When Paris had been killed.
Would I had been beside him when he fell,
And fallen with him to the pit of death!
Better die so, not mangled in the war,
A young man, beautiful in youth, as thou wert;
Not troubled yet by life; not yet a King;
Thou hast been only young and now art dead.With all life’s faults, I want you back in life,
Not dead, my son, beyond my touch and speech,
But here, moving and speaking, being mine.
My help and stay and wisdom and assuagement
As in the past. You, who gave no farewell,
Speak to me from the grave, O lovely son.
(_There is a sighing._)
Was that an answer from the dead, or birds
Flying away before the winter comes?
My son, if you are there, speak to my spirit.
(_There is a sighing._)
What message do you bring, that you are here?
What do you come to tell me? THE VOICE. Death. JEZEBEL. What? THE VOICE. Death. JEZEBEL. Whose death? Mine? Or your father’s? Or the kingdom’s?
My son’s soul was within this room and speaking.
O speak again, say something, give me proof
That you are linked still by dear love to me. Hark! Hush!
No. There was no voice speaking; nor will be.
AHAZIAH appears. My boy! My son! AHAZIAH. Mother! JEZEBEL. My child! My dear! AHAZIAH. Listen. I cannot say it all. The flowers
Speak truth. You all are coming. JEZEBEL. Then, beloved,
We shall soon meet again, and part no more. AHAZIAH. Mother, I struggle back to tell you this:
It is most hard to come, most hard to speak.
You must with all your power strive to cut
These nets. JEZEBEL. What are these nets? AHAZIAH. The nets of death,
That are all round you like a hunter’s toils. JEZEBEL. Do you mean civil war? Or war with Syria? AHAZIAH. That is not what I mean; but someone near you.
Someone about you has most deadly hands,
A hangman’s hands; and you must break his hands. JEZEBEL. Who is it, that is deadly? Is it Joram? AHAZIAH. I cannot speak his name, but, mother, hark:
He murdered me; I never saw his face;
He killed me at the inn. JEZEBEL. Jehu, you mean? AHAZIAH. The man forever looking at the throat,
Whose fingers twitch; a red-eyed man it is,
I cannot speak the name. JEZEBEL. Oh, it is Jehu!
And Jehu murdered you? AHAZIAH. There’s danger, mother;
Avoid the nets. I cannot make you see them. JEZEBEL. Jehu is spreading nets of treachery? AHAZIAH. The flowers speak truth; the flowers and the rod,
The riding rod. [_He goes._] 

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