Arose the monarch, tranquil and refresh'd.
His robe demanding from his consort's hand,
A tangl'd garment, complicate with folds.
She o'er his shoulders flung and noble head;
And when, as from a net, he vainly strove
To extricate himself, the traitor, base
AEgisthus, smote him, and envelop'd thus
Great Agamemnon sought the shades below.

IPHIGENIA.
And what reward receiv'd the base accomplice?

PYLADES.
A queen and kingdom he possess'd already.

IPHIGENIA.
Base passion prompted, then, the deed of shame?

PYLADES.
And feelings, cherish'd long, of deep revenge.

IPHIGENIA.
How had the monarch injured Clytemnestra?

PYLADES.
By such a dreadful deed, that if on earth
Aught could exculpate murder, it were this.
To Aulis he allur'd her, when the fleet
With unpropitious winds the goddess stay'd;
And there, a victim at Diana's shrine,
The monarch, for the welfare of the Greeks,
Her eldest daughter doom'd. And this, 'tis said,
Planted such deep abhorrence in her heart,
That to AEgisthus she resign'd herself,
And round her husband flung the web of death.

IPHIGENIA. (_veiling herself_).
It is enough! Thou wilt again behold me.

PYLADES, _alone_.
The fortune of this royal house, it seems,
Doth move her deeply. Whosoe'er she be,
She must herself have known the monarch well;--
For our good fortune, from a noble house,
She hath been sold to bondage. Peace, my heart!
And let us steer our course with prudent zeal
Toward the star of hope which gleams upon us.

ACT THE THIRD.

SCENE I.

IPHIGENIA. ORESTES.

IPHIGENIA.
Unhappy man, I only loose thy bonds
In token of a still severer doom.
The freedom which the sanctuary imparts,
Like the last life-gleam o'er the dying face,
But heralds death. I cannot, dare not say
Your doom is hopeless; for, with murd'rous hand,
Could I inflict the fatal blow myself?
And while I here am priestess of Diana,
None, be he who he may, dare touch your heads.
But the incensed king, should I refuse
Compliance with the rites himself enj