CAL. Ah, give them time! You trust + My word for it, they’ll come! Often, no doubt, + ’Tis difficult for women to get out: + For those with husbands have enough to do; + And servants need a looking after, too; + And then the children--one to put to bed, + And one to wash, another to be fed;-- + Ah! there’s no end to it! + + LYS. And yet, my friend, + To all these things now there must be an end. + There stands for us a stiffer load to bear. + + CAL. Than woman’s burden? Why, what is it? Where? + Lysistrata, belongs it ... to our trade? + + LYS. Touching alike the matron and the maid. + + CAL. (_with sudden comprehension_). Oh! Is that it? + What? Is it so you mean? + + LYS. Nay, there’s no man in it! Oh, had there been, + Out they’d have buzzed like flies to tainted flesh! + That which I have in mind is something fresh-- + Frost, and yet fire: a love which looks like hate, + Barren, yet breeding safety to the State. + + CAL. Surely a subtle thing, past women’s ken? + + LYS. Nay, not so far; yet past the thoughts of men. + The hope of Greece depends on women now. + + CAL. What, on us women? A frail hope, I vow! + Oh, what a pass! (_Turns away._) + + LYS. That wherein now we stand, + Surely is worse: for now on every hand, + State against State, we waste ourselves in war. + Soon shall the breed of Sparta be no more + Than a mere name; and Corinth by her seas + Will lie in ruins! + + CAL. Well, and are not these + The foes of Athens? + + LYS. Foes! the race which slew + With us the Persian? Athens will go, too, + When Sparta dies: for, Greece being drained of men + And emptied of her strength, we perish then + Beyond redemption! + + CAL. Aye, most miserably! + For without men where should we women be? + + LYS. Therefore I call on women to unite + And win for us salvation. + + CAL. What? To fight? + + LYS. A woman’s battle. + + CAL. Think you we can win? + + LYS. Word has gone forth: and let them but come in + To Athens from the North and Peloponnese, + The women in alliance shall save Greece. + + CAL. Oh! they won’t come! What, shall the Spartan wives + Join hands with _us_, while Spartans risk their lives + In war on Athens? Did I not hear of late + My husband say never was there such hate + As now ’twixt us and them? + + LYS. I have a plan + Of peace: each woman must subdue her man. + + CAL. What can a woman do, save to go dressed + In saffron robe, with loose Cimmerian vest + And sandalled feet? Can hands which ply their craft + On curl and comb, and ointment, hold the haft + Of weaponed war? (_Seats herself._) + + LYS. These are the very things + Wherewith to fight; from them salvation springs,-- + The saffron robe, the delicate sandalled feet, + The broidered vest, the curl, the ointment sweet! + + CAL. How? To what end shall these things help us here? + + LYS. (_rises_). So that henceforth no man shall lift a spear + Against his neighbour. + + CAL. Nay, my wits are weak: + Your words sound empty. + + LYS. So that Greek ’gainst Greek + Shall take up arms no more,-- + + CAL. Then joy betide! + Swiftly I’ll get me a robe with saffron dyed! + + LYS. Nor bear a shield,-- + + CAL. (_re-arranging her dress_). I’ll don the broidered vest! + + LYS. Nor wield a sword! + + CAL. Sandals, aye, of the best! + + LYS. For such an end should women not stand by? + + CAL. Nay, by the gods, now ought they not to fly-- + _Fly_ to us? + + (_Dawn has begun._) + + LYS. Ah! In every Grecian State + Women are doing as they ought--too late! + Not from the coast nor yet from Salamis + Comes countenance or aid; + + (_Sounds of approaching voices from all sides._) + + CAL. Yet I know this,-- + Swift boats came o’er the strait at break of day. + + LYS. And the Acharnian women still hold away, + Though first of all I reckoned upon these! + + CAL. I heard of one--wife of Theogenes-- + Swearing by Hecate _she_ meant to come. + + (_Voices outside grow louder._) + + But see, look yonder now! For there be some; + And here be others. Ha! ha! Whence come these? + + LYS. From Anagyrus. + + CAL. By the gods, one sees + Something has stirred them now, at any rate! + + (_Enter_ MYRRHINA, _followed by_ STRATYLLIS _and others; + they are chattering and laughing, excited and half-dressed. + As they come they are finishing their toilets._) + + MYRR. (_mincingly_). Lysistrata, I hope I am not too late. + Will you not speak then? Why so black a brow? + + (_Goes to_ LYSISTRATA, _who turns away_.) + + LYS. How can I praise you that you come but now-- + So slow, Myrrhina, when Greece seeks our aid? + + MYRR. ’Twas dark: I lost my girdle, and was afraid + To come alone. + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN. I could not find my shoes. + + 2ND ATHEN. WOMAN. Nor I my cap. + + 3RD ATHEN. WOMAN. Nay, truly? + + STRAT. Well, what news? + What have we come for,--tell us! + + MYRR. If the need + Be pressing, let us hear! + + LYS. Not so, indeed! + Wait till those other women, who set forth + First to our summons, from the south and north, + From Peloponnese and from Bœotia come. + + (_More voices are heard approaching._) + + MYRR. Oh, when you please! But yonder I see some. + + (_The women wave greetings. Enter from + the left_ LAMPITO _with other_ SPARTANS.) + + LYS. O dear Laconia! Welcome, Lampito! + How shines your beauty, and how bright a glow + Of colour fills your face! O strong of limb! + Were Minotaur your match you’d throttle him. + + LAMP. By the twin gods, I would try, any way! + I am a match for men, at fight or play. + + (_Bends her arm and displays her biceps; a murmur of + admiration goes round; and other women feel theirs._) + + LYS. Oh, what fair form is this? + + LAMP. Nay, friend, let go! + Am I a victim that you hold me so? + + LYS. A pledge of victory that shall soon be ours. + Ah, who be these? + + (_The sun rises. Enter_ BŒOTIAN WOMEN.) + + LAMP. Bœotians. + + LYS. What bright flowers! + O fair Bœotia, with the full sweet breast + And locks wherein the sunlight seems to rest, + I give you greeting. Next? + + (The BŒOTIAN WOMEN stand staring and giggling. + Enter CORINTHIAN WOMEN.) + + LAMP. Corinthians these. + + LYS. Oh, welcome Corinth, that between two seas + Lieth embraced, yet stayeth a virgin still. + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN. O double faced! (_Aside._) + + 2ND ATHEN. WOMAN. Her looks belie it. (_Aside._) + + 3RD ATHEN. WOMAN. Be still! (_Aside._) + + LAMP. Who called us hither? + + LYS. I. + + LAMP. What was your will? + (_A pause._) + Nay, here we stand: therefore, I say, disclose + Why hast thou brought to Athens friends and foes. + + CORINTH. Tell us! + + SEVERAL WOMEN (_excitedly_). Aye, speak! + + MYRR. (_sarcastically_). This great, this pressing need. + + LYS. Yea, I will speak. (_Slowly._) But first, my friends,---- + (_Exclamation of impatience from all._) + give heed + To one small question. + + SEVERAL WOMEN. Ask us what you please! + + LYS. O wives and mothers, to whom war decrees + A life unhusbanded, do ye not yearn + For those who gave you children to return? + + (_A pause._) + + SEVERAL WOMEN. Do we not yearn? Oh, me! do we not yearn? + We yearn, we burn, to learn of their return! + + LYS. Full well ye know how long they have been kept + On foreign service. + + CAL. Aye, ten moons I’ve slept + A widow! + + BŒOT. And I!--No husband have I seen + For five long months or more. + + MYRR. And mine has been + Absent in Pylos seven. + + CORINTH. And mine the same. + + LAMP. My lover, too. A week ago he came; + Yet scarce had time to lay by sword and shield + Ere back again they called him to the field. + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. O womanhood, that waits with widowed breast + Safe in the guarded home, yet finds no rest! + + CHORUS OF WOMEN. Ah! + + (_A long-drawn sigh._) + + LYS. So men make war, and women bear the theft. + There’s scarcely a gallant or a lover left + In Attica. + (_The women burst into tears._) + And those who stay behind + Still goad them to it. O women, would ye find + A way to end this war--say at what price? + + MYRR. I’d pawn my frock! + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN. I too! + + 2ND ATHEN. WOMAN. And I! + + 3RD ATHEN. WOMAN. And I! + + CAL. I’d take a knife and slice + My body into fillets like fish for pence! + + LAMP. And I would climb Taygetus, if thence + I might get sight of peace! + + (_General consent._) + + LYS. Well, hear me then, for now I speak! Ye know + How at each festival they make a show + And a pretence of peace, calling a truce:-- + And each man then comes home. + + CAL. Ah! for what use? + Just for one greedy bite--then off again. + A snack of comfort. Oh, I know these men! + + LYS. And now, to-day, ye look for their return. + + SEVERAL WOMEN. Yes, yes. + + LYS. Brief is the truce, and brief the bliss ye earn + For all your waiting. + + ALL THE WOMEN (_sighing_). Aye! + + LYS. For while men fight + Never shall women’s love retain its right + In hearth and home. + + ALL THE WOMEN. ’Tis true! + + LYS. Well, hearken then, + And be ye brave!... If ye would make these men + Wishful for peace we women must ... abstain. + + MYRR. From what? + + LYS. Oh, me! if now I plead in vain. + + ALL THE WOMEN. From what? From what? + + LYS. It is no easy thing. + + LAMP. Let it be hard! + + CAL. Oh, cease this torturing! + + LYS. In this fresh truce, what ye must bear is more + Than ye have borne through all the years of war. + + ALL THE WOMEN. What? + + LYS. Will ye do it? + + MYRR. Yes, even though we die! + + (_A long pause._) + + LYS. Abstain ye, then ... from love. + (_All draw back and turn sorrowfully away._) + Oh, sisters, why + Do ye turn from me? Whither will ye go? + Why have ye shut your lips? Why shake ye so + Your heads at me? Why pale and turned to tears? + Will ye, or will ye not?... + + (_Each one whom she challenges turns from her._) + + O ye deaf ears! + O women, where is your high purpose gone? + + MYRR. (_in low, firm tone_). I cannot do it. + Let the war go on! + + CAL. Nor I. War must go on. + + (_Comfortably accepting the inevitable._) + + LYS. What you--you fish + Ready for filletting! + + CAL. Oh, let us wish + For any cure but that! + + ALL THE WOMEN. Aye, any cure but that! + + CAL. At your desire + I would be willing even to walk through fire! + But--take not love away! + + ALL THE WOMEN. Not love! Not love! + + LYS. (to MYRRHINA). And what say you? + + MYRR. (_trippingly_). To walk through fire I would be + willing too. + + CORINTH. Fire? Oh, that’s nothing! Fire? + + BŒOT. I wouldn’t care. + + 3RD ATHEN. Woman. I would do anything--go anywhere. + + CORINTH. But to do _this_, I _couldn’t_! Well, you see-- + ’Twould be so useless--so _unwomanly_. + + LYS. Oh, wretched race, which makes all Greece its grave! + Women be vessels driven by wind and wave-- + In nothing steadfast.... Ah, Laconia’s bride, + Speak for me, Lampito; be on my side! + + (LAMPITO _is quiet for a moment, she closes her eyes and + sways to and fro biting her lips, then speaks with + conviction and resolution._) + + LAMP. Now, by the gods, a woman’s life is hard + When of her lover’s lips she stays debarred.... + Yet we must do it: the land hath need of peace. + + LYS. O bravest woman! One, out of all these! + + CAL. But if we do, what profit will it bring? + How without love comes peace or anything? + + LYS. Hark! I will show. Let each go to her home, + Put on fair raiment, ply the paint and comb + With secret art,--over the tender breast + With cords of gold unloop the scented vest: + Then wait, and when your warriors return + After long absence, oh, shall they not burn + To kiss the lips where welcome seems to wait + So lovingly? And when a harder fate + Meets their advances, and a voice cries “Go! + Not till ye bring us peace!” Full well I know + Peace will come quickly then. + + (_The_ WOMEN _during this speech have been gradually + won over: it appeals to their sex-vanity._) + + LAMP. (_rising to full height_). O most true word! + Even so fierce Menelaus sheathed his sword + For the bright breasts of Helen! + + MYRR. You speak fair! + But, friend, suppose our husbands ... went elsewhere? + + LYS. Is yours like that? The covers will be bare. + + CAL. What if they come and take the kiss by force? + + (_The_ BŒOTIAN WOMEN _shake their heads continuously. + The rest listen anxiously._) + + LYS. Cling to the door-post, then; or lock the doors! + + CAL. What if they beat us? + + LYS. Still ye can annoy, + Still fret and vex; for no man can have joy + If ye afflict him. + + CAL. (_shaking her head_). Ah! Mine won’t give in! + + LYS. Let him hold out--what profit shall he win? + Surely ye know, each in your secret heart, + Smooth are a woman’s ways to make men smart. + + CAL. There, there, I don’t deny it. It’s true indeed! + Well, since ye wish it, are the rest agreed? + + CORINTH. Perhaps. I’ll wait and see. + + LYS. Nay, answer now! + Oh come, ye women, and take up this vow! + + LAMP. Each to persuade her lover or her mate? + Easy for us! But here you have a State + Governed by party--babblers without brain. + + LYS. Each must persuade her party. + + LAMP. Nay, ’tis vain. + Voteless ye cannot! The fleet stands equipped, + Supply is voted, and each party, whipped + To its own ends, strives only to get hold + Of power, and office, and the public gold. + + LYS. And when no gold remains, then war will cease. + + CAL. Is it till then that we must wait for peace? + Why! in yon Parthenon the State has stores + Of gold that would provide a dozen wars! + + LYS. Make your mind easy: I have planned for this: + To-day we seize upon the Acropolis. + (_General excitement._) + Word has gone forth, and while we here debate + The elders of our women have passed the gate: + Soon will the prize be ours. + + CAL. And all the gold? + + LYS. That, and the public peace is yours to hold. + + ALL THE WOMEN. Evoe! Evoe! Evoe! + + (_They run about waving their veils and shouting._) + + LAMP. You have planned well! + + LYS. So, that our cause may stand inviolable, + Now take the oath, then forward let us fare. + Are you content? + + ALL THE WOMEN. We are! + + CAL. Nay, have a care! + What are we doing? + + LAMP. Speak, then, the word! + + CAL. In what form do we swear? + + LYS. In blood of bulls poured out upon a shield. + + STRAT. It were ill-omened on so dark a field + To sue for peace. + + LYS. How then? + + CAL. Take a white horse, + Slay it; then sit thereon! + + LYS. That has no force. + + STRAT. Why not a goat? + + MYRR. A dove? + + BŒOT. No; something big! + + CORINTH. A cow? + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN. A fish, a filleted fish! (_to_ CALONICE). + + CAL. (_repulsing her_). A pig! + + LYS. Nay, sisters, is not this a fairer sign? + Take a great goblet. + (_Shouts of “Yes!” and “No!”_ LAMPITO + _threatens the dissentients_). + Slay a cask of wine: + Fill up the cup; then let the oath begin-- + “Not until peace will I pour water in!” + + LAMP. O Mother Earth, to thee I make this oath! + + LYS. Bring cup, and hulk of wine. + (SERVANT _carries away shield and brings + back cup and wine-skin_). + and set them both + Here on this altar. + (CALONICE _takes the cup and exhibits it_.) + Thou fair girth and form, + Who clasps and drinks of thee, his blood grows warm; + Who lacks of thee, lacks also of life’s crown! + (_To_ CALONICE.) + Lift up the victim: set the goblet down. + (_The cup is set down. The wine-skin is + held ready above it._) + Fair goddess of Persuasion, and sweet Cup + Of comfortable Love, take and drink up, + Friendly to us, this blood! + + (_She stabs the wine-skin: the wine flows out._) + + CAL. (_smacking her lips_). It bubbles well! + + CORINTH. Brightly it runs! + + (WOMEN _smack their lips_.) + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN (_sniffing with relish_). + Aye, and how sweet a smell! + + LAMP. By the twin gods, how it awakes my thirst! + + LYS. Permit me, O fair comrades, to drink first. + + (_She takes up the cup._) + + CAL. No, by the gods! Wait till the lots be cast. + + LYS. Come, Lampito, and let us all link fast + Our hands around the bowl: then let my word + Lead for the rest: and after ye have heard + Let one among you speak: so, having cried + Our common cause, thereto shall ye abide. + + (_They all lay hands on the cup._) + + LYS. “I swear there is no man, lover or spouse”-- + + (_A pause._) + + (_The other women beckon for_ CALONICE _to + speak: she shakes her head and draws back_. LYSISTRATA + _catches her by the shoulder and draws her forward. She still + remains silent till_ LAMPITO _gives her a hard + push from behind_.) + + CAL. “I swear there is no man, lover or spouse”-- + + LYS. “Whom I will meet to mate with or yield vows”-- + (_A pause._ LYSISTRATA _stamps her foot_.) + Say it! + + CAL. “Whom I will meet or mate with to yield vows”-- + + LYS. “Of love.” + + CAL. “Of love.” (_Sobs._) + + LYS. “But I will lead a life chaste and austere”-- + + CAL. (_struggling with her emotions_). + “But I will lead a life chaste and austere”-- + + LYS. “Decked in a saffron robe, and in such gear”-- + + CAL (_half laughing, half crying_). + “Decked in a saffron robe, and in such gear”-- + + LYS. “That he who loves me needs must love me more”-- + --Don’t drop the bowl!-- + + (_The women show relief, the_ BŒOTIANS _giggle_. + LAMPITO _nudges them_. CALONICE’S _spirits begin to revive_.) + + CAL. “That he who loves me needs must love me more”-- + + LYS. “And for the kiss denied feel hunger sore.” + + CAL. (_doubtful and apprehensive_). + “And for the kiss denied feel hunger sore.” + + LYS. “I will provide cold lips for him to taste,” + + CAL. Ah, lies, all lies! (_Aside._) + “Cold lips for him to taste----” + + LYS. “His arm shall not be wound about my waist!” + + CAL. (_reluctantly, her voice breaking_). + “His arm shall not be wound about my waist.” + + LYS. “If I stand firm, the cup of joy be mine!” + + CAL. “If I stand firm--(_sobs_)--the cup of joy be mine!” + (_Sobs._) + + LYS. “If I break faith, let water drown the wine.” + + CAL. Yes ... I mean it! + + (CALONICE _sobs over the wine-cup_.) + + LYS. So swear we all. (_Lifts the cup._) + + ALL THE WOMEN. So, by high Zeus we swear! + + LYS. Thus pledged I drink. + + CAL.. Here! don’t you take my share! + + (CALONICE _drinks deep. The other women + seize hold of the cup_.) + + LAMP. Nay, cease, I tell you! Let it pass about + As between equals. + + (_Drinks and passes it. The cup goes round._ + CALONICE _follows it_.) + (_A shout is heard within._) + + LAMP. Ha! what was that shout? + + LYS. That which I planned and told. Know ye by this + Our women warders hold the Acropolis. + + (_General excitement. Some run to look over the gate, + wave to those within, and run back again._) + + (_Enter an_ OLD WOMAN, _bearing a key. + She gives it to_ LYSISTRATA.) + + Now farewell, comrades, farewell, Lampito. + Swiftly let each one to her city go, + There to breed peace! Meanwhile we will hold these + Fair pledges of your troth, as hostages. + Come, Corinth, to your foes be faithful now; + And you in Athens keep your Spartan vow. + + (_She draws hostages from the Spartans, Corinthians, and + Bœotians, and passes them to the care of the Athenians._) + + THE WOMEN CHORUS. Now for the Women’s War! + + ALL THE WOMEN. Evoe! Evoe! + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. O Pallas, bring us peace! + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. Nay, wait and see! + Look, who comes yonder! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Ho, such poor old men, + Marching in rows, and bearing logs: eight, ten-- + A dozen or more! + + 4TH LEADER OF WOMEN. Ugh! how they limp! + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. And how they drag their tails! + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. And how they crawl-- + Like snails + Up a long wall! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Oh, me! what mighty warriors be these? + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. O ye great surges, ye white-crested seas, + Come ye to overwhelm us in your flood + Of feeble waters that were once strong blood! + + 4TH LEADER OF WOMEN. What must we do + + (_The_ WOMEN _laugh and flourish defiantly_.) + + CAL. Ah! there’ll be others soon in their alliance-- + They’ll come and make short work of our defiance. + + LYS. I care not for them! For they shall not bring + Enough of threat, or force, or fire to fling + Open these gates, until our terms be won. + Not so, by Heaven! + (_She raises her hand, the women rally round her._) + Our cause were then undone + For ever--to have women first proclaimed + So fierce and formidable, and then so tamed! + Be brave, quit you like men! So fare ye well. + Now to the gates! Bar up the citadel! + + (_Exeunt_ LAMPITO _with the_ CORINTHIANS and BŒOTIANS. + _The_ ATHENIAN WOMEN _pass in through the gates_. + LYSISTRATA _enters last_.) + + CHORUS (_sung as the women pass out_). Pallas Athene, hear! + Bend from thy throne, + And make, with lifted spear, + Our cause thine own! + O walls of Athens, homes of Greece, + The women’s war shall bring you peace. + + (_The gates are shut and bolted._) + + (_The stage remains empty and silent, the + slow, heavy tread of the men is heard + approaching._) + + (_From within the gates a woman calls + “Cuckoo!” three times._) + + (_Enter_ CHORUS OF OLD MEN. _Some carry + a heavy log on their shoulders, others + bundles of firewood. Two of them bear + upon a pole a brazier or firepan._) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Advance, march firmly on; be not dejected! + Although like beasts of burden on our shoulder + We bear this yoke of olive which we have hauled for + So great a distance---- + + SEVERAL MEN. So great a distance! + + (_They move a step forward._) + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. And which with sore abrasion + Galleth the flesh:-- + + SEVERAL MEN. Ho-hopp! Galleth the flesh! + + (_Another step forward._) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Although its weight is great + And the occasion + Most melancholy and most uncalled for---- + + SEVERAL MEN. Ho-hopp! Uncalled for! + + (_Another step forward._) + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Still swiftly we advance toward the gate, + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Summoned by Fate---- + + SEVERAL MEN. Ho-hopp! + + (_Another step forward._) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. To the high gods’ assistance. + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Truly in a long life as one grows older, + One learns that troubles still come unexpected! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. So here’s a fresh example set before us! + Whoever would have thought, O Strymodorus, + That woman---- + + 1ST, 2ND, AND 3RD LEADERS OF MEN. Woman! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Whom, in her sphere, the home + A manifest but necessary pest---- + + SEVERAL MEN. Ho-hopp! + + (_Another step forward._) + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. We meekly have supported. + + 1ST, 2ND, AND 3RD LEADERS OF MEN. Supported! + + SEVERAL MEN. Ho-hopp! + + (_Another step forward._) + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Would ever have resorted---- + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. To such a course as this! + + 1ST, 2ND, AND 4TH LEADERS OF MEN. As this! + + SEVERAL MEN. Ho-hopp! + + (_Another step forward._) + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. And got possession of the Virgin shrine + And of the Acropolis--_my_ Acropolis. + + 1ST, 2ND, AND 4TH LEADERS OF MEN. _My_ Acropolis! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. And blocked the Propylæa--yours and mine. + + 1ST, 2ND, AND 4TH LEADERS OF MEN. Yours and mine! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. With hostile bolts and bars. + + ALL THE MEN. Ho-hopp! + + (_Those in front flag, the forepart of the log is let down. + The four_ LEADERS _come forward, leaving the others to do + the carrying. All immediately strike work._) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. So, ye propitious stars, + Now let us haste. + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. And without waste of time + Take up our task sublime: + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. And heaping up the pyre + Round all whom in this plot we count the worst-- + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. With our own hands set fire + To women so abominable, so accurst! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Let us take first + Lysistrata, the wife + Of Lycon: + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Never again + While I have life + Shall she be heard making her mock on men. + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. But now the steepest part of all the track + Toward those gates whereto I press with speed + Remains to pass: + And I must lift, alas! + This load. + (_He indicates the log of olive._) + And bear it up, alack, alack, + Unaided on my galled and jaded-- + Back. + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Tarry awhile: this fire needs looking to, + Lest at our goal we find it perished quite, + And what, then, should we do? + + (_They gather round firepan._) + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Faugh! Faugh! Now by my soul + This fire out of its pan + Like a mad dog has leapt and tries to bite-- + Flies at my eyes, depriving me of sight! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Oh, sorry joke! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN (_rousing the carriers_). + But haste, and to the citadel press on! + The goddess needs your aid. + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Quick, Laches, now or never! + Though I am stayed + By this most stubborn fire, I come anon. + + 1ST, 2ND, 3RD, AND 4TH LEADERS OF MEN. Faugh! Faugh! + Oh, what a smoke! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Yet, favoured of the gods, it lives, it wakes! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Therefore I say, abandon now this yoke. + And, kindling at the flame these vine-wood stakes, + Rush forward! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. And with a sudden stroke + Beat in the doors! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. For if these rebel women--when we knock, + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Or when we call, + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Fail to unloose the lock-- + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Then let us fall + Swiftly upon them-- + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. With fell fire and shock + Of onset! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Rout them! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Smoke them from their hive-- + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. And burn them up alive! + + (_They fall to action with the unlit torches._) + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Ay, you say well! + But first uplift this load + And set it as a trophy on our road. + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Proof of the victory which here befell! + + (_They set the log up on end._) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. And now--for it is time that ye began-- + Quick to your business, pan! + + (_They thrust their torches into the firepan._) + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Catch, kindle, burn, lend me a torch of fire. + + (_Four women’s heads appear over the ramparts watching them._) + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. And light me to the goal of my desire, + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Where rampant women, daring to rebel, + With impious hands have seized my citadel. + + (_They catch sight of the women, and crouch with their lighted + torches below the steps leading to the gates._) + + (_Enter_ CHORUS OF WOMEN _from citadel. They pretend + to be unaware of the old men’s presence._) + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. What fire is this? + What smoke that mounts to Heaven? + Oh, women, hasten! Was the warning given + Too late? + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. What if it be + One of our sisters, that too tardily + Hath hither run; and even now, entrapped + By evil men and unjust laws, stands lapt + In flame of martyrdom! + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. Come, quickly come! + O women, bring + Your pitchers from the spring! + + (_Enter the_ WATER CARRIERS.) + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Oh, me! I am afraid + Lest we have come too late to offer aid. + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. Not so! (_pointing to the_ OLD MEN). + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. Tarry, for I have heard + That certain gay old dogs, + Men past their prime, + With brains and senses blurred, + Diseased by age, + Have come forth carrying logs + And full of rage, + To burn us to a cinder. + + ALL THE WOMEN CHORUS (_fiercely_). Ah! + + (_The_ OLD MEN _grow uncomfortable_.) + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. So dark a crime + Shall we not hinder? + + ALL THE WOMEN CHORUS. Yes! + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. Therefore, O maiden of the golden crest, + Guardian divine, + We women hold thy shrine. + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. So to our gain, + O goddess, now unsheath + Thy strength: and if these men set fire beneath + Send thou down--Rain! + + ALL THE WOMEN CHORUS (_lifting their pitchers_). + Send thou down--Rain! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. What’s this I see below us? + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. O greybeards, old in sin, + Is it thus that ye begin + To overthrow us? + + (_The_ OLD MEN _scatter and slink away into + shelter, hiding behind each other’s backs_.) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. This is most unexpected! Nay what form + Of war is this? + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Get back! + We are detected! + Get back, get back! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. See from the Acropolis women in a swarm + All unprovoked come running to the attack! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Tut, tut! Go back, go back! + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. Why do ye threaten us? Are we so few? + The women ye now see in front of you + Are not one-thousandth part of them that wait + Our call within the gate. + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. O brothers--brothers, will ye let them prate? + You want a whipping! (_To the women._) + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Yes, a good thick stick + Broken across your backs. + + STRAT. Come, sisters, quick! + Set down your pitchers! + (_The_ WOMEN _set them down_.) + There! now take your choice: + Which of us first? + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Ah, you had had no voice + Left, had I dealt with you as I would like! + + STRAT. Well, here I am then (_advances_). + What, will no one strike? + (_The_ MEN _are silent_.) + Not one? + (_To_ LEADER OF MEN.) + Come, be a man, lift up your mace-- + Smite: and thereafter never show your face. + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Be silent! + Else I’ll strip and beat you bare! + + ALL THE WOMEN CHORUS. Ah, do it! do it! do it! + Hurt but one hair, + Or with one finger dare to lay a scratch + Upon her body! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Well? And when I match + My fists to hers--where will the hurt be, then? + + STRAT. Quick in the minds and consciences of men-- + Deeper than fang can bite or gadfly sting! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Well said the poet--“No more shameless thing + Exists, than woman!” + + STRAT. Oh, take up once more + Your pitchers, women! Ye need not fear war + With such faint hearts as these. Call them not men! + + (_The_ WOMEN _take up their pitchers and begin to + retire. The_ OLD MEN _grow bold again_.) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Call yourselves women! There, be off again! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN (_with curiosity_). What was that water for? + + STRAT. For what that fire? + Old foot-in-the-grave, was it your funeral pyre + You came to light? + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN (_furiously_). No, yours! + + STRAT. Sought ye to learn + How water puts out fire? + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. How fire can burn! + Wait! You shall get a scorching! + + STRAT. (_turning and advancing towards him_). + Oh, you grub! + Have you brought soap then? Do you want a tub? + + ALL WOMEN CHORUS. D’ you want a tub? + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. A tub? + + STRAT. A nuptial bath. Oh, to thy side + Take me, Tithonus! Let me be thy bride! + + (_The_ WOMEN _laugh_.) + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Fire, fire on them! + + (_The_ MEN _advance with torches. The_ WOMEN + _lift and swing back their pitchers_.) + + STRAT. Then, pitcher, to thy task! + + (_The_ WOMEN _run down the steps and + empty their pitchers over the men_.) + + ALL MEN CHORUS. Oh me! Woe, woe! + + STRAT. What, is it hot? + + ALL THE WOMEN CHORUS (_laughing_). Hot? Is it hot? + + ALL THE MEN CHORUS. Hot? Hot? Why do you ask? + Oh stop, let be! let be! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. What are you doing? Oh women, let me go! + + STRAT. We water you, being young, that ye may grow. + + ALL THE MEN CHORUS (_trembling, and with chattering teeth_). + I’m old: I’m cold! + + ALL THE WOMEN CHORUS (_imitating them_). + I’m old: I’m cold! + + STRAT. Get back into your pot! + Go to your fire, and warm yourself! + + (_The_ WOMEN _pick up their pitchers, + and run off laughing_.) + + (_The_ OLD MEN _huddle miserably about the fire_.) + + (_Enter_ COMMITTEE-MAN, _accompanied by his_ SECRETARY.) + + COM. What? What? + What means this noise of women? Have the jades + Started their rackettings again--their raids, + Their drummings, and their voices from the roof + At public meetings? Aye, had we not proof + When Strellus in debate, only last week, + On Naval policy, began to speak + Of unlaunched keels left rotting on the slips: + Says he--most wisely--“You must _man_ your ships + As well as build them.” Suddenly in burst + A voice from nowhere--“Man your women first!” + It was his daughter! Athens being drained + Of marriageable men, affairs grow strained + Within the home. Then, on another occasion, + Brennus was holding forth about invasion, + Conscription, taxes, and the waste of war: + When all at once a voice squeaks through the door-- + “What about women?” + + ATHEN. WOMAN (_opening and shutting door of Acropolis_). + “What about women?” + + COM. Well, then, what about ’em? + Ugh! if I had my way I’d up and out ’em. + In no time! _Women!_ + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Yes, we quite agree: + “Women!” Nay wait, and you shall hear and see + How we’ve been treated! + (_They all come out and display themselves_.) + There! Behold what payment + To us is meted! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. See how from our raiment + The water drops + Run down! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. See, see, what sops + Thus + They have made of us! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. We are like rain-flushed sewers! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Like bursting mains! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Women with ewers-- + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Have turned us into drains! + + COM. Oh, fitly are ye punished, for have not ye + Yourselves trained women to this villainy? + + ALL THE MEN CHORUS. _We_ trained them? + + COM. Have ye not sped them in the game of sex? + + ALL THE MEN CHORUS. Game of sex? + + COM. And bled your pockets to adorn their necks? + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. No, _I’ve_ not! + + COM. Taught them to twine and coil and paint their eyes, + And paid the price for all their amorous sighs + Present and absent, faithful and foresworn? + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. _We_ pay the price? + + COM. Aye! round their necks full many a clasp is worn + Not of _your_ making. + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Not of _our_ making? + + (_The_ OLD MEN _turn and consult each other accusingly_.) + + COM.. Where do such things lead? + Where but to this?--that when I come in need-- + Aye, and with warrant--of money for the State, + I am shut out, and women hold the gate. + There they combine, call themselves “comrades”, “sisters”-- + Rebels and law-breakers and tax-resisters! + + 1ST, 2ND, AND 3RD LEADERS OF MEN. Comrades? Sisters? Rebels? + Law-- + + (_While he speaks the women have come out again, + and stand in rows listening silently_.) + + COM. Stand not to stare, ye fools! Search till ye find + That woman, by whose word they stand combined! + Fetch me Lysistrata! Bring rams and lay + Levers beneath the gates, and force your way! + + (_Enter_ LYSISTRATA. _The_ WOMEN _spread + their cloaks and make a carpet for her to walk upon_.) + + LYS. Nay, use no force! Lay down your battering ram! + Seek ye conciliation? Here I am + How can force help you here? Are levers meant + To take the place of reason and consent? + + COM. Abominable creature! Hold your peace! + Seize her and bind her fast! + (_No one stirs._) + Police! Police! + Where are the police? + + (_Enter a_ POLICEMAN.) + + STRAT. Now, by Artemis! + Who first dares touch her, he shall weep for this, + If he remain a man! + + (POLICEMAN _falls back_.) + + COM. Are you afraid, + Fellow? Go, then, call others to your aid-- + Bring reinforcements! + + (_He goes, and returns with a second_ POLICEMAN.) + + STRAT. Now look what you do? + If you but touch her, we will jump on you! + + COM. More reinforcements! + (_They go and return with a third_ POLICEMAN.) + Aye, bind this one first! + And gag her too! (_Points to_ STRATYLLIS.) + These chatterers are the worst! + + STRAT. For cowards who fear the truth! + + (POLICE _advance up steps_.) + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN. See that you lay + No hand on her! + + (_Other_ WOMEN _threaten--the_ POLICE _retreat_.) + + COM. Why do ye run away? + What’s this? What’s this? Back boobies, to your task! + + (_The_ POLICE _rally, and again advance_.) + + 2ND ATHEN. WOMAN (_pushing back the other and taking her place_). + By Pallas, I will make a Gorgon’s mask + Of him who touches her! + + (_The_ POLICE _hesitate. During the speech of the_ + COMMITTEE-MAN _which follows the_ WOMEN _cry + “Quack, Quack!” at intervals_.) + + COM. (_putting a pole into their hands_). + For shame, for shame! + Will ye be beaten? Are ye all so tame? + Stricken of women, and of strength bereft! + Rally and march! Right left, right left, right left! + + (_The_ POLICE _advance with the pole in a compact body_.) + + LYS. Now by the light of heaven, ye shall begin + To know our strength! Ho, women! there within! + + (_The_ WOMEN _crowd to the gates_.) + + (LYSISTRATA _backs up the steps. The_ POLICE + _mount after her_.) + + (_The_ WOMEN _open to right and left, and hold + their scarves ready to noose the_ POLICEMEN.) + + (_Some of the_ WOMEN _seize hold of the poles_.) + + COM. Twist back their hands, policemen! + + LYS. Help! A stroke + For freedom! Come, ye women, ye market folk, + Ye buyers and sellers, ye keepers of the home, + Ye workers rich and poor, I bid you come! + + (_They all rush out._) + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN. Will ye not drag? Will ye not beat and smite? + Will ye not face the foe, and put to flight? + + (_The_ WOMEN _throw their cloaks over the_ POLICE, + _tie them up, and drag them into the citadel_.) + + (_The others dance and scream with joy._) + + LYS. Stop! Do no harm to them. Return again! + + COM. Alas, how miserably have fared my men! + + LYS. What did ye look for? When ye crossed our path + Thought ye that we were slaves? Is there no wrath + In woman, and no hurt if she be stirred? + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Master Commissioner, waste not a word + On such wild beasts as these. + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Did you not see + To what a drenching bath + They treated me + Who dared to cross their path-- + Having done nothing! + + LYS. Nothing? In such wise + The swelled head has to learn through swollen eyes. + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Oh, Zeus, what shall we make of fiends + like these, + Monsters intolerable? + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Nay, but inquire of them and bid them tell + How came they, with what intent, to seize + Our sacred citadel? + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Ask, ask, repeat, + And do not be persuaded + By feminine deceit: + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Nor, I entreat, + Let the straightforward question be evaded. + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Why, ask them why-- + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. And pause for a reply-- + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Why, on the untrodden rock + Of our Acropolis, + With bolt and bar and lock, + Have they done this? + + COM. There, plain put, is the question. (_To_ LYSISTRATA.) + Come then, tell-- + Why have you seized upon our citadel? + + LYS. To save the public fund from ends more fit, + And that ye should not fight because of it. + + COM. Think you it is for _money_ that we fight? + + LYS. Not that alone: for evil is the plight + Of Athens now! Lo, sunk into the dust + She lies a victim to man’s pride and lust + For power. + + ALL THE WOMEN. Aye! true enough! ’tis true, ’tis true! + + COM. Dear me! indeed! And pray what would _you_ do + To make things better? + + LYS. If fair words avail, + Patience, and you shall hear. + + COM. Go, croak your tale! + + LYS. Aye, for of former times now would I speak, + And former wars, when women all too meek + Bore and endured; and then, when, sick at heart, + Yet with a smile, we sought to know what part + Ye played for peace, in wrath the answer flew-- + “Be silent, woman! What is that to you?” + And I was--silent. + + CAL. (_aside_). Not I! + + COM. Aye, and you had best + Be silent now! + + LYS. Silent I strove to rest + There in the home: till presently again + Came news of further mischief; and when, fain + To learn the cause of it, one dared to ask + “How is it, husband, that ye do this task, + Ye men, so ill?”--quick, with a furtive eye, + Grudging one’s right to question, he would cry, + “Stick to your loom! Leave politics to men, + Lest ye fare worse!” + + COM. Aye, he spake rightly then! + + LYS. How was it right? Shall it not be our turn + Ever to speak our thoughts, and yours to learn + And profit? + + COM. What! must I yield place and give + Woman her way? Then may I cease to live! + Functions performed by one, two cannot share! + + LYS. Try then the woman’s part, and leave the care + Of State henceforth to us! + + (COMMITTEE-MAN _and_ CHORUS _all laugh_.) + + COM. (_contemptuously_). How will you do it? + + LYS. That we shall arrange. + + COM. What? With my money? + + LYS. Why should that seem strange? + Are not your homes, your servants, and your whole + Domestic property in our control? + + COM. We want the money to carry on the war! + + LYS. Why? To what end? What are you fighting for? + + COM. How else shall we be saved, or Greece be freed? + + LYS. We’ll save you. + + COM. _You_? A sorry plight indeed! + + LYS. Trust us--you shall be saved against your will. + + COM. Pooh! The idea! + + LYS. That makes you angrier still? + + COM. It is absurd! Women save men from war! + We don’t want to be saved! + + LYS. So much the more + Ye need salvation. + + COM. And pray, what concern + Have you in the matter? + + LYS. Ah, that you must learn. + + COM. Speak, or you’ll get a beating! + + LYS. (_sarcastically_). O restrain + That master-hand! + + COM. See then, that you refrain + From vexing me! + + LYS. Vexing? Why, soon through Greece + We shall be known and named--Makers of Peace! + + COM. Pray, on what plan? + + LYS. First from the public street + Remove those monuments of male conceit-- + The military loungers! + + CAL. Aye, good sooth! + Fools who go swaggering from booth to booth, + In time of peace, rigged in full fighting kit! + + COM. Well, wherefore not? + + LYS. Oh, I am sick of it! + What are they armed for? + + COM. It becomes them well. + + CAL. Becomes them? What?--to buy a mackerel + Girt with a sword and brandishing a shield. + Ugh!--one I saw last week, back from the field + All plumed and combed--the captain of a troop, + And in his helmet he was carrying soup! + Another with a javelin dancing jigs + To frighten an old woman who sold figs-- + Picking out all the ripe ones. + + COM. Well, of course, + All government has to depend on force. + How would you manage? Eh? + + LYS. Avoiding fuss. + As with a tangled thread: we take it thus, + Singly--one line of wool from all the skein; + Then here and there we draw it without strain, + Finer and smoother. So would we end war + By peaceful embassies, still sending more + If the first failed, still weaving in and out-- + Till men forgot the thing they fought about. + + COM. And think you, then, that one could extricate + With such wool-gatherings the affairs of State, + You silly woman? + + CAL. Had you sense, you’d try! + + LYS. Here in our city the same cure would apply. + + COM. How, pray? + + LYS. Well, first of all you clean the fleece: + That’s sanitation--you wash out the grease, + Pick out the briars: that means segregate + The undesirable--relieve the State + Of rogues and knaves. Then, too, you must untwist + The clotted tufts--the cliques--whose grasping fist + Keeps others out of office. Head from head + Pluck them, and play them out, and let them spread; + Then pile them in one ball as light as down + Using no pressure. So shall every town + Be as one whole. Next to your counsels call + Your colonies as well; then out of all + Shape your material: put no heavier yoke + Or strain on any, and therefrom weave a cloak + Of friendship for the people. + + COM. (_obtuse and contemptuous_). Nay, what wit + Is here? “Take wool, and make a ball of it: + Weave it, and wind it, roll it round and round + Till something come of it!” Now is that sound? + And what on earth have women to do with war? + + LYS. O purblind fool! our part therein is more + Than any man’s! For women bring forth life + In pain and anguish: then, when ye fall to strife, + And in the field conduct your long campaigns, + The wife deserted in the home remains; + And the maid, robbed of her most precious years, + Grows old before her time, while disappears + The hope of motherhood: her day is brief. + + COM. The man grows old as well. + + LYS. Oh, past belief + The folly of such words! For, be he grey + When he returns, the man can have his way + And wed a maid. But what man to his side + Will take of his own choice a barren bride? + + COM. No, not in wedlock: but a man may range + Outside the bond. Surely a fair exchange-- + No robbery. (_Smirks._) + + LYS. Now, by the gods, if all exchange is fair, + Take this and crown yourself! + (_Pulls cap over his head._) + Go! wear your hair + In curls and fillets! Carry a market flail + And learn to curb your tongue. Put on this veil, + This girdle, bear a distaff and go clad + In woman’s weeds! + + (_The_ WOMEN _set upon him and clothe him_.) + + COM. Oh, woman, are ye mad? + Help, help, I say! + + (_Exeunt_ CHORUS OF OLD MEN.) + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN. We’ll help you! + + 2ND ATHEN. WOMAN. There, take this! + + 3RD ATHEN. WOMAN. And this from me! + + 4TH ATHEN. WOMAN. Now, go and ask a kiss. + From Clisthenes! + + (_They tie him up ridiculously in women’s garments._) + + COM. Oh, woe is me! Oh, shame! + Thus to endure deeds that one dare not name! + Nay, I will go, even thus--oh, sorry sight!-- + And bid all Athens look upon my plight. + Oh, what a ravel is this! + + LYS. You twist in vain! + Be careful that you do not break my skein. + + (_Exit_ COMMITTEE-MAN, _followed by his_ SECRETARY.) + + +INTERLUDE. + + (_The_ WOMEN _are discovered seated upon the steps leading + to the Acropolis. Some have pitchers beside them, others + plait and spin, one plays upon the lyre._) + + CHORUS (_singing_). Pallas Athene, hear! + Bend from thy throne, + And make with lifted spear our cause thine own. + + (_Enter_ LEADER OF CHORUS.) + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. O women, turn back from your labours, + And leave in their niche by the wall + Your pitchers, and hark to the call + Of friends in their need, and of neighbours + Who beg for a boon. + + (_Here, and at intervals throughout the speech, shouting + of men is heard at a distance; occasionally the words + “Down with the women, down!” “Down with Lysistrata!” + are heard._) + + For surely ye tire not with dances, + Nor faint as ye foot to the tune + Of minstrels: so now in the chances + Of war let your speed be as then, + And as daring your deed as the glances + Ye cast upon men! + + (_The_ WOMEN _are laying by their pitchers, filleting their + hair and girding their robes. From the Acropolis come other + women bearing shields, spears, and helmets, which they + distribute as the_ CHORUS _continues_.) + + For here is a Cause to your hand + More holy than any before: + And in it lies beauty, and wisdom, + And courage, and love of your land. + Nay, surely the mothers who bore you, + The silent mothers of yore, + They also were made of this metal, + And out of the bed of the nettle, + Wherein they bred you of old, + They, too, who spake not a word, + They, too, brave hearts, could have told + Their tale of the wrongs unheard. + So forward I bid you, nor fail, + Nor yield what ye hold in your hand: + For this wind which now blows in your sail + Shall bear you to land! + + + + +SCENE II. + + _The same scene, toward evening, a day later._ + + (CHORUS OF OLD MEN _seated asleep below the steps. + Enter_ LEADER OF MEN’S CHORUS.) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Now, let him sleep no more who would be free! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN (_waking up_). + Come, sirs, bestir yourselves! for to my mind + There’s more behind + This matter than at first appeared. + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN (_nodding mysteriously_). + Beneath this woman’s business lurks a beard! + + (_Perturbation among the_ OLD MEN.) + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Hot, Hot, I scent the plot + Of Hippias. (_Panic among the_ OLD MEN.) + Aye, me! Greatly I fear! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. I think our women have been led away + By foes; and that the Spartans now are here, + Hiding within the house of Clisthenes, + Ready to seize + Our money and our pay! (_Increasing panic._) + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Oh, is’t not peril to let women mix + In State affairs, and talk on politics, + And prate of peace and war? + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. No more, no more, will I endure it! + ’Tis not to be allowed. + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN (_shaking his fist_). + Lysistrata! Heaven be my aid, + Ere yet my race is run, + To smite the chattering jaw of that old jade! + + (_Meanwhile the_ WOMEN’S CHORUS _have + come on, and stand behind listening_). + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. Surely when that is done + Your Mother will be proud of such a son! + + (_The_ OLD MEN _start back in fear_.) + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. She will be glad to recognise that face! + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. But come, ye happier mothers of the race, + (_To the_ WOMEN.) + And set your burdens down while I relate + Why we, weak women, seek to serve the State + As well as men--paying the debt we owe. + + (_The_ WOMEN _lay down their shields, and + sit beside them in groups_.) + + Was not this land my nurse? Aye, long ago, + Even on the child her tender yoke was laid, + When first to Artemis, a budding maid, + I vowed my virgin body. Did ye so-- + Ye men--take up such vows? Did ye forego + Till ye were ripe the sweets of love in youth? + + (_The_ MEN _exchange conscious looks_.) + + Gladly I bound myself, although in sooth + The fruit, I saw, was goodly to the taste; + And since before these altars I dwelt chaste, + Do I not owe a debt? Is it amiss + If I give counsel? Do ye grudge me this? + I, too, pay taxes: from my flesh there runs + Rich tribute; ye bear arms, but I bear sons + And daughters; ye bring death, but I raise life; + I build the fruitful home, while ye breed strife, + Envy, and fear! O miserable men! + Old in your sins, take up that task again, + Which once your father bore, who freed this land + From Persia’s yoke! If not, then we will stand + Instead of you: + (_The_ WOMEN _rise to their feet_.) + Aye, fearing not your frown, + Light-sandalled though we be, will tread you down! + + (_She turns away and moves up steps. + The other women also retire._) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN (_scratching his head puzzled_). + Now it appears to me + This is all wrong! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. And it must be + Put down. + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. If left alone + Ere long it will have grown + Beyond a joke! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Time, then, that we began! + Therefore with speed + Let every manly man + Strip off his cloak, + And for the word now substitute the deed! + + (_They throw off their long mantles, and reveal themselves + very scantily clad and girt as for wrestling. Their arms + and legs are very thin and scraggy._) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Physical force, + Basis of government, + True source of the consent + Men yield to law; + Come, come now to mine aid! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. And with thy shaggy paw + Push me to victory o’er this barricade, + Raised by that wicked jade, + Lysistrata, + Against the rod of man’s authority! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Shall woman---- + + 1ST, 2ND, AND 4TH LEADERS OF MEN. Woman! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. In a majority + Govern the State? + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Never, I will defeat it! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. No, no! a thousand times; and I repeat it-- + No, no! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Never! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. No agricultural labourer am I, + Yet I defy + Woman to wield a spade + As I can. + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Can she summon to her aid + The expletives and the explosives + Needful for moving one’s inferiors, + And modifying by their harsh corrosives + The stubborn and recalcitrant exteriors + Of this hard-crusted world? + + 1ST AND 4TH LEADERS OF MEN. No, no! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Shall I be hurled + From power by custom mine? + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Shall I my place resign + To woman---- + + 1ST, 2ND, AND 3RD LEADERS OF MEN. Woman! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. To whose care we give + Our homes, our wealth, our children, and who live + Only by our consent? + + ALL THE MEN CHORUS. No! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Shall we allow the sex war--this attack + Of infamous discontent + Behind our back-- + On man’s prerogative? + + ALL THE MEN CHORUS. Never! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. For through man’s heart there runs in flood + (Nature’s mysterious and imperious mandate) + A noble and a natural thirst for blood: + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. To form a ring and fight! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. To cut off heads at sight! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. It is our right! + Women don’t understand it. + + ALL THE MEN CHORUS. No! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. But if we grant to these + Facilities + For doing what man does-- + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. And what man alone + Has any right to do! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Aye, even one small handle for their own-- + They will go far! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. We shall be overthrown + At our own game! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. And think what scandal then! + And think what shame, + If that should happen! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Never, no never! + No, I won’t allow it! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN (_with action_). + So, take we each a torch, + And, thrusting, let it scorch + The gaping mouth, the giddy, gabbling tongue, + The-- + + (_The other_ MEN _follow him in dumb show. The_ WOMEN _clang + their weapons; the_ MEN _retreat hastily; through the whole + of the ensuing speech they carry on a continuous business of + getting behind each other till they are all off the stage, + leaving their cloaks behind them._) + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. Now, by the gods, + I’ll give my wrath its rein! + No more shall ye provoke and I refrain. + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. Come, then, my comrades, + and put off this yoke + Of woman’s weeds; let not the trailing cloak + Cumber your limbs, nor the loose girdle hang! + We too can strip, + And gird, and curl the lip, + And bare the fang, + And answer stroke for stroke + And blow for blow! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Call ye us rebels? Full soon shall ye know + How Greece is with us! We have Lampito,-- + She lives for us, and Corinth by the seas, + And all Bœotia. + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. Go! Make your decrees, + Pile up your punishments, ye that breed hate + Through kindred cities, hurling state on state + In wasteful bloodshed! But more strong are we, + We women, bound in deathless fealty + To break this war. Our hands shall hold in check + Your armaments, and bow the stubborn neck + Of all your pride! + + (_During this speech some of the_ WOMEN + _have descended to the lower stage; they collect the + men’s cloaks and return_.) + + (_Enter_ LYSISTRATA.) + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. O thou, the shaper of this fair event, + Why com’st thou now, + So pale, and sad of brow, + And heavy with discontent? + + LYS. (_gloomily_). Woman’s weak will and her lascivious way + O’erload my heart! + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. Oh! What means that to say? + + LYS. The truth, the bitter truth! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Bodes it so ill? + May we not know? + + LYS. How shall my tongue be still? + Yet how, unshaméd, may I speak of it? + + 4TH LEADER OF WOMEN. Nay, do not keep it from us! + ... It is fit + That we should know--the worst. + + 1ST, 2ND, AND 3RD LEADERS OF WOMEN. Nay, tell us then! + + LYS. Brief is the truth; we hanker for the men! + + ALL THE WOMEN CHORUS. O Zeus! + + LYS. Why call on him? Is it not so? + I cannot keep them here. Foresworn they go + By stealth to join their husbands. One I caught + Scraping a cleft of rock: and one had brought + Rope from Poseidon’s well, and down the wall + So sought to creep! Another--chosen of all + To guard the gate--deserted from her trust. + And yet another of them, crazed with lust, + Feathered herself with wings, and light as air + Feigned to go flying. I took her by the hair + And hurled her back to sense! Yet still they come, + Coining excuses to be sent back home. + (_Enter_ 2ND ATHENIAN WOMAN _furtively_.) + There’s one of them. Ho, you! Whither away? + + 2ND ATHEN. WOMAN. I was but going home--just for the day:-- + I fear the moth has got into my fleece. + + LYS. What moth? Get back! + + 2ND ATHEN. WOMAN. By the two goddesses, + I promise you I will return with speed: + A spreading in the sun is all they need. + + LYS. Don’t spread them: do not go! + + 2ND ATHEN. WOMAN (_whimpering_). Must all my toil + Be wasted then? + + LYS. Aye, for it will not spoil + So swiftly as will this. + + (_Enter_ 3RD ATHENIAN WOMAN.) + + 3RD ATHEN. WOMAN. My flax, my flax! + Which all unkempt I left at home. + + LYS. (_ironically_). There cracks + A careful heart! Here! Come you back again. + + 3RD ATHEN. WOMAN. Yes, after I have wound it on the skein. + + LYS. Don’t wind it; leave it! If one plays that game, + A hundred more will want to do the same. + + (_Enter_ CORINTHIAN WOMAN.) + + CORINTH. (_she bears something wrapped in her robe_). + Help! A physician! Nay, I prithee, quick, + Quick, let me pass, I say! My child is sick. + + LYS. _Your_ child; since when? Yesterday you had none. + + CORINTH. ’Twas born last night! (LYSISTRATA _holds her_.) + Oh, loose me! Let me run! + + LYS. What ails it? (_Reveals helmet._) + Oh, this was indeed a birth + Miraculous--a thing of wondrous worth. + (_Tosses it away._ CALONICE _gets hold of it and smacks it_.) + Go, get you in! + + CORINTH. Nay, here I cannot sleep-- + Shut in a shrine where sacred serpents creep. + + 3RD ATHEN. WOMAN. And I, unhappy, I am sleepless too! + All night the owls go crying “Tuwhit! Tuwhoo!” + “Tuwhit! Tuwhoo!” + + ALL THE WOMEN. “Tuwhit! Tuwhoo!” + + LYS. O women, cease from juggling tricks and lies! + Is’t love ye long for, that ye waste in sighs + Your widowed hours? Stand firm, and all is well! + Was this not told us by the oracle? + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. How was it told? + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. Nay, tell me! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Tell us, how! + + (_The_ WOMEN _gather excitedly about her_.) + + LYS. Hear, O ye women, and be silent now! + “When the swallow + From the hawk + Flies, and when he seeks to follow, + Close in bower + To one place + Let them cower: + And, for a space, + Let them then-- + From love abstain.” + + CHORUS OF WOMEN. Ah! + + LYS. “But if from the shrine ye fly, + Borne apart by wind or word, + Soon shall every swallow die, + Mocked and marked--a victim bird!” + + CHORUS OF WOMEN. Ah! + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. By Heaven, the voice of the oracle is clear! + Let us not then, + Through any pain or fear + Yield ourselves up into the hands of men! + + (_Enter_ STRATYLLIS.) + + STRAT. Ho, women, comrades! Ho! Come quickly all! + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN. What is the matter now? Why do you call? + + STRAT. I see a man approaching-- + + ALL THE WOMEN. A man! + + STRAT. Frantic, torn + By-- (_She points._) + + LYS. O bright Cyprian goddess, ocean-born, + How straight a course you steer! + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN. Where, where is he? + + STRAT. Yonder by Ceres’ shrine. + + (_A great scramble of the_ WOMEN _to look at him_.) + + 1ST ATHEN. WOMAN. Ah, now I see. + + LYS. Knows any who he is? + + MYRR. Oh, me! Alas! + It is my husband, my Cinesias! + Oh, my dear love! (Kisses hands toward him.) + + CAL. What are you looking at,-- + Smacking your lips like that, you little cat? + What right to a husband has she got, I say, + While we must go without? + + LYS. Women, away! + (_The_ WOMEN _retire reluctantly_.) + + + (_To_ MYRR.) This is your business, then. Now to the test! + Go, plant your choicest weapons in his breast: + Love him, yet love him not. Show him the bliss + That beauty offers; but withhold the kiss-- + The cup by which you swore. + + MYRR. Mistrust me not. + + LYS. Go, and make ready! I will have him hot + Ere you return. + + (_Exit_ MYRRHINA.) + + (_Enter_ CINESIAS, _followed presently by his + servant_ MANES _leading a small child_.) + + CIN. Ah, me! What pangs I feel! + O Love, why hast thou racked me on this wheel? + + LYS. Halt! Who comes here? + + CIN. ’Tis I, a man. + + LYS. Then stay! + Man, get you gone! + + CIN. Whose bidding to obey? + + LYS. A watcher of the shrine. + + CIN. Oh, be a friend! + Call forth Myrrhina to me! + + LYS. To what end? + + CIN. Tell her--oh, tell her, there’s a house on fire! + + LYS. Whose house? + + CIN. _Her_ house: my house! + + LYS. What’s your desire? + + CIN. Bid her come quickly! + + LYS. Nay, but who art thou? + + CIN. Cinesias, her husband! + + LYS. Surely, now, + That cannot be! + + CIN. Why not? (LYSISTRATA _laughs_.) + Answer me, then! + + LYS. Cinesias is the handsomest of men,-- + Limbs like Apollo, and a head like Jove, + And eyes whose glances are the fires of love! + + CIN. Whence had you that? + + LYS. It is Myrrhina’s word. + Full often of Cinesias have we heard-- + A different man from you. + + CIN. Nay, but I swear + I _am_ Cinesias! + + LYS. What! That mop of hair, + That nose, those legs--the cause of all her sighs? + Ye gods! how Love deceives a woman’s eyes! + + CIN. But it is I! + + LYS. Oh, if it were, no name + Could be more welcome or more known to fame. + For every day we hear his praises sung, + With every meal his name is on her tongue. + Bites she an apple, breaks she an egg--she sighs + “Oh, that Cinesias might share the prize!” + + CIN. Ye heavens, can this be true? + + LYS. I will be bound + On oath to it! Also when talk goes round + Concerning--men, his wife is fain to swear + There’s none that with Cinesias can compare! + + CIN. Oh, call her to me! + + LYS. Have you anything + That she may know you by? + + CIN. Aye, take this ring! + Once it was hers. + + LYS. I will go bid her come. + + CIN. Quickly, I pray! For since she fled no crumb + Of comfort have I known: + (_Exit_ LYSISTRATA.) + Robbed of my mate + I find no rest, my house is desolate, + My appetite is lost, and sleep has flown: + Love tortures me because I live alone. + + MYRR. (_within_). Love him? Of course I love him. Ah, but he + Cares not, nor wishes to be loved by me. + + CIN. My little wife, my life, my peace, come hither! + Come to me, sweet! + + (MYRRHINA _enters and crosses the stage averting her face_.) + + MYRR. Nay, I may not go thither. + + CIN. Come, come, Myrrhina! Oh, come down with speed. + + (_She stands with her back to him._) + + MYRR. I have an oath. It is not peace you need. + + CIN. Not peace I need! Why, I am all undone + For lack of you. + + MYRR. Farewell. (_She moves away._) + + CIN. Your little son-- + Your child is here. Hark how he cries for you! + + CHILD. Mamma! Mamma! Mamma! (_She stops._) + + CIN. (_taking the child in his arms_). Think what you do! + Have you no pity on a little child? + See how the tangled curls have all run wild + For lack of care; and, like the little head, + The tender body goes unwashed, unfed! + + MYRR. Pity it is when fathers so neglect + Their children! + + CIN. Nay, what else can you expect? + How can a man learn to become a nurse? + + MYRR. He can but try. + + CIN. ’Twould but make matters worse. + Come down, my girl, and let the soft arms cling + Once more around your neck! + + MYRR. (_turning round_). Oh! what a thing + It is to be a mother! Needs must I go. + What other way remains, I do not know. (_She + begins to descend._) + + CIN. Oh, how much younger and more fair she seems, + And lovelier to behold than in my dreams! + + MYRR. (_descending to the lower stage_). + Child of a wicked father! Oh, run, run, + Quick to your mother’s arms, my little son, + My own, my sweet! Again, again, that kiss! + + (CINESIAS _tries to embrace her, she turns away with + her face in the child’s neck. He tries to get the + child away, but it cries and clings to her._) + + CIN. (_sternly_). O wretched woman, why have you done this-- + Herding with other women, robbing me + And your own nature of felicity? + + MYRR. Take your hand from me! + + CIN. Since you left my doors, + Ruin befalls my property and yours. + + MYRR. I care not for it. + + CIN. Your toils are all undone; + Your house is turned into a poultry run. + + MYRR. The shame be yours, then! + + CIN. Board and chamber lack + The woman’s presence. Will you not come back? + + MYRR. No, by high Heaven! Not until you cease + From waging useless war, and turn to peace! + + CIN. Peace? How can _I_ make peace? What mean you, pray? + + MYRR. You voted for the war: you went away + And left me all alone. (_Pretends to cry._) + What did you care? + You’d make peace if you loved me! + + CIN. (_soothingly_). Ah, there, there! + It shall be thought on--since you wish it so. + + MYRR. When you have well thought on it, let me know. + Till then, farewell. (_She moves away._) + + CIN. Nay, sweetheart, stay awhile! + Myrrhina, oh, come nearer! Ah, that smile + Says that you love me. + + MYRR. Yes. + + CIN. (_opening his arms to her_). Come then! + + MYRR. Nay, nay, + My arms are full already! Take not away + A mother from her child. + + (CINESIAS _endeavours to separate them_.) + + CIN. (_impatiently_). Come, brat, have done! + Here, Manes!... (MANES _is slow in coming_.) + Manes!... There, now off you run! + (MANES _takes the child, but waits as if to speak_.) + Well, and what now? + + MANES. A messenger, my lord: + Your ship in harbour, with the troops aboard, + Lies waiting to cast off! + + CIN. (_impatiently_). Oh, let it wait! + Go, get my arms: then stay at yonder gate + Until I come. + + (_Exit_ MANES _leading the child_. + CENESIAS _approaches his wife. She repulses him._) + + Well, and why now so loath? + + MYRR. Nay, touch me not! for I have sworn an oath + Which I must keep. + + CIN. An oath which has no sense. + On my head be it! A husband can dispense + His wife from oaths. Rest you! + + (_They look at each other with meaning: + he intently, she bashfully._) + + MYRR. (_faltering_). There must be found + Some place to rest on. + + CIN. (_opening his arms_). Nay, sweetheart, look round! + Rest here! + Now, kiss me! + + MYRR. Nay, not in the public street! + + CIN. No one can see us here upon this seat. + Come, sit you down! + + (_He seats himself and tries to draw her to his knee._) + + MYRR. What? on this hard, cold stone? + I’ll fetch you something! + + CIN. (_fondly_). Not for one alone! + + MYRR. I’ll be your footstool! + + (_Exit_ MYRRHINA.) + + CIN. (_gazing after her_). Does not this declare + How well she loves me? Oh, how sweet an air + Breathes from her raiment; and how from her eyes + Fond love and longing mock her brief disguise + Of seeming frowardness! + + (_Re-enter_ MYRRHINA, _carrying a rolled + mat. She arranges the mat on bench._) + + MYRR. There! sit and rest! + Put up your feet. Now, will you not divest + Yourself of that great cloak? + (_Takes off his cloak._) + Why, on my life! + I have forgot the cushions. + + CIN. Nay, sweet wife, + Let cushions wait! + + MYRR. But you can’t sit on this: + I say you shall not! + + CIN. Give me first one kiss! + + MYRR. (_kissing the tips of her fingers and touching + his lips with them_). + There, keep it safe! + + (_She runs off up stage._) + + CIN. Be swift, do not delay! + Surely she loves me well! + + (_He goes and picks up a flower she has let fall, + and begins kissing it. Re-enter_ + MYRRHINA, _her arms full of cushions and + coverings, which trail after her as she goes_.) + + Now, well-a-day! + What have we here? + + MYRR. (_arranging cushions_). There, that one is for you-- + This one for me: and this one?--this will do + To put between us lest we fall to blows. + This one is for your feet, and that one goes + Behind you: then this covers you (_arranges draperies_); + and this-- + Where shall this go? + + CIN. O sweetest wife, a kiss! + + (_Attempts to embrace her, and clasps cushion._) + + Nay, but by Hercules, sweet friend, you hurt! + I am on fire! This is a very shirt + Of Nessus! + + (_He struggles with draperies._) + + MYRR. Dear, dear! Why are all you men + So hasty in your joy! Here, loose it then! + (_Taking covering off him._) + Now you must have a fillet for your hair. + + (_She stoops and takes off a sandal string. Kneels + beside him and begins to tie on fillet._) + + CIN. Oh, how your fingers burn me! Ah, how fair, + How fair thou art! O tender, gentle, sweet, + Soft hands of love! + + (_He jumps up to seize her._) + + MYRR. Now, then, put up your feet; + I’ll loose your sandals. + + CIN. Nay! + + MYRR. What then? Your sword. + Shall I unbuckle it? + (_She kneels and looses his girdle._) + Let not my lord + Forget his promise that the war shall cease. + + CIN. Else may I perish! + + (_She lays aside his sword._) + + MYRR. For when you bring peace + Comfort comes back again. Now let me comb + These shaggy locks. It’s time I had you home! + (_She sits on parapet above him, undoes + fillet, and starts combing; she pulls his + hair, he winces._) + Oh! what a tangle’s here! This will need oil. + + CIN. Nay, let it wait! + + MYRR. What? Let your beauty spoil + For lack of ointment? Never! + + (_Runs off._) + + CIN. (_starting up frantically_). Oh, let that man + Perish most miserably who first began + The use of ointments! + + MYRR. (_re-entering with oil-flask_). Spare the curse! Belike + It was a woman. + + CIN. Then let Heaven strike + The head of her, or him, whose precious balm + Now so afflicts me! + + MYRR. (_paying no attention_). See, into my palm + I pour it, thus: + (_She advances with hand full of oil._) + Don’t touch me! Then I lave + These tangled locks. + (_He jerks away._) + Oh! why do you behave + So frowardly? + + CIN. You’ve poured it down my face! + + MYRR. Why didn’t you keep still? There, that’s your place. + (_Indicating her lap, she makes him sit down again._) + Now let me wipe it. + + CIN. Sweetheart! + + (_She stoops as if to kiss him._) + + MYRR. Why! how strong + This ointment smells! Oh, me! I’ve brought the wrong! + This was the cooking oil! + + CIN. Aye, so I fear! + I’m baked and basted now! Oh, come more near! + Lean on my breast, sit down upon my knee, + Clasp me in those dear arms! + + MYRR. (eluding his embrace). Let be! Let be! + Will you fulfil your promise? Did you say + You’d vote for peace? + + CIN. Leave that--to another day! + + (_He endeavours to draw her down to him; she slips under + his arm, runs up the steps and through the gates._) + + MYRR. Ah, ha! Ah, ha! Leave that to another day! + + (_Exit._) + + CIN. Oh, me! She’s gone! She’s gone! Look how my wife + Lured and then left me! Yes, she took a knife + And flayed me all alive! + (_While he speaks the_ CHORUS OF WOMEN + _creep on from behind. Enter, below_, + MANES, _carrying helmet and shield_.) + What shall I do? + How can I bear it? How shall I live through + Another hour? Oh, me! What flesh and blood + Can bear the strain? I am borne upon a flood + Of rage and love and longing, and have none + To help or comfort! Go, fool, get you gone! + (_Snatches his arms from_ MANES, + _throws them away, and drives him out_.) + Oh, me, I am undone! + + (_Enter_ OLD MEN’S CHORUS.) + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. Alas, unhappy one, how sorely grieved, + How much afflicted! Is it to be believed? + Are such things done? Dares she refuse a kiss + To her own husband? + + CIN. Oh, me! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Is all this + Wrought by one rebel wife? + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Let woe befall + Such women! + + CIN. Nay, she is more sweet than all! + More now than ever! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Ah! talk not of sweet! + Abominable! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Oh, take her, Zeus, like wheat! + Take her and toss her! As a sheaf of corn + Borne by a whirlwind, so let her be borne + Hither and thither: and then + Back to the earth + Fall to be trodden, a thing of little worth, + Under the feet of men. + + CIN. Oh, me! Alas! When shall I find release + From all these torments? + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. When you bring us peace. + + WOMEN. Peace. + + (_Exit_ CINESIAS _in despair_.) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Now hark, and I’ll tell you a story, + I used to be told as a boy, + Of Melanion, a youth, who before he + Grew old found the secret of joy. + For this youth, with affections unhampered, + Went forth to a wilderness bare, + And over the hill-tops he scampered, + And blithely he hunted the hare. + He fowled, and he fished, and he netted, + With only a dog at his side; + Yet for comforts of home never fretted, + And never had need of a bride. + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. And he never came back, he never came back, + he never came back to them! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Was he not wise? + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. And am I not wise too? + Melanion hated women; so I hate you! + + (_During this scene the_ 4TH LEADER OF MEN _had made + stealthy approaches to one of the women sitting + on the parapet above him_.) + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Young woman, I wish to embrace you. + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Go, eater of onions, go! + + (_She pushes him down the steps._) + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. I’m a proper man, yet let me tell you, + in case you + Don’t happen to know. + I’m sightly, and sprightly; and lightly + Can leg it along with the best! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Out, greybeard, get out! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. And am rightly + Inclined when I’m rightly addressed. + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. I also will tell you a story:-- + Melanion’s brings it to mind-- + How Timon of Athens, before he + Grew old had the wisdom to find + That friendship of men is unstable, + A favour reserved for the rich; + They feasted and drank at his table, + They left him to die in a ditch. + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. So flattered and fooled for a season + By those who had emptied his purse, + He came to find wisdom and reason, + And left them--his curse. + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. With the fury and loathing that moved him + Mankind he was fain to destroy; + + 4TH LEADER OF WOMEN. Yet still there were women who loved him: + In them he found joy. + + (_The_ 4TH LEADER OF MEN _renews his advances_.) + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN (_to_ OLD MAN). You want the whip! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. I don’t! I want the cat! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. I’ll kick! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. You’ll show your ankles! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN (_striking him_). Ah, take that! + + (_Enter the_ COMMITTEE-MAN, _followed by his_ SECRETARY. + _He is in fresh attire, and newly oiled and curled. As + he struts pompously on, the Women look at him and laugh._) + + (_Enter_ LACDÆMONIAN HERALD _dressed in bright scarlet and + bearing a long staff and a scroll over which the end of + his robe is flung_.) + + HERALD. Tell me, where does the Athenian Senate sit, + I pray you, sir, for I have news for it. + + COM. (_turning round_). Are you a man or an advertisement? + + HERALD. I am a herald come from Sparta, sent + On embassy of peace. + + COM. Is that a spear + Hidden beneath your robe? + + HERALD (_displaying scroll_). Sir, have no fear, + We are for peace, not war. + + COM. How comes it, then, + That Sparta is inclined for peace again? + + HERALD. ’Tis the desire of every Spartan man + That lacks his mate. + + COM. Came this desire from Pan? + + HERALD. Nay, Lampito began it; then the rest + Throughout all Sparta. Each one from her breast + Has shut out love. + + COM. And how, then, do ye fare? + + HERALD. Restless we turn, like flies that breed in air. + One may not touch them, till throughout all Greece + With one accord we mingle, and make peace. + + COM. (_triumphantly_). So ye, being suitors + to the Athenian State, + Own yourselves vanquished? + + HERALD. Nay, has not one fate + O’erwhelmed us both? Does not the selfsame fire + Burn in each breast burdened with man’s desire? + Have not your women driven you to despair? + + COM. Not so? In Athens men are bred to bear + Without complaint the petty bites and stings + Of all such volatile and venomous things + As women. We yield not to such as these, + Nor at their bidding! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. For we make _decrees_!-- + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. And _laws_--which they obey. + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. We should be named + Slaves rightly if by woman’s wiles so tamed! + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. _We_ seek not peace! + + HERALD. Enough! Let me get hence! + And if in Athens ye have men of sense, + Show where they be! + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Of sense? + + HERALD. Oh, greybeard, cease! + Fight your own battles!--but we _men_ need peace! + + (_Exit_ HERALD, _followed by_ COMMITTEE-MAN, + _who, as he goes, turns contemptuously + upon the_ WOMEN. _They laugh._) + + COM. Pah! + + (_Exit_ COMMITTEE-MAN.) + + (_The_ CHORUS OF OLD MEN _stand much depressed, + eyeing the_ WOMEN _malevolently_.) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Oh, are not women, set to their desire, + Shameless as cats, unconquerable as fire! + Who, then, may hope to match or beat them down? + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. If ye knew this, then wherefore + did ye frown, + And wage vile war against us, when of late + We sought to be your friends? + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Now will I hate + Women for ever! + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. So be it, as you please. + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. But wherefore stand ye thus + with naked knees, + All bare of limb as for a wrestling bout? + What means this folly that ye go without + Your cloaks? + + 4TH LEADER OF WOMEN. Come, put them on! + + (_The_ WOMEN _descend bearing the_ OLD MEN’S _cloaks + in their hands. The_ OLD MEN _submit to be dressed_.) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. By Zeus, now, this, + Which you have done for me is not amiss! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Ah, when I stripped the fire was in the pan! + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. Why! now, indeed, you look a proper man, + A noble, and a handsome, and a brave! + + 4TH LEADER OF WOMEN. Why did you vex us? Why did you behave + So frowardly? + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Wait, now! Here in your eye, + Blurring the vision, is some kind of fly. + Does it not pain you? + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Oh! so that’s the thing + Was troubling me? + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. No doubt. + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN (_irritably_). Well, take this ring. + Fetch it out for me! Aye, for many a day + This has been stinging me. Get it away! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Well, don’t be cross, then! + Oh, just look at that! + (_They all collect and look._) + There, don’t you see it? Why, a monstrous gnat, + Big as a hornet. + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Aye, in truth, a pest! + A plague! By Zeus, now you have given me rest. + + (_All the other_ OLD MEN _go to the other_ WOMEN + _and have flies taken out of their eyes_.) + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. Wait till I wipe it clean lest it + should swell. + (_She wipes it._) + There! Now I’ll kiss the place and make it well. + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. No, no! Don’t kiss me! + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. I don’t ask your leave. + That’s how you pay. + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Oh, woman, ’tis your nature thus to thieve + And wheedle! Ah! it was well said, no doubt, + “’Tis best not to be with--nor yet without-- + Female seduction.” + + (_During this scene the_ WOMEN _have collected + and carried away_ MYRRHINA’S _leavings_.) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Why, who be these? + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Spartans: and by their wands + Ambassadors. + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Come they to us in bonds? + + (_Enter two_ SPARTAN AMBASSADORS.) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. O Spartans, welcome first, and tell us next + For what cause are ye come? + + 1ST SPARTAN. Nay, read the text + Of your own hearts! Is not our plight the same? + All Greece endures a need without a name. + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. Have you, too, got a fly + Or hornet in your eye? + + (_Enter two_ ATHENIANS.) + + 1ST ATHEN. Where is Lysistrata? Nay, be not dumb! + Tell her that we be here:--Athenians, come + Of high degree, with powers upon us laid, + Sent by the Senate, to entreat her aid. + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. However high ye be, all of one grief + Suffer both day and night without relief! + + 1ST ATHEN. O welcome, Spartans! These be shameful things + We suffer! + + 1ST SPARTAN. Of a truth compassion wrings + My heart. A common grief hath made us kind. + + 2ND ATHEN. Wherefore, then, have ye come? + + 1ST SPARTAN. We are resigned + To plead for peace. + + 1ST. ATHEN. Now, truly, ye say well. + We also are agreed; and thus we fell + To meeting. + + 2ND SPARTAN. Good! + + 2ND ATHEN. Call, then, for Heaven’s sake, + Lysistrata; for she alone can make + Peace for us. + + 1ST SPARTAN. Nay! call--if a hope remains-- + All the Lysistratas the world contains! + + (_Enter_ LYSISTRATA.) + + 1ST LEADER OF MEN. Nay, call not, for she comes! + + 2ND LEADER OF MEN. O wisest, best, + Bravest of women--hail! To thee addressed + We come! + + 3RD LEADER OF MEN. Be good, and grave, and gracious, + mild and shrewd! + For at thy feet, the Grecian chiefs subdued + Now seek for aid. + + 4TH LEADER OF MEN. Surrendering to thy charms + With one consent all here lay down their arms. + + 1ST SPARTAN. Nay, nay! We treat: we do not yield + our claim (_pugnaciously_). + + LYS. Surely it is not hard, when people aim + With open mind for peace, to find a road. + But if to strife ye goad each other still,-- + Forthwith ye lack the will. + Quickly I’ll test you. Here comes Peace. + (_Enter a young girl, olive-bearing, emblematic of_ PEACE. + LYSISTRATA _turns to the_ WOMEN.) + Now take + Each by the hand these Spartan lords, and make + Them come with you. + (_The_ WOMEN _descend and lead the_ SPARTANS + _by the hand toward the centre_.) + --not by self-will or force, + As is the way of men, but from the source + Of sweet affection to all women dear. + Let the Athenians also be brought here. + (WOMEN _descend and lead forward the_ ATHENIANS.) + And now let both sides hearken to the word + Which I shall speak; and hold when ye have heard. + I am a woman: yet of brain and sense + Equal to yours; and often long years hence + Back in the past, I heard my father speak + Of the blood-bond which once bound Greek to Greek + ’Gainst all the world. May I not blame you, then, + That ye forget the words of older men + Who made Greece strong? Do ye not sprinkle still + The same gods’ altars, and with worship fill + Delphi, and Pylae, and Olympia’s shrine, + And others of a fame ye hold divine? + Yet vain your worship when throughout the land + Deserted homes and ruined cities stand, + And graves piled with the dead of slaughtered kin, + While all around Barbarians press in, + And waste your borders.... So one part is told. + + 1ST ATHEN. O form desirable! O heart of gold! + + LYS. Next upon you, O Spartans, I cry shame. + Have ye forgot how once a Spartan came + Suppliant to Athens, praying by all the gods + For help of arms against o’erwhelming odds? + Since, then, we sent swift succour, why do ye + Now waste the land which brought you liberty? + + 2ND ATHEN. By Zeus, well said! Sparta has done us wrong! + + 1ST SPARTAN. But might is right! And force good for the strong. + + LYS. And do you think I have no word to say + To you Athenians? Ah, there was a day + When Sparta, in her turn, came forth and slew + Many Thessalians, and succoured you + From Hippias and his horde. ’Twas she alone + Came to your aid when ye lay overthrown. + + 1ST SPARTAN. Never saw I a woman to compare + With this! + + 2ND SPARTAN. Nor I a bosom half so fair! + + LYSISTRATA _takes a spray of olive from_ PEACE + _and divides it in two_.) + + LYS. Why will ye not make peace? What is the root + Of your contention? + + 1ST SPARTAN. We have no dispute + Save upon this--restore what once was ours. + + 1ST ATHEN. What, namely? + + 1ST SPARTAN. Pylos: for were not her towers + Of Sparta’s building? + + 2ND ATHEN. By Poseidon, no! + Did we not save those towers from overthrow + When ye stood worsted? + + 2ND SPARTAN. Aye! Because ye made + A compact which ye broke! + + 1ST ATHEN. Because ye laid + False hands on Cöos! + + 1ST SPARTAN. ’Twas ours; ye know it well! + + 2ND ATHEN. Yours, as the herdman’s flocks upon the fell + Are to the wolf his own! + + 1ST SPARTAN. Aye, even so + Seized ye on Pylos! + + (_They are about to fall to blows._) + + LYS. Nay, let them have it! + + 1ST ATHEN. And where shall we go + To obtain recompense? + + LYS. Demand instead + Some other place. + + 1ST ATHEN. So be it: wisely said! + Do you give up to us all the waste land + Beyond Echinus, and on either hand + Of Megara, skirting the Melian bay! + + 1ST SPARTAN. Nay, by the gods! What? Give all that away? + Not I! + + LYS. Why grudge it them? ’Tis barren ground. + + 2ND ATHEN. But we would cultivate and fence it round, + Making it fertile. + + 2ND SPARTAN. Ah! we have a scheme + For doing that ourselves. + + LYS. An idle dream! + Since without peace ye cannot. + + 1ST SPARTAN. But if the prize + Goes thus divided, what of our allies? + They will need payment, having borne the cost. + + 1ST ATHEN. Tell them the truth, and own that ye have lost! + + 1ST SPARTAN. Nay, what I have I hold! Cöos stays mine. + + 2ND ATHEN. Starved and stuck fast, dry-footed in the brine, + Fearing the fleets of Athens! + + 2ND SPARTAN. --Who on land + Now fears to show her face or lift a hand + ’Gainst Spartan spears! + + 1ST ATHEN. Guarding a barren shore + Which we have spoiled for you! + + LYS. So with vile war. + Ye waste each other’s wealth! Go, then, and seek + Consent of your allies: then come and speak + More on the matter. + + (_She turns back to the Acropolis. + The_ WOMEN _follow her_.) + + 1ST ATHEN. Nay, by Heaven I vow + I cannot wait. Have the point settled now! + And--oh, get the thing done! Pylos is yours! + + 1ST SPARTAN. Echinus, and the waste land by the shores + Of Megara, we give you! + + (_All the_ WOMEN _utter a cry of joy and wonder_.) + + LYS. (_presenting the olive branches_). Ye do well! + Go, then, prepare; for in yon citadel + We hold our feast: there will we make new vows + Of friendship; then shall each man with his spouse + Return to his own home. + + 1ST ATHEN. Oh, word of peace! + Come ye soft fires of night, and let war cease! + + (_From the gates of the citadel come_ WOMEN + _carrying raiment of festival, golden fillets, wreaths, + and wine-cups. Night has fallen. Torch-bearers enter and + stand at the entrances on both sides of the stage._) + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. Now will I offer my best + For the good of each guest, + Raiment, and linen, and jewel, + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. And shoes for the feet, + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. And fuel and meat. + + 4TH LEADER OF WOMEN. Let them enter and bear it away! + + (_Enter_ DANCERS, _strewing flowers_.) + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. If any lack food in this city, + Let him come, I will offer him bread. + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. If any lack comfort or pity, + Lo, here is a roof and a bed. + + 3RD LEADER OF WOMEN. For Peace hath her portion in plenty, + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. And Discord is dead. + + 1ST ATHEN. Now let the dance begin! Give thanks and praise + To Artemis, and Him who bears the bays, + Sun-beamed Apollo-- + + 2ND ATHEN. Bacchus, with bright eyes + Among his Bacchanals, and in the skies + Fire-bearing Zeus! + + 1ST LEADER OF WOMEN. And Hera, that bright dame + Who shares his throne, and Pallas of virgin fame! + + 2ND LEADER OF WOMEN. Call we on these as witnesses in Heaven + To that fair peace by Aphrodite given. + Shout for the triumph of gentler powers! + + ALL THE WOMEN. Evoe! Evoe! The victory is ours. + + CHORUS (_leading procession of_ PEACE). + Take up your pipes of music sweet, + And make a measure for my feet + To dance to. Take your lute, and raise + Your song in Aphrodite’s praise. + And while the praise of Heaven ye tell, + Give praise to Mother Earth as well! + + (_Led by dancers, and with women strewing + flowers before her_, PEACE _descends. She + offers her hand to the_ SPARTAN AMBASSADOR.) + + LYS. Why do ye wait? Ye that have led hard lives + In foreign service, are not these your wives? + Since ye have made peace, do ye not deserve + The fruits of peace? We conquer but to serve. + + (_The chorus is repeated as_ PEACE, _leading + the_ AMBASSADOR, _preceded by the_ DANCERS, + _and followed by her_ ATTENDANTS, _passes out_.) + + (_Enter_ CINESIAS. MYRRHINA _comes down to meet him + with extended hands. He rushes up to her, catches + her up in his arms, and carries her away. + Immediately the other_ ATHENIANS _seize their + women and carry them off_. DANCERS _and_ + TORCH-BEARERS _follow. The stage is left empty + of all but_ LYSISTRATA.) + + (LYSISTRATA _comes down slowly to the + centre of the upper stage. She stands and + looks after the revellers. The light of the + torches fades away; only moonlight remains. + A sound of the cooing of doves is + heard from the roof._ LYSISTRATA _turns + and descends, going out in the opposite + direction, away from the sounds of revelry_.) + +CURTAIN. + +GARDEN CITY PRESS LIMITED, LETCHWORTH, HERTS. + + “We congratulate the Militants in having such a vigorous + exponent of their views.”--_Daily Chronicle._ + + WHAT WOMEN ARE DOING FOR WOMEN + + Is told every week in VOTES FOR WOMEN + + The Newspaper of the Movement + + Edited by + MR. and MRS. PETHICK LAWRENCE, + + and published + EVERY FRIDAY ONE PENNY. + + Articles by + THE EDITORS, MISS CHRISTABEL PANKHURST, + + And by special contributors, among whom are: + + Mrs. Pankhurst, Israel Zangwill, + John Masefield, Elizabeth Robins, + Pett Ridge, Evelyn Sharp, + Beatrice Harraden, Henry W. Nevinson, + Lady Constance Lytton, Lady Sybil Smith, + Laurence Housman, H. N. Brailsford, + Sylvia Pankhurst, Rev. Hugh Chapman, + Mrs. Zangwill, Rev. J. M. Lloyd Thomas + Mr. Joseph Clayton Mary Gawthorpe, + And Others + + Of all Newsagents and Stationers, and of Local W.S.P.U. + Secretaries, or by Post from the Publisher-- + + VOTES FOR WOMEN, + + 4, CLEMENT’S INN, W.C. + + _The terms are 6s. 6d. annual subscription, 1s. 8d. for one quarter, + inside the United Kingdom, 8s. 8d. and 2s. 2d. abroad, post free, + payable in advance._ + + Books, Pamphlets, Leaflets, Badges, Colours, etc., are on sale + at the Woman’s Press, 156, Charing Cross Road, London, W.C. + + “One of the cleverest political journals published in Europe.” + --_The Call_ (San Francisco) + + ON SALE at the Woman’s Press, + 156, Charing Cross Road, W.C. + (Tel.: City 3961.) + + BOOKS. + + =Awakening of Women=, by Mrs. F. Swiney =1s. net.= + =British Free Women=, by C. C. Stopes =2s. 6d.= + =How the Vote was Won= (play), by Cicely Hamilton and + Christopher St. John =3d. net.= + “=No Votes for Women=,” by Lady Constance Lytton =3d. net.= + =Sphere of Man and Woman in the Constitution=, by + C. C. Stopes =6d. net.= + =Subjection of Women=, by John Stuart Mill =6d. net.= + =Votes for Women= (play), by Elizabeth Robins =1s. net.= + =Woman: Her Position To-day=, by Constance Smedley =6d. net.= + =Woman and Economics=, + by Mrs. Perkins Gilman =6d., 1s. & 2s. 6d. net.= + =Woman’s Secret=, by Elizabeth Robins =6d. net.= + =Woman Suffrage=, by Arnold Harris Mathew =1s. net.= + =Women’s Fight for the Vote=, by F. W. Pethick Lawrence. + Paper, =6d. net=; Cloth =1s. net.= + =Rebel Women=, by Evelyn Sharp =1s. net.= + =Articles of Faith=, by Laurence Housman =6d. net.= + =Why?= by Elizabeth Robins =3d. net.= + =For and Against=, by Lady Sybil Smith =6d. net.= + =The Reforming of Augustus=, by Irene R. MacLeod =2d. net.= + =Press Cuttings=, by Bernard Shaw =1s. net.= + =Lysistrata=, by Laurence Housman =6d. & 1s. net.= + + PAMPHLETS. + + =Women’s Franchise=, by Mrs. Wolstenholme Elmy =1d.= + =Woman’s Vote and Men=, by Henry W. Nevinson =1d.= + =Citizenship of Women=, by J. Keir Hardie =1d.= + =Militant Methods=, by Christabel Pankhurst, LL.B. =1d.= + =The Faith that is in us=, by Mrs. Pethick Lawrence =1d.= + =The Meaning of the Woman’s Movement=, by Mrs. Pethick + Lawrence =1d.= + =The Importance of the Vote=, by Mrs. Pankhurst =1d.= + =The Constitutional Basis of Woman’s Suffrage=, by + Mrs. Stopes =1d.= + =The Struggle for Political Liberty=, by Chrystal Macmillan, + M.A., B. Sc. =1d.= + =Appeal to Men=, by Victor Duval =1d.= + =The Bawling Brotherhood=, by Laurence Housman =1d.= + =My Faith in Woman’s Suffrage=, by John Masefield =1d.= + =Prison Faces=, by Annie Kenney =1d.= + =Emancipation of Womanhood=, by Rev. J. M. Lloyd Thomas =1d.= + =The Earl of Lytton on Votes for Women= =1d.= + =Physical Force Fallacy=, by Laurence Housman =1d.= + =The Sword and the Spirit=, by Israel Zangwill =1d.= + =Women’s Votes and Wages=, by F. W. Pethick Lawrence =1d.= + =Australia’s Advice= =1d.= + =Militant Methods in History=, by Joseph Clayton =1d.= + + A large number of Leaflets for distribution can be obtained at + 9d. per 100, 6/- per 1,000, post free. Samples on application. + + By the Same Author + + =PLAYS=: (published by Messrs. Sidgwick & Jackson) + + “=Prunella=” (with H. Granville Barker) + “=The Chinese Lantern=” + “=Pains and Penalties=” (very shortly) + “=Bethlehem=”; =A Nativity Play= (Macmillan & Co.) + + =POEMS:= + + “=Green Arras=” (John Lane) + “=Spikenard=” (out of print) + “=The Little Land=” (out of print) + “=Rue=” (out of print) + “=Mendicant Rhymes=” (out of print) + “=The Story and the Seven Young Goslings=” (Blackie & Son) + “=Selected Poems=” (Sidgwick & Jackson) + + =NOVELS:= + + “=Gods and their Makers=” (John Lane) + “=An English woman’s Love-Letters=” (John Murray) + “=A Modern Antæus=” (John Murray) + “=Sabrina Warham=” (John Murray) + + =SHORT STORIES:= + + “=A Farm in Fairyland=” (Kegan Paul & Co.) + “=The House of Joy=” (Kegan Paul & Co.) + “=The Field of Clover=” (Kegan Paul & Co.) + “=The Blue Moon=” (John Murray) + “=All-Fellows=” (Kegan Paul & Co.) + “=The Cloak of Friendship=” (John Murray) + + =POLITICAL:= + + “=Articles of Faith in the Freedom of Women=” (Fifield) + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77760 *** diff --git a/77760-h/77760-h.htm b/77760-h/77760-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b64203 --- /dev/null +++ b/77760-h/77760-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4945 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" > + <title>LYSISTRATA | Project Gutenberg</title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" > + <style> + +body { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; } + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; clear: both; } +.h_subtitle{font-weight: normal; font-size: smaller;} + +p { margin-top: .51em; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.5em; margin-bottom: .49em; } +p.no-indent { margin-top: .51em; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0em; margin-bottom: .49em;} +p.author { margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 5%; text-align: right;} +p.big_indent { text-indent: 2.5em;} +p.neg-indent { text-indent: -1.5em; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; padding-left: 1.5em;} +p.f80 { font-size: 80%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } +p.f90 { font-size: 90%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } +p.f110 { font-size: 110%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } +p.f120 { font-size: 120%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } +p.f130 { font-size: 130%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } +p.f150 { font-size: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } +p.f200 { font-size: 200%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } + +.fs_80 { font-size: 80%; } +.fs_90 { font-size: 90%; } +.fs_110 { font-size: 110%; } +.fs_120 { font-size: 120%; } +.fs_130 { font-size: 130%; } +.fs_150 { font-size: 150%; } +.fs_200 { font-size: 200%; } +.fs_300 { font-size: 300%; } +.fs_400 { font-size: 400%; } + +.spa1 { margin-top: 1em; } +.spa2 { margin-top: 2em; } +.spa3 { margin-top: 3em; } + +.spb1 { margin-bottom: 1em; } +.spb2 { margin-bottom: 2em; } +.spb3 { margin-bottom: 3em; } + +hr { width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; clear: both; } +hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;} +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + @media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } +hr.full {width: 92%; margin-left: 4%; margin-right: 4%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} +hr.r10 {width: 10%; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 45%; margin-right: 45%;} +hr.r60 {width: 60%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +ul.index { list-style-type: none; white-space: nowrap; } +li.ifrst { margin-top: 1em; } +li.indx { margin-top: .5em; } +li.isub1 {text-indent: 1em;} +li.isub2 {text-indent: 2em;} +li.isub3 {text-indent: 3em;} +li.isub4 {text-indent: 4em;} +li.isub5 {text-indent: 5em;} +li.isub6 {text-indent: 6em;} +li.isub7 {text-indent: 7em;} +li.isub8 {text-indent: 8em;} +li.isub9 {text-indent: 9em;} +li.isub10 {text-indent: 10em;} +li.isub11 {text-indent: 11em;} +li.isub12 {text-indent: 12em;} +li.isub13 {text-indent: 13em;} +li.isub14 {text-indent: 14em;} +li.isub15 {text-indent: 15em;} + +table { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; white-space: nowrap; + border-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; } + +th, td { padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; + padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdc {text-align: center;} +.tdc_top {text-align: center; vertical-align: top;} +.tdc_bott {text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;} +.tdl_top {text-align: left; vertical-align: top;} +.tdl_bott {text-align: left; vertical-align: bottom;} +.tdr_top {text-align: right; vertical-align: top;} +.tdr_bott {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} +.tdc_ws1 {text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;} +.tdc_wsp {text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em;} +.tdl_ws1 {text-align: left; vertical-align: middle; padding-left: 1em;} +.tdl_ws2 {text-align: left; vertical-align: middle; padding-left: 2em;} +.tdl_wsp {text-align: left; vertical-align: middle; padding-left: 0.5em;} +.tdr_ws1 {text-align: right; vertical-align: middle; padding-right: 1em;} +.tdr_wsp {text-align: right; vertical-align: middle; padding-right: 0.5em;} + +.pagenum { position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; +} + +.blockquot { margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%; } + +.bb {border-bottom: solid thin;} +.bb2 {border-bottom: solid medium;} +.bt {border-top: solid thin;} +.bt2 {border-top: solid medium;} +.br {border-right: solid thin;} +.br2 {border-right: solid medium;} +.bl {border-left: solid thin;} +.bl2 {border-left: solid medium;} +.bbox {border: solid medium;} + +.no-wrap {white-space: nowrap; } +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} +.allsmcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} +.u {text-decoration: underline;} +.over {text-decoration: overline;} + +img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; } + +.figcenter { margin: auto; text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; max-width: 100%; } + +.poetry-container {text-align: center;} +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; + display: inline-block;} + +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} +.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} + + @media print { .poetry {display: block;} } +.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} + +.poetry .indent1 {text-indent: -3em;} +.poetry .indent1 {text-indent: -2.5em;} +.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2em;} +.poetry .indent3 {text-indent: -1.5em;} +.poetry .indent4 {text-indent: -1em;} +.poetry .indent5 {text-indent: -0.5em;} +.poetry .indent6 {text-indent: 0em;} +.poetry .indent7 {text-indent: 0.5em;} +.poetry .indent8 {text-indent: 1em;} +.poetry .indent9 {text-indent: 1.5em;} +.poetry .indent10 {text-indent: 2em;} +.poetry .indent11 {text-indent: 2.5em;} +.poetry .indent12 {text-indent: 3em;} +.poetry .indent13 {text-indent: 3.5em;} +.poetry .indent14 {text-indent: 4em;} +.poetry .indent15 {text-indent: 4.5em;} +.poetry .indent16 {text-indent: 5em;} +.poetry .indent17 {text-indent: 5.5em;} +.poetry .indent18 {text-indent: 6em;} +.poetry .indent19 {text-indent: 6.5em;} +.poetry .indent20 {text-indent: 7em;} +.poetry .indent21 {text-indent: 7.5em;} +.poetry .indent22 {text-indent: 8em;} +.poetry .indent23 {text-indent: 8.5em;} +.poetry .indent24 {text-indent: 9em;} +.poetry .indent25 {text-indent: 9.5em;} +.poetry .indent26 {text-indent: 10em;} +.poetry .indent27 {text-indent: 10.5em;} +.poetry .indent28 {text-indent: 11em;} +.poetry .indent29 {text-indent: 11.5em;} +.poetry .indent30 {text-indent: 12em;} +.poetry .indent31 {text-indent: 12.5em;} +.poetry .indent32 {text-indent: 13em;} +.poetry .indent33 {text-indent: 13.5em;} +.poetry .indent34 {text-indent: 14em;} +.poetry .indent35 {text-indent: 14.5em;} +.poetry .indent36 {text-indent: 15em;} +.poetry .indent37 {text-indent: 15.5em;} +.poetry .indent38 {text-indent: 16em;} +.poetry .indent39 {text-indent: 16.5em;} +.poetry .indent40 {text-indent: 17em;} + + +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:smaller; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; } + +.ws2 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 2em;} +.ws3 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em;} +.ws4 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 4em;} +.ws5 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 5em;} +.ws6 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 6em;} +.ws7 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 7em;} +.ws8 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 8em;} +.ws9 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 9em;} +.ws10 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 10em;} +.ws11 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 11em;} +.ws12 {display: inline; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 12em;} + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77760 ***</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="600" > + <p class="f80"><i>Photograph by Messrs. Alexander Corbett, Orchard Street, W.</i></p> + <p class="center"><b>Miss Gertrude Kingston in the Title Rôle of Lysistrata.</b></p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h1>LYSISTRATA</h1> + +<p class="f120 spb2">A MODERN PARAPHRASE<br>FROM<br>THE GREEK OF ARISTOPHANES</p> +</div> + +<p class="f120"><span class="fs_80">BY</span><br><b>LAURENCE HOUSMAN</b></p> + +<p class="f110 spa2">LONDON:<br>THE WOMAN'S PRESS</p> + +<p class="center">156, <span class="smcap">Charing Cross Road, w.c.</span><br>1911</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p class="f120"><b>CHARACTERS</b></p> + +<table class="spb1"> + <tbody><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Lysistrata<span class="ws6"> </span></td> + <td class="tdc" rowspan="4"><img src="images/cbr-5.jpg" alt="" width="30" height="107" ></td> + <td class="tdl" rowspan="4">  <i>Athenians.</i></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Calonice</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Myrrhina</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Stratyllis</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="2">Lampito</td> + <td class="tdl_ws1"><i>A Spartan.</i></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">1st Leader of Chorus</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">2nd Leader of Chorus</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">3rd Leader of Chorus</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">Chorus of Women</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">1st Athenian Woman</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">2nd Athenian Woman</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">3rd Athenian Woman</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">4th Athenian Woman</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><i>Athenian, Spartan, Bœotian,<br>and Corinthian Women.</i></td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">Peace</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="2">Cinesias</td> + <td class="tdl_ws1"><i>Myrrhina's Husband.</i></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="2">Manes</td> + <td class="tdl_ws1"><i>His Servant.</i></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="2">Child</td> + <td class="tdl_ws1"><i>Son to Cinesias.</i></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">A Committee-man</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">Spartan Herald</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">1st Spartan Ambassador</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">2nd Spartan Ambassador</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">1st Leader of Chorus</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">2nd Leader of Chorus</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">3rd Leader of Chorus</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">4th Leader of Chorus</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">Chorus of Old Men</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">Policemen</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">Athenians</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="3">Spartans</td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<p class="center"><span class="fs_110 smcap">Scene</span>: <i>A street in Athens, +with steps leading to the Acropolis</i>.</p> + +<hr class="r10"> + +<p class="center">[<i>Dramatic Rights Reserved</i>].</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> + <p class="f150"><b>Lysistrata</b></p> + + <h2 class="nobreak">SCENE I.</h2> + + <p class="center"><span class="smcap">Time</span>: <i>Before dawn.</i></p> +</div> + +<p class="center">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>. <i>She walks to and fro<br> +and looks anxiously to right and left.</i>)</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> None here! The place is void, the streets are dumb:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Though I have called, the women have not come!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ah, had it been for Bacchus, or for Pan,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Or Her who casts her woman-wiles on man,—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">White foam-born Aphrodite—swift and loud</div> + <div class="verse indent5">With beat of drums had thronged the giddy crowd</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To do them honour! Now I stand alone</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Uncomraded; and these soft hearts are stone</div> + <div class="verse indent5">While stricken Greece goes stumbling to her death.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Yet here comes one!</div> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Calonice</span>, <i>very slowly, dragging</i></div> + <div class="verse indent12"><i>her feet, yawning and still dressing herself</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent20">What! Are you out of breath</div> + <div class="verse indent5">With running, Calonice? Good, indeed!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">O swift of foot, I praise you for your speed!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Nay, peace, Lysistrata! What trouble now?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Why look you sad, my child? That darkened brow</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Becomes you not.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>Tries to embrace her.</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span> <i>turns away</i>.) + <span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">Oh, Calonice, flame</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Eats at my heart, and wrath, and heavy shame</div> + <div class="verse indent5">That there be women whom men can rightly hold</div> + <div class="verse indent5">In base esteem.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> (<i>adjusting her dress.</i>) Aye, true!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">So when 'twas told</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">How here a voice should speak and bid them rouse</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For Athen's sake, naught did they care! They drowse</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lapt in fond dreams.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws6">Well, they must sleep sometimes!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Yes, and make sleep the cover of their crimes!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Not sleep alone—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> "Not sleep <i>alone</i>!"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">—but sloth and slavish lust</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Have made them tame!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws6">Ah, give them time! You trust</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">My word for it, they'll come! Often, no doubt,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">'Tis difficult for women to get out:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For those with husbands have enough to do;</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And servants need a looking after, too;</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And then the children—one to put to bed,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And one to wash, another to be fed;—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ah! there's no end to it!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">And yet, my friend,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">To all these things now there must be an end.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">There stands for us a stiffer load to bear.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Than woman's burden? Why, what is it? Where?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lysistrata, belongs it ... to our trade?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Touching alike the matron and the maid.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> (<i>with sudden comprehension</i>). Oh! Is that it?</div> + <div class="verse indent15">What? Is it so you mean?</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Nay, there's no man in it! Oh, had there been,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Out they'd have buzzed like flies to tainted flesh!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">That which I have in mind is something fresh—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Frost, and yet fire: a love which looks like hate,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Barren, yet breeding safety to the State.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Surely a subtle thing, past women's ken?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Nay, not so far; yet past the thoughts of men.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The hope of Greece depends on women now.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> What, on us women? A frail hope, I vow!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Oh, what a pass! (<i>Turns away.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws4">That wherein now we stand,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Surely is worse: for now on every hand,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">State against State, we waste ourselves in war.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Soon shall the breed of Sparta be no more</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Than a mere name; and Corinth by her seas</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Will lie in ruins!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws4">Well, and are not these</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">The foes of Athens?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> <span class="ws4">Foes! the race which slew</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">With us the Persian? Athens will go, too,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">When Sparta dies: for, Greece being drained of men</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And emptied of her strength, we perish then</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Beyond redemption!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws6">Aye, most miserably!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">For without men where should we women be?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Therefore I call on women to unite</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And win for us salvation.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws10">What? To fight?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> A woman's battle.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws10">Think you we can win?</span></div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Word has gone forth: and let them but come in</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To Athens from the North and Peloponnese,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The women in alliance shall save Greece.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Oh! they won't come! What, shall the Spartan wives</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Join hands with <i>us</i>, while Spartans risk their lives</div> + <div class="verse indent5">In war on Athens? Did I not hear of late</div> + <div class="verse indent5">My husband say never was there such hate</div> + <div class="verse indent5">As now 'twixt us and them?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">I have a plan</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of peace: each woman must subdue her man.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> What can a woman do, save to go dressed</div> + <div class="verse indent5">In saffron robe, with loose Cimmerian vest</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And sandalled feet? Can hands which ply their craft</div> + <div class="verse indent5">On curl and comb, and ointment, hold the haft</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of weaponed war? (<i>Seats herself.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">These are the very things</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Wherewith to fight; from them salvation springs,—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The saffron robe, the delicate sandalled feet,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The broidered vest, the curl, the ointment sweet!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> How? To what end shall these things help us here?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> (<i>rises</i>). So that henceforth no man shall lift a spear</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Against his neighbour.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws10">Nay, my wits are weak:</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Your words sound empty.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">So that Greek 'gainst Greek</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Shall take up arms no more,—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws11">Then joy betide!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Swiftly I'll get me a robe with saffron dyed!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Nor bear a shield,—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> (<i>re-arranging her dress</i>). I'll don the broidered vest!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Nor wield a sword!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws8">Sandals, aye, of the best!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> For such an end should women not stand by?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Nay, by the gods, now ought they not to fly—</div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>Fly</i> to us?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent12 fs_110">(<i>Dawn has begun.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws8">Ah! In every Grecian State</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Women are doing as they ought—too late!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Not from the coast nor yet from Salamis</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Comes countenance or aid;</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent4">(<i>Sounds of approaching voices from all sides.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws8">Yet I know this,—</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Swift boats came o'er the strait at break of day.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> And the Acharnian women still hold away,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Though first of all I reckoned upon these!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> I heard of one—wife of Theogenes—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Swearing by Hecate <i>she</i> meant to come.</div> + <div class="verse indent12 fs_110">(<i>Voices outside grow louder.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">But see, look yonder now! For there be some;</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And here be others. Ha! ha! Whence come these?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> From Anagyrus.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws8">By the gods, one sees</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Something has stirred them now, at any rate!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Myrrhina</span>, <i>followed by</i> + <span class="smcap">Stratyllis</span> <i>and others;</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>they are chattering and laughing, excited and half-dressed.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent10"><i>As they come they are finishing their toilets.</i>)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>mincingly</i>). Lysistrata, I hope I am not too late.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Will you not speak then? Why so black a brow?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>Goes to</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>, <i>who turns away</i>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> How can I praise you that you come but now—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">So slow, Myrrhina, when Greece seeks our aid?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> 'Twas dark: I lost my girdle, and was afraid</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To come alone.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman.</span><span class="ws6">I could not find my shoes.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen. Woman.</span>  Nor I my cap.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Athen. Woman.</span><span class="ws6">Nay, truly?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span><span class="ws6">Well, what news?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">What have we come for,—tell us!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws9">If the need</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Be pressing, let us hear!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">Not so, indeed!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Wait till those other women, who set forth</div> + <div class="verse indent5">First to our summons, from the south and north,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">From Peloponnese and from Bœotia come.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>More voices are heard approaching.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> Oh, when you please! But yonder I see some.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>The women wave greetings. Enter from</i></div> + <div class="verse indent10"><i>the left</i> <span class="smcap">Lampito</span> <i>with other</i> <span class="smcap">Spartans</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> O dear Laconia! Welcome, Lampito!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">How shines your beauty, and how bright a glow</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of colour fills your face! O strong of limb!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Were Minotaur your match you'd throttle him.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> By the twin gods, I would try, any way!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I am a match for men, at fight or play.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Bends her arm and displays her biceps; a murmur of</i></div> + <div class="verse indent5"><i>admiration goes round; and other women feel theirs.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Oh, what fair form is this?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span><span class="ws8">Nay, friend, let go!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Am I a victim that you hold me so?</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> A pledge of victory that shall soon be ours.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ah, who be these?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The sun rises. Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Bœotian Women</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span><span class="ws7">Bœotians.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws9">What bright flowers!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">O fair Bœotia, with the full sweet breast</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And locks wherein the sunlight seems to rest,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I give you greeting. Next?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(The <span class="smcap">Bœotian Women</span> stand staring and</div> + <div class="verse indent10">giggling. Enter <span class="smcap">Corinthian Women</span>.)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span><span class="ws9">Corinthians these.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Oh, welcome Corinth, that between two seas</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lieth embraced, yet stayeth a virgin still.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman.</span> O double faced! (<i>Aside.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen. Woman.</span> Her looks belie it. (<i>Aside.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Athen. Woman.</span> Be still! (<i>Aside.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> Who called us hither?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws9">I.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span><span class="ws10">What was your will?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent18">(<i>A pause.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Nay, here we stand: therefore, I say, disclose</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Why hast thou brought to Athens friends and foes.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Corinth.</span> Tell us!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Women</span> (<i>excitedly</i>). Aye, speak!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>sarcastically</i>).<span class="ws3">This great, this pressing need.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws3">Yea, I will speak.</span> (<i>Slowly.</i>) But first, my friends,——</div> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>Exclamation of impatience from all.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent35">give heed</div> + <div class="verse indent15">To one small question.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Women.</span> Ask us what you please!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> O wives and mothers, to whom war decrees</div> + <div class="verse indent5">A life unhusbanded, do ye not yearn</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For those who gave you children to return?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent18">(<i>A pause.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Women.</span> Do we not yearn? Oh, me! do we not yearn?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">We yearn, we burn, to learn of their return!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Full well ye know how long they have been kept</div> + <div class="verse indent5">On foreign service.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws8">Aye, ten moons I've slept</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">A widow!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Bœot.</span><span class="ws3">And I!—No husband have I seen</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">For five long months or more.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws5">And mine has been</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Absent in Pylos seven.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Corinth.</span><span class="ws3">And mine the same.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> My lover, too. A week ago he came;</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Yet scarce had time to lay by sword and shield</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Ere back again they called him to the field.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> O womanhood, that waits with widowed breast</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Safe in the guarded home, yet finds no rest!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Chorus of Women.</span><span class="ws3">Ah!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent19">(<i>A long-drawn sigh.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> So men make war, and women bear the theft.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">There's scarcely a gallant or a lover left</div> + <div class="verse indent5">In Attica.</div> + <div class="verse indent13">(<i>The women burst into tears.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent19">And those who stay behind</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Still goad them to it. O women, would ye find</div> + <div class="verse indent5">A way to end this war—say at what price?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> I'd pawn my frock!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman.</span> <span class="ws3">I too!</span></div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen. Woman.</span> <span class="ws5">And I!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Athen. Woman.</span><span class="ws7">And I!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws8">I'd take a knife and slice</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">My body into fillets like fish for pence!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> And I would climb Taygetus, if thence</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I might get sight of peace!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent17">(<i>General consent.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Well, hear me then, for now I speak! Ye know</div> + <div class="verse indent5">How at each festival they make a show</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And a pretence of peace, calling a truce:—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And each man then comes home.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws9">Ah! for what use?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Just for one greedy bite—then off again.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">A snack of comfort. Oh, I know these men!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> And now, to-day, ye look for their return.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Women.</span> Yes, yes.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Brief is the truce, and brief the bliss ye earn</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For all your waiting.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women</span> (<i>sighing</i>).<span class="ws3"> Aye!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws7">For while men fight</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Never shall women's love retain its right</div> + <div class="verse indent5">In hearth and home.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span><span class="ws4">'Tis true!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">Well, hearken then,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">And be ye brave!... If ye would make these men</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Wishful for peace we women must ... abstain.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> From what?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws7">Oh, me! if now I plead in vain.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span> From what? From what?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws7">It is no easy thing.</span></div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> Let it be hard!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws7">Oh, cease this torturing!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> In this fresh truce, what ye must bear is more</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Than ye have borne through all the years of war.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span> What?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws4">Will ye do it?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws7">Yes, even though we die!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>A long pause.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Abstain ye, then ... from love.</div> + <div class="verse indent12">(<i>All draw back and turn sorrowfully away.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent25">Oh, sisters, why</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Do ye turn from me? Whither will ye go?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Why have ye shut your lips? Why shake ye so</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Your heads at me? Why pale and turned to tears?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Will ye, or will ye not?...</div> + <div class="verse indent8">(<i>Each one whom she challenges turns from her.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent28">O ye deaf ears!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">O women, where is your high purpose gone?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>in low, firm tone</i>). +   I cannot do it. Let the war go on!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Nor I. War must go on.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Comfortably accepting the inevitable.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">What you—you fish</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ready for filletting!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws8">Oh, let us wish</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">For any cure but that!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span><span class="ws6">Aye, any cure but that!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws10">At your desire</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">I would be willing even to walk through fire!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">But—take not love away!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span><span class="ws4">Not love!</span> Not love!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> (to <span class="smcap">Myrrhina</span>).<span class="ws7">And what say you?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>trippingly</i>). To walk through fire I would be</div> + <div class="verse indent5">willing too.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Corinth.</span> Fire? Oh, that's nothing! Fire?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Bœot.</span> I wouldn't care.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Athen.</span> Woman. I would do anything—go anywhere.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Corinth.</span> But to do <i>this</i>, I <i>couldn't</i>! Well, you see—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">'Twould be so useless—so <i>unwomanly</i>.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Oh, wretched race, which makes all Greece its grave!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Women be vessels driven by wind and wave—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">In nothing steadfast.... Ah, Laconia's bride,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Speak for me, Lampito; be on my side!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<span class="smcap">Lampito</span> <i>is quiet for a moment, she closes</i></div> + <div class="verse indent10"><i>her eyes and sways to and fro biting her lips,</i></div> + <div class="verse indent10"><i> then speaks with conviction and resolution.</i>)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> Now, by the gods, a woman's life is hard</div> + <div class="verse indent5">When of her lover's lips she stays debarred....</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Yet we must do it: the land hath need of peace.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> O bravest woman! One, out of all these!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> But if we do, what profit will it bring?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">How without love comes peace or anything?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Hark! I will show. Let each go to her home,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Put on fair raiment, ply the paint and comb</div> + <div class="verse indent5">With secret art,—over the tender breast</div> + <div class="verse indent5">With cords of gold unloop the scented vest:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Then wait, and when your warriors return</div> + <div class="verse indent5">After long absence, oh, shall they not burn</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To kiss the lips where welcome seems to wait</div> + <div class="verse indent5">So lovingly? And when a harder fate</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Meets their advances, and a voice cries "Go!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Not till ye bring us peace!" Full well I know</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Peace will come quickly then.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>during this speech have been gradually</i></div> + <div class="verse indent8"><i>won over: it appeals to their sex-vanity.</i>)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> (<i>rising to full height</i>).<span class="ws3"> O most true word!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Even so fierce Menelaus sheathed his sword</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For the bright breasts of Helen!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws10">You speak fair!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">But, friend, suppose our husbands ... went elsewhere?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Is yours like that? The covers will be bare.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> What if they come and take the kiss by force?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Bœotian Women</span> <i>shake their heads</i></div> + <div class="verse indent5"><i>continuously. The rest listen anxiously.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Cling to the door-post, then; or lock the doors!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> What if they beat us?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">Still ye can annoy,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Still fret and vex; for no man can have joy</div> + <div class="verse indent5">If ye afflict him.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> (<i>shaking her head</i>). Ah! Mine won't give in!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Let him hold out—what profit shall he win?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Surely ye know, each in your secret heart,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Smooth are a woman's ways to make men smart.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> There, there, I don't deny it. It's true indeed!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Well, since ye wish it, are the rest agreed?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Corinth.</span> Perhaps. I'll wait and see.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">Nay, answer now!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Oh come, ye women, and take up this vow!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> Each to persuade her lover or her mate?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Easy for us! But here you have a State</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Governed by party—babblers without brain.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Each must persuade her party.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span><span class="ws10">Nay, 'tis vain.</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Voteless ye cannot! The fleet stands equipped,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Supply is voted, and each party, whipped</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To its own ends, strives only to get hold</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of power, and office, and the public gold.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> And when no gold remains, then war will cease.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Is it till then that we must wait for peace?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Why! in yon Parthenon the State has stores</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of gold that would provide a dozen wars!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Make your mind easy: I have planned for this:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To-day we seize upon the Acropolis.</div> + <div class="verse indent19">(<i>General excitement.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Word has gone forth, and while we here debate</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The elders of our women have passed the gate:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Soon will the prize be ours.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws10">And all the gold?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> That, and the public peace is yours to hold.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span> Evoe! Evoe! Evoe!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>They run about waving their veils and shouting.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span><span class="ws10">You have planned well!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> So, that our cause may stand inviolable,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Now take the oath, then forward let us fare.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Are you content?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span><span class="ws6">We are!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws8">Nay, have a care!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">What are we doing?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> Speak, then, the word!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws6">In what form do we swear?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> In blood of bulls poured out upon a shield.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> It were ill-omened on so dark a field</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To sue for peace.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">How then?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws6">Take a white horse,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Slay it; then sit thereon!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws8">That has no force.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> Why not a goat?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws6">A dove?</span></div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Bœot.</span><span class="ws8">No; something big!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Corinth.</span> A cow?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman.</span> A fish, a filleted fish! (<i>to</i> <span class="smcap">Calonice</span>).</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> (<i>repulsing her</i>). A pig!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Nay, sisters, is not this a fairer sign?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Take a great goblet.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Shouts of "Yes!" and "No!"</i> </div> + <div class="verse indent10"><span class="smcap">Lampito</span> <i>threatens the dissentients</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent20">Slay a cask of wine:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Fill up the cup; then let the oath begin—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">"Not until peace will I pour water in!"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> O Mother Earth, to thee I make this oath!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Bring cup, and hulk of wine.</div> + <div class="verse indent8">(<span class="smcap">Servant</span> <i>carries away shield and brings</i></div> + <div class="verse indent13"><i>back cup and wine-skin</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent24">and set them both</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Here on this altar.</div> + <div class="verse indent8">(<span class="smcap">Calonice</span> <i>takes the cup and exhibits it</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent25">Thou fair girth and form,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Who clasps and drinks of thee, his blood grows warm;</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Who lacks of thee, lacks also of life's crown!</div> + <div class="verse indent16">(<i>To</i> <span class="smcap">Calonice</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lift up the victim: set the goblet down.</div> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>The cup is set down. The wine-skin is</i></div> + <div class="verse indent20"><i>held ready above it.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Fair goddess of Persuasion, and sweet Cup</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of comfortable Love, take and drink up,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Friendly to us, this blood!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">(<i>She stabs the wine-skin: the wine flows out.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> (<i>smacking her lips</i>). It bubbles well!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Corinth.</span> Brightly it runs!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent12">(<span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>smack their lips</i>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman</span> (<i>sniffing with relish</i>). Aye, + and how sweet a smell!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> By the twin gods, how it awakes my thirst!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Permit me, O fair comrades, to drink first.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent18">(<i>She takes up the cup.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> No, by the gods! Wait till the lots be cast.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Come, Lampito, and let us all link fast</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Our hands around the bowl: then let my word</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lead for the rest: and after ye have heard</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Let one among you speak: so, having cried</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Our common cause, thereto shall ye abide.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>They all lay hands on the cup.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "I swear there is no man, lover or spouse"—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent19">(<i>A pause.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The other women beckon for</i> <span class="smcap">Calonice</span> <i>to speak:</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>she shakes her head and draws back</i>. <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>catches her by the shoulder and draws her forward.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>She still remains silent till</i> <span class="smcap">Lampito</span> <i>gives her a</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>hard push from behind</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> "I swear there is no man, lover or spouse"—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "Whom I will meet to mate with or yield vows"—</div> + <div class="verse indent14">(<i>A pause.</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span> <i>stamps her foot</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Say it!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> "Whom I will meet or mate with to yield vows"—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "Of love."</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> "Of love." (<i>Sobs.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "But I will lead a life chaste and austere"—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> (<i>struggling with her emotions</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent14">"But I will lead a life chaste and austere"—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "Decked in a saffron robe, and in such gear"—</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal</span> (<i>half laughing, half crying</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent13">"Decked in a saffron robe, and in such gear"—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "That he who loves me needs must love me more"—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">—Don't drop the bowl!—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The women show relief, the</i> <span class="smcap">Bœotians</span> <i>giggle</i>.</div> + <div class="verse indent6"><span class="smcap">Lampito</span> <i>nudges them</i>. <span class="smcap">Calonice's</span> spirits</div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>begin to revive</i>.)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> "That he who loves me needs must love me more"—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "And for the kiss denied feel hunger sore."</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> (<i>doubtful and apprehensive</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent14"> "And for the kiss denied feel hunger sore."</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "I will provide cold lips for him to taste,"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Ah, lies, all lies! (<i>Aside.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent14">"Cold lips for him to taste——"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "His arm shall not be wound about my waist!"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> (<i>reluctantly, her voice breaking</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent14">"His arm shall not be wound about my waist."</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "If I stand firm, the cup of joy be mine!"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span>"If I stand firm—(<i>sobs</i>)—the cup of + joy be mine!" (<i>Sobs.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "If I break faith, let water drown the wine."</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Yes ... I mean it!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent13">(<span class="smcap">Calonice</span> <i>sobs over the wine-cup</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> So swear we all. (<i>Lifts the cup.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span><span class="ws5">So, by high Zeus we swear!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Thus pledged I drink.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span>.<span class="ws5">Here! don't you take my share!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<span class="smcap">Calonice</span> <i>drinks deep. The other women</i></div> + <div class="verse indent8"><i>seize hold of the cup</i>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span> Nay, cease, I tell you! Let it pass about</div> + <div class="verse indent5">As between equals.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Drinks and passes it. The cup goes round.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><span class="smcap">Calonice</span> <i>follows it</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent15"> <br>(<i>A shout is heard within.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lamp.</span><span class="ws6">Ha! what was that shout?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> That which I planned and told. Know ye by this</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Our women warders hold the Acropolis.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>General excitement. Some run to look over the</i></div> + <div class="verse indent5"><i> gate, wave to those within, and run back again.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent1"> </div> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Enter an</i> <span class="smcap">Old Woman</span>, <i>bearing a key.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>She gives it to</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">Now farewell, comrades, farewell, Lampito.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Swiftly let each one to her city go,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">There to breed peace! Meanwhile we will hold these</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Fair pledges of your troth, as hostages.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Come, Corinth, to your foes be faithful now;</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And you in Athens keep your Spartan vow.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>She draws hostages from the Spartans, Corinthians, and</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>Bœotians, and passes them to the care of the Athenians.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">The Women Chorus.</span> Now for the Women's War!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span><span class="ws2">Evoe! Evoe!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> O Pallas, bring us peace!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span><span class="ws2">Nay, wait and see!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Look, who comes yonder!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> Ho, such poor old men,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Marching in rows, and bearing logs: eight, ten—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">A dozen or more!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Women.</span> Ugh! how they limp!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> And how they drag their tails!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> And how they crawl—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Like snails</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Up a long wall!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> Oh, me! what mighty warriors be these?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> O ye great surges, ye white-crested seas,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Come ye to overwhelm us in your flood</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of feeble waters that were once strong blood!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Women.</span> What must we do</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>laugh and flourish defiantly</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Ah! there'll be others soon in their alliance—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">They'll come and make short work of our defiance.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> I care not for them! For they shall not bring</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Enough of threat, or force, or fire to fling</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Open these gates, until our terms be won.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Not so, by Heaven!</div> + <div class="verse indent12">(<i>She raises her hand, the women rally round her.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent20">Our cause were then undone</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For ever—to have women first proclaimed</div> + <div class="verse indent5">So fierce and formidable, and then so tamed!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Be brave, quit you like men! So fare ye well.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Now to the gates! Bar up the citadel!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Exeunt</i> <span class="smcap">Lampito</span> <i>with the</i> <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> + <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Bœotians</span>.</div> + <div class="verse indent5"><i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Athenian Women</span> <i>pass in through the gates</i>.</div> + <div class="verse indent6"> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span> <i>enters last</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Chorus</span> (<i>sung as the women pass out</i>). Pallas Athene, hear!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Bend from thy throne,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And make, with lifted spear,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Our cause thine own!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">O walls of Athens, homes of Greece,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The women's war shall bring you peace.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The gates are shut and bolted.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The stage remains empty and silent, the slow,</i></div> + <div class="verse indent5"><i>heavy tread of the men is heard approaching.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>From within the gates a woman calls</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>"Cuckoo!" three times.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Chorus of Old Men</span>. <i>Some carry a heavy log</i></div> + <div class="verse indent5"> <i>on their shoulders, others bundles of firewood.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent5"><i>Two of them bear upon a pole a brazier or firepan.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Advance, march firmly on; be not dejected!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Although like beasts of burden on our shoulder</div> + <div class="verse indent5">We bear this yoke of olive which we have hauled for</div> + <div class="verse indent5">So great a distance——</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Men.</span> So great a distance!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>They move a step forward.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> And which with sore abrasion</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Galleth the flesh:—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Men.</span> Ho-hopp! Galleth the flesh!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>Another step forward.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Although its weight is great</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And the occasion</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Most melancholy and most uncalled for——</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Men.</span> Ho-hopp! Uncalled for!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>Another step forward.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Still swiftly we advance toward the gate,</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Summoned by Fate——</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Men.</span> Ho-hopp!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>Another step forward.</i>)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> To the high gods' assistance.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Truly in a long life as one grows older,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">One learns that troubles still come unexpected!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> So here's a fresh example set before us!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Whoever would have thought, O Strymodorus,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">That woman——</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st, 2nd, and 3rd Leaders of Men.</span> Woman!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Whom, in her sphere, the home</div> + <div class="verse indent5">A manifest but necessary pest——</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Men.</span> Ho-hopp!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>Another step forward.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> We meekly have supported.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st, 2nd, and 3rd Leaders of Men.</span> Supported!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Men.</span> Ho-hopp!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>Another step forward.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Would ever have resorted——</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> To such a course as this!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st, 2nd, and 4th Leaders of Men.</span> As this!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Several Men.</span> Ho-hopp!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>Another step forward.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> And got possession of the Virgin shrine</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And of the Acropolis—<i>my</i> Acropolis.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st, 2nd, and 4th Leaders of Men.</span> <i>My</i> Acropolis!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> And blocked the Propylæa—yours and mine.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st, 2nd, and 4th Leaders of Men.</span> Yours and mine!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> With hostile bolts and bars.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Men.</span> Ho-hopp!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Those in front flag, the forepart of the log is let down.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent5"><i>The four</i> <span class="smcap">Leaders</span> <i>come forward, leaving the others</i></div> + <div class="verse indent5"><i>to do the carrying. All immediately strike work.</i>)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> So, ye propitious stars,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Now let us haste.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws3">And without waste of time</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Take up our task sublime:</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> And heaping up the pyre</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Round all whom in this plot we count the worst—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> With our own hands set fire</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To women so abominable, so accurst!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Let us take first</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lysistrata, the wife</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of Lycon:</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Never again</div> + <div class="verse indent5">While I have life</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Shall she be heard making her mock on men.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> But now the steepest part of all the track</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Toward those gates whereto I press with speed</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Remains to pass:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And I must lift, alas!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">This load.</div> + <div class="verse indent12">(<i>He indicates the log of olive.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And bear it up, alack, alack,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Unaided on my galled and jaded—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Back.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Tarry awhile: this fire needs looking to,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lest at our goal we find it perished quite,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And what, then, should we do?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>They gather round firepan.</i>)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Faugh! Faugh! Now by my soul</div> + <div class="verse indent5">This fire out of its pan</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Like a mad dog has leapt and tries to bite—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Flies at my eyes, depriving me of sight!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Oh, sorry joke!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men</span> (<i>rousing the carriers</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent5">But haste, and to the citadel press on!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The goddess needs your aid.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Quick, Laches, now or never!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Though I am stayed</div> + <div class="verse indent5">By this most stubborn fire, I come anon.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Leaders of Men.</span> Faugh! Faugh! Oh, what a smoke!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Yet, favoured of the gods, it lives, it wakes!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Therefore I say, abandon now this yoke.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And, kindling at the flame these vine-wood stakes,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Rush forward!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws3">And with a sudden stroke</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Beat in the doors!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span>  For if these rebel women—when we knock,</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span>  Or when we call,</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span>  Fail to unloose the lock—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3RD Leader of Men.</span>  Then let us fall</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Swiftly upon them—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws4"> With fell fire and shock</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of onset!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Rout them!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Smoke them from their hive—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> And burn them up alive!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent7">(<i>They fall to action with the unlit torches.</i>)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Ay, you say well!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">But first uplift this load</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And set it as a trophy on our road.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Proof of the victory which here befell!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent7">(<i>They set the log up on end.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> And now—for it is time that ye began—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Quick to your business, pan!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>They thrust their torches into the firepan.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Catch, kindle, burn, lend me a torch of fire.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent4">(<i>Four women's heads appear over the ramparts watching them.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> And light me to the goal of my desire,</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Where rampant women, daring to rebel,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">With impious hands have seized my citadel.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>They catch sight of the women, and crouch with their</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>lighted torches below the steps leading to the gates.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent1"> </div> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Chorus of Women</span> <i>from citadel. They pretend</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>to be unaware of the old men's presence.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> What fire is this?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">What smoke that mounts to Heaven?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Oh, women, hasten! Was the warning given</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Too late?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span><span class="ws3"> What if it be</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">One of our sisters, that too tardily</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Hath hither run; and even now, entrapped</div> + <div class="verse indent5">By evil men and unjust laws, stands lapt</div> + <div class="verse indent5">In flame of martyrdom!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> Come, quickly come!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">O women, bring</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Your pitchers from the spring!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent7">(<i>Enter the</i> <span class="smcap">Water Carriers</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> Oh, me! I am afraid</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lest we have come too late to offer aid.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> Not so! (<i>pointing to the</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span>).</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span><span class="ws3">Tarry, for I have heard</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">That certain gay old dogs,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Men past their prime,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">With brains and senses blurred,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Diseased by age,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Have come forth carrying logs</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And full of rage,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To burn us to a cinder.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women Chorus</span> (<i>fiercely</i>). Ah!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent7">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span> <i>grow uncomfortable</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span>  So dark a crime</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Shall we not hinder?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women Chorus.</span> Yes!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> Therefore, O maiden of the golden crest,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Guardian divine,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">We women hold thy shrine.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span>  So to our gain,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">O goddess, now unsheath</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Thy strength: and if these men set fire beneath</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Send thou down—Rain!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women Chorus</span> (<i>lifting their pitchers</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Send thou down—Rain!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> What's this I see below us?</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> O greybeards, old in sin,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Is it thus that ye begin</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To overthrow us?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span> <i>scatter and slink away into</i></div> + <div class="verse indent5"><i>shelter, hiding behind each other's backs</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> This is most unexpected!  Nay what form</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of war is this?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws2"> Get back!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">We are detected!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Get back, get back!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> See from the Acropolis women in a swarm</div> + <div class="verse indent5">All unprovoked come running to the attack!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Tut, tut! Go back, go back!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> Why do ye threaten us? Are we so few?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The women ye now see in front of you</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Are not one-thousandth part of them that wait</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Our call within the gate.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> O brothers—brothers, will ye let them prate?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">You want a whipping!<span class="ws2"> (<i>To the women.</i>)</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws4">Yes, a good thick stick</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Broken across your backs.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span><span class="ws5">Come, sisters, quick!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Set down your pitchers!</div> + <div class="verse indent7">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>set them down</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent20">There! now take your choice:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Which of us first?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws3">Ah, you had had no voice</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Left, had I dealt with you as I would like!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> Well, here I am then (<i>advances</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent6">What, will no one strike?</div> + <div class="verse indent13">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Men</span> <i>are silent</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Not one?</div> + <div class="verse indent13">(<i>To</i> <span class="smcap">Leader of Men</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent11">Come, be a man, lift up your mace—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Smite: and thereafter never show your face.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Be silent!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Else I'll strip and beat you bare!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women Chorus.</span> Ah, do it! do it! do it!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Hurt but one hair,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Or with one finger dare to lay a scratch</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Upon her body!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws3">Well? And when I match</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">My fists to hers—where will the hurt be, then?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> Quick in the minds and consciences of men—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Deeper than fang can bite or gadfly sting!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws3">Well said the poet—"No more shameless thing</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Exists, than woman!"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span><span class="ws5">Oh, take up once more</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Your pitchers, women! Ye need not fear war</div> + <div class="verse indent5">With such faint hearts as these. Call them not men!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>take up their pitchers and begin to retire.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span> <i>grow bold again</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Call yourselves women! There, be off again!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men</span> (<i>with curiosity</i>). What was that water for?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span><span class="ws5">For what that fire?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Old foot-in-the-grave, was it your funeral pyre</div> + <div class="verse indent5">You came to light?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men</span> (<i>furiously</i>). No, yours!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> <span class="ws5">Sought ye to learn</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">How water puts out fire?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> How fire can burn!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Wait! You shall get a scorching!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> (<i>turning and advancing towards him</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Oh, you grub!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Have you brought soap then? Do you want a tub?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All Women Chorus.</span> D' you want a tub?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> A tub?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span><span class="ws4">A nuptial bath. Oh, to thy side</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Take me, Tithonus! Let me be thy bride!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent9">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>laugh</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Fire, fire on them!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Men</span> <i>advance with torches. The</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>lift and swing back their pitchers</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span><span class="ws5">Then, pitcher, to thy task!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>run down the steps and</i></div> + <div class="verse indent8"><i>empty their pitchers over the men</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All Men Chorus.</span>  Oh me!  Woe, woe!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span>  What, is it hot?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women Chorus</span> (<i>laughing</i>). Hot? Is it hot?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Men Chorus.</span> Hot? Hot? Why do you ask?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Oh stop, let be! let be!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> What are you doing? Oh women, let me go!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> We water you, being young, that ye may grow.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Men Chorus</span> (<i>trembling, and with chattering teeth</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent4">I'm old: I'm cold!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women Chorus</span> (<i>imitating them</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent4">I'm old: I'm cold!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span><span class="ws5">Get back into your pot!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Go to your fire, and warm yourself!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>pick up their pitchers, and run off laughing</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent1"> </div> + <div class="verse indent7">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span> <i>huddle miserably about the fire</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent1"> </div> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Committee-man</span>, <i>accompanied by his</i> <span class="smcap">Secretary</span>.)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws12">What? What?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">What means this noise of women? Have the jades</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Started their rackettings again—their raids,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Their drummings, and their voices from the roof</div> + <div class="verse indent5">At public meetings? Aye, had we not proof</div> + <div class="verse indent5">When Strellus in debate, only last week,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">On Naval policy, began to speak</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of unlaunched keels left rotting on the slips:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Says he—most wisely—"You must <i>man</i> your ships</div> + <div class="verse indent5">"As well as build them." Suddenly in burst</div> + <div class="verse indent5">A voice from nowhere—"Man your women first!"</div> + <div class="verse indent5">It was his daughter! Athens being drained</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of marriageable men, affairs grow strained</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Within the home. Then, on another occasion,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Brennus was holding forth about invasion,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Conscription, taxes, and the waste of war:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">When all at once a voice squeaks through the door—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">"What about women?"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Athen. Woman</span> (<i>opening and shutting door of Acropolis</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent5">"What about women?"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Well, then, what about 'em?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ugh! if I had my way I'd up and out 'em.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">In no time! <i>Women!</i></div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Yes, we quite agree:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">"Women!"  Nay wait, and you shall hear and see</div> + <div class="verse indent5">How we've been treated!</div> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>They all come out and display themselves</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">There! Behold what payment</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To us is meted!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> See how from our raiment</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The water drops</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Run down!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> See, see, what sops</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Thus</div> + <div class="verse indent5">They have made of us!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> We are like rain-flushed sewers!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Like bursting mains!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Women with ewers—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Have turned us into drains!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Oh, fitly are ye punished, for have not ye</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Yourselves trained women to this villainy?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Men Chorus.</span> <i>We</i> trained them?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Have ye not sped them in the game of sex?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Men Chorus.</span> Game of sex?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> And bled your pockets to adorn their necks?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> No, <i>I've</i> not!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span>  Taught them to twine and coil and paint their eyes,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And paid the price for all their amorous sighs</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Present and absent, faithful and foresworn?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span>  <i>We</i> pay the price?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Aye! round their necks full many a clasp is worn</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Not of <i>your</i> making.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Not of <i>our</i> making?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span> + <i>turn and consult each other accusingly</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span>.<span class="ws4">Where do such things lead?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Where but to this?—that when I come in need—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Aye, and with warrant—of money for the State,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I am shut out, and women hold the gate.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">There they combine, call themselves "comrades", "sisters"—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Rebels and law-breakers and tax-resisters!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st, 2nd, and 3rd Leaders of Men.</span> Comrades? Sisters? Rebels? Law—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>While he speaks the women have come out again,</i></div> + <div class="verse indent9"><i>and stand in rows listening silently</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Stand not to stare, ye fools! Search till ye find</div> + <div class="verse indent5">That woman, by whose word they stand combined!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Fetch me Lysistrata! Bring rams and lay</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Levers beneath the gates, and force your way!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>. <i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>spread their cloaks</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>and make a carpet for her to walk upon</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Nay, use no force! Lay down your battering ram!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Seek ye conciliation? Here I am</div> + <div class="verse indent5">How can force help you here? Are levers meant</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To take the place of reason and consent?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Abominable creature! Hold your peace!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Seize her and bind her fast!</div> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>No one stirs.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent26">Police! Police!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Where are the police?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent7">(<i>Enter a</i> <span class="smcap">Policeman</span>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span><span class="ws8">Now, by Artemis!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Who first dares touch her, he shall weep for this,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">If he remain a man!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent7">(<span class="smcap">Policeman</span> <i>falls back</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws8">Are you afraid,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Fellow? Go, then, call others to your aid—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Bring reinforcements!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>He goes, and returns with a second</i> <span class="smcap">Policeman</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span><span class="ws8">Now look what you do?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">If you but touch her, we will jump on you!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> More reinforcements!</div> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>They go and return with a third</i> <span class="smcap">Policeman</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent29">Aye, bind this one first!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And gag her too! (<i>Points to</i> <span class="smcap">Stratyllis</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent22">These chatterers are the worst!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> For cowards who fear the truth!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent7">(<span class="smcap">Police</span> <i>advance up steps</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman.</span> See that you lay</div> + <div class="verse indent5">No hand on her!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Other</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>threaten—the</i> + <span class="smcap">Police</span> <i>retreat</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws8">Why do ye run away?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">What's this? What's this? Back boobies, to your task!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Police</span> <i>rally, and again advance</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen. Woman</span> (<i>pushing back the other and taking her place</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent5">By Pallas, I will make a Gorgon's mask</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of him who touches her!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Police</span> <i>hesitate. During the speech + of the</i> <span class="smcap">Committee-man</span></div> + <div class="verse indent1"><i>which follows the</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>cry "Quack, Quack!" at intervals</i>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> (<i>putting a pole into their hands</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent6">For shame, for shame!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Will ye be beaten? Are ye all so tame?</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Stricken of women, and of strength bereft!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Rally and march! Right left, right left, right left!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Police</span> <i>advance with the pole in a + compact body</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Now by the light of heaven, ye shall begin</div> + <div class="verse indent6">To know our strength! Ho, women! there within!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>crowd to the gates</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span> <i>backs up the steps. The</i> + <span class="smcap">Police</span> <i>mount after her</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>open to right and left, and hold their</i></div> + <div class="verse indent9"><i>scarves ready to noose the</i> <span class="smcap">Policemen</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>Some of the</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>seize hold of the poles</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Twist back their hands, policemen!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws12">Help! A stroke</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">For freedom! Come, ye women, ye market folk,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Ye buyers and sellers, ye keepers of the home,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Ye workers rich and poor, I bid you come!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent13">(<i>They all rush out.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman.</span> Will ye not drag? Will ye not beat and smite?</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Will ye not face the foe, and put to flight?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>throw their cloaks over the</i> + <span class="smcap">Police</span>,</div> + <div class="verse indent8"><i>tie them up, and drag them into the citadel</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>The others dance and scream with joy.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Stop! Do no harm to them. Return again!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Alas, how miserably have fared my men!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> What did ye look for? When ye crossed our path</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Thought ye that we were slaves? Is there no wrath</div> + <div class="verse indent6">In woman, and no hurt if she be stirred?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span>  Master Commissioner, waste not a word</div> + <div class="verse indent6">On such wild beasts as these.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws4">Did you not see</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">To what a drenching bath</div> + <div class="verse indent6">They treated me</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Who dared to cross their path—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Having done nothing!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws8">Nothing? In such wise</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">The swelled head has to learn through swollen eyes.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Oh, Zeus, what shall we make of fiends</div> + <div class="verse indent11">like these,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Monsters intolerable?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Nay, but inquire of them and bid them tell</div> + <div class="verse indent6">How came they, with what intent, to seize</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Our sacred citadel?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span>  Ask, ask, repeat,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And do not be persuaded</div> + <div class="verse indent6">By feminine deceit:</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Nor, I entreat,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Let the straightforward question be evaded.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Why, ask them why—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> And pause for a reply—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Why, on the untrodden rock</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Of our Acropolis,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">With bolt and bar and lock,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Have they done this?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> There, plain put, is the question. (<i>To</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Come then, tell—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Why have you seized upon our citadel?</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> To save the public fund from ends more fit,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And that ye should not fight because of it.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Think you it is for <i>money</i> that we fight?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Not that alone: for evil is the plight</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Of Athens now! Lo, sunk into the dust</div> + <div class="verse indent6">She lies a victim to man's pride and lust</div> + <div class="verse indent6">For power.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span> Aye! true enough! 'tis true, 'tis true!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Dear me! indeed! And pray what would <i>you</i> do</div> + <div class="verse indent6">To make things better?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">If fair words avail,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Patience, and you shall hear.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">Go, croak your tale!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Aye, for of former times now would I speak,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And former wars, when women all too meek</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Bore and endured; and then, when, sick at heart,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Yet with a smile, we sought to know what part</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Ye played for peace, in wrath the answer flew—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">"Be silent, woman! What is that to you?"</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And I was—silent.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> (<i>aside</i>). Not I!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">Aye, and you had best</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Be silent now!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">Silent I strove to rest</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">There in the home: till presently again</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Came news of further mischief; and when, fain</div> + <div class="verse indent6">To learn the cause of it, one dared to ask</div> + <div class="verse indent6">"How is it, husband, that ye do this task,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Ye men, so ill?"—quick, with a furtive eye,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Grudging one's right to question, he would cry,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">"Stick to your loom! Leave politics to men,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Lest ye fare worse!"</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">Aye, he spake rightly then!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> How was it right? Shall it not be our turn</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Ever to speak our thoughts, and yours to learn</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And profit?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws4">What! must I yield place and give</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Woman her way? Then may I cease to live!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Functions performed by one, two cannot share!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Try then the woman's part, and leave the care</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Of State henceforth to us!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<span class="smcap">Committee-man</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Chorus</span> <i>all laugh</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> (<i>contemptuously</i>). How will you do it?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">That we shall arrange.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> What? With my money?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">Why should that seem strange?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Are not your homes, your servants, and your whole</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Domestic property in our control?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> We want the money to carry on the war!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Why? To what end? What are you fighting for?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> How else shall we be saved, or Greece be freed?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> We'll save you.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6"><i>You</i>? A sorry plight indeed!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Trust us—you shall be saved against your will.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Pooh! The idea!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">That makes you angrier still?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> It is absurd! Women save men from war!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">We don't want to be saved!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">So much the more</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Ye need salvation.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">And pray, what concern</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Have you in the matter?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">Ah, that you must learn.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Speak, or you'll get a beating!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> (<i>sarcastically</i>).<span class="ws4">O restrain</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">That master-hand!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">See then, that you refrain</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">From vexing me!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws4">Vexing? Why, soon through Greece</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">We shall be known and named—Makers of Peace!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Pray, on what plan?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">First from the public street</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Remove those monuments of male conceit—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">The military loungers!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws6">Aye, good sooth!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Fools who go swaggering from booth to booth,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">In time of peace, rigged in full fighting kit!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Well, wherefore not?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws4">Oh, I am sick of it!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">What are they armed for?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">It becomes them well.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span> Becomes them? What?—to buy a mackerel</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Girt with a sword and brandishing a shield.</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Ugh!—one I saw last week, back from the field</div> + <div class="verse indent6">All plumed and combed—the captain of a troop,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And in his helmet he was carrying soup!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Another with a javelin dancing jigs</div> + <div class="verse indent6">To frighten an old woman who sold figs—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Picking out all the ripe ones.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws10">Well, of course,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">All government has to depend on force.</div> + <div class="verse indent6">How would you manage? Eh?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">Avoiding fuss.</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">As with a tangled thread: we take it thus,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Singly—one line of wool from all the skein;</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Then here and there we draw it without strain,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Finer and smoother. So would we end war</div> + <div class="verse indent6">By peaceful embassies, still sending more</div> + <div class="verse indent6">If the first failed, still weaving in and out—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Till men forgot the thing they fought about.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> And think you, then, that one could extricate</div> + <div class="verse indent6">With such wool-gatherings the affairs of State,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">You silly woman?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws8">Had you sense, you'd try!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Here in our city the same cure would apply.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> How, pray?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws4">Well, first of all you clean the fleece:</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">That's sanitation—you wash out the grease,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Pick out the briars: that means segregate</div> + <div class="verse indent6">The undesirable—relieve the State</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Of rogues and knaves. Then, too, you must untwist</div> + <div class="verse indent6">The clotted tufts—the cliques—whose grasping fist</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Keeps others out of office. Head from head</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Pluck them, and play them out, and let them spread;</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Then pile them in one ball as light as down</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Using no pressure. So shall every town</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Be as one whole. Next to your counsels call</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Your colonies as well; then out of all</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Shape your material: put no heavier yoke</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Or strain on any, and therefrom weave a cloak</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Of friendship for the people.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> (<i>obtuse and contemptuous</i>). Nay, what wit</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Is here? "Take wool, and make a ball of it:</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Weave it, and wind it, roll it round and round</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Till something come of it!" Now is that sound?</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And what on earth have women to do with war?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> O purblind fool! our part therein is more</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Than any man's! For women bring forth life</div> + <div class="verse indent6">In pain and anguish: then, when ye fall to strife,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And in the field conduct your long campaigns,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">The wife deserted in the home remains;</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And the maid, robbed of her most precious years,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Grows old before her time, while disappears</div> + <div class="verse indent6">The hope of motherhood: her day is brief.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> The man grows old as well.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">Oh, past belief</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">The folly of such words! For, be he grey</div> + <div class="verse indent6">When he returns, the man can have his way</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And wed a maid. But what man to his side</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Will take of his own choice a barren bride?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> No, not in wedlock: but a man may range</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Outside the bond. Surely a fair exchange—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">No robbery. (<i>Smirks.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Now, by the gods, if all exchange is fair,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Take this and crown yourself!</div> + <div class="verse indent11">(<i>Pulls cap over his head.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent24">Go! wear your hair</div> + <div class="verse indent6">In curls and fillets! Carry a market flail</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And learn to curb your tongue. Put on this veil,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">This girdle, bear a distaff and go clad</div> + <div class="verse indent6">In woman's weeds!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>set upon him and clothe him</i>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">Oh, woman, are ye mad?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Help, help, I say!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>Exeunt</i> <span class="smcap">Chorus of Old Men</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman.</span><span class="ws6">We'll help you!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen. Woman.</span><span class="ws7">There, take this!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Athen. Woman.</span> And this from me!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Athen. Woman.</span><span class="ws6">Now, go and ask a kiss.</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">From Clisthenes!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>They tie him up ridiculously in women's garments.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">Oh, woe is me! Oh, shame!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Thus to endure deeds that one dare not name!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Nay, I will go, even thus—oh, sorry sight!—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And bid all Athens look upon my plight.</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Oh, what a ravel is this!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> You twist in vain!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Be careful that you do not break my skein.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Committee-man</span>, + <i>followed by his</i> <span class="smcap">Secretary</span>.)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h2 class="nobreak">INTERLUDE.</h2> + +<p class="center">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>are discovered seated upon the steps<br> +leading to the Acropolis. Some have pitchers beside<br>them, others plait and spin, one plays upon the lyre.</i>)</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Chorus</span> (<i>singing</i>). Pallas Athene, hear!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Bend from thy throne,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And make with lifted spear our cause thine own.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Leader of Chorus</span>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> O women, turn back from your labours,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And leave in their niche by the wall</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Your pitchers, and hark to the call</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of friends in their need, and of neighbours</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Who beg for a boon.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="center">(<i>Here, and at intervals throughout the speech, shouting<br> +of men is heard at a distance; occasionally the words<br> +"Down with the women, down!"<br> "Down with Lysistrata!" are heard.</i>)</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1">For surely ye tire not with dances,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Nor faint as ye foot to the tune</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Of minstrels: so now in the chances</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Of war let your speed be as then,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And as daring your deed as the glances</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Ye cast upon men!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="center">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>are laying by their pitchers, filleting<br> +their hair and girding their robes. From the Acropolis<br> +come other women bearing shields, spears, and<br> +helmets, which they distribute as the</i> <span class="smcap">Chorus</span> <i>continues</i>.)</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1">For here is a Cause to your hand</div> + <div class="verse indent1">More holy than any before:</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And in it lies beauty, and wisdom,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And courage, and love of your land.</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Nay, surely the mothers who bore you,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">The silent mothers of yore,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">They also were made of this metal,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And out of the bed of the nettle,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Wherein they bred you of old,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">They, too, who spake not a word,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">They, too, brave hearts, could have told</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Their tale of the wrongs unheard.</div> + <div class="verse indent1">So forward I bid you, nor fail,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Nor yield what ye hold in your hand:</div> + <div class="verse indent1">For this wind which now blows in your sail</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Shall bear you to land!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span></p> + <h2 class="nobreak">SCENE II.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center"><i>The same scene, toward evening, a day later.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">(<span class="smcap">Chorus of Old Men</span> <i>seated asleep below the steps.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent10"><i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Leader of Men's Chorus</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Now, let him sleep no more who would be free!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men</span> (<i>waking up</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Come, sirs, bestir yourselves! for to my mind</div> + <div class="verse indent5">There's more behind</div> + <div class="verse indent5">This matter than at first appeared.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men</span> (<i>nodding mysteriously</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Beneath this woman's business lurks a beard!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">(<i>Perturbation among the</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Hot, Hot, I scent the plot</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of Hippias. (<i>Panic among the</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Aye, me! Greatly I fear!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> I think our women have been led away</div> + <div class="verse indent5">By foes; and that the Spartans now are here,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Hiding within the house of Clisthenes,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ready to seize</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Our money and our pay! (<i>Increasing panic.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Oh, is't not peril to let women mix</div> + <div class="verse indent5">In State affairs, and talk on politics,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And prate of peace and war?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> No more, no more, will I endure it!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">'Tis not to be allowed.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men</span> (<i>shaking his fist</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lysistrata! Heaven be my aid,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ere yet my race is run,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To smite the chattering jaw of that old jade!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Meanwhile the</i> <span class="smcap">Women's Chorus</span> <i>have</i></div> + <div class="verse indent8"><i>come on, and stand behind listening</i>).</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> Surely when that is done</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Your Mother will be proud of such a son!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span> <i>start back in fear</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> She will be glad to recognise that face!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> But come, ye happier mothers of the race,</div> + <div class="verse indent13">(<i>To the</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And set your burdens down while I relate</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Why we, weak women, seek to serve the State</div> + <div class="verse indent5">As well as men—paying the debt we owe.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>lay down their shields, and</i></div> + <div class="verse indent9"><i>sit beside them in groups</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">Was not this land my nurse? Aye, long ago,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Even on the child her tender yoke was laid,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">When first to Artemis, a budding maid,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I vowed my virgin body. Did ye so—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ye men—take up such vows? Did ye forego</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Till ye were ripe the sweets of love in youth?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Men</span> <i>exchange conscious looks</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">Gladly I bound myself, although in sooth</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The fruit, I saw, was goodly to the taste;</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And since before these altars I dwelt chaste,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Do I not owe a debt? Is it amiss</div> + <div class="verse indent5">If I give counsel? Do ye grudge me this?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I, too, pay taxes: from my flesh there runs</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Rich tribute; ye bear arms, but I bear sons</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And daughters; ye bring death, but I raise life;</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I build the fruitful home, while ye breed strife,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Envy, and fear! O miserable men!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Old in your sins, take up that task again,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Which once your father bore, who freed this land</div> + <div class="verse indent5">From Persia's yoke! If not, then we will stand</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Instead of you:</div> + <div class="verse indent9">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>rise to their feet</i>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></div> + <div class="verse indent21">Aye, fearing not your frown,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Light-sandalled though we be, will tread you down!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>She turns away and moves up steps.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent8"><i>The other women also retire.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men</span> (<i>scratching his head puzzled</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Now it appears to me</div> + <div class="verse indent5">This is all wrong!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> And it must be</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Put down.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws5">If left alone</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ere long it will have grown</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Beyond a joke!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Time, then, that we began!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Therefore with speed</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Let every manly man</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Strip off his cloak,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And for the word now substitute the deed!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>They throw off their long mantles, and reveal themselves</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>very scantily clad and girt as for wrestling. Their arms</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>and legs are very thin and scraggy.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Physical force,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Basis of government,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">True source of the consent</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Men yield to law;</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Come, come now to mine aid!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> And with thy shaggy paw</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Push me to victory o'er this barricade,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Raised by that wicked jade,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lysistrata,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Against the rod of man's authority!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Shall woman——</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st, 2nd, and 4th Leaders of Men.</span>  Woman!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws4">In a majority</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Govern the State?</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws4">Never, I will defeat it!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> No, no! a thousand times; and I repeat it—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">No, no!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Never!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> No agricultural labourer am I,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Yet I defy</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Woman to wield a spade</div> + <div class="verse indent5">As I can.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Can she summon to her aid</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The expletives and the explosives</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Needful for moving one's inferiors,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And modifying by their harsh corrosives</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The stubborn and recalcitrant exteriors</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of this hard-crusted world?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st and 4th Leaders of Men.</span> No, no!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws3">Shall I be hurled</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">From power by custom mine?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Shall I my place resign</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To woman——</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st, 2nd, and 3rd Leaders of Men.</span> Woman!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> To whose care we give</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Our homes, our wealth, our children, and who live</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Only by our consent?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Men Chorus.</span> No!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Shall we allow the sex war—this attack</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of infamous discontent</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Behind our back—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">On man's prerogative?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Men Chorus.</span> Never!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> For through man's heart there runs in flood</div> + <div class="verse indent5">(Nature's mysterious and imperious mandate)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">A noble and a natural thirst for blood:</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> To form a ring and fight!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> To cut off heads at sight!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> It is our right!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Women don't understand it.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Men Chorus.</span> No!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> But if we grant to these</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Facilities</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For doing what man does—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws4">And what man alone</span></div> + <div class="verse indent7">Has any right to do!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Aye, even one small handle for their own—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">They will go far!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> We shall be overthrown</div> + <div class="verse indent5">At our own game!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> And think what scandal then!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And think what shame,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">If that should happen!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Never, no never!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">No, I won't allow it!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men</span> (<i>with action</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent5">So, take we each a torch,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And, thrusting, let it scorch</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The gaping mouth, the giddy, gabbling tongue,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The—</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The other</i> <span class="smcap">Men</span> <i>follow him in dumb show.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>clang their weapons; the</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><span class="smcap">Men</span> <i>retreat hastily; through the whole of</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>the ensuing speech they carry on a continuous</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>business of getting behind each other till they</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>are all off the stage, leaving their cloaks behind them.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> Now, by the gods,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">I'll give my wrath its rein!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">No more shall ye provoke and I refrain.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> Come, then, my comrades,</div> + <div class="verse indent12">and put off this yoke</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Of woman's weeds; let not the trailing cloak</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Cumber your limbs, nor the loose girdle hang!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">We too can strip,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And gird, and curl the lip,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And bare the fang,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And answer stroke for stroke</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And blow for blow!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> Call ye us rebels? Full soon shall ye know</div> + <div class="verse indent6">How Greece is with us! We have Lampito,—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">She lives for us, and Corinth by the seas,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And all Bœotia.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span><span class="ws3">Go! Make your decrees,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Pile up your punishments, ye that breed hate</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Through kindred cities, hurling state on state</div> + <div class="verse indent6">In wasteful bloodshed! But more strong are we,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">We women, bound in deathless fealty</div> + <div class="verse indent6">To break this war. Our hands shall hold in check</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Your armaments, and bow the stubborn neck</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Of all your pride!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>During this speech some of the</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>have</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>descended to the lower stage; they collect the</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>men's cloaks and return</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> O thou, the shaper of this fair event,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Why com'st thou now,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">So pale, and sad of brow,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And heavy with discontent?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> (<i>gloomily</i>). Woman's weak will and her lascivious way</div> + <div class="verse indent6">O'erload my heart!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> Oh! What means that to say?</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws3">The truth, the bitter truth!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span><span class="ws6">Bodes it so ill?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">May we not know?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws4">How shall my tongue be still?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Yet how, unshaméd, may I speak of it?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Women.</span> Nay, do not keep it from us!</div> + <div class="verse indent10">... It is fit</div> + <div class="verse indent10">That we should know—the worst.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st, 2nd, and 3rd Leaders of Women.</span> Nay, tell us then!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Brief is the truth; we hanker for the men!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women Chorus.</span> O Zeus!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">Why call on him? Is it not so?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">I cannot keep them here. Foresworn they go</div> + <div class="verse indent6">By stealth to join their husbands. One I caught</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Scraping a cleft of rock: and one had brought</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Rope from Poseidon's well, and down the wall</div> + <div class="verse indent6">So sought to creep! Another—chosen of all</div> + <div class="verse indent6">To guard the gate—deserted from her trust.</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And yet another of them, crazed with lust,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Feathered herself with wings, and light as air</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Feigned to go flying. I took her by the hair</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And hurled her back to sense! Yet still they come,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Coining excuses to be sent back home.</div> + <div class="verse indent14">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">2nd Athenian Woman</span> <i>furtively</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent6">There's one of them. Ho, you! Whither away?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen. Woman.</span> I was but going home—just for the day:—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">I fear the moth has got into my fleece.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> What moth? Get back!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen. Woman.</span><span class="ws4">By the two goddesses,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">I promise you I will return with speed:</div> + <div class="verse indent6">A spreading in the sun is all they need.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Don't spread them: do not go!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen. Woman</span> (<i>whimpering</i>). + <span class="ws3">Must all my toil</span></div> + <div class="verse indent9">Be wasted then?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws4">Aye, for it will not spoil</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">So swiftly as will this.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent12">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">3rd Athenian Woman</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Athen. Woman.</span><span class="ws4">My flax, my flax!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Which all unkempt I left at home.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> (<i>ironically</i>).<span class="ws6">There cracks</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">A careful heart! Here! Come you back again.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Athen. Woman.</span> Yes, after I have wound it on the skein.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Don't wind it; leave it! If one plays that game,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">A hundred more will want to do the same.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent11">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Corinthian Woman</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Corinth.</span> (<i>she bears something wrapped in her robe</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Help! A physician! Nay, I prithee, quick,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Quick, let me pass, I say! My child is sick.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> <i>Your</i> child; since when? Yesterday you had none.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Corinth.</span> 'Twas born last night! (<span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span> <i>holds her</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Oh, loose me! Let me run!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> What ails it? (<i>Reveals helmet.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Oh, this was indeed a birth</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Miraculous—a thing of wondrous worth.</div> + <div class="verse indent11">(<i>Tosses it away.</i> <span class="smcap">Calonice</span> <i>gets hold of</i></div> + <div class="verse indent20"><i>it and smacks it</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Go, get you in!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Corinth.</span><span class="ws6">Nay, here I cannot sleep—</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Shut in a shrine where sacred serpents creep.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Athen. Woman.</span> And I, unhappy, I am sleepless too!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">All night the owls go crying "Tuwhit! Tuwhoo!"</div> + <div class="verse indent6">"Tuwhit! Tuwhoo!"</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span> "Tuwhit! Tuwhoo!"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> O women, cease from juggling tricks and lies!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Is't love ye long for, that ye waste in sighs</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Your widowed hours? Stand firm, and all is well!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Was this not told us by the oracle?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> How was it told?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span><span class="ws3">Nay, tell me!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span><span class="ws5">Tell us, how!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent11">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>gather excitedly about her</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Hear, O ye women, and be silent now!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">"When the swallow</div> + <div class="verse indent6">From the hawk</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Flies, and when he seeks to follow,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Close in bower</div> + <div class="verse indent6">To one place</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Let them cower:</div> + <div class="verse indent6">And, for a space,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Let them then—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">From love abstain."</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Chorus of Women.</span> Ah!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> "But if from the shrine ye fly,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Borne apart by wind or word,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Soon shall every swallow die,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Mocked and marked—a victim bird!"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Chorus of Women.</span> Ah!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> By Heaven, the voice of the oracle is clear!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Let us not then,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Through any pain or fear</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Yield ourselves up into the hands of men!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent11">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Stratyllis</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> Ho, women, comrades! Ho! Come quickly all!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman.</span> What is the matter now? Why do you call?</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> I see a man approaching—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span> A man!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span><span class="ws6">Frantic, torn</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">By— (<i>She points.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws2">O bright Cyprian goddess, ocean-born,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">How straight a course you steer!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman.</span><span class="ws6">Where, where is he?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Strat.</span> Yonder by Ceres' shrine.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent3">(<i>A great scramble of the</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>to look at him</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen. Woman.</span><span class="ws6">Ah, now I see.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Knows any who he is?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent2"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws5">Oh, me! Alas!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">It is my husband, my Cinesias!</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Oh, my dear love! (<i>Kisses hands toward him.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cal.</span><span class="ws5">What are you looking at,—</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">Smacking your lips like that, you little cat?</div> + <div class="verse indent6">What right to a husband has she got, I say,</div> + <div class="verse indent6">While we must go without?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">Women, away!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent12">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>retire reluctantly</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent6">(<i>To</i> <span class="smcap">Myrr</span>.) This is your business, then.</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Now to the test! Go, plant your choicest weapons in his breast:</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Love him, yet love him not. Show him the bliss</div> + <div class="verse indent6">That beauty offers; but withhold the kiss—</div> + <div class="verse indent6">The cup by which you swore.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws10">Mistrust me not.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Go, and make ready! I will have him hot</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Ere you return.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Myrrhina</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent1"> </div> + <div class="verse indent8">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Cinesias</span>, <i>followed presently by his</i></div> + <div class="verse indent9"><i>servant</i> <span class="smcap">Manes</span> <i>leading a small child</i>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">Ah, me! What pangs I feel!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">O Love, why hast thou racked me on this wheel?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Halt! Who comes here?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws8">'Tis I, a man.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">Then stay!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Man, get you gone!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws8">Whose bidding to obey?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> A watcher of the shrine.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws8">Oh, be a friend!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Call forth Myrrhina to me!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws7">To what end?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Tell her—oh, tell her, there's a house on fire!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Whose house?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> <span class="ws6"><i>Her</i> house: my house!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws8">What's your desire?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Bid her come quickly!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws8">Nay, but who art thou?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Cinesias, her husband!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws8">Surely, now,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent12">That cannot be!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">Why not?</span> (<span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span> <i>laughs</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent26">Answer me, then!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Cinesias is the handsomest of men,—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Limbs like Apollo, and a head like Jove,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And eyes whose glances are the fires of love!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Whence had you that?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws8">It is Myrrhina's word.</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Full often of Cinesias have we heard—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">A different man from you.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws9">Nay, but I swear</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">I <i>am</i> Cinesias!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">What! That mop of hair,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">That nose, those legs—the cause of all her sighs?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ye gods! how Love deceives a woman's eyes!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> But it is I!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws11">Oh, if it were, no name</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Could be more welcome or more known to fame.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For every day we hear his praises sung,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">With every meal his name is on her tongue.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Bites she an apple, breaks she an egg—she sighs</div> + <div class="verse indent5">"Oh, that Cinesias might share the prize!"</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Ye heavens, can this be true?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws10">I will be bound</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">On oath to it! Also when talk goes round</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Concerning—men, his wife is fain to swear</div> + <div class="verse indent5">There's none that with Cinesias can compare!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Oh, call her to me!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws8">Have you anything</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">That she may know you by?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws8">Aye, take this ring!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Once it was hers.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">I will go bid her come.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Quickly, I pray! For since she fled no crumb</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of comfort have I known:</div> + <div class="verse indent19">(<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent25">Robbed of my mate</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I find no rest, my house is desolate,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">My appetite is lost, and sleep has flown:</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Love tortures me because I live alone.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>within</i>). Love him? Of course I love him. Ah, but he</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Cares not, nor wishes to be loved by me.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> My little wife, my life, my peace, come hither!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Come to me, sweet!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<span class="smcap">Myrrhina</span> <i>enters and crosses the stage</i></div> + <div class="verse indent15"><i>averting her face</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws6">Nay, I may not go thither.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Come, come, Myrrhina! Oh, come down with speed.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>She stands with her back to him.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> I have an oath. It is not peace you need.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Not peace I need! Why, I am all undone</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For lack of you.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws6">Farewell. (<i>She moves away.</i>)</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws12">Your little son—</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Your child is here. Hark how he cries for you!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Child.</span> Mamma! Mamma! Mamma! (<i>She stops.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> (<i>taking the child in his arms</i>). Think what you do!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Have you no pity on a little child?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">See how the tangled curls have all run wild</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For lack of care; and, like the little head,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The tender body goes unwashed, unfed!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> Pity it is when fathers so neglect</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Their children!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws8">Nay, what else can you expect?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">How can a man learn to become a nurse?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> He can but try.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">'Twould but make matters worse.</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Come down, my girl, and let the soft arms cling</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Once more around your neck!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>turning round</i>).<span class="ws5">Oh! what a thing</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">It is to be a mother! Needs must I go.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">What other way remains, I do not know.</div> + <div class="verse indent7"> (<i>She begins to descend.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Oh, how much younger and more fair she seems,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And lovelier to behold than in my dreams!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>descending to the lower stage</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Child of a wicked father! Oh, run, run,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Quick to your mother's arms, my little son,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">My own, my sweet! Again, again, that kiss!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent6">(<span class="smcap">Cinesias</span> <i>tries to embrace her, she turns away with</i></div> + <div class="verse indent8"><i>her face in the child's neck. He tries to get the</i></div> + <div class="verse indent10"><i>child away, but it cries and clings to her.</i>)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> (<i>sternly</i>). O wretched woman, why have you done this—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Herding with other women, robbing me</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And your own nature of felicity?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> Take your hand from me!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws8">Since you left my doors,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ruin befalls my property and yours.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> I care not for it.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws8">Your toils are all undone;</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Your house is turned into a poultry run.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> The shame be yours, then!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws8">Board and chamber lack</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">The woman's presence. Will you not come back?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> No, by high Heaven! Not until you cease</div> + <div class="verse indent5">From waging useless war, and turn to peace!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Peace? How can <i>I</i> make peace? What mean you, pray?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> You voted for the war: you went away</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And left me all alone. (<i>Pretends to cry.</i>)  What did you care?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">You'd make peace if you loved me!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> (<i>soothingly</i>).<span class="ws6">Ah, there, there!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">It shall be thought on—since you wish it so.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> When you have well thought on it, let me know.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Till then, farewell. (<i>She moves away.</i>)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">Nay, sweetheart, stay awhile!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Myrrhina, oh, come nearer! Ah, that smile</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Says that you love me.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> <span class="ws8">Yes.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> (<i>opening his arms to her</i>). Come then!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> <span class="ws11">Nay, nay,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">My arms are full already! Take not away</div> + <div class="verse indent5">A mother from her child.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">(<span class="smcap">Cinesias</span> <i>endeavours to separate them</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> (<i>impatiently</i>).<span class="ws4">Come, brat, have done!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Here, Manes!... (<span class="smcap">Manes</span> <i>is slow in coming</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent21">Manes!... There, now off you run!</div> + <div class="verse indent13">(<span class="smcap">Manes</span> <i>takes the child, but waits as if to speak</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Well, and what now?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Manes.</span><span class="ws8">A messenger, my lord:</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Your ship in harbour, with the troops aboard,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lies waiting to cast off!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> (<i>impatiently</i>). <span class="ws6">Oh, let it wait!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Go, get my arms: then stay at yonder gate</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Until I come.</div> + <div class="verse indent8">(<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Manes</span> <i>leading the child</i>.</div> + <div class="verse indent10"> <span class="smcap">Cenesias</span> <i>approaches his wife. She repulses him.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent14">Well, and why now so loath?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> Nay, touch me not! for I have sworn an oath</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Which I must keep.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">An oath which has no sense.</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">On my head be it! A husband can dispense</div> + <div class="verse indent5">His wife from oaths. Rest you!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent9">(<i>They look at each other with meaning:</i></div> + <div class="verse indent16"><i>he intently, she bashfully.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>faltering</i>).<span class="ws4">There must be found</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Some place to rest on.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> (<i>opening his arms</i>). Nay, sweetheart, look round!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Rest here!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Now, kiss me!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws6">Nay, not in the public street!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> No one can see us here upon this seat.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Come, sit you down!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>He seats himself and tries to draw her to his knee.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws6">What? on this hard, cold stone?</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">I'll fetch you something!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> (<i>fondly</i>). <span class="ws6">Not for one alone!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> I'll be your footstool!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent19">(<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Myrrhina</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> (<i>gazing after her</i>).<span class="ws4">Does not this declare</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">How well she loves me? Oh, how sweet an air</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Breathes from her raiment; and how from her eyes</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Fond love and longing mock her brief disguise</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of seeming frowardness!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>Re-enter</i> <span class="smcap">Myrrhina</span>, <i>carrying a rolled mat.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent16"><i>She arranges the mat on bench.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws6">There! sit and rest!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Put up your feet. Now, will you not divest</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Yourself of that great cloak?</div> + <div class="verse indent20">(<i>Takes off his cloak.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent25">Why, on my life!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I have forgot the cushions.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">Nay, sweet wife,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Let cushions wait!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws4">But you can't sit on this:</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">I say you shall not!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">Give me first one kiss!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>kissing the tips of her fingers and touching</i></div> + <div class="verse indent10"><i>his lips with them</i>).</div> + <div class="verse indent4">There, keep it safe!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent14">(<i>She runs off up stage.</i>)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">Be swift, do not delay!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Surely she loves me well!</div> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>He goes and picks up a flower she has let fall,</i></div> + <div class="verse indent11"><i>and begins kissing it. Re-enter</i> <span class="smcap">Myrrhina</span>,</div> + <div class="verse indent11"><i>her arms full of cushions and coverings,</i></div> + <div class="verse indent11"><i>which trail after her as she goes</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent21">Now, well-a-day!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">What have we here?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>arranging cushions</i>). There, that one is for you—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">This one for me: and this one?—this will do</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To put between us lest we fall to blows.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">This one is for your feet, and that one goes</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Behind you: then this covers you (<i>arranges draperies</i>); and this—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Where shall this go?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws9">O sweetest wife, a kiss!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>Attempts to embrace her, and clasps cushion.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Nay, but by Hercules, sweet friend, you hurt!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I am on fire! This is a very shirt</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of Nessus!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>He struggles with draperies.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws6">Dear, dear! Why are all you men</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6">So hasty in your joy! Here, loose it then!</div> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>Taking covering off him.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent6">Now you must have a fillet for your hair.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>She stoops and takes off a sandal string.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent12"><i>Kneels beside him and begins to tie on fillet.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Oh, how your fingers burn me! Ah, how fair,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">How fair thou art! O tender, gentle, sweet,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Soft hands of love!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>He jumps up to seize her.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws6">Now, then, put up your feet;</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">I'll loose your sandals.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> <span class="ws6">Nay!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws6">What then? Your sword.</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Shall I unbuckle it?</div> + <div class="verse indent13">(<i>She kneels and looses his girdle.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent26">Let not my lord</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Forget his promise that the war shall cease.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Else may I perish!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent13">(<i>She lays aside his sword.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws8">For when you bring peace</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Comfort comes back again. Now let me comb</div> + <div class="verse indent5">These shaggy locks. It's time I had you home!</div> + <div class="verse indent13">(<i>She sits on parapet above him, undoes fillet, and</i></div> + <div class="verse indent16"><i>starts combing; she pulls his hair, he winces.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Oh! what a tangle's here! This will need oil.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Nay, let it wait!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws6">What? Let your beauty spoil</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">For lack of ointment? Never!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent20">(<i>Runs off.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> (<i>starting up frantically</i>). + <span class="ws3">Oh, let that man</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Perish most miserably who first began</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The use of ointments!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>re-entering with oil-flask</i>). Spare the curse! Belike</div> + <div class="verse indent5">It was a woman.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">Then let Heaven strike</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">The head of her, or him, whose precious balm</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Now so afflicts me!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (<i>paying no attention</i>).  See, into my palm</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I pour it, thus:</div> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>She advances with hand full of oil.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent22">Don't touch me! Then I lave</div> + <div class="verse indent5">These tangled locks.</div> + <div class="verse indent14">(<i>He jerks away.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent22">Oh! why do you behave</div> + <div class="verse indent5">So frowardly?</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws4">You've poured it down my face!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> Why didn't you keep still? There, that's your place.</div> + <div class="verse indent17">(<i>Indicating her lap, she makes him sit down again.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Now let me wipe it.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">Sweetheart!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent17">(<i>She stoops as if to kiss him.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span><span class="ws8">Why! how strong</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">This ointment smells! Oh, me! I've brought the wrong!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">This was the cooking oil!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> <span class="ws8">Aye, so I fear!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">I'm baked and basted now! Oh, come more near!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lean on my breast, sit down upon my knee,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Clasp me in those dear arms!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> (eluding his embrace). Let be!  Let be!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Will you fulfil your promise? Did you say</div> + <div class="verse indent5">You'd vote for peace?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">Leave that—to another day!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>He endeavours to draw her down to him; she slips under</i></div> + <div class="verse indent13"><i>his arm, runs up the steps and through the gates.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Myrr.</span> Ah, ha! Ah, ha! Leave that to another day!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent26">(<i>Exit.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Oh, me! She's gone! She's gone! Look how my wife</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lured and then left me! Yes, she took a knife</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And flayed me all alive!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>While he speaks the</i> <span class="smcap">Chorus of Women</span><i> creep on from behind.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>Enter, below</i>, <span class="smcap">Manes</span>, <i>carrying helmet and shield</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent27">What shall I do?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">How can I bear it? How shall I live through</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Another hour? Oh, me! What flesh and blood</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Can bear the strain? I am borne upon a flood</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of rage and love and longing, and have none</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To help or comfort! Go, fool, get you gone!</div> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>Snatches his arms from</i> <span class="smcap">Manes</span>, <i>throws</i></div> + <div class="verse indent19"><i>them away, and drives him out</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Oh, me, I am undone!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent16">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men's Chorus</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> Alas, unhappy one, how sorely grieved,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">How much afflicted! Is it to be believed?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Are such things done? Dares she refuse a kiss</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To her own husband?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws8">Oh, me!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws8">Is all this</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Wrought by one rebel wife?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws10">Let woe befall</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Such women!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span><span class="ws6">Nay, she is more sweet than all!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">More now than ever!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws8">Ah! talk not of sweet!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Abominable!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Oh, take her, Zeus, like wheat!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Take her and toss her! As a sheaf of corn</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Borne by a whirlwind, so let her be borne</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Hither and thither: and then</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Back to the earth</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Fall to be trodden, a thing of little worth,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Under the feet of men.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Cin.</span> Oh, me! Alas! When shall I find release</div> + <div class="verse indent5">From all these torments?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span><span class="ws4">When you bring us peace.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Women.</span> Peace.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent16">(<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Cinesias</span> <i>in despair</i>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Now hark, and I'll tell you a story,</div> + <div class="verse indent7">I used to be told as a boy,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of Melanion, a youth, who before he</div> + <div class="verse indent7">Grew old found the secret of joy.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For this youth, with affections unhampered,</div> + <div class="verse indent7">Went forth to a wilderness bare,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And over the hill-tops he scampered,</div> + <div class="verse indent7">And blithely he hunted the hare.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">He fowled, and he fished, and he netted,</div> + <div class="verse indent7">With only a dog at his side;</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Yet for comforts of home never fretted,</div> + <div class="verse indent7">And never had need of a bride.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> And he never came back, he never came back,</div> + <div class="verse indent15">he never came back to them!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Was he not wise?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> And am I not wise too?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Melanion hated women; so I hate you!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1">(<i>During this scene the</i><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men</span> <i>had made</i></div> + <div class="verse indent3"><i>stealthy approaches to one of the women sitting</i></div> + <div class="verse indent3"><i>on the parapet above him</i>.)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Young woman, I wish to embrace you.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> Go, eater of onions, go!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<i>She pushes him down the steps.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> I'm a proper man, yet let me tell you, in case you</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Don't happen to know.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I'm sightly, and sprightly; and lightly</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Can leg it along with the best!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> Out, greybeard, get out!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws6">And am rightly</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Inclined when I'm rightly addressed.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> I also will tell you a story:—</div> + <div class="verse indent7">Melanion's brings it to mind—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">How Timon of Athens, before he</div> + <div class="verse indent7">Grew old had the wisdom to find</div> + <div class="verse indent5">That friendship of men is unstable,</div> + <div class="verse indent7">A favour reserved for the rich;</div> + <div class="verse indent5">They feasted and drank at his table,</div> + <div class="verse indent7">They left him to die in a ditch.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> So flattered and fooled for a season</div> + <div class="verse indent7">By those who had emptied his purse,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">He came to find wisdom and reason,</div> + <div class="verse indent7">And left them—his curse.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> With the fury and loathing that moved him</div> + <div class="verse indent7">Mankind he was fain to destroy;</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Women.</span> Yet still there were women who loved him:</div> + <div class="verse indent7">In them he found joy.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men</span> <i>renews his advances</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women</span> (<i>to</i> <span class="smcap">Old Man</span>). +  You want the whip!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws6">I don't! I want the cat!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> I'll kick!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws6">You'll show your ankles!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women</span> (<i>striking him</i>). Ah, take that!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1">(<i>Enter the</i> <span class="smcap">Committee-man</span>, <i>followed by his</i> <span class="smcap">Secretary</span>.</div> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>He is in fresh attire, and newly oiled and curled. As he</i></div> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>struts pompously on, the Women look at him and laugh.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent1"> </div> + <div class="verse indent1">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Lacdæmonian Herald</span> <i>dressed in bright scarlet and</i></div> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>bearing a long staff and a scroll over which the end of his</i></div> + <div class="verse indent4"><i>robe is flung</i>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Herald.</span> Tell me, where does the Athenian Senate sit,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I pray you, sir, for I have news for it.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> (<i>turning round</i>). Are you a man or an advertisement?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Herald.</span> I am a herald come from Sparta, sent</div> + <div class="verse indent5">On embassy of peace.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">Is that a spear</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Hidden beneath your robe?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Herald</span> (<i>displaying scroll</i>). + <span class="ws2">Sir, have no fear,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">We are for peace, not war.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws8">How comes it, then,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">That Sparta is inclined for peace again?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Herald.</span> 'Tis the desire of every Spartan man</div> + <div class="verse indent5">That lacks his mate.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">Came this desire from Pan?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Herald.</span> Nay, Lampito began it; then the rest</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Throughout all Sparta. Each one from her breast</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Has shut out love.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span><span class="ws6">And how, then, do ye fare?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Herald.</span> Restless we turn, like flies that breed in air.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">One may not touch them, till throughout all Greece</div> + <div class="verse indent5">With one accord we mingle, and make peace.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> (<i>triumphantly</i>). So ye, being suitors to the Athenian State,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Own yourselves vanquished?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Herald.</span><span class="ws6">Nay, has not one fate</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">O'erwhelmed us both? Does not the selfsame fire</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Burn in each breast burdened with man's desire?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Have not your women driven you to despair?</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Not so? In Athens men are bred to bear</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Without complaint the petty bites and stings</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of all such volatile and venomous things</div> + <div class="verse indent5">As women. We yield not to such as these,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Nor at their bidding!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws4">For we make <i>decrees</i>!—</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> And <i>laws</i>—which they obey.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws6">We should be named</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Slaves rightly if by woman's wiles so tamed!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> <i>We</i> seek not peace!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Herald.</span><span class="ws6">Enough! Let me get hence!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">And if in Athens ye have men of sense,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Show where they be!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws4">Of sense?</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Herald.</span><span class="ws8">Oh, greybeard, cease!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Fight your own battles!—but we <i>men</i> need peace!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Herald</span>, <i>followed by</i> + <span class="smcap">Committee-man</span>, <i>who, as he goes,</i></div> + <div class="verse indent7"><i>turns contemptuously upon the</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span>. <i>They laugh.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Com.</span> Pah!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>Exit</i> <span class="smcap">Committee-man</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Chorus of Old Men</span> <i>stand much depressed,</i></div> + <div class="verse indent10"><i>eyeing the</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>malevolently</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Oh, are not women, set to their desire,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Shameless as cats, unconquerable as fire!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Who, then, may hope to match or beat them down?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> If ye knew this, then wherefore did ye frown,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And wage vile war against us, when of late</div> + <div class="verse indent5">We sought to be your friends?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws6">Now will I hate</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Women for ever!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> + <span class="ws4">So be it, as you please.</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> But wherefore stand ye thus with naked knees,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">All bare of limb as for a wrestling bout?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">What means this folly that ye go without</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Your cloaks?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Women.</span> Come, put them on!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>descend bearing the</i> + <span class="smcap">Old Men's</span> <i>cloaks</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>in their hands. The</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span> + <i>submit to be dressed</i>.)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws6">By Zeus, now, this,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Which you have done for me is not amiss!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Ah, when I stripped the fire was in the pan!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> Why! now, indeed, you look a proper man,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">A noble, and a handsome, and a brave!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Women.</span> Why did you vex us? Why did you behave</div> + <div class="verse indent5">So frowardly?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> Wait, now! Here in your eye,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Blurring the vision, is some kind of fly.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Does it not pain you?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws6">Oh! so that's the thing</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Was troubling me?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> No doubt.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men</span> (<i>irritably</i>). Well, take this ring.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Fetch it out for me! Aye, for many a day</div> + <div class="verse indent5">This has been stinging me. Get it away!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> Well, don't be cross, then!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Oh, just look at that!</div> + <div class="verse indent20">(<i>They all collect and look.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">There, don't you see it? Why, a monstrous gnat,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Big as a hornet.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws3">Aye, in truth, a pest!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">A plague! By Zeus, now you have given me rest.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">(<i>All the other</i> <span class="smcap">Old Men</span> + <i>go to the other</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span></div> + <div class="verse indent9"><i>and have flies taken out of their eyes</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> Wait till I wipe it clean lest it should swell.</div> + <div class="verse indent20">(<i>She wipes it.</i>)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">There! Now I'll kiss the place and make it well.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> No, no! Don't kiss me!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span><span class="ws3">I don't ask your leave.</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">That's how you pay.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span> Oh, woman, 'tis your nature thus to thieve</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And wheedle! Ah! it was well said, no doubt,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">"'Tis best not to be with—nor yet without—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Female seduction."</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent9">(<i>During this scene the</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>have collected</i></div> + <div class="verse indent12"><i>and carried away</i> <span class="smcap">Myrrhina's</span> <i>leavings</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Why, who be these?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws3">Spartans: and by their wands</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ambassadors.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Come they to us in bonds?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>Enter two</i> <span class="smcap">Spartan Ambassadors</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> O Spartans, welcome first, and tell us next</div> + <div class="verse indent8">For what cause are ye come?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span><span class="ws6"> Nay, read the text</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of your own hearts! Is not our plight the same?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">All Greece endures a need without a name.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span> Have you, too, got a fly</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Or hornet in your eye?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>Enter two</i> <span class="smcap">Athenians</span>.)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span> Where is Lysistrata? Nay, be not dumb!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Tell her that we be here:—Athenians, come</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of high degree, with powers upon us laid,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Sent by the Senate, to entreat her aid.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> However high ye be, all of one grief</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Suffer both day and night without relief!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span> O welcome, Spartans! These be shameful things</div> + <div class="verse indent5">We suffer!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span><span class="ws3">Of a truth compassion wrings</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">My heart. A common grief hath made us kind.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen.</span> Wherefore, then, have ye come?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span><span class="ws6">We are resigned</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">To plead for peace.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st. Athen.</span><span class="ws6">Now, truly, ye say well.</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">We also are agreed; and thus we fell</div> + <div class="verse indent8">To meeting.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Spartan.</span><span class="ws3">Good!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen.</span><span class="ws4">Call, then, for Heaven's sake,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Lysistrata; for she alone can make</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Peace for us.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span><span class="ws3">Nay! call—if a hope remains—</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">All the Lysistratas the world contains!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Men.</span> Nay, call not, for she comes!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws8">O wisest, best,</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Bravest of women—hail! To thee addressed</div> + <div class="verse indent8">We come!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Men.</span> Be good, and grave, and gracious,</div> + <div class="verse indent23">mild and shrewd!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For at thy feet, the Grecian chiefs subdued</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Now seek for aid.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Men.</span><span class="ws3">Surrendering to thy charms</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">With one consent all here lay down their arms.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span> Nay, nay! We treat: we do not yield our claim (<i>pugnaciously</i>).</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Surely it is not hard, when people aim</div> + <div class="verse indent5">With open mind for peace, to find a road.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">But if to strife ye goad each other still,—</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Forthwith ye lack the will.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Quickly I'll test you. Here comes Peace.</div> + <div class="verse indent8">(<i>Enter a young girl, olive-bearing, emblematic of</i> <span class="smcap">Peace</span>.</div> + <div class="verse indent14"><span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span> <i>turns to the</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent34">Now take</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Each by the hand these Spartan lords, and make</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Them come with you.</div> + <div class="verse indent14">(<i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>descend and lead the</i> <span class="smcap">Spartans</span></div> + <div class="verse indent15"><i>by the hand toward the centre</i>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent20">—not by self-will or force,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">As is the way of men, but from the source</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of sweet affection to all women dear.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Let the Athenians also be brought here.</div> + <div class="verse indent10">(<span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>descend and lead forward the</i> <span class="smcap">Athenians</span>.)</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And now let both sides hearken to the word</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Which I shall speak; and hold when ye have heard.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">I am a woman: yet of brain and sense</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Equal to yours; and often long years hence</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Back in the past, I heard my father speak</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of the blood-bond which once bound Greek to Greek</div> + <div class="verse indent5">'Gainst all the world. May I not blame you, then,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">That ye forget the words of older men</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Who made Greece strong? Do ye not sprinkle still</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The same gods' altars, and with worship fill</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Delphi, and Pylae, and Olympia's shrine,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And others of a fame ye hold divine?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Yet vain your worship when throughout the land</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Deserted homes and ruined cities stand,</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">And graves piled with the dead of slaughtered kin,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">While all around Barbarians press in,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">And waste your borders.... So one part is told.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span> O form desirable! O heart of gold!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Next upon you, O Spartans, I cry shame.</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Have ye forgot how once a Spartan came</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Suppliant to Athens, praying by all the gods</div> + <div class="verse indent5">For help of arms against o'erwhelming odds?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Since, then, we sent swift succour, why do ye</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Now waste the land which brought you liberty?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen.</span> By Zeus, well said! Sparta has done us wrong!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span> But might is right! And force good for the strong.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> And do you think I have no word to say</div> + <div class="verse indent5">To you Athenians? Ah, there was a day</div> + <div class="verse indent5">When Sparta, in her turn, came forth and slew</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Many Thessalians, and succoured you</div> + <div class="verse indent5">From Hippias and his horde. 'Twas she alone</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Came to your aid when ye lay overthrown.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span> Never saw I a woman to compare</div> + <div class="verse indent8">With this!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Spartan.</span><span class="ws3">Nor I a bosom half so fair!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent10">(<span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span> <i>takes a spray of olive from</i> <span class="smcap">Peace</span></div> + <div class="verse indent16"><i>and divides it in two</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Why will ye not make peace? What is the root</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of your contention?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span> <span class="ws5">We have no dispute</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Save upon this—restore what once was ours.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span> What, namely?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span><span class="ws3">Pylos: for were not her towers</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of Sparta's building?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen.</span><span class="ws5">By Poseidon, no!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Did we not save those towers from overthrow</div> + <div class="verse indent5">When ye stood worsted?</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Spartan.</span><span class="ws3">Aye! Because ye made</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">A compact which ye broke!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span><span class="ws5">Because ye laid</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">False hands on Cöos!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span><span class="ws3">'Twas ours; ye know it well!</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen.</span> Yours, as the herdman's flocks upon the fell</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Are to the wolf his own!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span><span class="ws6">Aye, even so</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Seized ye on Pylos!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent15">(<i>They are about to fall to blows.</i>)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Nay, let them have it!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span><span class="ws6">And where shall we go</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">To obtain recompense?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">Demand instead</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Some other place.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span><span class="ws3">So be it: wisely said!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Do you give up to us all the waste land</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Beyond Echinus, and on either hand</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Of Megara, skirting the Melian bay!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span> Nay, by the gods! What?  Give all that away?</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Not I!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Why grudge it them? 'Tis barren ground.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen.</span> But we would cultivate and fence it round,</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Making it fertile.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Spartan.</span><span class="ws3">Ah! we have a scheme</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">For doing that ourselves.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws6">An idle dream!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Since without peace ye cannot.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span><span class="ws7">But if the prize</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Goes thus divided, what of our allies?</div> + <div class="verse indent8">They will need payment, having borne the cost.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span> Tell them the truth, and own that ye have lost!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span> Nay, what I have I hold! Cöos stays mine.</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen.</span> Starved and stuck fast, dry-footed in the brine,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Fearing the fleets of Athens!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Spartan.</span><span class="ws6"> —Who on land</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Now fears to show her face or lift a hand</div> + <div class="verse indent5">'Gainst Spartan spears!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span><span class="ws3">Guarding a barren shore</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Which we have spoiled for you!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span><span class="ws12">So with vile war.</span></div> + <div class="verse indent5">Ye waste each other's wealth! Go, then, and seek</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Consent of your allies: then come and speak</div> + <div class="verse indent5">More on the matter.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent4">(<i>She turns back to the Acropolis. The</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>follow her</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span><span class="ws5">Nay, by Heaven I vow</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">I cannot wait. Have the point settled now!</div> + <div class="verse indent8">And—oh, get the thing done! Pylos is yours!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Spartan.</span> Echinus, and the waste land by the shores</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Of Megara, we give you!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent11">(<i>All the</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>utter a cry of joy and wonder</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> (<i>presenting the olive branches</i>). Ye do well!</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Go, then, prepare; for in yon citadel</div> + <div class="verse indent5">We hold our feast: there will we make new vows</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Of friendship; then shall each man with his spouse</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Return to his own home.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span> <span class="ws9">Oh, word of peace!</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Come ye soft fires of night, and let war cease!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1">(<i>From the gates of the citadel come</i> <span class="smcap">Women</span> <i>carrying raiment of festival,</i></div> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>golden fillets, wreaths, and wine-cups. Night has fallen. Torch-bearers</i></div> + <div class="verse indent3"><i>enter and stand at the entrances on both sides of the stage.</i>)</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> Now will I offer my best</div> + <div class="verse indent8">For the good of each guest,</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Raiment, and linen, and jewel,</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> And shoes for the feet,</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> And fuel and meat.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">4th Leader of Women.</span> Let them enter and bear it away!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent11">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Dancers</span>, <i>strewing flowers</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> If any lack food in this city,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Let him come, I will offer him bread.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> If any lack comfort or pity,</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Lo, here is a roof and a bed.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">3rd Leader of Women.</span> For Peace hath her portion in plenty,</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span> And Discord is dead.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Athen.</span> Now let the dance begin! Give thanks and praise</div> + <div class="verse indent8">To Artemis, and Him who bears the bays,</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Sun-beamed Apollo—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Athen.</span><span class="ws6">Bacchus, with bright eyes</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Among his Bacchanals, and in the skies</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Fire-bearing Zeus!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">1st Leader of Women.</span><span class="ws3">And Hera, that bright dame</span></div> + <div class="verse indent8">Who shares his throne, and Pallas of virgin fame!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">2nd Leader of Women.</span> Call we on these as witnesses in Heaven</div> + <div class="verse indent8">To that fair peace by Aphrodite given.</div> + <div class="verse indent8">Shout for the triumph of gentler powers!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">All the Women.</span>  Evoe! Evoe! The victory is ours.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Chorus</span> (<i>leading procession of</i> <span class="smcap">Peace</span>).</div> + <div class="verse indent9">Take up your pipes of music sweet,</div> + <div class="verse indent9">And make a measure for my feet</div> + <div class="verse indent9">To dance to. Take your lute, and raise</div> + <div class="verse indent9">Your song in Aphrodite's praise.</div> + <div class="verse indent9">And while the praise of Heaven ye tell,</div> + <div class="verse indent9">Give praise to Mother Earth as well!</div> + <div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Led by dancers, and with women strewing flowers before her</i>,</div> + <div class="verse indent15"><span class="smcap">Peace</span> <i>descends.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>She offers her hand to the</i> <span class="smcap">Spartan Ambassador</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent1"><span class="smcap">Lys.</span> Why do ye wait? Ye that have led hard lives</div> + <div class="verse indent5">In foreign service, are not these your wives?</div> + <div class="verse indent5">Since ye have made peace, do ye not deserve</div> + <div class="verse indent5">The fruits of peace? We conquer but to serve.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>The chorus is repeated as</i> <span class="smcap">Peace</span>, + <i>leading the</i> <span class="smcap">Ambassador</span>,</div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>preceded by the</i> <span class="smcap">Dancers</span>, + <i>and followed by her</i> <span class="smcap">Attendants</span>,</div> + <div class="verse indent10"><i>passes out</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<i>Enter</i> <span class="smcap">Cinesias</span>. <span class="smcap">Myrrhina</span> + <i>comes down to meet him with</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>extended hands. He rushes up to her, catches her up in his</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>arms, and carries her away. Immediately the other</i> <span class="smcap">Athenians</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>seize their women and carry them off</i>. <span class="smcap">Dancers</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Torch-bearers</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6"> <i>follow. The stage is left empty of all but</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent5">(<span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span> <i>comes down slowly to the centre of the upper stage.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>She stands and looks after the revellers. The light of the</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>torches fades away; only moonlight remains. A sound of</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>the cooing of doves is heard from the roof.</i> <span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>turns and descends, going out in the opposite direction,</i></div> + <div class="verse indent6"><i>away from the sounds of revelry</i>.)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent25 fs_120"><span class="smcap">Curtain.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="center">GARDEN CITY PRESS LIMITED,<br> LETCHWORTH, HERTS.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="blockquot no-wrap"> +<p class="fs_80">"We congratulate the Militants in having such a vigorous exponent of their views."</p> +<p class="fs_80 author">—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="f120"><b>WHAT WOMEN ARE<br> DOING FOR WOMEN</b></p> + +<p class="f90">Is told every week in</p> +<p class="f150"><b>VOTES FOR WOMEN</b></p> +<p class="center spb2">The Newspaper of the Movement</p> +<p class="f80">Edited by</p> +<p class="center">MR. and MRS. PETHICK LAWRENCE,</p> +<p class="center">and published<br><b>EVERY FRIDAY <span class="ws4">ONE PENNY.</span></b></p> +<hr class="r10"> +<p class="f80">Articles by</p> +<p class="center"><b>THE EDITORS, MISS CHRISTABEL PANKHURST,</b></p> +<p class="f80">And by special contributors, among whom are:</p> + +<table class="spb1"> + <tbody><tr> + <td class="tdl">Mrs. Pankhurst,</td> + <td class="tdl_wsp bl">Israel Zangwill,</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl">John Masefield,</td> + <td class="tdl_wsp bl">Elizabeth Robins,</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl">Pett Ridge,</td> + <td class="tdl_wsp bl">Evelyn Sharp,</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl">Beatrice Harraden,</td> + <td class="tdl_wsp bl">Henry W. Nevinson,</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl">Lady Constance Lytton,  </td> + <td class="tdl_wsp bl">Lady Sybil Smith,</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl">Laurence Housman,</td> + <td class="tdl_wsp bl">H. N. Brailsford,</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl">Sylvia Pankhurst,</td> + <td class="tdl_wsp bl">Rev. Hugh Chapman,</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl">Mrs. Zangwill,</td> + <td class="tdl_wsp bl">Rev. J. M. Lloyd Thomas</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl">Mr. Joseph Clayton</td> + <td class="tdl_wsp bl">Mary Gawthorpe,</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">And Others</td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<p class="f80">Of all Newsagents and Stationers, and of Local W.S.P.U.<br> +Secretaries, or by Post from the Publisher—</p> + +<p class="f150"><b><span class="smcap">Votes for Women</span>,</b></p> +<p class="center">4, CLEMENT'S INN, W.C.</p> + +<p class="f80"><i>The terms are 6s. 6d. annual subscription, 1s. 8d. for one quarter,<br> +inside the United Kingdom, 8s. 8d. and 2s. 2d. abroad, post free,<br> +payable in advance.</i></p> + +<p class="f80">Books, Pamphlets, Leaflets, Badges, Colours, etc., are on sale<br> +at the Woman's Press, 156, Charing Cross Road, London, W.C.</p> + +<p class="f80">"One of the cleverest political journals published in Europe."</p> +<p class="author fs_80">—<i>The Call</i> (San Francisco)</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="blockquot no-wrap"> +<table class="spb1"> + <tbody><tr> + <td class="tdl fs_200" rowspan="2">ON SALE</td> + <td class="tdl_ws1">at the Woman's Press, 156, Charing</td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl_ws1">Cross Road, W.C. (Tel.: City 3961.)</td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<table class="spb1"> + <tbody><tr> + <td class="tdc fs_120" colspan="2"><b>BOOKS.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Awakening of Women</b>, by Mrs. F. Swiney</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1s. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>British Free Women</b>, by C. C. Stopes</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>2s. 6d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>How the Vote was Won</b> (play), by Cicely Hamilton</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl_ws2">and Christopher St. John</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>3d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl">"<b>No Votes for Women</b>," by Lady Constance Lytton</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>3d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Sphere of Man and Woman in the Constitution</b>,</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl_ws2">by C. C. Stopes</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>6d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Subjection of Women</b>, by John Stuart Mill</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>6d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Votes for Women</b> (play), by Elizabeth Robins</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1s. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Woman: Her Position To-day</b>, by Constance Smedley</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>6d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Woman and Economics</b>, by Mrs. Perkins Gilman</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>6d., 1s. & 2s. 6d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Woman's Secret</b>, by Elizabeth Robins</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>6d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Woman Suffrage</b>, by Arnold Harris Mathew</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1s. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Women's Fight for the Vote</b>, by F. W. Pethick Lawrence.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl_ws2"> Paper, <b>6d. net</b>; Cloth</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1s. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Rebel Women</b>, by Evelyn Sharp</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1s. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Articles of Faith</b>, by Laurence Housman</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>6d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Why?</b> by Elizabeth Robins</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>3d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>For and Against</b>, by Lady Sybil Smith</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>6d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>The Reforming of Augustus</b>, by Irene R. MacLeod</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>2d. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Press Cuttings</b>, by Bernard Shaw</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1s. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Lysistrata</b>, by Laurence Housman</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>6d. & 1s. net.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdc fs_120" colspan="2"> <br><b>PAMPHLETS.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Women's Franchise</b>, by Mrs. Wolstenholme Elmy</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Woman's Vote and Men</b>, by Henry W. Nevinson</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Citizenship of Women</b>, by J. Keir Hardie</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Militant Methods</b>, by Christabel Pankhurst, LL.B.</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>The Faith that is in us</b>, by Mrs. Pethick Lawrence</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>The Meaning of the Woman's Movement</b>,</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl_ws2">by Mrs. Pethick Lawrence</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>The Importance of the Vote</b>, by Mrs. Pankhurst</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>The Constitutional Basis of Woman's Suffrage</b>, by Mrs. Stopes</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>The Struggle for Political Liberty</b>,</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl_ws2">by Chrystal Macmillan, M.A., B. Sc.</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Appeal to Men</b>, by Victor Duval</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>The Bawling Brotherhood</b>, by Laurence Housman</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>My Faith in Woman's Suffrage</b>, by John Masefield</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Prison Faces</b>, by Annie Kenney</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Emancipation of Womanhood</b>, by Rev. J. M. Lloyd Thomas</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>The Earl of Lytton on Votes for Women</b></td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Physical Force Fallacy</b>, by Laurence Housman</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>The Sword and the Spirit</b>, by Israel Zangwill</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Women's Votes and Wages</b>, by F. W. Pethick Lawrence</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Australia's Advice</b></td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Militant Methods in History</b>, by Joseph Clayton</td> + <td class="tdr"><b>1d.</b></td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<hr class="r10"> + +<p class="center">A large number of Leaflets for distribution can be obtained<br> +at 9d. per 100, 6/- per 1,000, post free. Samples on application.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="blockquot no-wrap"> +<p class="f200"><b>By the Same Author</b></p> +<hr class="r10"> + + <ul class="index"> +<li class="isub2"><span class="fs_120"><b>PLAYS</b>:</span> (published by Messrs. Sidgwick & Jackson)</li> + +<li class="isub4">"<b>Prunella</b>" (with H. Granville Barker)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>The Chinese Lantern</b>"</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>Pains and Penalties</b>" (very shortly)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>Bethlehem</b>"; <b>A Nativity Play</b> (Macmillan & Co.)</li> + +<li class="isub2 indx"><span class="fs_120"><b>POEMS:</b></span></li> + +<li class="isub4">"<b>Green Arras</b>" (John Lane)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>Spikenard</b>" (out of print)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>The Little Land</b>" (out of print)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>Rue</b>" (out of print)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>Mendicant Rhymes</b>" (out of print)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>The Story and the Seven Young Goslings</b>" (Blackie & Son)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>Selected Poems</b>" (Sidgwick & Jackson)</li> + +<li class="isub2 indx"><span class="fs_120"><b>NOVELS:</b></span></li> + +<li class="isub4">"<b>Gods and their Makers</b>" (John Lane)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>An English woman's Love-Letters</b>" (John Murray)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>A Modern Antæus</b>" (John Murray)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>Sabrina Warham</b>" (John Murray)</li> + +<li class="isub2 indx"><span class="fs_120"><b>SHORT STORIES:</b></span></li> + +<li class="isub4">"<b>A Farm in Fairyland</b>" (Kegan Paul & Co.)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>The House of Joy</b>" (Kegan Paul & Co.)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>The Field of Clover</b>" (Kegan Paul & Co.)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>The Blue Moon</b>" (John Murray)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>All-Fellows</b>" (Kegan Paul & Co.)</li> +<li class="isub4">"<b>The Cloak of Friendship</b>" (John Murray)</li> + +<li class="isub2 indx"><span class="fs_120"><b>POLITICAL:</b></span></li> + +<li class="isub4">"<b>Articles of Faith in the Freedom of Women</b>" (Fifield)</li> +</ul> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<div class="transnote bbox spa2"> +<p class="f120 spa1">Transcriber's Notes:</p> +<hr class="r10"> +<p>The cover image was created by the transcriber, and is in the public domain.</p> +<p>Deprecated spellings or ancient words were not corrected.</p> +<p>Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected.</p> +</div></div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77760 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/77760-h/images/cbr-5.jpg b/77760-h/images/cbr-5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..50cf10f --- /dev/null +++ b/77760-h/images/cbr-5.jpg diff --git a/77760-h/images/cover.jpg b/77760-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d37be7 --- /dev/null +++ b/77760-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/77760-h/images/frontispiece.jpg b/77760-h/images/frontispiece.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..572e318 --- /dev/null +++ b/77760-h/images/frontispiece.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..15309d7 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook #77760 +(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77760) |
