Penny Dreadfuls, 1912 · page 52 of 118
The Medea — page 52: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Victorian Page Analysis This is a page of running prose from what appears to be a dramatic work — specifically a translation or adaptation of Euripides' *Medea*. The page contains poetic dialogue attributed to a chorus ("Others") lamenting exile, homelessness, and the betrayal of friendship, followed by a stage direction describing Medea waiting at her doorstep as a traveler approaches her. The text emphasizes themes of displacement ("A woman without a city"), family bonds, and emotional betrayal, presented in blank verse typical of Victorian dramatic translations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
306 EURIPIDES Make Innocence my friend, God’s fairest star, Yea, and abate not The rare sweet beat of bosoms without war, That love, and hate not. Others. Home of my heart, land of my own, Cast me not, nay, for pity, Out on my ways, helpless, alone, Where the feet fail in the mire and stone, A. woman without a city. Ah, not that! Better the end: The green grave cover me rather, If a break must come in the days I know, And the skies be changed and the earth below; For the weariest road that man may wend Is forth from the home of his father. Lo, we have seen: ’tis not a song Sung, nor learned of another. For whom hast thou in thy direst wrong For comfort? Never a city strong To hide thee, never a brother. Ah, but the man—curséd be he, Cursed beyond recover, Who openeth, shattering, seal by seal, A friend’s clean heart, then turns his heel, Deaf unto love: never in me _ Friend shall he know nor lover. | While MEDEA 7s waiting downcast, seated upon her door-step, there passes from the left a traveller with followers. As he catches sight of MEDEA he stops. Gomicbooks (E(0) =