Fair she lay as a bride,
And heeded us not.
Her children clung round her and cried;
And her lord, bewailing his lot,
Bowed down at her side:
And we wept, because she had died!
(Alcestis rises to her feet, and stands with half-lifted arms in an attitude of prayer.)
Nurse.—
Now thou hast touched her! Lo, the unlighted wick
Of life stands there revealed! Go, women, quick!