EPIMETHEUS. Thy pallor and thy silence terrify me!
PANDORA. I have brought wrath and ruin on thy house! My heart hath braved the oracle that guarded The fatal secret from us, and my hand Lifted the lid of the mysterious chest!
EPIMETHEUS. Then all is lost! I am indeed undone.
PANDORA. I pray for punishment, and not for pardon.
EPIMETHEUS. Mine is the fault not thine. On me shall fall The vengeance of the Gods, for I betrayed Their secret when, in evil hour, I said It was a secret; when, in evil hour, I left thee here alone to this temptation. Why did I leave thee?
PANDORA. Why didst thou return? Eternal absence would have been to me The greatest punishment. To be left alone And face to face with my own crime, had been Just retribution. Upon me, ye Gods, Let all your vengeance fall!
EPIMETHEUS. On thee and me. I do not love thee less for what is done, And cannot be undone. Thy very weakness Hath brought thee nearer to me, and henceforth My love will have a sense of pity in it, Making it less a worship than before.
PANDORA. Pity me not; pity is degradation. Love me and kill me.
EPIMETHEUS. Beautiful Pandora! Thou art a Goddess still!
PANDORA. I am a woman; And the insurgent demon in my nature, That made me brave the oracle, revolts At pity and compassion. Let me die; What else remains for me?