Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 6 (armies, fleece, pestle, wonted, pikes, thundering…). Matches are highlighted.
the dark caverns of the uncouth earth, From whence I come for to infect thy soul With air of vengeance, may make Acheron, Yea, and our selves at the performance quake; Fruit of our loynts, first vigor of our youth, Look on these wounds, as on the Gorgons head, And turn thy heart to stone, hovering revenge Is fallen into thy hands,
Full speech
N Owe a fair blessing bless my dearest earth, And Like a Bride ado ne thy royal brow, With fruits rich Garand; a new married Bride Unto thy King and Husband, who too long Hath left thee widowed: Oh, me thinks I see How all my Grecians with unsatiate looks Turns to the spectators And greedy eyes do bid me welcome home: Each ear that hears the clamour seems to grieve It cannot speak, and give a (welcome King:) Come Clytemnestra, let no anger make His wrinkled seat upon my loves fair brow, I have too long been absent from thy bed, Chide me for that anon, when arm in arm I shall relate those projects in love terms, Which when they first were acted, made Mars fear To see each man turned to a God of war. Now these ears indeed Have changed their place: they which were wont to hear No music but the summoning of war Blown thorough discords brazen instrument, Are blessed now with accents that do fill My age-dry'd veins with youthful blood again. These eyes which had no other object once, But Hector betwixt the arms of Greece and Troy, Hewing down men, and making every field Flow with a sea of blood, now see's blood flow In my Orestes cheek: heaven bless this plant Orestes kneels, Sprung from the sap of this now juiceless oak, Now be thy branches green, under whose shade I may be shadowed from the heat of war. Rise young Orestes, O how it glads my soul, To see my Queen and Son, my Son and Queen. Help Clytemnestra, help me my deer Queen. see, my Grecians, see, Your King which you so gladly entertained: Solemnizing hide thy self in everlasting night, Or when thou risest let thy blushing face, Make these to blush; Oh Clytemnestra, Oh my once deer wife, Is this the entertainment that thou givest; Thy new come husband, gratulat'st thou thus My ten years absence? see these frosty hairs Would even move Hecuba to pity me, Look on these aged arms which in this bed Thought to have been blessed with thy kind embrace, Kinsman Aegisteus ; Oh my dearest wife Whom shall I call; me thinks you both are mine, What Titius, what Megaera hath put on Aegysteus and my Clytemnestra's shapes? Oh be not so, and I'll not call you so: Let not your coward weapons wound this head; That erst did scorn to shrink at Priam's blow. Oh hew me not down thus for my sons sake, Dear Clytemnestra for Orestes sake. Is this the Trojan tale how I should tell! That here great Hector slew Antiochus, And here that Meontiades was slain, And poor Prothesilaus deer to Laodamie: I thought to tell how these men lost their blood; And see my blood is thus let forth at home. No pity yet? Oh then, no pity light On you, nor yours; but let dire revenge Come learn how she may after handle you: Oh, I am drowned in blood, and now must yield To murderers weapons; treason win's the field; Alas this coming home hath had small joy, Argos hath worse foes then ever Troy. In troth my Queen, and my old Lord have moved Well, since your loves are both so strongly tide, And friendship Like and old acquaintance sends To her friend, Justice, that she should be mild, And looks with eyes of mercy, on your fault, Considering our immunity proclaimed, And such petitioners as you both have God, Death in our sentence now shall have no partly, While who should have done worst confession strives, Too much confession thus saves two men's lives: But now we must demand what you made here, What business or condition you profess. My Queen shall have her will, see how times change, I that last night thought all the world a sea, As if our common mother earth, had now Shot her self wholly into Neptune's arms, And the strong hinges of the world had cracked, Letting the moon fallen into the swelling waves, Such watery mountains oft did seem to rise, And quite o'rwhelme us, all the winds at war, Banded the sea one to the others coasts, Jove thinking Neptune gan to strive for heaven, Sent a new sea from thence, and with his thunder, Bade silence to the waves, they uncontrolled, Kept on their noise, and let their fury swell, Turning heaven, earth, sea, clouds, and all to hell, Such Trojan that was saved then' gan to cry, Happy were they that did with Priam die. It glads me now to think, that that night was No star, no, not Oriȝon there appeared, But this night's turned to day, and here does shine, For a good Omen my embraced Queen With whom her Agamemnon still will stay, Till age and death shall bear him quite away. Why flags revenge? see thy now yielding soul, Made me burst open my strong iawd sepulcher, And rip the fear-cloth from my wounded breast, Oh can a child smile blank the memory, Of all these horrid wounds, which make me groan, In the dark caverns of the uncouth earth, From whence I come for to infect thy soul With air of vengeance, may make Acheron, Yea, and our selves at the performance quake; Fruit of our loynts, first vigor of our youth, Look on these wounds, as on the Gorgons head, And turn thy heart to stone, hovering revenge Is fallen into thy hands, Oh grasp her close By her snake knotted front, and make her do Things may incite a horror to her self. Forget all, mother, in that disloyal witch, Whose damned heat raging in strumpets blood, So soon did condescend to murder me. By all the rites of Father, I conjure thee: By Atreus, Atreus, he whose revengeful soul Is echoed through the world superlative; Do thou make Nemesis as great a feast, And be enthronized in her firy chair, In her triumphant chariot ever ride, In which, Bears hurry her from the womb of hell, And bear this Title as thy deserved hire, The brave revenger of thy murdered sire. Think on me, and revenge. Exit.
Plot summary
Plot — Orestes
Agamemnon returns home after ten years of war. When he takes his neglected wife Clytemnestra to bed, she and her lover Aegisthus murder him. Roused by bad dreams, his son Orestes finds the body in bed. Feigning innocence, Clytemnestra curses the murderer, while the surviving Trojan glories in the death of the enemy commander: Troy is avenged. Recognizing that he is in danger, Orestes goes into hiding with Pylades until the murderer is identified, and sends a report that, unhinged with grief, he threw himself off a cliff into the sea, and that Pylades also went over trying to stop him. Aegisthus, the next in line, ascends the throne and marries Clytemnestra. She bears him a son, establishing his dynasty, and in celebration he proclaims a general pardon for all crimes. Orestes and Pylades consult the witch Canidia, who shows them a vision of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus committing the murder. They return to court in disguise. Their plotting is overheard by Misander, and they kill him to preserve secrecy, but are immediately arrested. In judging the case, Aegisthus faces two problems: the crime is covered by the general pardon, and each defendant, seeking to save the other, claims that he alone was the murderer. Aegisthus decides not to pass a death sentence on either, and is further impressed when Pylades introduces Orestes as a doctor who has perfected the secret of rejuvenation. Aegisthus asks for a demonstration, using himself and Clytemnestra as the subjects. Agamemnon’s ghost appears to Orestes, urging him to get on with the revenge and take care not to spare his mother. Pylades obtains custody of Aegisthus’ son, who is in the care of Orestes’ sister Electra. When Orestes meets with the King and Queen for their ===== PAGE 235 ===== 1620 rejuvenation, he ties them up, kills their son in front of them, forces them to drink the blood, and finally kills them. He demands his restoration to the throne, but the lords are unwilling to crown a murderer, and instead enthrone Tyndarus, whose first act is to banish Orestes and his accomplices, further stipulating that nobody must give Orestes food. Pylades’ father Strophius dies and Electra kills herself. Orestes goes mad and thinks himself tormented by the Furies. He and Pylades kill one another in a suicide pact, and Tyndarus announces that they are to be buried together in a single tomb.