EXODUS, OR FINALE
_Re-enter Hercules, leading a veiled woman_
_Herc._ I would speak freely to my friend, Admetus,
Nor what I blame keep secret in my breast.
I came to thee amidst thy ills, and thought
I had been worthy to be proved thy friend.
Thou told'st me not the obsequies prepared {1080}
Were for thy wife; but in thy house receiv'dst me
As if thou griev'dst for one of foreign birth.
I bound my head with garlands, to the gods
Pouring libations in thy house with grief
Oppress'd. I blame this: yes, in such a state
I blame this: yet I come not in thine ills
To give thee pain; why I return in brief
Will I unfold. This woman from my hands
Receive to thy protection, till return'd
I bring the Thracian steeds, having there slain {1090}
The proud Bistorian tyrant; should I fail--
Be that mischance not mine, for much I wish
Safe to revisit thee--yet should I fail,
I give her to the safeguard of thy house.
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