dramatic · any · ~1 min · 160 words
Cassandra monologue — Specimens of Greek Tragedy — Aeschylus and Sophocles
Now shall my oracle no more peer forth As from her virgin veil a bashful bride; It shall grow clearer as the sky is cleared By the brisk wind, and like a sunlit wave Shall mount the billows of calamity. No more in riddles will I prophesy. Follow and bear me witness as I hunt, Upon the trail of immemorial crime. Within this house a company abides, Singing in unison no mirthful strain, A band of revellers that, to fire its heart, Hath quaffed, not wine, but blood of murdered men, The Furies that shall never quit these gates. A hymn they sing, within the haunted hall, Of the primeval curse, and tell in turn What loathly vengeance paid a brother's shame. [Footnote: Alluding to the banquet of Thyestes.] Say, does my arrow miss or hit the mark? Am I a begging, babbling soothsayer? Bear witness on thy oath how well I know, Untaught, the sinful record of this house.
Public domain — free to perform in auditions, showcases and productions.