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1026 THE LEADER. [Saturday ,
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M E I) E A. It is of Mcd'ea I Avisli to ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Passages From A Boy's Epic. Xii. Ariadne...
A silent presence that I could not . see , Was with me as the light on blind men ' s eyes . So with the Gods I lived till mellower years Brought love , and then I wasted no delight That lovers have ; but dim sweet longings rose , Like far faint meadow airs ; and eve and morn Came Thoughts , more beautiful than any Birds , And sang to me . But that was long ago , In some old yesterday that ne ' er returns . O , why was I left desolate ? O , why Did the mad fire pass thro' my heart and brain ? I call on Earth and Heaven , from Sun and "Wave , Implore an answer , but my sorrow broods Over the Universe , and makes it dumb . " So mourned she ; but a footstep on the grass , Gave token of one coming , and ere long Came Phaedra , bringing kind and peaceful words : " Turn not from me , O sister ! O beloved ! But let me hold thy hand , and , holding mine , Walk by my side when sorrow walks with thee . " " Phaedra , " said Ariadne , " on my heart Sits grief , as heavy winds on summer grass Drowned in the trampling storm . " But Phaedra said , " When heavy winds depart the grass revives , Grief comes and goes , and dwells not anywhere , And ever when grief passes , joy returns . " " Joy ! " said the impatient Princess , " What is joy ? I tell thee there is no such thing as joy , Nor is there hope , or love , or beauty more ; Theseus is—dead . " Then Phaedra answered not , But took one hand , and led her tenderly To the great ocean , as a mother leads A timid child , and lends both voice and hand . Fresh blew the morning breeze : the " ascended sun Stood on the waters , wearing purple light Around his golden limbs , and garlanding His radiant brow with roses of the dawn . " Here rest we , " Phaedra cried , " while soft sea-winds Make cool with virgin breath our glowing cheeks . " Then Ariadne on a rock enthroned , With stedfast vision looked athwart the waves , To the blue rim where sky and water touch , And , in the mazes of her blinding grief , Groped helplessly . But when the soft surprise Of sleep o ercame her , gently Phaedra rose , And wandered , kissing her pale lips and eyes , Among the rocks that sunned their patriarch brows , In the young smiles of the rejoicing day . Now leave the maiden to pursue alone , O ' er sand and cliff her labyrinthine path , For we approach the shining goals of Song . M .
1026 The Leader. [Saturday ,
1026 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
€L)T Ms
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M E I) E A. It Is Of Mcd'ea I Avisli To ...
M E I ) E A . It is of Mcd ' ea I Avisli to apeak , although the re-opening of the Lycicum . my pet theatre , and the public ' s pet , ought to command my eloquence . mais qua voulcz-voitx ? the theatre ; reopens to a crammed audience , expectant of refined amusement—such as can only be found at the Lycioitm , and as ill luck will have it , the opening piece is a mistake ! The Mysterious TjiiiI j / , an inoffensive comedy , written in very blank verse , with neither character nor p lot to interest , and with , the kind of thin dialogue some people call " level" ( they mean dead , level ) , was listened-to with meek endurance , the audience looking to the ( iolden Fleece as a compensation .
The ( iolden Fleece , one of Planche ' s very best burlesques , was played many years ago at , the Haymakkut , when the Antigone wus astonishing . Diujiiv Lank with its eternal beauty , and proving to a British pit that the Greek Drama had in it something more vitnl than pedants in mi had ever discovered . It is a burlesque of that pathetic tragedy of Medea , wherein JOuripidcs iii \ st ; displayed his mastery over drama lie passion ; and it is a burlesque in the true spirit of burlesque , carrying the p athetic into the ludicrous which borders it , tailing tragedy from its Cothurnus , and making it walk in the familiar highlow !
To give an instance of what I mean , where Medea , in 1 . 110 antique tragedy , " stilling the mighty hunger of her heart , " kills the children of her iaitliless husband , in the modern burlesque . her passion finds its instrument in the domestic ; birch . | Nothing , by the way , could be more perfect than the ; nuuiiier , at once tragic and ludicrous , with which Madame vestris produced that birch . | The very fuel , that lOiiripides has chosen a human interest for his tragedy , opens infinite possibilities to burlesque . IJ ow grand and passionate it is will never bo forgotten by those ; who have Htudied Medea , or seen Pasta in the opera , taken from it . The outliving of love , the rage of jealousy , the " pangs of dispri / ed love , " and tho fluctuations of maternal tenderness and womanly despair , are finely touched by tho old . ( Jreek—something too elaborately , perhaps , and with a Hchillor-like tendency to dwell on ideas longer than befits tho rapidity of TH 10 B 1 OH ; yet ptiM JUko a true dramatist und moat pathetic poet . X JUuvo
been turning over the pages of this drama , and should like to write som columns of criticism , if it would not force me into extracts of intolerable length . That scene of Medea with her children , -was the delight of 11 antiquity . The Anthology abounds with references to it , and Winck ? mann speaks of the many statues and pictures representing Medea about to immolate the children smiling up at her . Then again , that scene be tween Medea and Jason , a scene of reproach , of rage , of irony , and of menace ; a situation admirably reproduced by Eacine in Andromaqxie which winds up with . Rachel ' s famous tirade ( who can forget it P ) ' " Tu comptes les moments que tu perds avec moi . Porte aux pieds des autels ce coeur qui m ' abandonne .
Va , cours ; mais crains encore d y trouver JTermione . " Besides the dramatic force of this play , there are some quotable bits ( for those who want to leaden their sandals I ) such as this reproach to Jupiter for having , by unmistakeable signs , enabled men . to discover alloyed gold but not imprinted on the face of man signs equaUy descriptive of a base and alloyed nature : — " St Zev n 8 tj xpverou fxev 6 s Ki ( S 8 r ) \ os fj , reKfXT ) pi avOpcoiroicriv wrracras cra ( prj , avbpeov §' , 6 t ( o xPV tov ko . kov diciSevat ovdeis xaPaTr ) P efi 7 T € ( j ) VKe crcapaTi ;"
how that sentiment must have " brought the house down . " But to the Burlesque . In the first part , Jason , " a jolly young watei man , " in the form of Julia St . George , appears at Colchis ,
to" Beard the Lion in his den , The Creon in his hall ;" and to carry off the Golden Fleece . Creon defies him ; but Medea having set eyes on him , and fallen incontinently in love with him , the paternal defiance is set at nought , the Fleece is won , and Medea elopes . In the second part , " years have elapsed . " The daring maiden is a neglected matron . The mistress has lost her spell . Jason doesn't find her fascinating , and wants some other " party , " with whom " to spend his evenings . " It is improper , I know ; very ; but such is Jason . After all , as a himfor not
bachelor , I can perfectly sympathise with ; Medea was oniy his wife , but a wife who " knew what was due to herself" ( I think you have met that kind of dignity ?) , and , like all women , " troubled with a tendency to tears "—kotti 8 ai < pvois eepv . Now , I put it to you , respectable and respected Sir , could Jason , stand that ? He couldn't—he didn't . It is very poetical to talk of bathing the pillow with , your tears , but in reality it is damp and not at all amusing . Moreover , I can't make out that Jason was not as good a husband as Jones—a little inconstant , perhaps , but , as Euripides says , women are fastidious on that point , " they think if their husbands are faithful , there is nothing mo ? e to be desired . "
opoovfJL € irrjs evvrjs , yvvalK . es iravr e ' xeiu uofML ^ ere . ( More lead !) so Jason not being constant , Medea resolves on vengeance . Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned , Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned ! Imagine this canvns filled with puns , and songs , and you have before you the revival of a Greek play burlesqued . There are things that will not die . Medea many centuries ago agitated Athens , yet she is alive to this day . The Golden Fleece , which you thought was dead , revives with a vigour that amazes you ; and what is tIns thai io ii
rises from the grave in shape so questionable that we must speak , and call it " Vestris ! queen of Taste ! " say , why has the tomb opened us marble laws and suffered that form to revisit thus the g limpses oi—uic footlights P It can ' t be Vestris . She is dead ; buried ; the papers rlironicled the fact ; and Charles Kean went into mourning for her ujm Phantom , then , assumes the well-known form , and breathes tho known contralto P For a Phantom it has awondrously real aspect , ; < _ Phantom it has a most astounding voice ; are those noble arms , < n < - » so grandly over that grey dress , but simulacra and optical illusion . loving pit P 1 f wo did not know that Vestris was dead ( have not tho p « J >< said boP ) wo should declare she stood before us , " in her habit . * ¦ lived " Tho pit received the Phantom with an enthusiasm wlncn . n , - j
rate was real . That was living , if she were not . . I suppose the real secret is that Vestris cannot die . Q ^^/ K bo ^ l be buried ; but her sp irit has so welcome a home ; in ? veiy IJri , " ,, io grateful for years of enjoyment , that the public ih willing « i : ' .- > ^ accept even the shadowy " phantom and believe it the living w <) in ' "\ . y ,,,, p lain it as you will—that she is dead is notorious , yet go to im- ^ Theatre and you will mentally hum ( if y ou think of it )—
" JVe not been dead at all , says . lack Robinson . " Charles Mathews as Chorus sings two " patter" songs with the m . M and careless ease you know . Julia , St . Ceorge makes a <' li : in " jji (<> sny ( she has greatly improved in her Hinging by the way ) , ami i < « „ a , word for Mr . ITorncastle , whose Herald was a good hit ol ' , w ' JlHi Frank IVlathews in Creon , though not so unctuous as James . iwa - nevertheless , amusing . ,. , j // 0 , isr A farce of odd and original construction followed . J t is cam «¦ ¦ ^^ out of Windows ; and is acted entirely at the windows , tlio a < . once putting foot on the stage . There are several droll eiiej . i .. ( bleed by Woxhy and Baker ; and the farce decisively sucrceae <•• , M . Used Up Wi p layed on Tuesday and Thursday , and w > >< J , . ,,.,. attractive so long aA Charles Mathews remains to Vnf ™ ^ L W » r > i > picture of character . The very " coloured sketch ol / ' \*!/ { oU [ cvy . followed , in whieji Charles Mathows is the type of irrcH . stiDK
On Monday , The dame of S peculation ! ,.,, inrdv wl" '' ' - The Haymarkict has in preparation Mehelieum Lo ^ , a > ( ^ . , l n in its original shape , the Censor prohibited , and vvludi tlieiu > v nine days ' gossip . . , .. . . (| ucti " " /" Mars ' ton ' s now play at ; tlio Vmucv . ^ H . s announced Io , i < a | , Ju , a few days . " And at Sju » r , Ku ' H Wiou . s , Phelj . H ih reviving , ^ iVJAN . roligiouH care nud complotcweBB of ensemble , Henry I .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 23, 1852, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23101852/page/22/
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