of old? JUNO. Thy mother! Time was thou call'dst me so. SEMELE. Thou art so still, And wilt remain so, till I drink full deep Of Lethe's maddening draught. JUNO. Soon Beroe Will drink oblivion from the waves of Lethe; But Cadmus' daughter ne'er will taste that draught. SEMELE. How, my good nurse? Thy language ne'er was wont To be mysterious or of hidden meaning; The spirit of gray hairs 'tis speaks in thee; Thou sayest I ne'er shall taste of Lethe's draught? JUNO. I said so, yes! But wherefore ridicule Gray hairs? 'Tis true that they, unlike fair tresses, Have ne'er been able to ensnare a god!     SEMELE. Pardon poor thoughtless me! What cause have I To ridicule gray hairs? Can I suppose That mine forever fair will grace my neck? But what was that I heard thee muttering Between thy teeth? A god? JUNO. Said I a god? The deities in truth dwell everywhere!    'Tis good for earth's frail children to implore them. The gods are found where thou art—Semele! What wouldst thou ask? SEMELE. Malicious heart! But say What brings thee to this spot from Epidaurus?    'Tis not because the gods delight to dwell near Semele? JUNO. By Jupiter, naught else!—    What fire was that which mounted to thy cheeks When I pronounced the name of Jupiter? Naught else, my daughter! Fearfully the plague At Epidaurus rages; every blast Is deadly poison, every breath destroys; The son his mother burns, his bride the bridegroom; The funeral piles rear up their flaming heads, Converting even midnight to bright day, While howls of anguish ceaseless rend the air; Full to overflowing is the cup of woe!—    In anger, Zeus looks down on our poor nation; In vain the victim's blood is shed, in vain Before the altar bows the priest his knee; Deaf is his ear to all our supplications—    Therefore my sorrow-stricken country now Has sent me here to Cadmus' regal daughter, In hopes that I may move her to avert    His anger from us—"Beroe, the nurse, Has influence," thus they said, "with Semele, And Semele with Zeus"—I know no more, And understand still less what means the saying, That Semele such influence has with Zeus. SEMELE. (Eagerly and thoughtlessly.)    The plague shall cease to-morrow! Tell them so Zeus loves me! Say so! It shall cease to-day! JUNO. (Starting up in astonishment.)    Ha! Is it true what fame with thousand tongues Has spread abroad from Ida to Mount Haemus? Zeus loves thee? Zeus salutes thee in the glory Wherein the denizens of heaven regard him, When in Saturnia's arms he sinks to rest? Let, O ye gods, my gray hairs now descend To Orcus' 

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