Eksodos
Heracles
Yet what thy gain, if thou for aye wilt mourn?
Admetus
I too know that myself, but some strange yearning leads me on.
1080
Heracles
Love for the dead compels a tear.
Admetus
Her death was mine, more than any words of mine can tell.
Heracles
Thou hast lost a noble wife; who shall gainsay it?
Admetus
Life henceforth hath lost all charm for me.
Heracles
Time will soothe the smart; as yet thy grief is young.
1085
Admetus
Time! use that word, if death and time are one.
Heracles
A new wife and a longing for a fresh marriage will stay thy sorrow.
Admetus
Peace! What words are thine? I ne’er of thee had thought it.
Heracles
What! wilt never wed, but preserve thy widowed state?
Admetus
There is no woman living that shall share my couch.
1090
Heracles
Dost think that this will help the dead at all?
Admetus
My reverence she deserves, where’er she is.
Heracles
I praise thee, yes; but still thou bringest on thyself the charge of folly.
Admetus
So that thou never call’st me bridegroom, praise me if thou wilt.
Heracles
I praise thee for thy loyalty to thy wife.
1095
Admetus
Come death! if ever I betray her, dead though she be.
Heracles
Well, take this maiden to the shelter of thy noble house.
Admetus
Spare me, I entreat thee by Zeus, thy sire.
