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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/14484-8.txt b/14484-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb876d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/14484-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15404 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Plays in English Verse, by Sophocles + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Seven Plays in English Verse + +Author: Sophocles + +Release Date: December 27, 2004 [EBook #14484] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN PLAYS IN ENGLISH VERSE *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Fred Robinson and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + + + + + SOPHOCLES + + THE + SEVEN PLAYS IN ENGLISH VERSE + + BY + LEWIS CAMPBELL, M.A. + + HON. LL.D., HON. D.LITT. + EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS + HON. FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD + + [Illustration: THE WORLD'S CLASSICS] + + NEW EDITION, REVISED + + HENRY FROWDE + OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + LONDON, NEW YORK AND TORONTO + + + + + SOPHOCLES + + Born at Colonos probably 495 B.C. + Died 406 B.C. + +_The present translation was first published in 'The World's Classics' + in 1906._ + + + + + Sie hören nicht die folgenden Gesänge, + Die Seelen, denen ich die ersten sang. + + + + + CONTENTS + + PREFACE + PREFATORY NOTE TO THE EDITION OF 1883 + + ANTIGONE + AIAS + KING OEDIPUS + ELECTRA + THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS + PHILOCTETES + OEDIPUS AT COLONOS + NOTES + + * * * * * + + + + + PREFACE + + +In 1869, having read the Antigone with a pupil who at the time had a +passion for the stage, I was led to attempt a metrical version of the +_Antigone_, and, by and by, of the Electra and Trachiniae.[1] I had +the satisfaction of seeing this last very beautifully produced by an +amateur company in Scotland in 1877; when Mrs. Fleeming Jenkin may be +said to have 'created' the part of Dêanira. Thus encouraged, I +completed the translation of the seven plays, which was published by +Kegan Paul in 1883 and again by Murray in 1896. I have now to thank +Mr. Murray for consenting to this cheaper issue. + +The seven extant plays of Sophocles have been variously arranged. In +the order most frequently adopted by English editors, the three plays +of the Theban cycle, Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus Coloneus, and Antigone, +have been placed foremost. + +In one respect this is obviously convenient, as appearing to present +continuously a connected story. But on a closer view, it is in two +ways illusory. + +1. The Antigone is generally admitted to be, comparatively speaking, +an early play, while the Oedipus Coloneus belongs to the dramatist's +latest manner; the first Oedipus coming in somewhere between the two. +The effect is therefore analogous to that produced on readers of +Shakespeare by the habit of placing Henry VI after Henry IV and V. But +tragedies and 'histories' or chronicle plays are not _in pari +materia_. + +2. The error has been aggravated by a loose way of speaking of 'the +Theban Trilogy', a term which could only be properly applicable if the +three dramas had been produced in the same year. I have therefore now +arranged the seven plays in an order corresponding to the most +probable dates of their production, viz. Antigone, Aias, King Oedipus, +Electra, Trachiniae, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonos. A credible +tradition refers the Antigone to 445 B.C. The Aias appears to be not +much later--it may even be earlier--than the Antigone. The Philoctetes +was produced in 408 B.C., when the poet was considerably over eighty. +The Oedipus at Colonos has always been believed to be a composition of +Sophocles' old age. It is said to have been produced after his death, +though it may have been composed some years earlier. The tragedy of +King Oedipus, in which the poet's art attained its maturity, is +plausibly assigned to an early year of the Peloponnesian war (say 427 +B.C.), the Trachiniae to about 420 B.C. The time of the Electra is +doubtful; but Professor Jebb has shown that, on metrical grounds, it +should be placed after, rather than before, King Oedipus. Even the +English reader, taking the plays as they are grouped in this volume, +may be aware of a gradual change of manner, not unlike what is +perceptible in passing from Richard II to Macbeth, and from Macbeth to +The Winter's Tale or Cymbeline. For although the supposed date of the +Antigone was long subsequent to the poet's first tragic victory, the +forty years over which the seven plays are spread saw many changes of +taste in art and literature. + +Footnote: + 1 _Three Plays of Sophocles:_ Blackwood, 1873. + + * * * * * + + + + + PREFATORY NOTE TO THE + EDITION OF 1883 + + +I. The Hellenic spirit has been repeatedly characterized as simple +Nature-worship. Even the Higher Paganism has been described as 'in +other words the purified worship of natural forms.'[1] One might +suppose, in reading some modern writers, that the Nymphs and Fauns, +the River-Gods and Pan, were at least as prominent in all Greek poetry +as Zeus, Apollo, and Athena, or that Apollo was only the sweet singer +and not also the prophet of retribution. + +The fresh and unimpaired enjoyment of the Beautiful is certainly the +aspect of ancient life and literature which most attracted the +humanists of the sixteenth century, and still most impresses those +amongst ourselves who for various reasons desire to point the contrast +between Paganism and Judaism. The two great groups of forces vaguely +known as the Renaissance and the Revolution have both contributed to +this result. Men who were weary of conventionality and of the weight +of custom 'heavy as frost and deep almost as life,' have longed for +the vision of 'Oread or Dryad glancing through the shade,' or to 'hear +old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.' Meanwhile, that in which the +Greeks most resembled us, 'the human heart by which we live,' for the +very reason that it lies so near to us, is too apt to be lost from our +conception of them. Another cause of this one-sided view is the +illusion produced by the contemplation of statuary, together with the +unapproachable perfection of form which every relic of Greek antiquity +indisputably possesses. + +But on turning from the forms of Greek art to the substance of Greek +literature, we find that Beauty, although everywhere an important +element, is by no means the sole or even the chief attribute of the +greatest writings, nor is the Hellenic consciousness confined within +the life of Nature, unless this term is allowed to comprehend man with +all his thoughts and aspirations. It was in this latter sense that +Hegel recognized the union of depth with brightness in Greek culture: +'If the first paradise was the paradise of nature, this is the second, +the higher paradise of the human spirit, which in its fair +naturalness, freedom, depth and brightness here comes forth like a +bride out of her chamber. The first wild majesty of the rise of +spiritual life in the East is here circumscribed by the dignity of +form, and softened into beauty. Its depth shows itself no longer in +confusion, obscurity, and inflation, but lies open before us in simple +clearness. Its brightness (Heiterkeit) is not a childish play, but +covers a sadness which knows the baldness of fate but is not by that +knowledge driven out of freedom and measure.' Hegel's Werke, vol. XVI. +p. 139 (translated by Prof. Caird). The simplicity of Herodotus, for +example, does not exclude far reaching thoughts on the political +advantages of liberty, nor such reflections on experience as are +implied in the saying of Artabanus, that the transitoriness of human +life is the least of its evils. And in what modern writing is more of +the wisdom of life condensed than in the History of Thucydides? It is +surely more true to say of Greek literature that it contains types of +all things human, stamped with the freshness, simplicity, and +directness which belong to first impressions, and to the first +impressions of genius. + +Now the 'thoughts and aspirations,' which are nowhere absent from +Greek literature, and make a centre of growing warmth and light in its +Periclean period--when the conception of human nature for the first +time takes definite shape--have no less of Religion in them than +underlay the 'creed outworn'. To think otherwise would be an error of +the same kind as that 'abuse of the word Atheism' against which the +author of the work above alluded to protests so forcibly. + +Religion, in the sense here indicated, is the mainspring and vital +principle of Tragedy. The efforts of Aeschylus and Sophocles were +sustained by it, and its inevitable decay through the scepticism which +preceded Socrates was the chief hindrance to the tragic genius of +Euripides. Yet the inequality of which we have consequently to +complain in him is redeemed by pregnant hints of something yet 'more +deeply interfused,' which in him, as in his two great predecessors, is +sometimes felt as 'modern,' because it is not of an age but for all +time. The most valuable part of every literature is something which +transcends the period and nation out of which it springs. + +On the other hand, much that at first sight seems primitive in Greek +tragedy belongs more to the subject than to the mode of handling. The +age of Pericles was in advance of that in which the legends were first +Hellenized and humanized, just as this must have been already far +removed from the earliest stages of mythopoeic imagination. The reader +of Aeschylus or Sophocles should therefore be warned against +attributing to the poet's invention that which is given in the fable. + +An educated student of Italian painting knows how to discriminate--say +in an Assumption by Botticelli--between the traditional conventions, +the contemporary ideas, and the refinements of the artist's own fancy. +The same indulgence must be extended to dramatic art. The tragedy of +King Lear is not rude or primitive, although the subject belongs to +prehistoric times in Britain. Nor is Goethe's Faust mediaeval in +spirit as in theme. So neither is the Oedipus Rex the product of +'lawless and uncertain thoughts,' notwithstanding the unspeakable +horror of the story, but is penetrated by the most profound estimate +of all in human life that is saddest, and all that is most precious. + +Far from being naive naturalists after the Keats fashion, the Greek +tragic poets had succeeded to a pessimistic reaction from simple Pagan +enjoyment; they were surrounded with gloomy questionings about human +destiny and Divine Justice, and they replied by looking steadily at +the facts of life and asserting the supreme worth of innocence, +equity, and mercy. + +They were not philosophers, for they spoke the language of feeling; +but the civilization of which they were the strongest outcome was +already tinged with influences derived from early philosophy-- +especially from the gnomic wisdom of the sixth century and from the +spirit of theosophic speculation, which in Aeschylus goes far even to +recast mythology. The latter influence was probably reinforced, +through channels no longer traceable, by the Eleusinian worship, in +which the mystery of life and death and of human sorrow had replaced +the primitive wonder at the phenomena of the year. + +And whatever elements of philosophic theory or mystic exaltation the +drama may have reflected, it was still more emphatically the +repository of some of the most precious traditions of civilized +humanity--traditions which philosophy has sometimes tended to +extenuate, if not to destroy. + +Plato's Gorgias contains one of the most eloquent vindications of the +transcendent value of righteousness and faithfulness as such. But when +we ask, 'Righteousness in what relation?'--'Faithfulness to whom?'-- +the Gorgias is silent; and when the vacant outline is filled up in the +Republic, we are presented with an ideal of man's social relations, +which, although it may be regarded as the ultimate development of +existing tendencies, yet has no immediate bearing on any actual +condition of the world. + +The ideal of the tragic poet may be less perfect; or rather he does +not attempt to set before us abstractedly any single ideal. But the +grand types of character which he presents to the world are not merely +imaginary. They are creatures of flesh and blood, men and women, to +whom the unsullied purity of their homes, the freedom and power of +their country, the respect and love of their fellow-citizens, are +inestimably dear. From a Platonic, and still more from a Christian +point of view, the best morality of the age of Pericles is no doubt +defective. Such counsels of perfection as 'Love your enemies', or 'A +good man can harm no one, not even an enemy',--are beyond the horizon +of tragedy, unless dimly seen in the person of Antigone. The +coexistence of savage vindictiveness with the most affectionate +tenderness is characteristic of heroes and heroines alike, and +produces some of the most moving contrasts. But the tenderness is no +less deep and real for this, and while the chief persons are thus +passionate, the Greek lesson of moderation and reasonableness is +taught by the event, whether expressed or not by the mouth of sage or +prophet or of the 'ideal bystander'. + +Greek tragedy, then, is a religious art, not merely because associated +with the festival of Dionysus, nor because the life which it +represented was that of men who believed, with all the Hellenes, in +Zeus, Apollo, and Athena, or in the power of Moira and the Erinyes,-- +not merely because it represented + + 'the dread strife + Of poor humanity's afflicted will + Struggling in vain with ruthless destiny,' + +but much more because it awakened in the Athenian spectator emotions +of wonder concerning human life, and of admiration for nobleness in +the unfortunate--a sense of the infinite value of personal uprightness +and of domestic purity--which in the most universal sense of the word +were truly religious,--because it expressed a consciousness of depths +which Plato never fathomed, and an ideal of character which, if less +complete than Shakespeare's, is not less noble. It is indeed a 'rough' +generalization that ranks the Agamemnon with the Adoniazusae as a +religious composition. + +II. This spiritual side of tragic poetry deserves to be emphasized +both as the most essential aspect of it, and as giving it the most +permanent claim to lasting recognition. And yet, apart from this, +merely as dramas, the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides +will never cease to be admired. These poets are teachers, but they +teach through art. To ask simply, as Carlyle once did, 'What did they +think?' is not the way to understand or learn from them. + +Considered simply as works of art, the plays of Sophocles stand alone +amongst dramatic writings in their degree of concentration and complex +unity. + +1. The interest of a Sophoclean drama is always intensely personal, +and is almost always centred in an individual destiny. In other words, +it is not historical or mythical, but ethical. Single persons stand +out magnificently in Aeschylus. But the action is always larger than +any single life. Each tragedy or trilogy resembles the fragment of a +sublime Epic poem. Mighty issues revolve about the scene, whether this +is laid on Earth or amongst the Gods, issues far transcending the fate +of Orestes or even of Prometheus. In the perspective painting of +Sophocles, these vast surroundings fall into the background, and the +feelings of the spectator are absorbed in sympathy with the chief +figure on the stage, round whom the other characters--the members of +the chorus being included--are grouped with the minutest care. + +2. In this grouping of the persons, as well as in the conduct of the +action, Sophocles is masterly in his use of pathetic contrast. This +motive must of course enter into all tragedy--nothing can be finer +than the contrast of Cassandra to Clytemnestra in the Agamemnon,--but +in Sophocles it is all-pervading, and some of the minor effects of it +are so subtle that although inevitably felt by the spectator they are +often lost upon the mere reader or student. And every touch, however +transient, is made to contribute to the main effect. + +To recur once more to the much-abused analogy of statuary:--the work +of Aeschylus may be compared to a colossal frieze, while that of +Sophocles resembles the pediment of a smaller temple. Or if, as in +considering the Orestean trilogy, the arrangement of the pediment +affords the more fitting parallel even for Aeschylus, yet the forms +are so gigantic that minute touches of characterization and of +contrast are omitted as superfluous. Whereas in Sophocles, it is at +once the finish of the chief figure and the studied harmony of the +whole, which have led his work to be compared with that of his +contemporary Phidias. Such comparison, however, is useful by way of +illustration merely. It must never be forgotten that, as Lessing +pointed out to some who thought the Philoctetes too sensational, +analogies between the arts are limited by essential differences of +material and of scope. All poetry represents successive moments. Its +figures are never in repose. And although the action of Tragedy is +concentrated and revolves around a single point, yet it is a dull +vision that confounds rapidity of motion with rest. + +3. Sophocles found the subjects of his dramas already embodied not +only in previous tragedies but in Epic and Lyric poetry. And there +were some fables, such as that of the death of Oedipus at Colonos, +which seem to have been known to him only through oral tradition. For +some reason which is not clearly apparent, both he and Aeschylus drew +more largely from the Cyclic poets than from 'our Homer'. The inferior +and more recent Epics, which are now lost, were probably more +episodical, and thus presented a more inviting repertory of legends +than the Iliad and Odyssey. + +Arctinus of Lesbos had treated at great length the story of the House +of Thebes. The legend of Orestes, to which there are several +allusions, not always consistent with each other, in the Homeric +poems, had been a favourite and fruitful subject of tradition and of +poetical treatment in the intervening period. Passages of the Tale of +Troy, in which other heroes than Achilles had the pre-eminence, had +been elaborated by Lesches and other Epic writers of the Post-Homeric +time. The voyage of the Argonauts, another favourite heroic theme, +supplied the subjects of many dramas which have disappeared. Lastly, +the taking of Oechalia by Heracles, and the events which followed it, +had been narrated in a long poem, in which one version of that hero's +multiform legend was fully set forth. + +The subjects of the King Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonos, and Antigone, +are taken from the Tale of Thebes, the Aias and the Philoctetes are +founded on incidents between the end of the Iliad and the taking of +Troy, the Electra represents the vengeance of Orestes, the crowning +event in the tale of 'Pelops' line', the Trachiniae recounts the last +crisis in the life of Heracles. + +4. Of the three Theban plays, the Antigone was first composed, +although its subject is the latest. Aeschylus in the Seven against +Thebes had already represented the young heroine as defying the +victorious citizens who forbade the burial of her brother, the rebel +Polynices. He allowed her to be supported in her action by a band of +sympathizing friends. But in the play of Sophocles she stands alone, +and the power which she defies is not that of the citizens generally, +but of Creon, whose will is absolute in the State. Thus the struggle +is intensified, and both her strength and her desolation become more +impressive, while the opposing claims of civic authority and domestic +piety are more vividly realized, because either is separately embodied +in an individual will. By the same means the situation is humanized to +the last degree, and the heart of the spectator, although strained to +the uttermost with pity for the heroic maiden whose life when full of +brightest hopes was sacrificed to affection and piety, has still some +feeling left for the living desolation of the man, whose patriotic +zeal, degenerating into tyranny, brought his city to the brink of +ruin, and cost him the lives of his two sons and of his wife, whose +dying curse, as well as that of Haemon, is denounced upon him. + +In the Oedipus Tyrannus, Sophocles goes back to the central crisis of +the Theban story. And again he fixes our attention, not so much on the +fortunes of the city, or of the reigning house, as on the man Oedipus, +his glory and his fall.-- + + 'O mirror of our fickle state + Since man on earth unparalleled! + The rarer thy example stands, + By how much from the top of wondrous glory, + Strongest of mortal men, + To lowest pitch of abject fortune thou art fallen[2]. + +The horror and the pity of it are both enhanced by the character of +Oedipus--his essential innocence, his affectionateness, his +uncalculating benevolence and public spirit;--while his impetuosity +and passionateness make the sequel less incredible. + +The essential innocence of Oedipus, which survives the ruin of his +hopes in this world, supplies the chief motive of the Oedipus at +Colonos. This drama, which Sophocles is said to have written late in +life, is in many ways contrasted with the former Oedipus. It begins +with pity and horror, and ends with peace. It is only in part founded +on Epic tradition, the main incident belonging apparently to the local +mythology of the poet's birthplace. It also implies a later stage of +ethical reflection, and in this respect resembles the Philoctetes; it +depends more on lyrical and melodramatic effects, and allows more room +for collateral and subsidiary motives than any other of the seven. Yet +in its principal theme, the vindication or redemption of an +essentially noble spirit from the consequences of error, it repeats a +note which had been struck much earlier in the Aias with great force, +although with some crudities of treatment which are absent from the +later drama. + +5. In one of the Epic poems which narrated the fall of Troy, the +figure of Aias was more prominent than in the Iliad. He alone and +unassisted was there said to have repulsed Hector from the ships, and +he had the chief share, although in this he was aided by Odysseus, in +rescuing the dead body of Achilles. Yet Achilles' arms were awarded by +the votes of the chieftains, as the prize of valour, not to Aias, but +to Odysseus. This, no doubt, meant that wisdom is better than +strength. But the wisdom of Odysseus in these later Epics was often +less nobly esteemed than in the Iliad and Odyssey, and was represented +as alloyed with cunning. + +Aias has withdrawn with his Salaminians, in a rage, from the fight, +and after long brooding by the ships his wrath has broken forth into a +blaze which would have endangered the lives of Odysseus and the +Atridae, had not Athena in her care for them changed his anger into +madness. Hence, instead of slaying the generals, he makes havoc +amongst the flocks and herds, which as the result of various forays +were the common property of the whole army. The truth is discovered by +Odysseus with the help of Athena, and from being next to Achilles in +renown, Aias becomes the object of universal scorn and hatred. The +sequel of this hour of his downfall is the subject of the Aias of +Sophocles. After lamenting his fate, the hero eludes the vigilance of +his captive bride Tecmessa, and of his Salaminian mariners, and, in +complete solitude, falls upon his sword. He is found by Tecmessa and +by his half-brother Teucer, who has returned too late from a raid in +the Mysian highlands. The Atridae would prohibit Aias' funeral; but +Odysseus, who has been specially enlightened by Athena, advises +generous forbearance, and his counsel prevails. The part representing +the disgrace and death of Aias is more affecting to modern readers +than the remainder of the drama. But we should bear in mind that the +vindication of Aias after death, and his burial with undiminished +honours, had an absorbing interest for the Athenian and Salaminian +spectator. + +Philoctetes also is rejected by man and accepted by Destiny. The +Argives in his case, as the Thebans in the case of Oedipus, are blind +to the real intentions of the Gods. + +The Philoctetes, like the Oedipus at Colonos, was a work of Sophocles' +old age; and while it can hardly be said that the fire of tragic +feeling is abated in either of these plays, dramatic effect is +modified in both of them by the influence of the poet's contemplative +mood. The interest of the action in the Philoctetes is more inward and +psychological than in any other ancient drama. The change of mind in +Neoptolemus, the stubborn fixity of will in Philoctetes, contrasted +with the confiding tenderness of his nature, form the elements of a +dramatic movement at once extremely simple and wonderfully sustained. +No purer ideal of virtuous youth has been imagined than the son of +Achilles, who in this play, though sorely tempted, sets faithfulness +before ambition. + +6. In the Electra, which, though much earlier than the Philoctetes, is +still a work of his mature genius, our poet appears at first sight to +be in unequal competition with Aeschylus. If the Theban trilogy of the +elder poet had remained entire, a similar impression might have been +produced by the Oedipus Tyrannus. It is best to lay such comparisons +aside, and to consider the work of Sophocles simply on its own merits. +The subject, as he has chosen to treat it, is the heroic endurance of +a woman who devotes her life to the vindication of intolerable wrongs +done to her father, and the restoration of her young brother to his +hereditary rights. Hers is the human agency which for this purpose +works together with Apollo. But the divine intention is concealed from +her. She suffers countless indignities from her father's enemies, of +whom her own mother is the chief. And, at length, all her hopes are +shattered by the false tidings that Orestes is no more. Even then she +does not relinquish her resolve. And the revulsion from her deep +sorrow to extremity of joy, when she finds Orestes at her side and +ready to perform the act of vengeance in his own person, is +irresistably affecting, even when the play is only read. + +Sophocles is especially great in the delineation of ideal female +characters. The heroic ardour of Antigone, and the no less heroic +persistence and endurance of Electra, are both founded on the strength +of their affection. And the affection in both cases is what some +moderns too have called the purest of human feelings, the love of a +sister for a brother. Another aspect of that world-old marvel, 'the +love of women,' was presented in Aias' captive bride, Tecmessa. This +softer type also attains to heroic grandeur in Dêanira, the wronged +wife of Heracles, whose fatal error is caused by the innocent working +of her wounded love. + +It is strange that so acute a critic as A.W. Schlegel should have +doubted the Sophoclean authorship of the Trachiniae. If its religious +and moral lessons are even less obtrusive than those of either Oedipus +and of the Antigone, there is no play which more directly pierces to +the very heart of humanity. And it is a superficial judgement which +complains that here at all events our sympathies are distracted +between the two chief persons, Dêanira and Heracles. To one passion of +his, to one fond mistake of hers, the ruin of them both is due. Her +love has made their fates inseparable. And the spectator, in sharing +Hyllus' grief, is afflicted for them both at once. We may well +recognize in this treatment of the death of Heracles the hand of him +who wrote-- + +[Greek: + su kai dikaiôn adikous + phrenas paraspas epi lôba, + ..., ... + amachos gar empaizei theos Aphrodita[3].] + +7. It is unnecessary to expatiate here on the merits of construction +in which these seven plays are generally acknowledged to be +unrivalled; the natural way in which the main situation is explained, +the suddenness and inevitableness of the complications, the steadily +sustained climax of emotion until the action culminates, the +preservation of the fitting mood until the end, the subtlety and +effectiveness of the minor contrasts of situation and character[4]. + +But it may not be irrelevant to observe that the 'acting qualities' of +Sophocles, as of Shakespeare, are best known to those who have seen +him acted, whether in Greek, as by the students at Harvard[5] and +Toronto[6], and more recently at Cambridge[7], or in English long ago +by Miss Helen Faucit (since Lady Martin[8]), or still earlier and +repeatedly in Germany, or in the French version of the Antigone by MM. +Maurice and Vacquerie (1845) or of King Oedipus by M. Lacroix, in +which the part of OEdipe Roi was finely sustained by M. Geoffroy in +1861, and by M. Mounet Sully in 1881[9]. With reference to the latter +performance, which was continued throughout the autumn season, M. +Francisque Sarcey wrote an article for the _Temps_ newspaper of August +15, 1881, which is full of just and vivid appreciation. At the risk of +seeming absurdly 'modern', I will quote from this article some of the +more striking passages. + + 'Ce troisième et ce quatrième actes, les plus émouvants qui se + soient jamais produits sur aucune scène, se composent d'une suite + de narrations, qui viennent l'une après l'autre frapper au coeur + d'OEdipe, et qui ont leur contrecoup dans l'âme des spectateurs. + Je ne sais qu'une pièce au monde qui soit construite de la sorte, + c'est l'_École des Femmes_. Ce rapprochement vous paraîtra + singulier, sans doute.... Mais ... c'est dans le vieux drame grec + comme dans la comédie du maître français une trouvaille de + génie.... + + 'Sophocle a voulu, après des émotions si terribles, après des + angoisses si sèches, ouvrir la source des larmes: il a écrit un + cinquième acte.... + + 'Les yeux crevés d'OEdipe ne sont qu'un accident, ou, si vous + aimez mieux, un accessoire, Le poète, sans s'arrêter à ce détail, + a mis sur les lèvres de son héros toute la gamme des sentiments + douloureux qu'excite une si prodigieuse infortune.... + + 'À la lecture, elle est un pen longue cette scène de + lamentations. Au théâtre, on n'a pas le temps de la trouver + telle: on pleure de toute son âme et de tous ses yeux. C'est + qu'après avoir eu le coeur si longtemps serré comme dans un étau, + on épreuve comme un soulagement à sentir en soi jaillir la source + des larmes. Sophocle, qui semble avoir été le plus malin des + dramaturges, comme il est le plus parfait des écrivains + dramatiques, a cherché là un effet de contraste dont l'effet est + immanquant sur le public.' + +These and other like remarks of one of the best-known critics of the +Parisian stage show that the dramatic art of Sophocles is still a +living power. + +I am well aware how feeble and inadequate the present attempted +reproduction must appear to any reader who knows the Greek original. +There is much to be said for the view of an eminent scholar who once +declared that he would never think of translating a Greek poet. But +the end of translating is not to satisfy fastidious scholars, but to +make the classics partially accessible to those whose acquaintance +with them would otherwise be still more defective. Part of this +version of Sophocles was printed several years ago in an imperfect +form. The present volume contains the seven extant plays entire. As +the object has been to give the effect of each drama as a whole, +rather than to dwell on particular 'beauties' (which only a poet can +render), the fragments have not been included. But the reader should +bear in mind that the seven plays are less than a tithe of the work +produced by the poet in his lifetime. + +It may very possibly be asked why verse has been employed at all. Why +not have listened to Carlyle's rough demand, 'Tell us what they +thought; none of your silly poetry'? The present translator can only +reply that he began with prose, but soon found that, for tragic +dialogue in English, blank verse appeared a more natural and effective +vehicle than any prose style which he could hope to frame. And with +the dialogue in verse, it was impossible to have the lyric parts in +any sort of prose, simply because the reader would then have felt an +intolerable incongruity. These parts have therefore been turned into +such familiar lyric measures as seemed at once possible and not +unsuitable. And where this method was found impracticable, as +sometimes in the _Commoi_, blank metres have again been used,--with +such liberties as seemed appropriate to the special purpose. The +writer's hope throughout has been, not indeed fully to transfuse the +poetry of Sophocles into another tongue, but to make the poet's +dramatic intention to be understood and felt by English readers. One +more such endeavour may possibly find acceptance at a time when many +causes have combined to awaken a fresh interest at once in dramatic +literature and in Hellenic studies. + +The reader who is hitherto unacquainted with the Greek drama, should +be warned that the parts assigned to the 'Chorus' were often +distributed among its several members, who spoke or chanted, singly or +in groups, alternately or in succession. In some cases, but not in +all, _Ch. 1_, _Ch. 2_, &c., have been prefixed, to indicate such an +arrangement. + +Footnotes: + 1 [Sir John Seeley's] _Natural Religion_, p. 79. + + 2 Milton, _Samson Agonistes_, 164-169. + + 3 'Thou drawest awry + Just minds to wrong and ruin ... + ... With resistless charm + Great Aphrodite mocks the might of men.' + _Antigone._ + + 4 Cf. _Sophocles_ in Green's 'Classical Writers.' Macmillan & Co. + + 5 Oed. Tyr., 1881. + + 6 Antigone, 1882. + + 7 Ajax, Nov. 1882. + + 8 Antigone, 1845. + + 9 The performance of Greek plays (as of the Agamemnon at Oxford in + 1880) is not altogether a new thing in England. The author of Ion, + Mr. Serjeant Talfourd, in his Notice prefixed to that drama in + 1836, mentions, amongst other reasons for having intended to + dedicate it to Dr. Valpy, 'the exquisite representations of Greek + Tragedy, which he superintended,' and which 'made his images + vital.' At a still earlier time, 'the great Dr. Parr' had + encouraged his pupils at Stanmore to recite the dialogue of Greek + tragedies before an audience and in costume. It would be + ungrateful to omit all reference here to some performances of the + Trachiniae in English in Edinburgh and St. Andrews in 1877, which, + though not of a public nature, are still remembered with delight + by those who were present at them, and were really the first of a + series. + + * * * * * + + + + + ANTIGONE + + + THE PERSONS + +ANTIGONE,} _Daughters of Oedipus and Sisters of Polynices_ +ISMENE, } _and Eteocles._ +CHORUS _of Theban Elders._ +CREON, _King of Thebes._ +_A Watchman._ +HAEMON, _Son of Creon, betrothed to Antigone._ +TIRESIAS, _the blind Prophet._ +_A Messenger._ +EURYDICE, _the Wife of Creon._ +_Another Messenger._ + + +SCENE. Before the Cadmean Palace at Thebes. + +_Note._ The town of Thebes is often personified as Thebè. + + + + +Polynices, son and heir to the unfortunate Oedipus, having been +supplanted by his younger brother Eteocles, brought an army of Argives +against his native city, Thebes. The army was defeated, and the two +brothers slew each other in single combat. On this Creon, the brother- +in-law of Oedipus, succeeding to the chief power, forbade the burial +of Polynices. But Antigone, sister of the dead, placing the dues of +affection and piety before her obligation to the magistrate, disobeyed +the edict at the sacrifice of her life. Creon carried out his will, +but lost his son Haemon and his wife Eurydice, and received their +curses on his head. His other son, Megareus, had previously been +devoted as a victim to the good of the state. + + + + + ANTIGONE + + +ANTIGONE. ISMENE. + +ANTIGONE. Own sister of my blood, one life with me, +Ismenè, have the tidings caught thine ear? +Say, hath not Heaven decreed to execute +On thee and me, while yet we are alive, +All the evil Oedipus bequeathed? All horror, +All pain, all outrage, falls on us! And now +The General's proclamation of to-day-- +Hast thou not heard?--Art thou so slow to hear +When harm from foes threatens the souls we love? + +ISMENE. No word of those we love, Antigone, +Painful or glad, hath reached me, since we two +Were utterly deprived of our two brothers, +Cut off with mutual stroke, both in one day. +And since the Argive host this now-past night +Is vanished, I know nought beside to make me +Nearer to happiness or more in woe. + +ANT. I knew it well, and therefore led thee forth +The palace gate, that thou alone mightst hear. + +ISM. Speak on! Thy troubled look bodes some dark news. + +ANT. Why, hath not Creon, in the burial-rite, +Of our two brethren honoured one, and wrought +On one foul wrong? Eteocles, they tell, +With lawful consecration he lays out, +And after covers him in earth, adorned +With amplest honours in the world below. +But Polynices, miserably slain, +They say 'tis publicly proclaimed that none +Must cover in a grave, nor mourn for him; +But leave him tombless and unwept, a store +Of sweet provision for the carrion fowl +That eye him greedily. Such righteous law +Good Creon hath pronounced for thy behoof-- +Ay, and for mine! I am not left out!--And now +He moves this way to promulgate his will +To such as have not heard, nor lightly holds +The thing he bids, but, whoso disobeys, +The citizens shall stone him to the death. +This is the matter, and thou wilt quickly show +If thou art noble, or fallen below thy birth. + +ISM. Unhappy one! But what can I herein +Avail to do or undo? + +ANT. Wilt thou share +The danger and the labour? Make thy choice. + +ISM. Of what wild enterprise? What canst thou mean? + +ANT. Wilt thou join hand with mine to lift the dead? + +ISM. To bury him, when all have been forbidden? +Is that thy thought? + +ANT. To bury my own brother +And thine, even though thou wilt not do thy part. +I will not be a traitress to my kin. + +ISM. Fool-hardy girl! against the word of Creon? + +ANT. He hath no right to bar me from mine own. + +ISM. Ah, sister, think but how our father fell, +Hated of all and lost to fair renown, +Through self-detected crimes--with his own hand, +Self-wreaking, how he dashed out both his eyes: +Then how the mother-wife, sad two-fold name! +With twisted halter bruised her life away, +Last, how in one dire moment our two brothers +With internecine conflict at a blow +Wrought out by fratricide their mutual doom. +Now, left alone, O think how beyond all +Most piteously we twain shall be destroyed, +If in defiance of authority +We traverse the commandment of the King! +We needs must bear in mind we are but women, +Never created to contend with men; +Nay more, made victims of resistless power, +To obey behests more harsh than this to-day. +I, then, imploring those beneath to grant +Indulgence, seeing I am enforced in this, +Will yield submission to the powers that rule, +Small wisdom were it to overpass the bound. + +ANT. I will not urge you! no! nor if now you list +To help me, will your help afford me joy. +Be what you choose to be! This single hand +Shall bury our lost brother. Glorious +For me to take this labour and to die! +Dear to him will my soul be as we rest +In death, when I have dared this holy crime. +My time for pleasing men will soon be over; +Not so my duty toward the Dead! My home +Yonder will have no end. You, if you will, +May pour contempt on laws revered on High. + +ISM. Not from irreverence. But I have no strength +To strive against the citizens' resolve. + +ANT. Thou, make excuses! I will go my way +To raise a burial-mound to my dear brother. + +ISM. Oh, hapless maiden, how I fear for thee! + +ANT. Waste not your fears on me! Guide your own fortune. + +ISM. Ah! yet divulge thine enterprise to none, +But keep the secret close, and so will I. + +ANT. O Heavens! Nay, tell! I hate your silence worse; +I had rather you proclaimed it to the world. + +ISM. You are ardent in a chilling enterprise. + +ANT. I know that I please those whom I would please. + +ISM. Yes, if you thrive; but your desire is bootless. + +ANT. Well, when I fail I shall be stopt, I trow! + +ISM. One should not start upon a hopeless quest. + +ANT. Speak in that vein if you would earn my hate +And aye be hated of our lost one. Peace! +Leave my unwisdom to endure this peril; +Fate cannot rob me of a noble death. + +ISM. Go, if you must--Not to be checked in folly, +But sure unparalleled in faithful love! [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS (_entering_). + Beam of the mounting Sun! I 1 + O brightest, fairest ray + Seven-gated Thebè yet hath seen! + Over the vale where Dircè's fountains run + At length thou appearedst, eye of golden Day, + And with incitement of thy radiance keen + Spurredst to faster flight + The man of Argos hurrying from the fight. + Armed at all points the warrior came, + But driven before thy rising flame + He rode, reverting his pale shield, + Headlong from yonder battlefield. + + In snow-white panoply, on eagle wing, [_Half-Chorus_ + He rose, dire ruin on our land to bring, + Roused by the fierce debate + Of Polynices' hate, + Shrilling sharp menace from his breast, + Sheathed all in steel from crown to heel, + With many a plumèd crest. + + Then stooped above the domes, I 2 + With lust of carnage fired, + And opening teeth of serried spears + Yawned wide around the gates that guard our homes; + But went, or e'er his hungry jaws had tired + On Theban flesh,--or e'er the Fire-god fierce + Seizing our sacred town + Besmirched and rent her battlemented crown. + Such noise of battle as he fled + About his back the War-god spread; + So writhed to hard-fought victory + The serpent[1] struggling to be free. + + High Zeus beheld their stream that proudly rolled [_Half-Chorus_ + Idly caparisoned[2] with clanking gold: + Zeus hates the boastful tongue: + He with hurled fire down flung + One who in haste had mounted high, + And that same hour from topmost tower + Upraised the exulting cry. + + Swung rudely to the hard repellent earth II 1 + Amidst his furious mirth + He fell, who then with flaring brand + Held in his fiery hand + Came breathing madness at the gate + In eager blasts of hate. + And doubtful swayed the varying fight + Through the turmoil of the night, + As turning now on these and now on those + Ares hurtled 'midst our foes, + Self-harnessed helper[3] on our right. + + Seven matched with seven, at each gate one, [_Half-Chorus_ + Their captains, when the day was done, + Left for our Zeus who turned the scale, + The brazen tribute in full tale:-- + All save the horror-burdened pair, + Dire children of despair, + Who from one sire, one mother, drawing breath, + Each with conquering lance in rest + Against a true born brother's breast, + Found equal lots in death. + + But with blithe greeting to glad Thebe came II 2 + She of the glorious name, + Victory,--smiling on our chariot throng + With eyes that waken song + Then let those battle memories cease, + Silenced by thoughts of peace. + With holy dances of delight + Lasting through the livelong night + Visit we every shrine, in solemn round, + Led by him who shakes the ground, + Our Bacchus, Thebe's child of light. + +LEADER OF CHORUS. + But look! where Creon in his new-made power, + Moved by the fortune of the recent hour, + Comes with fresh counsel. What intelligence + Intends he for our private conference, + That he hath sent his herald to us all, + Gathering the elders with a general call? + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CREON. My friends, the noble vessel of our State, +After sore shaking her, the Gods have sped +On a smooth course once more. I have called you hither, +By special messengers selecting you +From all the city, first, because I knew you +Aye loyal to the throne of Laïus; +Then, both while Oedipus gave prosperous days, +And since his fall, I still beheld you firm +In sound allegiance to the royal issue. +Now since the pair have perished in an hour, +Twinned in misfortune, by a mutual stroke +Staining our land with fratricidal blood, +All rule and potency of sovereign sway, +In virtue of next kin to the deceased, +Devolves on me. But hard it is to learn +The mind of any mortal or the heart, +Till he be tried in chief authority. +Power shows the man. For he who when supreme +Withholds his hand or voice from the best cause, +Being thwarted by some fear, that man to me +Appears, and ever hath appeared, most vile. +He too hath no high place in mine esteem, +Who sets his friend before his fatherland. +Let Zeus whose eye sees all eternally +Be here my witness. I will ne'er keep silence +When danger lours upon my citizens +Who looked for safety, nor make him my friend +Who doth not love my country. For I know +Our country carries us, and whilst her helm +Is held aright we gain good friends and true. + Following such courses 'tis my steadfast will +To foster Thebè's greatness, and therewith +In brotherly accord is my decree +Touching the sons of Oedipus. The man-- +Eteocles I mean--who died for Thebes +Fighting with eminent prowess on her side, +Shall be entombed with every sacred rite +That follows to the grave the lordliest dead. +But for his brother, who, a banished man, +Returned to devastate and burn with fire +The land of his nativity, the shrines +Of his ancestral gods, to feed him fat +With Theban carnage, and make captive all +That should escape the sword--for Polynices, +This law hath been proclaimed concerning him: +He shall have no lament, no funeral, +But he unburied, for the carrion fowl +And dogs to eat his corse, a sight of shame. + Such are the motions of this mind and will. +Never from me shall villains reap renown +Before the just. But whoso loves the State, +I will exalt him both in life and death. + +CH. Son of Menoeceus, we have heard thy mind +Toward him who loves, and him who hates our city. +And sure, 'tis thine to enforce what law thou wilt +Both on the dead and all of us who live. + +CR. Then be ye watchful to maintain my word. + +CH. Young strength for such a burden were more meet. + +CR. Already there be watchers of the dead. + +CH. What charge then wouldst thou further lay on us? + +CR. Not to give place to those that disobey. + +CH. Who is so fond, to be in love with death? + +CR. Such, truly, is the meed. But hope of gain +Full oft ere now hath been the ruin of men. + +WATCHMAN (_entering_). + My lord, I am out of breath, but not with speed. +I will not say my foot was fleet. My thoughts +Cried halt unto me ever as I came +And wheeled me to return. My mind discoursed +Most volubly within my breast, and said-- +Fond wretch! why go where thou wilt find thy bane? +Unhappy wight! say, wilt thou bide aloof? +Then if the king shall hear this from another, +How shalt thou 'scape for 't? Winding thus about +I hasted, but I could not speed, and so +Made a long journey of a little way. +At last 'yes' carried it, that I should come +To thee; and tell thee I must needs; and shall, +Though it be nothing that I have to tell. +For I came hither, holding fast by this-- +Nought that is not my fate can happen to me. + +CR. Speak forth thy cause of fear. What is the matter? + +WATCH. First of mine own part in the business. For +I did it not, nor saw the man who did, +And 'twere not right that I should come to harm. + +CR. You fence your ground, and keep well out of danger; +I see you have some strange thing to declare. + +WATCH. A man will shrink who carries words of fear. + +CB. Let us have done with you. Tell your tale, and go. + +WATCH. Well, here it is. The corse hath burial +From some one who is stolen away and gone, +But first hath strown dry dust upon the skin, +And added what religious rites require. + +CR. Ha! +What man hath been so daring in revolt? + +WATCH. I cannot tell. There was no mark to show-- +No dint of spade, or mattock-loosened sod,-- +Only the hard bare ground, untilled and trackless. +Whoe'er he was, the doer left no trace. +And, when the scout of our first daylight watch +Showed us the thing, we marvelled in dismay. +The Prince was out of sight; not in a grave, +But a thin dust was o'er him, as if thrown +By one who shunned the dead man's curse. No sign +Appeared of any hound or beast o' the field +Having come near, or pulled at the dead body. +Then rose high words among us sentinels +With bickering noise accusing each his mate, +And it seemed like to come to blows, with none +To hinder. For the hand that thus had wrought +Was any of ours, and none; the guilty man +Escaped all knowledge. And we were prepared +To lift hot iron with our bare palms; to walk +Through fire, and swear by all the Gods at once +That we were guiltless, ay, and ignorant +Of who had plotted or performed this thing. + When further search seemed bootless, at the last +One spake, whose words bowed all our heads to the earth +With fear. We knew not what to answer him, +Nor how to do it and prosper. He advised +So grave a matter must not be concealed, +But instantly reported to the King. + Well, this prevailed, and the lot fell on me, +Unlucky man! to be the ministrant +Of this fair service. So I am present here, +Against my will and yours, I am sure of that. +None love the bringer of unwelcome news. + +CH. My lord, a thought keeps whispering in my breast, +Some Power divine hath interposed in this. + +CR. Cease, ere thou quite enrage me, and appear +Foolish as thou art old. Talk not to me +Of Gods who have taken thought for this dead man! +Say, was it for his benefits to them +They hid his corse, and honoured him so highly, +Who came to set on fire their pillared shrines, +With all the riches of their offerings, +And to make nothing of their land and laws? +Or, hast thou seen them honouring villany? +That cannot be. Long time the cause of this +Hath come to me in secret murmurings +From malcontents of Thebes, who under yoke +Turned restive, and would not accept my sway. +Well know I, these have bribed the watchmen here +To do this for some fee. For nought hath grown +Current among mankind so mischievous +As money. This brings cities to their fall: +This drives men homeless, and moves honest minds +To base contrivings. This hath taught mankind +The use of wickedness, and how to give +An impious turn to every kind of act. +But whosoe'er hath done this for reward +Hath found his way at length to punishment. +If Zeus have still my worship, be assured +Of that which here on oath I say to thee-- +Unless ye find the man who made this grave +And bring him bodily before mine eye, +Death shall not be enough, till ye have hung +Alive for an example of your guilt, +That henceforth in your rapine ye may know +Whence gain is to be gotten, and may learn +Pelf from all quarters is not to be loved. +For in base getting, 'tis a common proof, +More find disaster than deliverance. + +WATCH. Am I to speak? or must I turn and go? + +CR. What? know you not your speech offends even now? + +WATCH. Doth the mind smart withal, or only the ear? + +CR. Art thou to probe the seat of mine annoy? + +WATCH. If I offend, 'tis in your ear alone, +The malefactor wounds ye to the soul. + +CR. Out on thee! thou art nothing but a tongue. + +WATCH. Then was I ne'er the doer of this deed. + +CR. Yea, verily: self-hired to crime for gold. + +WATCH. Pity so clear a mind should clearly err! + +CR. Gloze now on clearness! But unless ye bring +The burier, without glozing ye shall tell, +Craven advantage clearly worketh bane. + +WATCH. By all means let the man be found; one thing +I know right well:--caught or not caught, howe'er +Fate rules his fortune, me you ne'er will see +Standing in presence here. Even now I owe +Deep thanks to Heaven for mine escape, so far +Beyond my hope and highest expectancy. [_Exeunt severally_ + +CHORUS. +Many a wonder lives and moves, but the wonder of all is man, I 1 +That courseth over the grey ocean, carried of Southern gale, +Faring amidst high-swelling seas that rudely surge around, +And Earth, supreme of mighty Gods, eldest, imperishable, +Eternal, he with patient furrow wears and wears away + As year by year the plough-shares turn and turn,-- +Subduing her unwearied strength with children of the steed[4]. + +And wound in woven coils of nets he seizeth for his prey I 2 +The aëry tribe of birds and wilding armies of the chase, +And sea-born millions of the deep--man is so crafty-wise. +And now with engine of his wit he tameth to his will +The mountain-ranging beast whose lair is in the country wild; + And now his yoke hath passed upon the mane +Of horse with proudly crested neck and tireless mountain bull. + +Wise utterance and wind-swift thought, and city-moulding mind, II 1 +And shelter from the clear-eyed power of biting frost, +He hath taught him, and to shun the sharp, roof-penetrating rain,-- +Full of resource, without device he meets no coming time; + From Death alone he shall not find reprieve; +No league may gain him that relief; but even for fell disease, +That long hath baffled wisest leech, he hath contrived a cure. + +Inventive beyond wildest hope, endowed with boundless skill, II 2 +One while he moves toward evil, and one while toward good, +According as he loves his land and fears the Gods above. +Weaving the laws into his life and steadfast oath of Heaven, + High in the State he moves but outcast he, +Who hugs dishonour to his heart and follows paths of crime +Ne'er may he come beneath my roof, nor think like thoughts with me. + +LEADER OF CHORUS + What portent from the Gods is here? + My mind is mazed with doubt and fear. + How can I gainsay what I see? + I know the girl Antigone, + O hapless child of hapless sire! + Didst thou, then, recklessly aspire + To brave kings' laws, and now art brought + In madness of transgression caught? + +_Enter_ Watchman, _bringing in_ ANTIGONE + +WATCH. Here is the doer of the deed--this maid +We found her burying him. Where is the King? + +CH. Look, he comes forth again to meet thy call. + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CR. What call so nearly times with mine approach? + +WATCH. My lord, no mortal should deny on oath, +Judgement is still belied by after thought +When quailing 'neath the tempest of your threats, +Methought no force would drive me to this place +But joy unlook'd for and surpassing hope +Is out of bound the best of all delight, +And so I am here again,--though I had sworn +I ne'er would come,--and in my charge this maid, +Caught in the act of caring for the dead +Here was no lot throwing, this hap was mine +Without dispute. And now, my sovereign lord, +According to thy pleasure, thine own self +Examine and convict her. For my part +I have good right to be away and free +From the bad business I am come upon. + +CR. This maiden! +How came she in thy charge? Where didst thou find her? + +WATCH. Burying the prince. One word hath told thee all. + +CR. Hast thou thy wits, and knowest thou what thou sayest? + +WATCH. I saw her burying him whom you forbade +To bury. Is that, now, clearly spoken, or no? + +CR. And how was she detected, caught, and taken? + +WATCH. It fell in this wise. We were come to the spot, +Bearing the dreadful burden of thy threats; +And first with care we swept the dust away +From round the corse, and laid the dank limbs bare: +Then sate below the hill-top, out o' the wind, +Where no bad odour from the dead might strike us, +Stirring each other on with interchange +Of loud revilings on the negligent +In 'tendance on this duty. So we stayed +Till in mid heaven the sun's resplendent orb +Stood high, and the heat strengthened. Suddenly, +The Storm-god raised a whirlwind from the ground, +Vexing heaven's concave, and filled all the plain, +Rending the locks of all the orchard groves, +Till the great sky was choked withal. We closed +Our lips and eyes, and bore the God-sent evil. +When after a long while this ceased, the maid +Was seen, and wailed in high and bitter key, +Like some despairing bird that hath espied +Her nest all desolate, the nestlings gone. +So, when she saw the body bare, she mourned +Loudly, and cursed the authors of this deed. +Then nimbly with her hands she brought dry dust, +And holding high a shapely brazen cruse, +Poured three libations, honouring the dead. +We, when we saw, ran in, and straightway seized +Our quarry, nought dismayed, and charged her with +The former crime and this. And she denied +Nothing;--to my delight, and to my grief. +One's self to escape disaster is great joy; +Yet to have drawn a friend into distress +Is painful. But mine own security +To me is of more value than aught else. + +CR. Thou, with thine eyes down-fastened to the earth! +Dost thou confess to have done this, or deny it? + +ANT. I deny nothing. I avow the deed. + +CR. (_to_ Watchman). +Thou may'st betake thyself whither thou wilt, +Acquitted of the grievous charge, and free. +(_to_ ANTIGONE) +And thou,--no prating talk, but briefly tell, +Knew'st thou our edict that forbade this thing? + +ANT. I could not fail to know. You made it plain. + +CR. How durst thou then transgress the published law? + +ANT. I heard it not from Heaven, nor came it forth +From Justice, where she reigns with Gods below. +They too have published to mankind a law. +Nor thought I thy commandment of such might +That one who is mortal thus could overbear +The infallible, unwritten laws of Heaven. +Not now or yesterday they have their being, +But everlastingly, and none can tell +The hour that saw their birth. I would not, I, +For any terror of a man's resolve, +Incur the God-inflicted penalty +Of doing them wrong. That death would come, I knew +Without thine edict;--if before the time, +I count it gain. Who does not gain by death, +That lives, as I do, amid boundless woe? +Slight is the sorrow of such doom to me. +But had I suffered my own mother's child, +Fallen in blood, to be without a grave, +That were indeed a sorrow. This is none. +And if thou deem'st me foolish for my deed, +I am foolish in the judgement of a fool. + +CH. Fierce shows the maiden's vein from her fierce sire; +Calamity doth not subdue her will. + +CR. Ay, but the stubborn spirit first doth fall. +Oft ye shall see the strongest bar of steel, +That fire hath hardened to extremity, +Shattered to pieces. A small bit controls +The fiery steed. Pride may not be endured +In one whose life is subject to command. +This maiden hath been conversant with crime +Since first she trampled on the public law; +And now she adds to crime this insolence, +To laugh at her offence, and glory in it. +Truly, if she that hath usurped this power +Shall rest unpunished, she then is a man, +And I am none. Be she my sister's child, +Or of yet nearer blood to me than all +That take protection from my hearth, the pair +Shall not escape the worst of deaths. For know, +I count the younger of the twain no less +Copartner in this plotted funeral: +And now I bid you call her. Late I saw her +Within the house, beyond herself, and frantic. +--Full oft when one is darkly scheming wrong, +The disturbed spirit hath betrayed itself +Before the act it hides.--But not less hateful +Seems it to me, when one that hath been caught +In wickedness would give it a brave show. + +ANT. Wouldst thou aught more of me than merely death? + +CR. No more. 'Tis all I claim. Death closes all. + +ANT. Why then delay? No talk of thine can charm me, +Forbid it Heaven! And my discourse no less +Must evermore sound noisome to thine ear. +Yet where could I have found a fairer fame +Than giving burial to my own true brother? +All here would tell thee they approve my deed, +Were they not tongue-tied to authority. +But kingship hath much profit; this in chief, +That it may do and say whate'er it will. + +CR. No Theban sees the matter with thine eye. + +ANT. They see, but curb their voices to thy sway + +CR. And art thou not ashamed, acting alone? + +ANT. A sister's piety hath no touch of shame. + +CR. Was not Eteocles thy brother too? + +ANT. My own true brother from both parents' blood. + +CR. This duty was impiety to him. + +ANT. He that is dead will not confirm that word. + +CR. If you impart his honours to the vile. + +ANT. It was his brother, not a slave, who fell. + +CR. But laying waste the land for which he fought. + +ANT. Death knows no difference, but demands his due. + +CR. Yet not equality 'twixt good and bad. + +ANT. Both may be equal yonder; who can tell? + +CR. An enemy is hated even in death. + +ANT. Love, and not hatred, is the part for me. + +CR. Down then to death! and, if you must, there love +The dead. No woman rules me while I live. + +CH. Now comes Ismenè forth. Ah, see, +From clouds above her brow +The sister-loving tear +Is falling wet on her fair cheek, +Distaining all her passion-crimson'd face! + +_Enter_ ISMENE. + +CR. And thou, that like a serpent coiled i' the house +Hast secretly been draining my life-blood,-- +Little aware that I was cherishing +Two curses and subverters of my throne,-- +Tell us, wilt thou avouch thy share in this +Entombment, or forswear all knowledge of it? + +ISM. If her voice go therewith, I did the deed, +And bear my part and burden of the blame. + +ANT. Nay, justice will not suffer that. You would not, +And I refused to make you mine ally. + +ISM. But now in thy misfortune I would fain +Embark with thee in thy calamity. + +ANT. Who did the deed, the powers beneath can tell. +I care not for lip-kindness from my kin. + +ISM. Ah! scorn me not so far as to forbid me +To die with thee, and honour our lost brother. + +ANT. Die not with me, nor make your own a deed +you never touched! My dying is enough. + +ISM. What joy have I in life when thou art gone? + +ANT. Ask Creon there. He hath your care and duty. + +ISM. What can it profit thee to vex me so? + +ANT. My heart is pained, though my lip laughs at thee. + +ISM. What can I do for thee now, even now? + +ANT. Save your own life. I grudge not your escape. + +ISM. Alas! and must I be debarred thy fate? + +ANT. Life was the choice you made. Mine was to die. + +ISM. I warned thee---- + +ANT. Yes, your prudence is admired +On earth. My wisdom is approved below. + +ISM. Yet truly we are both alike in fault. + +ANT. Fear not; you live. My life hath long been given +To death, to be of service to the dead. + +CR. Of these two girls, the one hath lost her wits: +The other hath had none since she was born. + +ISM. My lord, in misery, the mind one hath +Is wont to be dislodged, and will not stay. + +CR. You have ta'en leave of yours at any rate, +When you cast in your portion with the vile. + +ISM. What can life profit me without my sister? + +CR. Say not 'my sister'; she is nothing now. + +ISM. What? wilt thou kill thy son's espousal too? + +CR. He may find other fields to plough upon. + +ISM. Not so as love was plighted 'twixt them twain. + +CR. I hate a wicked consort for my son. + +ANT. O dearest Haemon! how thy father wrongs thee! + +CR. Thou and thy marriage are a torment to me. + +CH. And wilt thou sever her from thine own son? + +CR. 'Tis death must come between him and his joy, + +CH. All doubt is then resolved: the maid must die, + +CR. I am resolved; and so, 'twould seem, are you. +In with her, slaves! No more delay! Henceforth +These maids must have but woman's liberty +And be mewed up; for even the bold will fly +When they see Death nearing the house of life. + [ANTIGONE _and_ ISMENE _are led into the palace._ + +CHORUS. +Blest is the life that never tasted woe. I 1 + When once the blow +Hath fallen upon a house with Heaven-sent doom, +Trouble descends in ever-widening gloom +Through all the number of the tribe to flow; + As when the briny surge + That Thrace-born tempests urge +(The big wave ever gathering more and more) +Runs o'er the darkness of the deep, + And with far-searching sweep +Uprolls the storm-heap'd tangle on the shore, +While cliff to beaten cliff resounds with sullen roar. + +The stock of Cadmus from old time, I know, I 2 + Hath woe on woe, +Age following age, the living on the dead, +Fresh sorrow falling on each new-ris'n head, +None freed by God from ruthless overthrow. + E'en now a smiling light + Was spreading to our sight +O'er one last fibre of a blasted tree,-- +When, lo! the dust of cruel death, + Tribute of Gods beneath, +And wildering thoughts, and fate-born ecstasy, +Quench the brief gleam in dark Nonentity. + +What froward will of man, O Zeus! can check thy might? II 1 +Not all-enfeebling sleep, nor tireless months divine, +Can touch thee, who through ageless time +Rulest mightily Olympus' dazzling height. +This was in the beginning, and shall be + Now and eternally, +Not here or there, but everywhere, +A law of misery that shall not spare. + +For Hope, that wandereth wide, comforting many a head, II 2 +Entangleth many more with glamour of desire: +Unknowing they have trode the fire. +Wise was the famous word of one who said, +'Evil oft seemeth goodness to the mind + An angry God doth blind.' +Few are the days that such as he +May live untroubled of calamity. + +LEADER OF CHORUS. +Lo, Haemon, thy last offspring, now is come, +Lamenting haply for the maiden's doom, +Say, is he mourning o'er her young life lost, +Fiercely indignant for his bridal crossed? + +_Enter_ HAEMON. + +CR. We shall know soon, better than seers could teach us. +Can it be so, my son, that thou art brought +By mad distemperature against thy sire, +On hearing of the irrevocable doom +Passed on thy promised bride? Or is thy love +Thy father's, be his actions what they may? + +HAEMON. I am thine, father, and will follow still +Thy good directions; nor would I prefer +The fairest bride to thy wise government. + +CR. That, O my son! should be thy constant mind, +In all to bend thee to thy father's will. +Therefore men pray to have around their hearths +Obedient offspring, to requite their foes +With harm, and honour whom their father loves; +But he whose issue proves unprofitable, +Begets what else but sorrow to himself +And store of laughter to his enemies? +Make not, my son, a shipwreck of thy wit +For a woman. Thine own heart may teach thee this;-- +There's but cold comfort in a wicked wife +Yoked to the home inseparably. What wound +Can be more deadly than a harmful friend? +Then spurn her like an enemy, and send her +To wed some shadow in the world below! +For since of all the city I have found +Her only recusant, caught in the act, +I will not break my word before the State. +I will take her life. At this let her invoke +The god of kindred blood! For if at home +I foster rebels, how much more abroad? +Whoso is just in ruling his own house, +Lives rightly in the commonwealth no less: +But he that wantonly defies the law, +Or thinks to dictate to authority, +Shall have no praise from me. What power soe'er +The city hath ordained, must be obeyed +In little things and great things, right or wrong. +The man who so obeys, I have good hope +Will govern and be governed as he ought, +And in the storm of battle at my side +Will stand a faithful and a trusty comrade. +But what more fatal than the lapse of rule? +This ruins cities, this lays houses waste, +This joins with the assault of war to break +Full numbered armies into hopeless rout; +And in the unbroken host 'tis nought but rule +That keeps those many bodies from defeat, +I must be zealous to defend the law, +And not go down before a woman's will. +Else, if I fall, 'twere best a man should strike me; +Lest one should say, 'a woman worsted him.' + +CH. Unless our sense is weakened by long time, +Thou speakest not unwisely. + +HAEM. O my sire, +Sound wisdom is a God implanted seed, +Of all possessions highest in regard. +I cannot, and I would not learn to say +That thou art wrong in this; though in another, +It may be such a word were not unmeet. +But as thy son, 'tis surely mine to scan +Men's deeds, and words, and muttered thoughts toward thee. +Fear of thy frown restrains the citizen +In talk that would fall harshly on thine ear. +I under shadow may o'erhear, how all +Thy people mourn this maiden, and complain +That of all women least deservedly +She perishes for a most glorious deed. +'Who, when her own true brother on the earth +Lay weltering after combat in his gore, +Left him not graveless, for the carrion few +And raw devouring field dogs to consume-- +Hath she not merited a golden praise?' +Such the dark rumour spreading silently. +Now, in my valuing, with thy prosperous life, +My father, no possession can compare. +Where can be found a richer ornament +For children, than their father's high renown? +Or where for fathers, than their children's fame? +Nurse not one changeless humour in thy breast, +That nothing can be right but as thou sayest. +Whoe'er presumes that he alone hath sense, +Or peerless eloquence, or reach of soul, +Unwrap him, and you'll find but emptiness. +'Tis no disgrace even to the wise to learn +And lend an ear to reason. You may see +The plant that yields where torrent waters flow +Saves every little twig, when the stout tree +Is torn away and dies. The mariner +Who will not ever slack the sheet that sways +The vessel, but still tightens, oversets, +And so, keel upward, ends his voyaging. +Relent, I pray thee, and give place to change. +If any judgement hath informed my youth, +I grant it noblest to be always wise, +But,--for omniscience is denied to man-- +Tis good to hearken to admonishment. + +CH. My lord, 'twere wise, if thou wouldst learn of him +In reason; and thou, Haemon, from thy sire! +Truth lies between you. + +CR. Shall our age, forsooth, +Be taught discretion by a peevish boy? + +HAEM. Only in what is right. Respects of time +Must be outbalanced by the actual need. + +CR. To cringe to rebels cannot be a need. + +HAEM. I do not claim observance for the vile. + +CR. Why, is not she so tainted? Is 't not proved? + +HAEM. All Thebes denies it. + +CR. Am I ruled by Thebes? + +HAEM. If youth be folly, that is youngly said. + +CR. Shall other men prescribe my government? + +HAEM. One only makes not up a city, father. + +CR. Is not the city in the sovereign's hand? + +HAEM. Nobly you'd govern as the desert's king. + +CR. This youngster is the woman's champion. + +HAEM. You are the woman, then--for you I care. + +CR. Villain, to bandy reasons with your sire! + +HAEM. I plead against the unreason of your fault. + +CR. What fault is there in reverencing my power? + +HAEM. There is no reverence when you spurn the Gods. + +CR. Abominable spirit, woman-led! + +HAEM. You will not find me following a base guide. + +CR. Why, all your speech this day is spent for her. + +HAEM. For you and me too, and the Gods below. + +CR. She will not live to be your wife on earth. + +HAEM. I know, then, whom she will ruin by her death. + +CR. What, wilt thou threaten, too, thou audacious boy? + +HAEM. It is no threat to answer empty words. + +CR. Witless admonisher, thou shalt pay for this! + +HAEM. Thou art my sire, else would I call thee senseless. + +CR. Thou woman's minion! mince not terms with me, + +HAEM. Wouldst thou have all the speaking on thy side? + +CR. Is 't possible? By yon heaven! thou'lt not escape, +For adding contumely to words of blame. +Bring out the hated thing, that she may die +Immediately, before her lover's face! + +HAEM. Nay, dream not she shall suffer in my sight +Nor shalt thou ever see my face again +Let those stay with you that can brook your rage! [_Exit_ + +CH. My lord, he is parted swiftly in deep wrath! +The youthful spirit offended makes wild work. + +CR. Ay, let him do his worst. Let him give scope +To pride beyond the compass of a man! +He shall not free these maidens from their doom. + +CH. Is death thy destination for them both? + +CR. Only for her who acted. Thou art right. + +CH. And what hast thou determined for her death? + +CH. Where human footstep shuns the desert ground, +I'll hide her living in a cave like vault, +With so much provender as may prevent +Pollution from o'ertaking the whole city +And there, perchance, she may obtain of Death, +Her only deity, to spare her soul, +Or else in that last moment she will learn +'Tis labour lost to worship powers unseen. [_Exit_ CREON + +CHORUS +Love, never foiled in fight! 1 +Warrior Love, that on Wealth workest havoc! +Love, who in ambush of young maid's soft cheek +All night keep'st watch!--Thou roamest over seas. +In lonely forest homes thou harbourest. +Who may avoid thee? None! +Mortal, Immortal, +All are o'erthrown by thee, all feel thy frenzy. + +Lightly thou draw'st awry 2 +Righteous minds into wrong to their ruin +Thou this unkindly quarrel hast inflamed +'Tween kindred men--Triumphantly prevails +The heart-compelling eye of winsome bride, +Compeer of mighty Law +Thronèd, commanding. +Madly thou mockest men, dread Aphrodite. + +LEADER OF CHORUS. +Ah! now myself am carried past the bound +Of law, nor can I check the rising tear, +When I behold Antigone even here +Touching the quiet bourne where all must rest. + +_Enter_ ANTIGONE _guarded._ + +ANT. Ye see me on my way, I 1 +O burghers of my father's land! +With one last look on Helios' ray, +Led my last path toward the silent strand. +Alive to the wide house of rest I go; + No dawn for me may shine, +No marriage-blessing e'er be mine, +No hymeneal with my praises flow! +The Lord of Acheron's unlovely shore +Shall be mine only husband evermore. + +CH. Yea, but with glory and fame,-- + Not by award of the sword, + Not with blighting disease, + But by a law of thine own,-- + Thou, of mortals alone, + Goest alive to the deep + Tranquil home of the dead. + +ANT. Erewhile I heard men say, I 2 +How, in far Phrygia, Thebè's friend, +Tantalus' child, had dreariest end +On heights of Sipylus consumed away: +O'er whom the rock like clinging ivy grows, + And while with moistening dew +Her cheek runs down, the eternal snows +Weigh o'er her, and the tearful stream renew +That from sad brows her stone-cold breast doth steep. +Like unto her the God lulls me to sleep. + +CH. But she was a goddess born, + We but of mortal line; + And sure to rival the fate + Of a daughter of sires Divine + Were no light glory in death. + +ANT. O mockery of my woe! II 1 +I pray you by our fathers' holy Fear, + Why must I hear +Your insults, while in life on earth I stand, + O ye that flow +In wealth, rich burghers of my bounteous land? +O fount of Dircè, and thou spacious grove, +Where Thebè's chariots move! +Ye are my witness, though none else be nigh, +By what enormity of lawless doom, + Without one friendly sigh, +I go to the strong mound of yon strange tomb,-- +All hapless, having neither part nor room +With those who live or those who die! + +CH. Thy boldness mounted high, +And thou, my child, 'gainst the great pedestal +Of Justice with unmeasured force didst fall. +Thy father's lot still presseth hard on thee. + +ANT. That pains me more than all. II 2 +Ah! thou hast touched my father's misery + Still mourned anew, +With all the world-famed sorrows on us rolled + Since Cadmus old. +O cursèd marriage that my mother knew! +O wretched fortune of my sire, who lay + Where first he saw the day! +Such were the authors of my burdened life; +To whom, with curses dowered, never a wife, + I go to dwell beneath. +O brother mine, thy princely marriage-tie +Hath been thy downfall, and in this thy death +Thou hast destroyed me ere I die. + +CH. 'Twas pious, we confess, +Thy fervent deed. But he, who power would show, +Must let no soul of all he rules transgress. +A self-willed passion was thine overthrow. + +ANT. Friendless, uncomforted of bridal lay, III +Unmourned, they lead me on my destined way. +Woe for my life forlorn! I may not see +The sacred round of yon great light +Rising again to greet me from the night; +No friend bemoans my fate, no tear hath fallen for me! + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CR. If criminals were suffered to complain +In dirges before death, they ne'er would end. +Away with her at once, and closing her, +As I commanded, in the vaulty tomb, +Leave her all desolate, whether to die, +Or to live on in that sepulchral cell. +We are guiltless in the matter of this maid; +Only she shall not share the light of day. + +ANT. O grave! my bridal chamber, prison-house +Eterne, deep-hollowed, whither I am led +To find mine own,--of whom Persephonè +Hath now a mighty number housed in death:-- +I last of all, and far most miserably, +Am going, ere my days have reached their term! +Yet lives the hope that, when I go, most surely +Dear will my coming be, father, to thee, +And dear to thee, my mother, and to thee, +Brother! since with these very hands I decked +And bathed you after death, and ministered +The last libations. And I reap this doom +For tending, Polynices, on thy corse. +Indeed I honoured thee, the wise will say. +For neither, had I children, nor if one +I had married were laid bleeding on the earth, +Would I have braved the city's will, or taken +This burden on me. Wherefore? I will tell. +A husband lost might be replaced; a son, +If son were lost to me, might yet be born; +But, with both parents hidden in the tomb, +No brother may arise to comfort me. +Therefore above all else I honoured thee, +And therefore Creon thought me criminal, +And bold in wickedness, O brother mine! +And now by servile hands, for all to see, +He hastens me away, unhusbanded, +Before my nuptial, having never known +Or married joy or tender motherhood. +But desolate and friendless I go down +Alive, O horror! to the vaults of the dead. +For what transgression of Heaven's ordinance? +Alas! how can I look to Heaven? on whom +Call to befriend me? seeing that I have earned, +By piety, the meed of impious?-- +Oh! if this act be what the Gods approve, +In death I may repent me of my deed; +But if they sin who judge me, be their doom +No heavier than they wrongly wreak on me! + +CH. With unchanged fury beats the storm of soul +That shakes this maiden. + +CR. Then for that, be sure +Her warders shall lament their tardiness. + +ANT. Alas! I hear Death's footfall in that sound. + +CR. I may not reassure thee.--'Tis most true. + +ANT. O land of Thebè, city of my sires, +Ye too, ancestral Gods! I go--I go! +Even now they lead me to mine end. Behold! +Founders of Thebes, the only scion left +Of Cadmus' issue, how unworthily, +By what mean instruments I am oppressed, +For reverencing the dues of piety. [_Exit guarded_ + +CHORUS. +Even Danaë's beauty left the lightsome day. I 1 +Closed in her strong and brass-bound tower she lay + In tomb-like deep confine. +Yet she was gendered, O my child! + From sires of noblest line, +And treasured for the Highest the golden rain. +Fated misfortune hath a power so fell: + Not wealth, nor warfare wild, +Nor dark spray-dashing coursers of the main +Against great Destiny may once rebel. + +He too in darksome durance was compressed, I 2 +King of Edonians, Dryas' hasty son[5], + In eyeless vault of stone +Immured by Dionysus' hest, + All for a wrathful jest. +Fierce madness issueth in such fatal flower. +He found 'twas mad to taunt the Heavenly Power, + Chilling the Maenad breast +Kindled with Bacchic fire, and with annoy +Angering the Muse that in the flute hath joy. + +And near twin rocks that guard the Colchian sea, II 1 +Bosporian cliffs 'fore Salmydessus rise, +Where neighbouring Ares from his shrine beheld +Phineus' two sons[6] by female fury quelled. +With cursèd wounding of their sight-reft eyes, +That cried to Heaven to 'venge the iniquity. +The shuttle's sharpness in a cruel hand +Dealt the dire blow, not struck with martial brand. + +But chiefly for her piteous lot they pined, II 2 +Who was the source of their rejected birth. +She touched the lineage of Erechtheus old; +Whence in far caves her life did erst unfold, +Cradled 'mid storms, daughter of Northern wind, +Steed-swift o'er all steep places of the earth. +Yet even on her, though reared of heavenly kind, +The long-enduring Fates at last took hold. + +_Enter_ TIRESIAS, _led by a boy._ + +TIRESIAS. We are come, my lords of Thebes, joint wayfarers, +One having eyes for both. The blind must still +Thus move in frail dependence on a guide. + +CR. And what hath brought thee, old Tirésias, now? + +TI. I will instruct thee, if thou wilt hear my voice. + +CR. I have not heretofore rejected thee. + +TI. Therefore thy pilotage hath saved this city. + +CR. Grateful experience owns the benefit. + +TI. Take heed. Again thou art on an edge of peril. + +CR. What is it? How I shudder at thy word! + +TI. The tokens of mine art shall make thee know. +As I was sitting on that ancient seat +Of divination, where I might command +Sure cognisance of every bird of the air, +I heard strange clamouring of fowl, that screeched +In furious dissonance; and, I could tell, +Talons were bloodily engaged--the whirr +Of wings told a clear tale. At once, in fear, +I tried burnt sacrifice at the high altar: +Where from the offering the fire god refused +To gleam; but a dank humour from the bones +Dripped on the embers with a sputtering fume. +The gall was spirited high in air, the thighs +Lay wasting, bared of their enclosing fat. +Such failing tokens of blurred augury +This youth reported, who is guide to me, +As I to others. And this evil state +Is come upon the city from thy will: +Because our altars--yea, our sacred hearths-- +Are everywhere infected from the mouths +Of dogs or beak of vulture that hath fed +On Oedipus' unhappy slaughtered son. +And then at sacrifice the Gods refuse +Our prayers and savour of the thigh-bone fat-- +And of ill presage is the thickening cry +Of bird that battens upon human gore +Now, then, my son, take thought. A man may err; +But he is not insensate or foredoomed +To ruin, who, when he hath lapsed to evil, +Stands not inflexible, but heals the harm. +The obstinate man still earns the name of fool. +Urge not contention with the dead, nor stab +The fallen. What valour is 't to slay the slain? +I have thought well of this, and say it with care; +And careful counsel, that brings gain withal, +Is precious to the understanding soul. + +CR. I am your mark, and ye with one consent +All shoot your shafts at me. Nought left untried, +Not even the craft of prophets, by whose crew +I am bought and merchandised long since. Go on! +Traffic, get gain, electrum from the mine +Of Lydia, and the gold of Ind! Yet know, +Grey-beard! ye ne'er shall hide him in a tomb. +No, not if heaven's own eagle chose to snatch +And bear him to the throne supreme for food, +Even that pollution should not daunt my heart +To yield permission for his funeral. +For well know I defilement ne'er can rise +From man to God. But, old Tirésias, hear! +Even wisest spirits have a shameful fall +That fairly speak base words for love of gain. + +TI. Ah! where is wisdom? who considereth? + +CR. Wherefore? what means this universal doubt? + +TI. How far the best of riches is good counsel! + +CR. As far as folly is the mightiest bane. + +TI. Yet thou art sick of that same pestilence. + +CR. I would not give the prophet blow for blow. + +TI. What blow is harder than to call me false? + +CR. Desire of money is the prophet's plague. + +TI. And ill-sought lucre is the curse of kings. + +CR. Know'st thou 'tis of thy sovereign thou speak'st this? + +TI. Yea, for my aid gives thee to sway this city. + +CR. Far seeing art thou, but dishonest too. + +TI. Thou wilt provoke the utterance of my tongue +To that even thought refused to dwell upon. + +CR. Say on, so thou speak sooth, and not for gain. + +TI. You think me likely to seek gain from you? + +CR. You shall not make your merchandise on me! + +TI. Not many courses of the racing sun +Shalt thou fulfil, ere of thine own true blood +Thou shalt have given a corpse in recompense +For one on earth whom thou hast cast beneath, +Entombing shamefully a living soul, +And one whom thou hast kept above the ground +And disappointed of all obsequies, +Unsanctified and godlessly forlorn. +Such violence the powers beneath will bear +Not even from the Olympian gods. For thee +The avengers wait. Hidden but near at hand, +Lagging but sure, the Furies of the grave +Are watching for thee to thy ruinous harm, +With thine own evil to entangle thee. +Look well to it now whether I speak for gold! +A little while, and thine own palace-halls +Shall flash the truth upon thee with loud noise +Of men and women, shrieking o'er the dead. +And all the cities whose unburied sons, +Mangled and torn, have found a sepulchre +In dogs or jackals or some ravenous bird +That stains their incense with polluted breath, +Are forming leagues in troublous enmity. +Such shafts, since thou hast stung me to the quick, +I like an archer at thee in my wrath +Have loosed unerringly--carrying their pang, +Inevitable, to thy very heart. +Now, sirrah! lead me home, that his hot mood +Be spent on younger objects, till he learn +To keep a safer mind and calmer tongue. [_Exit_ + +CH. Sire, there is terror in that prophecy. +He who is gone, since ever these my locks, +Once black, now white with age, waved o'er my brow, +Hath never spoken falsely to the state. + +CR. I know it, and it shakes me to the core. +To yield is dreadful: but resistingly +To face the blow of fate, is full of dread. + +CH. The time calls loud on wisdom, good my lord. + +CR. What must I do? Advise me. I will obey. + +CH. Go and release the maiden from the vault, +And make a grave for the unburied dead. + +CR. Is that your counsel? Think you I will yield? + +CH. With all the speed thou mayest: swift harms from heaven +With instant doom o'erwhelm the froward man. + +CR. Oh! it is hard. But I am forced to this +Against myself. I cannot fight with Destiny. + +CH. Go now to do it. Trust no second hand. + +CR. Even as I am, I go. Come, come, my people. +Here or not here, with mattocks in your hands +Set forth immediately to yonder hill! +And, since I have ta'en this sudden turn, myself, +Who tied the knot, will hasten to unloose it. +For now the fear comes over me, 'tis best +To pass one's life in the accustomed round. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS. +O God of many a name! I 1 +Filling the heart of that Cadmeian bride + With deep delicious pride, +Offspring of him who wields the withering flame! + Thou for Italia's good +Dost care, and 'midst the all-gathering bosom wide[7] + Of Dêo dost preside; +Thou, Bacchus, by Ismenus' winding waters + 'Mongst Thebè's frenzied daughters, +Keep'st haunt, commanding the fierce dragon's brood. + +Thee o'er the forkèd hill I 2 +The pinewood flame beholds, where Bacchai rove, + Nymphs of Corycian grove, +Hard by the flowing of Castalia's rill. + To visit Theban ways, +By bloomy wine-cliffs flushing tender bright + 'Neath far Nyseian height +Thou movest o'er the ivy-mantled mound, + While myriad voices sound +Loud strains of 'Evoe!' to thy deathless praise. + +For Thebè thou dost still uphold, II 1 +First of cities manifold, +Thou and the nymph whom lightning made +Mother of thy radiant head. +Come then with healing for the violent woe +That o'er our peopled land doth largely flow, +Passing the high Parnassian steep +Or moaning narrows of the deep! + +Come, leader of the starry quire II 2 +Quick-panting with their breath of fire! +Lord of high voices of the night, +Child born to him who dwells in light, +Appear with those who, joying in their madness, +Honour the sole dispenser of their gladness, +Thyiads of the Aegean main +Night-long trooping in thy train. + +_Enter_ Messenger. + +MESS. Neighbours of Cadmus and Amphion's halls, +No life of mortal, howsoe'er it stand, +Shall once have praise or censure from my mouth; +Since human happiness and human woe +Come even as fickle Fortune smiles or lours; +And none can augur aught from what we see. +Creon erewhile to me was enviable, +Who saved our Thebè from her enemies; +Then, vested with supreme authority, +Ruled her aright; and flourish'd in his home +With noblest progeny. What hath he now? +Nothing. For when a man is lost to joy, +I count him not to live, but reckon him +A living corse. Riches belike are his, +Great riches and the appearance of a King; +But if no gladness come to him, all else +Is shadow of a vapour, weighed with joy. + +CH. What new affliction heaped on sovereignty +Com'st thou to tell? + +MESS. They are dead; and they that live +Are guilty of the death. + +CH. The slayer, who? +And who the slain? Declare. + +MESS. Haemon is dead, +And by a desperate hand. + +CH. His own, or Creon's? + +MESS. By his own hand, impelled with violent wrath +At Creon for the murder of the maid. + +CH. Ah, Seer! how surely didst thou aim thy word! + +MESS. So stands the matter. Make of it what ye list. + +CH. See, from the palace cometh close to us +Creon's unhappy wife, Eurydicè. +Is it by chance, or heard she of her son? + +_Enter_ EURYDICE. + +EURYDICE. Ye men of Thebes, the tidings met mine ear +As I was coming forth to visit Pallas +With prayerful salutation. I was loosening +The bar of the closed gate, when the sharp sound +Of mine own sorrow smote against my heart, +And I fell back astonied on my maids +And fainted. But the tale? tell me once more; +I am no novice in adversity. + +MESS. Dear lady, I will tell thee what I saw, +And hide no grain of truth: why should I soothe +Thy spirit with soft tales, when the harsh fact +Must prove me a liar? Truth is always best. +I duly led the footsteps of thy lord +To the highest point of the plain, where still was lying, +Forlorn and mangled by the dogs, the corse +Of Polynices. We besought Persephonè +And Pluto gently to restrain their wrath, +And wash'd him pure and clean, and then we burned +The poor remains with brushwood freshly pulled, +And heaped a lofty mound of his own earth +Above him. Then we turned us to the vault, +The maiden's stony bride-chamber of death. +And from afar, round the unhallowed cell, +One heard a voice of wailing loud and long, +And went and told his lord: who coming near +Was haunted by the dim and bitter cry, +And suddenly exclaiming on his fate +Said lamentably, 'My prophetic heart +Divined aright. I am going, of all ways +That e'er I went, the unhappiest to-day. +My son's voice smites me. Go, my men, approach +With speed, and, where the stones are torn away, +Press through the passage to that door of death, +Look hard, and tell me, if I hear aright +The voice of Haemon, or the gods deceive me.' +Thus urged by our despairing lord, we made +Th' espial. And in the farthest nook of the vault +We saw the maiden hanging by the neck +With noose of finest tissue firmly tied, +And clinging to her on his knees the boy, +Lamenting o'er his ruined nuptial-rite, +Consummated in death, his father's crime +And his lost love. And when the father saw him, +With loud and dreadful clamour bursting in +He went to him and called him piteously: +'What deed is this, unhappy youth? What thought +O'ermaster'd thee? Where did the force of woe +O'erturn thy reason? O come forth, my son, +I beg thee!' But with savage eyes the youth +Glared scowling at him, and without a word +Plucked forth his two-edged blade. The father then +Fled and escaped: but the unhappy boy, +Wroth with himself, even where he stood, leant heavily +Upon his sword and plunged it in his side.-- +And while the sense remained, his slackening arm +Enfolded still the maiden, and his breath, +Gaspingly drawn and panted forth with pain, +Cast ruddy drops upon her pallid face; +Then lay in death upon the dead, at last +Joined to his bride in Hades' dismal hall:-- +A monument unto mankind, that rashness +Is the worst evil of this mortal state. [_Exit_ EURYDICE + +CH. What augur ye from this? The queen is gone +Without word spoken either good or bad. + +MESS. I, too, am struck with dread. But hope consoles me, +That having heard the affliction of her son, +Her pride forbids to publish her lament +Before the town, but to her maids within +She will prescribe to mourn the loss of the house. +She is too tried in judgement to do ill. + +CH. I cannot tell. The extreme of silence, too, +Is dangerous, no less than much vain noise. + +MESS. Well, we may learn, if there be aught unseen +Suppressed within her grief-distempered soul, +By going within the palace. Ye say well: +There is a danger, even in too much silence. + +CH. Ah! look where sadly comes our lord the King, +Bearing upon his arm a monument-- +If we may speak it--of no foreign woe, +But of his own infirmity the fruit. + +_Enter_ CREON _with the body of_ HAEMON. + +CR. O error of my insensate soul, I 1 +Stubborn, and deadly in the fateful end! +O ye who now behold +Slayer and slain of the same kindred blood! +O bitter consequence of seeming-wise decree! +Alas, my son! +Strange to the world wert thou, and strange the fate +That took thee off, that slew thee; woe is me! +Not for thy rashness, but my folly. Ah me! + +CH. Alas for him who sees the right too late! + +CR. Alas! +I have learnt it now. But then upon my head +Some God had smitten with dire weight of doom; +And plunged me in a furious course, woe is me! +Discomforting and trampling on my joy. +Woe! for the bitterness of mortal pain! + +_Enter_ 2nd Messenger. + +2ND MESS. My lord and master. Thou art master here +Of nought but sorrows. One within thine arms +Thou bear'st with thee, and in thy palace hall +Thou hast possession of another grief, +Which soon thou shalt behold. + +CR. What more of woe, +Or what more woeful, sounds anew from thee? + +2ND MESS. The honoured mother of that corse, thy queen, +Is dead, and bleeding with a new-given wound. + +CR. O horrible! O charnel gulf I 2 +Of death on death, not to be done away, +Why harrowest thou my soul? +Ill boding harbinger of woe, what word +Have thy lips uttered? Oh, thou hast killed me again, +Before undone! +What say'st? What were thy tidings? Woe is me! +Saidst thou a slaughtered queen in yonder hall +Lay in her blood, crowning the pile of ruin? + +CH. No longer hidden in the house. Behold! + [_The Corpse of_ EURYDICE _is disclosed_ + +CR. Alas! +Again I see a new, a second woe. +What more calamitous stroke of Destiny +Awaits me still? But now mine arms enfold +My child, and lo! yon corse before my face! +Ah! hapless, hapless mother, hapless son! + +2ND MESS. She with keen knife before the altar place[8] +Closed her dark orbs; but first lamented loud +The glorious bed of buried Megareus[9], +And then of Haemon; lastly clamoured forth +The curse of murdered offspring upon thee. + +CR. Ay me! Ay me! II 1 +I am rapt with terror. Is there none to strike me +With doubly sharpened blade a mortal blow? +Ah! I am plunged in fathomless distress. + +2ND MESS. The guilt of this and of the former grief +By this dead lady was denounced on thee. + +CR. Tell us, how ended she her life in blood? + +2ND MESS. Wounding herself to the heart, when she had heard +The loud lamented death of Haemon here. + +CR. O me! This crime can come +On no man else, exempting me. +I slew thee--I, O misery! +I say the truth, 'twas I! My followers, +Take me with speed--take me away, away! +Me, who am nothing now. + +CH. Thou sayest the best, if there be best in woe. +Briefest is happiest in calamity. + +CR. Ah! let it come, II 2 +The day, most welcome of all days to me, +That brings the consummation of my doom. +Come! Come! I would not see another sun. + +CH. Time will determine that. We must attend +To present needs. Fate works her own dread work. + +CR. All my desire was gathered in my prayer. + +CH. But prayer is bootless. For to mortal men +There is no saviour from appointed woe. + +CR. Take me away, the vain-proud man that slew +Thee, O my son! unwittingly,--and thee! +Me miserable, which way shall I turn, +Which look upon? Since all that I can touch +Is falling,--falling,--round me, and o'erhead +Intolerable destiny descends. + +LEADER OF CHORUS. +Wise conduct hath command of happiness +Before all else, and piety to Heaven +Must be preserved. High boastings of the proud +Bring sorrow to the height to punish pride:-- +A lesson men shall learn when they are old. + + * * * * * + + + + + AIAS + + + THE PERSONS + +ATHENA. +ODYSSEUS. +AIAS, _the son of Telamon._ +CHORUS _of Salaminian Mariners._ +TECMESSA. +_A Messenger._ +TEUCER, _half brother of Aias._ +MENELAUS. +AGAMEMNON. + +EURYSAKÈS, _the child of Aias and Tecmessa, appears, but does not +speak._ + + +SCENE. Before the encampment of Aias on the shore of the Troad. +Afterwards a lonely place beyond Rhoeteum. + +Time, towards the end of the Trojan War. + + + + + _'A wounded spirit who can bear?'_ + +After the death of Achilles, the armour made for him by Hephaestus was +to be given to the worthiest of the surviving Greeks. Although Aias +was the most valiant, the judges made the award to Odysseus, because +he was the wisest. + +Aias in his rage attempts to kill the generals; but Athena sends +madness upon him, and he makes a raid upon the flocks and herds of the +army, imagining the bulls and rams to be the Argive chiefs. On +awakening from his delusion, he finds that he has fallen irrecoverably +from honour and from the favour of the Greeks. He also imagines that +the anger of Athena is unappeasable. Under this impression he eludes +the loving eyes of his captive-bride Tecmessa, and of his Salaminian +comrades, and falls on his sword. ('The soul and body rive not more in +parting Than greatness going off.') + +But it is revealed through the prophet Calchas, that the wrath of +Athena will last only for a day; and on the return of Teucer, Aias +receives an honoured funeral, the tyrannical reclamations of the two +sons of Atreus being overcome by the firm fidelity of Teucer and the +magnanimity of Odysseus, who has been inspired for this purpose by +Athena. + + + + + AIAS + + +ATHENA (_above_). ODYSSEUS. + +ATHENA. Oft have I seen thee, Laërtiades, +Intent on some surprisal of thy foes; +As now I find thee by the seaward camp, +Where Aias holds the last place in your line, +Lingering in quest, and scanning the fresh print +Of his late footsteps, to be certified +If he keep house or no. Right well thy sense +Hath led thee forth, like some keen hound of Sparta! +The man is even but now come home, his head +And slaughterous hands reeking with ardent toil. +Thou, then, no longer strain thy gaze within +Yon gateway, but declare what eager chase +Thou followest, that a god may give thee light. + +ODYSSEUS. Athena, 'tis thy voice! Dearest in heaven, +How well discerned and welcome to my soul +From that dim distance doth thine utterance fly +In tones as of Tyrrhenian trumpet clang! +Rightly hast thou divined mine errand here, +Beating this ground for Aias of the shield, +The lion-quarry whom I track to day. +For he hath wrought on us to night a deed +Past thought--if he be doer of this thing; +We drift in ignorant doubt, unsatisfied-- +And I unbidden have bound me to this toil. + + Brief time hath flown since suddenly we knew +That all our gathered spoil was reaved and slaughtered, +Flocks, herds, and herdmen, by some human hand, +All tongues, then, lay this deed at Aias' door. +And one, a scout who had marked him, all alone, +With new-fleshed weapon bounding o'er the plain, +Gave me to know it, when immediately +I darted on the trail, and here in part +I find some trace to guide me, but in part +I halt, amazed, and know not where to look. +Thou com'st full timely. For my venturous course, +Past or to come, is governed by thy will. + +ATH. I knew thy doubts, Odysseus, and came forth +Zealous to guard thy perilous hunting-path. + +OD. Dear Queen! and am I labouring to an end? + +ATH. Thou schem'st not idly. This is Aias' deed. + +OD. What can have roused him to a work so wild? + +ATH. His grievous anger for Achilles' arms. + +OD. But wherefore on the flock this violent raid? + +ATH. He thought to imbrue his hands with your heart's blood. + +OD. What? Was this planned against the Argives, then? + +ATH. Planned, and performed, had I kept careless guard. + +OD. What daring spirit, what hardihood, was here! + +ATH. Alone by night in craft he sought your tents. + +OD. How? Came he near them? Won he to his goal? + +ATH. He stood in darkness at the generals' gates. + +OD. What then restrained his eager hand from murder? + +ATH. I turned him backward from his baleful joy, +And overswayed him with blind phantasies, +To swerve against the flocks and well-watched herd +Not yet divided from the public booty. +There plunging in he hewed the horned throng, +And with him Havoc ranged: while now he thought +To kill the Atreidae with hot hand, now this +Now that commander, as the fancy grew. +I, joining with the tumult of his mind, +Flung the wild victim on the fatal net. +Anon, this toil being overpast, he draws +The living oxen and the panting sheep +With cords to his home, not as a hornèd prey, +But as in triumph marshalling his foes: +Whom now he tortures in their bonds within. + Come, thou shalt see this madness in clear day, +And tell to the Argives all I show thee here +Only stand firm and shrink not, I will turn +His eyes askance, not to distinguish thee, +Fear nought--Ho! thou that bindest to thy will +The limbs of those thy captives, come thou forth! +Aias! advance before thy palace gate! + +OD. My Queen! what dost thou? Never call him forth. + +ATH. Hush, hush! Be not so timorous, but endure. + +OD. Nay, nay! Enough. He is there, and let him bide. + +ATH. What fear you? Dates his valour from to day? + +OD. He was and is my valiant enemy. + +ATH. Then is not laughter sweetest o'er a foe? + +OD. No more! I care not he should pass abroad. + +ATH. You flinch from seeing the madman in full view. + +OD. When sane, I ne'er had flinched before his face. + +ATH. Well, but even now he shall not know thee near. + +OD. How, if his eyes be not transformed or lost? + +ATH. I will confound his sense although he see. + +OD. Well, nothing is too hard for Deity. + +ATH. Stand still and keep thy place without a word. + +OD. I must. Would I were far away from here! + +ATH. Aias! Again I summon thee. Why pay +So scanty heed to her who fights for thee? + +_Enter_ AIAS _with a bloody scourge._ + +AIAS. Hail, offspring of the Highest! Pallas, hail! +Well hast thou stood by me. Triumphal gold +Shall crown thy temple for this lordly prey. + +ATH. A fair intention! But resolve me this: +Hast dyed thy falchion deep in Argive blood? + +AI. There is my boast; that charge I'll ne'er deny. + +ATH. Have Atreus' sons felt thy victorious might? + +AI. They have. No more they'll make a scorn of me! + +ATH. I take it, then, they are dead. + +AI. Ay, now they are dead, +Let them arise and rob me of mine arms! + +ATH. Good. Next inform us of Laërtes' son; +How stands his fortune? Hast thou let him go? + +AI. The accursed fox! Dost thou inquire of him? + +ATH. Ay, of Odysseus, thy late adversary. + +AI. He sits within, dear lady, to my joy, +Bound; for I mean him not just yet to die. + +ATH. What fine advantage wouldst thou first achieve? + +AI. First, tie him to a pillar of my hall-- + +ATH. Poor wretch! What torment wilt thou wreak on him? + +AI. Then stain his back with scourging till he die. + +ATH. Nay, 'tis too much. Poor caitiff! Not the scourge! + +AI. Pallas, in all things else have thou thy will, +But none shall wrest Odysseus from this doom. + +ATH. Well, since thou art determined on the deed, +Spare nought of thine intent: indulge thy hand! + +AI. (_waving the bloody scourge_). +I go! But thou, I charge thee, let thine aid +Be evermore like valiant as to-day. [_Exit_ + +ATH. The gods are strong, Odysseus. Dost thou see? +What man than Aias was more provident, +Or who for timeliest action more approved? + +OD. I know of none. But, though he hates me sore, +I pity him, poor mortal, thus chained fast +To a wild and cruel fate,--weighing not so much +His fortune as mine own. For now I feel +All we who live are but an empty show +And idle pageant of a shadowy dream. + +ATH. Then, warned by what thou seest, be thou not rash +To vaunt high words toward Heaven, nor swell thy port +Too proudly, if in puissance of thy hand +Thou passest others, or in mines of wealth. +Since Time abases and uplifts again +All that is human, and the modest heart +Is loved by Heaven, who hates the intemperate will. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS (_entering_). + Telamonian child, whose hand + Guards our wave-encircled land, + Salamis that breasts the sea, + Good of thine is joy to me; + But if One who reigns above + Smite thee, or if murmurs move + From fierce Danaäns in their hate + Full of threatening to thy state, + All my heart for fear doth sigh, + Shrinking like a dove's soft eye. + + Hardly had the darkness waned, [_Half-Chorus I._ + When our ears were filled and pained + With huge scandal on thy fame. + Telling, thine the arm that came + To the cattle-browsèd mead, + Wild with prancing of the steed, + And that ravaged there and slew + With a sword of fiery hue + All the spoils that yet remain, + By the sweat of spearmen ta'en. + + Such report against thy life, [_Half-Chorus II._ + Whispered words with falsehood rife, + Wise Odysseus bringing near + Shrewdly gaineth many an ear: + Since invention against thee + Findeth hearing speedily, + Tallying with the moment's birth; + And with loudly waxing mirth + Heaping insult on thy grief, + Each who hears it glories more + Than the tongue that told before. + Every slander wins belief + Aimed at souls whose worth is chief: + Shot at me, or one so small, + Such a bolt might harmless fall. + Ever toward the great and high + Creepeth climbing jealousy + Yet the low without the tall + Make at need a tottering wall + Let the strong the feeble save + And the mean support the brave. + +CHORUS + Ah! 'twere vain to tune such song + 'Mid the nought discerning throng + Who are clamouring now 'gainst thee + Long and loud, and strengthless we, + Mighty chieftain, thou away, + To withstand the gathering fray + Flocking fowl with carping cry + Seem they, lurking from thine eye, + Till the royal eagle's poise + Overawe the paltry noise + Till before thy presence hushed + Sudden sink they, mute and crushed. + +Did bull slaying Artemis, Zeus' cruel daughter I 1 + (Ah, fearful rumour, fountain of my shame!) +Prompt thy fond heart to this disastrous slaughter + Of the full herd stored in our army's name! +Say, had her blood stained temple[1] missed the kindness + Of some vow promised fruit of victory, +Foiled of some glorious armour through thy blindness, + Or fell some stag ungraced by gift from thee? +Or did stern Ares venge his thankless spear +Through this night foray that hath cost thee dear! + +For never, if thy heart were not distracted I 2 + By stings from Heaven, O child of Telamon, +Wouldst thou have bounded leftward, to have acted + Thus wildly, spoiling all our host hath won! +Madness might fall some heavenly power forfend it + But if Odysseus and the tyrant lords +Suggest a forged tale, O rise to end it, + Nor fan the fierce flame of their withering words! +Forth from thy tent, and let thine eye confound +The brood of Sisyphus[2] that would thee wound! + +Too long hast thou been fixed in grim repose, III + Heightening the haughty malice of thy foes, +That, while thou porest by the sullen sea, + Through breezy glades advanceth fearlessly, +A mounting blaze with crackling laughter fed +From myriad throats; whence pain and sorrow bred +Within my bosom are establishèd. + +_Enter_ TECMESSA. + +TECMESSA. Helpers of Aias' vessel's speed, +Erechtheus' earth-derivèd seed, +Sorrows are ours who truly care +For the house of Telamon afar. +The dread, the grand, the rugged form + Of him we know, +Is stricken with a troublous storm; + Our Aias' glory droopeth low. + +CHORUS. What burden through the darkness fell +Where still at eventide 'twas well? +Phrygian Teleutas' daughter, say; +Since Aias, foremost in the fray, +Disdaining not the spear-won bride, +Still holds thee nearest at his side, +And thou may'st solve our doubts aright. + +TEC. How shall I speak the dreadful word? +How shall ye live when ye have heard? +Madness hath seized our lord by night +And blasted him with hopeless blight. +Such horrid victims mightst thou see +Huddled beneath yon canopy, +Torn by red hands and dyed in blood, +Dread offerings to his direful mood. + +CH. What news of our fierce lord thy story showeth, 1 + Sharp to endure, impossible to fly! +News that on tongues of Danaäns hourly groweth, + Which Rumour's myriad voices multiply! +Alas! the approaching doom awakes my terror. + The man will die, disgraced in open day, +Whose dark dyed steel hath dared through mad brained error + The mounted herdmen with their herds to slay. + +TEC. O horror! Then 'twas there he found + The flock he brought as captives tied, + And some he slew upon the ground, + And some, side smiting, sundered wide + Two white foot rams he backward drew, + And bound. Of one he shore and threw + The tipmost tongue and head away, + The other to an upright stay + He tied, and with a harness thong + Doubled in hand, gave whizzing blows, + Echoing his lashes with a song + More dire than mortal fury knows. + +CH. Ah! then 'tis time, our heads in mantles hiding, 2 + Our feet on some stol'n pathway now to ply, +Or with swift oarage o'er the billows gliding, + With ordered stroke to make the good ship fly +Such threats the Atridae, armed with two fold power, + Launch to assail us. Oh, I sadly fear +Stones from fierce hands on us and him will shower, + Whose heavy plight no comfort may come near. + +TEC. 'Tis changed, his rage, like sudden blast, + Without the lightning gleam is past + And now that Reason's light returns, + New sorrow in his spirit burns. + For when we look on self made woe, + In which no hand but ours had part, + Thought of such griefs and whence they flow + Brings aching misery to the heart. + +CH. If he hath ceased to rave, he should do well +The account of evil lessens when 'tis past. + +TEC. If choice were given you, would you rather choose +Hurting your friends, yourself to feel delight, +Or share with them in one commingled pain? + +CH. The two fold trouble is more terrible. + +TEC. Then comes our torment now the fit is o'er. + +CH. How mean'st thou by that word? I fail to see. + +TEC. He in his rage had rapture of delight +And knew not how he grieved us who stood near +And saw the madding tempest ruining him. +But now 'tis over and he breathes anew, +The counterblast of sorrow shakes his soul, +Whilst our affliction vexeth as before, +Have we not double for our single woe? + +CH. I feel thy reasoning move me, and I fear +Some heavenly stroke hath fallen. How else, when the end +Of stormy sickness brings no cheering ray? + +TEC. Our state is certain. Dream not but 'tis so. + +CH. How first began the assault of misery? +Tell us the trouble, for we share the pain. + +TEC. It toucheth you indeed, and ye shall hear +All from the first. 'Twas midnight, and the lamp +Of eve had died, when, seizing his sharp blade, +He sought on some vain errand to creep forth. +I broke in with my word: 'Aias, what now? +Why thus uncalled for salliest thou? No voice +Of herald summoned thee. No trumpet blew. +What wouldst thou when the camp is hushed in sleep?' +He with few words well known to women's ears +Checked me: 'The silent partner is the best.' +I saw how 'twas and ceased. Forth then he fared +Alone--What horror passed upon the plain +This night, I know not. But he drags within, +Tied in a throng, bulls, shepherd dogs, and spoil +Of cattle and sheep. Anon he butchers them, +Felling or piercing, hacking or tearing wide, +Ribs from breast, limb from limb. Others in rage +He seized and bound and tortured, brutes for men. +Last, out he rushed before the doors, and there +Whirled forth wild language to some shadowy form, +Flouting the generals and Laërtes' son +With torrent laughter and loud triumphing +What in his raid he had wreaked to their despite. +Then diving back within--the fitful storm +Slowly assuaging left his spirit clear. +And when his eye had lightened through the room +Cumbered with ruin, smiting on his brow +He roared; and, tumbling down amid the wreck +Of woolly carnage he himself had made, +Sate with clenched hand tight twisted in his hair. +Long stayed he so in silence. Then flashed forth +Those frightful words of threatening vehemence, +That bade me show him all the night's mishap, +And whither he was fallen I, dear my friends, +Prevailed on through my fear, told all I knew. +And all at once he raised a bitter cry, +Which heretofore I ne'er had heard, for still +He made us think such doleful utterance +Betokened the dull craven spirit, and still +Dumb to shrill wailings, he would only moan +With half heard muttering, like an angry bull. +But now, by such dark fortune overpowered, +Foodless and dry, amid the quivering heap +His steel hath quelled, all quietly he broods; +And out of doubt his mind intends some harm: +Such words, such groans, burst from him. O my friends.-- +Therefore I hastened,--enter and give aid +If aught ye can! Men thus forgone will oft +Grow milder through the counsel of a friend. + +CH. Teleutas' child! we shudder at thy tale +That fatal frenzy wastes our hero's soul. + +AIAS (_within_). Woe's me, me, me! + +TEC. More cause anon! Hear ye not Aias there, +How sharp the cry that shrills from him? + +AI. Woe! Woe! + +CH. Madly it sounds--Or springs it of deep grief +For proofs of madness harrowing to his eye? + +AI. Boy, boy! + +TEC. What means he? Oh, Eurysakes! +He cries on thee. Where art thou? O my heart! + +AI. Teucer I call! Where 's Teucer? Will he ne'er +Come from the chase, but leave me to my doom? + +CH. Not madness now. Disclose him. Let us look. +Haply the sight of us may calm his soul. + +TEC. There, then; I open to your view the form +Of Aias, and his fortunes as they are. [AIAS _is discovered_ + +AI. Dear comrades of the deep, whose truth and love I 1 + Stand forth alone unbroken in my woe, + Behold what gory sea + Of storm-lashed agony + Doth round and round me flow! + +CH. (_to_ TEC.) Too true thy witness: for the fact cries out +Wild thoughts were here and Reason's lamp extinct. + +AI. Strong helpers of sea-speed, whose nimble hand I 2 + Plied hither the salt oar with circling stroke, + No shepherd there was found + To give the avenging wound. + Come, lay me with the flock! + +CH. Speak no rash word! nor curing ill with ill +Augment the plague of this calamity. + +AI. Mark ye the brave and bold, II 1 + Whom none could turn of old, + When once he set his face to the fierce fight? + Now beasts that thought no harm + Have felt this puissant arm. + O laughter of my foes! O mockery of my might! + +TEC. Aias, my lord! I entreat thee, speak not so! + +AI. Thou here! Away! begone, and trouble me not! +O! O! + +CH. Be softened! bear a steadier mind! + +AI. O heaven-accursèd hand + That let the ruffians go, + But falling 'midst the horn'd and bleating band, + Made darkling blood-streams flow! + +CH. Why vex thy heart with what is over and done? +Do what we may, this ne'er will alter now. + +AI. Child of Laërtes old, II 2 + Thou that dost still behold + And still contrive all shapes of monstrous ill, + Winding in foulest ways + Through the army's sinful maze,-- + Now even for pleasure thou may'st laugh thy fill. + +CH. Laughter and tears are in the gift of God. + +AI. Ay, might I see him, though thus broken,--ay me! +Even yet-- + +CH. Nay, vaunt not. Look where thou art fallen. + +AI. Source where my life-blood springs, + O Zeus, might I but slay + That crafty plague, with those twin-sceptred kings, + Then breathe my life away! + +TEC. Pray thus, and pray that I too be no more! +If thou wert gone, what were my life to me? + +AI. Darkness! my only light! III 1 + O nether gloom, to me + Brighter than morning to the wakeful eye! + Take me to dwell with thee. + Take me! What help? Zeus' daughter with fell might + Torments me sore. I may not look on high, + Nor to the tribe of momentary men.-- + Oh, whither, then, + Should it avail to fly? + Ah! whither should I go and stay? + All here is ruin. This mad prey + Shames me for evermore: + Vengeance is at the door; + Yea, all the Achaean host, with armèd hand, + Is ready at command + To slay me o'er and o'er. + +TEC. Woe 's me! to hear from one so good and true +Words he had scorned to utter in past days. + +AI. Grey firths of foaming brine, III 2 +And ye, deep groves, that crown +The sea-caves and long cliffs upon the shore, +Too long did ye confine +My life about the walls of Troia's town: +But no more now! a breathing man, no more! +The wise in heart may duly learn that lore. +Let Xanthus know, +Whose waters neighbouring flow, +And minister to Argive men: +One man he ne'er shall see again; +One, I will vaunt it forth! +Highest in warlike worth +Of all Greek forms that Troia's towers have eyed: +Now, shorn of all that pride, +I lie thus low. + +CH. I know not how to let thee speak, nor how +To silence thee. Such evils close thee round. + +AI. Ay me! + Could human thought have prophesied +My name would thus give echo to mine ill? +'Ai' now for Aias, doubly, trebly said, +Sorts all too well to mark my misery; +Whose father from this land of Troy, as noblest +Of all the host, carrying the fairest prize, +Came girt about with glory to his home. +But I his son, not less of might than he, +Nor poorer in the achievements of my hand, +To this same region following in my prime, +Am scouted by the Achaeans and destroyed. +Yet know I one thing well. Had Peleus' child, +Living, adjudged his armour as a meed +Of well-tried bravery, no grasp save mine +Had clutched it. But the Atridae with mean craft +Conveyed his heirloom to a wit-proud knave, +Whilst Aias' peerless prowess was despised. +And had not this mine eye and mind distraught +Glanced from my purpose, ne'er again had they +Perverted judgement. But the invincible +Stern daughter of the Highest, with baneful eye, +Even as mine arm descended, baffled me, +And hurled upon my soul a frenzied plague, +To stain my hand with these dumb victims' blood. +And those mine enemies exult in safety,-- +Not with my will; but where a God misguides, +Strong arms are thwarted and the weakling lives. + Now, what remains? Heaven hates me, 'tis too clear: +The Grecian host abhor me: Troy, with all +This country round our camp, is my sworn foe. +Shall I, across the Aegean sailing home, +Leave these Atridae and their fleet forlorn? +How shall I dare to front my father's eye? +How will he once endure to look on me, +Denuded of the prize of high renown, +Whose coronal stood sparkling on his brow? +No! 'twere too dreadful. Then shall I advance +Before the Trojan battlements, and there +In single conflict doing valiantly +Last die upon their spears? Nay, for by this +I might perchance make Atreus' offspring glad. +That may not be imagined. I must find +Some act to let my grey-haired father feel +No heartless recreant once called him sire. +Shame on the wight who when beset with ill +Cares to live on in misery unrelieved. +Can hour outlasting hour make less or more +Of death? Whereby then can it furnish joy? +That mortal weighs for nothing-worth with me, +Whom Hope can comfort with her fruitless fire. +Honour in life or honour in the grave +Befits the noble heart. You hear my will. + +CH. From thine own spirit, Aias, all may tell, +That utterance came, and none have prompted thee. +Yet stay thy hurrying thought, and by thy friends +Be ruled to loose this burden from thy mind. + +TEC. O my great master! heaviest of all woe +Is theirs whose life is crushed beyond recall. +I, born of one the mightiest of the free +And wealthiest in the Phrygian land, am now +A captive. So Heaven willed, and thy strong arm +Determined. Therefore, since the hour that made +My being one with thine, I breathe for thee; +And I beseech thee by the sacred fire +Of home, and by the sweetness of the night +When from thy captive I became thy bride, +Leave me not guardless to the unworthy touch +And cruel taunting of thine enemies' +For, shouldst thou die and leave us, then shall I +Borne off by Argive violence with thy boy +Eat from that day the bread of slavery. +And some one of our lords shall smite me there +With galling speech: Behold the concubine +Of Aias, first of all the Greeks for might, +How envied once, worn with what service now! +So will they speak; and while my quailing heart +Shall sink beneath its burden, clouds of shame +Will dim thy glory and degrade thy race. +Oh! think but of thy father, left to pine +In doleful age, and let thy mother's grief-- +Who, long bowed down with many a careful year, +Prays oftentimes thou may'st return alive-- +O'er awe thee. Yea, and pity thine own son, +Unsheltered in his boyhood, lorn of thee, +With bitter foes to tend his orphanhood, +Think, O my lord, what sorrow in thy death +Thou send'st on him and me. For I have nought +To lean to but thy life. My fatherland +Thy spear hath ruined. Fate--not thou--hath sent +My sire and mother to the home of death +What wealth have I to comfort me for thee? +What land of refuge? Thou art all my stay +Oh, of me too take thought! Shall men have joy, +And not remember? Or shall kindness fade? +Say, can the mind be noble, where the stream +Of gratitude is withered from the spring? + +CH. Aias, I would thy heart were touched like mine +With pity; then her words would win thy praise. + +AI. My praise she shall not miss, if she perform +My bidding with firm heart, and fail not here. + +TEC. Dear Aias, I will fail in nought thou bidst me. + +AI. Bring me my boy, that I may see his face. + +TEC. Oh, in my terror I conveyed him hence! + +AI. Clear of this mischief, mean'st thou? or for what? + +TEC. Lest he might run to thee, poor child, and die. + +AI. That issue had been worthy of my fate! + +TEC. But I kept watch to fence his life from harm. + +AI. 'Twas wisely done. I praise thy foresight there. + +TEC. Well, since 'tis so, how can I help thee now? + +AI. Give me to speak to him and see him near. + +TEC. He stands close by with servants tending him. + +AI. Then why doth he not come, but still delay? + +TEC. Thy father calls thee, child. Come, lead him hither, +Whichever of you holds him by the hand. + +AI. Moves he? or do thine accents idly fall? + +TEC. See, where thy people bring him to thine eye. + +AI. Lift him to me: lift him! He will not fear +At sight of this fresh havoc of the sword, +If rightly he be fathered of my blood. +Like some young colt he must be trained and taught +To run fierce courses with his warrior sire. +Be luckier than thy father, boy! but else +Be like him, and thy life will not be low. +One thing even now I envy thee, that none +Of all this misery pierces to thy mind. +For life is sweetest in the void of sense, +Ere thou know joy or sorrow. But when this +Hath found thee, make thy father's enemies +Feel the great parent in the valiant child. +Meantime grow on in tender youthfulness, +Nursed by light breezes, gladdening this thy mother. +No Greek shall trample thee with brutal harm, +That I know well, though I shall not be near-- +So stout a warder to protect thy life +I leave in Teucer. He'll not fail, though now +He follow far the chase upon his foes. +My trusty warriors, people of the sea, +Be this your charge, no less,--and bear to him +My clear commandment, that he take this boy +Home to my fatherland, and make him known +To Telamon, and Eriboea too, +My mother. Let him tend them in their age. +And, for mine armour, let not that be made +The award of Grecian umpires or of him +Who ruined me. But thou, named of the shield[3], +Eurysakes, hold mine, the unpierceable +Seven-hided buckler, and by the well stitched thong +Grasp firm and wield it mightily.--The rest +Shall lie where I am buried.--Take him now, +Quickly, and close the door. No tears! What! weep +Before the tent? How women crave for pity! +Make fast, I say. No wise physician dreams +With droning charms to salve a desperate sore. + +CH. There sounds a vehement ardour in thy words +That likes me not. I fear thy sharpened tongue. + +TEC. Aias, my lord, what act is in thy mind? + +AI. Inquire not, question not; be wise, thou'rt best. + +TEC. How my heart sinks! Oh, by thy child, by Heaven, +I pray thee on my knees, forsake us not! + +AI. Thou troublest me. What! know'st thou not that Heaven +Hath ceased to be my debtor from to-day? + +TEC. Hush! Speak not so. + +AI. Speak thou to those that hear. + +TEC. Will you not hear me? + +AI. Canst thou not be still? + +TEC. My fears, my fears! + +AI. (_to the_ Attendants). Come, shut me in, I say. + +TEC. Oh, yet be softened! + +AI. 'Tis a foolish hope, +If thou deem'st now to mould me to thy will. + [Aias _is withdrawn. Exit_ Tecmessa + +CHORUS. +Island of glory! whom the glowing eyes I 1 +Of all the wondering world immortalize, +Thou, Salamis, art planted evermore, +Happy amid the wandering billows' roar; +While I--ah, woe the while!--this weary time, + By the green wold where flocks from Ida stray, +Lie worn with fruitless hours of wasted prime, + Hoping--ah, cheerless hope!--to win my way +Where Hades' horrid gloom shall hide me from the day. + +Aias is with me, yea, but crouching low, I 2 +Where Heaven-sent madness haunts his overthrow, +Beyond my cure or tendance: woful plight! +Whom thou, erewhile, to head the impetuous fight, +Sent'st forth, thy conquering champion. Now he feeds + His spirit on lone paths, and on us brings +Deep sorrow; and all his former peerless deeds +Of prowess fall like unremembered things +From Atreus' loveless brood, this caitiff brace of kings. + +Ah! when his mother, full of days and bowed II 1 +With hoary eld, shall hear his ruined mind, + How will she mourn aloud! +Not like the warbler of the dale, + The bird of piteous wail, +But in shrill strains far borne upon the wind, +While on the withered breast and thin white hair +Falls the resounding blow, the rending of despair. + +Best hid in death were he whom madness drives II 2 +Remediless; if, through his father's race + Born to the noblest place +Among the war-worn Greeks, he lives + By his own light no more, +Self-aliened from the self he knew before. +Oh, hapless sire, what woe thine ear shall wound! +One that of all thy line no life save this hath found. + +_Enter_ Aias _with a bright sword, and_ Tecmessa, _severally._ + +AI. What change will never-terminable Time +Not heave to light, what hide not from the day? +What chance shall win men's marvel? Mightiest oaths +Fall frustrate, and the steely-tempered will. +Ay, and even mine, that stood so diamond-keen +Like iron lately dipped, droops now dis-edged +And weakened by this woman, whom to leave +A widow with her orphan to my foes, +Dulls me with pity. I will go to the baths +And meadows near the cliff, and purging there +My dark pollution, I will screen my soul +From reach of Pallas' grievous wrath. I will find +Same place untrodden, and digging of the soil +Where none shall see, will bury this my sword, +Weapon of hate! for Death and Night to hold +Evermore underground. For, since my hand +Had this from Hector mine arch-enemy, +No kindness have I known from Argive men. +So true that saying of the bygone world, +'A foe's gift is no gift, and brings no good.' + Well, we will learn of Time. Henceforth I'll bow +To heavenly ordinance and give homage due +To Atreus' sons. Who rules, must be obeyed. +Since nought so fierce and terrible but yields +Place to Authority. Wild Winter's snows +Make way for bounteous Summer's flowery tread, +And Night's sad orb retires for lightsome Day +With his white steeds to illumine the glad sky. +The furious storm-blast leaves the groaning sea +Gently to rest. Yea, the all-subduer Sleep +Frees whom he binds, nor holds enchained for aye. +And shall not men be taught the temperate will? +Yea, for I now know surely that my foe +Must be so hated, as being like enough +To prove a friend hereafter, and my friend +So far shall have mine aid, as one whose love +Will not continue ever. Men have found +But treacherous harbour in companionship. + Our ending, then, is peaceful. Thou, my girl, +Go in and pray the Gods my heart's desire +Be all fulfilled. My comrades, join her here, +Honouring my wishes; and if Teucer come, +Bid him toward us be mindful, kind toward you. +I must go--whither I must go. Do ye +But keep my word, and ye may learn, though now +Be my dark hour, that all with me is well. + [_Exit towards the country._ Tecmessa _retires_ + +CHORUS. +A shudder of love thrills through me. Joy! I soar 1 + O Pan, wild Pan! [_They dance_ + Come from Cyllenè hoar-- +Come from the snow drift, the rock-ridge, the glen! + Leaving the mountain bare + Fleet through the salt sea-air, +Mover of dances to Gods and to men. +Whirl me in Cnossian ways--thrid me the Nysian maze! +Come, while the joy of the dance is my care! + Thou too, Apollo, come + Bright from thy Delian home, + Bringer of day, + Fly o'er the southward main + Here in our hearts to reign, +Loved to repose there and kindly to stay. + +Horror is past. Our eyes have rest from pain. 2 + O Lord of Heaven! [_They dance_ + Now blithesome day again +Purely may smile on our swift-sailing fleet, + Since, all his woe forgot, + Aias now faileth not +Aught that of prayer and Heaven-worship is meet. +Time bringeth mighty aid--nought but in time doth fade: +Nothing shall move me as strange to my thought. + Aias our lord hath now + Cleared his wrath-burdened brow + Long our despair, + Ceased from his angry feud + And with mild heart renewed +Peace and goodwill to the high-sceptred pair. + +_Enter_ Messenger. + +MESSENGER. Friends, my first news is Teucer's presence here, +Fresh from the Mysian heights; who, as he came +Right toward the generals' quarter, was assailed +With outcry from the Argives in a throng: +For when they knew his motion from afar +They swarmed around him, and with shouts of blame +From each side one and all assaulted him +As brother to the man who had gone mad +And plotted 'gainst the host,--threatening aloud, +Spite of his strength, he should be stoned, and die. +--So far strife ran, that swords unscabbarded +Crossed blades, till as it mounted to the height +Age interposed with counsel, and it fell. + But where is Aias to receive my word? +Tidings are best told to the rightful ear. + +CH. Not in the hut, but just gone forth, preparing +New plans to suit his newly altered mind. + +MESS. Alas! +Too tardy then was he who sped me hither; +Or I have proved too slow a messenger. + +CH. What point is lacking for thine errand's speed? + +MESS. Teucer was resolute the man should bide +Close held within-doors till himself should come. + +CH. Why, sure his going took the happiest turn +And wisest, to propitiate Heaven's high wrath. + +MESS. The height of folly lives in such discourse, +If Calchas have the wisdom of a seer. + +CH. What knowest thou of our state? What saith he? Tell. + +MESS. I can tell only what I heard and saw. +Whilst all the chieftains and the Atridae twain +Were seated in a ring, Calchas alone +Rose up and left them, and in Teucer's palm +Laid his right hand full friendly; then out-spake +With strict injunction by all means i' the world +To keep beneath yon covert this one day +Your hero, and not suffer him to rove, +If he would see him any more alive. +For through this present light--and ne'er again--- +Holy Athena, so he said, will drive him +Before her anger. Such calamitous woe +Strikes down the unprofitable growth that mounts +Beyond his measure and provokes the sky. +'Thus ever,' said the prophet, 'must he fall +Who in man's mould hath thoughts beyond a man. +And Aias, ere he left his father's door, +Made foolish answer to his prudent sire. + 'My son,' said Telamon, 'choose victory +Always, but victory with an aid from Heaven.' +How loftily, how madly, he replied! +'Father, with heavenly help men nothing worth +May win success. But I am confident +Without the Gods to pluck this glory down.' +So huge the boast he vaunted! And again +When holy Pallas urged him with her voice +To hurl his deadly spear against the foe, +He turned on her with speech of awful sound: + 'Goddess, by other Greeks take thou thy stand; +Where I keep rank, the battle ne'er shall break.' +Such words of pride beyond the mortal scope +Have won him Pallas' wrath, unlovely meed. +But yet, perchance, so be it he live to-day, +We, with Heaven's succour, may restore his peace.'-- +Thus far the prophet, when immediately +Teucer dispatched me, ere the assembly rose, +Bearing to thee this missive to be kept +With all thy care. But if my speed be lost, +And Calchas' word have power, the man is dead. + +CH. O trouble-tost Tecmessa, born to woe, +Come forth and see what messenger is here! +This news bites near the bone, a death to joy. + +_Enter_ TECMESSA. + +TEC. Wherefore again, when sorrow's cruel storm +Was just abating, break ye my repose? + +CH. (_pointing to the_ Messenger). +Hear what he saith, and how he comes to bring +News of our Aias that hath torn my heart. + +TEC. Oh me! what is it, man? Am I undone? + +MESS. Thy case I know not; but of Aias this, +That if he roam abroad, 'tis dangerous. + +TEC. He is, indeed, abroad. Oh! tell me quickly! + +MESS. 'Tis Teucer's strong command to keep him close +Beneath this roof, nor let him range alone. + +TEC. But where is Teucer? and what means his word? + +MESS. Even now at hand, and eager to make known +That Aias, if he thus go forth, must fall. + +TEC. Alas! my misery! Whence learned he this? + +MESS. From Thestor's prophet-offspring, who to-day +Holds forth to Aias choice of life or death. + +TEC. Woe's me! O friends, this desolating blow +Is falling! Oh, stand forward to prevent! +And some bring Teucer with more haste, while some +Explore the western bays and others search +Eastward to find your hero's fatal path! +For well I see I am cheated and cast forth +From the old favour. Child, what shall I do? [_Looking at_ EURYSAKES +We must not stay. I too will fare along, +go far as I have power. Come, let us go. +Bestir ye! 'Tis no moment to sit still, +If we would save him who now speeds to die. + +CH. I am ready. Come! Fidelity of foot, +And swift performance, shall approve me true. [_Exeunt omnes_ + +_The scene changes to a lonely wooded spot._ + +AIAS (_discovered alone_). +The sacrificer stands prepared,--and when +More keen? Let me take time for thinking, too! +This gift of Hector, whom of stranger men +I hated most with heart and eyes, is set +In hostile Trojan soil, with grinding hone +Fresh-pointed, and here planted by my care +Thus firm, to give me swift and friendly death. +Fine instrument, so much for thee! Then, first, +Thou, for 'tis meet, great Father, lend thine aid. +For no great gift I sue thee. Let some voice +Bear Teucer the ill news, that none but he +May lift my body, newly fallen in death +About my bleeding sword, ere I be spied +By some of those who hate me, and be flung +To dogs and vultures for an outcast prey. +So far I entreat thee, Lord of Heaven. And thou, +Hermes, conductor of the shadowy dead, +Speed me to rest, and when with this sharp steel +I have cleft a sudden passage to my heart, +At one swift bound waft me to painless slumber! +But most be ye my helpers, awful Powers, +Who know no blandishments, but still perceive +All wicked deeds i' the world--strong, swift, and sure, +Avenging Furies, understand my wrong, +See how my life is ruined, and by whom. +Come, ravin on Achaean flesh--spare none; +Rage through the camp!--Last, thou that driv'st thy course +Up yon steep Heaven, thou Sun, when thou behold'st +My fatherland, checking thy golden rein, +Report my fall, and this my fatal end, +To my old sire, and the poor soul who tends him. +Ah, hapless one! when she shall hear this word, +How she will make the city ring with woe! + 'Twere from the business idly to condole. +To work, then, and dispatch. O Death! O Death! +Now come, and welcome! Yet with thee, hereafter, +I shall find close communion where I go. +But unto thee, fresh beam of shining Day, +And thee, thou travelling Sun-god, I may speak +Now, and no more for ever. O fair light! +O sacred fields of Salamis my home! +Thou, firm set natal hearth: Athens renowned, +And ye her people whom I love; O rivers, +Brooks, fountains here--yea, even the Trojan plain +I now invoke!--kind fosterers, farewell! +This one last word from Aias peals to you: +Henceforth my speech will be with souls unseen. [_Falls on his sword_ + +CHORUS (_re-entering severally_). + +CH. A. Toil upon toil brings toil, + And what save trouble have I? + Which path have I not tried? + And never a place arrests me with its tale. + Hark! lo, again a sound! + +CH. B. 'Tis we, the comrades of your good ship's crew. + +CH. A. Well, sirs? + +CH. B. We have trodden all the westward arm o' the bay. + +CH. A. Well, have ye found? + +CH. B. Troubles enow, but nought to inform our sight. + +CH. A. Nor yet along the road that fronts the dawn + Is any sign of Aias to be seen. + +CH. Who then will tell me, who? What hard sea-liver, 1 + What toiling fisher in his sleepless quest, + What Mysian nymph, what oozy Thracian river, + Hath seen our wanderer of the tameless breast? + Where? tell me where! + 'Tis hard that I, far-toiling voyager, + Crossed by some evil wind, + Cannot the haven find, + Nor catch his form that flies me, where? ah! where? + +TEC. (_behind_). Oh, woe is me! woe, woe! + +CH. A. Who cries there from the covert of the grove? + +TEC. O boundless misery! + +CH. B. Steeped in this audible sorrow I behold +Tecmessa, poor fate-burdened bride of war. + +TEC. Friends, I am spoiled, lost, ruined, overthrown! + +CH. A. What ails thee now? + +TEC. See where our Aias lies, but newly slain, +Fallen on his sword concealed within the ground, + +CH. Woe for my hopes of home! + Aias, my lord, thou hast slain + Thy ship-companion on the salt sea foam. + Alas for us, and thee, + Child of calamity! + +TEC. So lies our fortune. Well may'st thou complain. + +CH. A. Whose hand employed he for the deed of blood? + +TEC. His own, 'tis manifest. This planted steel, +Fixed by his hand, gives verdict from his breast. + +CH. Woe for my fault, my loss! + Thou hast fallen in blood alone, + And not a friend to cross + Or guard thee. I, deaf, senseless as a stone, +Left all undone. Oh, where, then, lies the stern +Aias, of saddest name, whose purpose none might turn? + +TEC. No eye shall see him. I will veil him round +With this all covering mantle; since no heart +That loved him could endure to view him there, +With ghastly expiration spouting forth +From mouth and nostrils, and the deadly wound, +The gore of his self slaughter. Ah, my lord! +What shall I do? What friend will carry thee? +Oh, where is Teucer! Timely were his hand, +Might he come now to smooth his brother's corse. +O thou most noble, here ignobly laid, +Even enemies methinks must mourn thy fate! + +CH. Ah! 'twas too clear thy firm knit thoughts would fashion, 2 + Early or late, an end of boundless woe! + Such heaving groans, such bursts of heart-bruised passion, + Midnight and morn, bewrayed the fire below. + 'The Atridae might beware!' + A plenteous fount of pain was opened there, + What time the strife was set, + Wherein the noblest met, + Grappling the golden prize that kindled thy despair! + +TEC. Woe, woe is me! + +CH. Deep sorrow wrings thy soul, I know it well. + +TEC. O woe, woe, woe! + +CH. Thou may'st prolong thy moan, and be believed, +Thou that hast lately lost so true a friend. + +TEC. Thou may'st imagine; 'tis for me to know. + +CH. Ay, ay, 'tis true. + +TEC. Alas, my child! what slavish tasks and hard +We are drifting to! What eyes control our will! + +CH. Ay me! Through thy complaint + I hear the wordless blow + Of two high-throned, who rule without restraint + Of Pity. Heaven forfend + What evil they intend! + +TEC. The work of Heaven hath brought our life thus low. + +CH. 'Tis a sore burden to be laid on men. + +TEC. Yet such the mischief Zeus' resistless maid, +Pallas, hath planned to make Odysseus glad. + +CH. O'er that dark-featured soul + What waves of pride shall roll, + What floods of laughter flow, + Rudely to greet this madness-prompted woe, +Alas! from him who all things dares endure, +And from that lordly pair, who hear, and seat them sure! + +TEC. Ay, let them laugh and revel o'er his fall! +Perchance, albeit in life they missed him not, +Dead, they will cry for him in straits of war. +For dullards know not goodness in their hand, +Nor prize the jewel till 'tis cast away. +To me more bitter than to them 'twas sweet, +His death to him was gladsome, for he found +The lot he longed for, his self-chosen doom. +What cause have they to laugh? Heaven, not their crew, +Hath glory by his death. Then let Odysseus +Insult with empty pride. To him and his +Aias is nothing; but to me, to me, +He leaves distress and sorrow in his room! + +TEUCER (_within_). Alas, undone! + +LEADER OF CH. Hush! that was Teucer's cry. Methought I heard +His voice salute this object of dire woe. + +_Enter_ TEUCER. + +TEU. Aias, dear brother, comfort of mine eye, +Hast thou then done even as the rumour holds? + +CH. Be sure of that, Teucer. He lives no more. + +TEU. Oh, then how heavy is the lot I bear! + +CH. Yes, thou hast cause-- + +TEU. O rash assault of woe!-- + +CH. To mourn full loud. + +TEU. Ay me! and where, oh where +On Trojan earth, tell me, is this man's child? + +CH. Beside the huts, untended. + +TEU. (_to_ TEC). Oh, with haste +Go bring him hither, lest some enemy's hand +Snatch him, as from the lion's widowed mate +The lion-whelp is taken. Spare not speed. +All soon combine in mockery o'er the dead. [_Exit_ TECMESSA + +CH. Even such commands he left thee ere he died. +As thou fulfillest by this timely care. + +TEU. O sorest spectacle mine eyes e'er saw! +Woe for my journey hither, of all ways +Most grievous to my heart, since I was ware, +Dear Aias, of thy doom, and sadly tracked +Thy footsteps. For there darted through the host, +As from some God, a swift report of thee +That thou wert lost in death. I, hapless, heard, +And mourned even then for that whose presence kills me. +Ay me! But come, +Unveil. Let me behold my misery. [_The corpse of_ AIAS _is uncovered_ +O sight unbearable! Cruelly brave! +Dying, what store of griefs thou sow'st for me! +Where, amongst whom of mortals, can I go, +That stood not near thee in thy troublous hour? +Will Telamon, my sire and thine, receive me +With radiant countenance and favouring brow +Returning without thee? Most like! being one +Who smiles no more[4], yield Fortune what she may. +Will he hide aught or soften any word, +Rating the bastard of his spear-won thrall, +Whose cowardice and dastardy betrayed +Thy life, dear Aias,--or my murderous guile, +To rob thee of thy lordship and thy home? +Such greeting waits me from the man of wrath, +Whose testy age even without cause would storm. +Last, I shall leave my land a castaway, +Thrust forth an exile, and proclaimed a slave; +So should I fare at home. And here in Troy +My foes are many and my comforts few. +All these things are my portion through thy death. +Woe's me, my heart! how shall I bear to draw thee, +O thou ill-starr'd! from this discoloured blade, +Thy self-shown slayer? Didst thou then perceive +Dead Hector was at length to be thine end?-- +I pray you all, consider these two men. +Hector, whose gift from Aias was a girdle, +Tight-braced therewith to the car's rim, was dragged +And scarified till he breathed forth his life. +And Aias with this present from his foe +Finds through such means his death-fall and his doom. +Say then what cruel workman forged the gifts, +But Fury this sharp sword, Hell that bright band? +In this, and all things human, I maintain, +Gods are the artificers. My thought is said. +And if there be who cares not for my thought, +Let him hold fast his faith and leave me mine. + +CH. Spare longer speech, and think how to secure +Thy brother's burial, and what plea will serve; +Since one comes here hath no good will to us +And like a villain haply comes in scorn. + +TEU. What man of all the host hath caught thine eye? + +CH. The cause for whom we sailed, the Spartan King. + +TEU. Yes; I discern him, now he moves more near. + +_Enter_ MENELAUS. + +MENELAUS. Fellow, give o'er. Cease tending yon dead man! +Obey my voice, and leave him where he lies. + +TEU. Thy potent cause for spending so much breath? + +MEN. My will, and his whose word is sovereign here. + +TEU. May we not know the reasons of your will? + +MEN. Because he, whom we trusted to have brought +To lend us loyal help with heart and hand, +Proved in the trial a worse than Phrygian foe; +Who lay in wait for all the host by night, +And sallied forth in arms to shed our blood; +That, had not one in Heaven foiled this attempt, +Our lot had been to lie as he doth here +Dead and undone for ever, while he lived +And flourished. Heaven hath turned this turbulence +To fall instead upon the harmless flock. +Wherefore no strength of man shall once avail +To encase his body with a seemly tomb, +But outcast on the wide and watery sand, +He'll feed the birds that batten on the shore. +Nor let thy towering spirit therefore rise +In threatening wrath. Wilt thou or not, our hand +Shall rule him dead, howe'er he braved us living, +And that by force; for never would he yield, +Even while he lived, to words from me. And yet +It shows base metal when the subject-wight +Deigns not to hearken to the chief in power. +Since without settled awe, neither in states +Can laws have rightful sway, nor can a host +Be governed with due wisdom, if no fear +Or wholesome shame be there to shield its safety. +And though a man wax great in thews and bulk, +Let him be warned: a trifling harm may ruin him. +Whoever knows respect and honour both +Stands free from risk of dark vicissitude. +But whereso pride and licence have their fling, +Be sure that state will one day lose her course +And founder in the abysm. Let fear have place +Still where it ought, say I, nor let men think +To do their pleasure and not bide the pain. +That wheel comes surely round. Once Aias flamed +With insolent fierceness. Now I mount in pride, +And loudly bid thee bury him not, lest burying +Thy brother thou be burrowing thine own grave. + +CH. Menelaüs, make not thy philosophy +A platform whence to insult the valiant dead. + +TEU. I nevermore will marvel, sirs, when one +Of humblest parentage is prone to sin, +Since those reputed men of noble strain +Stoop to such phrase of prating frowardness. +Come, tell it o'er again,--said you ye brought +My brother bound to aid you with his power? +Sailed he not forth of his own sovereign will? +Where is thy voucher of command o'er him? +Where of thy right o'er those that followed him? +Sparta, not we, shall buckle to thy sway. +'Twas written nowhere in the bond of rule +That thou shouldst check him rather than he thee. +Thou sailedst under orders, not in charge +Of all, much less of Aias. Then pursue +Thy limited direction, and chastise, +In haughty phrase, the men who fear thy nod. +But I will bury Aias, whether thou +Or the other general give consent or no. +'Tis not for me to tremble at your word. +Not to reclaim thy wife, like those poor souls +Thou flll'st with labour, issued this man forth, +But caring for his oath, and not for thee, +Or any other nobody. Then come +With heralds all arow, and bring the man +Called king of men with thee! For thy sole noise +I budge not, wert thou twenty times thy name. + +CH. The sufferer should not bear a bitter tongue. +Hard words, how just soe'er, will leave their sting. + +MEN. Our bowman carries no small pride, I see. + +TEU. No mere mechanic's menial craft is mine. + +MEN. How wouldst thou vaunt it hadst thou but a shield! + +TEU. Unarmed I fear not thee in panoply. + +MEN. Redoubted is the wrath lives on thy tongue. + +TEU. Whose cause is just hath licence to be proud. + +MEN. Just, that my murderer have a peaceful end? + +TEU. Thy murderer? Strange, to have been slain and live! + +MEN. Yea, through Heaven's mercy. By his will, I am dead. + +TEU. If Heaven have saved thee, give the Gods their due. + +MEN. Am I the man to spurn at Heaven's command? + +TEU. Thou dost, to come and frustrate burial. + +MEN. Honour forbids to yield my foe a tomb. + +TEU. And Aias was thy foeman? Where and when? + +MEN. Hate lived between us; that thou know'st full well. + +TEU. For thy proved knavery, coining votes i' the court + +MEN. The judges voted. He ne'er lost through me. + +TEU. Guilt hiding guile wears often fairest front. + +MEN. I know whom pain shall harass for that word. + +TEU. Not without giving equal pain, 'tis clear. + +MEN. No more, but this. No burial for this man! + +TEU. Yea, this much more. He shall have instant burial. + +MEN. I have seen ere now a man of doughty tongue +Urge sailors in foul weather to unmoor, +Who, caught in the sea-misery by and by, +Lay voiceless, muffled in his cloak, and suffered +Who would of the sailors over trample him +Even so methinks thy truculent mouth ere long +Shall quench its outcry, when this little cloud +Breaks forth on thee with the full tempest's might. + +TEU. I too have seen a man whose windy pride +Poured forth loud insults o'er a neighbour's fall, +Till one whose cause and temper showed like mine +Spake to him in my hearing this plain word: +'Man, do the dead no wrong; but, if thou dost, +Be sure thou shalt have sorrow.' Thus he warned +The infatuate one: ay, one whom I behold, +For all may read my riddle--thou art he. + +MEN. I will be gone. 'Twere shame to me, if known, +To chide when I have power to crush by force. + +TEU. Off with you, then! 'Twere triple shame in me +To list the vain talk of a blustering fool. [_Exit_ MENELAUS + +LEADER OF CHORUS. + High the quarrel rears his head! + Haste thee, Teucer, trebly haste, + Grave-room for the valiant dead + Furnish with what speed thou mayst, + Hollowed deep within the ground, + Where beneath his mouldering mound + Aias aye shall be renowned. + +_Re-enter_ TECMESSA _with_ EURYSAKES. + +TEU. Lo! where the hero's housemate and his child, +Hitting the moment's need, appear at hand, +To tend the burial of the ill fated dead. +Come, child, take thou thy station close beside: +Kneel and embrace the author of thy life, +In solemn suppliant fashion holding forth +This lock of thine own hair, and hers, and mine +With threefold consecration, that if one +Of the army force thee from thy father's corse, +My curse may banish him from holy ground, +Far from his home, unburied, and cut off +From all his race, even as I cut this curl. +There, hold him, child, and guard him; let no hand +Stir thee, but lean to the calm breast and cling. +(_To_ CHORUS) And ye, be not like women in this scene, +Nor let your manhoods falter; stand true men +To this defence, till I return prepared, +Though all cry No, to give him burial. [_Exit_ + +CHORUS. +When shall the tale of wandering years be done? I 1 +When shall arise our exile's latest sun? +Oh, where shall end the incessant woe +Of troublous spear-encounter with the foe, + Through this vast Trojan plain, +Of Grecian arms the lamentable stain? + +Would he had gone to inhabit the wide sky, I 2 +Or that dark home of death where millions lie, +Who taught our Grecian world the way +To use vile swords and knit the dense array! + His toil gave birth to toil +In endless line. He made mankind his spoil. + +His tyrant will hath forced me to forgo II 1 +The garland, and the goblet's bounteous flow: + Yea, and the flute's dear noise, + And night's more tranquil joys; + Ay me! nor only these, + The fruits of golden ease, +But Love, but Love--O crowning sorrow!-- +Hath ceased for me. I may not borrow + Sweet thoughts from him to smooth my dreary bed, + Where dank night-dews fall ever on my head, +Lest once I might forget the sadness of the morrow. + +Even here in Troy, Aias was erst my rock, II 2 +From darkling fears and 'mid the battle-shock + To screen me with huge might: + Now he is lost in night + And horror. Where again + Shall gladness heal my pain? +O were I where the waters hoary, +Round Sunium's pine-clad promontory, + Plash underneath the flowery upland height. + Then holiest Athens soon would come in sight, +And to Athena's self I might declare my story. + +_Enter_ TEUCER. + +TEU. My steps were hastened, brethren, when I saw +Great Agamemnon hitherward afoot. +He means to talk perversely, I can tell. + +_Enter_ AGAMEMNON. + +AG. And so I hear thou'lt stretch thy mouth agape +With big bold words against us undismayed-- +Thou, the she-captive's offspring! High would scale +Thy voice, and pert would be thy strutting gait, +Were but thy mother noble; since, being naught, +So stiff thou stand'st for him who is nothing now, +And swear'st we came not as commanders here +Of all the Achaean navy, nor of thee; +But Aias sailed, thou say'st, with absolute right. +Must we endure detraction from a slave? +What was the man thou noisest here so proudly? +Have I not set my foot as firm and far? +Or stood his valour unaccompanied +In all this host? High cause have we to rue +That prize-encounter for Pelides' arms, +Seeing Teucer's sentence stamps our knavery +For all to know it; and nought will serve but ye, +Being vanquished, kick at the award that passed +By voice of the majority in the court, +And either pelt us with rude calumnies, +Or stab at us, ye laggards! with base guile. +Howbeit, these ways will never help to build +The wholesome order of established law, +If men shall hustle victors from their right, +And mix the hindmost rabble with the van. +That craves repression. Not by bulky size, +Or shoulders' breadth, the perfect man is known; +But wisdom gives chief power in all the world. +The ox hath a huge broadside, yet is held +Right in the furrow by a slender goad; +Which remedy, I perceive, will pass ere long +To visit thee, unless thy wisdom grow; +Who hast uttered forth such daring insolence +For the pale shadow of a vanished man. +Learn modestly to know thy place and birth, +And bring with thee some freeborn advocate +To plead thy cause before us in thy room. +I understand not in the barbarous tongue, +And all thy talk sounds nonsense to mine ear. + +CH. Would ye might both have sense to curb your ire! +No better hope for either can I frame. + +TEU. Fie! How doth gratitude when men are dead +Prove renegade and swiftly pass away! +This Agamemnon hath no slightest word +Of kind remembrance any more for thee, +Aias, who oftentimes for his behoof +Hast jeoparded thy life in labour of war. +Now all is clean forgotten and out of mind. +Thou who hast multiplied words void of sense, +Hast thou no faintest memory of the time +When who but Aias came and rescued you +Already locked within the toils,--all lost, +The rout began: when close abaft the ships +The torches flared, and o'er the bootless trench +Hector was bounding high to board our fleet? +Who stayed that onset? Was not Aias he? +Whom thou deny'st to have once set foot by thine. +Find ye no merit there? And once again +When he met Hector singly, man to man, +Not by your bidding, but the lottery's choice, +His lot, that skulked not low adown i' the heap, +A moist earth-clod, but sure to spring in air, +And first to clear the plumy helmet's brim. +Yes, Aias was the man, and I too there +Kept rank, the 'barbarous mother's servile son.' +I pity thee the blindness of that word. +Who was thy father's father? A barbarian, +Pelops, the Phrygian, if you trace him far! +And what was Atreus, thine own father? One +Who served his brother with the abominable +Dire feast of his own flesh. And thou thyself +Cam'st from a Cretan mother, whom her sire +Caught with a man who had no right in her +And gave dumb fishes the polluted prey. +Such was thy race. What is the race thou spurnest? +My father, Telamon, of all the host +Being foremost proved in valour, took as prize +My mother for his mate: a princess she, +Born of Laomedon; Alcmena's son +Gave her to grace him--a triumphant meed. +Thus royally descended and thus brave, +Shall I renounce the brother of my blood, +Or suffer thee to thrust him in his woes +Far from all burial, shameless that thou art? +Be sure that, if ye cast him forth, ye'll cast +Three bodies more beside him in one spot; +For nobler should I find it here to die +In open quarrel for my kinsman's weal, +Than for thy wife--or Menelaüs', was 't? +Consider then, not my case, but your own. +For if you harm me you will wish some day +To have been a coward rather than dare me. + +CH. Hail, Lord Odysseus! thou art come in time +Not to begin, but help to end, a fray. + +_Enter_ ODYSSEUS. + +OD. What quarrel, sirs? I well perceived from far +The kings high-voicing o'er the valiant dead. + +AG. Yea, Lord Odysseus, for our ears are full +Of this man's violent heart-offending talk. + +OD. What words have passed? I cannot blame the man +Who meets foul speech with bitterness of tongue. + +AG. My speech was bitter, for his deeds were foul. + +OD. What deed of his could harm thy sovereign head? + +AG. He boldly says this corse shall not be left +Unburied, but he'll bury it in our spite. + +OD. May I then speak true counsel to my friend, +And pull with thee in policy as of yore? + +AG. Speak. I were else a madman; for no friend +Of all the Argeians do I count thy peer. + +OD. Then hear me in Heaven's name! Be not so hard +Thus without ruth tombless to cast him forth; +Nor be so vanquished by a vehement will, +That to thy hate even Justice' self must bow. +I, too, had him for my worst enemy, +Since I gained mastery o'er Pelides' arms. +But though he used me so, I ne'er will grudge +For his proud scorn to yield him thus much honour, +That, save Achilles' self, I have not seen +So noble an Argive on the fields of Troy. +Then 'twere not just in thee to slight him now; +Nor would thy treatment wound him, but confound +The laws of Heaven. No hatred should have scope +To offend the noble spirits of the dead. + +AG. Wilt thou thus fight against me on his side? + +OD. Yea, though I hated him, while hate was comely. + +AG. Why, thou shouldst trample him the more, being dead. + +OD. Rejoice not, King, in feats that soil thy fame! + +AG. 'Tis hard for power to observe each pious rule. + +OD. Not hard to grace the good words of a friend. + +AG. The 'noble spirit' should hearken to command. + +OD. No more! 'Tis conquest to be ruled by love. + +AG. Remember what he was thou gracest so. + +OD. A noisome enemy; but his life was great. + +AG. And wilt thou honour such a pestilent corse? + +OD. Hatred gives way to magnanimity. + +AG. With addle-pated fools. + +OD. Full many are found +Friends for an hour, yet bitter in the end. + +AG. And wouldst thou have us gentle to such friends? + +OD. I would not praise ungentleness in aught. + +AG. We shall be known for weaklings through thy counsel. + +OD. Not so, but righteous in all Grecian eyes. + +AG. Thou bidst me then let bury this dead man? + +OD. I urge thee to the course myself shall follow. + +AG. Ay, every man for his own line! That holds. + +OD. Why not for my own line? What else were natural? + +AG. 'Twill be thy doing then, ne'er owned by me. + +OD. Own it or not, the kindness is the same. + +AG. Well, for thy sake I'd grant a greater boon; +Then why not this? However, rest assured +That in the grave or out of it, Aias still +Shall have my hatred. Do thou what thou wilt. [_Exit_ + +CH. Whoso would sneer at thy philosophy, +While such thy ways, Odysseus, were a fool. + +OD. And now let Teucer know that from this hour +I am more his friend than I was once his foe, +And fain would help him in this burial-rite +And service to his brother, nor would fail +In aught that mortals owe their noblest dead. + +TEU. Odysseus, best of men, thine every word +Hath my heart's praise, and my worst thought of thee +Is foiled by thy staunch kindness to the man +Who was thy rancorous foe. Thou wast not keen +To insult in present of his corse, like these, +The insensate general and his brother-king, +Who came with proud intent to cast him forth +Foully debarred from lawful obsequy. +Wherefore may he who rules in yon wide heaven, +And the unforgetting Fury-spirit, and she, +Justice, who crowns the right, so ruin them +With cruellest destruction, even as they +Thought ruthlessly to rob him of his tomb! +For thee, revered Laërtes' lineal seed, +I fear to admit thy hand unto this rite, +Lest we offend the spirit that is gone. +But for the rest, I hail thy proffered aid; +And bring whom else thou wilt, I'll ne'er resent it. +This work shall be my single care; but thou, +Be sure I love thee for thy generous heart. + +OD. I had gladly done it; but, since thou declinest, +I bow to thy decision, and depart. [_Exit_ + +TEU. Speed we, for the hour grows late: + Some to scoop his earthy cell, + Others by the cauldron wait, + Plenished from the purest well. + Hoist it, comrades, here at hand, + High upon the three-foot stand! + Let the cleansing waters flow; + Brightly flame the fire below! + Others in a stalwart throng + From his chamber bear along + All the arms he wont to wield + Save alone the mantling shield. + Thou with me thy strength employ, + Lifting this thy father, boy; + Hold his frame with tender heed-- + Still the gashed veins darkly bleed. + Who professes here to love him? + Ply your busy cares above him, + Come and labour for the man, + Nobler none since time began, + Aias, while his life-blood ran. + +LEADER OF CH. Oft we know not till we see. + Weak is human prophecy. + Judge not, till the hour have taught thee + What the destinies have brought thee. + + * * * * * + + + + + KING OEDIPUS + + + THE PERSONS + +OEDIPUS, _King of Thebes._ +_Priest of Zeus._ +CREON, _brother of Jocasta._ +CHORUS _of Theban Elders._ +TIRESIAS, _the Blind Prophet._ +JOCASTA, _the Queen, sister to Creon._ +_A Corinthian Shepherd._ +_A Theban Shepherd._ +_Messenger_ + +The following also appear, but do not speak: + +_A Train of Suppliants._ +_The children_ ANTIGONE _and_ ISMENE. + + +SCENE. Before the Royal Palace in the Cadmean citadel of Thebes. + + + + +Laius, the descendant of Cadmus, and king of Thebes (or Thebè), had +been told by an oracle that if a son were born to him by his wife +Jocasta the boy would be his father's death. + +Under such auspices, Oedipus was born, and to elude the prophecy was +exposed by his parents on Mount Cithaeron. But he was saved by a +compassionate shepherd, and became the adopted son of Polybus, king of +Corinth. When he grew up he was troubled by a rumour that he was not +his father's son. He went to consult the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, +and was told--not of his origin but of his destiny--that he should be +guilty of parricide and incest. + +He was too horror-stricken to return to Corinth, and as he travelled +the other way, he met Laius going from Thebes to Delphi. The +travellers quarrelled and the son killed his father, but knew not whom +he had slain. He went onward till he came near Thebes, where the +Sphinx was making havoc of the noblest citizens, devouring all who +failed to solve her riddle. But Oedipus succeeded and overcame her, +and, as Laius did not return, was rewarded with the regal sceptre,-- +and with the hand of the queen. + +He reigned nobly and prosperously, and lived happily with Jocasta, by +whom he had four children. + +But after some years a plague descended on the people, and Apollo, on +being inquired of, answered that it was for Laius' death. The act of +regicide must be avenged. Oedipus undertakes the task of discovering +the murderer,--and in the same act discovers his own birth, and the +fulfilment of both the former prophecies. + +Jocasta hangs herself, and Oedipus in his despair puts out his eyes. + + + + + KING OEDIPUS + + +OEDIPUS--Priest of Zeus +(_with the_ Train of Suppliants _grouped before an altar_). + +OEDIPUS. Nurslings of Cadmus, children of my care, +Why press ye now to kneel before my gate +With sacred branches in those suppliant hands, +While o'er your city clouds of incense rise +And sounds of praise, mingling with sounds of woe? + I would not learn of your estate, my sons, +Through others, wherefore I myself am come, +Your Oedipus,--a name well known to men. +Speak, aged friend, whose look proclaims thee meet +To be their spokesman--What desire, what fear +Hath brought you? Doubt not of my earnest will +To lend all succour. Hard would be the heart +That looked unmoved on such a kneeling throng. + +PRIEST. Great ruler of my country, thou beholdest +The different ages of our flock who here +Are gathered round thine altar,--some, whose wing +Hath not yet ventured far from home, and some +Burdened with many years, priests of the Gods, +Myself the arch priest of Zeus, and these fresh youths, +A chosen few. Others there are who crowd +The holy agora and the temples twain +Of Pallas, and Ismenus' hallowed fires, +A suppliant host. For, as thyself perceivest, +Our city is tempest tost, and all too weak +To lift above the waves her weary prow +That plunges in a rude and ravenous sea. +Earth's buds are nipped, withering the germs within, +Our cattle lose their increase, and our wives +Have fruitless travail; and that scourge from Heaven, +The fiery Pestilence abhorred of men, +Descending on our people with dire stroke +Lays waste the Home of Cadmus, while dark Death +Wins ample tribute of laments and groans. + We kneel, then, at thy hearth; not likening thee +Unto the gods, I nor these children here, +But of men counting thee the first in might +Whether to cope with earthly casualty +Or visiting of more than earthly Power. +Thou, in thy coming to this Theban land, +Didst take away the hateful tax we paid +To that stern songstress[1],--aided not by us +With hint nor counsel, but, as all believe, +Gifted from heaven with life-restoring thought. +Now too, great Oedipus of matchless fame, +We all uplift our suppliant looks to thee, +To find some help for us, whether from man, +Or through the prompting of a voice Divine. +Experienced counsel, we have seen and know, +Hath ever prosperous issue. Thou, then, come, +Noblest of mortals, give our city rest +From sorrow! come, take heed! seeing this our land +Now calls thee Saviour for thy former zeal; +And 'twere not well to leave this memory +Of thy great reign among Cadmean men, +'He raised us up, only again to fall.' +Let the salvation thou hast wrought for us +Be flawless and assured! As once erewhile +Thy lucky star gave us prosperity, +Be the same man to-day. Wouldst thou be king +In power, as in command, 'tis greater far +To rule a people than a wilderness. +Since nought avails or city or buttressed wall +Or gallant vessel, if unmanned and void. + +OED. Ye touch me to the core. Full well I know +Your trouble and your desire. Think not, my sons, +I have no feeling of your misery! +Yet none of you hath heaviness like mine. +Your grief is held within the single breast +Of each man severally. My burdened heart +Mourns for myself, for Thebè, and for you. +Your coming hath not roused me from repose: +I have watched, and bitterly have wept; my mind +Hath travelled many a labyrinth of thought. +And now I have tried in act the only plan +Long meditation showed me. I have sent +The brother of my queen, Menoeceus' son, +Creon, to learn, in Phoebus' Delphian Hall, +What word or deed of mine may save this city. +And when I count the time, I am full of pain +To guess his speed; for he is absent long, +Beyond the limit of expectancy. +But when he shall appear, base then were I +In aught to disobey the voice of Heaven. + +PR. Lo, in good time, crowning thy gracious word, +'Tis told me by these youths, Creon draws near. + +OED. Apollo! may his coming be as blest +With saving fortune, as his looks are bright. + +PR. Sure he brings joyful news; else had he ne'er +Worn that full wreath of thickly-berried bay. + +OED. We have not long to doubt. He can hear now. + +_Enter_ CREON. + +Son of Menoeceus, brother of my queen, +What answer from Apollo dost thou bring? + +CREON. Good; for my message is that even our woes, +When brought to their right issue, shall be well. + +OED. What saith the oracle? Thy words so far +Neither embolden nor dishearten me. + +CR. Say, must I tell it with these standing by, +Or go within? I am ready either way. + +OED. Speak forth to all. The burden of their grief +Weighs more on me than my particular fear. + +CE. My lips shall utter what the God hath said. +Sovereign Apollo clearly bids us drive +Forth from this region an accursed thing +(For such is fostered in the land and stains +Our sacred clime), nor cherish it past cure. + +OED. What is the fault, and how to be redressed? + +CR. By exile, or by purging blood with blood. +Since blood it is that shakes us with this storm. + +OED. Whose murder doth Apollo thus reveal? + +CR. My gracious lord, before thy prosperous reign +King Laius was the leader of our land. + +OED. Though I ne'er saw him, I have heard, and know. + +CR. Phoebus commands us now to punish home, +Whoe'er they are, the authors of his death. + +OED. But they, where are they? Where shall now be read +The fading record of this ancient guilt? + +CR He saith, 'tis in this land. And what is sought +Is found, while things uncared for glide away. + +OED. But where did Laius meet this violent end? +At home, afield, or on some foreign soil? + +CR. He had left us, as he said, to visit Delphi; +But nevermore returned since he set forth. + +OED. And was there none, no fellow traveller, +To see, and tell the tale, and help our search? + +CR. No, they were slain; save one, who, flying in fear, +Had nought to tell us but one only thing. + +OED. What was that thing? A little door of hope, +Once opened, may discover much to view. + +CR. A random troop of robbers, meeting him, +Outnumbered and o'erpowered him. So 'twas told. + +OED. What robber would have ventured such a deed, +If unsolicited with bribes from hence? + +CR. We thought of that. But Laius being dead, +We found no helper in our miseries. + +OED. When majesty was fallen, what misery +Could hinder you from searching out the truth? + +CR. A present trouble had engrossed our care. +The riddling Sphinx compelled us to observe +The moment's grief, neglecting things unknown. + +OED. But I will track this evil to the spring +And clear it to the day. Most worthily +Doth great Apollo, worthily dost thou +Prompt this new care for the unthought of dead. +And me too ye shall find a just ally, +Succouring the cause of Phoebus and the land. +Since, in dispelling this dark cloud, I serve +No indirect or distant claim on me, +But mine own life, for he that slew the king +May one day turn his guilty hand 'gainst me +With equal rage. In righting Laius, then, +I forward mine own cause.--Now, children, rise +From the altar-steps, and lift your suppliant boughs, +And let some other summon to this place +All Cadmus' people, and assure them, I +Will answer every need. This day shall see us +Blest with glad fortune through God's help, or fallen. + +PR. Rise then, my children. Even for this we came +Which our good lord hath promised of himself. +Only may Phoebus, who hath sent this word, +With healing power descend, and stay the plague. [_Exeunt severally_ + +CHORUS (_entering_). +Kind voice of Heaven, soft-breathing from the height I 1 +Of Pytho's opulent home to Thebè bright, + What wilt thou bring to day? + Ah, Delian Healer, say! +My heart hangs on thy word with trembling awe: + What new giv'n law, +Or what returning in Time's circling round +Wilt thou unfold? Tell us, immortal sound, +Daughter of golden Hope, tell us, we pray, we pray! + +First, child of Zeus, Pallas, to thee appealing, I 2 +Then to sweet Artemis, thy sister, kneeling, + Who with benignant hand + Still guards our sacred land, +Throned o'er the circling mart that hears her praise, + And thou, whose rays +Pierce evil from afar, ho! come and save, +Ye mighty three! if e'er before ye drave +The threatening fire of woe from Thebè, come to day! + + For ah! the griefs that on me weigh II 1 + Are numberless; weak are my helpers all, + And thought finds not a sword to fray + This hated pestilence from hearth or hall. + Earth's blossoms blasted fall: + Nor can our women rise + From childbed after pangs and cries; + But flocking more and more + Toward the western shore, +Soul after soul is known to wing her flight, +Swifter than quenchless flame, to the far realm of Night. + + So deaths innumerable abound. II 2 + My city's sons unpitied lie around + Over the plague-encumbered ground + And wives and matrons old on every hand + Along the altar-strand + Groaning in saddest grief + Pour supplication for relief. + Loud hymns are sounding clear + With wailing voices near. +Then, golden daughter of the heavenly sire, +Send bright-eyed Succour forth to drive away this fire. + + And swiftly speed afar, III 1 + Windborne on backward car, + The viewless fiend who scares me with wild cries, + To oarless Thracian tide, + Of ocean-chambers wide, + About the bed where Amphitritè lies. +Day blights what night hath spared. O thou whose hand +Wields lightning, blast him with thy thundrous brand. + + Shower from the golden string III 2 + Thine arrows Lycian King! + O Phoebus, let thy fiery lances fly + Resistless, as they rove + Through Xanthus' mountain-grove! + O Thoeban Bacchus of the lustrous eye, +With torch and trooping Maenads and bright crown +Blaze on thee god whom all in Heaven disown. + [OEDIPUS _has entered during the Choral song_ + +OED. Your prayers are answered. Succour and relief +Are yours, if ye will heed my voice and yield +What help the plague requires. Hear it from me, +Who am hitherto a stranger to the tale, +As to the crime. Being nought concerned therewith, +I could not of myself divine the truth. +But now, as one adopted to your state, +To all of you Cadmeans I speak this: +Whoe'er among you knoweth the murderer +Of Laius, son of royal Labdacus, +Let him declare the deed in full to me. +First, if the man himself be touched with fear, +Let him depart, carrying the guilt away; +No harm shall follow him:--he shall go free. +Or if there be who knows another here, +Come from some other country, to have wrought +This murder, let him speak. Reward from me +And store of kind remembrance shall be his. +But if ye are silent, and one present here +Who might have uttered this, shall hold his peace, +As fearing for himself, or for his friend, +What then shall be performed, hear me proclaim. +I here prohibit all within this realm +Whereof I wield the sceptre and sole sway, +To admit the murderer, whosoe'er he be, +Within their houses, or to speak with him, +Or share with him in vow or sacrifice +Or lustral rite. All men shall thrust him forth, +Our dark pollution, so to me revealed +By this day's oracle from Pytho's cell. + So firm is mine allegiance to the God +And your dead sovereign in this holy war. +Now on the man of blood, whether he lurk +In lonely guilt, or with a numerous band, +I here pronounce this curse:--Let his crushed life +Wither forlorn in hopeless misery. +Next, I pray Heaven, should he or they be housed +With mine own knowledge in my home, that I +May suffer all I imprecate on them. +Last, I enjoin each here to lend his aid +For my sake, and the God's, and for your land +Reft of her increase and renounced by Heaven. +It was not right, when your good king had fallen, +Although the oracle were silent still, +To leave this inquisition unperformed. +Long since ye should have purged the crime. But now +I, to whom fortune hath transferred his crown, +And given his queen in marriage,--yea, moreover, +His seed and mine had been one family +Had not misfortune trampled on his head +Cutting him off from fair posterity,-- +All this being so, I will maintain his cause +As if my father's, racking means and might +To apprehend the author of the death +Of Laius, son to Labdacus, and heir +To Polydorus and to Cadmus old, +And proud Agenor of the eldest time. + Once more, to all who disobey in this +May Heaven deny the produce of the ground +And offspring from their wives, and may they pine +With plagues more horrible than this to-day. +But for the rest of you Cadmean men, +Who now embrace my word, may Righteousness, +Strong to defend, and all the Gods for aye +Watch over you for blessing in your land. + +LEADER OF CH. Under the shadow of thy curse, my lord, +I will speak. I slew him not, nor can I show +The man who slew. Phoebus, who gave the word, +Should name the guilty one. + +OED. Thy thought is just, +But man may not compel the Gods. + +CH. Again, +That failing, I perceive a second way. + +OED. Were there a third, spare not to speak it forth. + +CH. I know of one alone whose kingly mind +Sees all King Phoebus sees--Tirésias,--he +Infallibly could guide us in this quest. + +OED. That doth not count among my deeds undone. +By Creon's counsel I have sent twice o'er +To fetch him, and I muse at his delay. + +CH. The rumour that remains is old and dim. + +OED. What rumour? Let no tale be left untried. + +CH. 'Twas said he perished by some wandering band. + +OED. But the one witness is removed from ken. + +CH. Well, if the man be capable of fear, +He'll not remain when he hath heard thy curse. + +OED. Words have no terror for the soul that dares +Such doings. + +CH. Yet lives one who shall convict him. +For look where now they lead the holy seer, +Whom sacred Truth inspires alone of men. + +_Enter_ TIRESIAS. + +OED. O thou whose universal thought commands +All knowledge and all mysteries, in Heaven +And on the earth beneath, thy mind perceives, +Tirésias, though thine outward eye be dark, +What plague is wasting Thebè, who in thee, +Great Sir, finds her one saviour, her sole guide. +Phoebus (albeit the messengers perchance +Have told thee this) upon our sending sent +This answer back, that no release might come +From this disaster, till we sought and found +And slew the murderers of king Laius, +Or drave them exiles from our land. Thou, then, +Withhold not any word of augury +Or other divination which thou knowest, +But rescue Thebè, and thyself, and me, +And purge the stain that issues from the dead. +On thee we lean: and 'tis a noble thing +To use what power one hath in doing good. + +TIRESIAS. Ah! terrible is knowledge to the man +Whom knowledge profits not. This well I knew, +But had forgotten. Else I ne'er had come. + +OED. Why dost thou bring a mind so full of gloom? + +TI. Let me go home. Thy part and mine to-day +Will best be borne, if thou obey me in that. + +OED. Disloyal and ungrateful! to deprive +The state that reared thee of thine utterance now. + +TI. Thy speech, I see, is foiling thine intent; +And I would shield me from the like mishap. (_Going._) + +OED. Nay, if thou knowest, turn thee not away: +All here with suppliant hands importune thee. + +TI. Yea, for ye all are blind. Never will I +Reveal my woe;--mine, that I say not, thine. + +OED. So, then, thou hast the knowledge of the crime +And wilt not tell, but rather wouldst betray +This people, and destroy thy fatherland! + +TI. You press me to no purpose. I'll not pain +Thee, nor myself. Thou wilt hear nought from me. + +OED. How? Miscreant! Thy stubbornness would rouse +Wrath in a breast of stone. Wilt thou yet hold +That silent, hard, impenetrable mien? + +TI. You censure me for my harsh mood. Your own +Dwells unsuspected with you. Me you blame! + +OED. Who can be mild and gentle, when thou speakest +Such words to mock this people? + +TI. It will come: +Although I bury it in silence here. + +OED. Must not the King be told of what will come? + +TI. No word from me. At this, an if thou wilt, +Rage to the height of passionate vehemence. + +OED. Ay, and my passion shall declare my thought. +'Tis clear to me as daylight, thou hast been +The arch-plotter of this deed; yea, thou hast done +All but the actual blow. Hadst thou thy sight, +I had proclaimed thee the sole murderer. + +TI. Ay, say'st thou so?--I charge thee to abide +By thine own ordinance; and from this hour +Speak not to any Theban nor to me. +Thou art the vile polluter of the land. + +OED. O void of shame! What wickedness is this? +What power will give thee refuge for such guilt? + +TI. The might of truth is scatheless. I am free. + +OED. Whence came the truth to thee? Not from thine art. + +TI. From thee, whose rage impelled my backward tongue. + +OED. Speak it once more, that I may know the drift. + +TI. Was it so dark? Or wouldst thou tempt me further? + +OED. I cannot say 'twas clear. Speak it again. + +TI. I say thou art the murderer whom thou seekest. + +OED. Again that baleful word! But thou shalt rue. + +TI. Shall I add more, to aggravate thy wrath? + +OED. All is but idleness. Say what thou wilt. + +TI. I tell thee thou art living unawares +In shameful commerce with thy near'st of blood, +Ignorant of the abyss wherein thou liest. + +OED. Think you to triumph in offending still? + +TI. If Truth have power. + +OED. She hath, but not for thee. +Blind as thou art in eyes and ears and mind. + +TI. O miserable reproach, which all who now +Behold thee, soon shall thunder forth on thee! + +OED. Nursed in unbroken night, thou canst not harm +Or me, or any man who seeth the day. + +TI. No, not from me proceeds thy fall; the God, +Who cares for this, is able to perform it. + +OED. Came this device from Creon or thyself? + +TI. Not Creon: thou art thy sole enemy. + +OED. O wealth and sovereign power and high success +Attained through wisdom and admired of men, +What boundless jealousies environ you! +When for this rule, which to my hand the State +Committed unsolicited and free, +Creon, my first of friends, trusted and sure, +Would undermine and hurl me from my throne, +Meanly suborning such a mendicant +Botcher of lies, this crafty wizard rogue, +Blind in his art, and seeing but for gain. +Where are the proofs of thy prophetic power? +How came it, when the minstrel-hound was here, +This folk had no deliverance through thy word? +Her snare could not be loosed by common wit, +But needed divination and deep skill; +No sign whereof proceeded forth from thee +Procured through birds or given by God, till I, +The unknowing traveller, overmastered her, +The stranger Oedipus, not led by birds, +But ravelling out the secret by my thought: +Whom now you study to supplant, and trust +To stand as a supporter of the throne +Of lordly Creon,--To your bitter pain +Thou and the man who plotted this will hunt +Pollution forth[2].--But for thy reverend look +Thou hadst atoned thy trespass on the spot. + +CH. Your friends would humbly deprecate the wrath +That sounds both in your speech, my lord, and his. +That is not what we need, but to discern +How best to solve the heavenly oracle. + +TI. Though thou art king and lord, I claim no less +Lordly prerogative to answer thee. +Speech is my realm; Apollo rules my life, +Not thou. Nor need I Creon to protect me. +Now, then: my blindness moves thy scorn:--thou hast +Thy sight, and seest not where thou art sunk in evil, +What halls thou dost inhabit, or with whom: +Know'st not from whence thou art--nay, to thy kin, +Buried in death and here above the ground, +Unwittingly art a most grievous foe. +And when thy father's and thy mother's curse +With fearful tread shall drive thee from the land, +On both sides lashing thee,--thine eye so clear +Beholding darkness in that day,--oh, then, +What region will not shudder at thy cry? +What echo in all Cithaeron will be mute, +When thou perceiv'st, what bride-song in thy hall +Wafted thy gallant bark with nattering gale +To anchor,--where? And other store of ill +Thou seest not, that shall show thee as thou art, +Merged with thy children in one horror of birth. +Then rail at noble Creon, and contemn +My sacred utterance! No life on earth +More vilely shall be rooted out, than thine. + +OED. Must I endure such words from him? Begone! +Off to thy ruin, and with speed! Away, +And take thy presence from our palace-hall! + +TI. Had you not sent for me, I ne'er had come. + +OED. I knew not thou wouldst utter folly here, +Else never had I brought thee to my door. + +TI. To thee I am foolish, then; but to the pair +Who gave thee life, I was wise. + +OED. Hold, go not! who? +Who gave me being? + +TI. To-day shall bring to light +Thy birth and thy destruction. + +OED. Wilt thou still +Speak all in riddles and dark sentences? + +TI. Methought thou wert the man to find them out. + +OED. Ay! Taunt me with the gift that makes me great. + +TI. And yet this luck hath been thy overthrow. + +OED. I care not, since I rescued this fair town. + +TI. Then I will go. Come, sirrah, guide me forth! + +OED. Be it so! For standing here you vex our eye, +But, you being gone, our trouble goes with you. + +TI. I go, but I will speak. Why should I fear +Thy frown? Thou ne'er canst ruin me. The word +Wherefore I came, is this: The man you seek +With threatening proclamation of the guilt +Of Laius' blood, that man is here to-day, +An alien sojourner supposed from far, +But by-and-by he shall be certified +A true-born Theban: nor will such event +Bring him great joy; for, blind from having sight +And beggared from high fortune, with a staff +In stranger lands he shall feel forth his way; +Shown living with the children of his loins, +Their brother and their sire, and to the womb +That bare him, husband-son, and, to his father, +Parricide and corrival. Now go in, +Ponder my words; and if thou find them false, +then say my power is naught in prophecy. [_Exeunt severally_ + +CHORUS. +Whom hath the voice from Delphi's rocky throne I 1 + Loudly declared to have done +Horror unnameable with murdering hand? + With speed of storm-swift car + 'Tis time he fled afar +With mighty footstep hurrying from the land. + For, armed with lightning brand, +The son of Zeus assails him with fierce bounds, +Hunting with Death's inevitable hounds. + +Late from divine Parnassus' snow-capped height I 2 + This utterance sprang to light, +To track by every path the man unknown. + Through woodland caverns deep + And o'er the rocky steep +Harbouring in caves he roams the wild alone, + With none to share his moan. +Shunning that prophet-voice's central sound, +Which ever lives, and haunts him, hovering round. + +The reverend Seer hath stirred me with strange awe. II 1 +Gainsay I cannot, nor yet think him true. +I know not how to speak. My fluttering heart +In wild expectancy sees nothing clear. +Things past and future with the present doubt +Are shrouded in one mist. What quarrel lay +'Twixt Cadmus' issue and Corinthus' heir +Was never shown me, from old times till now, +By one on whose sure word I might rely +In running counter to the King's fair fame, +To wreak for Laius that mysterious death. + +Zeus and Apollo scan the ways of men II 2 +With perfect vision. But of mortals here +That soothsayers are more inspired than I +What certain proof is given? A man through wit +May pass another's wisdom in the race. +But never, till I see the word fulfilled, +Will I confirm their clamour 'gainst the King. +In open day the female monster came: +Then perfect witness made his wisdom clear. +Thebè hath tried him and delights in him. +Wherefore my heart shall still believe him good. + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CR. Citizens, hearing of dire calumny +Denounced on me by Oedipus the King, +I am here to make loud protest. If he think, +In this embroilment of events, one word +Or deed of mine hath wrought him injury, +I am not careful to prolong my life +Beneath such imputation. For it means +No trifling danger, but disastrous harm, +Making my life dishonoured in the state, +And meanly thought of by my friends and you. + +CH. Perchance 'twas but the sudden flash of wrath, +Not the deliberate judgement of the soul. + +CR. Who durst declare it[3], that Tirésias spake +False prophecies, set on to this by me? + +CH. Such things were said, I know not how advised. + +CR. And were the eyes and spirit not distraught, +When the tongue uttered this to ruin me? + +CH. I cannot say. To what my betters do +I am blind. But see, the King comes forth again. + +_Enter_ OEDIPUS. + +OED. Insolent, art thou here? Hadst thou the face +To bring thy boldness near my palace-roof, +Proved as thou art to have contrived my death +And laid thy robber hands upon my state? +Tell me, by heaven, had you seen in me +A coward or a fool, when you planned this?-- +Deemed you I should be blind to your attempt +Craftily creeping on, or, when perceived, +Not ward it off? Is't not a silly scheme, +To think to compass without troops of friends +Power, that is only won by wealth and men? + +CR. Wilt them be counselled? Hear as much in turn +As thou hast spoken, and then thyself be judge. + +OED. I know thy tongue, but I am slow to learn +From thee, whom I have found my grievous foe. + +CR. First on this very point, hear me declare-- + +OED. I will not hear that thou art not a villain. + +CR. Thine is a shallow judgement, if thou thinkest +Self-will without true thought can bring thee gain. + +OED. Thine is a shallow judgement, if thou thinkest +Thou canst abuse thy kinsman and be free. + +CR. A rightful sentence. But I fain would learn +What wrong is that you speak of? + +OED. Tell me this; +Didst thou, or not, urge me to send and bring +The reverend-seeming prophet? + +CR. Yea, and still +I hold that counsel firm. + +OED. How long is 't now +Since Laius-- + +CR. What? I do not catch your drift. + +OED. Vanished in ruin by a dire defeat? + +CR. 'Twere long to count the years that come between. + +OED. And did this prophet then profess his art? + +CR. Wise then as now, nor less in reverence. + +OED. Then at that season did he mention me? + +CR. Not in my hearing. + +OED. But, I may presume, +Ye held an inquisition for the dead? + +CR. Yes, we inquired, of course: and could not hear. + +OED. Why was he dumb, your prophet, in that day? + +CR. I cannot answer, for I do not know. + +OED. This you can answer, for you know it well. + +CR. Say what? I will not gainsay, if I know. + +OED. That, but for your advice, he had not dared +To talk of Laius' death as done by me. + +CR. You know, that heard him, what he spake. But I +Would ask thee too a question in my turn. + +OED. No questioning will fasten blood on me. + +CR. Hast thou my sister for thine honoured queen? + +OED. The fact is patent, and denial vain. + +CR. And shar'st with her dominion of this realm? + +OED. All she desires is given her by my will. + +CR. Then, am not I third-partner with you twain? + +OED. There is your villany in breaking fealty. + +CR. Not so, if thou wouldst reason with thyself +As I do. First consider one thing well: +Who would choose rule accompanied with fear +Before safe slumbers with an equal sway? +'Tis not my nature, no, nor any man's, +Who follows wholesome thoughts, to love the place +Of domination rather than the power. +Now, without fear, I have my will from thee; +But were I king, I should do much unwillingly. +How then can I desire to be a king, +When masterdom is mine without annoy? +Delusion hath not gone so far with me +As to crave more than honour joined with gain. +Now all men hail me happy, all embrace me; +All who have need of thee, call in my aid; +For thereupon their fortunes wholly turn. +How should I leave this substance for that show? +No man of sense can harbour thoughts of crime. +Such vain ambition hath no charm for me, +Nor could I bear to lend it countenance. +If you would try me, go and ask again +If I brought Phoebus' answer truly back. +Nay more, should I be found to have devised +Aught in collusion with the seer, destroy me, +Not by one vote, but two, mine own with thine. +But do not on a dim suspicion blame me +Of thy mere will. To darken a good name +Without clear cause is heinous wickedness; +And to cast off a worthy friend I call +No less a folly than to fling away +What most we love, the life within our breast. +The certainty of this will come with time; +For time alone can clear the righteous man. +An hour suffices to make known the villain. + +CH. Prudence bids hearken to such words, my lord, +For fear one fall. Swift is not sure in counsel. + +OED. When he who hath designs on me is swift +In his advance, I must bethink me swiftly. +Should I wait leisurely, his work hath gained +Achievement, while my plans have missed success. + +CR. What would you then? To thrust me from the land? + +OED. Nay, death, not exile, is my wish for thee, +When all have seen what envy brings on men. + +[CR. You'll ne'er relent nor listen to my plea.][4] + +OED. You'll ne'er be governed or repent your guilt. + +CR. Because I see thou art blind. + +OED. Not to my need. + +CR. Mine must be thought of too. + +OED. You are a villain. + +CR. How if thy thought be vain? + +OED. Authority +Must be maintained. + +CR. Not when authority +Declines to evil. + +OED. O my citizens! + +CR. I have a part in them no less than you. + +LEADER OF CH. Cease, princes. Opportunely I behold +Jocasta coming toward you from the palace. +Her presence may attune your jarring minds. + +_Enter_ JOCASTA. + +JOCASTA. Unhappy that ye are, why have ye reared +Your wordy rancour 'mid the city's harms? +Have you no shame, to stir up private broils +In such a time as this? Get thee within! (_To_ OED) +And thou too, Creon! nor enlarge your griefs +To make a mountain out of nothingness. + +CR. Sister, thy husband Oedipus declares +One of two horrors he will wreak on me, +Banishment from my native land, or death. + +OED. Yea, for I caught him practising, my queen, +Against our person with malignant guile. + +CR. May comfort fail me, and a withering curse +Destroy me, if I e'er planned aught of this. + +JO. I pray thee, husband, listen to his plea; +Chiefly respecting his appeal to Heaven, +But also me, and these who stand by thee. + +CH. 1. Incline to our request I 1 +Thy mind and heart, O King! + +OED. What would you I should yield unto your prayer? + +CH. 2. Respect one ever wise, +Whose oath protects him now. + +OED. Know ye what thing ye ask? + +CH. 3. I know. + +OED. Then plainly tell. + +CH. 4. Thy friend, who is rendered sacred by his oath, +Rob not of honour through obscure surmise. + +OED. In asking that, you labour for my death +Or banishment. Of this be well assured. + +CH. 5. No, by the Sun I swear, II 1 +Vaunt-courier of the host of heaven. +For may I die the last of deaths, +Unblest of God or friend, +If e'er such thought were mine. +But oh! this pining land +Afflicts my sorrow-burdened soul, +To think that to her past and present woe +She must add this, which springs to her from you. + +OED. Then let him range, though I must die outright, +Or be thrust forth with violence from the land! +--Not for his voice, but thine, which wrings my heart: +He, wheresoe'er he live, shall have my hate. + +CR. You show yourself as sullen when you yield, +As unendurable in your fury's height. +Such natures justly give themselves most pain. + +OED. Let me alone, then, and begone! + +CR. I go, +Untainted in their sight, though thou art blind. [_Exit_ + +CH. 1. Lady, why tarriest thou I 2 +To lead thy husband in? + +JO. Not till I learn what mischief is befallen. + +CH. 2. A dim, unproved debate. +Reproach, though unfounded, stings. + +JO. From both? + +CH. 3. From both alike. + +JO. How caused? + +CH. 4. Enough for me, +Amply enough it seems, when our poor land +Is vexed already, not to wake what sleeps. + +OED. (_to_ LEADER OF CH.). +See where thine honest zeal hath landed thee, +Bating my wrath, and blunting my desire! + +CH. 5. My prince, I say it again: II 2 +Assure thee, I were lost to sense, +Infatuate, void of wholesome thought, +Could I be tempted now +To loose my faith from thee, +Who, when the land I love +Laboured beneath a wildering load, +Didst speed her forth anew with favouring gale. +Now, too, if but thou may'st, be her good guide. + +JO. Let not thy queen be left in ignorance +What cause thou hadst to lift thy wrath so high. + +OED. I'll tell thee, lady, for I honour thee +More than these citizens. 'Twas Creon there, +And his inveterate treason against me. + +JO. Accuse him, so you make the quarrel plain. + +OED. He saith I am the murderer of the King. + +JO. Speaks he from hearsay, or as one who knows? + +OED. He keeps his own lips free: but hath suborned +A rascal soothsayer to this villany. + +JO. Hearken to me, and set your heart at rest +On that you speak of, while I make you learn +No mortal thing is touched by soothsaying. +Of that I'll give thee warrant brief and plain. +Word came to Laius once, I will not say +From Phoebus' self, but from his ministers, +The King should be destroyed by his own son, +If son were born to him from me. What followed? +Laius was slain, by robbers from abroad, +Saith Rumour, in a cross-way! But the child +Lived not three days, ere by my husband's hand +His feet were locked, and he was cast and left +By messengers on the waste mountain wold. +So Phoebus neither brought upon the boy +His father's murder, nor on Laius +The thing he greatly feared, death by his son. +Such issue came of prophesying words. +Therefore regard them not. God can himself +With ease bring forth what for his ends he needs. + +OED. What strange emotions overcloud my soul, +Stirred to her depths on hearing this thy tale! + +JO. What sudden change is this? What cares oppress thee? + +OED. Methought I heard thee say, King Laius +Was at a cross-road overpowered and slain? + +JO. So ran the talk that yet is current here. + +OED. Where was the scene of this unhappy blow? + +JO. Phocis the land is named. The parted ways +Meet in one point from Dauha and from Delphi. + +OED. And since the event how much of time hath flown? + +JO. 'Twas just ere you appeared with prospering speed +And took the kingdom, that the tidings came. + +OED. What are thy purposes against me, Zeus? + +JO. Why broods thy mind upon such thoughts, my king? + +OED. Nay, ask me not! But tell me first what height +Had Laius, and what grace of manly prime? + +JO. Tall, with dark locks just sprinkled o'er with grey: +In shape and bearing much resembling thee. + +OED. O heavy fate! How all unknowingly +I laid that dreadful curse on my own head! + +JO. How? +I tremble as I gaze on thee, my king! + +OED. The fear appals me that the seer can see. +Tell one thing more, to make it doubly clear! + +JO. I am lothe to speak, but, when you ask, I will. + +OED. Had he scant following, or, as princes use, +Full numbers of a well-appointed train? + +JO. There were but five in all: a herald one; +And Laius travelled in the only car. + +OED. Woe! woe! 'Tis clear as daylight. Who was he +That brought you this dire message, O my queen? + +JO. A home-slave, who alone returned alive. + +OED. And is he now at hand within the house? + +JO. No, truly. When he came from yonder scene +And found thee king in room of Laius murdered, +He touched my hand, and made his instant prayer +That I would send him to o'erlook the flocks +And rural pastures, so to live as far +As might be from the very thought of Thebes. +I granted his desire. No servant ever +More richly merited such boon than he. + +OED. Can he be brought again immediately? + +JO. Indeed he can. But why desire it so? + +OED. Words have by me been uttered, O my queen, +That give me too much cause to wish him here. + +JO. Then come he shall. But I may surely claim +To hear what in thy state goes heavily. + +OED. Thou shalt not lose thy rights in such an hour, +When I am harrowed thus with doubt and fear. +To whom more worthy should I tell my grief? +--My father was Corinthian Polybus, +My mother, Dorian Meropè.--I lived +A prince among that people, till a chance +Encountered me, worth wonder, but, though strange, +Not worth the anxious thought it waked in me. +For at a feasting once over the wine +One deep in liquor called aloud to me, +'Hail, thou false foundling of a foster-sire!' +That day with pain I held my passion down; +But early on the morrow I came near +And questioned both my parents, who were fierce +In anger at the man who broached this word. +For their part I was satisfied, but still +It galled me, for the rumour would not die. + Eluding then my parents I made way +To Delphi, where, as touching my desire, +Phoebus denied me; but brake forth instead +With other oracles of misery +And horrible misfortune, how that I +Must know my mother's shame, and cause to appear +A birth intolerable in human view, +And do to death the author of my life. +I fled forth at the word, conjecturing now +Corinthia's region by the stars of heaven, +And wandered, where I never might behold +Those dreadful prophecies fulfilled on me. +So travelling on, I came even to the place +Where, as thou tell'st, the King of Thebè fell. +And, O my wife, I will hide nought from thee. +When I drew near the cross-road of your tale, +A herald, and a man upon a car, +Like your description, there encountered me. +And he who led the car, and he himself +The greybeard, sought to thrust me from the path. +Then in mine angry mood I sharply struck +The driver-man who turned me from the way; +Which when the elder saw, he watched for me +As I passed by, and from the chariot-seat +Smote full upon my head with the fork'd goad; +But got more than he gave; for, by a blow +From this right hand, smit with my staff, he fell +Instantly rolled out of the car supine. +I slew them every one. Now if that stranger +Had aught in common with king Laius, +What wretch on earth was e'er so lost as I? +Whom have the Heavens so followed with their hate? +No house of Theban or of foreigner +Must any more receive me, none henceforth +Must speak to me, but drive me from the door! +I, I have laid this curse on mine own head! +Yea, and this arm that slew him now enfolds +His queen. O cruel stain! Am I not vile? +Polluted utterly! Yes, I must flee, +And, lost to Thebè, nevermore behold +My home, nor tread my country, lest I meet +In marriage mine own mother, and bring low +His head that gave me life and reared my youth, +My father, Polybus. Ah! right were he +Who should declare some god of cruel mood +Had sent this trouble upon my soul! Ye Powers, +Worshipped in holiness, ne'er may I see +That day, but perish from the sight of men, +Ere sins like these be branded on my name! + +CH. Thy fear is ours, O king: yet lose not hope, +Till thou hast heard the witness of the deed. + +OED. Ay, that is all I still have left of hope, +To bide the coming of the shepherd man. + +JO. What eager thought attends his presence here? + +OED. I'll tell thee. Should his speech accord with thine, +My life stands clear from this calamity. + +JO. What word of mine agreed not with the scene? + +OED. You said he spake of robbers in a band +As having slain him. Now if he shall still +Persist in the same number, I am free. +One man and many cannot be the same. +But should he tell of one lone traveller, +Then, unavoidably, this falls on me. + +JO. So 'twas given out by him, be sure of that. +He cannot take it back. Not I alone +But all the people heard him speak it so. +And should he swerve in aught from his first tale, +He ne'er can show the murder of the king +Rightly accordant with the oracle. +For Phoebus said expressly he should fall +Through him whom I brought forth. But that poor babe +Ne'er slew his sire, but perished long before. +Wherefore henceforth I will pursue my way +Regardless of all words of prophecy. + +OED. Wisely resolved. But still send one to bring +The labourer swain, and be not slack in this. + +JO. I will, and promptly. Go we now within! +My whole desire is but to work thy will. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS +O may my life be evermore I 1 + Pure in each holy word and deed + By those eternal laws decreed +That pace the sapphire-paven floor! +Children of Heaven, of Ether born, +No mortal knew their natal morn, +Nor may Oblivion's waters deep +E'er lull their wakeful spirit asleep, +Nor creeping Age o'erpower the mighty God +Who far within them holds his unprofaned abode. + +Pride breeds the tyrant: monstrous birth! I 2 + Insolent Pride, if idly nursed + On timeless surfeit, plenty accursed, +Spurning the lowlier tract of Earth +Mounts to her pinnacle,--then falls, +Dashed headlong down sheer mountain walls +To dark Necessity's deep ground, +Where never foothold can be found. +Let wrestlers for my country's glory speed, +God, I thee pray! Be God my helper in all need! + +But if one be, whose bold disdain I 2 +Walks in a round of vapourings vain +And violent acts, regarding not +The Rule of Right, but with proud thought +Scorning the place where Gods have set their seat, +--Made captive by an Evil Doom, +Shorn of that inauspicious bloom, +Let him be shown the path of lawful gain +And taught in holier ways to guide his feet, +Nor with mad folly strain +His passionate arms to clasp things impious to retain. +Who in such courses shall defend his soul +From storms of thundrous wrath that o'er him roll? +If honour to such lives be given, +What needs our choir to hymn the power of Heaven? + +No more to Delphi, central shrine II 2 +Of Earth, I'll seek, for light divine, +Nor visit Abae's mystic fane +Nor travel o'er the well-trod plain +Where thousands throng to famed Olympia's town, +Unless, with manifest accord, +The event fulfil the oracular word. +Zeus, Lord of all! if to eternity +Thou would'st confirm thy kingdom's large renown, +Let not their vauntings high +Evade the sovereign look of the everlasting eye! +They make as though the ancient warning slept +By Laius erst with fear and trembling kept; +Apollo's glory groweth pale, +And holiest rites are prone to faint and fail. + +_Enter_ JOCASTA. + +JO. Princes of Thebes, it came into my thought +To stand before some holy altar-place +With frankincense and garlands. For the king, +Transported by the tempest of his fear, +Runs wild in grief, nor like a man of sense +Reasons of present things from what hath been. +Each tongue o'ermasters him that tells of woe. +Then since my counsels are of no avail, +To thee, for thou art nearest, Lykian God, +I bring my supplication with full hand. +O grant us absolution and relief! +For seeing him, our pilot, so distraught, +Like mariners, we are all amazed with dread. + +_Enter the_ CORINTHIAN SHEPHERD. + +COR. SH. Are ye the men to tell me where to find +The mansion of the sovereign Oedipus? +Or better, where he may himself be found? + +CH. Here is the roof you seek, and he, our lord, +Is there within: and, stranger, thou behold'st +The queenly mother of his royal race. + +COR. SH. May she and hers be alway fortunate! +Still may she crown him with the joys of home! + +JO. Be thou, too, blest, kind sir! Thy gracious tongue +Deserves no less. But tell me what request +Or what intelligence thou bring'st with thee? + +COR. SH. Good tidings for thy house and husband, queen. + +JO. What are they? Who hath sent thee to our hall? + +COR. SH. From Corinth come I, and will quickly tell +What sure will please you; though perchance 'twill grieve. + +JO. What news can move us thus two ways at once? + +COR. SH. 'Twas rumoured that the people of the land +Of Corinth would make Oedipus their king. + +JO. Is ancient Polybus not still in power? + +COR. SH. No. Death confines him in a kingly grave. + +JO. Hold there! How say you? Polybus in his grave? + +COR. SH. May I die for him if I speak not true! + +JO. (_To an attendant_). +Run thou, and tell this quickly to my lord! +Voices of prophecy, where are ye now? +Long time hath Oedipus, a homeless man, +Trembled with fear of slaying Polybus. +Who now lies slain by Fortune, not by him. + +_Enter_ OEDIPUS. + +OED. Jocasta, my dear queen, why didst thou send +To bring me hither from our palace-hall? + +JO. Hear that man's tale, and then consider well +The end of yonder dreadful prophecy. + +OED. Who is the man, and what his errand here? + +JO. He comes from Corinth, to make known to thee +That Polybus, thy father, is no more. + +OED. How, stranger? Let me learn it from thy mouth. + +COR. SH. If my first duty be to make this clear, +Know beyond doubt that he is dead and gone. + +OED. By illness coming o'er him, or by guile? + +COR. SH. Light pressure lays to rest the timeworn frame. + +OED. He was subdued by sickness then, poor soul! + +COR. SH. By sickness and the burden of his years. + +OED. Ah! my Jocasta, who again will heed +The Pythian hearth oracular, and birds +Screaming in air, blind guides! that would have made +My father's death my deed; but he is gone, +Hidden underneath the ground, while I stand hero +Harmless and weaponless:--unless, perchance, +My absence killed him,--so he may have died +Through me. But be that as it may, the grave +That covers Polybus, hath silenced, too, +One voice of prophecy, worth nothing now. + +JO. Did I not tell thee so, long since? + +OED. Thou didst. +But I was drawn to error by my fear. + +JO. Now cast it altogether out of mind. + +OED. Must I not fear my mother's marriage-bed? + +JO. Why should man fear, seeing his course is ruled +By fortune, and he nothing can foreknow? +'Tis best to live at ease as best one may. +Then fear not thou thy mother's nuptial hour. +Many a man ere now in dreams hath lain +With her who bare him. He hath least annoy +Who with such omens troubleth not his mind. + +OED. That word would be well spoken, were not she +Alive that gave me birth. But since she lives, +Though you speak well, yet have I cause for fear. + +JO. Your father's burial might enlighten you. + +OED. It doth. But I am darkened by a life. + +COR. SH. Whose being overshadows thee with fear? + +OED. Queen Meropè, the consort of your king. + +COR. SH. What in her life should make your heart afraid? + +OED. A heaven-sent oracle of dreadful sound. + +COR. SH. May it be told, or must no stranger know? + +OED. Indeed it may. Word came from Phoebus once +That I must know my mother's shame, and shed +With these my hands my own true father's blood. +Wherefore long since my home hath been removed +Far from Corinthos:--not unhappily; +But still 'tis sweet to see a parent's face. + +COR. SH. Did fear of this make thee so long an exile? + +OED. Of this and parricide, my aged friend. + +COR. SH. I came with kind intent--and, dear my lord, +I fain would rid thee from this haunting dread. + +OED. Our gratitude should well reward thy love. + +COR. SH. Hope of reward from thee in thy return +Was one chief motive of my journey hither. + +OED. Return? Not to my parents' dwelling-place! + +COR. SH. Son, 'tis too clear, you know not what you do. + +OED. Wherefore, kind sir? For Heaven's sake teach me this. + +COR. SH. If for these reasons you avoid your home. + +OED. The fear torments me, Phoebus may prove true. + +COR. SH. Lest from your parents you receive a stain? + +OED. That is the life-long torment of my soul. + +COR. SH. Will you be certified your fears are groundless? + +OED. How groundless, if I am my parents' child? + +COR. SH. Because with Polybus thou hast no kin. + +OED. Why? Was not he the author of my life? + +COR. SH. As much as I am, and no more than I. + +OED. How can my father be no more to me +Than who is nothing? + +COR. SH. In begetting thee +Nor I nor he had any part at all. + +OED. Why then did he declare me for his son? + +COR. SH. Because he took thee once a gift from me. + +OED. Was all that love unto a foundling shown? + +COR. SH. Heirless affection so inclined his heart. + +OED. A gift from you! Your purchase, or your child?[5] + +COR. SH. Found in Cithaeron's hollowy wilderness. + +OED. What led your travelling footstep to that ground? + +COR. SH. The flocks I tended grazed the mountain there. + +OED. A shepherd wast thou, and a wandering hind? + +COR. SH. Whatever else, my son, thy saviour then. + +OED. From what didst thou release me or relieve? + +COR. SH. Thine instep bears memorial of the pain. + +OED. Ah! what old evil will thy words disclose? + +COR. SH. Thy feet were pierced. 'Twas I unfastened them. + +OED. So cruel to my tender infancy! + +COR. SH. From this thou hast received thy name. + +OED. By heaven +I pray thee, did my father do this thing, +Or was't my mother? + +COR. SH. That I dare not say. +He should know best who gave thee to my hand. + +OED. Another gave me, then? You did not find me? + +COR. SH. Another herdsman passed thee on to me. + +OED. Can you describe him? Tell us what you know. + +COR. SH. Methinks they called him one of Laius' people. + +OED. Of Laius once the sovereign of this land? + +COR. SH. E'en so. He was a shepherd of his flock. + +OED. And is he still alive for me to see? + +COR. SH. You Thebans are most likely to know that. + +OED. Speak, any one of you in presence here, +Can you make known the swain he tells us of, +In town or country having met with him? +The hour for this discovery is full come. + +CH. Methinks it is no other than the peasant +Whom thou didst seek before to see: but this +Could best be told by queen Jocasta there. + +OED. We lately sought that one should come, my queen. +Know'st thou, is this of whom he speaks the same? + +JO. What matter who? Regard not, nor desire +Even vainly to remember aught he saith. + +OED. When I have found such tokens of my birth, +I must disclose it. + +JO. As you love your life, +By heaven I beg you, search no further here! +The sickness in my bosom is enough. + +OED. Nay, never fear! Were I proved thrice a slave +And waif of bondwomen, you still are noble. + +JO. Yet hearken, I implore you: do not so. + +OED. I cannot hear you. I must know this through. + +JO. With clear perception I advise the best. + +OED. Thy 'best' is still my torment. + +JO. Wretched one, +Never may'st thou discover who thou art! + +OED. Will some one go and bring the herdman hither? +Leave her to revel in her lordly line! + +JO. O horrible! O lost one! This alone +I speak to thee, and no word more for ever. [_Exit_ + +CH. Oedipus, wherefore is Jocasta gone, +Driven madly by wild grief? I needs must fear +Lest from this silence she make sorrow spring. + +OED. Leave her to raise what storm she will. But I +Will persevere to know mine origin, +Though from an humble seed. Her woman's pride +Is shamed, it may be, by my lowliness. +But I, whilst I account myself the son +Of prospering Fortune, ne'er will be disgraced. +For she is my true mother: and the months, +Coheirs with me of the same father, Time, +Have marked my lowness and mine exaltation. +So born, so nurtured, I can fear no change, +That I need shrink to probe this to the root. + [OEDIPUS _remains, and gazes towards the country, + while the_ CHORUS _sing_ + +CHORUS. + If I wield a prophet's might, 1 + Or have sense to search aright, + Cithaeron, when all night the moon rides high, + Loud thy praise shall be confessed, + How upon thy rugged breast, + Thou, mighty mother, nursed'st tenderly + Great Oedipus, and gav'st his being room + Within thy spacious home. + Yea, we will dance and sing + Thy glory for thy kindness to our king. + Phoebus, unto thee we cry, + Be this pleasing in thine eye! + + Who, dear sovereign, gave thee birth, 2 + Of the long lived nymphs of earth? + Say, was she clasped by mountain roving Pan? + Or beguiled she one sweet hour + With Apollo in her bower, + Who loves to trace the field untrod by man? + Or was the ruler of Cyllene's height + The author of thy light? + Or did the Bacchic god, + Who makes the top of Helicon to nod, + Take thee for a foundling care + From his playmates that are there? + +_The_ THEBAN SHEPHERD _is seen approaching, guarded._ + +OED. If haply I, who never saw his face, +Thebans, may guess, methinks I see the hind +Whose coming we have longed for. Both his age, +Agreeing with this other's wintry locks, +Accords with my conjecture, and the garb +Of his conductors is well known to me +As that of mine own people. But methinks [_to_ LEADER of CHORUS] +Thou hast more perfect knowledge in this case, +Having beheld the herdman in the past. + +CH. I know him well, believe me. Laius +Had no more faithful shepherd than this man. + +OED. Corinthian friend, I first appeal to you: +Was't he you spake of? + +COR. SH. 'Twas the man you see. + +OED. Turn thine eyes hither, aged friend, and tell +What I shall ask thee. Wast thou Laius' slave? + +THEB. SH. I was, not bought, but bred within the house. + +OED. What charge or occupation was thy care? + +THEB. SH. Most of my time was spent in shepherding. + +OED. And where didst thou inhabit with thy flock? + +THEB. SH. 'Twas now Cithaeron, now the neighbouring tract. + +OED. And hadst thou there acquaintance of this man? + +THEB. SH. Following what service? What is he you mean? + +OED. The man you see. Hast thou had dealings with him? + +THEB. SH. I cannot bring him all at once to mind. + +COR. SH. No marvel, good my lord. But I will soon +Wake to clear knowledge his oblivious sense. +For sure I am he can recall the time, +When he with his two flocks, and I with one +Beside him, grazed Cithaeron's pasture wide +Good six months' space of three successive years, +From spring to rising of Arcturus; then +For the bleak winter season, I drove mine +To their own folds, he his to Laius' stalls. +Do I talk idly, or is this the truth? + +THEB. SH. The time is far remote. But all is true. + +COR. SH. Well, dost remember having given me then +A child, that I might nurture him for mine? + +THEB. SH. What means thy question? Let me know thy drift. + +COR. SH. Friend, yonder stands the infant whom we knew. + +THEB. SH. Confusion seize thee, and thy evil tongue! + +OED. Check not his speech, I pray thee, for thy words +Call more than his for chastisement, old sir. + +THEB. SH. O my dread lord, therein do I offend? + +OED. Thou wilt not answer him about the child? + +THEB. SH. He knows not what he speaks. His end is vain. + +OED. So! Thou'lt not tell to please us, but the lash +Will make thee tell. + +THEB. SH. By all that's merciful, +Scourge not this aged frame! + +OED. Pinion him straight! + +THEB. SH. Unhappy! wherefore? what is't you would know? + +OED. Gave you this man the child of whom he asks you? + +THEB. SH. I gave it him. Would I had died that hour! + +OED. Speak rightly, or your wish will soon come true. + +THEB. SH. My ruin comes the sooner, if I speak. + +OED. This man will balk us with his baffling prate. + +THEB. SH. Not so. I said long since, 'I gave the child.' + +OED. Whence? Was't your own, or from another's hand? + +THEB. SH. 'Twas not mine own; another gave it me. + +OED. What Theban gave it, from what home in Thebes? + +THEB. SH. O, I implore thee, master, ask no more! + +OED. You perish, if I have to ask again. + +THEB. SH. The child was of the stock of Laius. + +OED. Slave-born, or rightly of the royal line? + +THEB. SH. Ah me! Now comes the horror to my tongue! + +OED. And to mine ear. But thou shalt tell it me! + +THEB. SH. He was given out for Laius' son: but she, +Thy queen, within the palace, best can tell. + +OED. How? Did she give it thee? + +THEB. SH. My lord, she did. + +OED. With what commission? + +THEB. SH. I was to destroy him. + +OED. And could a mother's heart be steeled to this? + +THEB. SH. With fear of evil prophecies. + +OED. What were they? + +THEB. SH. 'Twas said the child should be his father's death. + +OED. What then possessed thee to give up the child +To this old man? + +THEB. SH. Pity, my sovereign lord! +Supposing he would take him far away +Unto the land whence he was come. But he +Preserved him to great sorrow. For if thou +Art he this man hath said, be well assured +Thou bear'st a heavy doom. + +OED. O horrible! +Horrible! All fulfilled, as sunlight clear! +Oh may I nevermore behold the day, +Since proved accursèd in my parentage, +In those I live with, and in him I slew! [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS. + O mortal tribes of men, I 1 + How near to nothingness +I count you while your lives remain! +What man that lives hath more of happiness +Than to seem blest, and, seeming, fade in night? +O Oedipus, in this thine hour of gloom, +Musing on thee and thy relentless doom, +I call none happy who beholds the light. + + Thou through surpassing skill I 2 + Didst rise to wealth and power, +When thou the monstrous riddling maid didst kill, +And stoodst forth to my country as a tower +To guard from myriad deaths this glorious town; +Whence thou wert called my king, of faultless fame, +In all the world a far-resounded name, +Unparagoned in honour and renown. + +But now to hear of thee, who more distressed? II 1 + Who more acquainted with fierce misery, +Assaulted by disasters manifest, + Than thou in this thy day of agony? +Most noble, most renowned!--Yet one same room + Heard thy first cry, and in thy prime of power, +Received thee, harbouring both bride and groom, + And bore it silently till this dread hour. +How could that furrowing of thy father's field +Year after year continue unrevealed? + +Time hath detected thine unwitting deed, II 2 + Time, who discovers all with eyes of fire, +Accusing thee of living without heed + In hideous wedlock husband, son, and sire. +Ah would that we, thou child of Laius born, + Ah would that we had never seen thee nigh! +E'er since we knew thee who thou art, we mourn + Exceedingly with cries that rend the sky. +For, to tell truth, thou didst restore our life +And gavest our soul sweet respite after strife. + +_Enter_ Messenger. + +MESS. O ye who in this land have ever held +Chief honour, what an object of dire woe +Awaits your eyes, your ears! What piercing grief +Your hearts must suffer, if as kinsmen should +Ye still regard the house of Laius! +Not Phasis, nor the Danube's rolling flood, +Can ever wash away the stain and purge +This mansion of the horror that it hides. +--And more it soon shall give to light, not now +Unconsciously enacted. Of all ill, +Self-chosen sorrows are the worst to bear. + +CH. What hast thou new to add? the weight of grief +From that we know burdens the heart enough. + +MESS. Soon spoken and soon heard is the chief sum. +Jocasta's royal head is sunk in death. + +CH. The hapless queen! What was the fatal cause? + +MESS. Her own determination. You are spared +The worst affliction, not being there to see. +Yet to the height of my poor memory's power +The wretched lady's passion you shall hear. +When she had passed in her hot mood within +The vestibule, straight to the bridal room +She rushes, tearing with both hands her hair. +Then having entered, shutting fast the door, +She called aloud on Laius, long dead, +With anguished memory of that birth of old +Whereby the father fell, leaving his queen +To breed a dreadful brood for his own son. +And loudly o'er the bed she wailed, where she, +In twofold wedlock, hapless, had brought forth +Husband from husband, children from a child. +We could not know the moment of her death, +Which followed soon, for Oedipus with cries +Broke in, and would not let us see her end, +But held our eyes as he careered the hall, +Demanding arms, and where to find his wife,-- +No, not his wife, but fatal mother-croft, +Cropped doubly with himself and his own seed. +And in his rage some god directed him +To find her:--'twas no man of us at hand. +Then with a fearful shout, as following +His leader, he assailed the folding-doors; +And battering inward from the mortised bolts +The bending boards, he burst into the room: +Where high suspended we beheld the queen, +In twisted cordage resolutely swung. +He all at once on seeing her, wretched king! +Undid the pendent noose, and on the ground +Lay the ill-starred queen. Oh, then 'twas terrible +To see what followed--for he tore away +The tiring-pins wherewith she was arrayed, +And, lifting, smote his eyeballs to the root, +Saying, Nevermore should they behold the evil +His life inherited from that past time, +But all in dark henceforth should look upon +Features far better not beheld, and fail +To recognize the souls he had longed to know. +Thus crying aloud, not once but oftentimes +He drave the points into his eyes; and soon +The bleeding pupils moistened all his beard, +Nor stinted the dark flood, but all at once +The ruddy hail poured down in plenteous shower. +Thus from two springs, from man and wife together, +Rose the joint evil that is now o'erflowing. +And the old happiness in that past day +Was truly happy, but the present hour +Hath pain, crime, ruin:--whatsoe'er of ill +Mankind have named, not one is absent here. + +CH. And finds the sufferer now some pause of woe? + +MESS. He bids make wide the portal and display +To all the men of Thebes the man who slew +His father, who unto his mother did +What I dare not repeat, and fain would fling +His body from the land, nor calmly bide +The shock of his own curse on his own hall. +Meanwhile he needs some comfort and some guide, +For such a load of misery who can bear? +Thyself shalt judge: for, lo, the palace-gates +Unfold, and presently thine eyes will see +A hateful sight, yet one thou needs must pity. + +_Enter_ OEDIPUS, _blind and unattended._ + +LEADER OF CH. O horror of the world! +Too great for mortal eye! +More terrible than all I have known of ill! +What fury of wild thought +Came o'er thee? Who in heaven +Hath leapt against thy hapless life +With boundings out of measure fierce and huge? +Ah! wretched one, I cannot look on thee: +No, though I long to search, to ask, to learn. +Thine aspect is too horrible.--I cannot! + +OED. Me miserable! Whither am I borne? +Into what region are these wavering sounds +Wafted on aimless wings? O ruthless Fate! +To what a height thy fury hath soared! + +CH. Too far +For human sense to follow, or human thought +To endure the horror. + +OED. O dark cloud, descending I 1 +Unutterably on me! invincible, +Abhorred, borne onward by too sure a wind. +Woe, woe! +Woe! Yet again I voice it, with such pangs +Both from these piercing wounds I am assailed +And from within through memory of my grief. + +CH. Nay, 'tis no marvel if thy matchless woe +Redouble thine affliction and thy moan! + +OED. Ah! Friend, thou art still constant! Thou remainest I 2 +To tend me and to care for the blind man. +Alas! +I know thee well, nor fail I to perceive, +Dark though I be, thy kind familiar voice. + +CH. How dreadful is thy deed! How couldst thou bear +Thus to put out thine eyes? What Power impelled thee? + +OED. Apollo, dear my friends, Apollo brought to pass II 1 +In dreadful wise, this my calamitous woe. +But I,--no being else,--I with this hand destroyed them. + [_Pointing to his eyes_ +For why should I have sight, +To whom nought now gave pleasure through the eye? + +CH. There speak'st thou truly. + +OED. What could I see, whom hear +With gladness, whom delight in any more? +Lead me away out of the land with speed! +Be rid of the destroyer, the accursed, +Whom most of all the world the Gods abhor. + +CH. O miserable in thy calamity +And not less miserable in thy despair, +Would thou wert still in ignorance of thy birth! + +OED. My curse on him who from the cruel bond II 2 +That held my feet in that high pasture-land +Freed me, and rescued me from murder there, +And saved my life! Vain kindness! Then to have died +Had spared this agony to me and mine. + +CH. Ay, would it had been so! + +OED. Then had I ne'er +Been proved a parricide, ne'er borne the shame +Of marriage bonds incestuous! But now +I am God abandoned, Son of the unholy, +Rival of him who gave me being. Ah woe! +What sorrow beyond sorrows hath chief place? +That sorrow Oedipus must bear! + +LEADER OF CH. I know not how to call thee wise in this: +Thou wert better dead than to be blind and live. + +OED. That this last act hath not been for the best +Instruct me not, nor counsel me again. +How, if I kept my sight, could I have looked +In Hades on my father's countenance, +Or mine all hapless mother, when, toward both, +I have done deeds no death can e'er atone? +Ah! but my children were a sight of joy,-- +Offspring of such a marriage! were they so? +Never, to eyes of mine! nor town, nor tower, +Nor holy shrines o' the gods, which I myself, +Dowered with the fairest life of Theban men, +Have forfeited, alas, by mine own law, +Declaring men should drive from every door +One marked by Heaven as impious and impure, +Nay worse, of Laius born! And was I then, +By mine own edict branded thus, to look +On Theban faces with unaltered eye? +Nay verily, but had there been a way +To stop the hearing fountain through the ear, +I had not faltered, but had closed and barred +Each gate of this poor body, deaf and blind! +So thought might sweetly dwell at rest from ill +Cithaeron! Why didst thou receive me? Why +Not slay me then and there? So had I not +Told to the world the horror of my birth. +O foster home of Corinth and her king, +How bright the life ye cherished, filming o'er +What foulness far beneath! For I am vile, +And vile were both my parents. So 'tis proved +O cross road in the covert of the glen, +O thicket in the gorge where three ways met, +Bedewed by these my hands with mine own blood +From whence I sprang--have ye forgotten me? +Or doth some memory haunt you of the deeds +I did before you, and went on to do +Worse horrors here? O marriage twice accurst! +That gave me being, and then again sent forth +Fresh saplings springing from the selfsame seed, +To amaze men's eyes and minds with dire confusion +Of father, brother, son, bride, mother, wife, +Murder of parents, and all shames that are! +Silence alone befits such deeds. Then, pray you, +Hide me immediately away from men! +Kill me outright, or fling me far to sea, +Where never ye may look upon me more. +Come, lend your hand unto my misery! +Comply, and fear not, for my load of woe +Is incommunicable to all but me. + +CH. With timely presence to fulfil thy need +With act and counsel, Creon comes, who now +Is regent o'er this people in thy room. + +OED. Alas, what shall I say to him? What plea +For my defence will hold? My evil part +Toward him in all the past is clearly proved. + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CR. I come not, Oedipus, to mock thy woes, +Nor to reproach thee for thine evils past. +But ye, (_to_ Chorus) if all respect of mortal eye +Be dead, let awe of the universal flame +Of life's great nourisher, our lord the Sun, +Forbid your holding thus unveiled to view +This huge abomination, which nor Earth +Nor sacred Element, nor light of Heaven +Can once endure. Convey him in with speed. +Religion bids that kindred eyes and ears +Alone should witness kindred crime and woe. + +OED. By Heaven, since thou hast reft away my fear, +So nobly meeting my unworthiness, +I pray thee, hear me for thine own behoof. + +CR. What boon dost thou desire so earnestly? + +OED. Fling me with speediest swiftness from the land, +Where nevermore I may converse with men. + +CR. Doubt not I would have done it, but the God +Must be inquired of, ere we act herein. + +OED. His sacred utterance was express and clear, +The parricide, the unholy, should be slain. + +CR. Ay, so 'twas spoken: but, in such a time, +We needs must be advised more perfectly. + +OED. Will ye then ask him for a wretch like me? + +CR. Yea. For even thou methinks wilt now believe. + +OED. Not only so. But I will charge thee too, +With urgent exhortation, to perform +The funeral rite for her who lies within-- +She is thy kinswoman--howe'er thou wilt. +But never let this city of my sires +Claim me for living habitant! There, there +Leave me to range the mountain, where my nurse, +Cithaeron, echoeth with my name,--Cithaeron, +Which both my parents destined for my tomb. +So my true murderers will be my death. +Yet one thing I can tell. Mine end will come +Not by disease nor ordinary chance +I had not lived when at the point to die, +But for some terrible doom. Then let my fate +Run out its full career. But for my children +Thou, Creon, shalt provide. As for my sons, +I pray thee burden not thyself with them. +They ne'er will lack subsistence--they are men. +But my poor maidens, hapless and forlorn, +Who never had a meal apart from mine, +But ever shared my table, yea, for them +Take heedful care, and grant me, though but once. +Yea, I beseech thee, with these hands to feel, +Thou noble heart! the forms I love so well, +And weep with them our common misery. +Oh, if my arms were round them, I might seem +To have them as of old when I could see-- +What! Am I fooled once more, or do I hear +My dear ones weeping! And hath Creon sent, +Pitying my sorrows, mine own children to me +Whom most I love? Can this be truth I utter? + +CR. Yea, I have done it. For I knew the joy +Thou ever hadst in this, thy comfort now. + +OED. Fair be thy fortune, and, for this last deed, +Heaven guide thee on a better course than mine. +Where are ye, O my children? Come, draw near +To these my hands of brother blood with you, +Hands that have made so piteous to your sight +The darkened gaze of his once brilliant eyes, +Who all in blindness, with no thought of ill, +Became your father at that fount of life, +Where he himself took being! Oh! for you +I weep, not seeing you, when I but think +Of all the bitter passages of fate +That must attend you amongst men. For where +Can ye find fellowship, what civic throng +Shall ye resort unto, what festival, +From whence, instead of sight or sound enjoyed, +Ye will not come in tears unto your home? +And when ye reach the marriageable bloom, +My daughters, who will be the man to cast +His lot with yours, receiving for his own +All those reproaches which have marred the name +Of both my parents and your name no less? +What evil is not here? Your father slew +His father, and then eared the mother field +Where he himself was sown, and got you from +The source of his own birth. Such taunts will fly. +And who will marry you? No man, my daughters; +But ye must wither childless and unwed. +Son of Menoeceus, who alone art left +As father to these maidens, for the pair +That gave them birth are utterly undone, +Suffer them not, being your kinswomen, +To wander desolate and poor, nor make +Their lot perforce the counterpart of mine. +But look on them with pity, left in youth +Forlorn of all protection save from thee. +Noble one, seal this promise with thy hand! +--For you, my children, were ye of an age +To ponder speech, I would have counselled you +Full carefully. Now I would have you pray +To dwell where 'tis convenient, that your life +May find more blessing than your father knew. + +CR. Thou hast had enough of weeping. Close thee in thy chamber walls. + +OED. I must yield, though sore against me. + +CR. Yea, for strong occasion calls. + +OED. Know'st thou on what terms I yield it? + +CR. Tell me, let us hear and know. + +OED. That ye send from the country. + +CR. God alone can let thee go. + +OED. But the Gods long since abhor me. + +CR. Thou wilt sooner gain that boon. + +OED. Then consent. + +CR. 'Tis not my wont to venture promises too soon. + +OED. Lead me now within the palace. + +CR. Come, but leave thy children. + +OED. Nay! +Tear not these from my embraces! + +CR. Hope not for perpetual sway: +Since the power thou once obtainedst ruling with unquestioned might +Ebbing from thy life hath vanished ere the falling of the night. + +LEADER OF CHORUS. +Dwellers in our native Thebè, fix on Oedipus your eyes. +Who resolved the dark enigma, noblest champion and most wise. +Like a star his envied fortune mounted beaming[6] far and wide: +Now he sinks in seas of anguish, whelmed beneath a raging tide. +Therefore, with the old-world sages, waiting for that final day, +I will call no mortal happy, while he holds his house of clay, +Till without one pang of sorrow, all his hours have passed away. + + * * * * * + + + + + ELECTRA + + + THE PERSONS + +An Old Man, _formerly one of the retainers of Agamemnon._ +ORESTES, _son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra_. +ELECTRA, _sister of Orestes_. +CHORUS _of Argive Women_. +CHRYSOTHEMIS, _sister of Orestes and Electra_. +CLYTEMNESTRA. +AEGISTHUS. + +PYLADES _appears with_ ORESTES, _but does not speak_. + + +SCENE. Mycenae: before the palace of the Pelopidae. + + + + +Agamemnon on his return from Troy, had been murdered by his wife +Clytemnestra and her paramour Aegisthus, who had usurped the Mycenean +throne. Orestes, then a child, had been rescued by his sister Electra, +and sent into Phocis with the one servant who remained faithful to his +old master. The son of Agamemnon now returns, being of a full age, +accompanied by this same attendant and his friend Pylades, with whom +he has already concerted a plan for taking vengeance on his father's +murderers, in obedience to the command of Apollo. + +Orestes had been received in Phocis by Strophius, his father's friend. +Another Phocian prince, named Phanoteus, was a friend of Aegisthus. + + + + + ELECTRA + + +ORESTES _and the_ Old Man--PYLADES _is present._ + +OLD MAN. Son of the king who led the Achaean host +Erewhile beleaguering Troy, 'tis thine to day +To see around thee what through many a year +Thy forward spirit hath sighed for. Argolis +Lies here before us, hallowed as the scene +Of Io's wildering pain: yonder, the mart +Named from the wolf slaying God[1], and there, to our left, +Hera's famed temple. For we reach the bourn +Of far renowned Mycenae, rich in gold +And Pelops' fatal roofs before us rise, +Haunted with many horrors, whence my hand, +Thy murdered sire then lying in his gore, +Received thee from thy sister, and removed +Where I have kept thee safe and nourished thee +To this bright manhood thou dost bear, to be +The avenger of thy father's bloody death. +Wherefore, Orestes, and thou, Pylades, +Dearest of friends, though from a foreign soil, +Prepare your enterprise with speed. Dark night +Is vanished with her stars, and day's bright orb +Hath waked the birds of morn into full song. +Now, then, ere foot of man go forth, ye two +Knit counsels. 'Tis no time for shy delay: +The very moment for your act is come. + +OR. Kind faithful friend, how well thou mak'st appear +Thy constancy in service to our house! +As some good steed, aged, but nobly bred, +Slacks not his spirit in the day of war, +But points his ears to the fray, even so dost thou +Press on and urge thy master in the van. +Hear, then, our purpose, and if aught thy mind, +Keenly attent, discerns of weak or crude +In this I now set forth, admonish me. + I, when I visited the Pythian shrine +Oracular, that I might learn whereby +To punish home the murderers of my sire, +Had word from Phoebus which you straight shall hear: +'No shielded host, but thine own craft, O King! +The righteous death-blow to thine arm shall bring.' +Then, since the will of Heaven is so revealed, +Go thou within, when Opportunity +Shall marshal thee the way, and gathering all +Their business, bring us certain cognizance. +Age and long absence are a safe disguise; +They never will suspect thee who thou art. +And let thy tale be that another land, +Phocis, hath sent thee forth, and Phanoteus, +Than whom they have no mightier help in war. +Then, prefaced with an oath, declare thy news, +Orestes' death by dire mischance, down-rolled +From wheel-borne chariot in the Pythian course. +So let the fable be devised; while we, +As Phoebus ordered, with luxuriant locks +Shorn from our brows, and fair libations, crown +My father's sepulchre, and thence return +Bearing aloft the shapely vase of bronze +That's hidden hard by in brushwood, as thou knowest, +And bring them welcome tidings, that my form +Is fallen ere now to ashes in the fire. +How should this pain me, in pretence being dead, +Really to save myself and win renown? +No saying bodes men ill, that brings them gain. +Oft have I known the wise, dying in word, +Return with glorious salutation home. +So lightened by this rumour shall mine eye +Blaze yet like bale-star on mine enemies. +O native earth! and Gods that hold the land, +Accept me here, and prosper this my way! +Thou, too, paternal hearth! To thee I come, +Justly to cleanse thee by behest from heaven. +Send me not bootless, Gods, but let me found +A wealthy line of fair posterity! +I have spoken. To thy charge! and with good heed +Perform it. We go forth. The Occasion calls, +Great taskmaster of enterprise to men. + +ELECTRA (_within_). Woe for my hapless lot! + +OLD M. Hark! from the doors, my son, methought there came +A moaning cry, as of some maid within. + +OR. Can it be poor Electra? Shall we stay, +And list again the lamentable sound? + +OLD M. Not so. Before all else begin the attempt +To execute Apollo's sovereign will, +Pouring libation to thy sire: this makes +Victory ours, and our success assured. [_Exeunt_ + +_Enter_ ELECTRA. + +MONODY. + +EL. O purest light! +And air by earth alone +Measured and limitable, how oft have ye +Heard many a piercing moan, +Many a blow full on my bleeding breast, +When gloomy night +Hath slackened pace and yielded to the day! +And through the hours of rest, +Ah! well 'tis known +To my sad pillow in yon house of woe, +What vigil of scant joyance keeping, +Whiles all within are sleeping, +For my dear father without stint I groan, +Whom not in bloody fray +The War-god in the stranger-land +Received with hospitable hand, +But she that is my mother, and her groom, +As woodmen fell the oak, +Cleft through the skull with murdering stroke. +And o'er this gloom +No ray of pity, save from only me, +Goes forth on thee, +My father, who didst die +A cruel death of piteous agony. +But ne'er will I +Cease from my crying and sad mourning lay, +While I behold the sky, +Glancing with myriad fires, or this fair day. +But, like some brood-bereavèd nightingale, +With far-heard wail, +Here at my father's door my voice shall sound. +O home beneath the ground! +Hades unseen, and dread Persephonè, +And darkling Hermes, and the Curse revered, +And ye, Erinyës, of mortals feared, +Daughters of Heaven, that ever see +Who die unjustly, who are wronged i' the bed +Of those they wed, +Avenge our father's murder on his foe! +Aid us, and send my brother to my side; +Alone I cannot longer bide +The oppressive strain of strength-o'ermastering woe. + +CHORUS (_entering_). + O sad Electra, child I 1 +Of a lost mother, why still flow +Unceasingly with lamentation wild +For him who through her treachery beguiled, +Inveigled by a wife's deceit, +Fallen at the foul adulterer's feet, +Most impiously was quelled long years ago? +Perish the cause! if I may lawfully pray so. + +EL. O daughters of a noble line, +Ye come to soothe me from my troublous woe. + I see, I know: +Your love is not unrecognized of mine. +But yet I will not seem as I forgot, +Or cease to mourn my hapless father's lot. + Oh, of all love +That ever may you move, +This only boon I crave-- +Leave me to rave! + +CH. Lament, nor praying breath I 2 +Will raise thy sire, our honoured chief, +From that dim multitudinous gulf of death. +Beyond the mark, due grief that measureth, +Still pining with excess of pain +Thou urgest lamentation vain, +That from thy woes can bring thee no relief. +Why hast thou set thy heart on unavailing grief? + +EL. Senseless were he who lost from thought +A noble father, lamentably slain! + I love thy strain, +Bewildered mourner, bird divinely taught, +For 'Itys,' 'Itys,' ever heard to pine. +O Niobè, I hold thee all divine, + Of sorrows queen, +Who with all tearful mien +Insepulchred in stone +Aye makest moan. + +CH. Not unto thee alone hath sorrow come, II 1 +Daughter, that thou shouldst carry grief so far +Beyond those dwellers in the palace-home + Who of thy kindred are +And own one source with thee. + What life hath she, +Chrysothemis, and Iphianassa bright, + And he whose light +Is hidden afar from taste of horrid doom, +Youthful Orestes, who shall come +To fair Mycenae's glorious town, +Welcomed as worthy of his sire's renown, +Sped by great Zeus with kindly thought, +And to this land with happiest omen brought? + +EL. Awaiting him I endlessly endure; +Unwed and childless still I go, + With tears in constant flow, +Girt round with misery that finds no cure. +But he forgets his wrong and all my teaching. +What message have I sent beseeching, +But baffled flies back idly home? +Ever he longs, he saith, but, longing, will not come. + +CH. Take heart, dear child! still mighty in the sky II 2 +Is Zeus who ruleth all things and surveys. +Commit to him thy grief that surgeth high, + And walk in safer ways, +Let not hate vex thee sore, + Nor yet ignore +The cause of hate and sorrow in thy breast. + Time bringeth rest: +All is made easy through his power divine. +The heir of Agamemnon's line +Who dwells by Crisa's pastoral strand +Shall yet return unto his native land; +And he shall yet regard his own +Who reigns beneath upon his Stygian throne. + +EL. Meanwhile my life falls from me in despair +Years pass and patience nought avails: + My heart within me fails: +Orphaned I pine without protecting care; +And like a sojourner all unregarded +At slave-like labour unrewarded +I toil within my father's hall +Thus meanly attired, and starved, a table-serving thrall. + +CH. Sad was thy greeting when he reached the strand, III 1 +Piteous thy crying where thy father lay + On that fell day +When the bronze edge with dire effect was driven. + By craft 'twas planned, +By frenzied lust the blow was given: +Mother and father of a monstrous birth, +Whether a God there wrought or mortal of the Earth. + +EL. O day beyond all days that yet have rolled +Most hateful in thy course of light! + O horror of that night! +O hideous feast, abhorr'd, not to be told! +How could I bear it, when my father's eye +Saw death advancing from the ruthless pair, +Conjoint in cruel villany, +By whom my life was plunged in black despair? +Oh, to the workers of such deeds as these + May great Olympus' Lord +Return of evil still afford, +Nor let them wear the gloss of sovran ease! + +CH. Take thought to keep thy crying within bound. III 2 +Doth not thy sense enlighten thee to see + How recklessly +Even now thou winnest undeservèd woe? + Still art thou found +To make thy misery overflow +Through self-bred gloomy strife. But not for long +Shall one alone prevail who strives against the strong. + +EL. 'Twas dire oppression taught me my complaint +I know my rage a quenchless fire: + But nought, however dire, +Shall visit this my frenzy with restraint, +Or check my lamentation while I live. +Dear friends, kind women of true Argive breed, +Say, who can timely counsel give +Or word of comfort suited to my need? +Beyond all cure shall this my cause be known. + No counsels more! Ah leave, +Vain comforters, and let me grieve +With ceaseless pain, unmeasured in my moan. + +CH. With kind intent IV +Full tenderly my words are meant; +Like a true mother pressing heart to heart, +I pray thee, do not aggravate thy smart. + +EL. But have my miseries a measure? Tell. + Can it be well +To pour forgetfulness upon the dead? + Hath mortal head +Conceived a wickedness so bold? +O never may such brightness shine for me, + Nor let me peaceful be +With aught of good my life may still enfold, +If from wide echoing of my father's name +The wings of keen lament I must withhold. + Sure holy shame +And pious care would vanish among men, +If he, mere earth and nothingness, must lie +In darkness, and his foes shall not again +Render him blood for blood in amplest penalty. + +LEADER OF CH. Less from our own desires, my child, we came, +Than for thy sake. But, if we speak amiss, +Take thine own course. We still will side with thee. + +EL. Full well I feel that too impatiently +I seem to multiply the sounds of woe. +Yet suffer me, dear women! Mighty force +Compels me. Who that had a noble heart +And saw her father's cause, as I have done, +By day and night more outraged, could refrain? +Are my woes lessening? Are they not in bloom?-- +My mother full of hate and hateful proved, +Whilst I in my own home must dwell with these, +My father's murderers, and by them be ruled, +Dependent on their bounty even for bread. +And then what days suppose you I must pass, +When I behold Aegisthus on the throne +That was my father's; when I see him wear +Such robes, and pour libations by the hearth +Where he destroyed him; lastly, when I see +Their crowning insolence,--our regicide +Laid in my father's chamber beside her, +My mother--if she still must bear the name +When resting in those arms? Her shame is dead. +She harbours with blood-guiltiness, and fears +No vengeance, but, as laughing at the wrong, +She watches for the hour wherein with guile +She killed our sire, and orders dance and mirth +That day o' the month, and joyful sacrifice +Of thanksgiving. But I within the house +Beholding, weep and pine, and mourn that feast +Of infamy, called by my father's name, +All to myself; for not even grief may flow +As largely as my spirit would desire. +That so-called princess of a noble race +O'ercrows my wailing with loud obloquy: +'Hilding! are you alone in grief? Are none +Mourning for loss of fathers but yourself? +'Fore the blest Gods! ill may you thrive, and ne'er +Find cure of sorrow from the powers below!' +So she insults: unless she hear one say +'Orestes will arrive': then standing close, +She shouts like one possessed into mine ear, +'These are your doings, this your work, I trow. +You stole Orestes from my gripe, and placed +His life with fosterers; but you shall pay +Full penalty.' So harsh is her exclaim. +And he at hand, the husband she extols, +Hounds on the cry, that prince of cowardice, +From head to foot one mass of pestilent harm. +Tongue-doughty champion of this women's-war. +I, for Orestes ever languishing +To end this, am undone. For evermore +Intending, still delaying, he wears out +All hope, both here and yonder. How, then, friends, +Can I be moderate, or feel the touch +Of holy resignation? Evil fruit +Cannot but follow on a life of ill. + +CH. Say, is Aegisthus near while thus you speak? +Or hath he left the palace? We would know. + +EL. Most surely. Never think, if he were by, +I could stray out of door. He is abroad. + +CH. Then with less fear I may converse with thee. + +EL. Ask what you will, for he is nowhere near. + +CH. First of thy brother I beseech thee tell, +How deem'st thou? Will he come, or still delay? + +EL. His promise comes, but still performance sleeps. + +CH. Well may he pause who plans a dreadful deed. + +EL. I paused not in his rescue from the sword. + +CH. Fear not. He will bestead you. He is true. + +EL. But for that faith my life had soon gone by. + +CH. No more! I see approaching from the house +Thy sister by both parents of thy blood, +Chrysothemis; in her hand an offering, +Such as old custom yields to those below. + +_Enter_ CHRYSOTHEMIS. + +CHRYSOTHEMIS. What converse keeps thee now beyond the gates, +Dear sister? why this talk in the open day? +Wilt thou not learn after so long to cease +From vain indulgence of a bootless rage? +I know in my own breast that I am pained +By what thou griev'st at, and if I had power, +My censure of their deeds would soon be known. +But in misfortune I have chosen to sail +With lowered canvas, rather than provoke +With puny strokes invulnerable foes. +I would thou didst the like: though I must own +The right is on thy side, and not on mine. +But if I mean to dwell at liberty, +I must obey in all the stronger will. + +EL. 'Tis strange and pitiful, thy father's child +Can leave him in oblivion and subserve +The mother. All thy schooling of me springs +From her suggestion, not of thine own wit. +Sure, either thou art senseless, or thy sense +Deserts thy friends. Treason or dulness then? +Choose!--You declared but now, if you had strength, +You would display your hatred of this pair. +Yet, when I plan full vengeance for my sire, +You aid me not, but turn me from the attempt. +What's this but adding cowardice to evil? +For tell me, or be patient till I show, +What should I gain by ceasing this my moan? +I live to vex them:--though my life be poor, +Yet that suffices, for I honour him, +My father,--if affection touch the dead. +You say you hate them, but belie your word, +Consorting with our father's murderers. +I then, were all the gifts in which you glory +Laid at my feet, will never more obey +This tyrant power. I leave you your rich board +And life of luxury. Ne'er be it mine[2] to feed +On dainties that would poison my heart's peace! +I care not for such honour as thou hast. +Nor wouldst thou care if thou wert wise. But now, +Having the noblest of all men for sire, +Be called thy mother's offspring; so shall most +Discern thine infamy and traitorous mind +To thy dead father and thy dearest kin. + +CH. No anger, we entreat. Both have said well, +If each would learn of other, and so do. + +CHR. For my part, women, use hath seasoned me +To her discourse. Nor had I spoken of this, +Had I not heard a horror coming on +That will restrain her from her endless moan. + +EL. Come speak it forth, this terror! I will yield, +If thou canst tell me worse than I endure. + +CHR. I'll tell thee all I know. If thou persist +In these thy wailings, they will send thee far +From thine own land, and close thee from the day, +Where in a rock-hewn chamber thou may'st chant +Thine evil orisons in darkness drear. +Think of it, while there 's leisure to reflect; +Or if thou suffer, henceforth blame me not. + +EL. And have they so determined on my life? + +CHR. 'Tis certain; when Aegisthus comes again. + +EL. If that be all, let him return with speed! + +CHR. Unhappy! why this curse upon thyself? + +EL. If this be their intent, why, let him come! + +CHR. To work such harm on thee! What thought is this! + +EL. Far from mine eye to banish all your brood. + +CHR. Art not more tender of the life thou hast? + +EL. Fair, to a marvel, is my life, I trow! + +CHR. It would be, couldst thou be advised for good. + +EL. Never advise me to forsake my kin. + +CHR. I do not: only to give place to power. + +EL. Thine be such flattery. 'Tis not my way. + +CHR. Sure, to be wrecked by rashness is not well. + +EL. Let me be wrecked in 'venging my own sire. + +CHR. I trust his pardon for my helplessness. + +EL. Such talk hath commendation from the vile. + +CHR. Wilt thou not listen? Wilt thou ne'er be ruled? + +EL. No; not by thee! Let me not sink so low. + +CHR. Then I will hie me on mine errand straight. + +EL. Stay; whither art bound? For whom to spend those gifts? + +CHR. Sent by my mother to my father's tomb +To pour libations to him. + +EL. How? To him? +Most hostile to her of all souls that are? + +CHR. Who perished by her hand--so thou wouldst say. + +EL. What friend hath moved her? Who hath cared for this? + +CHR. Methinks 'twas some dread vision, seen by night. + +EL. Gods of my father, O be with me now! + +CHR. What? art thou hopeful from the fear I spake of? + +EL. Tell me the dream, and I will answer thee. + +CHR. I know but little of it. + +EL. Speak but that. +A little word hath ofttimes been the cause +Of ruin or salvation unto men. + +CHR. 'Tis said she saw our father's spirit come +Once more to visit the abodes of light; +Then take and firmly plant upon the hearth +The sceptre which he bore of old, and now +Aegisthus bears: and out of this upsprang +A burgeoned shoot, that shadowed all the ground +Of loved Mycenae. So I heard the tale +Told by a maid who listened when the Queen +Made known her vision to the God of Day. +But more than this I know not, save that I +Am sent by her through terror of the dream. +And I beseech thee by the Gods we serve +To take my counsel and not rashly fall. +If thou repel me now, the time may come +When suffering shall have brought thee to my side. + +EL. Now, dear Chrysothemis, of what thou bearest +Let nothing touch his tomb. 'Tis impious +And criminal to offer to thy sire +Rites and libations from a hateful wife. +Then cast them to the winds, or deep in dust +Conceal them, where no particle may reach +His resting-place: but lie in store for her +When she goes underground. Sure, were she not +Most hardened of all women that have been, +She ne'er had sent those loveless offerings +To grace the sepulchre of him she slew. +For think how likely is the buried king +To take such present kindly from her hand, +Who slew him like an alien enemy, +Dishonoured even in death, and mangled him, +And wiped the death-stain with his flowing locks-- +Sinful purgation! Think you that you bear +In those cold gifts atonement for her guilt? +It is not possible. Wherefore let be. +But take a ringlet from thy comely head, +And this from mine, that lingers on my brow[3] +Longing to shade his tomb. Ah, give it to him, +All I can give, and this my maiden-zone, +Not daintily adorned, as once erewhile. +Then, humbly kneeling, pray that from the ground +He would arise to help us 'gainst his foes, +And grant his son Orestes with high hand +Strongly to trample on his enemies; +That in our time to come from ampler stores +We may endow him, than are ours to-day. +I cannot but imagine that his will +Hath part in visiting her sleep with fears. +But howsoe'er, I pray thee, sister mine, +Do me this service, and thyself, and him, +Dearest of all the world to me and thee, +The father of us both, who rests below. + +CH. She counsels piously; and thou, dear maid, +If thou art wise, wilt do her bidding here. + +CHR. Yea, when a thing is right, it is not well +Idly to wrangle, but to act with speed. +Only, dear friends, in this mine enterprise, +Let me have silence from your lips, I pray; +For should my mother know of it, sharp pain +Will follow yet my bold adventurous feat. [_Exit_ CHRYSOTHEMIS + +CHORUS. + An erring seer am I, I 1 + Of sense and wisdom lorn, + If this prophetic Power of right, + O'ertaking the offender, come not nigh + Ere many an hour be born. + Yon vision of the night, + That lately breathed into my listening ear, + Hath freed me, O my daughter, from all fear. + Sweet was that bodement. He doth not forget, + The Achaean lord that gave thee being, nor yet + The bronzen-griding axe, edged like a spear, + Hungry and keen, though dark with stains of time, + That in the hour of hideous crime + Quelled him with cruel butchery: + That, too, remembers, and shall testify. + + From ambush deep and dread I 2 + With power of many a hand + And many hastening feet shall spring + The Fury of the adamantine tread, + Visiting Argive land + Swift recompense to bring + For eager dalliance of a blood-stained pair + Unhallowed, foul, forbidden. No omen fair,-- + Their impious course hath fixed this in my soul,-- + Nought but black portents full of blame shall roll + Before their eyes that wrought or aided there. + Small force of divination would there seem + In prophecy or solemn dream, + Should not this vision of the night + Reach harbour in reality aright. + + O chariot-course of Pelops, full of toil[4]! II + How wearisome and sore + Hath been thine issue to our native soil!-- + Since, from the golden oar + Hurled to the deep afar, + Myrtilus sank and slept, + Cruelly plucked from that fell chariot-floor, + This house unceasingly hath kept + Crime and misfortune mounting evermore. + +_Enter_ CLYTEMNESTRA. + +CLYTEMNESTRA. Again you are let loose and range at will. +Ay, for Aegisthus is not here, who barred +Your rashness from defaming your own kin +Beyond the gates. But now he's gone from home, +You heed not me: though you have noised abroad +That I am bold in crime, and domineer +Outrageously, oppressing thee and thine. +I am no oppressor, but I speak thee ill, +For thou art ever speaking ill of me-- +Still holding forth thy father's death, that I +Have done it. So I did: I know it well: +That I deny not; for not I alone +But Justice slew him; and if you had sense, +To side with Justice ought to be your part. +For who but he of all the Greeks, your sire, +For whom you whine and cry, who else but he +Took heart to sacrifice unto the Gods +Thy sister?--having less of pain, I trow, +In getting her, than I, that bore her, knew! +Come, let me question thee! On whose behalf +Slew he my child? Was 't for the Argive host? +What right had they to traffic in my flesh?-- +Menelaüs was his brother. Wilt thou say +He slew my daughter for his brother's sake? +How then should he escape me? Had not he, +Menelaüs, children twain, begotten of her +Whom to reclaim that army sailed to Troy? +Was Death then so enamoured of my seed, +That he must feast thereon and let theirs live? +Or was the God-abandoned father's heart +Tender toward them and cruel to my child? +Doth this not argue an insensate sire? +I think so, though your wisdom may demur. +And could my lost one speak, she would confirm it. +For my part, I can dwell on what I have done +Without regret. You, if you think me wrong, +Bring reasons forth and blame me to my face! + +EL. Thou canst not say this time that I began +And brought this on me by some taunting word. +But, so you'd suffer me, I would declare +The right both for my sister and my sire. + +CLY. Thou hast my sufferance. Nor would hearing vex, +If ever thus you tuned your speech to me. + +EL. Then I will speak. You say you slew him. Where +Could there be found confession more depraved, +Even though the cause were righteous? But I'll prove +No rightful vengeance drew thee to the deed, +But the vile bands of him you dwell with now. +Or ask the huntress Artemis, what sin +She punished, when she tied up all the winds +Round Aulis.--I will tell thee, for her voice +Thou ne'er may'st hear! 'Tis rumoured that my sire, +Sporting within the goddess' holy ground, +His foot disturbed a dappled hart, whose death +Drew from his lips some rash and boastful word. +Wherefore Latona's daughter in fell wrath +Stayed the army, that in quittance for the deer +My sire should slay at the altar his own child. +So came her sacrifice. The Achaean fleet +Had else no hope of being launched to Troy +Nor to their homes. Wherefore, with much constraint +And painful urging of his backward will, +Hardly he yielded;--not for his brother's sake. +But grant thy speech were sooth, and all were done +In aid of Menelaüs; for this cause +Hadst thou the right to slay him? What high law +Ordaining? Look to it, in establishing +Such precedent thou dost not lay in store +Repentance for thyself. For if by right +One die for one, thou first wilt be destroyed +If Justice find thee.--But again observe +The hollowness of thy pretended plea. +Tell me, I pray, what cause thou dost uphold +In doing now the basest deed of all, +Chambered with the blood-guilty, with whose aid +Thou slewest our father in that day. For him +You now bear children--ousting from their right +The stainless offspring of a holy sire. +How should this plead for pardon? Wilt thou say +Thus thou dost 'venge thy daughter's injury? +O shameful plea? Where is the thought of honour, +If foes are married for a daughter's sake?-- +Enough. No words can move thee. Thy rash tongue +With checkless clamour cries that we revile +Our mother. Nay, no mother, but the chief +Of tyrants to us! For my life is full +Of weariness and misery from thee +And from thy paramour. While he abroad, +Orestes, our one brother, who escaped +Hardly from thy attempt, unhappy boy! +Wears out his life, victim of cross mischance. +Oft hast thou taunted me with fostering him +To be thy punisher. And this, be sure, +Had I but strength, I had done. Now for this word, +Proclaim me what thou wilt,--evil in soul, +Or loud in cursing, or devoid of shame: +For if I am infected with such guilt, +Methinks my nature is not fallen from thine. + +CH. (_looking at_ CLYTEMNESTRA). +I see her fuming with fresh wrath: the thought +Of justice enters not her bosom now. + +CLY. What thought of justice should be mine for her, +Who at her age can so insult a mother? +Will shame withhold her from the wildest deed? + +EL. Not unashamed, assure thee, I stand here, +Little as thou mayest deem it. Well I feel +My acts untimely and my words unmeet. +But your hostility and treatment force me +Against my disposition to this course. +Harsh ways are taught by harshness. + +CLY. Brazen thing! +Too true it is that words and deeds of mine +Are evermore informing thy harsh tongue. + +EL. The shame is yours, because the deeds are yours. +My words are but their issue and effect. + +CLY. By sovereign Artemis, whom still I serve, +You'll rue this boldness when Aegisthus comes. + +EL. See now, your anger bears you off, and ne'er +Will let you listen, though you gave me leave. + +CLY. Must I not even sacrifice in peace +From your harsh clamour, when you've had your say? + +EL. I have done. I check thee not. Go, sacrifice! +Accuse not me of hindering piety. + +CLY. (_to an attendant_). +Then lift for me those fruitful offerings, +While to Apollo, before whom we stand, +I raise my supplication for release +From doubts and fears that shake my bosom now. +And, O defender of our house! attend +My secret utterance. No friendly ear +Is that which hearkens for my voice. My thought +Must not be blazoned with her standing by, +Lest through her envious and wide-babbling tongue +She fill the city full of wild surmise. +List, then, as I shall speak: and grant the dreams +Whose two-fold apparition I to-night +Have seen, if good their bodement, be fulfilled: +If hostile, turn their influence on my foes. +And yield not them their wish that would by guile +Thrust me from this high fortune, but vouchsafe +That ever thus exempt from harms I rule +The Atridae's home and kingdom, in full life, +Partaking with the friends I live with now +All fair prosperity, and with my children, +Save those who hate and vex me bitterly. +Lykeian Phoebus, favourably hear +My prayer, and grant to all of us our need! +More is there, which, though I be silent here, +A God should understand. No secret thing +Is hidden from the all-seeing sons of Heaven. + +_Enter the_ Old Man. + +OLD M. Kind dames and damsels, may I clearly know +If these be King Aegisthus' palace-halls? + +CH. They are, sir; you yourself have guessed aright. + +OLD M. May I guess further that in yonder dame +I see his queen? She looks right royally. + +CH. 'Tis she,--no other,--whom your eyes behold. + +OLD M. Princess, all hail! To thee and to thy spouse +I come with words of gladness from a friend. + +CLY. That auspice I accept. But I would first +Learn from thee who of men hath sent thee forth? + +OLD M. Phanoteus the Phocian, with a charge of weight. + +CLY. Declare it, stranger. Coming from a friend, +Thou bring'st us friendly tidings, I feel sure. + +OLD M. Orestes' death. Ye have the sum in brief. + +EL. Ah me! undone! This day hath ruined me. + +CLY. What? Let me hear again. Regard her not. + +OLD M. Again I say it, Orestes is no more. + +EL. Undone! undone! Farewell to life and hope! + +CLY. (_to_ ELECTRA). +See thou to thine own case! (_To_ Old Man) Now, stranger, tell me +In true discourse the manner of his death. + +OLD M. For that I am here, and I will tell the whole. +He, entering on the great arena famed +As Hellas' pride, to win a Delphian prize, +On hearing the loud summons of the man +Calling the foot-race, which hath trial first, +Came forward, a bright form, admired by all. +And when his prowess in the course fulfilled +The promise of his form, he issued forth +Dowered with the splendid meed of victory.-- +To tell a few out of the many feats +Of such a hero were beyond my power. +Know then, in brief, that of the prizes set +For every customary course proclaimed +By order of the judges, the whole sum +Victoriously he gathered, happy deemed +By all; declared an Argive, and his name +Orestes, son of him who levied once +The mighty armament of Greeks for Troy. +So fared he then: but when a God inclines +To hinder happiness, not even the strong +Are scatheless. So, another day, when came +At sunrise the swift race of charioteers, +He entered there with many a rival car:-- +One from Achaia, one from Sparta, two +Libyan commanders of the chariot-yoke; +And he among them fifth, with steeds of price +From Thessaly;--the sixth Aetolia sent +With chestnut mares; the seventh a Magnete man; +The eighth with milk-white colts from Oeta's vale; +The ninth from god-built Athens; and the tenth +Boeotia gave to make the number full. +Then stood they where the judges of the course +Had posted them by lot, each with his team; +And sprang forth at the brazen trumpet's blare. +Shouting together to their steeds, they shook +The reins, and all the course was filled with noise +Of rattling chariots, and the dust arose +To heaven. Now all in a confusèd throng +Spared not the goad, each eager to outgo +The crowded axles and the snorting steeds; +For close about his nimbly circling wheels +And stooping sides fell flakes of panted foam. +Orestes, ever nearest at the turn, +With whirling axle seemed to graze the stone, +And loosing with free rein the right-hand steed +That pulled the side-rope[5], held the near one in. + So for a time all chariots upright moved, +But soon the Oetaean's hard-mouthed horses broke +From all control, and wheeling as they passed +From the sixth circuit to begin the seventh, +Smote front to front against the Barcan car. +And when that one disaster had befallen, +Each dashed against his neighbour and was thrown, +Till the whole plain was strewn with chariot-wreck. +Then the Athenian, skilled to ply the rein, +Drew on one side, and heaving to, let pass +The rider-crested surge that rolled i' the midst. +Meanwhile Orestes, trusting to the end, +Was driving hindmost with tight rein; but now, +Seeing him left the sole competitor, +Hurling fierce clamour through his steeds, pursued: +So drave they yoke by yoke--now this, now that +Pulling ahead with car and team. Orestes, +Ill-fated one, each previous course had driven +Safely without a check, but after this, +In letting loose again the left-hand rein[6], +He struck the edge of the stone before he knew, +Shattering the axle's end, and tumbled prone, +Caught in the reins[7], that dragged him with sharp thongs. +Then as he fell to the earth the horses swerved, +And roamed the field. The people when they saw +Him fallen from out the car, lamented loud +For the fair youth, who had achieved before them +Such glorious feats, and now had found such woe,-- +Dashed on the ground, then tossed with legs aloft +Against the sky,--until the charioteers, +Hardly restraining the impetuous team, +Released him, covered so with blood that none,-- +No friend who saw--had known his hapless form. +Which then we duly burned upon the pyre. +And straightway men appointed to the task +From all the Phocians bear his mighty frame-- +Poor ashes! narrowed in a brazen urn,-- +That he may find in his own fatherland +His share of sepulture.--Such our report, +Painful to hear, but unto us, who saw, +The mightiest horror that e'er met mine eye. + +CH. Alas! the stock of our old masters, then, +Is utterly uprooted and destroyed. + +CLY. O heavens! what shall I say? That this is well? +Or terrible, but gainful? Hard my lot, +To save my life through my calamity! + +OLD M. Lady, why hath my speech disheartened thee? + +CLY. To be a mother hath a marvellous power: +No injury can make one hate one's child. + +OLD M. Then it should seem our coming was in vain. + +CLY. In vain? Nay, verily; thou, that hast brought +Clear evidences of his fate, who, sprung +Prom my life's essence, severed from my breast +And nurture, was estranged in banishment, +And never saw me from the day he went +Out from this land, but for his father's blood +Threatened me still with accusation dire; +That sleep nor soothed at night nor sweetly stole +My senses from the day, but, all my time, +Each instant led me on the way to death!-- +But this day's chance hath freed me from all fear +Of him, and of this maid: who being at home +Troubled me more, and with unmeasured thirst +Kept draining my life-blood; but now her threats +Will leave us quiet days, methinks, and peace +Unbroken.--How then shouldst thou come in vain? + +EL. O misery! 'Tis time to wail thy fate, +Orestes, when, in thy calamity, +Thy mother thus insults thee. Is it well? + +CLY. 'Tis well that he is gone, not that you live. + +EL. Hear, 'venging spirits of the lately dead! + +CLY. The avenging spirits have heard and answered well. + +EL. Insult us now, for thou art fortunate! + +CLY. You and Orestes are to quench my pride. + +EL. Our pride is quenched. No hope of quenching thee! + +CLY. A world of good is in thy coming, stranger, +Since thou hast silenced this all-clamorous tongue. + +OLD M. Then I may go my way, seeing all is well. + +CLY. Nay, go not yet! That would disgrace alike +Me and the friend who sent you to our land. +But come thou in, and leave her out of door +To wail her own and loved ones' overthrow. + [_Exeunt_ CLYTEMNESTRA _and_ Old Man + +EL. Think you the wretch in heartfelt agony +Weeps inconsolably her perished son? +She left us with a laugh! O misery! +How thou hast ruined me, dear brother mine, +By dying! Thou hast torn from out my heart +The only hope I cherished yet, that thou +Living wouldst come hereafter to avenge +Thy father's woes and mine. Where must I go? +Since I am left of thee and of my sire +Bereaved and lonely, and once more must be +The drudge and menial of my bitterest foes, +My father's murderers. Say, is it well? +Nay, nevermore will I consort with these, +But sinking here before the palace gate, +Thus, friendless, I will wither out my life. +Hereat if any in the house be vexed, +Let them destroy me; for to take my life +Were kindness, and to live is only pain: +Life hath not kindled my desires with joy. + +CH. 1. O ever-blazing sun! I 1 + O lightning of the eternal Sire! + Can ye behold this done + And tamely hide your all-avenging fire? + +EL. Ah me! + +CH. 2. My daughter, why these tears? + +EL. Woe! + +CH. 3. Weep not, calm thy fears. + +EL. You kill me. + +CH. 4. How? + +EL. To breathe + A hope for one beneath + So clearly sunk in death, + 'Tis to afflict me more + Already pining sore. + +CH. 5. One in a woman's toils I 2 +Was tangled[8], buried by her glittering coils, +Who now beneath-- + +EL. Ah woe! + +CH. 6. Rules with a spirit unimpaired and strong. + +EL. O dreadful! + +CH. 7. Dreadful was the wrong. + +EL. But she was quelled. + +CH. 8. Ay. + +EL. True! +That faithful mourner knew +A brother's aid. But I +Have no man now. The one +I had, is gone, is gone. +Rapt into nothingness. + +CH. 9. Thou art wrung with sore distress. II 1 + +EL. I know it. Too well I know, +Taught by a life of woe, +Where horror dwells without relief. + +CH. 10. Our eyes have seen thy grief. + +EL. Then comfort not again-- + +CH. 11. Whither now turns thy strain? + +EL. One utterly bereft, +Seeing no hope is left, +Of help from hands owning the same great sire. + +CH. 12. 'Tis nature's debt. II 2 + +EL. To expire + On sharp-cut dragging thongs, + 'Midst wildly trampling throngs + Of swiftly racing hoofs, like him, + Poor hapless one? + +CH. 13. Vast, dim, + And boundless was the harm. + +EL. Yea, severed from mine arm, + By strangers kept-- + +CH. 14. O pain! + +EL. Hidden he must remain, + Of me unsepulchred, unmourned, unwept. + +_Enter_ CHRYSOTHEMIS. + +CHR. Driven by delight, dear sister, I am come, +Reckless of dignity, with headlong speed. +For news I bear of joy and sweet relief +From ills that drew from thee thy ceaseless moan. + +EL. Whence couldst thou hear of succour for my woes, +That close in darkness without hope of dawn? + +CHR. Here is Orestes, learn it from my mouth, +As certainly as you now look on me. + +EL. What? Art thou mad, unhappy one, to laugh +Over thine own calamity and mine? + +CHR. No, by our father's hearth, I say not this +In mockery. I tell you he is come. + +EL. Me miserable! Who hath given thine ear +The word that so hath wrought on thy belief? + +CHR. Myself am the eyewitness, no one else +Gained my belief, but proofs I clearly saw. + +EL. What sign hath so engrossed thine eye, poor girl? +What sight hath fired thee with this quenchless glow? + +CHR. But list to me, I pray thee, that henceforth +Thou mayest account me clear eyed, or a fool! + +EL. By all means, if it pleasure thee, say on. + +CHR. Well, I will tell thee all I saw:--I came +Unto the ancient tomb that holds our sire; +And from the topmost mound I marked a stream +Of milk fresh-flowing, and his resting place +Ringed round with garlands of all flowers that blow. +I marvelled at the sight, and peered about, +Lest some one might be nearer than we knew. +But finding all was quiet in the spot, +I ventured closer to the tomb, and there, +Hard by the limit, I beheld a curl +Of hair new shorn, with all the gloss of youth +And straight it struck my heart, as with a sense +Of something seen, ah me! long, long ago, +And told me that my sight encountered here +The token of Orestes, dearest soul +Then, clasping it, I did not cry aloud, +But straight mine eyes were filled with tears of joy. +And now as much as then I feel assured +He and none else bestowed this ornament. +To whom beyond thyself and me belongs +Such consecration? And I know this well, +I did it not,--nor thou. Impossible! +Thou canst not worship even the blessèd Gods +Forth of this roof, unpunished. And, most sure, +Our mother is not minded so to act, +Nor, had she done it, could we fail to know. +This offering comes then of Orestes' hand. +Take courage, dear one. Not one fate pursues +One house perpetually, but changeth still. +Ours was a sullen Genius, but perchance +This day begins the assurance of much good. + +EL. Oh how I pity thine infatuate mind! + +CHR. Why? Dost thou find no comfort in my news? + +EL. You know not where you roam. Far wide! far wide! + +CHR. Not know? when I have seen it with mine eyes? + +EL. Dear, he is dead. Look not to him, poor girl! +Salvation comes to thee no more from him. + +CHR. Oh me, unfortunate! Who told thee this? + +EL. He who stood by and saw his life destroyed. + +CHR. Amazement seizes me. Where is that man? + +EL. Right welcome to the mother there within. + +CHR. Me miserable! Who then can have decked +With all those ceremonies our father's tomb? + +EL. I cannot but suppose some hand hath brought +These gifts in memory of Orestes dead. + +CHR. O cruel fate! While I in ecstasy +Sped with such news, all ignorant, it seems, +Of our dire fortune; and, arriving, find +Fresh sorrows added to the former woe. + +EL. It is so, sister; yet if thou wilt list +To me, thou mayest disperse this heaviness. + +CHR. What? Shall I raise the dead again to life? + +EL. I did not mean so. I am not so fond. + +CHR. What bid you then that I have power to do? + +EL. To endure courageously what I enjoin. + +CHR. So it make profit, I will not refuse. + +EL. Remember, without toil no plan may thrive! + +CHR. I know it, and will aid thee to my power. + +EL. Then hearken my resolve. Thou seëst now, +We have no friendly succour in the world; +But death has taken all, and we are left +Two only. I, so long as I could hear +My brother lived and flourished, still had hope +He would arise to wreak his father's blood. +But now that he is gone, to thee I turn, +To help thy sister boldly to destroy +The guilty author of our father's death, +Aegisthus.--Wherefore hide it from thee now? +--Yea, sister! Till what term wilt thou remain +Inactive? To what end? What hope is yet +Left standing? Surely thou hast cause to grieve, +Bobbed of thy father's opulent heritage, +And feeling bitterly the creeping years +That find thee still a virgin and unwed. +Nay, nor imagine thou shalt ever know +That blessing. Not so careless of his life +Is King Aegisthus, as to risk the birth +Of sons from us, to his most certain fall. +But if thou wilt but follow my resolve, +First thou shalt win renown of piety +From our dead father, and our brother too, +Who rest beneath the ground, and shalt be free +For evermore in station as in birth, +And nobly matched in marriage, for the good +Draw gazers to them still. Then seest thou not +What meed of honour, if thou dost my will, +Thou shalt apportion to thyself and me? +For who, beholding us, what citizen, +What foreigner, will not extend the hand +Of admiration, and exclaim, 'See, friends, +These scions of one stock, these noble twain, +These that have saved their father's house from woe, +Who once when foes were mighty, set their life +Upon a cast, and stood forth to avenge +The stain of blood! Who will not love the pair +And do them reverence? Who will not give +Honour at festivals, and in the throng +Of popular resort, to these in chief, +For their high courage and their bold emprise?' +Such fame will follow us in all the world. +Living or dying, still to be renowned. +Ah, then, comply, dear sister; give thy sire +This toil--this labour to thy brother give; +End these my sufferings, end thine own regret: +The well-born cannot bear to live in shame. + +CH. In such affairs, for those who speak and hear +Wise thoughtfulness is still the best ally. + +CHR. True, noble women, and before she spake +Sound thought should have prevented the rash talk +That now hath proved her reckless. What wild aim +Beckons thee forth in arming this design +Whereto thou wouldst demand my ministry? +Dost not perceive, thou art not man but woman, +Of strength inferior to thine enemies,-- +Their Genius daily prospering more and more, +Whilst ours is dwindling into nothingness? +Who then that plots against a life so strong +Shall quit him of the danger without harm? +Take heed we do not add to our distress +Should some one hear of this our colloquy. +Small help and poor advantage 'twere for us +To win brief praise and then inglorious die. +Nay, death is not so hateful as when one +Desiring death is balked of that desire. +And I beseech thee, ere in utter ruin +We perish and make desolate our race, +Refrain thy rage. And I will guard for thee +In silence these thy words unrealized; +If thou wilt learn this wisdom from long time, +Having no strength, to bend before the strong. + +CH. Comply. Than prudence and a heedful mind, +No fairer treasure can be found for men. + +EL. Thy words have not surprised me. Well I knew +The good I offered would come back with scorn. +I, all alone and with a single hand, +Must do this. For it shall not rest undone. + +CHR. Would thou hadst been thus minded when our sire +Lay dying! In one act thou hadst compassed all. + +EL. My spirit was the same: my mind was less. + +CHR. Be such the life-long temper of thy mind! + +EL. Thine admonition augurs little aid. + +CHR. Yea. For the attempt would bring me certain bane. + +EL. I envy thee thy prudence, hate thy fear. + +CHR. Even when thou speak'st me fair, I will endure it. + +EL. Take heart. That never will be thine from me. + +CHR. Long time remains to settle that account. + +EL. I find no profit in thee. Go thy way. + +CHR. Profit there is, hadst thou a mind to learn. + +EL. Go to thy mother and declare all this! + +CHR. I am not so in hatred of thy life. + +EL. Yet know the shame thou wouldst prepare for me. + +CHR. No, no! Not shame, but care for thine estate. + +EL. Must I still follow as thou thinkest good? + +CHR. When thou hast wisdom, thou shalt be the guide. + +EL. 'Tis hard when error wears the garb of sense. + +CHR. Right. That is the misfortune of your case. + +EL. Why? Feel you not the justice of my speech? + +CHR. Justice may chance to bring me injury. + +EL. I care not, I, to live by such a rule. + +CHR. Well, if you do it, you will find me wise. + +EL. Well, I will do it, nought dismayed by thee. + +CHR. Speak you plain sooth? and will you not be counselled? + +EL. No, for bad counsel is of all most hateful. + +CHR. You take the sense of nothing that I say. + +EL. Long since, not newly, my resolve is firm. + +CHR. Then I will go. Thy heart will ne'er be brought +To praise my words, nor I thine action here. + +EL. Then go within! I will not follow thee, +Though thou desire it vehemently. None +Would be so fond to hunt on a cold trail. + +CHR. If this seem wisdom to thee, then be wise +Thy way: but in the hour of misery, +When it hath caught thee, thou wilt praise my words. + [_Exit_ CHRYSOTHEMIS + +CHORUS. + Wise are the birds of air I 1 + That with true filial care + For those provide convenient food + Who gave them birth, who wrought their good. + Why will not men the like perfection prove? + Else, by the fires above, + And heavenly Rectitude, + Fierce recompense they shall not long elude. + O darkling rumour, world-o'er-wandering voice + That piercest to the shades beneath the ground, + To dead Atrides waft a sound + Of sad reproach, not bidding him rejoice. + + Stained is the ancestral hall, I 2 + Broken the battle-call, + That heretofore his children twain + In loving concord did sustain. + Alone, deserted, vexed, Electra sails, + Storm-tossed with rugged gales, + Lamenting evermore + Like piteous Philomel, and pining sore + For her lost father;--might she but bring down + That two-fold Fury, caring not for death, + But ready to resign her breath, + What maid so worthy of a sire's renown? + + None who inherit from a noble race, II 1 + Complying with things base + Will let their ancient glory be defiled. + So 'twas thy choice, dear child, + Through homeless misery[9] to win a two-fold prize, + Purging the sin and shame[10] + That cloud the Argive name, + So to be called most noble and most wise. + + May'st thou surpass thy foes in wealth and power II 2 + As o'er thee now they tower! + Since I have found thee, not in bright estate, + Nor blessed by wayward fate, + But through thy loyalty to Heaven's eternal cause + Wearing the stainless crown + Of perfectest renown, + And richly dowered by the mightiest laws. + +_Enter_ ORESTES _and_ PYLADES, _with the urn_. + +OR. Say, dames and damsels, have we heard aright, +And speed we to the goal of our desire? + +CH. And what desire or quest hath brought thee hither? + +OR. I seek Aegisthus' dwelling all this while. + +CH. Welcome. The tongue that told thee hath no blame. + +OR. Which of you all will signify within +Our joint arrival,--not unwelcome here. + +CH. This maiden, if the nearest should report. + +OR. Mistress, wilt thou go yonder and make known, +That certain Phocians on Aegisthus wait? + +EL. Oh! can it be that you are come to bring +Clear proofs of the sad rumour we have heard? + +OR. I know not what ye have heard. Old Strophius +Charged me with tidings of Orestes' fate. + +EL. What, stranger? How this terror steals on me! + +OR. Bearing scant remnants of his body dead +In this small vase thou seest, we bring them home. + +EL. O sorrow! thou art here: I see full well +That burden of my heart in present view. + +OR. If thou hast tears for aught Orestes suffered, +Know that he lies within this vessel's room. + +EL. Ah, sir! by all in Heaven, if yonder urn +Hide him, ah! give it once into my hand, +That o'er that dust I may lament and mourn +Myself and mine own house and all our woe! + +OR. Bring it and give her, whosoe'er she be. +For not an enemy--this petition shows it-- +But of his friends or kindred, is this maid. + [_The urn is given into_ ELECTRA'S _hands_ + +EL. O monument of him whom o'er all else +I loved! sole relic of Orestes' life, +How cold in this thy welcome is the hope +Wherein I decked thee as I sent thee forth! +Then bright was thy departure, whom I now +Bear lightly, a mere nothing, in my hands. +Would I had gone from life, ere I dispatched +Thee from my arms that saved thee to a land +Of strangers, stealing thee from death! For then +Thou hadst been quiet on that far off day, +And had thy portion in our father's tomb +Now thou hast perished in the stranger land +Far from thy sister, lorn and comfortless +And I, O wretchedness! neither have bathed +And laid thee forth, nor from the blazing fire +Collected the sad burden, as was meet +But thou, when foreign hands have tended thee +Com'st a small handful in a narrow shell +Woe for the constant care I spent on thee +Of old all vainly, with sweet toil! For never +Wast thou thy mother's darling, nay, but mine, +And I of all the household most thy nurse, +While 'sister, sister,' was thy voice to me +But now all this is vanished in one day, +Dying in thy death. Thou hast carried all away +As with a whirlwind, and art gone. No more +My father lives, thyself art lost in death, +I am dead, who lived in thee. Our enemies +Laugh loudly, and she maddens in her joy, +Our mother most unmotherly, of whom +Thy secret missives ofttimes told me, thou +Wouldst be the punisher. But that fair hope +The hapless Genius of thy lot and mine +Hath reft away, and gives thee thus to me,-- +For thy loved form thy dust and fruitless shade +O bitterness! O piteous sight! Woe! woe! +Oh! sent on thy dire journey, dearest one, +How thou hast ruined me! Thou hast indeed, +Dear brother! Then receive me to thyself, +Hide me in this thy covering, there to dwell, +Me who am nothing, with thy nothingness, +For ever! Yea, when thou wert here above, +I ever shared with thee in all, and now +I would not have thee shut me from thy tomb. +Oh! let me die and follow thee! the dead, +My mind assures me now, have no more pain. + +CH. Electra, think! Thou hadst a mortal sire, +And mortal was thy brother. Grieve not far. + +OR. O me! What shall I speak, or which way turn +The desperate word? I cannot hold my tongue. + +EL. What pain o'ercomes thee? Wherefore speak'st thou so? + +OR. Can this be famed Electra I behold? + +EL. No other. In sad case, as you may see + +OR. Ah! deep indeed was this calamity! + +EL. Is't possible that thou shouldst grieve for me? + +OR. O ruined form! abandoned to disgrace! + +EL. 'Tis me you mean, stranger, I feel it now. + +OR. Woe 's me! Untrimmed for bridal, hapless maid! + +EL. Why this fixed gaze, O stranger! that deep groan? + +OR. How all unknowing was I of mine ill! + +EL. What thing hath passed to make it known to thee? + +OR. The sight of thee attired with boundless woe. + +EL. And yet thine eye sees little of my pain. + +OR. Can aught be still more hateful to be seen? + +EL. I have my dwelling with the murderers-- + +OR. Of whom? What evil would thy words disclose? + +EL. Of him who gave me birth. I am their slave. + +OR. Whose power compels thee to this sufferance? + +EL. One called my mother, most unmotherly. + +OR. How? by main force, or by degrading shames? + +EL. By force and shames, and every kind of evil. + +OR. And is there none to succour or prevent? + +EL. None. Him I had, you give me here in dust. + +OR. How mine eye pities thee this while, poor maid! + +EL. Know now, none ever pitied me but you. + +OR. None ever came whose heart like sorrow wrung. + +EL. Is't possible we have some kinsman here? + +OR. I will tell it, if these women here be friendly. + +EL. They are. They may be trusted. Only speak. + +OR. Let go yon vase, that thou may'st learn the whole. + +EL. Nay, by the Gods! be not so cruel, sir! + +OR. Obey me and thou shalt not come to harm. + +EL. Ah, never rob me of what most I love! + +OR. You must not hold it. + +EL. O me miserable +For thee, Orestes, if I lose thy tomb! + +OR. Speak no rash word. Thou hast no right to mourn. + +EL. No right to mourn my brother who is gone? + +OR. Such utterance belongs not to thy tongue, + +EL. Oh, am I thus dishonoured of the dead? + +OR. Far from dishonour. But this ne'er was thine. + +EL. Is't not Orestes' body that I bear? + +OR. Nay, but the idle dressing of a tale. + +EL. And where is his poor body's resting-place? + +OR. Nowhere. Seek not the living with the dead, + +EL. My son, what saidst thou? + +OR. Nought but what is true. + +EL. Doth he yet live? + +OR. If I have life in me. + +EL. Art thou Orestes? + +OR. Let my signet here, +That was our father's, tell thine eyes, I am. + +EL. O day of days! + +OR. Time hath no happier hour. + +EL. Is it thy voice? + +OR. Hearken not otherwhere. + +EL. Have my arms caught thee? + +OR. Hold me so for aye! + +EL. O dearest women, Argives of my home! +Ye see Orestes, dead in craft, but now +By that same craft delivered and preserved. + +CH. We see, dear daughter, and the gladsome tear +Steals from our eye to greet the bright event. + +EL. Offspring of him I loved beyond all telling! I 1 +Ah! thou art come,--hast found me, eye to eye +Behold'st the face thou didst desire to see. + +OR. True, I am here; but bide in silence still. + +EL. Wherefore? + +OR. Hush! speak not loud, lest one within should hearken. + +EL. By ever-virgin Artemis, ne'er will I +Think worthy of my fear +This useless mass of woman-cowardice +Burdening the house within, +Not peering out of door. + +OR. Yet know that women too have might in war. +Of that methinks thou hast feeling evidence. + +EL. Ah me! thou hast unveiled +And thrust before my gaze +That burning load of my distress +No time will soothe, no remedy will heal. + +OR. I know that too. But when we are face to face +With the evildoers,--then let remembrance work. + +EL. All times alike are fit with instant pain I 2 +Justly to mind me of that dreadful day; +Even now but hardly hath my tongue been free. + +OR. Yes, that is it. Therefore preserve this boon. + +EL. Whereby? + +OR. Put limits to unseasonable talk. + +EL. Ah! brother, who, when thou art come, +Could find it meet to exchange +Language for silence, as thou bidst me do? +Since beyond hope or thought +Was this thy sight to me. + +OR. God gave me to your sight when so he willed. + +EL. O heaven of grace beyond +The joy I knew but now! +If God hath brought thee to our roof, +A miracle of bounty then is here. + +OR. I hate to curb the gladness of thy spirit, +But yet I fear this ecstasy of joy. + +EL. Oh! after all these years, II +Now thou at length hast sped +Thy dearest advent on the wished-for way, +Do not, in all this woe +Thou seest surrounding me-- + +OR. What means this prayer? + +EL. Forbid me not my joy, +Nor make me lose the brightness of thy face! + +OR. Deep were my wrath at him who should attempt it. + +EL. Is my prayer heard? + +OR. Why doubt it? + +EL. Friends, I learned +A tale beyond my thought; and hearing I restrained +My passion, voiceless in my misery, +Uttering no cry. But now +I have thee safe; now, dearest, thou art come, +With thy blest countenance, which I +Can ne'er forget, even at the worst of woe. + +OR. A truce now to unnecessary words. +My mother's vileness and Aegisthus' waste, +Draining and squandering with spendthrift hand +Our patrimony, tell me not anew. +Such talk might stifle opportunity. +But teach me, as befits the present need, +What place may serve by lurking vigilance +Or sudden apparition to o'erwhelm +Our foes in the adventure of to-day. +And, when we pass within, take heedful care +Bright looks betray thee not unto our mother. +But groan as for the dire calamity +Vainly reported:--Let's achieve success, +Then with free hearts we may rejoice and laugh. + +EL. Dear brother, wheresoe'er thy pleasure leads, +My will shall follow, since the joys I know, +Not from myself I took them, but from thee. +And ne'er would I consent thy slightest grief +Should win for me great gain. Ill should I then +Serve the divinity of this high hour! +Thou knowest how matters in the palace stand. +Thou hast surely heard, Aegisthus is from home, +And she, our mother, is within. Nor fear +She should behold me with a smiling face. +Mine ancient hate of her hath sunk too deep. +And from the time I saw thee, tears of joy +Will cease not. Wherefore should I stint their flow? +I, who in this thy coming have beheld +Thee dead and living? Strangely hast thou wrought +On me;--that should my father come alive, +I would not think the sight were miracle, +But sober truth. Since such thy presence, then, +Lead as thy spirit prompts. For I alone +Of two things surely had achieved one, +Noble deliverance or a noble death. + +OR. Be silent; for I hear within the house +A footstep coming forth. + +EL. (_loudly_). + Strangers, go in! +For none within the palace will reject +Your burden, nor be gladdened by the event. + +_Enter the_ Old Man. + +OLD M. O lost in folly and bereft of soul! +Is't that your care for life hath ebbed away, +Or were you born without intelligence, +When fallen, not near, but in the midst of ill, +And that the greatest, ye perceive it not? +Had I not watched the doors this while, your deeds +Had gone within the palace ere yourselves. +But, as things are, my care hath fenced you round. +Now, then, have done with long-protracted talk, +And this insatiable outburst of joy, +And enter, for in such attempts as these +Delay is harmful: and 'tis more than time. + +OR. But how shall I find matters there within? + +OLD M. Well. You are shielded by their ignorance. + +OR. That means you have delivered me as dead. + +OLD M. Alone of dead men thou art here above. + +OR. Doth this delight them, or how went the talk? + +OLD M. I will report, when all is done. Meanwhile, +Know, all is well with them, even what is evil. + +EL. Who is this, brother? I beseech thee, tell. + +OR. Dost not perceive? + +EL. I cannot even imagine. + +OR. Know'st not into whose hands thou gav'st me once? + +EL. Whose hands? How say you? + +OR. His, who through thy care +Conveyed me secretly to Phocis' plain. + +EL. What! is this he, whom I, of all the band, +Found singly faithful in our father's death? + +OR. He is that man. No more! + +EL. O gladsome day! +Dear only saviour of our father's house, +How earnest thou hither? Art thou he indeed, +That didst preserve Orestes and myself +From many sorrows? O dear hands, kind feet, +Swift in our service,--how couldst thou so long +Be near, nor show one gleam, but didst destroy +My heart with words, hiding the loveliest deeds? +Father!--in thee methinks I see my father. +O welcome! thou of all the world to me +Most hated and most loved in one short hour. + +OLD M. Enough, dear maiden! Many nights and days +Are circling hitherward, that shall reveal +In clear recountment all that came between. + But to you two that stand beside I tell, +Now is your moment, with the Queen alone, +And none of men within; but if you pause, +Know that with others of profounder skill +You'll have to strive, more than your present foes. + +OR. Then, Pylades, we need no more to dwell +On words, but enter on this act with speed, +First worshipping the holy shrines o' the Gods +That were my father's, harboured at the gate. + [_They pass within_. ELECTRA _remains in + an attitude of prayer_ + +EL. O King Apollo! hear them graciously, +And hear me too, that with incessant hand +Honoured thee richly from my former store! +And now, fierce slayer, I importune thee, +And woo thee with such gifts as I can give, +Be kindly aidant to this enterprise, +And make the world take note, what meed of bane +Heaven still bestows on man's iniquity. [ELECTRA _goes within_ + +CH. Lo, where the War-god moves 1 + With soft, sure footstep, on to his design, + Breathing hot slaughter of an evil feud! + Even now the inevitable hounds that track + Dark deeds of hideous crime + Are gone beneath the covert of the domes. + Not long in wavering suspense shall hang + The dreaming presage of my wistful soul. + + For lo! within is led 2 + With crafty tread the avenger of the shades, + Even to his father's throne of ancient power, + And in his hand the bright new-sharpened death! + And Hermes, Maia's son, + Is leading him, and hath concealed the guile + Even to the fatal end in clouds of night. + His time of weary waiting all is o'er. + +_Re-enter_ ELECTRA. + +EL. O dearest women! they are even now +About it. Only bide in silence still. + +CH. What is the present scene? + +EL. She decks the vase +For burial, and they both are standing by. + +CH. And wherefore hast thou darted forth? + +EL. To watch +Aegisthus' coming, that he enter not +At unawares. + +CLY. (_within_). + Ah! ah! Woe for the house, +Desert of friends, and filled with hands of death! + +EL. A cry within! Did ye not hear it, friends? + +CH. Would I had not! I heard, and shivered through. + +CLY. (_within_). Oh me! Alas, Aegisthus! where art thou? + +EL. Hark! yet again that sound! + +CLY. (_within_). O son, have pity! +Pity the womb that bare thee. + +EL. Thou hadst none +For him, nor for his father, in that day. + +HALF-CH. Poor city! hapless race! 1 +Thy destiny to-day +Wears thee away, away. +What morn shall see thy face? + +CLY. (_within_). +Oh, I am smitten! + +EL. Give a second stroke, +If thou hast power. + +CLY. (_within_). + Oh me! again, again! + +EL. Would thou wert shrieking for Aegisthus too! + +CH. The curse hath found, and they in earth who lie +Are living powers to-day. +Long dead, they drain away +The streaming blood of those who made them die. + +_Enter_ ORESTES _and_ PYLADES. + +Behold, they come, they come! +His red hand dripping as he moves +With drops of sacrifice the War-god loves. +My 'wildered heart is dumb. + +EL. How is it with you, brother? + +OR. If Apollo +Spake rightfully, the state within is well. + +EL. Wretched one, is she dead? + +OR. No more have fear +Thou shalt be slighted by thy mother's will. + +CH. Cease, for I see Aegisthus near in view. + +EL. In, in again, boys! + +OR. Where do ye behold +The tyrant? + +EL. To our hand from yonder gate +He comes with beaming look. + +HALF-CH. Haste, with what speed ye may, 2 +Stand on the doorway stone, +That, having thus much done, +Ye may do all to-day. + +OR. Fear not: we will perform it. + +EL. Speed ye now: +Follow your thought. + +OR. We are already there. + +EL. Leave matters here to me. All shall go well. + [_Exit_ ORESTES _with_ PYLADES + +CH. Few words, as if in gentleness, 'twere good +To utter in his ear, +That, eager and unware, +One step may launch him on the field of blood. + +_Enter_ AEGISTHUS. + +AEGISTHUS. Which of you know where are the Phocian men +Who brought the news I hear, Orestes' life +Hath suffered shipwreck in a chariot-race? +You, you I question, you in former time +So fearless! You methinks most feelingly +Can tell us, for it touches you most near. + +EL. I know: assure thee. Else had I not heard +The dearest of all fortunes to my heart. + +AEG. Where are the strangers then? Enlighten me. + +EL. Yonder. Their hostess entertained them well. + +AEG. And did they certainly report him dead? + +EL. Not only so. They showed him to our sight. + +AEG. May this clear evidence be mine to see? + +EL. I envy not the sight that waits you there. + +AEG. Against their wont thy words have given me joy. + +EL. Much joy be thine, if this be joy to thee! + +AEG. Silence, I say! Wide let the gates be flung! +For all the Myceneans to behold +And all in Argolis, that if but one +Hath heretofore been buoyed on empty hopes +Fixed in Orestes, seeing him now dead, +He may accept my manage, and not wait +For our stern chastisement to teach him sense. + +EL. My lesson is already learnt: at length +I am schooled to labour with the stronger will. + [_The body of_ CLYTEMNESTRA _is disclosed + under a veil:_ ORESTES _standing by_ + +AEG. Zeus! Divine envy surely hath laid low +The form I here behold. But if the truth +Provoke Heaven's wrath, be it unexpressed.--Unveil! +Off with all hindrance, that mine eye may see, +And I may mourn my kinsman as I should. + +OR. Thyself put forth thy hand. Not mine but thine +To look and speak with kindness to this corse. + +AEG. I will, for thou advisest well; but thou, +Call Clytemnestra, if she be within. [AEGISTHUS _lifts the shroud_ + +OR. She is beside thee, gaze not otherwhere. + +AEG. What do I see! oh! + +OR. Why so strange? Whom fear you? + +AEG. Who are the men into whose midmost toils +All hapless I am fallen? + +OR. Ha! knowest thou not +Thou hast been taking living men for dead?[11] + +AEG. I understand that saying. Woe is me! +I know, Orestes' voice addresseth me. + +OR. A prophet! How wert thou so long deceived? + +AEG. Undone, undone! Yet let me speak one word. + +EL. Brother, by Heaven, no more! Let him not speak. +When death is certain, what do men in woe +Gain from a little time? Kill him at once! +And, killed, expose him to such burial +From dogs and vultures, as beseemeth such, +Far from our view. Nought less will solace me +For the remembrance of a life of pain. + +OR. Go in and tarry not. No contest this +Of verbal question, but of life or death. + +AEG. Why drive you me within? If this you do +Be noble, why must darkness hide the deed? +Why not destroy me out of hand? + +OR. Command not! +Enter, and in the place where ye cut down +My father, thou shalt yield thy life to me. + +AEG. Is there no help but this abode must see +The past and future ills of Pelops' race? + +OR. Thine anyhow. That I can prophesy +With perfect inspiration to thine ear. + +AEG. The skill you boast belonged not to your sire. + +OR. You question and delay. Go in! + +AEG. Lead on. + +OR. Nay, go thou first. + +AEG. That I may not escape thee? + +OR. No, that thou may'st not have thy wish in death. +I may not stint one drop of bitterness. +And would this doom were given without reprieve, +If any try to act beyond the law, +To kill them. Then the wicked would be few. + +LEADER OF CH. O seed of Atreus! how triumphantly +Through grief and hardness thou hast freedom found, +With full achievement in this onset crowned! + + * * * * * + + + + + THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS + + + THE PERSONS + +DÊANIRA, _wife of Heracles._ +_An_ Attendant. +HYLLUS, _son of Heracles and Dêanira_. +CHORUS _of Trachinian Maidens_. +_A_ Messenger. +LICHAS, _the Herald_. +_A_ Nurse. +_An_ Old Man. +HERACLES. +IOLE, _who does not speak_. + + +SCENE. Before the temporary abode of Heracles in Trachis. + + + + +This tragedy is named from the Chorus. From the subject it might have +been called 'Deanira or the Death of Heracles'. + +The Centaur Nessus, in dying by the arrow of Heracles, which had been +dipped in the venom of the Hydra, persuaded the bride Deanira, whose +beauty was the cause of his death, to keep some of the blood from the +wound as a love-charm for her husband. Many years afterwards, when +Heracles was returning from his last exploit of sacking Oechalia, in +Euboea, he sent before him, by his herald Lichas, Iole, the king's +daughter, whom he had espoused. Deanira, when she had discovered this, +commissioned Lichas when he returned to present his master with a +robe, which she had anointed with the charm,--hoping by this means to +regain her lord's affection. But the poison of the Hydra did its work, +and Heracles died in agony, Deanira having already killed herself on +ascertaining what she had done. The action takes place in Trachis, +near the Mahae Gulf, where Heracles and Deanira, by permission of +Ceyx, the king of the country, have been living in exile. At the close +of the drama, Heracles, while yet alive, is carried towards his pyre +on Mount Oeta. + + + + + THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS + + +DÊANIRA. Men say,--'twas old experience gave the word, +--'No lot of mortal, ere he die, can once +Be known for good or evil.' But I know, +Before I come to the dark dwelling-place, +Mine is a lot, adverse and hard and sore. +Who yet at Pleuron, in my father's home, +Of all Aetolian women had most cause +To fear my bridal. For a river-god, +Swift Achelôüs, was my suitor there +And sought me from my father in three forms; +Now in his own bull-likeness, now a serpent +Of coiling sheen, and now with manlike build +But bovine front, while from the shadowy beard +Sprang fountain-waters in perpetual spray. +Looking for such a husband, I, poor girl! +Still prayed that Death might find me, ere I knew +That nuptial.--Later, to my glad relief, +Zeus' and Alcmena's glorious offspring came, +And closed with him in conflict, and released +My heart from torment. How the fight was won +I could not tell. If any were who saw +Unshaken of dread foreboding, such may speak. +But I sate quailing with an anguished fear, +Lest beauty might procure me nought but pain, +Till He that rules the issue of all strife, +Gave fortunate end--if fortunate! For since, +Assigned by that day's conquest, I have known +The couch of Heracles, my life is spent +In one continual terror for his fate. +Night brings him, and, ere morning, some fresh toil +Drives him afar. And I have borne him seed; +Which he, like some strange husbandman that farms +A distant field, finds but at sowing time +And once in harvest. Such a weary life +Still tossed him to and fro,--no sooner home +But forth again, serving I know not whom. + And when his glorious head had risen beyond +These labours, came the strongest of my fear. +For since he quelled the might of Iphitus, +We here in Trachis dwell, far from our home, +Dependent on a stranger, but where he +Is gone, none knoweth. Only this I know, +His going pierced my heart with pangs for him, +And now I am all but sure he bears some woe. +These fifteen months he hath sent me not one word. +And I have cause for fear. Ere he set forth +He left a scroll with me, whose dark intent +I oft pray Heaven may bring no sorrow down. + +ATTENDANT. Queen Dêanira, many a time ere now +Have I beheld thee with all tearful moan +Bewailing the departure of thy lord. +But, if it be permitted that a slave +Should tender counsel to the free, my voice +May venture this:--Of thy strong band of sons +Why is not one commissioned to explore +For Heracles? and why not Hyllus first, +Whom most it would beseem to show regard +For tidings of his father's happiness? +Ah! here I see him bounding home, with feet +Apt for employment! If you count me wise, +He and my words attend upon your will. + +_Enter_ HYLLUS. + +DÊ. Dear child, dear boy! even from the lowliest head +Wise counsel may come forth. This woman here, +Though a bond-maiden, hath a free-born tongue. + +HYL. What word is spoken, mother? May I know? + +DÊ. That, with thy father lost to us so long, +'Tis shame thou dost not learn his dwelling-place. + +HYL. Yea, I have learnt, if one may trust report. + +DÊ. Where art thou told his seat is fixed, my son? + +HYL. 'Tis said that through the length of this past year +He wrought as bondman to a Lydian girl. + +DÊ. Hath he borne that? Then nothing can be strange! + +HYL. Well, that is over, I am told. He is free. + +DÊ. Where is he rumoured, then, alive or dead? + +HYL. In rich Euboea, besieging, as they tell, +The town of Eurytus, or offering siege. + +DÊ. Child, hast thou heard what holy oracles +He left with me, touching that very land? + +HYL. What were they, mother, for I never knew? + +DÊ. That either he must end his being there, +Or, this one feat performed, his following time +Should grace his life with fair prosperity. +Wilt thou not then, my child, when he is held +In such a crisis of uncertain peril, +Run to his aid?--since we must perish with him, +Or owe our lasting safety to his life. + +HYL. I will go, mother. Had I heard this voice +Of prophecy, long since I had been there. +Fear is unwonted for our father's lot. +But now I know, my strength shall all be spent +To learn the course of these affairs in full. + +DÊ. Go then, my son. Though late, to learn and do +What wisdom bids, hath certainty of gain. + [_Exit_ HYLLUS. DÊANIRA _withdraws_ + +CHORUS (_entering and turning towards the East_). + Born of the starry night in her undoing, I 1 + Lulled in her bosom at thy parting glow, + O Sun! I bid thee show, + What journey is Alcmena's child pursuing? + What region holds him now, + 'Mong winding channels of the deep, + Or Asian plains, or rugged Western steep? + Declare it, thou + Peerless in vision of thy flashing ray + That lightens on the world with each new day. + Sad Dêanira, bride of battle-wooing[1], I 2 + Ne'er lets her tearful eyelids close in rest, + But in love-longing breast, + Like some lorn bird its desolation rueing, + Of her great husband's way + Still mindful, worn with harrowing fear + Lest some new danger for him should be near, + By night and day + Pines on her widowed couch of ceaseless thought, + With dread of evil destiny distraught: [_Enter_ DÊANIRA. + + For many as are billows of the South II 1 + Blowing unweariedly, or Northern gale, + One going and another coming on + Incessantly, baffling the gazer's eye, + Such Cretan ocean of unending toil + Cradles our Cadmus-born, and swells his fame. + But still some power doth his foot recall + From stumbling down to Hades' darkling hall. + + Wherefore, in censure of thy mood, I bring II 2 + Glad, though opposing, counsel. Let not hope + Grow weary. Never hath a painless life + Been cast on mortals by the power supreme + Of the All-disposer, Cronos' son. But joy + And sorrow visit in perpetual round + All mortals, even as circleth still on high + The constellation of the Northern sky. + + What lasteth in the world? Not starry night, III + Nor wealth, nor tribulation; but is gone + All suddenly, while to another soul + The joy or the privation passeth on. + These hopes I bid thee also, O my Queen! + Hold fast continually, for who hath seen + Zeus so forgetful of his own? + How can his providence forsake his son? + +DÊ. I see you have been told of my distress, +And that hath brought you. But my inward woe, +Be it evermore unknown to you, as now! +Such the fair garden of untrammeled ease +Where the young life grows safely. No fierce heat, +No rain, no wind disturbs it, but unharmed +It rises amid airs of peace and joy, +Till maiden turn to matron, and the night +Inherit her dark share of anxious thought, +Haunted with fears for husband or for child. +Then, imaged through her own calamity, +Some one may guess the burden of my life. + Full many have been the sorrows I have wept, +But one above the rest I tell to-day. +When my great husband parted last from home, +He left within the house an ancient scroll +Inscribed with characters of mystic note, +Which Heracles had never heretofore, +In former labours, cared to let me see,-- +As bound for bright achievement, not for death. +But now, as though his life had end, he told +What marriage-portion I must keep, what shares +He left his sons out of their father's ground: +And set a time, when fifteen moons were spent, +Counted from his departure, that even then +Or he must die, or if that date were out +And he had run beyond it, he should live +Thenceforth a painless and untroubled life. +Such by Heaven's fiat was the promised end +Of Heracles' long labours, as he said; +So once the ancient oak-tree had proclaimed +In high Dodona through the sacred Doves. +Of which prediction on this present hour +In destined order of accomplishment +The veritable issue doth depend. +And I, dear friends, while taking rest, will oft +Start from sweet slumbers with a sudden fear, +Scared by the thought, my life may be bereft +Of the best husband in the world of men. + +CH. Hush! For I see approaching one in haste, +Garlanded, as if laden with good news. + +_Enter_ Messenger. + +MESSENGER. Queen Dêanira, mine shall be the tongue +To free thee first from fear. Alcmena's child +Is living, be assured, and triumphing, +And bringing to our Gods the fruits of war. + +DÊ. What mean'st thou, aged sir, by what thou sayest? + +MESS. That soon thy husband, envied all around, +Will come, distinguished with victorious might. + +DÊ. What citizen or stranger told thee this? + +MESS. Your herald Lichas, where the oxen graze +The summer meadow, cries this to a crowd. +I, hearing, flew off hither, that being first +To bring thee word thereof, I might be sure +To win reward and gratitude from thee. + +DÊ. And how is he not here, if all be well? + +MESS. Crossed by no light impediment, my Queen. +For all the Maliac people, gathering round, +Throng him with question, that he cannot move. +But he must still the travail of each soul, +And none will be dismissed unsatisfied. +Such willing audience he unwillingly +Harangues, but soon himself will come in sight. + +DÊ. O Zeus! who rulest Oeta's virgin wold, +At last, though late, thou hast vouchsafed us joy. +Lift up your voices, O my women! ye +Within the halls, and ye beyond the gate! +For now we reap the gladness of a ray, +That dawns unhoped for in this rumour's sound. + +CHORUS +With a shout by the hearth let the palace roof ring + From those that are dreaming of bridal, and ye, +Young men, let your voices in harmony sing + To the God of the quiver, the Lord of the free! +And the Paean withal from the maiden band +To Artemis, huntress of many a land, + Let it rise o'er the glad roof tree, +To Phoebus' own sister, with fire in each hand, + And the Nymphs that her co-mates be! +My spirit soars. O sovereign of my soul! +I will accept the thrilling flute's control. [_They dance_ + The ivy-crownèd thyrsus, see! + With Bacchic fire is kindling me, + And turns my emulous tread + Where'er the mazy dance may lead. +Euoî! Euoî! +O Paean! send us joy. +See, dearest Queen, behold! +Before thy gaze the event will now unfold. + +DÊ. Think not mine eye hath kept such careless guard, +Dear maids, that I could miss this moving train. +Herald, I bid thee hail, although so late +Appearing, if thou bringest health with thee! + +_Enter_ LICHAS, _with_ Captive Women. + +LICHAS. A happy welcome on a happy way, +As prosperous our achievement. Meet it is +Good words should greet bright actions, mistress mine! + +DÊ. Kind friend, first tell me what I first would know-- +Shall I receive my Heracles alive? + +LICH. I left him certainly alive and strong: +Blooming in health, not with disease oppressed. + +DÊ. In Greece, or in some barbarous country? Tell! + +LICH. Euboea's island hath a promontory, +Where to Cenaean Zeus he consecrates +Rich altars and the tribute of the ground. + +DÊ. Moved by an oracle, or from some vow? + +LICH. So vowed he when he conquered with the spear +The country of these women whom you see. + +DÊ. And who, by Heaven, are they? Who was their sire? +Their case is piteous, or eludes my thought. + +LICH. He took them for the service of the Gods +And his own house, when high Oechalia fell. + +DÊ. Was't then before that city he was kept +Those endless ages of uncounted time? + +LICH. Not so. The greater while he was detained +Among the Lydians, sold, as he declares, +To bondage. Nor be jealous of the word, +Since Heaven, my Queen, was author of the deed. +Enthrallèd so to Asian Omphalè, +He, as himself avers, fulfilled his year. +The felt reproach whereof so chafed his soul, +He bound fierce curses on himself and sware +That,--children, wife and all,--he yet would bring +In captive chains the mover of this harm. +Nor did this perish like an idle word, +But, when the stain was off him, straight he drew +Allied battalions to assault the town +Of Eurytus, whom, sole of earthly powers, +He had noted as the source of his annoy, +Because, having received him in his hall +A guest of ancient days, he burst on him +With outrage of loud voice and villanous mind, +Saying, 'with his hand upon the unerring bow, +Oechalia's princes could o'ershoot his skill; +And born to bondage, he must quail beneath +His overlord'; lastly, to crown this cry, +When at a banquet he was filled with wine, +He flung him out of door. Whereat being wroth, +When Iphitus to the Tirynthian height +Followed the track where his brood-mares had strayed, +He, while the thought and eye of the man by chance +Were sundered, threw him from the tower-crowned cliff. +In anger for which deed the Olympian King, +Father of Gods and men, delivered him +To be a bond-slave, nor could brook the offence, +That of all lives he vanquished, this alone +Should have been ta'en by guile. For had he wrought +In open quittance of outrageous wrong, +Even Zeus had granted that his cause was just. +The braggart hath no favour even in Heaven. +Whence they, o'erweening with their evil tongue, +Are now all dwellers in the house of death, +Their ancient city a captive;--but these women +Whom thou beholdest, from their blest estate +Brought suddenly to taste of piteous woe, +Come to thy care. This task thy wedded lord +Ordained, and I, his faithful minister, +Seek to perform. But, for his noble self, +When with pure hands he hath done sacrifice +To his Great Father for the victory given, +Look for his coming, lady. This last word +Of all my happy speech is far most sweet. + +CH. Now surety of delight is thine, my Queen, +Part by report and part before thine eye. + +DÊ. Yea, now I learn this triumph of my lord, +Joy reigns without a rival in my breast. +This needs must run with that in fellowship. +Yet wise consideration even of good +Is flecked with fear of what reverse may come. +And I, dear friends, when I behold these maids, +Am visited with sadness deep and strange. +Poor friendless beings, in a foreign land +Wandering forlorn in homeless orphanhood! +Erewhile, free daughters of a freeborn race, +Now, snared in strong captivity for life. +O Zeus of battles, breaker of the war, +Ne'er may I see thee[2] turn against my seed +So cruelly; or, if thou meanest so, +Let me be spared that sorrow by my death! +Such fear in me the sight of these hath wrought. +Who art thou, of all damsels most distressed? +Single or child-bearing? Thy looks would say, +A maid, of no mean lineage. Lichas, tell, +Who is the stranger-nymph? Who gave her birth? +Who was her sire? Mine eye hath pitied her +O'er all, as she o'er all hath sense of woe. + +LICH. What know I? Why should'st thou demand? Perchance +Not lowest in the list of souls there born. + +DÊ. How if a princess, offspring of their King? + +LICH. I cannot tell. I did not question far. + +DÊ. Have none of her companions breathed her name? + +LICH. I brought them silently. I did not hear. + +DÊ. Yet speak it to us of thyself, poor maid! +'Tis sorrow not to know thee who thou art. + +LICH. She'll ne'er untie her tongue, if she maintain +An even tenor, since nor more nor less +Would she disclose; but, poor unfortunate! +With agonizing sobs and tears she mourns +This crushing sorrow, from the day she left +Her wind-swept home. Her case is cruel, sure,-- +And claims a privilege from all who feel. + +DÊ. Well, let her go, and pass beneath the roof +In peace, as she desires; nor let fresh pain +From me be added to her previous woe. +She hath enough already. Come, away! +Let's all within at once, that thou mayest speed +Thy journey, and I may order all things here. + [_Exit_ LICHAS, _with_ Captives, _into the house_. + DÊANIRA _is about to follow them_ + +_Re-enter_ Messenger. + +MESS. Pause first there on the threshold, till you learn +(Apart from those) who 'tis you take within, +And more besides that you yet know not of, +Which deeply imports your knowing. Of all this +I throughly am informed. + +DÊ. What cause hast thou +Thus to arrest my going? + +MESS. Stand, and hear. +Not idle was my former speech, nor this. + +DÊ. Say, must we call them back in presence here, +Or would'st thou tell thy news to these and me? + +MESS. To thee and these I may, but let those be. + +DÊ. Well, they are gone. Let words declare thy drift. + +MESS. That man, in all that he hath lately said, +Hath sinned against the truth: or now he's false, +Or else unfaithful in his first report. + +DÊ. What? Tell me thy full meaning clearly forth. +That thou hast uttered is all mystery. + +MESS. I heard this herald say, while many thronged +To hearken, that this maiden was the cause, +Why lofty-towered Oechalia and her lord +Fell before Heracles, whom Love alone +Of heavenly powers had warmed to this emprise, +And not the Lydian thraldom or the tasks +Of rigorous Omphalè, nor that wild fate +Of rock-thrown Iphitus. Now he thrusts aside +The Love-god, contradicting his first tale. + When he that was her sire could not be brought +To yield the maid for Heracles to hold +In love unrecognized, he framed erelong +A feud about some trifle, and set forth +In arms against this damsel's fatherland +(Where Eurytus, the herald said, was king) +And slew the chief her father; yea, and sacked +Their city. Now returning, as you see, +He sends her hither to his halls, no slave, +Nor unregarded, lady,--dream not so! +Since all his heart is kindled with desire. +I, O my Queen! thought meet to show thee all +The tale I chanced to gather from his mouth, +Which many heard as well as I, i' the midst +Of Trachis' market-place, and can confirm +My witness. I am pained if my plain speech +Sound harshly, but the honest truth I tell. + +DÊ. Ah me! Where am I? Whither am I fallen? +What hidden woe have I unwarily +Taken beneath my roof? O misery! +Was she unknown, as he that brought her sware? + +MESS. Nay, most distinguished both in birth and mien; +Called in her day of freedom Iolè, +Eurytus' daughter,--of whose parentage, +Forsooth as ignorant, he ne'er would speak. + +CH. I curse not all the wicked, but the man +Whose secret practices deform his life. + +DÊ. Say, maidens, how must I proceed? The words +Now spoken have bewildered all my mind. + +CH. Go in and question Lichas, who perchance +Will tell the truth if you but tax him home. + +DÊ. I will; you counsel reasonably. + +MESS. And I, +Shall I bide here till thou com'st forth? Or how? + +DÊ. Remain. For see, without my sending for him, +He issueth from the palace of himself. + +_Enter_ LICHAS. + +LICH. What message must I carry to my lord? +Tell me, my Queen. I am going, as thou seest. + +DÊ. So slow in coming, and so quickly flown, +Ere one have time to talk with thee anew! + +LICH. What wouldst thou ask me? I am bent to hear. + +DÊ. And art thou bent on truth in the reply? + +LICH. By Heaven! in all that I have knowledge of. + +DÊ. Then tell me, who is she thou brought'st with thee? + +LICH. An islander. I cannot trace her stock. + +MESS. Look hither, man. Who is't to whom thou speakest? + +LICH. Why such a question? What is thine intent? + +MESS. Nay, start not, but make answer if thou knowest. + +LICH. To Dêanira, Oeneus' queenly child, +Heracles' wife,--if these mine eyes be true,-- +My mistress. + +MESS. Ay, that is the very word +I longed to hear thee speak. Thy mistress, sayest? + +LICH. To whom I am bound. + +MESS. Hold there! What punishment +Wilt thou accept, if thou art found to be +Faithless to her? + +LICH. I faithless! What dark speech +Hast thou contrived? + +MESS. Not I at all. 'Tis thou +Dost wrap thy thoughts i' the dark. + +LICH. Well, I will go. +'Tis folly to have heard thee for so long. + +MESS. You go not till you answer one word more. + +LICH. One, or a thousand! You'll not stint, I see. + +MESS. Thou knowest the captive maid thou leddest home? + +LICH. I do. But wherefore ask? + +MESS. Did you not say +That she, on whom you look with ignorant eye, +Was Iolè, the daughter of the King, +Committed to your charge? + +LICH. Where? Among whom? +What witness of such words will bear thee out? + +MESS. Many and sound. A goodly company +In Trachis' market-place heard thee speak this. + +LICH. Ay. +I said 'twas rumoured. But I could not give +My vague impression for advised report. + +MESS. Impression, quotha! Did you not on oath +Proclaim your captive for your master's bride? + +LICH. My master's bride! Dear lady, by the Gods, +Who is the stranger? for I know him not. + +MESS. One who was present where he heard thee tell, +How that whole city was subdued and taken, +Not for the bondage to the Lydian girl, +But through the longing passion for this maid. + +LICH. Dear lady, let the fellow be removed. +To prate with madmen is mere foolishness. + +DÊ. Nay, I entreat thee by His name, whose fire +Lightens down Oeta's topmost glen, be not +A niggard of the truth. Thou tell'st thy tale +To no weak woman, but to one who knows +Mankind are never constant to one joy. +Whoso would buffet Love, aspires in vain. +For Love leads even Immortals at his will, +And me. Then how not others, like to me? +'Twere madness, sure, in me to blame my lord +When this hath caught him, or the woman there, +His innocent accomplice in a thing, +No shame to either, and no harm to me. +It is not so. But if from him thou learnest +The lore of falsehood, it were best unlearnt; +Or if the instruction comes of thine own thought, +Such would-be kindness doth not prove thee kind. +Then tell me all the truth. To one free-born +The name of liar is a hateful lot. +And thou canst not be hid. Thy news was heard +By many, who will tell me. If thou fearest, +Thou hast no cause--for doubtfulness is pain, +But to know all, what harm? His loves ere now +Were they not manifold? And none hath borne +Reproach or evil word from me. She shall not, +Though his new passion were as strong as death; +Since most mine eye hath pitied her, because +Her beauty was the ruin of her life, +And all unweeting, she her own bright land, +Poor hapless one! hath ravaged and enslaved.-- +Let that be as it must. But for thy part, +Though false to others, be still true to me. + +CH. 'Tis fairly said. Comply. Thou ne'er wilt blame +Her faithfulness, and thou wilt earn our loves. + +LICH. Yea, dear my Queen, now I have seen thee hold +Thy mortal wishes within mortal bound +So meekly, I will freely tell thee all. +It is as he avers. This maiden's love, +Piercing through Heracles, was the sole cause, +Why her Oechalia, land of plenteous woe, +Was made the conquest of his spear. And he-- +For I dare so far clear him--never bade +Concealment or denial. But myself, +Fearing the word might wound thy queenly heart, +Sinned, if thou count such tenderness a sin. +But now that all is known, for both your sakes, +His, and thine own no less, look favouringly +Upon the woman, and confirm the word +Thou here hast spoken in regard to her:-- +For he, whose might is in all else supreme, +Is wholly overmastered by her love. + +DÊ. Yea, so my mind is bent. I will do so. +I will not, in a bootless strife 'gainst Heaven, +Augment my misery with self-sought ill. +Come, go we in, that thou may'st bear from me +Such message as is meet, and also carry +Gifts, such as are befitting to return +For gifts new-given. Thou ought'st not to depart +Unladen, having brought so much with thee. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS. + Victorious in her might, I 1 + The Queen of soft delight + Still ranges onward with triumphant sway. + What she from Kronos' son + And strong Poseidon won, + And Pluto, King of Night, I durst not say. + But who, to earn this bride, + Came forth in sinewy pride + To strive, or e'er the nuptial might be known + With fearless heart I tell + What heroes wrestled well, + With showering blows, and dust in clouds upthrown. + + One was a river bold, I 2 + Horn-crowned, with tramp fourfold, + Bull Achelôüs, Acarnania's Fear; + And one from Bacchus' town, + Own son of Zeus, came down, + With brandished mace, bent bow, and barbèd spear. + Who then in battle brunt, + Together, front to front, + Hurled, eager both to win the beauteous prize; + And Cypris 'mid the fray + Alone, that dreadful day, + Sate umpire, holding promise in her eyes. + + Then clashed the fist, then clanged the bow; II + Then horns gave crashing blow for blow, + Whilst, as they clung, + The twining hip throw both essay + And hurtling foreheads' fearful play, + And groans from each were wrung. + + But the tender fair one far away + Sate watching with an eye of piteous cheer + (A mother's heart will heed the thing I say,) + Till won by him who freed her from her fear. + Sudden she leaves her mother's gentle side, + Borne through the waste, our hero's tender bride. + +_Enter_ DÊANIRA. + +DÊ. Dear friends, while yonder herald in the house +Holds converse with the captives ere he go, +I have stol'n forth to you, partly to tell +The craft my hand hath compassed, and in part, +To crave your pity for my wretchedness. +For I have taken to my hearth a maid,-- +And yet, methinks, no maiden any more, +Like some fond shipmaster, taking on board +A cargo fraught with treason to my heart. +And now we two are closed in one embrace +Beneath one coverlet. Such generous meed +For faith in guarding home this dreary while +Hath the kind Heracles our trusty spouse, +Sent in return! Yet, oft as he hath caught +This same distemperature, I know not how +To harbour indignation against him. +But who that is a woman could endure +To dwell with her, both married to one man? +One bloom is still advancing, one doth fade. +The budding flower is cropped, the full-blown head +Is left to wither, while love passeth by +Unheeding. Wherefore I am sore afraid +He will be called my husband, but her mate, +For she is younger. Yet no prudent wife +Would take this angerly, as I have said. +But, dear ones, I will tell you of a way, +Whereof I have bethought me, to prevent +This heart-break. I had hidden of long time +In a bronze urn the ancient Centaur's gift, +Which I, when a mere girl, culled from the wound +Of hairy-breasted Nessus in his death. +He o'er Evenus' rolling depths, for hire, +Ferried wayfarers on his arm, not plying +Or rowing-boat, or canvas-wingèd bark. +Who, when with Heracles, a new-made bride, +I followed by my father's sending forth, +Shouldering me too, in the mid-stream, annoyed +With wanton touch. And I cried out; and he, +Zeus' son, turned suddenly, and from his bow +Sent a wing'd shaft, that whizzed into his chest +To the lungs. Then the weird Thing, with dying voice +Spake to me:--'Child of aged Oeneüs, +Since thou wert my last burden, thou shalt win +Some profit from mine act, if thou wilt do +What now I bid thee. With a careful hand +Collect and bear away the clotted gore +That clogs my wound, e'en where the monster snake +Had dyed the arrow with dark tinct of gall; +And thou shalt have this as a charm of soul +For Heracles, that never through the eye +Shall he receive another love than thine.' +Whereof bethinking me, for since his death +I kept it in a closet locked with care, +I have applied it to this robe, with such +Addition as his living voice ordained.-- +The thing is done. No criminal attempts +Could e'er be mine. Far be they from my thought, +As I abhor the woman who conceives them! +But if by any means through gentle spells +And bonds on Heracles' affection, we +May triumph o'er this maiden in his heart, +My scheme is perfected. Unless you deem +Mine action wild. If so, I will desist. + +CH. If any ground of confidence approve +Thine act, we cannot check thy counsel here. + +DÊ. My confidence is grounded on belief, +Though unconfirmed as yet by actual proof. + +CH. Well, do it and try. Assurance cannot come +Till action bring experience after it. + +DÊ. The truth will soon be known. The man e'en now +Is coming forth, and quickly will be there. +Screen ye but well my counsel. Doubtful deeds, +Wrapt close, will not deliver us to shame. + +_Enter_ LICHAS. + +LICH. Daughter of Oeneus, tell me thy commands. +Already time rebukes our tardiness. + +DÊ. Even that hath been my care, Lichas, while thou +Wert talking to the stranger-maids within, +That thou shouldst take for me this finewoven web, +A present from these fingers to my lord. +And when thou giv'st it, say that none of men +Must wear it on his shoulders before him; +And neither light of sun may look upon it, +Nor holy temple-court, nor household flame, +Till he in open station 'fore the Gods +Display it on a day when bulls are slaughtered. +So once I vowed, that should I ever see +Or hear his safe return, I would enfold +His glorious person in this robe, and show +To all the Gods in doing sacrifice +Him a fresh worshipper in fresh array.-- +The truth hereof he will with ease descry +Betokened on this treasure-guarding seal.-- +Now go, and be advised, of this in chief, +To act within thine office; then of this, +To bear thee so, that from his thanks and mine +Meeting in one, a twofold grace may spring. + +LICH. If this my Hermes-craft be firm and sure, +Then never will I fail thee, O my Queen! +But I will show the casket as it is +To whom I bear it, and in faithfulness +Add all the words thou sendest in fit place. + +DÊ. Go, then, at once. Thou hast full cognizance +How things within the palace are preserved? + +LICH. I know, and will declare. There is no flaw. + +DÊ. Methinks thou knowest too, for thou hast seen, +My kind reception of the stranger-maid? + +LICH. I saw, and was amazed with heart-struck joy. + +DÊ. What more is there to tell?--Too rash, I fear, +Were thy report of longing on my part, +Till we can learn if we be longed for there. [_Exeunt severally_ + +CHORUS. + O ye that haunt the strand I 1 + Where ships in quiet land +Near Oeta's height and the warm rock-drawn well, +And ye round Melis' inland gulf who dwell, +Worshipping her who wields the golden wand,-- +(There Hellas' wisest meet in council strong): + Soon shall the flute arise + With sound of glad surprise, +Thrilling your sense with no unwelcome song, +But tones that to the harp of Heavenly Muse belong. + + Zeus' and Alcmena's son,-- I 2 + All deeds of glory done,-- +Speeds now triumphant to his home, whom we +Twelve weary months of blind expectancy +Lost in vast distance, from our country gone. +While, sadly languishing, his loving wife, + Still flowing down with tears, + Pined with unnumbered fears. +But Ares, lately stung to furious strife, +Frees him for ever[3] from the toilsome life. + + O let him come to-day! II + Ne'er may his vessel stay, +But glide with feathery sweep of many an oar, +Till from his altar by yon island shore +Even to our town he wind his prosperous way, + In mien returning mild, + And inly reconciled, +With that anointing in his heart ingrained, +Which the dark Centaur's wizard lips ordained. + +_Enter_ DÊANIRA. + +DÊ. O how I fear, my friends, lest all too far +I have ventured in my action of to-day! + +CH. What ails thee, Dêanira, Oeneus' child? + +DÊ. I know not, but am haunted by a dread, +Lest quickly I be found to have performed +A mighty mischief, through bright hopes betrayed. + +CH. Thou dost not mean thy gift to Heracles? + +DÊ. Indeed I do. Now I perceive how fond +Is eagerness, where actions are obscure. + +CH. Tell, if it may be told, thy cause of fear. + +DÊ. A thing is come to pass, which should I tell, +Will strike you with strange wonder when you learn. +For, O my friends, the stuff wherewith I dressed +That robe, a flock of soft and milkwhite wool, +Is shrivelled out of sight, not gnawn by tooth +Of any creature here, but, self-consumed, +Frittered and wasting on the courtyard-stones. + To let you know the circumstance at full, +I will speak on. Of all the Centaur-Thing, +When labouring in his side with the fell point +O' the shaft, enjoined me, I had nothing lost, +But his vaticination in my heart +Remained indelible, as though engraved +With pen of iron upon brass. 'Twas thus:-- +I was to keep this unguent closely hid +In dark recesses, where no heat of fire +Or warming ray might reach it, till with fresh +Anointing I addressed it to an end. +So I had done. And now this was to do, +Within my chamber covertly I spread +The ointment with piece of wool, a tuft +Pulled from a home-bred sheep; and, as ye saw, +I folded up my gift and packed it close +In hollow casket from the glaring sun. +But, entering in, a fact encounters me +Past human wit to fathom with surmise. +For, as it happened, I had tossed aside +The bit of wool I worked with, carelessly, +Into the open daylight, 'mid the blaze +Of Helios' beam. And, as it kindled warm, +It fell away to nothing, crumbled small, +Like dust in severing wood by sawyers strewn. +So, on the point of vanishing, it lay. +But, from the place where it had lain, brake forth +A frothy scum in clots of seething foam, +Like the rich draught in purple vintage poured +From Bacchus' vine upon the thirsty ground. +And I, unhappy, know not toward what thought +To turn me, but I see mine act is dire. +For wherefore should the Centaur, for what end, +Show kindness to the cause for whom he died? +That cannot be. But seeking to destroy +His slayer, he cajoled me. This I learn +Too late, by sad experience, for no good. +And, if I err not now, my hapless fate +Is all alone to be his murderess. +For, well I know, the shaft that made the wound +Gave pain to Cheiron, who was more than man; +And wheresoe'er it falls, it ravageth +All the wild creatures of the world. And now +This gory venom blackly spreading bane +From Nessus' angry wound, must it not cause +The death of Heracles? I think it must. + Yet my resolve is firm, if aught harm him, +My death shall follow in the self-same hour. +She cannot bear to live in evil fame, +Who cares to have a nature pure from ill. + +CH. Horrid mischance must needs occasion fear. +But Hope is not condemned before the event. + +DÊ. In ill-advised proceeding not even Hope +Remains to minister a cheerful mind. + +CH. Yet to have erred unwittingly abates +The fire of wrath; and thou art in this case. + +DÊ. So speaks not he who hath a share of sin, +But who is clear of all offence at home. + +CH. 'Twere well to say no more, unless thou hast aught +To impart to thine own son: for he is here, +Who went erewhile to find his father forth. + +HYLLUS _(re-entering)_. +O mother, mother! +I would to heaven one of three things were true: +Either that thou wert dead, or, living, wert +No mother to me, or hadst gained a mind +Furnished with better thoughts than thou hast now! + +DÊ. My son! what canst thou so mislike in me? + +HYL. I tell thee thou this day hast been the death +Of him that was thy husband and my sire. + +DÊ. What word hath passed thy lips? my child, my child! + +HYL. A word that must be verified. For who +Can make the accomplished fact as things undone? + +DÊ. Alas, my son! what saidst thou? Who hath told +That I have wrought a deed so full of woe? + +HYL. 'Twas I myself that saw with these mine eyes +My father's heavy state:--no hearsay word. + +DÊ. And where didst thou come near him and stand by? + +HYL. Art thou to hear it? On, then, with my tale! +When after sacking Eurytus' great city +He marched in triumph with first-fruits of war,-- +There is a headland, last of long Euboea, +Surf-beat Cenaeum,--where to his father Zeus +He dedicates high altars and a grove. +There first I saw him, gladdened from desire. +And when he now addressed him to the work +Of various sacrifice, the herald Lichas +Arrived from home, bearing thy fatal gift, +The deadly robe: wherewith invested straight, +As thou hadst given charge, he sacrificed +The firstlings of the spoil, twelve bulls entire, +Each after each. But the full count he brought +Was a clear hundred of all kinds of head. + Then the all-hapless one commenced his prayer +In solemn gladness for the bright array. +But presently, when from the holy things, +And from the richness of the oak-tree core, +There issued flame mingled with blood, a sweat +Rose on his flesh, and close to every limb +Clung, like stone-drapery from the craftsman's hand, +The garment, glued unto his side. Then came +The tearing pangs within his bones, and then +The poison feasted like the venomed tooth +Of murderous basilisk.--When this began, +He shouted on poor Lichas, none to blame +For thy sole crime, 'What guile is here, thou knave? +What was thy fraud in fetching me this robe?' +He, all-unknowing, in an evil hour +Declared his message, that the gift was thine. +Whereat the hero, while the shooting spasm +Had fastened on the lungs, seized him by the foot +Where the ankle turns i' the socket, and, with a thought, +Hurl'd on a surf-vex'd reef that showed i' the sea: +And rained the grey pulp from the hair, the brain +Being scattered with the blood. Then the great throng +Saddened their festival with piteous wail +For one in death and one in agony. +And none had courage to approach my sire,-- +Convulsed upon the ground, then tossed i' the air +With horrid yells and crying, till the cliffs +Echoed round, the mountain-promontories +Of Locris, and Euboea's rugged shore. +Wearied at length with flinging on the earth, +And shrieking oft with lamentable cry, +Cursing the fatal marriage with thyself +The all-wretched, and the bond to Oeneus' house, +That prize that was the poisoner of his peace, +He lifted a wild glance above the smoke +That hung around, and 'midst the crowd of men +Saw me in tears, and looked on me and said, +'O son, come near; fly not from my distress, +Though thou shouldst be consumèd in my death, +But lift and bear me forth; and, if thou mayest, +Set me where no one of mankind shall see me. +But if thy heart withhold thee, yet convey me +Out of this land as quickly as ye may. +Let me not die where I am now.' We then, +Thus urgently commanded, laid him down +Within our bark, and hardly to this shore +Rowed him convulsed and roaring.--Presently, +He will appear, alive or lately dead. + Such, mother, is the crime thou hast devised +And done against our sire, wherefore let Right +And Vengeance punish thee!--May I pray so? +I may: for thou absolv'st me by thy deed, +Thou that hast slain the noblest of the Earth, +Thy spouse, whose like thou ne'er wilt see again. [_Exit_ DÊANIRA. + +CH. Why steal'st thou forth in silence? Know'st thou not +Thy silence argues thine accuser's plea? + +HYL. Let her go off. Would that a sudden flood +Might sweep her far and swiftly from mine eye! +Why fondle vainly the fair-sounding name +Of mother, when her acts are all unmotherly? +Let her begone for me: and may she find +Such joy as she hath rendered to my sire! [_Exit_ HYLLUS + +CHORUS. + See where falls the doom, of old I 1 + By the unerring Voice foretold,-- + 'When twelve troublous years have rolled, + Then shall end your long desire: + Toil on toil no more shall tire + The offspring of the Eternal Sire.' + Lo! the destined Hour is come! + Lo! it hath brought its burden home. + For when the eyes have looked their last + How should sore labour vex again? + How, when the powers of will and thought are past, + Should life be any more enthralled to pain? + + And if Nessus' withering shroud, I 2 + Wrought by destiny and craft, + Steep him in a poisonous cloud. + Steaming from the venomed shaft, + Which to Death in hideous lair + The many-wreathed Hydra bare, + How shall he another day + Feel the glad warmth of Helios' ray?-- + Enfolded by the Monster-Thing + Of Lerna, while the cruel sting + Of the shagg'd Centaur's murderous-guileful tongue + Breaks forth withal to do him painful wrong. + + And she, poor innocent, who saw II 1 + Checkless advancing to the gate + A mighty harm unto her state,-- + This rash young bridal without fear of law,-- + Gave not her will to aught that caused this woe, + But since it came through that strange mind's conceiving,-- + That ruined her in meeting,--deeply grieving, + She mourns with dewy tears in tenderest flow. + The approaching hour appeareth great with woe: + Some guile-born misery doth Fate foreshow. + + The springs of sorrow are unbound, II 2 + And such an agony disclose, + As never from the hands of foes + To afflict the life of Heracles was found. + O dark with battle-stains, world-champion spear, + That from Oechalia's highland leddest then + This bride that followed swiftly in thy train, + How fatally overshadowing was thy fear! + But these wild sorrows all too clearly come + From Love's dread minister[4], disguised and dumb. + +CH. 1. + Am I a fool, or do I truly hear + Lament new-rising from our master's home? + Tell! + +CH. 2. + Clearly from within a wailing voice + Peals piteously. The house hath some fresh woe. + +CH. 3. + Mark! + How strangely, with what cloud upon her brow, + Yon aged matron with her tidings moves! + +_Enter_ Nurse. + +NURSE. Ah! mighty, O my daughters! was the grief +Sprung from the gift to Heracles conveyed! + +LEADER OF CH. What new thing is befallen? Why speak'st thou so? + +NUR. Our Queen hath found her latest journey's end. +Even now she is gone, without the help of feet. + +CH. Not dead? + +NUR. You know the whole. + +CH. Dead! hapless Queen! + +NUR. The truth hath twice been told. + +CH. O tell us how! +What was her death, poor victim of dire woe? + +NUR. Most ruthless was the deed. + +CH. Say, woman, say! +What was the sudden end? + +NUR. Herself she slew. + +CH. What rage, what madness, clutched +The mischief-working brand? +How could her single thought +Contrive the accomplishment of death on death? + +NUR. Chill iron stopped the sources of her breath. + +CH. And thou, poor helpless crone, didst see this done? + +NUR. Yea, I stood near and saw. + +CH. How was it? Tell! + +NUR. With her own hand this violence was given. + +CH. What do I hear? + +NUR. The certainty of truth. + +CH. A child is come, +From this new bridal that hath rushed within, +A fresh-born Fury of woe! + +NUR. Too true. But hadst thou been at hand to see +Her action, pity would have wrung thy soul. + +CH. Could this be ventured by a woman's hand? + +NUR. Ay, and in dreadful wise, as thou shalt hear. +When all alone she had gone within the gate, +And passing through the court beheld her boy +Spreading the couch that should receive his sire, +Ere he returned to meet him,--out of sight +She hid herself, and fell at the altar's foot, +And loudly cried that she was left forlorn; +And, taking in her touch each household thing +That formerly she used, poor lady, wept +O'er all; and then went ranging through the rooms, +Where, if there caught her eye the well-loved form +Of any of her household, she would gaze +And weep aloud, accusing her own fate +And her abandoned lot, childless henceforth! +When this was ended, suddenly I see her +Fly to the hero's room of genial rest. +With unsuspected gaze o'ershadowed near, +I watched, and saw her casting on the bed +The finest sheets of all. When that was done, +She leapt upon the couch where they had lain +And sat there in the midst. And the hot flood +Burst from her eyes before she spake:--'Farewell, +My bridal bed, for never more shalt thou +Give me the comfort I have known thee give.' +Then with tight fingers she undid her robe, +Where the brooch lay before the breast, and bared +All her left arm and side. I, with what speed +Strength ministered, ran forth to tell her son +The act she was preparing. But meanwhile, +Ere we could come again, the fatal blow +Fell, and we saw the wound. And he, her boy, +Seeing, wept aloud. For now the hapless youth +Knew that himself had done this in his wrath, +Told all too late i' the house, how she had wrought +Most innocently, from the Centaur's wit. +So now the unhappy one, with passionate words +And cries and wild embracings of the dead, +Groaned forth that he had slain her with false breath +Of evil accusation, and was left +Orphaned of both, his mother and his sire. + Such is the state within. What fool is he +That counts one day, or two, or more to come? +To-morrow is not, till the present day +In fair prosperity have passed away. [_Exit_ + +CHORUS. + Which shall come first in my wail, I 1 + Which shall be last to prevail, + Is a doubt that will never be done. + + Trouble at home may be seen, I 2 + Trouble is looked for with teen; + And to have and to look for are one. + + Would some fair wind II 1 + But waft me forth to roam + Far from the native region of my home, + Ere death me find, oppressed with wild affright + Even at the sudden sight + Of him, the valiant son of Zeus most High! + Before the house, they tell, he fareth nigh, + A wonder beyond thought, + With torment unapproachable distraught. + + Hark! ... II 2 + The cause then of my cry + Was coming all too nigh: + (Doth the clear nightingale lament for nought?) + Some step of stranger folk is this way brought. + As for a friend they love + Heavy and slow with noiseless feet they move. + Which way? which way? Ah me! behold him come. + His pallid lips are dumb. + Dead, or at rest in sleep? What shall I say? + [HERACLES _is brought in on a litter, accompanied + by_ HYLLUS _and an_ Old Man + +HYL. Oh, woe is me! + My father, piteous woe for thee! + Oh, whither shall I turn my thought! Ah me! + +OLD M. Hush! speak not, O my child, + Lest torment fierce and wild + Rekindle in thy father's rugged breast, + And break this rest + Where now his life is held at point to fall. + With firm lips clenched refrain thy voice through all. + +HYL. Yet tell me, doth he live, + Old sir? + +OLD M. Wake not the slumberer, + Nor kindle and revive + The terrible recurrent power of pain, + My son! + +HYL. My foolish words are done, + But my full heart sinks 'neath the heavy strain. + +HERACLES. O Father, who are these? + What countrymen? Where am I? What far land + Holds me in pain that ceaseth not? Ah me! + Again that pest is rending me. Pain, pain! + +OLD M. Now thou may'st know + 'Twas better to have lurked in silent shade + And not thus widely throw + The slumber from his eyelids and his head. + +HYL. I could not brook + All speechless on his misery to look. + +MONODY. + +HER. O altar on the Euboean strand, + High-heaped with offerings from my hand, + What meed for lavish gifts bestowed + From thy new sanctuary hath flowed! + Father of Gods! thy cruel power + Hath foiled me with an evil blight. + Ah! would mine eyes had closed in night + Ere madness in a fatal hour + Had burst upon them with a blaze, + No help or soothing once allays! + + What hand to heal, what voice to charm, + Can e'er dispel this hideous harm? + Whose skill save thine, + Monarch Divine? + Mine eyes, if such I saw, + Would hail him from afar with trembling awe. + Ah! ah! + O vex me not, touch me not, leave me to rest, + To sleep my last sleep on Earth's gentle breast. + You touch me, you press me, you turn me again, + You break me, you kill me! O pain! O pain! + You have kindled the pang that had slumbered still. + It comes, it hath seized me with tyrannous will! + + Where are ye, men, whom over Hellas wide + This arm hath freed, and o'er the ocean-tide, + And through rough brakes, from every monstrous thing? + Yet now in mine affliction none will bring + A sword to aid, a fire to quell this fire, + O most unrighteous! nor to my desire + Will come and quench the hateful life I hold + With mortal stroke! Ah! is there none so bold? + +OLD M. Son of our hero, this hath mounted past + My feeble force to cope with. Take him thou! + Fresher thine eye and more the hope thou hast + Than mine to save him. + +HYL. I support him now + Thus with mine arm: but neither fleshly vest + Nor inmost spirit can I lull to rest + From torture. None may dream + To wield this power, save he, the King supreme. + +HER. Son! + Where art thou to lift me and hold me aright? + It tears me, it kills me, it rushes in might, + This cruel, devouring, unconquered pain + Shoots forth to consume me. Again! again! + O Fate! O Athena!--O son, at my word + Have pity and slay me with merciful sword! + + Pity thy father, boy; with sharp relief + Smite on my breast, and heal the wrathful grief + Wherewith thy mother, God-abandoned wife, + Hath wrought this ruin on her husband's life. + O may I see her falling, even so + As she hath thrown me, to like depth of woe! + Sweet Hades, with swift death, + Brother of Zeus, release my suffering breath! + +CH. Horror hath caught me as I hear this, woe, +Racking our mighty one with mightier pain. + +HER. Many hot toils and hard beyond report, +With sturdy thews and sinews I have borne, +But no such labour hath the Thunderer's wife +Or sour Eurystheus ever given, as this, +Which Oeneus' daughter of the treacherous eye +Hath fastened on my back, this amply-woven +Net of the Furies, that is breaking me. +For, glued unto my side, it hath devoured +My flesh to the bone, and lodging in the lungs +It drains the vital channels, and hath drunk +The fresh life-blood, and ruins all my frame, +Foiled in the tangle of a viewless bond. +Yet me nor War-host, nor Earth's giant brood, +Nor Centaur's monstrous violence could subdue, +Nor Hellas, nor the Stranger, nor all lands +Where I have gone, cleansing the world from harms. +But a soft woman without manhood's strain +Alone and weaponless hath conquered me. +Son, let me know thee mine true-born, nor rate +Thy mother's claim beyond thy sire's, but bring +Thyself from out the chambers to my hand +Her body that hath borne thee, that my heart +May be assured, if lesser than my pain +It will distress thee to behold her limbs +With righteous torment agonized and torn. +Nay, shrink not, son, but pity me, whom all +May pity--me, who, like a tender girl, +Am heard to weep aloud! This none could say +He knew in me of old; for, murmuring not, +I went with evil fortune, silent still. +Now, such a foe hath found the woman in me! + Ay, but come near; stand by me, and behold +What cause I have for crying. Look but here! +Here is the mystery unveiled. O see! +Ye people, gaze on this poor quivering flesh, +Look with compassion on my misery! +Ah me! +Ah! ah! Again! +Even now the hot convulsion of disease +Shoots through my side, and will not let me rest +From this fierce exercise of wearing woe. +Take me, O King of Night! +O sudden thunderstroke. +Smite me! O sire, transfix me with the dart +Of thy swift lightning! Yet again that fang +Is tearing; it hath blossomed forth anew, +It soars up to the height! + + O breast and back, +O shrivelling arms and hands, ye are the same +That crushed the dweller of the Némean wild, +The lion unapproachable and rude, +The oxherd's plague, and Hydra of the lake +Of Lerna, and the twi-form prancing throng +Of Centaurs,--insolent, unsociable, +Lawless, ungovernable:--the tuskèd pest +Of Erymanthine glades; then underground +Pluto's three-headed cur--a perilous fear, +Born from the monster-worm; and, on the verge +Of Earth, the dragon, guarding fruits of gold. +These toils and others countless I have tried, +And none hath triumphed o'er me. But to-day, +Jointless and riven to tatters, I am wrecked +Thus utterly by imperceptible woe; +I, proudly named Alcmena's child, and His +Who reigns in highest heaven, the King supreme! + Ay, but even yet, I tell ye, even from here, +Where I am nothingness and cannot move, +She who hath done this deed shall feel my power. +Let her come near, that, mastered by my might, +She may have this to tell the world, that, dying, +As living, I gave punishment to wrong. + +CH. O Hellas, how I grieve for thy distress! +How thou wilt mourn in losing him we see! + +HYL. My father, since thy silence gives me leave, +Still hear me patiently, though in thy pain! +For my request is just. Lend me thy mind +Less wrathfully distempered than 'tis now; +Else thou canst never know, where thou art keen +With vain resentment and with vain desire + +HER. Speak what thou wilt and cease, for I in pain +Catch not the sense of thy mysterious talk + +HYL. I come to tell thee of my mother's case, +And her involuntary unconscious fault. + +HER. Base villain! hast thou breathed thy mother's name, +Thy father's murderess, in my hearing too! + +HYL. Her state requires not silence, but full speech. + +HER. Her faults in former time might well be told. + +HYL. So might her fault to day, couldst thou but know. + +HER. Speak, but beware base words disgrace thee not. + +HYL. List! She is dead even now with new-given wound. + +HER. By whom? Thy words flash wonder through my woe. + +HYL. Her own hand slaughtered her, no foreign stroke. + +HER. Wretch! to have reft this office from my hands. + +HYL. Even your rash spirit were softened, if you knew. + +HER. This bodes some knavery. But declare thy thought! + +HYL. She erred with good intent. The whole is said. + +HER. Good, O thou villain, to destroy thy sire! + +HYL. When she perceived that marriage in her home, +She erred, supposing to enchain thy love. + +HER. Hath Trachis a magician of such might? + +HYL. Long since the Centaur Nessus moved her mind +To work this charm for heightening thy desire. + +HER. O horror, thou art here! I am no more. +My day is darkened, boy! Undone, undone! +I see our plight too plainly. woe is me! +Come, O my son! --thou hast no more a father,-- +Call to me all the brethren of thy blood, +And poor Alcmena, wedded all in vain +Unto the Highest, that ye may hear me tell +With my last breath what prophecies I know. + +HYL. Thy mother is not here, but by the shore +Of Tiryns hath obtained a dwelling-place; +And of thy sons, some she hath with her there, +And some inhabit Thebè's citadel. +But we who are with thee, sire, if there be aught +That may by us be done, will hear, and do. + +HER. Then hearken thou unto this task, and show +If worthily thou art reputed mine. +Now is time to prove thee. My great father +Forewarned me long ago that I should die +By none who lived and breathed, but from the will +Of one now dwelling in the house of death. +And so this Centaur, as the voice Divine +Then prophesied, in death hath slain me living. +And in agreement with that ancient word +I now interpret newer oracles +Which I wrote down on going within the grove +Of the hill-roving and earth-couching Selli,-- +Dictated to me by the mystic tongue +Innumerous, of my Father's sacred tree; +Declaring that my ever instant toils +Should in the time that new hath being and life +End and release me. And I look'd for joy. +But the true meaning plainly was my death.-- +No labour is appointed for the dead.-- +Then, since all argues one event, my son, +Once more thou must befriend me, and not wait +For my voice goading thee, but of thyself +Submit and second my resolve, and know +Filial obedience for thy noblest rule. + +HYL. I will obey thee, father, though my heart +Sinks heavily in approaching such a theme. + +HER. Before aught else, lay thy right hand in mine. + +HYL. Why so intent on this assurance, sire? + +HER. Give it at once and be not froward, boy. + +HYL. There is my hand: I will gainsay thee nought. + +HER. Swear by the head of him who gave me life. + +HYL. Tell me the oath, and I will utter it. + +HER. Swear thou wilt do the thing I bid thee do. + +HYL. I swear, and make Zeus witness of my troth. + +HER. But if you swerve, pray that the curse may come. + +HYL. It will not come for swerving:--but I pray. + +HER. Now, dost thou know on Oeta's topmost height +The crag of Zeus? + +HYL. I know it, and full oft +Have stood there sacrificing. + +HER. Then even there, +With thine own hand uplifting this my body, +Taking what friends thou wilt, and having lopped +Much wood from the deep-rooted oak and rough +Wild olive, lay me on the gathered pile, +And burn all with the touch of pine-wood flame. +Let not a tear of mourning dim thine eye; +But silent, with dry gaze, if thou art mine, +Perform it. Else my curse awaits thee still +To weigh thee down when I am lost in night. + +HYL. How cruel, O my father, is thy tongue! + +HER. 'Tis peremptory. Else, if thou refuse, +Be called another's and be no more mine. + +HYL. Alas that thou shouldst challenge me to this, +To be thy murderer, guilty of thy blood! + +HER. Not I, in sooth: but healer of my pain, +And sole preserver from a life of woe. + +HYL. How can it heal to burn thee on the pyre? + +HER. If this act frighten thee, perform the rest. + +HYL. Mine arms shall not refuse to carry thee. + +HER. And wilt thou gather the appointed wood? + +HYL. So my hand fire it not. In all but this, +Not scanting labour, I will do my part. + +HER. Enough. 'Tis well. And having thus much given +Add one small kindness to a list so full. + +HYL. How great soe'er it were, it should be done. + +HER. The maid of Eurytus thou knowest, I ween. + +HYL. Of Iolè thou speak'st, or I mistake. + +HER. Of her. This then is all I urge, my son. +When I am dead, if thou wouldst show thy duty, +Think of thine oath to me, and, on my word, +Make her thy wife: nor let another man +Take her, but only thou; since she hath lain +So near this heart. Obey me, O my boy! +And be thyself the maker of this bond. +To spurn at trifles after great things given, +Were to confound the meed already won. + +HYL. Oh, anger is not right, when men are ill! +But who could bear to see thee in this mind? + +HER. You murmur, as you meant to disobey. + +HYL. How can I do it, when my mother's death +And thy sad state sprang solely from this girl? +Who, not possessed with furies, could choose this? +Far better, father, for me too to die, +Than to live still with my worst enemy. + +HER. This youth withdraws his reverence in my death. +But, if thou yield'st not to thy father's best, +The curse from Heaven shall dog thy footsteps still. + +HYL. Ah! thou wilt tell me that thy pain is come. + +HER. Yea, for thou wak'st the torment that had slept. + +HYL. Ay me! how cross and doubtful is my way! + +HER. Because you will reject your father's word. + +HYL. Must I be taught impiety from thee? + +HER. It is not impious to content my heart. + +HYL. Then you require this with an absolute will? + +HER. And bid Heaven witness to my strong command. + +HYL. Then I will do it, for the act is thine. +I will not cast it off. Obeying thee, +My sire, the Gods will ne'er reprove my deed. + +HER. Thou endest fairly. Now, then, O my son, +Add the performance swiftly, that, before +Some spasm or furious onset of my pain +Have seized me, ye may place me on the pyre. +Come, loiter not, but lift me. Now my end +Is near, the last cessation of my woe. + +HYL. Since thy command is urgent, O my sire! +We tarry not, but bear thee to the pyre. + +HER. Stubborn heart, ere yet again + Wakes the fierce rebound of pain, + While the evil holds aloof, + Thou, with bit of diamond proof, + Curb thy cry, with forcèd will + Seeming to do gladly still! + +HYL. Lift him, men, and hate not me + For the evil deeds ye see, + Since the Heavens' relentless sway + Recks not of the righteous way. + He who gave life and doth claim + From his seed a Father's name + Can behold this hour of blame. + Though the future none can tell, + Yet the present is not well: + Sore for him who bears the blow, + Sad for us who feel his woe, + Shameful to the Gods, we trow. + +CH. Maidens from the palace-hall, + Come ye forth, too, at our call! + Mighty deaths beyond belief, + Many an unknown form of grief, + Ye have seen to-day; and nought + But the power of Zeus hath wrought. + + * * * * * + + + + + PHILOCTETES + + + THE PERSONS + +ODYSSEUS. +NEOPTOLEMUS. +CHORUS _of Mariners_. +PHILOCTETES. +Messenger, _disguised as a Merchantman_. +HERACLES, _appearing from the sky_. + + +SCENE. A desert shore of the Island of Lemnos. + + + + +It was fated that Troy should be taken by Neoptolemus, the son of +Achilles, assisted by the bow of Heracles in the hands of Philoctetes. + +Now Philoctetes had been rejected by the army because of a trouble in +his foot, which made his presence with them insufferable; and had been +cast away by Odysseus on the island of Lemnos. + +But when the decree of fate was revealed by prophecy, Odysseus +undertook to bring Philoctetes back, and took with him Neoptolemus, +whose ambition could only be gratified through the return of +Philoctetes with the bow. + +Philoctetes was resolutely set against returning, and at the opening +of the drama Neoptolemus is persuaded by Odysseus to take him with +guile. + +But when Philoctetes appears, the youth's ingenuous nature is so +wrought upon through pity and remorse, that his sympathy and native +truthfulness at length overcome his ambition. + +When the inward sacrifice is complete, Heracles appears from heaven, +and by a few words changes the mind of Philoctetes, so that all ends +well. + + + + + PHILOCTETES + + +ODYSSEUS. NEOPTOLEMUS. + +ODYSSEUS. This coast of sea-girt Lemnos, where we stand, +Is uninhabited, untrodden of men. +And here, O noble son of noblest sire, +Achilles-born Neoptolemus, I erewhile,-- +Ordered by those who had command,--cast forth +Trachinian Philoctetes, Poeas' son, +His foot dark-dripping with a rankling wound; +When with wild cries, that frighted holy rest, +Filling the camp, he troubled every rite, +That none might handle sacrifice, or pour +Wine-offering, but his noise disturbed our peace. + But why these words? No moment this for talk, +Lest he discern my coming, and I lose +The scheme, wherewith I think to catch him soon. +Now most behoves thy service, to explore +This headland for a cave with double mouth, +Whose twofold aperture, on wintry days, +Gives choice of sunshine, and in summer noons +The breeze wafts slumber through the airy cell. +Then, something lower down, upon the left, +Unless 'tis dried, thine eye may note a spring. +Go near now silently, and make me know +If still he persevere, and hold this spot, +Or have roamed elsewhere, that informed of this +I may proceed with what remains to say, +And we may act in concert. + +NEOPTOLEMUS. Lord Odysseus, +Thy foremost errand will not task me far. +Methinks I see the cave whereof thou speakest. + +OD. Where? let me see it. Above there, or below? + +NEO. Yonder, above. And yet I hear no tread. + [NEOPTOLEMUS _climbs up to the cave_ + +OD. Look if he be not lodged in slumber there. + +NEO. I find no inmate, but an empty room. + +OD. What? no provision for a dwelling-place? + +NEO. A bed of leaves for some one harbouring here. + +OD. Nought else beneath the roof? Is all forlorn? + +NEO. A cup of wood, some untaught craftsman's skill, +And, close at hand, these embers of a fire. + +OD. That store is his. I read the token clear. + +NEO. Oh! and these festering rags give evidence, +Steeped as with dressing some malignant sore. + +OD. The man inhabits here: I know it now. +And sure he's not far off. How can he range, +Whose limb drags heavy with an ancient harm? +But he's gone, either to bring forage home, +Or where he hath found some plant of healing power. +Send therefore thine attendant to look forth, +Lest unawares he find me. All our host +Were not so fair a prize for him as I. + +NEO. My man is going, and shall watch the path. +What more dost thou require of me? Speak on. + +OD. Son of Achilles, know that thou art come +To serve us nobly, not with strength alone, +But, faithful to thy mission, if so be, +To do things strange, unwonted to thine ear. + +NEO. What dost thou bid me? + +OD. 'Tis thy duty now +To entrap the mind of Poeas' son with words. +When he shall ask thee, who and whence thou art, +Declare thy name and father. 'Tis not that +I charge thee to conceal. But for thy voyage, +'Tis homeward, leaving the Achaean host, +With perfect hatred hating them, because +They who had drawn thee with strong prayers from home, +Their hope for taking Troy, allowed thee not +Thy just demand to have thy father's arms, +But, e'er thy coming, wrongly gave them o'er +Unto Odysseus: and thereon launch forth +With boundless execration against me. +That will not pain me, but if thou reject +This counsel, thou wilt trouble all our host, +Since, if his bow shall not be ta'en, thy life +Will ne'er be crowned through Troy's discomfiture. + Now let me show, why thine approach to him +Is safe and trustful as mine cannot be +Thou didst sail forth, not to redeem thine oath, +Nor by constraint, nor with the foremost band. +All which reproaches I must bear: and he, +But seeing me, while master of his bow, +Will slay me, and my ruin will be thine. +This point then craves our cunning, to acquire +By subtle means the irresistible bow-- +Thy nature was not framed, I know it well, +For speaking falsehood, or contriving harm. +Yet, since the prize of victory is so dear, +Endure it--We'll be just another day +But now, for one brief hour, devote thyself +To serve me without shame, and then for aye +Hereafter be the pearl of righteousness. + +NEO. The thing that, being named, revolts mine ear, +Son of Laërtes, I abhor to do +'Tis not my nature, no, nor, as they tell, +My father's, to work aught by craft and guile. +I'll undertake to bring him in by force, +Not by deceit. For, sure, with his one foot, +He cannot be a match for all our crew +Being sent, my lord, to serve thee, I am loth +To seem rebellious. But I rather choose +To offend with honour, than to win by wrong. + +OD. Son of a valiant sire, I, too, in youth, +Had once a slow tongue and an active hand. +But since I have proved the world, I clearly see +Words and not deeds give mastery over men. + +NEO. What then is thy command? To lie? No more? + +OD. To entangle Philoctetes with deceit. + +NEO. Why through deceit? May not persuasion fetch him? + +OD. Never. And force as certainly will fail. + +NEO. What lends him such assurance of defence? + +OD. Arrows, the unerring harbingers of Death. + +NEO. Then to go near him is a perilous thing. + +OD. Unless with subtlety, as I have said. + +NEO. And is not lying shameful to thy soul? + +OD. Not if by lying I can save my soul. + +NEO. How must one look in speaking such a word? + +OD. Where gain invites, this shrinking is not good. + +NEO. What gain I through his coming back to Troy? + +OD. His arms alone have power to take Troy-town. + +NEO. Then am not I the spoiler, as ye said? + +OD. Thou without them, they without thee, are powerless. + +NEO. If it be so, they must be sought and won. + +OD. Yea, for in this two prizes will be thine. + +NEO. What? When I learn them, I will not refuse. + +OD. Wisdom and valour joined in one good name. + +NEO. Shame, to the winds! Come, I will do this thing. + +OD. Say, dost thou bear my bidding full in mind? + +NEO. Doubt not, since once for all I have embraced it. + +OD. Thou, then, await him here. I will retire, +For fear my hated presence should be known, +And take back our attendant to the ship. +And then once more, should ye appear to waste +The time unduly, I will send again +This same man hither in disguise, transformed +To the strange semblance of a merchantman; +From dark suggestion of whose crafty tongue, +Thou, O my son, shalt gather timely counsel. + Now to my ship. This charge I leave to thee. +May secret Hermes guide us to our end, +And civic Pallas, named of victory, +The sure protectress of my devious way. + +CHORUS (_entering_). + Strange in the stranger land, I 1 + What shall I speak? What hide + From a heart suspicious of ill? + Tell me, O master mine! + Wise above all is the man, + Peerless in searching thought, + Who with the Zeus-given wand + Wieldeth a Heaven-sent power. + This unto thee, dear son, + Fraught with ancestral might, + This to thy life hath come. + Wherefore I bid thee declare, + What must I do for thy need? + +NEO. Even now methinks thou longest to espy +Near ocean's marge the place where he doth lie. +Gaze without fear. But when the traveller stern, +Who from this roof is parted, shall return, +Advancing still as I the signal give, +To serve each moment's mission thou shalt strive. + +CH. That, O my son, from of old I 2 + Hath been my care, to take note + What by thy beck'ning is told; + Still thy success to promote. + But for our errand to-day + Behoves thee, master, to say + Where is the hearth of his home; + Or where even now doth he roam? + O tell me, lest all unaware + He spring like a wolf from his lair + And I by surprise should be ta'en, + Where doth he move or remain, + Here lodging, or wandering away? + +NEO. Thou seëst yon double doorway of his cell, +Poor habitation of the rock. + +CH. 2. But tell +Where is the pain-worn wight himself abroad? + +NEO. To me 'tis clear, that, in his quest for food, +Here, not far off, he trails yon furrowed path. +For, so 'tis told, this mode the sufferer hath +Of sustenance, oh hardness! bringing low +Wild creatures with wing'd arrows from his bow; +Nor findeth healer for his troublous woe. + +CH. I feel his misery. II 1 + With no companion eye, + Far from all human care, + He pines with fell disease; + Each want he hourly sees + Awakening new despair. + How can he bear it still? + O cruel Heavens! O pain + Of that afflicted mortal train + Whose life sharp sorrows fill! + + Born in a princely hall, II 2 + Highest, perchance, of all, + Now lies he comfortless + Alone in deep distress, + 'Mongst rough and dappled brutes, + With pangs and hunger worn; + While from far distance shoots, + On airy pinion borne, + The unbridled Echo, still replying + To his most bitter crying. + +NEO. At nought of this I marvel--for if I +Judge rightly, there assailed him from on high +That former plague through Chrysa's cruel sting[1]: +And if to-day he suffer anything +With none to soothe, it must be from the will +Of some great God, so caring to fulfil +The word of prophecy, lest he should bend +On Troy the shaft no mortal may forfend, +Before the arrival of Troy's destined hour, +When she must fall, o'er-mastered by their power. + +CH. 1. Hush, my son! III 1 + +NEO. Why so? + +CH. 1. A sound +Gendered of some mortal woe, +Started from the neighbouring ground. +Here, or there? Ah! now I know. +Hark! 'tis the voice of one in pain, +Travelling hardly, the deep strain +Of human anguish, all too clear, +That smites my heart, that wounds mine ear. + +CH. 2. From far it peals. But thou, my son! III 2 + +NEO. What? + +CH. 2. Think again. He moveth nigh: +He holds the region: not with tone +Of piping shepherd's rural minstrelsy, +But belloweth his far cry, +Stumbling perchance with mortal pain, + Or else in wild amaze, + As he our ship surveys +Unwonted on the inhospitable main. + +_Enter_ PHILOCTETES. + +PHILOCTETES. Ho! +What men are ye that to this desert shore, +Harbourless, uninhabited, are come +On shipboard? Of what country or what race +Shall I pronounce ye? For your outward garb +Is Grecian, ever dearest to this heart +That hungers now to hear your voices' tune. +Ah! do not fear me, do not shrink away +From my wild looks: but, pitying one so poor, +Forlorn and desolate in nameless woe, +Speak, if with friendly purpose ye are come. +Oh answer! 'Tis not meet that I should lose +This kindness from your lips, or ye from mine. + +NEO. Then know this first, O stranger, as thou wouldest, +That we are Greeks. + +PHI. O dear, dear name! Ah me! +In all these years, once, only once, I hear it! +My son, what fairest gale hath wafted thee? +What need hath brought thee to the shore? What mission? +Declare all this, that I may know thee well. + +NEO. The sea-girt Scyros is my native home. +Thitherward I make voyage:--Achilles' son, +Named Neoptolemus.--I have told thee all. + +PHI. Dear is that shore to me, dear is thy father +O ancient Lycomedes' foster-child, +Whence cam'st thou hither? How didst thou set forth? + +NEO. From Troy we made our course in sailing hither. + +PHI. How? Sure thou wast not with us, when at first +We launched our vessels on the Troyward way? + +NEO. Hadst thou a share in that adventurous toil? + +PHI. And know'st thou not whom thou behold'st in me, +Young boy? + +NEO. How should I know him whom I ne'er +Set eye on? + +PHI. Hast not even heard my name, +Nor echoing rumour of my ruinous woe? + +NEO. Nay, I know nought of all thy questioning. + +PHI. How full of griefs am I, how Heaven-abhorred, +When of my piteous state no faintest sound +Hath reached my home, or any Grecian land! +But they, who pitilessly cast me forth, +Keep silence and are glad, while this my plague +Blooms ever, and is strengthened more and more. +Boy, great Achilles' offspring, in this form +Thou seest the man, of whom, methinks, erewhile +Thou hast been told, to whom the Hercúlean bow +Descended, Philoctetes, Poeas' son; +Whom the two generals and the Ithacan king +Cast out thus shamefully forlorn, afflicted +With the fierce malady and desperate wound +Made by the cruel basilisk's murderous tooth. +With this for company they left me, child! +Exposed upon this shore, deserted, lone. + From seaward Chrysa came they with their fleet +And touched at Lemnos. I had fallen to rest +From the long tossing, in a shadowy cave +On yonder cliff by the shore. Gladly they saw, +And left me, having set forth for my need, +Poor man, some scanty rags, and a thin store +Of provender. Such food be theirs, I pray! +Imagine, O my son, when they were gone, +What wakening, what arising, then was mine; +What weeping, what lamenting of my woe! +When I beheld the ships, wherewith I sailed, +Gone, one and all! and no man in the place, +None to bestead me, none to comfort me +In my sore sickness. And where'er I looked, +Nought but distress was present with me still. +No lack of that, for one thing!--Ah! my son, +Time passed, and there I found myself alone +Within my narrow lodging, forced to serve +Each pressing need. For body's sustenance +This bow supplied me with sufficient store, +Wounding the feathered doves, and when the shaft, +From the tight string, had struck, myself, ay me! +Dragging this foot, would crawl to my swift prey. +Then water must be fetched, and in sharp frost +Wood must be found and broken,--all by me. +Nor would fire come unbidden, but with flint +From flints striking dim sparks, I hammered forth +The struggling flame that keeps the life in me. +For houseroom with the single help of fire +Gives all I need, save healing for my sore. + Now learn, my son, the nature of this isle. +No mariner puts in here willingly. +For it hath neither moorage, nor sea-port, +For traffic or kind shelter or good cheer. +Not hitherward do prudent men make voyage. +Perchance one may have touched against his will. +Many strange things may happen in long time. +These, when they come, in words have pitied me, +And given me food, or raiment, in compassion. +But none is willing, when I speak thereof, +To take me safely home. Wherefore I pine +Now this tenth year, in famine and distress, +Feeding the hunger of my ravenous plague. + Such deeds, my son, the Atridae, and the might +Of sage Odysseus, have performed on me. +Wherefore may all the Olympian gods, one day, +Plague them with stern requital for my wrong! + +CH. Methinks my feeling for thee, Poeas' child, +Is like that of thy former visitants. + +NEO. I, too, a witness to confirm his words, +Know them for verities, since I have found +The Atridae and Odysseus evil men. + +PHI. Art thou, too, wroth with the all-pestilent sons +Of Atreus? Have they given thee cause to grieve? + +NEO. Would that my hand might ease the wrath I feel! +Then Sparta and Mycenae should be ware +That Scyros too breeds valiant sons for war. + +PHI. Brave youth! I love thee. Tell me the great cause +Why thou inveighest against them with such heat? + +NEO. O son of Poeas, hardly shall I tell +What outrage I endured when I had come; +Yet I will speak it. When the fate of death +O'ertook Achilles-- + +PHI. Out, alas! no more! +Hold, till thou first hast made me clearly know, +Is Peleus' offspring dead? + +NEO. Alas! he is, +Slain by no mortal, felled by Phoebus' shaft: +So men reported-- + +PHI. Well, right princely was he! +And princely is he who slew him. Shall I mourn +Him first, or wait till I have heard thy tale? + +NEO. Methinks thou hast thyself enough to mourn, +Without the burden of another's woe. + +PHI. Well spoken. Then renew thine own complaint, +And tell once more wherein they insulted thee. + +NEO. There came to fetch me, in a gallant ship, +Odysseus and the fosterer of my sire[2], +Saying, whether soothly, or in idle show, +That, since my father perished, it was known +None else but I should take Troy's citadel. +Such words from them, my friend, thou may'st believe, +Held me not long from making voyage with speed, +Chiefly through longing for my father's corse, +To see him yet unburied,--for I ne'er +Had seen him[3]. Then, besides, 'twas a fair cause, +If, by my going, I should vanquish Troy. +One day I had sailed, and on the second came +To sad Sigeum with wind-favoured speed, +When straightway all the host, surrounding me +As I set foot on shore, saluted me, +And swore the dead Achilles was in life, +Their eyes being witness, when they looked on me. +He lay there in his shroud: but I, unhappy, +Soon ending lamentation for the dead, +Went near to those Atridae, as to friends, +To obtain my father's armour and all else +That had been his. And then,--alas the while, +That men should be so hard!--they spake this word: +'Seed of Achilles, thou may'st freely take +All else thy father owned, but for those arms, +Another wields them now, Laërtes' son.' +Tears rushed into mine eyes, and in hot wrath +I straightway rose, and bitterly outspake: +'O miscreant! What? And have ye dared to give +Mine arms to some man else, unknown to me?' +Then said Odysseus, for he chanced to be near, +'Yea, child, and justly have they given me these. +I saved them and their master in the field.' +Then in fierce anger all at once I launched +All terms of execration at his head, +Bating no word, being maddened by the thought +That I should lose this heirloom,--and to him! +He, at this pass, though not of wrathful mood, +Stung by such utterance, made rejoinder thus: +'Thou wast not with us here, but wrongfully +Didst bide afar. And, since thou mak'st so bold, +I tell thee, never shalt thou, as thou sayest, +Sail with these arms to Scyros.'--Thus reviled, +With such an evil echo in mine ear, +I voyage homeward, robbed of mine own right +By that vile offset of an evil tree[4]. +Yet less I blame him than the men in power. +For every multitude, be it army or state, +Takes tone from those who rule it, and all taint +Of disobedience from bad counsel springs. +I have spoken. May the Atridae's enemy +Be dear to Heaven, as he is loved by me! + +CH. Mother of mightiest Zeus, 1 + Feeder of all that live, + Who from thy mountainous breast + Rivers of gold dost give! + To thee, O Earth, I cried that shameful day, + When insolence from Atreus' sons went forth + Full on our lord: when they bestowed away + His father's arms to crown Odysseus' worth; + Thou, whom bull-slaughtering lions yoked bear, + O mighty mother, hear! + +PHI. Your coming is commended by a grief +That makes you kindly welcome. For I feel +A chord that vibrates to your voice, and tells, +Thus have Odysseus and the Atridae wrought. +Full well I know, Odysseus' poisoned tongue +Shrinks from no mischief nor no guileful word +That leads to bad achievement in the end. +This moves not my main marvel, but if one +Saw this and bore it,--Aias of the shield. + +NEO. Ah, friend, he was no more. Had he but lived, +This robbery had ne'er been wrought on me. + +PHI. What? Is he too departed? + +NEO. He is dead. +The light no more beholds him. + +PHI. Oh! alas! +But Tydeus' offspring, and the rascal birth +Laërtes bought of Sisyphus, they live: +I know it. For their death were to be wished. + +NEO. Yea, be assured, they live and flourish high +Exalted in the host of Argive men. + +PHI. And Nestor, my old friend, good aged man, +Is he yet living? Oft he would prevent +Their evils, by the wisdom of his thought. + +NEO. He too is now in trouble, having lost +Antilochus, the comfort of his age. + +PHI. There, there! In one brief word thou hast revealed +The mournful case of twain, whom I would last +Have chosen to hear of as undone. Ah me! +Where must one look? when these are dead, and he, +Odysseus, lives,--and in a time like this, +That craves their presence, and his death for theirs. + +NEO. He wrestles cleverly; but, O my friend, +Even ablest wits are ofttimes snared at last. + +PHI. Tell me, I pray, what was become of him, +Patroclus, whom thy father loved so well? + +NEO. He, too, was gone. I'll teach thee in a word +One truth for all. War doth not willingly +Snatch off the wicked, but still takes the good. + +PHI. True! and to prove thy saying, I will inquire +The fate of a poor dastard, of mean worth, +But ever shrewd and nimble with his tongue. + +NEO. Whom but Odysseus canst thou mean by this? + +PHI. I meant not him. But there was one Thersites, +Who ne'er made conscience to stint speech, where all +Cried 'Silence!' Is he living, dost thou know? + +NEO. I saw him not, but knew he was alive. + +PHI. He must be: for no evil yet was crushed. +The Heavens will ever shield it. 'Tis their sport +To turn back all things rancorous and malign +From going down to the grave, and send instead +The good and true. Oh, how shall we commend +Such dealings, how defend them? When I praise +Things god-like, I find evil in the Gods. + +NEO. I, O thou child of a Trachinian sire, +Henceforth will take good care, from far away +To look on Troy and Atreus' children twain. +Yea, where the trickster lords it o'er the just, +And goodness languishes and rascals rule, +--Such courses I will nevermore endure. +But rock-bound Scyros henceforth shall suffice +To yield me full contentment in my home. +Now, to my vessel! And thou, Poeas' child, +Farewell, right heartily farewell! May Heaven +Grant thy desire, and rid thee of thy plague! +Let us be going, that when God shall give +Fair voyage, that moment we may launch away. + +PHI. My son, are ye now setting forth? + +NEO. Our time +Bids us go near and look to sail erelong. + +PHI. Now, by thy father, by thy mother,--nay, +By all thy love e'er cherished in thy home, +Suppliant I beg thee, leave me not thus lone, +Forlorn in all my misery which thou seest, +In all thou hast heard of here surrounding me! +Stow me with other freightage. Full of care, +I know, and burdensome the charge may prove. +Yet venture! Surely to the noble mind +All shame is hateful and all kindness blest. +And shame would be thy meed, didst thou fail here +But, doing this, thou shalt have glorious fame, +When I return alive to Oeta's vale. +Come, 'tis the labour not of one whole day. +So thou durst take me, fling me where thou wilt +O' the ship, in hold, prow, stern, or wheresoe'er +I least may trouble those on board with me. +Ah! by great Zeus, the suppliant's friend, comply, +My son, be softened! See, where I am fall'n +Thus on my knees before thee, though so weak, +Crippled and powerless. Ah! forsake me not +Thus far from human footstep. Take me, take me! +If only to thy home, or to the town +Of old Chalcodon[5] in Euboea.--From thence +I have not far to Oeta, and the ridge +Of Trachis, and Spercheius' lordly flood. +So thou shalt bless my father with my sight. +And yet long since I fear he may be gone. +For oft I sent him suppliant prayers by men +Who touched this isle, entreating him to fetch +And bear me safely home with his own crew. +But either he is dead, or else, methinks, +It well may be, my messengers made light +Of my concerns, and hastened onward home. +But now in thee I find both messenger +And convoy, thou wilt pity me and save. +For, well thou knowest, danger never sleeps, +And fear of dark reverse is always nigh. +Mortals, when free, should look where mischief lurks, +And in their happiest hour consider well +Their life, lest ruin unsuspected come. + +CH. Pity him, O my king! 2 + Many a crushing woe + He telleth, such as I pray + None of my friends may know. + And if, dear master, thou mislikest sore + Yon cruel-hearted lordly pair, I would, + Turning their plan of evil to his good, + On swift ship bear him to his native shore, + Meeting his heart's desire; and free thy path + From fear of heavenly wrath. + +NEO. Thou mak'st small scruple here; but be advised: +Lest, when this plague on board shall weary thee, +Thy voice should alter from this liberal tone. + +CH. No, truly! Fear not thou shalt ever have +Just cause to utter such reproach on me. + +NEO. Then sure 'twere shame, should I more backward prove +Than thou, to labour for the stranger's need. +Come, if thou wilt, let us make voyage, and he, +Let him set forth with speed. Our ship shall take him. +He shall not be refused. Only may Heaven +Lead safely hence and to our destined port! + +PHI. O morning full of brightness! Kindest friend, +Sweet mariners, how can I make you feel, +In act, how dearly from my heart I love you! +Ye have won my soul. Let us be gone, my son,-- +First having said farewell to this poor cave, +My homeless dwelling-place, that thou may'st know, +How barely I have lived, how firm my heart! +Methinks another could not have endured +The very sight of what I bore. But I +Through strong necessity have conquered pain. + +CH. Stay: let us understand. There come two men +A stranger, with a shipmate of thy crew. +When ye have heard them, ye may then go in. + +_Enter_ Messenger, _disguised as a merchantman_. + +MERCHANTMAN. Son of Achilles, my companion here, +Who with two more remained to guard thy ship, +Agreed to help me find thee where thou wert, +Since unexpectedly, through fortune's will, +I meet thee, mooring by the self-same shore. +For like a merchantman, with no great sail, +Making my course from Ilion to my home, +Grape-clustered Peparethos, when I heard +The mariners declare that one and all +Were of thy crew, I would not launch again, +Without a word, till we had told our news.-- +Methinks thou knowest nought of thine own case, +What new devices of the Argive chiefs +Surround thee; nor devices only now, +But active deeds, no longer unperformed. + +NEO. Well, stranger, for the kindness thou hast shown,-- +Else were I base,--my heart must thank thee still. +But tell me what thou meanest, that I may learn +What new-laid plot thou bring'st me from the camp. + +MER. Old Phoenix, Acamas and Demophon +Are gone in thy pursuit with ships and men. + +NEO. To bring me back with reasons or perforce? + +MER. I know not. What I heard, I am here to tell. + +NEO. How? And is this in act? Are they set forth +To please the Atridae, Phoenix and the rest? + +MER. The thing is not to do, but doing now. + +NEO. What kept Odysseus back, if this be so, +From going himself? Had he some cause for fear? + +MER. He and the son of Tydeus, when our ship +Hoist sail, were gone to fetch another man. + +NEO. For whom could he himself be sailing forth? + +MER. For some one,--but first tell me, whispering low +Whate'er thou speakest,--who is this I see? + +NEO. (_speaking aloud_). +This, sir, is Philoctetes the renowned. + +MER. (_aside to_ NEOPTOLEMUS). +Without more question, snatch thyself away +And sail forth from this land. + +PHI. What saith he, boy? +Through what dark traffic is the mariner +Betraying me with whispering in thine ear? + +NEO. I have not caught it, but whate'er he speaks +He must speak openly to us and thee. + +MER. Seed of Achilles, let me not offend +The army by my words! Full many a boon, +Being poor, I reap from them for service done. + +NEO. The Atridae are my foes; the man you see +Is my fast friend, because he hates them sore. +Then, if you come in kindness, you must hide +Nothing from him or me of all thou hast heard. + +MER. Look what thou doest, my son! + +NEO. I mark it well. + +MER. Thou shalt be answerable. + +NEO. Content: but speak. + +MER. Then hear me. These two men whom I have named, +Diomedes and Odysseus, are set forth +Engaged on oath to bring this man by force +If reasons fail. The Achaeans every one +Have heard this plainly from Odysseus' mouth. +He was the louder and more confident. + +NEO. Say, for what cause, after so long a time, +Can Atreus' sons have turned their thoughts on him, +Whom long they had cast forth? What passing touch +Of conscience moved them, or what stroke from Heaven, +Whose wrath requites all wicked deeds of men? + +MER. Methinks thou hast not heard what I will now +Unfold to thee. There was a princely seer, +A son of Priam, Helenus by name, +Whom he for whom no word is bad enough, +Crafty Odysseus, sallying forth alone +One night, had taken, and in bonds displayed +'Fore all the Achaeans, a right noble prey. +He, 'mid his other prophecies, foretold +No Grecian force should sack Troy's citadel, +Till with fair reasons they had brought this man +From Lemnos isle, his lonely dwelling-place. + When thus the prophet spake, Laërtes' son +Straight undertook to fetch this man, and show him +To all the camp:--he hoped, with fair consent: +But else, perforce.--And, if he failed in this, +Whoever would might smite him on the head. + My tale is told, dear youth. I counsel speed +To thee and to the friend for whom thou carest. + +PHI. Ah me, unhappy! has that rascal knave +Sworn to fetch me with reasons to their camp? +As likely might his reasons bring me back, +Like his begetter, from the house of death. + +MER. You talk of what I know not. I will go +Shipward. May God be with you for all good. [_Exit_ + +PHI. Is not this terrible, Laërtes' son +Should ever think to bring me with soft words +And show me from his deck to all their host? +No! Sooner will I listen to the tongue +Of the curs'd basilisk that thus hath maim'd me. + Ay, but he'll venture anything in word +Or deed. And now I know he will be here. +Come, O my son, let us be gone, while seas +And winds divide us from Odysseus' ship. +Let us depart. Sure timely haste brings rest +And quiet slumber when the toil is done. + +NEO. Shall we not sail when this south-western wind +Hath fallen, that now is adverse to our course? + +PHI. All winds are fair to him who flies from woe. + +NEO. Nay, but this head-wind hinders them no less. + +PHI. No head-wind hinders pirates on their way, +When violence and rapine lead them on. + +NEO. Well, then, let us be going, if you will; +When you have taken from within the cave +What most you need and value. + +PHI. Though my all +Be little, there is that I may not lose. + +NEO. What can there be that we have not on board? + +PHI. A leaf I have found, wherewith I still the rage +Of my sore plague, and lull it quite to rest. + +NEO. Well, bring it forth.--What? Is there something more? + +PHI. If any of these arrows here are fallen, +I would not leave them for a casual prey. + +NEO. How? Do I see thee with the marvellous bow? + +PHI. Here in my hand. The world hath only one. + +NEO. And may one touch and handle it, and gaze +With reverence, as on a thing from Heaven? + +PHI. Thou mayest, my son. This and whate'er of mine +May stead thee, 'tis thy privilege to enjoy. + +NEO. In very truth I long for it, but so, +That longing waits on leave. Am I permitted? + +PHI. Thou art, my son,--and well thou speakest,--thou art. +Thou, that hast given me light and life, the joy +Of seeing Mount Oeta and my father's home, +With all I love there, and his aged head,-- +Thou that hast raised me far above my foes +Who triumphed! Thou may'st take it in thine hand, +And,--when thou hast given it back to me,--may'st vaunt +Alone of mortals for thine excellence +To have held this in thy touch. I, too, at first, +Received it as a boon for kindness done. + +NEO. Well, go within. + +PHI. Nay, I must take thee too. +My sickness craves thee for its comforter. + [PHILOCTETES _and_ NEOPTOLEMUS _go into + the cave_ + +CHORUS. + In fable I have heard, I 1 + Though sight hath ne'er confirmed the word, + How he who attempted once the couch supreme, + To a whirling wheel by Zeus the all-ruler bound, + Tied head and heel, careering ever round, + Atones his impious unsubstantial dream. + Of no man else, through eye or ear, + Have I discerned a fate more full of fear + Than yonder sufferer's of the cureless wound: + Who did no violence, defrauded none:-- + A just man, had he dwelt among the just + Unworthily behold him thrust + Alone to hear the billows roar + That break around a rugged shore! +How could he live, whose life was thus consumed with moan? + + Where neighbour there was none: I 2 + No arm to stay him wandering lone, + Unevenly, with stumbling steps and sore; + No friend in need, no kind inhabitant, + To minister to his importunate want, + No heart whereto his pangs he might deplore. + None who, whene'er the gory flow + Was rushing hot, might healing herbs bestow, + Or cull from teeming Earth some genial plant + To allay the anguish of malignant pain + And soothe the sharpness of his poignant woe. + Like infant whom the nurse lets go, + With tottering movement here and there, + He crawled for comfort, whensoe'er +His soul-devouring plague relaxed its cruel strain. + + Not fed with foison of all-teeming Earth II 1 + Whence we sustain us, ever-toiling men, + But only now and then +With wingèd things, by his wing'd shafts brought low, + He stayed his hunger from his bow. + Poor soul, that never through ten years of dearth + Had pleasure from the fruitage of the vine, + But seeking to some standing pool, + Nor clear nor cool, +Foul water heaved to head for lack of heartening wine. + + But now, consorted with the hero's child, II 2 + He winneth greatness and a joyful change; + Over the water wild +Borne by a friendly bark beneath the range + Of Oeta, where Spercheius fills + Wide channels winding among lovely hills + Haunted of Melian nymphs, till he espies + The roof-tree of his father's hall, + And high o'er all +Shines the bronze shield of him, whose home is in the skies[6]. + [NEOPTOLEMUS _comes out of the cave, followed + by_ PHILOCTETES _in pain_ + +NEO. Prithee, come on! Why dost thou stand aghast, +Voiceless, and thus astonied in thine air? + +PHI. Oh! oh! + +NEO. What? + +PHI. Nothing. Come my son, fear nought. + +NEO. Is pain upon thee? Hath thy trouble come? + +PHI. No pain, no pain! 'Tis past; I am easy now. +Ye heavenly powers! + +NEO. Why dost thou groan aloud, +And cry to Heaven? + +PHI. To come and save. Kind Heaven! +Oh, oh! + +NEO. What is 't? Why silent? Wilt not speak? +I see thy misery. + +PHI. Oh! I am lost, my son! +I cannot hide it from you. Oh! it shoots, +It pierces. Oh unhappy! Oh! my woe! +I am lost, my son, I am devoured. Oh me! +Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Pain! pain! Oh pain! oh pain! +Child, if a sword be to thine hand, smite hard, +Shear off my foot! heed not my life! Quick, come! + +NEO. What hath so suddenly arisen, that thus +Thou mak'st ado and groanest o'er thyself? + +PHI. Thou knowest. + +NEO. What know I? + +PHI. O! thou knowest, my son! + +NEO. I know not. + +PHI. How? Not know? Ah me! Pain, pain! + +NEO. Thy plague is a sore burden, heavy and sore. + +PHI. Sore? 'Tis unutterable. Have pity on me! + +NEO. What shall I do? + +PHI. Do not in fear forsake me. +This wandering evil comes in force again, +Hungry as ere it fed. + +NEO. O hapless one! +Thrice hapless in thy manifold distress! +What wilt thou? Shall I raise thee on mine arm? + +PHI. Nay, but receiving from my hand the bow, +As late thou didst desire me, keep it safe +And guard it, till the fury of my pain +Pass over me and cease. For when 'tis spent, +Slumber will seize me, else it ne'er would end. +I must sleep undisturbed. But if meanwhile +They come,--by Heaven I charge thee, in no wise, +Willingly nor perforce, let them have this! +Else thou wilt be the slayer of us both; +Of me thy suppliant, and of thyself. + +NEO. Fear not my care. No hand shall hold these arms +But thine and mine. Give, and Heaven bless the deed! + +PHI. I give them; there, my son! But look to Heaven +And pray no envy smite thee, nor such bane +In having them, as fell on me and him +Who bore them formerly. + +NEO. O grant it, Gods! +And grant us fair and happy voyage, where'er +Our course is shaped and righteous Heaven shall guide. + +PHI. Ah! but I fear, my son, thy prayer is vain: +For welling yet again from depths within, +This gory ooze is dripping. It will come! +I know it will. O, foot, torn helpless thing, +What wilt thou do to me? Ah! ah! It comes, +It is at hand. 'Tis here! Woe's me, undone! +I have shown you all. Stay near me. Go not far: +Ah! ah! +O island king, I would this agony +Might cleave thy bosom through and through! Woe, woe! +Woe! Ah! ye two commanders of the host, +Agamemnon, Menelaüs, O that ye, +Another ten years' durance in my room +Might nurse this malady! O Death, Death, Death! +I call thee daily--wilt thou never come? +Will it not be?--My son, thou noble boy, +If thou art noble, take and burn me there +Aloft in yon all-worshipped Lemnian fire! +Yea, when the bow thou keep'st was my reward, +I did like service for the child of Heaven. +How now, my son? +What say'st? Art silent? Where--where art thou, boy? + +NEO. My heart is full, and groaning o'er thy woes. + +PHI. Nay, yet have comfort. This affliction oft +Goes no less swiftly than it came. I pray thee, +Stand fast and leave me not alone! + +NEO. Fear nought. +We will not stir. + +PHI. Wilt thou remain? + +NEO. Be sure of it. + +PHI. I'll not degrade thee with an oath, my son. + +NEO. Rest satisfied. I may not go without thee. + +PHI. Thy hand, to pledge me that! + +NEO. There, I will stay. + +PHI. Now, now, aloft! + +NEO. Where mean'st thou? + +PHI. Yonder aloft! + +NEO. Whither? Thou rav'st. Why starest thou at the sky? + +PHI. Now, let me go. + +NEO. Where? + +PHI. Let me go, I say! + +NEO. I will not. + +PHI. You will kill me. Let me go! + +NEO. Well, thou know'st best I hold thee not. + +PHI. O Earth, +I die. receive me to thy breast! This pain +Subdues me utterly, I cannot stand. + +NEO. Methinks he will be fast in slumber soon +That head sinks backward, and a clammy sweat +Bathes all his limbs, while from his foot hath burst +A vein, dark bleeding. Let us leave him, friends, +In quietness, till he hath fallen to sleep. + +CHORUS + Lord of the happiest life, I + Sleep, thou that know'st not strife, + That know'st not grief, + Still wafting sure relief, + Come, saviour now! + Thy healing balm is spread + Over this pain worn head, +Quench not the beam that gives calm to his brow. + + Look, O my lord, to thy path, + Either to go or to stay + How is my thought to proceed? + What is our cause for delay? + Look! Opportunity's power, + Fitting the task to the hour, + Giveth the race to the swift. + +NEO. He hears not. But I see that to have ta'en +His bow without him were a bootless gain +He must sail with us. So the god hath said +Heaven hath decreed this garland for his head: +And to have failed with falsehood were a meed +Of shameful soilure for a shameless deed. + +CH. God shall determine the end-- II + But for thine answer, friend, + Waft soft words low! + All sick men's sleep, we know, + Hath open eye; + Their quickly ruffling mind + Quivers in lightest wind, +Sleepless in slumber new danger to spy. + + Think, O my lord, of thy path, + Secretly look forth afar, + What wilt thou do for thy need? + How with the wise wilt thou care? + If toward the nameless thy heart + Chooseth this merciful part, + Huge are the dangers that drift. + +The wind is fair, my son, the wind is fair, +The man is dark and helpless, stretched in night. +(O kind, warm sleep that calmest human care!) +Powerless of hand and foot and ear and sight, +Blind, as one lying in the house of death. +(Think well if here thou utterest timely breath.) +This, O my son, is all my thought can find, +Best are the toils that without frightening bind. + +NEO. Hush! One word more were madness. He revives. +His eye hath motion. He uplifts his head. + +PHI. Fair daylight following sleep, and ye, dear friends, +Faithful beyond all hope in tending me! +I never could have dreamed that thou, dear youth, +Couldst thus have borne my sufferings and stood near +So full of pity to relieve my pain. +Not so the worthy generals of the host;-- +This princely patience was not theirs to show. +Only thy noble nature, nobly sprung, +Made light of all the trouble, though oppressed +With fetid odours and unceasing cries. +And now, since this my plague would seem to yield +Some pause and brief forgetfulness of pain, +With thine own hand, my son, upraise me here, +And set me on my feet, that, when my strength +After exhaustion shall return again, +We may move shoreward and launch forth with speed. + +NEO. I feel unhoped-for gladness when I see +Thy painless gaze, and hear thy living breath, +For thine appearance and surroundings both +Were deathlike. But arise! Or, if thou wilt, +These men shall raise thee. For they will not shrink +From toil which thou and I at once enjoin. + +PHI. Right, right, my son! But lift me thine own self, +As I am sure thou meanest. Let these be, +Lest they be burdened with the noisome smell +Before the time. Enough for them to bear +The trouble on board. + +NEO. I will; stand up, endure! + +PHI. Fear not. Old habit will enable me. + +NEO. O me! +What shall I do? Now 'tis my turn to exclaim! + +PHI. What canst thou mean? What change is here, my son? + +NEO. I know not how to shift the troublous word. +'Tis hopeless. + +PHI. What is hopeless? Speak not so, +Dear child! + +NEO. But so my wretched lot hath fallen. + +PHI. Ah! Can it be, the offence of my disease +Hath moved thee not to take me now on board? + +NEO. All is offence to one who hath forced himself +From the true bent to an unbecoming deed. + +PHI. Nought misbecoming to thyself or sire +Doest thou or speak'st, befriending a good man. + +NEO. My baseness will appear. That wrings my soul. + +PHI. Not in thy deeds. But for thy words, I fear me! + +NEO. O Heaven! Must double vileness then be mine +Both shameful silence and most shameful speech? + +PHI. Or my discernment is at fault, or thou +Mean'st to betray me and make voyage without me. + +NEO. Nay, not without thee, there is my distress! +Lest I convey thee to thy bitter grief. + +PHI. How? How, dear youth? I do not understand. + +NEO. Here I unveil it. Thou art to sail to Troy, +To join the chieftains and the Achaean host. + +PHI. What do I hear? Ah! + +NEO. Grieve not till you learn. + +PHI. Learn what? What wilt thou make of me? What mean'st thou? + +NEO. First to release thee from this plague, and then +With thee to go and take the realm of Troy. + +PHI. And is this thine intent? + +NEO. 'Tis so ordained +Unchangeably. Be not dismayed! 'Tis so. + +PHI. Me miserable! I am betrayed, undone! +What guile is here? My bow! give back my bow! + +NEO. I may not. Interest, and duty too, +Force me to obey commandment. + +PHI. O thou fire, +Thou terror of the world! Dark instrument +Of ever-hateful guile!--What hast thou done? +How thou hast cheated me! Art not ashamed +To look on him that sued to thee for shelter? +O heart of stone, thou hast stolen my life away +With yonder bow!--Ah, yet I beg of thee, +Give it me back, my son, I entreat thee, give! +By all thy father worshipped, rob me not +Of life!--Ah me! Now he will speak no more, +But turns away, obdúrate to retain it. +O ye, my comrades in this wilderness, +Rude creatures of the rocks, O promontories, +Creeks, precipices of the hills, to you +And your familiar presence I complain +Of this foul trespass of Achilles' son. +Sworn to convey me home, to Troy he bears me. +And under pledge of his right hand hath ta'en +And holds from me perforce my wondrous bow, +The sacred gift of Zeus-born Heracles, +Thinking to wave it midst the Achaean host +Triumphantly for his. In conquering me +He vaunts as of some valorous feat, and knows not +He is spoiling a mere corse, an empty dream, +The shadow of a vapour. In my strength +He ne'er had vanquished me. Even as I am, +He could not, but by guile. Now, all forlorn, +I am abused, deceived. What must I do? +Nay, give it me. Nay, yet be thy true self! +Thou art silent. I am lost. O misery! +Rude face of rock, back I return to thee +And thy twin gateway, robbed of arms and food, +To wither in thy cave companionless:-- +No more with these mine arrows to destroy +Or flying bird or mountain-roving beast. +But, all unhappy! I myself must be +The feast of those on whom I fed, the chase +Of that I hunted, and shall dearly pay +In bloody quittance for their death, through one +Who seemed all ignorant of sinful guile. +Perish,--not till I am certain if thy heart +Will change once more,--if not, my curse on thee! + +CH. What shall we do, my lord? We wait thy word +Or to sail now, or yield to his desire. + +NEO. My heart is pressed with a strange pity for him, +Not now beginning, but long since begun. + +PHI. Ay, pity me, my son! by all above, +Make not thy name a scorn by wronging me! + +NEO. O! I am troubled sore. What must I do? +Would I had never left mine island home! + +PHI. Thou art not base, but seemest to have learnt +Some baseness from base men. Now, as 'tis meet, +Be better guided--leave me mine arms, and go. + +NEO. (_to Chorus_). +What shall we do? + +_Enter_ ODYSSEUS. + +ODYSSEUS. What art thou doing, knave? +Give me that bow, and haste thee back again. + +PHI. Alas! What do I hear? Odysseus' voice? + +OD. Be sure of that, Odysseus, whom thou seest. + +PHI. Oh, I am bought and sold, undone! 'Twas he +That kidnapped me, and robbed me of my bow. + +OD. Yea. I deny it not. Be sure, 'twas I. + +PHI. Give back, my son, the bow; release it! + +OD. That, +Though he desire it, he shall never do. +Thou too shalt march along, or these shall force thee. + +PHI. They force me! O thou boldest of bad men! +They force me? + +OD. If thou com'st not willingly. + +PHI. O Lemnian earth and thou almighty flame, +Hephaestos' workmanship, shall this be borne, +That he by force must drag me from your care? + +OD. 'Tis Zeus, I tell thee, monarch of this isle, +Who thus hath willed. I am his minister. + +PHI. Wretch, what vile words thy wit hath power to say! +The gods are liars when invoked by thee. + +OD. Nay, 'tis their truth compels thee to this voyage. + +PHI. I will not have it so. + +OD. I will. Thou shalt. + +PHI. Woe for my wretchedness! My father, then, +Begat no freeman, but a slave in me. + +OD. Nay, but the peer of noblest men, with whom +Thou art to take and ravage Troy with might. + +PHI. Never,--though I must suffer direst woe,-- +While this steep Lemnian ground is mine to tread! + +OD. What now is thine intent? + +PHI. Down from the crag +This head shall plunge and stain the crag beneath. + +OD. (_to the Attendants_.) +Ay, seize and bind him. Baffle him in this. + +PHI. Poor hands, for lack of your beloved string, +Caught by this craven! O corrupted soul! +How thou hast undermined me, having taken +To screen thy quest this youth to me unknown, +Far worthier of my friendship than of thine, +Who knew no better than to obey command. +Even now 'tis manifest he burns within +With pain for his own error and my wrong. +But, though unwilling and mapt for ill, +Thy crafty, mean, and cranny spying soul +Too well hath lessoned him in sinful lore. +Now thou hast bound me, O thou wretch, and thinkest +To take me from this coast, where thou didst cast me +Outlawed and desolate, a corpse 'mongst men. + Oh! +I curse thee now, as ofttimes in the past: +But since Heaven yields me nought but bitterness, +Thou livest and art blithe, while 'tis my pain +To live on in my misery, laughed to scorn +By thee and Atreus' sons, those generals twain +Whom thou art serving in this chase. But thou +With strong compulsion and deceit was driven +Troyward, whilst I, poor victim, of free will +Took my seven ships and sailed there, yet was thrown +Far from all honour,--as thou sayest, by them, +But, as they turn the tale, by thee.--And now +Why fetch me hence and take me? To what end? +I am nothing, dead to you this many a year. +How, O thou Heaven-abhorred! am I not now +Lame and of evil smell? how shall ye vaunt +Before the gods drink-offering or the fat +Of victims, if I sail among your crew? +For this, as ye professed, was the chief cause +Why ye disowned me. Perish!--So ye shall, +For the wrong done me, if the Heavens be just. +And that they are, I know. Else had ye ne'er +Sailed on this errand for an outcast wretch, +Had they not pricked your heart with thoughts of me. +Oh, if ye pity me, chastising powers, +And thou, the Genius of my land, revenge, +Revenge this crime on all their heads at once! +My life is pitiable; but if I saw +Their ruin, I would think me well and strong. + +CH. How full of bitterness is his resolve, +Wrathfully spoken with unbending will! + +OD. I might speak long in answer, did the time +Give scope, but now one thing is mine to say. +I am known to vary with the varying need; +And when 'tis tried, who can be just and good, +My peer will not be found for piety. +But though on all occasions covetous +Of victory, this once I yield to thee, +And willingly. Unhand him there. Let go! +Leave him to stay. What further use of thee, +When we have ta'en these arms? Have we not Teucer, +Skilled in this mystery? Yea, I may boast +Myself thine equal both in strength and aim +To wield them. Fare thee well, then! Thou art free +To roam thy barren isle. We need thee not. +Let us be going! And perchance thy gift +May bring thy destined glory to my brow. + +PHI. What shall I do? Alas, shalt thou be seen +Graced with mine arms amongst Achaean men? + +OD. No more! I am going. + +PHI. O Achilles' child! +Wilt thou, too, vanish? Must I lose thy voice? + +OD. Come on, and look not, noble though thou be, +Lest thou undo our fortune. + +PHI. Mariners, +Must ye, too, leave me thus disconsolate? +Will ye not pity me? + +CH. Our captain's here. +Whate'er he saith to thee, that we too speak. + +NEO. My chief will call me weakling, soft of heart; +But go not yet, since our friend bids you stay. +Till we have prayed, and all be ready on board. +Meanwhile, perchance, he may conceive some thought +That favours our design. We two will start; +And ye, be swift to speed forth at our call. [_Exit_ + +MONODY. + +PHI. O cavern of the hollow rock, I 1 +Frosty and stifling in the seasons' change! +How I seem fated never more to range +From thy sad covert, that hath felt the shock +Of pain on pain, steeped with my wretchedness. +Now thou wilt be my comforter in death! +Grief haunted harbour, choked with my distress! +Tell me, what hope is mine of daily food, +Who will be careful for my good? +I fail. Ye cowering creatures of the sky, + Oh, as ye fly, +Snatch me, borne upward on the blast's sharp breath! + +CH. 1. Thou child of misery! + No mightier power hath this decreed, + But thine own will and deed + Hath bound thee thus in grief, +Since, when kind Heaven had sent relief +And shown the path of wisdom firm and sure, +Thou still hast chosen this evil to endure. + +PHI. O hapless life, sore bruised with pain! I 2 +No more with living mortal may I dwell, +But ever pining in this desert cell +With lonely grief, all famished must remain +And perish; for what food is mine to share, +When this strong arm no longer wields my bow, +Whose fleet shafts flew to smite the birds of air +I was o'erthrown by words, words dark and blind, +Low-creeping from a traitorous mind! +O might I see him, whose unrighteous thought + This ruin wrought, +Plagued for no less a period with like woe! + +CH. 2. Not by our craft thou art caught, +But Destiny divine hath wrought + The net that holds thee bound. + Aim not at us the sound +Of thy dread curse with dire disaster fraught. +On others let that light! 'Tis our true care +Thou should'st not scorn our love in thy despair. + +PHI. Now, seated by the shore II 1 + Of heaving ocean hoar, + He mocks me, waving high + The sole support of my precarious being, + The bow which none e'er held but I. +O treasure of my heart, torn from this hand, +That loved thy touch,--if thou canst understand, +How sad must be thy look in seeing +Thy master destined now no more, +Like Heracles of yore, +To wield thee with an archer's might! +But in the grasp of an all-scheming wight, +O bitter change! thou art plied; +And swaying ever by his side, +Shalt view his life of dark malignity, +Teeming with guileful shames, like those he wrought on me. + +CH. 3. Nobly to speak for the right + Is manly and strong; + But not with an envious blight + To envenom the tongue; + He to serve all his friends of the fleet, + One obeying a many-voiced word, + Through the minist'ring craft of our lord + Hath but done what was meet. + +PHI. Come, legions of the wild, II 2 + Of aspect fierce or mild, + Fowl from the fields of air, + And beasts that roam with bright untroubled gaze, + No longer bounding from my lair + Fly mine approach! Now freely without fear + Ye may surround my covert and come near, + Treading the savage rock-strewn ways. + The might I had is no more mine, + Stolen with those arms divine. + This fort hath no man to defend. + Come satisfy your vengeful jaws, and rend + These quivering tainted limbs! + Already hovering death bedims + My fainting sense. Who thus can live on air, + Tasting no gift of earth that breathing mortals share? + +CH. 4. Ah! do not shrink from thy friend, + If love thou reverest, + But know 'tis for thee to forfend + The fate which thou fearest. + The lot thou hast here to deplore, + Is sad evermore to maintain, + And hardship in sickness is sore, + But sorest in pain. + +PHI. Kindest of all that e'er before III +Have trod this shore, +Again thou mind'st me of mine ancient woe! +Why wilt thou ruin me? What wouldst thou do? + +CH. 5. How mean'st thou? + +PHI. If to Troy, of me abhorred +Thou e'er hast hoped to lead me with thy lord. + +CH. 6. So I judge best. + +PHI. Begone at once, begone! + +CH. 7. Sweet is that word, and swiftly shall be done! +Let us be gone, each to his place on board. + [The Chorus _make as if they were going_ + +PHI. Nay, by dear Zeus, to whom all suppliants moan +Leave me not yet! + +CH. 8. Keep measure in thy word. + +PHI. Stay, by Heaven, stay! + +CH. 9. What wilt thou say? + +PHI. O misery! O cruel power +That rul'st this hour! +I am destroyed. Ah me! +O poor torn limb, what shall I do with thee +Through all my days to be? +Ah, strangers, come, return, return! + +CH. 10. What new command are we to learn +Crossing thy former mind? + +PHI. Ah! yet be kind. +Reprove not him, whose tongue, with grief distraught, +Obeys not, in dark storms, the helm of thought! + +CH. 11. Come, poor friend, the way we call. + +PHI. Never, learn it once for all! +Not though he, whom Heaven obeys, +Blast me with fierce lightning's blaze! +Perish Troy, and all your host, +That have chosen, to their cost, +To despise and cast me forth, +Since my wound obscured my worth! +Ah, but, strangers, if your sense +Hath o'er-mastered this offence, +Yield but one thing to my prayer! + +CH. 12. What wouldst thou have? + +PHI. Some weapon bare, +Axe or sword or sharpened dart, +Bring it to content my heart. + +CH. 13. What is thy new intent? + +PHI. To sever point by point +This body, joint from joint. +On bloody death my mind is bent. + +CH. 14. Wherefore? + +PHI. To see my father's face. + +CH. 15. Where upon earth? + +PHI. He hath no place +Where sun doth shine, but in the halls of night. +O native country, land of my delight, +Would I were blest one moment with thy sight! +Why did I leave thy sacred dew +And loose my vessels from thy shore, +To join the hateful Danaän crew +And lend them succour? Oh, I am no more! + +LEADER OF CH. +Long since thou hadst seen me nearing yonder ship, +Had I not spied Odysseus and the son +Of great Achilles hastening to our side. + +OD. Wilt thou not tell me why thou art hurrying +This backward journey with reverted speed? + +NEO. To undo what I have wrongly done to-day. + +OD. Thy words appal me. What is wrongly done? + +NEO. When in obeying thee and all the host-- + +OD. Thou didst what deed that misbecame thy life? + +NEO. I conquered with base stratagem and fraud-- + +OD. Whom? What new plan is rising in thy mind? + +NEO. Not new. But to the child of Poeas here-- + +OD. What wilt thou do? I quake with strange alarm. + +NEO. From whom I took these weapons, back again---- + +OD. O Heaven! thou wilt not give them! Mean'st thou this? + +NEO. Yea, for I have them through base sinful means. + +OD. I pray thee, speak'st thou thus to anger me? + +NEO. If the truth anger thee, the truth is said. + +OD. Achilles' son! What word is fallen from thee? + +NEO. Must the same syllables be thrice thrown forth? + +OD. Once was too much. Would they had ne'er been said! + +NEO. Enough. Thou hast heard my purpose clearly told. + +OD. I know what power shall thwart thee in the deed. + +NEO. Whose will shall hinder me? + +OD. The Achaean host +And I among them. + +NEO. Thou'rt sharp-witted, sure! +But little wit or wisdom show'st thou here. + +OD. Neither thy words nor thy design is wise. + +NEO. But if 'tis righteous, that is better far. + +OD. How righteous, to release what thou hast ta'en +By my device? + +NEO. I sinned a shameful sin, +And I will do mine utmost to retrieve it. + +OD. How? Fear'st thou not the Achaeans in this act? + +NEO. In doing right I fear not them nor thee. + +OD. I call thy power in question. + +NEO. Then I'll fight, +Not with Troy's legions, but with thee. + +OD. Come on! +Let fortune arbitrate. + +NEO. Thou seest my hand +Feeling the hilt. + +OD. And me thou soon shalt see +Doing the like and dallying not!--And yet +I will not touch thee, but will go and tell +The army, that shall wreak this on thy head. [_Exit_ + +NEO. Thou show'st discretion: which if thou preserve, +Thou may'st maintain a path exempt from pain. +Ho! son of Poeas, Philoctetes, come +And leave thy habitation in the rock. + +PHI. What noise again is troubling my poor cave? +Why do ye summon me? What crave ye, sirs? +Ha! 'tis some knavery. Are ye come to add +Some monster evil to my mountainous woe? + +NEO. Fear not, but hearken to what now I speak. + +PHI. I needs must fear thee, whose fair words erewhile +Brought me to bitter fortune. + +NEO. May not men +Repent and change? + +PHI. Such wast thou in thy talk, +When thou didst rob me of my bow,--so bright +Without, so black within. + +NEO. Ah, but not now, +Assure thee! Only let me hear thy will, +Is 't constant to remain here and endure, +Or to make voyage with us? + +PHI. Stop, speak no more! +Idle and vain will all thine utterance be. + +NEO. Thou art so resolved? + +PHI. More firmly than I say. + +NEO. I would I might have brought thee to my mind, +But since my words are out of tune, I have done. + +PHI. Thou wert best. No word of thine can touch my soul +Or win me to thy love, who by deceit +Hast reft my life away. And then thou com'st +To school me,--of noblest father, basest son! +Perish, the Atridae first of all, and then +Laërtes' child, and thou! + +NEO. Curse me no more, +But take this hallowed weapon from my hand. + +PHI. What words are these? Am I again deceived? + +NEO. No, by the holiest name of Zeus on high! + +PHI. O voice of gladness, if thy speech be true! + +NEO. The deed shall prove it. Only reach thy hand, +And be again sole master of thy bow. [ODYSSEUS _appears_ + +OD. But I make protest, in the sight of Heaven, +For Atreus' sons, and all the Achaean host. + +PHI. Dear son, whose voice disturbs us? Do I hear +Odysseus? + +OD. Ay, and thou behold'st him nigh, +And he shall force thee to the Trojan plain, +Howe'er Achilles' offspring make or mar. + +PHI. This shaft shall bear thee sorrow for that boast. + +NEO. Let it not fly, by Heaven! + +PHI. Dear child, let go +Mine arm! + +NEO. I will not. [_Exit_ ODYSSEUS + +PHI. Ah! Why hast thou robbed +My bow of bringing down mine enemy? + +NEO. This were ignoble both for thee and me. + +PHI. One thing is manifest, the first o' the host +Lying forerunners of the Achaean band, +Are brave with words, but cowards with the steel. + +NEO. Well, now the bow is thine. Thou hast no cause +For blame or anger any more 'gainst me. + +PHI. None. Thou hast proved thy birthright, dearest boy. +Not from the loins of Sisyphus thou earnest, +But from Achilles, who in life was held +Noblest of men alive, and now o' the dead. + +NEO. It gladdens me that thou shouldst speak in praise +Both of my sire and me. But hear me tell +The boon for which I sue thee.--Mortal men +Must bear such evils as high Heaven ordains; +But those afflicted by self-chosen ills, +Like thine to-day, receive not from just men +Or kind indulgence or compassionate thought. +And thou art restive grown, and wilt not hearken, +But though one counsel thee with kind'st intent, +Wilt take him for a dark malignant foe. +Yet, calling Zeus to witness for my soul, +Once more I will speak. Know this, and mark it well: +Thou bear'st this sickness by a heavenly doom, +Through coming near to Chrysa's sentinel, +The lurking snake, that guards the sky-roofed fold[7]. +And from this plague thou ne'er shall find reprieve +While the same Sun god rears him from the east +And droops to west again, till thou be come +Of thine own willing mind to Troia's plain, +Where our physicians, sons of Phoebus' child[8], +Shall soothe thee from thy sore, and thou with me +And with this bow shalt take Troy's citadel. +How do I know this? I will tell thee straight +We have a Trojan captive, Helenus, +Both prince and prophet, who hath clearly told +This must be so, yea, and ere harvest time +This year, great Troy must fall, else if his words +Be falsified, who will may slay the seer. +Now, since thou know'st of this, yield thy consent; +For glorious is the gain, being singled forth +From all the Greeks as noblest, first to come +To healing hands, and then to win renown +Unrivalled, vanquishing all tearful Troy. + +PHI. Oh how I hate my life! Why must it keep +This breathing form from sinking to the shades? +How can I prove a rebel to his mind +Who thus exhorts me with affectionate heart? +And yet, oh misery! must I give way? +Then how could I endure the light of heaven? +With whom could I exchange a word? Ay me! +Eyes that have seen each act of my sad life, +How could ye bear it, to behold the sons +Of Atreus, my destroyers, comrades now +And friends! Laërtes' wicked son, my friend! +And less I feel the grief of former wrong +Than shudder with expectance of fresh harm +They yet may work on me. For when the mind +Hath once been mother of an evil brood, +It nurses nought but evils. Yea, at thee +I marvel. Thou should'st ne'er return to Troy, +Nor suffer me to go, when thou remember'st +What insult they have done thee, ravishing +Thy father's rights from thee. And wilt thou then +Sail to befriend them, pressing me in aid? +Nay, do not, son; but, even as thou hast sworn, +Convey me home, and thou, in Scyros dwelling, +Leave to their evil doom those evil men. +So thou shalt win a twofold gratitude +From me and from my father, and not seem, +Helping vile men, to be as vile as they. + +NEO. 'Tis fairly spoken. Yet I would that thou +Relying on my word and on Heaven's aid, +Would'st voyage forth from Lemnos with thy friend. + +PHI. Mean'st thou to Troy, and to the hateful sons +Of Atreus, me, with this distressful limb? + +NEO. Nay, but to those that will relieve the pain +Of thy torn foot and heal thee of thy plague. + +PHI. Thy words are horrible. What mean'st thou, boy? + +NEO. The act I deem the noblest for us both. + +PHI. Wilt thou speak so? Where is thy fear of Heaven? + +NEO. Why should I fear, when I see certain gain? + +PHI. Gain for the sons of Atreus, or for me? + +NEO. Methinks a friend should give thee friendly counsel. + +PHI. Friendly, to hand me over to my foes? + +NEO. Ah, be not hardened in thy misery! + +PHI. I know thou wilt ruin me by what thou speakest. + +NEO. Not I. The case is dark to thee, I see. + +PHI. I know the Atreidae cast me on this rock. + +NEO. But how, if they should save thee afterward? + +PHI. They ne'er shall make me see Troy with my will. + +NEO. Hard is my fortune, then, if by no sleight +Of reasoning I can draw thee to my mind. +For me, 'twere easiest to end speech, that thou +Might'st live on as thou livest in hopeless pain. + +PHI. Then leave me to my fate!--But thou hast touched +My right hand with thine own, and given consent +To bear me to my home. Do this, dear son! +And do not linger to take thought of Troy. +Enough that name hath echoed in my groans. + +NEO. If thou wilt, let us be going. + +PHI. Nobly hast thou said the word. + +NEO. Lean thy steps on mine. + +PHI. As firmly as my foot will strength afford. + +NEO. Ah! but how shall I escape Achaean anger? + +PHI. Do not care! + +NEO. Ah! but should they spoil my country! + +PHI. I to shield thee will be there. + +NEO. How to shield me, how to aid me? + +PHI. With the shafts of Heracles +I will scare them. + +NEO. Give thy blessing to this isle, and come in peace. + +HERACLES _appears from above._ + +HERACLES. First, son of Poeas, wait till thou hast heard +The voice of Heracles, and weighed his word. +Him thou beholdest from the Heavenly seat +Come down, for thee leaving the blest retreat, +To tell thee all high Zeus intends, and stay +Thy purpose in the journey of to-day. + Then hear me, first how after my long toils +By strange adventure I have found and won +Immortal glory, which thine eyes perceive; +And the like lot, I tell thee, shall be thine, +After these pains to rise to glorious fame. +Sailing with this thy comrade to Troy-town, +First thou shalt heal thee from thy grievous sore, +And then, being singled forth from all the host +As noblest, thou shalt conquer with that bow +Paris, prime author of these years of harm, +And capture Troy, and bear back to thy hall +The choicest guerdon, for thy valour's meed, +To Oeta's vale and thine own father's home. +But every prize thou tak'st be sure thou bear +Unto my pyre, in memory of my bow. + This word, Achilles' offspring, is for thee +No less. For, as thou could'st not without him, +So, without thee, he cannot conquer Troy. +Then, like twin lions hunting the same hill, +Guard thou him, and he thee! and I will send +Asclepius Troyward to relieve thy pain. +For Ilion now a second time must fall +Before the Herculean bow. But, take good heed, +Midst all your spoil to hold the gods in awe. +For our great Father counteth piety +Far above all. This follows men in death, +And fails them not when they resign their breath. + +PHI. Thou whom I have longed to see, + Thy dear voice is law to me. + +NEO. I obey with gladdened heart. + +HER. Lose no time: at once depart! + Bright occasion and fair wind + Urge your vessel from behind. + +PHI. Come, let me bless the region ere I go. + Poor house, sad comrade of my watch, farewell! + Ye nymphs of meadows where soft waters flow + Thou ocean headland, pealing thy deep knell, + Where oft within my cavern as I lay + My hair was moist with dashing south-wind's spray, + And ofttimes came from Hermes' foreland high + Sad replication of my storm-vext cry; + Ye fountains and thou Lycian water sweet,-- + I never thought to leave you, yet my feet + Are turning from your paths,--we part for aye. + Farewell! and waft me kindly on my way, + O Lemnian earth enclosed by circling seas, + To sail, where mighty Fate my course decrees, + And friendly voices point me, and the will + Of that heroic power, who doth this act fulfil. + +CH. Come now all in one strong band; + Then, ere loosing from the land, + Pray we to the nymphs of sea + Kind protectresses to be, + Till we touch the Trojan strand. + + * * * * * + + + + + OEDIPUS AT COLONOS + + + THE PERSONS + +OEDIPUS, _old and blind._ +ANTIGONE, _his daughter, a young girl._ +ISMENE, _his daughter, a young girl._ +CHORUS _of Village Guardians._ +_An Athenian._ +THESEUS, _King of Athens._ +CREON, _Envoy from Thebes._ +POLYNICES, _the elder son of Oedipus._ +_Messenger._ + + +SCENE. Colonos. + + + + +Oedipus had remained at Thebes for some time after his fall. But he +was afterwards banished by the command of Creon, with the consent of +his own sons. Their intention at first was to lay no claim to the +throne. But by-and-by ambition prevailed with Eteocles, the younger- +born, and he persuaded Creon and the citizens to banish his elder +brother. Polynices took refuge at Argos, where he married the daughter +of Adrastus, and levied an army of auxiliaries to support his +pretensions to the throne of Thebes. Before going into exile Oedipus +had cursed his sons. + +Antigone after a while fled forth to join her father and support him +in his wanderings. Ismenè also once brought him secret intelligence. + +Years have now elapsed, and the Delphian oracle proclaims that if +Oedipus dies in a foreign land the enemies of Thebes shall overcome +her. + +In ignorance of this fact, Oedipus, now aged as well as blind, and led +by his daughter Antigone, appears before the grove of the Eumenides, +at Colonos, in the neighbourhood of Athens. He has felt an inward +intimation, which is strengthened by some words of the oracle received +by him long since at Delphi, that his involuntary crimes have been +atoned for, and that the Avenging Deities will now receive him kindly +and make his cause their own. + +After some natural hesitation on the part of the village-councillors +of Colonos, Oedipus is received with princely magnanimity by Theseus, +who takes him under the protection of Athens, and defends him against +the machinations of Creon. + +Thus the blessing of the Gods, which Oedipus carried with him, is +secured to Athens, and denied to Thebes. The craft of Creon and the +prayers of Polynices alike prove unavailing. Then the man of many +sorrows, whose essential nobleness has survived them all, passes away +mysteriously from the sight of men. + +The scene is laid at Colonos, a suburb of Athens much frequented by +the upper classes, especially the Knights (see Thuc. viii. 67); and +before the sacred grove of the Eumenides, or Gentle Goddesses, a +euphemistic title for the Erinyes, or Goddesses of Vengeance. + + + + + OEDIPUS AT COLONOS + + +OEDIPUS. ANTIGONE. + +OEDIPUS. Antigone, child of the old blind sire, +What land is here, what people? Who to-day +Shall dole to Oedipus, the wandering exile, +Their meagre gifts? Little I ask, and less +Receive with full contentment; for my woes, +And the long years ripening the noble mind, +Have schooled me to endure.--But, O my child, +If thou espiest where we may sit, though near +Some holy precinct, stay me and set me there, +Till we may learn where we are come. 'Tis ours +To hear the will of strangers and to obey. + +ANTIGONE. Woe-wearied father, yonder city's wall +That shields her, looks far distant; but this ground +Is surely sacred, thickly planted over +With olive, bay and vine, within whose bowers +Thick-fluttering song-birds make sweet melody. +Here then repose thee on this unhewn stone. +Thou hast travelled far to-day for one so old. + +OED. Seat me, my child, and be the blind man's guard. + +ANT. Long time hath well instructed me in that. + +OED. Now, canst thou tell me where we have set our feet? + +ANT. Athens I know, but not the nearer ground. + +OED. Ay, every man that met us in the way +Named Athens. + +ANT. Shall I go, then, and find out +The name of the spot? + +OED. Yes, if 'tis habitable. + +ANT. It is inhabited. Yet I need not go. +I see a man even now approaching here. + +OED. How? Makes he towards us? Is he drawing nigh? + +ANT. He is close beside us. Whatsoe'er thou findest +Good to be spoken, say it. The man is here. + +_Enter an_ Athenian. + +OED. O stranger, learning from this maid, who sees +Both for herself and me, that thou art come +With timely light to clear our troubled thought-- + +ATHENIAN. Ere thou ask more, come forth from where thou sittest! +Ye trench on soil forbidden human tread. + +OED. What soil? And to what Power thus consecrate? + +ATH. None may go near, nor dwell there. 'Tis possessed +By the dread sisters, children of Earth and Night. + +OED. What holy name will please them, if I pray? + +ATH. 'All seeing Gentle Powers' the dwellers here +Would call them. But each land hath its own rule. + +OED. And gently may they look on him who now +Implores them, and will never leave this grove! + +ATH. What saying is this? + +OED. The watchword of my doom. + +ATH. Yet dare I not remove thee, till the town +Have heard my purpose and confirm the deed. + +OED. By Heaven, I pray thee, stranger, scorn me not, +Poor wanderer that I am, but answer me. + +ATH. Make clear thy drift. Thou'lt get no scorn from me. + +OED. Then, pray thee, tell me how ye name the place +Where now I sit. + +ATH. The region all around +Is sacred. For 'tis guarded and possessed +By dread Poseidon, and the Titan mind +That brought us fire--Prometheus. But that floor +Whereon thy feet are resting, hath been called +The brazen threshold of our land, the stay +Of glorious Athens, and the neighbouring fields +Are fain to honour for their patron-god +Thee, O Colonos, first of Knights, whose name [_Pointing to a statue_ +They bear in brotherhood and own for theirs. +Such, friend, believe me, is this place, not praised +In story, but of many a heart beloved. + +OED. Then is the land inhabited of men? + +ATH. By men, who name them from Colonos there. + +OED. Have they a lord, or sways the people's voice? + +ATH. Lord Theseus, child of Aegeus, our late king. + +OED. Will some one of your people bring him hither? + +ATH. Wherefore? What urgent cause requires his presence? + +OED. He shall gain mightily by granting little. + +ATH. Who can gain profit from the blind? + +OED. The words +These lips shall utter, shall be full of sight. + +ATH. Well, thou look'st nobly, but for thy hard fate. +This course is safe. Thus do. Stay where I found thee, +Till I go tell the neighbour townsmen here +Not of the city, but Colonos. They +Shall judge for thee to abide or to depart. [_Exit_ + +OED. Tell me, my daughter, is the man away? + +ANT. He is gone, father. I alone am near. +Speak what thou wilt in peace and quietness. + +OED. Dread Forms of holy Fear, since in this land +Your sanctuary first gave my limbs repose, +Be not obdurate to my prayer, nor spurn +The voice of Phoebus, who that fateful day, +When he proclaimed my host of ills to come, +Told me of rest after a weary time, +Where else but here? 'When I should reach my bourne, +And find repose and refuge with the Powers +Of reverend name, my troubled life should end +With blessing to the men who sheltered me, +And curses on their race who banished me +and sent me wandering forth.' Whereof he vouched me +Sure token, or by earthquake, or by fire +From heaven, or thundrous voices. And I know +Some aëry message from your shrine hath drawn me +With wingèd whisper to this grove. Not else +Had ye first met me coming, nor had I +Sate on your dread unchiselled seat of stone, +With dry cold lips greeting your sober shrine. +Then give Apollo's word due course, and give +Completion to my life, if in your sight +These toils and sorrows past the human bound +Seem not too little. Kindly, gentle powers, +Offspring of primal darkness, hear my prayer! +Hear it, Athenai, of all cities queen, +Great Pallas' foster-city! Look with ruth +On this poor shadow of great Oedipus, +This fading semblance of his kingly form. + +ANT. Be silent now. There comes an aged band +With jealous looks to know thine errand here. + +OED. I will be silent, and thine arm shall guide +My footstep under covert of the grove +Out of the path, till I make sure what words +These men will utter. Warily to observe +Is the prime secret of the prudent mind. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS (_entering_). + Keep watch! Who is it? Look! 1 +Where is he? Vanished! Gone! Oh where? + Most uncontrolled of men! + Look well, inquire him out, + Search keenly in every nook! + --Some wanderer is the aged wight, + A wanderer surely, not a native here. + Else never had he gone within + The untrodden grove +Of these--unmarried, unapproachable in might, + --Whose name we dare not breathe, + But pass their shrine + Without a look, without a word, +Uttering the unheard voice of reverential thought. + But now, one comes, they tell, devoid of awe, + Whom, peering all around this grove + I find not, where he abideth. + +OED. (_behind_). +Behold me! For I 'see by sound,' +As mortals say. + +CH. Oh, Oh! +With horror I see him, with horror hear him speak. + +OED. Pray you, regard me not as a transgressor! + +CH. Defend us, Zeus! Who is that aged wight? + +OED. Not one of happiest fate, +Or enviable, O guardians of this land! +'Tis manifest; else had I not come hither +Led by another's eyes, not moored my bark +On such a slender stay. + +CH. Alas! And are thine eyes 2 +Sightless? O full of misery, + As thou look'st full of years! + But not, if I prevail, + Shalt thou bring down this curse. + Thou art trespassing. Yet keep thy foot + From stumbling in that verdant, voiceless dell, + Where running water as it fills + The hallowed bowl, +Mingles with draughts[1] of honey. Stranger, hapless one! + Avoid that with all care. + Away! Remove! + Distance impedes the sound. Dost hear, +Woe-burdened wanderer? If aught thou carest to bring + Before our council, leave forbidden ground, + And there, where all have liberty, + Speak,--but till then, avaunt thee! + +OED. Daughter, what must I think, or do? + +ANT. My sire! +We must conform us to the people's will, +Yielding ere they compel. + +OED. Give me thy hand. + +ANT. Thou hast it. + +OED. --Strangers, let me not +Be wronged, when I have trusted you +And come from where I stood! + +CH. Assure thee, from this seat +No man shall drag thee off against thy will. + +OED. Farther? + +CH. Advance thy foot. + +OED. Yet more? + +CH. Assist him onward +Maiden, thou hast thy sight. + +ANT. Come, follow, this way follow with thy darkened steps, +Father, the way I am leading thee. + +CH. Content thee, sojourning in a strange land, +O man of woe! +To eschew whate'er the city holds in hate, +And honour what she loves! + +OED. Then do thou lead me, child, +Where with our feet secure from sin +We may be suffered both to speak and hear. +Let us not war against necessity. + +CH. There! From that bench of rock +Go not again astray. + +OED. Even here? + +CH. Enough, I tell thee. + +OED. May I sit? + +CH. Ay, crouch thee low adown +Crooking thy limbs, upon the stone. + +ANT. Father, this task is mine-- +Sink gently down into thy resting-place, + +OED. Woe is me! + +ANT. Supporting on this loving hand +Thy reverend aged form. + +OED. Woe, for my cruel fate! [OEDIPUS _is seated_ + +CH. Now thou unbendest from thy stubborn ways, +O man of woe! +Declare, what mortal wight thou art, +That, marked by troublous fortune, here art led. +What native country, shall we learn, is thine? + +OED. O strangers, I have none! +But do not-- + +CH. What dost thou forbid, old sir? + +OED. Do not, oh, do not ask me who I am, +Nor probe me with more question. + +CH. What dost thou mean? + +OED. My birth is dreadful. + +CH. Tell it forth. + +OED. What should I utter, O my child? Woe is me! + +CH. Thy seed, thy father's name, stranger, pronounce! + +OED. Alas! What must I do? My child! + +ANT. Since no resource avails thee, speak! + +OED. I will. I cannot hide it further. + +CH. Ye are long about it. Haste thee! + +OED. Know ye of one +Begotten of Laius? + +CH. Horror! Horror! Oh! + +OED. Derived from Labdacus? + +CH. O Heaven! + +OED. Fate-wearied Oedipus? + +CH. Art thou he? + +OED. Fear not my words. + +CH. Oh! Oh! + +OED. Unhappy me! + +CH. Oh! + +OED. Daughter, what is coming? + +CH. Away! Go forth. Leave ye the land. Begone! + +OED. And where, then, is the promise thou hast given? + +CH. No doom retributive attends the deed +That wreaks prevenient wrong. +Deceit, matched with deceit, makes recompense +Of evil, not of kindness. Get thee forth! +Desert that seat again, and from this land +Unmooring speed thee away, lest on our state +Thou bring some further bale! + +MONODY. + +ANT. O strangers, full of reverent care! +Since ye cannot endure my father here, +Aged and blind, +Because ye have heard a rumour of the deeds +He did unknowingly,--yet, we entreat you. +Strangers, have pity on me, the hapless girl, +Who pray for mine own sire and for none else, +--Pray, looking in your eyes with eyes not blind. +As if a daughter had appeared to you. +Pleading for mercy to the unfortunate. +We are in your hands as in the hand of God, +Helpless. O then accord the unhoped for boon! +By what is dear to thee, thy veriest own, +I pray thee,--chattel or child, or holier name! +Search through the world, thou wilt not find the man +Who could resist the leading of a God. + +CH. Daughter of Oedipus, be well assured +We view with pity both thy case and his, +But fear of Heavenly wrath confines our speech +To that we have already said to you. + +OED. What profit lives in fame and fair renown +By unsubstantial rumour idly spread? +When Athens is extolled with peerless praise +For reverence, and for mercy!--She alone +The sufferer's shield, the exile's comforter! +What have I reaped hereof? Ye have raised me up +From yonder seat, and now would drive me forth +Fearing a name! For there is nought in me +Or deeds of mine to make you fear. My life +Hath more of wrong endured than of wrong done, +Were it but lawful to disclose to you +Wherefore ye dread me,--not my sin but theirs, +My mother's and my sire's. I know your thought. +Yet never can ye fasten guilt on me, +Who, though I had acted with the clear'st intent, +Were guiltless, for my deed requited wrong. +But as it was, all blindly I went forth +On that dire road, while they who planned my death +Planned it with perfect knowledge. Therefore, sirs, +By Heaven I pray you, as ye have bid me rise, +Protect your suppliant without fail; and do not +In jealous reverence for the blessed Gods +Rob them of truest reverence, but know this:-- +God looks upon the righteousness of men +And their unrighteousness, nor ever yet +Hath one escaped who wrought iniquity. +Take part, then, with the Gods, nor overcloud +The golden fame of Athens with dark deeds; +But as ye have pledged your faith to shelter me, +Defend me and rescue, not rejecting me +Through mere abhorrence of my ruined face. +For on a holy mission am I come, +Sent with rich blessings for your neighbours here. +And when the head and sovereign of your folk +Is present, ye shall learn the truth at full. +Till then, be gracious to me, and not perverse. + +CH. Thy meaning needs must strike our hearts with awe, +Old wanderer! so weighty are the words +That body it forth. Therefore we are content +The Lord of Athens shall decide this case. + +OED. And where is he who rules this country, sirs? + +CH. He keeps his father's citadel. But one +Is gone to fetch him, he who brought us hither. + +OED. Think you he will consider the blind man, +And come in person here to visit him? + +CH. Be sure he will,--when he hath heard thy name. + +OED. And who will carry that? + +CH. 'Tis a long road; +But rumour from the lips of wayfarers +Flies far and wide, so that he needs must hear; +And hearing, never doubt but he will come. +So noised in every land hath been thy name, +Old sovereign,--were he sunk in drowsiness, +That sound would bring him swiftly to thy side. + +OED. Well, may he come to bless his city and me! +When hath not goodness blessed the giver of good? + +ANT. O Heavens! What shall I say, what think, my father? + +OED. Daughter Antigone, what is it? + +ANT. I see +A woman coming toward us, mounted well +On a fair Sicilian palfrey, and her face +With brow-defending hood of Thessaly +Is shadowed from the sun. What must I think? +Is it she or no? Can the eye so far deceive? +It is. 'Tis not. Unhappy that I am, +I know not.--Yes, 'tis she. For drawing near +She greets me with bright glances, and declares +Beyond a doubt, Ismene's self is here. + +OED. What say'st thou, daughter? + +ANT. That I see thy child, +My sister. Soon her voice will make thee sure. + +_Enter_ ISMENE. + +ISMENE. Father and sister!--names for ever dear! +Hard hath it been to find you, yea, and hard +I feel it now to look on you for grief. + +OED. Child, art thou here? + +ISM. Father! O sight of pain! + +OED. Offspring and sister! + +ISM. Woe for thy dark fate! + +OED. Hast thou come, daughter? + +ISM. On a troublous way. + +OED. Touch me, my child! + +ISM. I give a hand to both. + +OED. To her and me? + +ISM. Three linked in one sad knot. + +OED. Child, wherefore art thou come? + +ISM. In care for thee. + +OED. Because you missed me? + +ISM. Ay, and to bring thee tidings, +With the only slave whom I could trust. + +OED. And they, +Thy brethren, what of them? Were they not there +To take this journey for their father's good? + +ISM. Ask not of them. Dire deeds are theirs to day. + +OED. How in all points their life obeys the law +Of Egypt, where the men keep house and weave +Sitting within doors, while the wives abroad +Provide with ceaseless toil the means of life. +So in your case, my daughters, they who should +Have ta'en this burden on them, bide at home +Like maidens, while ye take their place, and lighten +My miseries by your toil. Antigone, +E'er since her childhood ended, and her frame +Was firmly knit, with ceaseless ministry +Still tends upon the old man's wandering, +Oft in the forest ranging up and down +Fasting and barefoot through the burning heat +Or pelting rain, nor thinks, unhappy maid, +Of home or comfort, so her father's need +Be satisfied. And thou, that camest before, +Eluding the Cadmeans, and didst tell me +What words Apollo had pronounced on me. +And when they banished me, stood'st firm to shield me, +What news, Ismene, bring'st thou to thy sire +To day? What mission sped thee forth? I know +Thou com'st not idly, but with fears for me. + +ISM. Father, I will not say what I endured +In searching out the place that sheltered thee. +To tell it o'er would but renew the pain. +But of the danger now encompassing +Thine ill starred sons,--of that I came to speak. +At first they strove with Creon and declared +The throne should be left vacant and the town +Freed from pollution,--paying deep regard +In their debate to the dark heritage +Of ruin that o'ershadowed all thy race. +Far different is the strife which holds them now, +Since some great Power, joined to their sinful mind, +Incites them both to seize on sovereign sway. +Eteocles, in pride of younger years, +Robbed elder Polynices of his right, +Dethroned and banished him. To Argos then +Goes exiled Polynices, and obtains +Through intermarriage a strong favouring league, +Whose word is, 'Either Argos vanquishes +The seed of Cadmus or exalts their fame' +This, father, is no tissue of empty talk, +But dreadful truth, nor can I tell where Heaven +Is to reveal his mercy to thy woe. + +OED. And hadst thou ever hoped the Gods would care +For mine affliction, and restore my life? + +ISM. I hope it now since this last oracle. + +OED. What oracle hath been declared, my child? + +ISM. That they shall seek thee forth, alive or dead, +To bring salvation to the Theban race. + +OED. Who can win safety through such help as mine? + +ISM. 'Tis said their victory depends on thee. + +OED. When shrunk to nothing, am I indeed a man? + +ISM. Yea, for the Gods uphold thee, who then destroyed. + +OED. Poor work, to uphold in age who falls when young! + +ISM. Know howsoe'er that Creon will be here +For this same end, ere many an hour be spent. + +OED. For what end, daughter? Tell me in plain speech. + +ISM. To set thee near their land, that thou may'st be +Beyond their borders, but within their power. + +OED. What good am I, thus lying at their gate? + +ISM. Thine inauspicious burial brings them woe. + +OED. There needs no oracle to tell one that. + +ISM. And therefore they would place thee near their land, +Where thou may'st have no power upon thyself. + +OED. Say then, shall Theban dust o'ershadow me? + +ISM. The blood of kindred cleaving to thy hand, +Father, forbids thee. + +OED. Never, then, henceforth, +Shall they lay hold on me! + +ISM. If that be true, +The brood of Cadmus shall have bale. + +OED. What cause +Having appeared, will bring this doom to pass? + +ISM. Thy wrath, when they are marshalled at thy tomb. + +OED. From whom hast thou heard this? + +ISM. Sworn messengers +Brought such report from Delphi's holy shrine. + +OED. Hath Phoebus so pronounced my destiny? + +ISM. So they declare who brought the answer back. + +OED. Did my sons hear? + +ISM. They know it, both of them. + +OED. Villains, who, being informed of such a word, +Turned not their thoughts toward me, but rather chose +Ambition and a throne! + +ISM. It wounds mine ear +To hear it spoken, but the news I bring +Is to that stern effect. + +OED. Then I pray Heaven +The fury of their fate-appointed strife +May ne'er be quenched, but that the end may come +According to my wish upon them twain +To this contention and arbitrament +Of battle which they now assay and lift +The threatening spear! So neither he who wields +The sceptred power should keep possession still, +Nor should his brother out of banishment +Ever return:--who, when their sire--when I +Was shamefully thrust from my native land, +Checked not my fall nor saved me, but, for them, +I was driven homeless and proclaimed an exile. +Ye will tell me 'twas in reason that the State +Granted this boon to my express desire. +Nay; for in those first hours of agony, +When my heart raged, and it seemed sweetest to me +To die the death, and to be stoned with stones, +No help appeared to yield me that relief. +But after lapse of days, when all my pain +Was softened, and I felt that my hot spirit +Had run to fierce excess of bitterness +In wreaking mine offence--then, then the State +Drove me for ever from the land, and they, +Their father's sons, who might have saved their father, +Cared not to help him, but betrayed by them, +For lack of one light word, I wandered forth +To homeless banishment and beggary. +But these weak maidens to their nature's power +Have striven to furnish me with means to live +And dwell securely, girded round with love. +My sons have chosen before their father's life +A lordly throne and sceptred sovereignty. +But never shall they win me to their aid, +Nor shall the Theban throne for which they strive +Bring them desired content. That well I know, +Comparing with my daughter's prophecies +Those ancient oracles which Phoebus once +Spake in mine ear. Then let them send to seek me +Creon, or who is strongest in their State. +For if ye, strangers, will but add your might +To the protection of these awful Powers, +The guardians of your soil, to shelter me, +Ye shall acquire for this your State a saviour +Mighty to save, and ye shall vex my foes. + +CH. Thou art worthy of all compassion, Oedipus, +Thyself and these thy daughters. Now, moreover +Since thou proclaim'st thyself our country's saviour +I would advise thee for the best. + +OED. Kind sir, +Be my good guide. I will do all thou biddest. + +CH. Propitiate then these holy powers, whose grove +Received thee when first treading this their ground. + +OED. What are the appointed forms? Advise me, sirs. + +CH. First see to it that from some perennial fount +Clean hands provide a pure drink-offering. + +OED. And when I have gotten this unpolluted draught? + +CH. You will find bowls, formed by a skilful hand, +Whose brims and handles you must duly wreathe. + +OED. With leaves or flocks of wool, or in what way? + +CH. With tender wool ta'en from a young ewe-lamb. + +OED. Well, and what follows to complete the rite? + +CH. Next, make libation toward the earliest dawn. + +OED. Mean'st thou from those same urns whereof thou speakest? + +CH. From those three vessels pour three several streams, +Filling the last to the brim. + +OED. With what contents +Must this be filled? Instruct me. + +CH. Not with wine, +But water and the treasure of the bee. + +OED. And when leaf-shadowed Earth has drunk of this, +What follows? + +CH. Thou shalt lay upon her then +From both thy hands a row of olive-twigs-- +Counting thrice nine in all--and add this prayer-- + +OED. That is the chief thing,--that I long to hear. + +CH. As we have named them Gentle, so may they +From gentle hearts accord their suppliant aid;-- +Be this thy prayer, or whoso prays for thee, +Spoken not aloud, but so that none may hear; +And in departing, turn not. This being done, +I can stand by thee without dread. But else, +I needs must fear concerning thee. + +OED. My daughters, +Have ye both heard our friends who inhabit here? + +ANT. Yea, father; and we wait for thy command. + +OED. I cannot go. Two losses hinder me, +Two evils, want of strength and want of sight. +Let one of you go and perform this service. +One soul, methinks, in paying such a debt +May quit a million, if the heart be pure. +Haste, then, to do it. Only leave me not +Untended. For I cannot move alone +Nor without some one to support me and guide. + +ISM. I will be ministrant. But let me know +Where I must find the place of offering. + +CH. Beyond this grove. And, stranger maid, if aught +Seem wanting, there is one at hand to show it. + +ISM. Then to my task. Meantime, Antigone, +Watch by our sire. We must not make account +Of labour that supplies a parent's need. [_Exit_ + +CH. Thy long since slumbering woe I would not wake again, I 1 +But yet I long to learn. + +OED. What hidden lore? + +CH. The pain +That sprang against thy life with spirit-mastering force. + +OED. Ah, sirs, as ye are kind, re-open not that source +Of unavoided shame. + +CH. Friend, we would hear the tale +Told truly, whose wide voice doth hourly more prevail. + +OED. Misery! + +CH. Be not loth! + +OED. O bitterness! + +CH. Consent. +For all thou didst require we gave to thy content. + +OED. Oh, strangers, I have borne an all-too-willing brand, I 2 +Yet not of mine own choice. + +CH. Whence? We would understand. + +OED. Nought knowing of the curse she fastened on my head +Thebè in evil bands bound me. + +CH. Thy mother's bed, +Say, didst thou fill? mine ear still echoes to the noise. + +OED. 'Tis death to me to hear, but, these, mine only joys, +Friends, are my curse. + +CH. O Heaven! + +OED. The travail of one womb +Hath gendered all you see, one mother, one dark doom. + +CH. How? Are they both thy race, and-- II 1 + +OED. Sister branches too, +Nursed at the self-same place with him from whom they grew. + +CH. O horror! + +OED. Ay, not one, ten thousand charged me then! + +CH. O sorrow! + +OED. Never done, an ever-sounding strain. + +CH. O crime! + +OED. By me ne'er wrought. + +CH. But how? + +OED. The guerdon fell. +Would I had earned it not from those I served too well. + +CH. But, hapless, didst thou slay-- II 2 + +OED. What seek ye more to know? + +CH. Thy father? + +OED. O dismay! Ye wound me, blow on blow. + +CH. Thy hand destroyed him. + +OED. Yes. Yet lacks there not herein +A plea for my redress. + +CH. How canst thou clear that sin? + +OED. I'll tell thee. For the deed, 'twas proved mine,--Oh 'tis true! +Yet by Heaven's law I am freed:--I wist not whom I slew. + +CH. Enough. For lo! where Aegeus' princely son, +Theseus, comes hither, summoned at thy word. + +_Enter_ THESEUS. + +THESEUS. From many voices in the former time +Telling thy cruel tale of sight destroyed +I have known thee, son of Laius, and to-day +I know thee anew, in learning thou art here. +Thy raiment, and the sad change in thy face, +Proclaim thee who thou art, and pitying thee, +Dark-fated Oedipus, I fain would hear +What prayer or supplication thou preferrest +To me and to my city, thou and this +Poor maid who moves beside thee. Full of dread +Must be that fortune thou canst name, which I +Would shrink from, since I know of mine own youth, +How in strange lands a stranger as thou art +I bore the brunt of perilous circumstance +Beyond all others; nor shall any man, +Like thee an alien from his native home, +Find me to turn my face from succouring him. +I am a man and know it. To-morrow's good +Is no more mine than thine or any man's. + +OED. Thy noble spirit, Theseus, in few words +Hath made my task of utterance brief indeed. +Thou hast told aright my name and parentage +And native city. Nought remains for me +But to make known mine errand, and our talk +Is ended. + +THE. Tell me plainly thy desire. + +OED. I come to offer thee this woe-worn frame, +As a free boon,--not goodly in outward view. +A better gift than beauty is that I bring. + +THE. What boon dost thou profess to have brought with thee? + +OED. Thou shalt know by and by,--not yet awhile. + +THE. When comes the revelation of thine aid? + +OED. When I am dead, and thou hast buried me. + +THE. Thou cravest the last kindness. What's between +Thou dost forget or else neglect. + +OED. Herein +One word conveys the assurance of the whole. + +THE. You sum up your petition in brief form. + +OED. Look to it. Great issues hang upon this hour. + +THE. Mean'st thou in this the fortune of thy sons +Or mine? + +OED. I mean the force of their behest +Compelling my removal hence to Thebes. + +THE. So thy consent were sought, 'twere fair to yield. + +OED. Once I was ready enough. They would not then. + +THE. Wrath is not wisdom in misfortune, man! + +OED. Nay, chide not till thou knowest. + +THE. Inform me, then! +I must not speak without just grounds. + +OED. O Theseus, +I am cruelly harassed with wrong heaped on wrong. + +THE. Mean'st thou that prime misfortune of thy birth? + +OED. No. That hath long been rumoured through the world. + +THE. What, then, can be thy grief? If more than that, +'Tis more than human. + +OED. Here is my distress:-- +I am made an outcast from my native land +By mine own offspring. And return is barred +For ever to the man who slew his sire. + +THE. How then should they require thee to go near, +And yet dwell separate? + +OED. The voice of Heaven +Will drive them to it. + +THE. As fearing what reverse +Prophetically told? + +OED. Destined defeat +By Athens in the Athenian land. + +THE. What source +Of bitterness 'twixt us and Thebes can rise? + +OED. Dear son of Aegeus, to the Gods alone +Comes never Age nor Death. All else i' the world +Time, the all subduer, merges in oblivion. +Earth and men's bodies weaken, fail, and perish. +Faith withers, breach of faith springs up and glows +And neither men nor cities that are friends +Breathe the same spirit with continuing breath. +Love shall be turned to hate, and hate to love +With many hereafter, as with some to-day. +And though, this hour, between great Thebes and thee +No cloud be in the heaven, yet moving Time +Enfolds a countless brood of days to come, +Wherein for a light cause they shall destroy +Your now harmonious league with severing war, +Even where my slumbering form, buried in death, +Coldly shall drink the life blood of my foes, +If Zeus be Zeus, and his son Phoebus true. +I would not speak aloud of mysteries. +Then let me leave where I began. Preserve +Thine own good faith, and thou shalt never say, +Unless Heaven's promise fail me, that for nought +Athens took Oedipus to dwell with her. + +CH. My lord, long since the stranger hath professed +Like augury of blessings to our land. + +THE. And who would dare reject his proffered good? +Whose bond with us of warrior amity +Hath ne'er been sundered,--and to day he comes +A God-sent suppliant, whose sacred hand +Is rich with gifts for Athens and for me. +In reverent heed whereof I ne'er will scorn +The boon he brings, but plant him in our land. +And if it please our friend to linger here, +Ye shall protect him:--if to go with me +Best likes thee, Oedipus,--ponder, and use +Thy preference. For my course shall join with thine. + +OED. Ye Heavens, reward such excellence! + +THE. How, then? +Is it thy choice now to go home with me? + +OED. Yea, were it lawful. But in this same spot-- + +THE. What wouldst thou do? I'll not withstand thy will. + +OED. I must have victory o'er my banishers. + +THE. Thy dwelling with us, then, is our great gain? + +OED. Yes, if thou fail me not, but keep thy word. + +THE. Nay, fear not me! I will aye be true to thee. + +OED. I will not bind thee, like a knave, with oaths. + +THE. Oaths were no stronger than my simple word. + +OED. What will ye do, then? + +THE. What is that thou fearest? + +OED. They will come hither. + +THE. Thy guards will see to that. + +OED. Beware, lest, if you leave me-- + +THE. Tell not me, +I know my part. + +OED. Terror will have me speak. + +THE. Terror and I are strangers. + +OED. But their threats! +Thou canst not know-- + +THE. I know that none shall force +Thee from this ground against thy will. Full oft +Have threatening words in wrath been voluble, +Yet, when the mind regained her place again, +The threatened evil vanished. So to-day +Bold words of boastful meaning have proclaimed +Thy forcible abduction by thy kin. +Yet shall they find (I know it) the voyage from Thebes, +On such a quest, long and scarce navigable. +Whate'er my thought, if Phoebus sent thee forth, +I would bid thee have no fear. And howsoe'er, +My name will shield thee from all injury. + +CHORUS. +Friend! in our land of conquering steeds thou art come I 1 +To this Heaven-fostered haunt, Earth's fairest home, +Gleaming Colonos, where the nightingale +In cool green covert warbleth ever clear, +True to the clustering ivy and the dear + Divine, impenetrable shade, +From wildered boughs and myriad fruitage made, +Sunless at noon, stormless in every gale. +Wood-roving Bacchus there, with mazy round, +And his nymph nurses range the unoffended ground. + +And nourished day by day with heavenly dew I 2 +Bright flowers their never-failing bloom renew, +From eldest time Dêo and Cora's crown +Full-flowered narcissus, and the golden beam +Of crocus, while Cephisus' gentle stream + In runnels fed by sleepless springs +Over the land's broad bosom daily brings +His pregnant waters, never dwindling down. +The quiring Muses love to seek the spot +And Aphroditè's golden car forsakes it not. + +Here too a plant, nobler than e'er was known II 1 +On Asian soil, grander than yet hath grown +In Pelops' mighty Dorian isle, unsown, + Free, self-create, the conquering foeman's fear, +The kind oil-olive, silvery-green, +Chief nourisher of childish life, is seen +To burgeon best in this our mother-land. +No warrior, young, nor aged in command, + Shall ravage this, or scathe it with the spear; + For guardian Zeus' unslumbering eye + Beholds it everlastingly, +And Athens' grey-eyed Queen, dwelling for ever near. + +Yet one more praise mightier than all I tell II 2 +O'er this my home, that Ocean loves her well, + And coursers love her, children of the wave +To grace these roadways Prince Poseidon first +Framed for the horse, that else had burst +From man's control, the spirit taming bit +And the trim bark, rowed by strong arms, doth flit + O'er briny seas with glancing motion brave + Lord of the deep! by that thy glorious gift +Thou hast established our fair town +For ever in supreme renown-- +The Sea nymphs' plashing throng glide not more smoothly swift. + +ANT. O land exalted thus in blessing and praise, +Now is thy time to prove these brave words true. + +OED. What hath befallen, my daughter? + +ANT. Here at hand, +Not unaccompanied, is Creon, father. + +OED. Dear aged friends, be it yours now to provide +My safety and the goal of my desire! + +CH. It shall be so. Fear nought. I am old and weak, +But Athens in her might is ever young. + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CREON. Noble inhabiters of Attic ground +I see as 'twere conceived within your eyes +At mine approach some new engendered fear +Nay, shrink not, nor let fall one fretful word. +I bring no menace with me, for mine age +Is feeble, and the state whereto I come +Is mighty,--none in Hellas mightier,-- +That know I well. But I am sent to bring +By fair persuasion to our Theban plain +The reverend form of him now present here. +Nor came this mission from one single will, +But the commands of all my citizens +Are on me, seeing that it becomes my birth +To mourn his sorrows most of all the state +Thou, then, poor sufferer, lend thine ear to me +And come. All Cadmus' people rightfully +Invite thee with one voice unto thy home, +I before all,--since I were worst of men, +Were I not pained at thy misfortunes, sir, +--To see thee wandering in the stranger's land +Aged and miserable, unhoused, unfed, +Singly attended by this girl, whose fall +To such a depth of undeservèd woe +I could not have imagined! Hapless maid! +Evermore caring for thy poor blind head, +Roving in beggary, so young, with no man +To marry her,--a mark for all mischance. +O misery, what deep reproach I have laid +On thee and me and our whole ill-starred race! +But who can hide evil that courts the day? +Thou, therefore, Oedipus, without constraint, +(By all the Gods of Cadmus' race I pray thee) +Remove this horror from the sight of men +By coming to the ancestral city and home +Of thy great sires,--bidding a kind farewell +To worthiest Athens, as is meet. But Thebes, +Thy native land, yet more deserves thy love. + +OED. Thou unabashed in knavery, who canst frame +For every cause the semblance of a plea +Pranked up with righteous seeming, why again +Would'st thou contrive my ruin, and attempt +To catch me where I most were grieved being caught? +Beforetime, when my self-procurèd woes +Were plaguing me, and I would fain have rushed +To instant banishment, thou wouldst not then +Grant this indulgence to my keen desire. +But when I had fed my passion to the full, +And all my pleasure was to live at home, +Then 'twas thy cue to expel and banish me, +Nor was this name of kindred then so dear. +Now once again, when thou behold'st this city +And people joined in friendly bands with me, +Thou wouldst drag me from my promised resting-place, +Hiding hard policy with courtly show. +Strange kindness, to love men against their will! +Suppose, when thou wert eager in some suit, +No grace were granted thee, but all denied, +And when thy soul was sated, then the boon +Were offered, when such grace were graceless now; +--Poor satisfaction then were thine, I ween! +Even such a gift thou profferest me to-day, +Kind in pretence, but really full of evil. +These men shall hear me tell thy wickedness. +Thou comest to take me, not unto my home, +But to dwell outlawed at your gate, that so +Your Thebè may come off untouched of harm +From her encounter with Athenian men. +Ye shall not have me thus. But you shall have +My vengeful spirit ever in your land +Abiding for destruction,--and my sons +Shall have this portion in their father's ground, +To die thereon. Know I not things in Thebes +Better than thou? Yea, for 'tis mine to hear +Safer intelligencers,--Zeus himself, +And Phoebus, high interpreter of Heaven. +Thou bring'st a tongue suborned with false pretence, +Sharpened with insolence;--but in shrewd speech +Thou shalt find less of profit than of bane. +This thou wilt ne'er believe. Therefore begone! +Let me live here. For even such life as mine +Were not amiss, might I but have my will. + +CR. Which of us twain, believ'st thou, in this talk +Hath more profoundly sinned against thy peace? + +OED. If thou prevail'st with these men present here +Even as with me, I shall be well content. + +CR. Unhappy man, will not even Time bring forth +One spark of wisdom to redeem thine age? + +OED. Thou art a clever talker. But I know +No just man who in every cause abounds +With eloquent speech. + +CR. 'Tis not to abound in speech, +When one speaks fitting words in season. + +OED. Oh! +As if thy words were few and seasonable! + +CR. Not in the dotard's judgement. + +OED. Get thee gone! +I speak their mind as well--and dog not me +Beleaguering mine appointed dwelling-place! + +CR. These men shall witness--for thy word is naught; +And for thy spiteful answer to thy friends, +If once I seize thee-- + +OED. Who shall seize on me +Without the will of my protectors here? + +CR. Well, short of that, thou shalt have pain, I trow. + +OED. What hast thou done, that thou canst threaten thus? + +CR. One of thy daughters I have sent in charge. +This other, I myself will quickly take. + +OED. Oh, cruel! + +CR. Soon thou'lt have more cause to cry. + +OED. Hast thou my child? + +CR. I will have both ere long. + +OED. Dear friends, what will ye do? Will ye forsake me? +Will you not drive the offender from your land? + +CH. Stranger, depart at once! Thou hast done wrong, +And wrong art doing. + +CR. (_to attendants_). + Now then, lead her away +By force, if she refuse to go with you. + +ANT. Ah me! unhappy! Whither shall I flee? +What aid of God or mortal can I find? + +CH. What dost thou, stranger? + +CR. I will lay no hand +On him, but on my kinswoman. + +OED. Alas! +Lords of Colonos, will ye suffer it? + +CH. Thou art transgressing, stranger. + +CR. Nay, I stand +Within my right. + +CH. How so? + +CR. I take mine own. + +OED. Athens to aid! + +CH. Stranger, forbear! What dost thou? +Let go, or thou shalt try thy strength with us. + +CR. Unhand me! + +CH. Not while this intent is thine. + +CR. If you harm me, you will have war with Thebes. + +OED. Did I not tell you this would come? + +CH. Release +The maid with speed. + +CR. Command where you have power. + +CH. Leave hold, I say! + +CR. Away with her, say I! + +CH. Come hither, neighbours, come! +My city suffers violence. Wrongful men +Are hurting her with force. Come hither to me! + +ANT. Unhappy, I am dragged away,--O strangers! + +OED. Where art thou, O my child? + +ANT. I go away +Against my will. + +OED. Reach forth thy hands, my daughter! + +ANT. I cannot. + +CR. Off with her! + +OED. Alas, undone! [_Exit_ ANTIGONE, _guarded_ + +CR. Thou shalt not have these staves henceforth to prop +Thy roaming to and fro. Take thine own way! +Since thou hast chosen to thwart thy nearest kin,-- +Beneath whose orders, though a royal man, +I act herein,--and thine own native land. +The time will surely come when thou shalt find +That in this deed and all that thou hast done +In opposition to their friendly will, +Thou hast counselled foolishly against thy peace, +Yielding to anger, thy perpetual bane. [_Going_ + +CH. Stranger, stand where thou art! + +CR. Hands off, I say! + +CH. Thou shalt not go, till thou restore the maids. + +CR. Soon, then, my city shall retain from you +A weightier cause of war. I will lay hands +Not on the maidens only. + +CH. What wilt thou do? + +CR. Oedipus I will seize and bear away. + +CH. Great Heaven forfend! + +CR. It shall be done forthwith, +Unless the ruler of this land prevent me. + +OED. O shameless utterance! Wilt thou lay thy hold +On me? + +CR. Be silent! Speak no more! + +OED. No more? +May these dread Goddesses not close my lips +To this one prayer of evil against thee, +Thou villain, who, when I have lost mine eyes, +Bereavest me of all that I had left +To make my darkness light! Therefore I pray, +For this thy wrongful act, may He in heaven +Whose eye sees all things, Helios, give to thee +Slowly to wither in an age like mine! + +CR. Men of this land, bear witness to his rage! + +OED. They see us both, and are aware that I +Repay thee but with words for deeds of wrong. + +CR. No longer will I curb my wrath. Though lonely +And cumbered by mine age, I will bear off +This man! + +OED. Me miserable! + +CH. How bold thou art, +If standing here thou think'st to do this thing! + +CR. I do. + +CH. Then Athens is to me no city. + +CR. Slight men prevail o'er strength in a just cause. + +OED. Hear ye his words? + +CH. He shall not make them good. +Be witness, Zeus! + +CR. Zeus knows more things than thou. + +OED. Is not this violence? + +CR. Violence you must bear. + +CH. Come, chieftain of our land! +Come hither with all speed. They pass the bound. + +_Enter_ THESEUS. + +THE. Wherefore that shouting? Daunted by what fear +Stayed ye me sacrificing to the God[2] +Who guards this deme Colonos? Let me know +What cause so hastened my reluctant foot. + +OED. Dear friend (I know thy voice addressing us), +One here hath lately done me cruel wrong. + +THE. Who is the wrong-doer, say, and what the deed? + +OED. This Creon, whom thou seest, hath torn away +Two children that were all in all to me. + +THE. Can this be possible? + +OED. Thou hear'st the truth. + +THE. Then one of you run to the altar-foot +Hard by, and haste the people from the rite, +Horsemen and footmen at the height of speed +To race unto the parting of the roads +Where travellers from both gorges wont to meet. +Lest there the maidens pass beyond our reach +And I be worsted by this stranger's might +And let him laugh at me. Be swift! Away! +--For him, were I as wroth as he deserves, +He should not go unpunished from my hand. +But now he shall be ruled by the same law +He thought to enforce. Thou goest not from this ground +Till thou hast set these maids in presence here; +Since by thine act thou hast disgraced both me +And thine own lineage and thy native land, +Who with unlicensed inroad hast assailed +An ancient city, that hath still observed +Justice and equity, and apart from law +Ratifies nothing; and, being here, hast cast +Authority to the winds, and made thine own +Whate'er thou wouldst, bearing it off perforce,-- +Deeming of me forsooth as nothing worth, +And of my city as one enslaved to foes +Or void of manhood. Not of Thebe's will +Come such wild courses. It is not her way +To foster men in sin, nor would she praise +Thy doing, if she knew that thou hast robbed +Me and the gods, dragging poor suppliant wights +From their last refuge at thy will--I would not, +Had I perchance set foot within thy land, +Even were my cause most righteous, have presumed, +Without consent of him who bore chief sway, +To seize on any man, but would have known +How men should act who tread on foreign soil. +Thou bring'st disgrace on thine own mother state +All undeservedly, and the lapse of years +Hath left thee aged, but not wise--Again +I bid those maids now to be brought with speed, +Unless thou would'st be made a sojourner +In Athens by compulsion. This I speak +Not with my lips alone, but from my will. + +CH. Stranger, dost thou perceive? Thy parentage +Is owned as noble, but thine evil deeds +Are blazoned visibly. + +CR. Great Aegeus' son! +Not as misprising this thy city's strength +In arms, or wisdom in debate, I dared +This capture, but in simple confidence +Thy citizens would not so envy me +My blood relations, as to harbour them +Against my will,--nor welcome to their hearths +A man incestuous and a parricide, +The proved defiler of his mother's bed +Such was the mount of Ares that I knew, +Seat of high wisdom, planted in their soil, +That suffers no such lawless runaways +To haunt within the borders of your realm. +Relying on that I laid my hands upon +This quarry, nor had done so, were it not +That bitterly he cursed myself and mine. +That moved me to requital, since even Age +Still bears resentment, till the power of death +Frees men from anger, as from all annoy. +Being sovereign here thou wilt do thy pleasure. I, +Though I have justice on my side, am weak +Through being alone. Yet if you meddle with me, +Old as I am, you'll find me dangerous. + +OED. O boldness void of shame! Whom dost thou think +Thy obloquy most harms, this agèd head +Or thine, who hast thus let pass thy lips the crimes +I have borne unwittingly. So Heaven was pleased +To wreak some old offence upon our race. +Since in myself you will find no stain of sin +For which such ruinous error 'gainst myself +And mine own house might be the recompense. +Tell me, I pray thee, if a word from Heaven +Came to my father through the oracle +That he should die by his son's hand,--what right +Hast thou to fasten that reproach on me, +The child not yet begotten of my sire, +An unborn nothing, unconceived? Or if, +Born as I was to misery, I encountered +And killed my father in an angry fray, +Nought knowing of what I did or whom I slew, +What reason is't to blame the unwitting deed? +And, oh, thou wretch! art not ashamed to force me +To speak that of my mother, thine own sister, +Which I will speak, for I will not keep silence, +Since thou hast been thus impious with thy tongue. +She was my mother, oh, the bitter word! +Though neither knew it, and having borne me, she +Became the mother of children to her son, +An infamous birth! Yet this I know, thy crime +Of speech against us both is voluntary. +But all involuntary was my deed +In marriage and is this mine utterance now. +No,--that shall not be called a bosom-sin, +Nor shall my name be sullied with the deed, +Thy tongue would brand on me, against my sire. +For answer me one question. If to-day, +Here, now, one struck at thee a murderous stroke,-- +At thee, the righteous person,--wouldst thou ask +If such assailant were thy sire, or strike +Forthwith? Methinks, as one who cares to live, +You would strike before you questioned of the right, +Or reasoned of his kindred whom you slew. +Such was the net that snared me: such the woes +Heaven drew me to fulfil. My father's spirit, +Came he to life, would not gainsay my word. +But thou, to whom, beneath the garb of right, +No matter is too dreadful or too deep +For words, so rail'st on me, in such a presence. +Well thou dost flatter the great name of Theseus, +And Athens in her glory stablished here, +But midst thy fulsome praises thou forgettest +How of all lands that yield the immortal Gods +Just homage of true piety, this land +Is foremost. Yet from hence thou would'st beguile +Me, the aged suppliant. Nay, from hence thou would'st drag +Myself with violence, and hast reft away +My children. Wherefore I conjure these powers, +With solemn invocation and appeal, +To come and take my part, that thou may'st know +What men they are who guard this hallowed realm. + +CH. My lord, the stranger deserves well. His fate +Is grievous, but the more demands our aid. + +THE. Enough of words. The captors and their prey +Are hasting;--we, they have wronged, are standing still. + +CR. I am powerless here. What dost thou bid me do? + +THE. Lead us the way they are gone. I too must be +Thine escort, that if hereabout thou hast +Our maidens, thou mayest show them to my sight. +But if men flee and bear them, we may spare +Superfluous labour. Others hotly urge +That business, whom those robbers shall not boast +Before their Gods to have 'scaped out of this land. +Come, be our guide! Thou hast and hast not. Fortune +Hath seized thee seizing on thy prey. So quickly +Passes the gain that's got by wrongful guile. +Nay, thou shalt have no helper. Well I wot +Thou flew'st not to this pitch of truculent pride +Alone, or unsupported by intrigue; +But thy bold act hath some confederate here. +This I must look into, nor let great Athens +Prove herself weaker than one single man. +Hast caught my drift? Or is my voice as vain +Now, as you thought it when you planned this thing? + +CR. I will gainsay nought of what thou utterest here. +But once in Thebes, I too shall know my course. + +THE. Threaten, but go! Thou, Oedipus, remain +In quietness and perfect trust that I, +If death do not prevent me, will not rest +Till I restore thy children to thy hand. + +CHORUS. + Soon shall the wheeling foes I 1 +Clash with the din of brazen-throated War. + Would I were there to see them close, +Be the onset near or far! +Whether at Daphnè's gorge to Phoebus dear, + Or by the torch-lit shore +Where kind maternal powers for evermore +Guard golden mysteries of holy fear + To nourish mortal souls +Whose voice the seal of silent awe controls +Imprinted by the Eumolpid minister. + There, on that sacred way, + Shall the divinest head +Of royal Theseus, rouser of the fray, +And those free maids, in their two squadrons led, + Meet in the valorous fight + That conquers for the right. + + Else, by the snow-capped rock, I 2 +Passing to westward, they are drawing nigh +The tract beyond the pasture high + Where Oea feeds her flock. +The riders ride, the rattling chariots flee + At racing speed.--'Tis done! +He shall be vanquished. Our land's chivalry + Are valiant, valiant every warrior son + Of Theseus.--On they run? +Frontlet and bridle glancing to the light, +Forward each steed is straining to the fight, + Forward each eye and hand + Of all that mounted band, +Athena's knighthood, champions of her name +And his who doth the mighty waters tame, + Rhea's son that from of old + Doth the Earth with seas enfold. + +Strive they? Or is the battle still to be? II 1 + An eager thought in me +Is pleading, 'Soon must they restore +The enduring maid, whose kinsmen vex her sore!' +To-day shall Zeus perform his will. +The noble cause wins my prophetic skill. +Oh! had I wings, and like a storm-swift dove +Poised on some aery cloud might there descry + The conflict from above, +Scouring the region with mine eye! + +Sovran of Heaven, all-seeing Zeus, afford II 2 + Unto this nation's lord +Puissance to crown the fair emprise, +Thou, and all-knowing Pallas, thy dread child! +Apollo, huntsman of the wild, +--Thou and thy sister, who doth still pursue +Swift many-spotted stags,--arise, arise, +With love we pray you, be our champions true! + Yea, both together come +To aid our people and our home! + +LEADER OF CH. +Ah! wanderer friend, thou wilt not have to accuse +Thy seer of falsehood. I behold the maids +This way once more in safe protection brought. + +OED. Where? Is it true? How say you? + +ANT. Father, father! +Oh that some God would give thee once to see +The man whose royal virtue brings us hither! + +OED. My daughters, are ye there? + +ANT. Saved by the arm +Of Theseus and his most dear ministers. + +OED. Come near me, child, and let your father feel +The treasure he had feared for ever gone. + +ANT. Not hard the boon which the heart longs to give. + +OED. Where are ye, where? + +ANT. Together we draw near. + +OED. Loved saplings of a solitary tree! + +ANT. A father's heart hides all. + +OED. Staves of mine age! + +ANT. Forlorn supporters of an ill-starred life! + +OED. I have all I love; nor would the stroke of death +Be wholly bitter, with you standing by. +Press close to either side of me, my children; +Grow to your sire, and ye shall give me rest +From mine else lonely, hapless, wandering life. +And tell your tale as briefly as ye may, +Since at your age short speaking is enough. + +ANT. Here is our saviour. He shall tell thee all, +And shorten labour both for us and thee. + +OED. Think it not strange, dear friend, that I prolong +The unhoped-for greeting with my children here. +Full well I know, the joy I find in them +Springs from thee only, and from none beside. +Thou, thou alone hast saved them. May the Gods +Fulfil my prayer for thee and for thy land! +Since only in Athens, only here i' the world, +Have I found pious thought and righteous care, +And truth in word and deed. From a full heart +And thankful mind I thus requite thy love, +Knowing all I have is due to none but thee. +Extend to me, I pray thee, thy right hand, +O King, that I may feel thee, and may kiss, +If that be lawful, thy dear head! And yet +What am I asking? How can one like me +Desire of thee to touch an outlawed man, +On whose dark life all stains of sin and woe +Are fixed indelibly? I will not dare-- +No, nor allow thee!--None but only they +Who have experience of such woes as mine +May share their wretchedness. Thou, where thou art +Receive my salutation, and henceforth +Continue in thy promised care of me +As true as to this moment thou hast proved. + +THE. I marvel not at all if mere delight +In these thy daughters lengthened thy discourse, +Or led thee to address them before me. +That gives me not the shadow of annoy. +Nor am I careful to adorn my life +With words of praise, but with the light of deeds. +And thou hast proof of this. For I have failed +In nought of all I promised, agèd King! +Here stand I with thy children in full life +Unharmed in aught the foe had threatened them. +And now why vaunt the deeds that won the day, +When these dear maids will tell them in thine ear? +But let me crave thy counsel on a thing +That crossed me as I came. Small though it seem +When told, 'tis worthy of some wonder, too. +Be it small or great, men should not let things pass. + +OED. What is it, O son of Aegeus? Let me hear, +I am wholly ignorant herein. + +THE. We are told +One, not thy townsman, but of kin to thee, +Hath come in unawares, and now is found +Kneeling at great Poseidon's altar, where +I sacrificed, what time ye called me hither. + +OED. What countryman, and wherefore suppliant there? + +THE. One thing alone I know. He craves of thee +Some speech, they say, that will not hold thee long. + +OED. His kneeling there imports no trivial suit. + +THE. All he desires, they tell me, is to come, +Have speech with thee, and go unharmed away. + +OED. Who can he be that kneels for such a boon? + +THE. Think, if at Argos thou a kinsman hast +Who might desire to obtain so much of thee. + +OED. Dear friend! Hold there! No more! + +THE. What troubles thee? + +OED. Ask it not of me! + +THE. What? Speak plainly forth. + +OED. Thy words have shown me who the stranger is. + +THE. And who is he that I should say him nay? + +OED. My son, O King,--hateful to me, whose tongue +Least of the world I could endure to hear. + +THE. What pain is there in hearing? Canst thou not +Hear, and refuse to do what thou mislikest? + +OED. My Lord, I have come to loathe his very voice. +I pray thee, urge me not to yield in this. + +THE. Think that the God must be considered too, +The right of suppliants may compel thy care. + +ANT. Father, give ear, though I be young that speak. +Yield to the scruple of the King, who claims +This reverence for his people's God, and yield +To us who beg our brother may come near. +Take heart! He will not force thee from thy will. +What harm can come of hearkening? Wisdom's ways +Reveal themselves through words. He is thy son. +Whence, were his heartless conduct against thee +Beyond redemption impious, O my sire, +Thy vengeance still would be unnatural. +Oh let him!--Others have had evil sons +And passionate anger, but the warning voice +Of friends hath charmed their mood. Then do not thou +Look narrowly upon thy present griefs, +But on those ancient wrongs thou didst endure +From father and from mother. Thence thou wilt learn +That evil passion ever ends in woe. +Thy sightless eyes are no light argument +To warn thee through the feeling of thy loss. +Relent and hear us! 'Tis a mere disgrace +To beg so long for a just boon. The King +Is kind to thee. Be generous in return. + +OED. Child, your dear pleading to your hard request +Hath won me. Let this be as ye desire. +Only, my lord, if he is to come near, +Let no man's power molest my liberty. + +THE. I need no repetition, aged friend, +Of that request. Vaunt will I not, but thou +Be sure, if Heaven protect me, thou art free. + +CHORUS. + Who, loving life, hath sought I 1 + To outlive the appointed span, + Shall be arraigned before my thought + For an infatuate man. + Since the added years entail + Much that is bitter,--joy + Flies out of ken, desire doth fail, + The longed-for moments cloy. + But when the troublous life, + Be it less or more, is past, + With power to end the strife + Comes rescuing Death at last. +Lo! the dark bridegroom waits! No festal choir +Shall grace his destined hour, no dance, no lyre! + + Far best were ne'er to be, I 2 + But, having seen the day, + Next best by far for each to flee + As swiftly as each may, + Yonder from whence he came: + For once let Youth be there + With her light fooleries, who shall name + The unnumbered brood of Care? + No trial spared, no fall! + Feuds, battles, murders, rage, + Envy, and last of all, + Despised, dim, friendless age! +Ay, there all evils, crowded in one room, +Each at his worst of ill, augment the gloom. + +Such lot is mine, and round this man of woe, II + --As some grey headland of a northward shore +Bears buffets of all-wintry winds that blow,-- + New storms of Fate are bursting evermore + In thundrous billows, borne + Some from the waning light, +Some through mid-noon, some from the rising morn, + Some from the realm of Night. + +ANT. Ah! Who comes here? Sure 'tis the Argive man +Approaching hitherward, weeping amain. +And, father, it is he! + +OED. Whom dost thou mean? + +ANT. The same our thoughts have dwelt on all this while, +Polynices. He is here. + +POLYNICES. What shall I do? +I stand in doubt which first I should lament, +My own misfortune or my father's woe, +Whom here I find an outcast in his age +With you, my sisters, in the stranger land, +Clothed in such raiment, whose inveterate filth +Horridly clings, wasting his reverend form, +While the grey locks over the eye-reft brow +Wave all unkempt upon the ruffling breeze. +And likewise miserable appears the store +He bears to nourish that time-wasted frame. +Wretch that I am! Too late I learn the truth, +And here give witness to mine own disgrace, +Which is as deep as thy distress. Myself +Declare it. Ask not others of my guilt. +But seeing that Zeus on his almighty throne +Keeps Mercy in all he doth to counsel him, +Thou, too, my father, let her plead with thee! +The evil that is done may yet be healed; +It cannot be augmented. Art thou silent? +O turn not from me, father! Speak but once! +Wilt thou not answer, but with shame dismiss me +Voiceless, nor make known wherefore thou art wroth? +O ye his daughters, one with me in blood, +Say, will not ye endeavour to unlock +The stern lips of our unrelenting sire? +Let him not thus reject in silent scorn +Without response the suppliant of Heaven! + +ANT. Thyself, unhappy one, say why thou camest. +Speech ofttimes, as it flows, touching some root +Of pity or joy, or even of hate, hath stirred +The dumb to utterance. + +POL. I will tell my need:-- +First claiming for protector the dread God +From whose high altar he who rules this land +Hath brought me under safe-guard of his power, +Scatheless to speak and hear and go my way. +His word, I am well assured, will be made good, +Strangers, by you, and by my sisters twain, +And by our sire.--Now let me name mine errand. +I am banished, father, from our native land, +Because, being elder-born, I claimed to sit +Upon thy sovereign throne. For this offence +Eteocles, thy younger son, exíled me, +Not having won the advantage in debate +Or trial of manhood, but through guileful art +Gaining the people's will. Whereof I deem +Thy Fury the chief author; and thereto +Prophetic voices also testify. +For when I had come to Dorian Argolis, +I raised, through marriage with Adrastus' child, +An army bound in friendly league with me, +Led by the men who in the Apian land +Hold first pre-eminence and honour in war, +With whose aid levying all that mighty host +Of seven battalions, I have deeply sworn +Either to die, or drive from Theban ground +Those who such wrongs have wrought. So far, so well. +But why come hither? Father, to crave thine aid +With earnest supplication for myself +And for my firm allies, who at this hour, +Seven leaders of seven bands embattled there, +Encompass Thebè's plain. Amphiaráus, +Foremost in augury, foremost in war, +First wields his warlike spear. Next, Oeneus' son, +Aetolian Tydeus; then Etéoclus +Of Argive lineage; fourth, Hippomedon, +Sent by his father Tálaüs, and the fifth +Is Capancus, who brags he will destroy +Thebè with desolating fire. The sixth, +Parthonopaeus, from the Arcadian glen +Comes bravely down, swift Atalanta's child, +Named from his mother's lingering maidenhood +Ere she conceived him. And the seventh am I, +Thy son, or if not thine, but the dire birth +Of evil Destiny, yet named thy son, +Who lead this dauntless host from Argolis +Against the Theban land. Now one and all +We pray thee on our knees, conjuring thee +As thou dost love these maids and thine own life, +My father, to forgive me, ere I go +To be revenged upon my brother there +Who drave me forth and robbed me of my throne. +If aught in prophecy deserves belief, +'Tis certain, whom thou favourest, those shall win. +Now by the wells whereof our fathers drank +And by the Gods they worshipped, hear our prayer, +Grant this petition: since alike in woe, +Alike in poverty and banishment, +Partakers of one destiny, thou and I +Cringe to the stranger for a dwelling place. +Whilst he at home, the tyrant, woe is me, +Laughs at us both in soft luxurious pride. +Whose might, so thou wilt favour my design, +I will lightly scatter in one little hour; +And plant thee in thy Theban palace home +Near to myself, hurling the usurper forth. +All this with thy consent I shall achieve, +But without thee, I forfeit life and all. + +CH. For his sake who hath brought him, Oedipus, +Say what is meet, and let him go in peace. + +OED. Ay, were it not the lord of all this land +Theseus, that brought him to me and desired +He might hear words from me,--never again +Had these tones fallen upon his ear. But now +That boon is granted him: he shall obtain, +Ere he depart, such utterance of my tongue, +As ne'er shall give him joy,--ne'er comfort thee, +Villain, who when possessed of the chief power +Which now thy brother holds o'er Theban land, +Didst banish me, thy father, who stand here, +To live in exile, clothed with such attire, +That moves thy tears now that thine own estate +Is fallen into like depth of struggling woe. +But tears are bootless. Howsoe'er I live, +I must endure, and hold thee still my murderer. +'Tis thou hast girt me round with misery, +'Tis thou didst drive me forth, and driven by thee +I beg my bread, a wandering sojourner. +Yea, had these daughters not been born to me +To tend me, I were dead, for all thou hast done. +They have rescued, they have nursed me. They are men, +Not women, in the strength of ministry. +Ye are another's, not my sons--For this +The eye of Destiny pursues thee still +Eager to light on thee with instant doom +If once that army move toward the town +Of ancient Thebes,--the _town_, no dearer name, +'City' or 'Country' shall beseem thy lip +Till ye both fall, stained with fraternal gore +Long since I launched that curse against you twain +Which here again I summon to mine aid, +That ye may learn what duty children owe +To a parent, nor account it a light thing +That ye were cruel sons to your blind sire. +These maidens did not so. Wherefore my curse +Prevails against thy prayer for Thebe's throne, +If ancient Zeus, the eternal lawgiver, +Have primal Justice for his counsellor. +Begone, renounced and fatherless for me, +And take with thee, vilest of villanous men, +This imprecation:--Vain be thine attempt +In levying war against thy father's race, +Frustrate be thy return to Argos' vale: +Die foully by a fratricidal hand +And foully slay him who hath banished thee! +Further, I bid the horror breathing gloom +Tartarean, of the vault that holds my sire, +To banish thee from that last home: I invoke +The Spirits who haunt this ground, and the fierce God +Who hath filled you both with this unnatural hate.-- +Go now with all this in thine ears, and tell +The people of Cadmus and thy firm allies +In whom thou trustest, what inheritance +Oedipus hath divided to his sons. + +CH. 'Tis pity for thee, prince, to have come at all; +And now we bid thee go the way thou camest. + +POL. Alas! Vain enterprise, and hope undone! +Oh, my poor comrades! To what fatal end +I led you forth from Argos, woe is me! +I may not tell it you,--no, nor return. +In silence I must go to meet my doom. +Daughters of this inexorable sire, +Since now ye have heard his cruel curse on me, +Ah! in Heaven's name, my sisters, do not you +Treat me despitefully, but if, one day, +Our father's execration is fulfilled +And ye shall be restored to Theban ground, +Grace me with funeral honours and a tomb! +So shall this ample praise which ye receive +For filial ministration, in that day +Be more than doubled through your care for me. + +ANT. Brother, I beg thee, listen to my prayer! + +POL. Dearest Antigone, speak what thou wilt. + +ANT. Turn back thy host to Argos with all speed, +And ruin not thyself and Thebè too. + +POL. Impossible. If once I shrink for fear, +No longer may I lead them to the war. + +ANT. But why renew thy rage? What benefit +Comes to thee from o'erturning thine own land? + +POL. 'Tis shameful to remain in banishment, +And let my brother mock my right of birth. + +ANT. Then seest thou not how true unto their aim +Our father's prophecies of mutual death +Against you both are sped? + +POL. He speaks his wish. +'Tis not for me to yield. + +ANT. O me, unhappy! +But who that hears the deep oracular sound +Of his dark words, will dare to follow thee? + +POL. They will not hear of danger from my mouth. +Wise generals tell of vantage, not of bale. + +ANT. Art thou then so resolved, O brother mine? + +POL. I am. Retard me not! I must attend +To my dark enterprise, blasted and foiled +Beforehand by my father's angry curse. +But as for you, Heaven prosper all your way, +If ye will show this kindness in my death, +For nevermore in life shall ye befriend me! +Nay, cling to me no longer. Fare ye well. +Ye will behold my living form no more. + +ANT. O misery! + +POL. Bewail me not. + +ANT. And who +That saw thee hurrying forth to certain death +Would not bewail thee, brother? + +POL. If Fate wills, +Why, I must die. + +ANT. Nay, but be ruled by me. + +POL. Give me not craven counsel. + +ANT. Woe is me, +To lose thee! + +POL. Heaven hath power to guide the event +Or thus or otherwise. Howe'er it prove, +I pray that ye may ne'er encounter ill. +All men may know, ye merit nought but good. + [_Exit. The sky is overcast--a storm is threatened_ + +CHORUS. +New trouble, strange trouble, deep laden with doom, I 1 +From the sight-bereft stranger seems dimly to loom! + Or peers Fate through the gloom? +She will move toward her mark or through shining or shade; +Since no purpose of Gods ever idly was made. +Time sees the fulfilment, who lifteth to-day +What was lowly, and trampleth the lofty to clay. + Thunder! Heavens! what a sound! + +OED. My children! Would but some one in the place +Haste hither Theseus, noblest among men! + +ANT. Wherefore, my father? What is thy desire? + +OED. These winged thunders of the Highest will soon +Bear me away to the Unseen. Send quickly! + +CHORUS. +Again, yonder crash through the fire-startled air I 2 +Wing'd from Zeus, rushes down, till my thin locks of hair, + Stiff with fear, upward stare. +My soul shrinks and cowers, for yon gleam from on high +Darts again! Ne'er in vain hath it leapt from the sky, +But flies forth amain to what task Zeus hath given. +I fear the unknown fatal edict of Heaven! + Lightning glares all around! + +OED. My daughters, the divinely promised end +Here unavoidably descends on me. + +ANT. How dost thou know it? By what certain sign? + +OED. I know it perfectly. Let some one go +With speed to bring the lord of Athens hither. + +CHORUS. +Great Heaven, how above me, beside me, around, II 1 + Peals redoubled the soul-thrilling sound! +O our God, to this land, to our mother, if aught +Thou wouldst send with some darkness of destiny fraught, +Smile gently once more! With the good let me bear + What of fortune soe'er,-- +Taste no cup, touch no food, the doomed sinner may share. + Zeus, to thee, Lord, I cry! + +OED. Is the King coming? Will he find me alive, +My daughters, and with reason undisturbed? + +ANT. Say wherefore dost thou crave with such desire +The clearness of an undistracted mind? + +OED. I would fully render from a grateful soul +The boon I promised, when I gained my suit. + +CHORUS (_looking towards Athens_). +Come, my chief! come with speed! Or, if haply at hand, II 2 + On the height where the curved altars stand, +Thou art hallowing with oxen in sacrifice slain +Yonder shrine of Poseidon, dread lord of the main, +Hie thee hither! Be swift! The blind stranger intends + To thee, to thy friends, +To thy city, for burdens imposed, just amends. + Haste thee, King! Hear our cry! + +_Enter_ THESEUS. + +THE. Why sounds again from hence your joint appeal, +Wherein the stranger's voice is loudly heard? +Is it some lightning-bolt new-fallen from Zeus, +Or cloud-born hail that is come rattling down? +From Heavens so black with storm nought can surprise. + +OED. Prince, thou art come to my desire. Some God +Hath happily directed this thy way. + +THE. What is befallen? Son of Laius, tell! + +OED. My path slopes downward, and before my death +I would confirm to Athens and to thee +My promised boon. + +THE. What sign dost thou perceive +That proves thine end so near? + +OED. The Gods themselves +With herald voices are proclaiming it, +Nought failing of the fore-appointed signs. + +THE. What are these tokens, aged monarch, say? + +OED. The loud continual thunder, and the darts +That flash in volleys from the unconquered hand. + +THE. I may not doubt thee; for thy speech, I feel, +Hath ample witness of prophetic power. +What must I do? + +OED. I will instruct thee now, +Aegeus' great son! in rites that shall remain +An ageless treasure to thy countrymen. +I will presently, with no man guiding me, +Conduct thee to the spot, where I must die. +This is thy secret, not to be revealed +To any one of men, or where 'tis hid +Or whereabout it lies. So through all time +This neighbouring[3] mound shall yield thee mightier aid +Than many a shield and help of alien spears. +More shalt thou learn, too sacred to divulge, +When yonder thou art come thyself alone. +Since to none other of these citizens +Nor even unto the children of my love +May I disclose it. 'Tis for thee to keep +Inviolate while thou livest, and when thy days +Have ending, breathe it to the foremost man +Alone, and he in turn unto the next +Successively. So shalt thou ever hold +Athens unravaged by the dragon brood[4]. +Cities are numberless, and any one +May lightly insult even those who dwell secure. +For the eye of Heaven though late yet surely sees +When, casting off respect, men turn to crime. +Erechtheus' heir! let that be far from thee! +A warning needless to a man so wise! +Now go we--for this leading of the God +Is urgent--to the place, nor loiter more. +This way, my children! follow me! For I +Am now your guide, as ye were mine. Come on! +Nay, touch me not, but leave me of myself +To find the holy sepulchre, wherein +This form must rest beneath Athenian soil. +Come this way! Come! This way are leading me +Guide Hermes and the Queen of realms below. +O Light, all dark to me! In former time +Bright seemed thy shining! Now thy latest ray +Sheds vital influence o'er this frame. I go +To hide the close of my disastrous life +With Hades. Kind Athenian friend, farewell! +May'st thou, thy followers, and this glorious land +Be happy, and in your endless happiness +Remember him who blessed you in his death. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS. +Prince of the Powers Unseen, 1 + Durst we with prayers adore +Thee and thy viewless Queen, + Your aid, Aidôneus, would our lips implore! +By no harsh-sounding doom + Let him we love descend, + With calm and cloudless end, + In deep Plutonian dwelling evermore +To abide among the people of the tomb! +Long worn with many an undeservèd woe, +Just Gods will give thee glory there below. + +Dread Forms, who haunt this floor, 2 + And thou, the Unconquered Beast, + That hugely liest at rest +By the dim shining adamantine door, +--Still from thy cavernous lair + Gnarling, so legends tell, + A tameless guard of Hell,-- +Mayest thou this once thy vigilance forbear, +And leave large room for him now entering there. +Hear us, great Son of Darkness and the Deep; +On thee we call, God of the dreamless sleep! + +_Enter_ Messenger. + +MESS. Athenian citizens, my briefest tale +Were to say singly, Oedipus is gone; +But to describe the scene enacted yonder +Craves no brief speech, nor was the action brief. + +CH. Then he is gone! Poor man! + +MESS. Know it once for all, +He hath left eternally the light of day. + +CH. Poor soul! What? Ended he with peace divine? + +MESS. Ay, there is the main marvel. How he moved +From hence, thou knowest, for thou too wert here, +And saw'st that of his friends none guided him, +But he they loved was leader to them all. +Now, when he came to the steep pavement, rooted +With adamant foundation deep in Earth, +On one of many paths he took his stand +Near the stone basin, where Peirithoüs +And Theseus graved their everlasting league. +There, opposite the mass of Laurian ore, +Turned from the hollow pear-tree and the tomb +Of marble, he sate down, and straight undid +His travel-soiled attire, then called aloud +On both his children, and bade some one fetch +Pure water from a running stream. And they, +Hasting together to the neighbouring hill +Of green Demeter, goddess of the Spring, +Brought back their sire's commission speedily, +And bathed, and clothed him with the sacred robe. +When he was satisfied, and nothing now +Remained undone of all he bade them do, +The God of darkness thundered, and the maids +Stood horror-stricken on hearing; then together +Fell at their father's knees and wept and wailed +Loudly and long with beating of the breast. +He, when that sound of sorrow pierced his ear, +Caressed them in his arms and said:--'My daughters, +From this day forth you have no more a father. +All that was mine is ended, and no longer +Shall ye continue your hard ministry +Of labour for my life.--And yet, though hard, +Not unendurable, since all the toil +Was rendered light through love, which ye can never +Receive on earth so richly, as from him +Bereaved of whom ye now shall live forlorn.' +Such was the talk, mingled with sobs and crying, +As each clung fast to each. But when they came +To an end of weeping and those sounds were stilled, +First all was silent; then a sudden voice +Hurried him onward, making each man's hair +Bristle on end with force of instant fear. +Now here, now there, not once but oftentimes, +A God called loudly, 'Oedipus, Oedipus! +Why thus delay our going? This long while +We are stayed for and thou tarriest. Come away!' +He, when he knew the summons of the God, +Gave word for royal Theseus to go near; +And when he came, said: 'Friend for ever kind, +Reach thy right hand, I pray thee (that first pledge) +To these my children:--daughters, yours to him!-- +And give thy sacred word that thou wilt never +Betray these willingly: but still perform +All that thou mayest with true thought for their good.' +He, with grand calmness like his noble self, +Promised on oath to keep this friendly bond. +And when he had done so, Oedipus forthwith +Stroking his children with his helpless hands +Spake thus:--'My daughters, you must steel your hearts +To noble firmness, and depart from hence, +Nor ask to see or hear forbidden things. +Go, go at once! Theseus alone must stay +Sole rightful witness of these mysteries.' +Those accents were the last we all might hear. +Then, following the two maids, with checkless tears +And groans we took our way. But by and by, +At distance looking round, we saw,--not him, +Who was not there,--but Theseus all alone +Holding his hand before his eyes, as if +Some apparition unendurable +Had dazed his vision. In a little while, +We marked him making reverence in one prayer +To the Earth, and to the home of Gods on high. +But by what fate He perished, mortal man, +Save Theseus, none can say. No lightning-flash +From heaven, no tempest rising from the deep, +Caused his departure in that hour, but either +Some messenger from heaven, or, from beneath, +The lower part of Earth, where comes no pain, +Opening kindly to receive him in. +Not to be mourned, nor with a tearful end +Of sickness was he taken from the Earth, +But wondrously, beyond recorded fate. +If any deem my words unwise, I care not +In that man's judgement to be counted wise. + +CH. Where are those maidens and their escort? Say. + +MESS. They are not far off, but here. The voice of weeping +Betokens all too plainly their approach. + +ANT. Alas! +How manifold, the inheritance of woe +Drawn from the troubled fountain of our birth! +Indelible, ineradicable grief! +For him erewhile +We had labour infinite and unrelieved, +And now in his last hour we have to tell +Of sights and sorrows beyond thought. + +CH. How then? + +ANT. Friends, ye might understand. + +CH. Speak. Is he gone? + +ANT. Gone! Even as heart could wish, had wishes power. +How else, when neither war, nor the wide sea +Encountered him, but viewless realms enwrapt him, +Wafted away to some mysterious doom? +Whence on our hearts a horror of night is fallen. +Woe 's me! For whither wandering shall we find +Hard livelihood, by land or over sea? + +ISM. I know not. Let dark Hades take me off +To lie in death with mine age honoured sire! +Death were far better than my life to be. + +CH. Noblest of maidens, ye must learn to bear +Meekly the sending of the Gods. Be not +On fire with grief. Your state is well assured. + +ANT. If to be thus is well, then may one long +For evil to return. Things nowise dear +Were dear to me, whiles I had him to embrace. +O father! loved one! that art wearing now +The eternal robe of darkness underground, +Old as thou wert, think not this maid and I +Will cease from loving thee! + +CH. He met his doom. + +ANT. He met the doom he longed for. + +CH. How was that? + +ANT. In the strange land where he desired to die +He died. He rests in shadow undisturbed; +Nor hath he left a tearless funeral. +For these mine eyes, father, unceasingly +Mourn thee with weeping, nor can I subdue +This ever-mounting sorrow for thy loss. +Ah me! Would thou hadst not desired to die +Here among strangers, but alone with thee +There, in the desert, I had seen thee die! + +ISM. Unhappy me! What destiny, dear girl, +Awaits us both, bereaved and fatherless? + +CH. His end was fortunate. He rests in peace. +Dear maidens, then desist from your complaint. +Sorrow is swift to overtake us all. + +ANT. Thither again, dear girl, let us go speedily! + +ISM. Say, for what end? + +ANT. Desire possesses me-- + +ISM. Whereof? + +ANT. To see the darksome dwelling-place-- + +ISM. Of whom? + +ANT. Woe is me! Of him, our sire! + +ISM. But how +Can this be lawful? Seest thou not? + +ANT. How say'st thou? +Why this remonstrance? + +ISM. Seest thou not, again, +He hath no grave and no man buried him. + +ANT. Take me but where he lies. Then slay me there. + +ISM. Ah! woe is me, doubly unfortunate, +Forlorn and destitute, whither henceforth +For wretched comfort must we go? + +CH. Fear nought, +Dear maidens! + +ISM. Where shall we find refuge? + +CH. Here, +Long since, your refuge is secure. + +ANT. How so? + +CH. No harm shall touch you. + +ANT. I know that. + +CH. What then +Further engrosseth thee? + +ANT. How to get home +I know not. + +CH. Seek not for it. + +ANT. Weariness +O'erweighs me. + +CH. Hath it not before oppressed thee? + +ANT. Before, it vexed me; now it overwhelms. + +CH. A mighty sea of misery is your lot. + +ANT. Woe is me! O Zeus! And whither must we go? +Unto what doom doth my Fate drive me now? + +CH. Children, lament no longer. 'Tis not well +To mourn 'mongst those with whom the honoured dead +Hath left the heirloom of his benison. + +_Enter_ THESEUS. + +ANT. Theseus, behold us falling at thy feet. + +THE. What boon, my children, are ye bent to obtain? + +ANT. Our eyes would see our father's burial-place. + +THE. 'Tis not permitted to go near that spot. + +ANT. O Athens' sovereign lord, what hast thou said? + +THE. Dear children, 'twas your father's spoken will +That no man should approach his resting-place, +Nor human voice should ever violate +The mystery of the tomb wherein he lies. +He promised, if I truly kept this word, +My land would evermore be free from harm. +The power which no man may transgress and live, +The oath of Zeus, bore witness to our troth. + +ANT. His wishes are enough. Then, pray thee, send +An escort to convey us to our home, +Primeval Thebes, if so we may prevent +The death that menaces our brethren there. + +THE. That will I; and in all that I may do +To prosper you and solace him beneath,-- +Who even now passes to eternity,-- +I must not falter. Come, lament no more. +His destiny hath found a perfect end. + + * * * * * + + + + + NOTES + + + SOME PROPER NAMES + +AIDONEUS, Hades or Pluto. +ARES, The War-God, a destructive Power. +DEO, Demeter. +ERINYES, the Furies. +HELIOS, The Sun-God. +RHEA, the Mother of the Gods. +THEBE, the town of Thebes personified. + + + ANTIGONE. + +1 P. 6, l. 126. _The serpent._ The dragon, the emblem of Thebes. + +2 l. 130. _Idly caparisoned._ Reading [Greek: huperopliais]. + +3 P. 7, l. 140. _Self-harnessed helper._ An allusion to the [Greek: + seiraphoros], or side trace-horse, in a chariot-race. + +4 P. 13, l. 342. _Children of the steed._ Mules are so-called by + Homer. + +5 P. 30, l. 955. _Dryas' hasty son._ Lycurgus. See Homer, _Iliad_, vi. + +6 l. 971. _Phineus' two sons._ Idothea, the second wife of Phineus, + persecuted his two sons by Cleopatra, a daughter of Boreas, whom he + had repudiated and immured. The Argonauts saw them in the condition + here described. + +7 P. 34, l. 1120. _The all-gathering bosom wide._ The plain of + Eleusis, where mysteries were held in honour of Dêo or Demeter. + +8 P. 39, l. 1301. Reading [Greek: *oxuthêktô ... peri*xiphei]. + +9 l. 1303. _The glorious bed of buried Megareus._ Megareus, son of + Creon and Eurydice, sacrificed himself for Thebes by falling into a + deep cave called the Dragon's Lair. + + + AIAS. + +1 P. 48, l. 172. _Her blood-stained temple._ In some of her temples + Artemis was worshipped with sacrifices of bulls, and, according to + an old tradition, also with human sacrifices. + +2 P. 49. l. 190. _The brood of Sisyphus._ Amongst his enemies, + Odysseus was reputed to be the offspring of Sisyphus and not of + Laertes. + +3 P. 59, l. 574. _Named of the shield._ Eurysakes means Broadshield. + +4 P. 71, l. 1011. _Who smiles no more._ Compare a fragment of the + _Teucer_ of Sophocles (519, Nauck), + + 'How vain then, O my son, + How vain was my delight in thy proud fame, + While I supposed thee living! The fell Fury + From her dark shroud beguiled me with sweet lies.' + + + KING OEDIPUS. + +1 P. 86, l. 36. _That stern songstress._ The Sphinx. See also + 'minstrel hound.' + +2 P. 96, l. 402. _Will hunt | Pollution forth._ The party cry of + 'driving out the pollution' was raised against the Alcmaeonidae and + other families in Athens, who were supposed to lie under a + traditional curse. + +3 P. 99. l. 525. _Who durst declare it._ [Greek: Tou pros d' + ephanthê]. Though the emphatic order of words is unusual, this seems + more forcible than the var. [Greek: toupos d' ephanthe]. + +4 P. 102, l. 625. [CR. _You'll ne'er relent nor listen to my plea._] A + line has here been lost in the original. + +5 P. 113, l. 1025. _Your purchase or your child?_ Oedipus is not to be + supposed to have weighed the import of the Corinthian shepherd's + words, 'Nor I nor he,' &c., _supra_. + +6 P. 128. l. 1526. _His envied fortune mounted beaming._ Reading + [Greek: en zêlô politôn] (with 2 MSS) and [Greek: epiphlegôn] from + my conjecture. + + + ELECTRA. + +1 P. 131, l. 6. _The wolf-slaying God._ Apollo Lyceius, from _Lycos_, + a wolf. + +2 P. 140, l. 363. _Ne'er be it mine,_ &c. Reading [Greek: toume mê + *lupoun monon | boskêma]. + +3 P. 143, l. 451. _That lingers on my brow._ A somewhat forced + interpretation of [Greek: tênde liparê tricha]. Possibly [Greek: + tênd' alamprunton tricha]: 'And this--unkempt and poor--yet give it + to him.' + +4 P. 144, l. 504. _Chariot course of Pelops, full of toil._ Pelops won + his bride Hippodameia by bribing Myrtilus, his charioteer; whom, in + order to conceal his fault, he flung into the sea. + +5 P. 150, l. 722. _That pulled the side-rope._ See on Ant., p. 7, l. + 140. + +6 l. 151. _In letting loose again the left-hand rein._ The near + horse (see above) knows his business, and, when the slackening of + the rein shows that the goal is cleared, makes eagerly for the + direct downward course. But if he is let go an instant too soon, he + brings the car into contact with the stone. + +7 l. 746. _Caught in the reins._ In an ancient chariot-race, the + reins were often passed round the body of the charioteer, so as to + give more purchase. See this described in the _Hippolytus_ of + Euripides. + +8 P. 154, l. 837. _One in a woman's toils | was tangled._ Amphiaraus, + betrayed by Eriphyle for a necklace. + +9 P. 160, l. 1085. _Through homeless misery._ I read [Greek: aiôn' + aoikon] for [Greek: aiôna koinon] of the MSS. + +10 l. 1086. _Purging the sin and shame._ I read [Greek: kathagnisasa] + for the impossible [Greek: kathoplisasa]. + +11 P. 172, l. 1478. _Thou hast been taking,_ &c. Otherwise, reading + with the MSS [Greek: zôn tois thanousin ounek' antaudas isa], _At + point to die, thou art talking with the dead._ + + + TRACHINIAN MAIDENS. + +1 P. 180, l. 104. _Bride of battle-wooing._ 'Dêanira' signifies 'Cause + of strife to heroes.' + +2 P. 185, l. 303. _Ne'er may I see thee._ The Spartan captives from + Pylos had lately been at Athens, and some of them were reputed + descendants of Hyllus, the son of Dêanira. + +3 P. 195, l. 654. _Frees him for ever._ His last contest brings his + final deliverance. + +4 P. 201, l. 860. _From Love's dread minister,_ i.e. from Aphrodite, + working through the concealed and silent Iole. + + + PHILOCTETES. + +1 P. 222, l. 194. _Through Chrysa's cruel sting._ Chrysa was an island + near the Troad, sacred to a goddess of the name. Her precinct was + guarded by a serpent, whose bite, from which Philoctetes suffered, + was incurable. See below p. 254, l. 1327. + +2 P. 226, l. 344. _The fosterer of my sire._ Phoenix, the tutor of + Achilles. + +3 P. 227, l. 351. _For I ne'er | Had seen him._ The legend which makes + Achilles go to Troy from Scyros is probably ignored. + +4 l. 384. _Vile offset of an evil tree._ Alluding to the supposed + birth of Odysseus. See on Ai., l. 190, p. 60 [sic. should be p. 49]. + +5 P. 230, l. 489. _Of old Chalcodon._ One of the former generation, a + friend and neighbour of Poeas the father of Philoctetes. + +6 P. 237, l. 729. _Of him, whose home is in the skies._ Heracles, + imagined as transfigured on Mount Oeta. + +7 P. 254, l. 1328. _The sky-roofed fold._ The open precinct that was + sacred to the goddess, merely surrounded by a wall. See above, note + on p. 222, l. 194. + +8 P. 255, l. 1333. _Phoebus' child._ Asclepius. + + + OEDIPUS AT COLONOS. + +1 P. 265, l. 158. _Mingles with draughts,_ &c. Where libations are + mixed of water and honey. + +2 P. 288, l. 888. _The God._ Poseidon. See above, p. 282 [sic. should + be p. 262], l. 55. + +3 P. 306, l. 1525. _neighbouring._ [Greek: geitonôn] (the participle). + +4 l. 1534. _The dragon-brood._ The Cadmeian race at Thebes, sprung + from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus. + + +N.B.--For other questionable points the student is referred to the +small edition of _Sophocles_, by Campbell and Abbott (2 vols., +Clarendon Press, 1900). + + +Oxford: HORACE HART, Printer to the University. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Seven Plays in English Verse, by Sophocles + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN PLAYS IN ENGLISH VERSE *** + +***** This file should be named 14484-8.txt or 14484-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/4/8/14484/ + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Fred Robinson and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Seven Plays in English Verse + +Author: Sophocles + +Release Date: December 27, 2004 [EBook #14484] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN PLAYS IN ENGLISH VERSE *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Fred Robinson and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>SOPHOCLES</h1> + +<h2>THE<br /> +SEVEN PLAYS IN ENGLISH VERSE</h2> + +<div class="ctr">BY</div> +<h2 style="margin-top:0em;">LEWIS CAMPBELL, M.A.</h2> + +<div class="ctr">HON. LL.D., HON. D.LITT.<br /> +EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS<br /> +HON. FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD<br /><br /> + +<img class="plain" src="images/illus1.png" alt="The World's Classics" +title="The World’s Classics" /> + +<br /><br />NEW EDITION, REVISED</div> + +<h3>HENRY FROWDE<br /> +OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS<br /> +LONDON, NEW YORK AND TORONTO</h3> + + + +<hr /> +<div class="ctr"><table summary="Dates of Sophocles"> +<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align:center;">SOPHOCLES</td></tr> +<tr><td style="width:12em">Born at Colonos</td><td>probably 495 B.C.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Died</td><td>406 B.C.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="ctr"><br /><i>The present translation was first published in ‘The +World’s Classics’ in 1906.</i></div> + + +<hr /> +<h3 style="font-family:'Fraktur BT',serif; margin-bottom: 0;" + title="They cannot hear what I now bring, belated," >Sie +hören nicht die folgenden Gesänge,</h3> +<h3 style="font-family:'Fraktur BT',serif; margin-top: 0;" + title="Who listened to the early tunes I made.">Die +Seelen, denen ich die ersten sang.</h3> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<ul class="TOC" style="margin-left: 5em;"> +<li><a href="#pg_xi">PREFACE</a></li> +<li><a href="#pg_xiii">PREFATORY NOTE TO THE EDITION OF 1883</a></li> +<li> </li> +<li><a href="#pg001">ANTIGONE</a></li> +<li><a href="#pg041">AIAS</a></li> +<li><a href="#pg083">KING OEDIPUS</a></li> +<li><a href="#pg129">ELECTRA</a></li> +<li><a href="#pg175">THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS</a></li> +<li><a href="#pg215">PHILOCTETES</a></li> +<li><a href="#pg259">OEDIPUS AT COLONOS</a></li> +<li><a href="#pg313">NOTES</a></li> +</ul> +<hr class="major" /> + + + +<div><span class="page2" id="pg_xi">[page xi]</span></div> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>In 1869, having read the Antigone with a pupil who +at the time had a passion for the stage, I was led to +attempt a metrical version of the <i>Antigone</i>, and, by and +by, of the Electra and Trachiniae.<a href="#Pref1_fn_1" class="fnref">[1]</a> I had the satisfaction +of seeing this last very beautifully produced by an +amateur company in Scotland in 1877; when Mrs. +Fleeming Jenkin may be said to have ‘created’ the +part of Dêanira. Thus encouraged, I completed the +translation of the seven plays, which was published by +Kegan Paul in 1883 and again by Murray in 1896. I +have now to thank Mr. Murray for consenting to this +cheaper issue.</p> + +<p>The seven extant plays of Sophocles have been +variously arranged. In the order most frequently +adopted by English editors, the three plays of the +Theban cycle, Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus Coloneus, +and Antigone, have been placed foremost.</p> + +<p>In one respect this is obviously convenient, as appearing +to present continuously a connected story. +But on a closer view, it is in two ways illusory.</p> + +<p>1. The Antigone is generally admitted to be, comparatively +speaking, an early play, while the Oedipus +Coloneus belongs to the dramatist’s latest manner; +the first Oedipus coming in somewhere between the +two. The effect is therefore analogous to that produced +on readers of Shakespeare by the habit of placing +Henry VI after Henry IV and V. But tragedies and +‘histories’ or chronicle plays are not <i>in pari materia</i>.</p> + +<p>2. The error has been aggravated by a loose way of +speaking of ‘the Theban Trilogy’, a term which could +only be properly applicable if the three dramas had been +produced in the same year. I have therefore now +<span class="page2">[page xii]</span> +arranged the seven plays in an order corresponding to +the most probable dates of their production, viz. Antigone, +Aias, King Oedipus, Electra, Trachiniae, Philoctetes, +and Oedipus at Colonos. A credible tradition +refers the Antigone to 445 B.C. The Aias appears to +be not much later—it may even be earlier—than the +Antigone. The Philoctetes was produced in 408 B.C., +when the poet was considerably over eighty. The +Oedipus at Colonos has always been believed to be a +composition of Sophocles’ old age. It is said to have +been produced after his death, though it may have +been composed some years earlier. The tragedy of +King Oedipus, in which the poet’s art attained its +maturity, is plausibly assigned to an early year of the +Peloponnesian war (say 427 B.C.), the Trachiniae to +about 420 B.C. The time of the Electra is doubtful; +but Professor Jebb has shown that, on metrical grounds, +it should be placed after, rather than before, King +Oedipus. Even the English reader, taking the plays +as they are grouped in this volume, may be aware of +a gradual change of manner, not unlike what is perceptible +in passing from Richard II to Macbeth, and from +Macbeth to The Winter’s Tale or Cymbeline. For +although the supposed date of the Antigone was long +subsequent to the poet’s first tragic victory, the forty +years over which the seven plays are spread saw many +changes of taste in art and literature.</p> + +<p class="left">Footnote</p> + +<ol> +<li id="Pref1_fn_1"><i>Three Plays of Sophocles:</i> Blackwood, 1873.</li> +</ol> + +<hr class="major" /> + + + + +<div><span class="page2" id="pg_xiii">[page xiii]</span></div> +<h2>PREFATORY NOTE TO THE EDITION OF 1883</h2> + + +<p>I. The Hellenic spirit has been repeatedly characterized +as simple Nature-worship. Even the Higher +Paganism has been described as ‘in other words the +purified worship of natural forms.’<a href="#Pref2_fn_1" class="fnref">[1]</a> One might suppose, +in reading some modern writers, that the Nymphs +and Fauns, the River-Gods and Pan, were at least as +prominent in all Greek poetry as Zeus, Apollo, and +Athena, or that Apollo was only the sweet singer and +not also the prophet of retribution.</p> + +<p>The fresh and unimpaired enjoyment of the Beautiful +is certainly the aspect of ancient life and literature +which most attracted the humanists of the sixteenth +century, and still most impresses those amongst ourselves +who for various reasons desire to point the contrast +between Paganism and Judaism. The two great +groups of forces vaguely known as the Renaissance and +the Revolution have both contributed to this result. +Men who were weary of conventionality and of the +weight of custom ‘heavy as frost and deep almost as +life,’ have longed for the vision of ‘Oread or Dryad +glancing through the shade,’ or to ‘hear old Triton +blow his wreathèd horn.’ Meanwhile, that in which the +Greeks most resembled us, ‘the human heart by which +we live,’ for the very reason that it lies so near to us, +is too apt to be lost from our conception of them. +Another cause of this one-sided view is the illusion produced +by the contemplation of statuary, together with +the unapproachable perfection of form which every relic +of Greek antiquity indisputably possesses.</p> + +<p><span class="page2">[page xiv]</span> +But on turning from the forms of Greek art to the +substance of Greek literature, we find that Beauty, +although everywhere an important element, is by no +means the sole or even the chief attribute of the greatest +writings, nor is the Hellenic consciousness confined +within the life of Nature, unless this term is allowed to +comprehend man with all his thoughts and aspirations. +It was in this latter sense that Hegel recognized the +union of depth with brightness in Greek culture: ‘If +the first paradise was the paradise of nature, this is the +second, the higher paradise of the human spirit, which +in its fair naturalness, freedom, depth and brightness +here comes forth like a bride out of her chamber. The +first wild majesty of the rise of spiritual life in the East +is here circumscribed by the dignity of form, and softened +into beauty. Its depth shows itself no longer in confusion, +obscurity, and inflation, but lies open before us +in simple clearness. Its brightness (Heiterkeit) is not +a childish play, but covers a sadness which knows the +baldness of fate but is not by that knowledge driven out +of freedom and measure.’ Hegel’s Werke, vol. XVI. +p. 139 (translated by Prof. Caird). The simplicity of +Herodotus, for example, does not exclude far reaching +thoughts on the political advantages of liberty, nor such +reflections on experience as are implied in the saying +of Artabanus, that the transitoriness of human life is +the least of its evils. And in what modern writing is +more of the wisdom of life condensed than in the History +of Thucydides? It is surely more true to say of Greek +literature that it contains types of all things human, +stamped with the freshness, simplicity, and directness +which belong to first impressions, and to the first impressions +of genius.</p> + +<p>Now the ‘thoughts and aspirations,’ which are nowhere +absent from Greek literature, and make a centre +of growing warmth and light in its Periclean period—when +the conception of human nature for the first time +takes definite shape—have no less of Religion in them +than underlay the ‘creed outworn’. To think otherwise +would be an error of the same kind as that ‘abuse +<span class="page2">[page xv]</span> +of the word Atheism’ against which the author of the +work above alluded to protests so forcibly.</p> + +<p>Religion, in the sense here indicated, is the mainspring +and vital principle of Tragedy. The efforts of +Aeschylus and Sophocles were sustained by it, and its +inevitable decay through the scepticism which preceded +Socrates was the chief hindrance to the tragic genius of +Euripides. Yet the inequality of which we have consequently +to complain in him is redeemed by pregnant +hints of something yet ‘more deeply interfused,’ which +in him, as in his two great predecessors, is sometimes +felt as ‘modern,’ because it is not of an age but for all +time. The most valuable part of every literature is +something which transcends the period and nation out +of which it springs.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, much that at first sight seems +primitive in Greek tragedy belongs more to the subject +than to the mode of handling. The age of Pericles was +in advance of that in which the legends were first +Hellenized and humanized, just as this must have been +already far removed from the earliest stages of mythopoeic +imagination. The reader of Aeschylus or Sophocles +should therefore be warned against attributing to +the poet’s invention that which is given in the fable.</p> + +<p>An educated student of Italian painting knows how +to discriminate—say in an Assumption by Botticelli—between +the traditional conventions, the contemporary +ideas, and the refinements of the artist’s own fancy. +The same indulgence must be extended to dramatic art. +The tragedy of King Lear is not rude or primitive, +although the subject belongs to prehistoric times in +Britain. Nor is Goethe’s Faust mediaeval in spirit as +in theme. So neither is the Oedipus Rex the product +of ‘lawless and uncertain thoughts,’ notwithstanding +the unspeakable horror of the story, but is penetrated +by the most profound estimate of all in human life that +is saddest, and all that is most precious.</p> + +<p>Far from being naive naturalists after the Keats +<span class="page2">[page xvi]</span> +fashion, the Greek tragic poets had succeeded to a +pessimistic reaction from simple Pagan enjoyment; they +were surrounded with gloomy questionings about human +destiny and Divine Justice, and they replied by looking +steadily at the facts of life and asserting the supreme +worth of innocence, equity, and mercy.</p> + +<p>They were not philosophers, for they spoke the language +of feeling; but the civilization of which they +were the strongest outcome was already tinged with +influences derived from early philosophy—especially +from the gnomic wisdom of the sixth century and from +the spirit of theosophic speculation, which in Aeschylus +goes far even to recast mythology. The latter influence +was probably reinforced, through channels no longer +traceable, by the Eleusinian worship, in which the +mystery of life and death and of human sorrow had +replaced the primitive wonder at the phenomena of the +year.</p> + +<p>And whatever elements of philosophic theory or +mystic exaltation the drama may have reflected, it was +still more emphatically the repository of some of the +most precious traditions of civilized humanity—traditions +which philosophy has sometimes tended to extenuate, +if not to destroy.</p> + +<p>Plato’s Gorgias contains one of the most eloquent +vindications of the transcendent value of righteousness +and faithfulness as such. But when we ask, ‘Righteousness +in what relation?’—‘Faithfulness to whom?’—the +Gorgias is silent; and when the vacant outline is +filled up in the Republic, we are presented with an ideal +of man’s social relations, which, although it may be +regarded as the ultimate development of existing tendencies, +yet has no immediate bearing on any actual +condition of the world.</p> + +<p>The ideal of the tragic poet may be less perfect; or +rather he does not attempt to set before us abstractedly +any single ideal. But the grand types of character +which he presents to the world are not merely imaginary. +They are creatures of flesh and blood, men and women, +to whom the unsullied purity of their homes, the freedom +<span class="page2">[page xvii]</span> +and power of their country, the respect and love +of their fellow-citizens, are inestimably dear. From a +Platonic, and still more from a Christian point of view, +the best morality of the age of Pericles is no doubt +defective. Such counsels of perfection as ‘Love your +enemies’, or ‘A good man can harm no one, not even +an enemy’,—are beyond the horizon of tragedy, unless +dimly seen in the person of Antigone. The coexistence +of savage vindictiveness with the most affectionate tenderness +is characteristic of heroes and heroines alike, and +produces some of the most moving contrasts. But the +tenderness is no less deep and real for this, and while +the chief persons are thus passionate, the Greek lesson +of moderation and reasonableness is taught by the +event, whether expressed or not by the mouth of sage +or prophet or of the ‘ideal bystander’.</p> + +<p>Greek tragedy, then, is a religious art, not merely +because associated with the festival of Dionysus, nor +because the life which it represented was that of men +who believed, with all the Hellenes, in Zeus, Apollo, +and Athena, or in the power of Moira and the Erinyes,—not +merely because it represented</p> + +<div class="poem"><span class="i3">‘the dread strife<br /></span> +<span>Of poor humanity’s afflicted will<br /></span> +<span>Struggling in vain with ruthless destiny,’<br /></span></div> + +<p>but much more because it awakened in the Athenian +spectator emotions of wonder concerning human life, +and of admiration for nobleness in the unfortunate—a +sense of the infinite value of personal uprightness and +of domestic purity—which in the most universal sense +of the word were truly religious,—because it expressed +a consciousness of depths which Plato never fathomed, +and an ideal of character which, if less complete than +Shakespeare’s, is not less noble. It is indeed a ‘rough’ +generalization that ranks the Agamemnon with the +Adoniazusae as a religious composition.</p> + +<p>II. This spiritual side of tragic poetry deserves to be +emphasized both as the most essential aspect of it, and +as giving it the most permanent claim to lasting recognition. +<span class="page2">[page xviii]</span> +And yet, apart from this, merely as dramas, +the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides will +never cease to be admired. These poets are teachers, +but they teach through art. To ask simply, as Carlyle +once did, ‘What did they think?’ is not the way to +understand or learn from them.</p> + +<p>Considered simply as works of art, the plays of +Sophocles stand alone amongst dramatic writings in +their degree of concentration and complex unity.</p> + +<p>1. The interest of a Sophoclean drama is always intensely +personal, and is almost always centred in an +individual destiny. In other words, it is not historical +or mythical, but ethical. Single persons stand out +magnificently in Aeschylus. But the action is always +larger than any single life. Each tragedy or trilogy +resembles the fragment of a sublime Epic poem. Mighty +issues revolve about the scene, whether this is laid on +Earth or amongst the Gods, issues far transcending +the fate of Orestes or even of Prometheus. In the perspective +painting of Sophocles, these vast surroundings +fall into the background, and the feelings of the spectator +are absorbed in sympathy with the chief figure +on the stage, round whom the other characters—the +members of the chorus being included—are grouped +with the minutest care.</p> + +<p>2. In this grouping of the persons, as well as in the +conduct of the action, Sophocles is masterly in his use +of pathetic contrast. This motive must of course enter +into all tragedy—nothing can be finer than the contrast +of Cassandra to Clytemnestra in the Agamemnon,—but +in Sophocles it is all-pervading, and some of the minor +effects of it are so subtle that although inevitably felt +by the spectator they are often lost upon the mere +reader or student. And every touch, however transient, +is made to contribute to the main effect.</p> + +<p>To recur once more to the much-abused analogy of +statuary:—the work of Aeschylus may be compared to +a colossal frieze, while that of Sophocles resembles the +pediment of a smaller temple. Or if, as in considering +the Orestean trilogy, the arrangement of the pediment +<span class="page2">[page xix]</span> +affords the more fitting parallel even for Aeschylus, yet +the forms are so gigantic that minute touches of characterization +and of contrast are omitted as superfluous. +Whereas in Sophocles, it is at once the finish of the chief +figure and the studied harmony of the whole, which +have led his work to be compared with that of his +contemporary Phidias. Such comparison, however, is +useful by way of illustration merely. It must never be +forgotten that, as Lessing pointed out to some who +thought the Philoctetes too sensational, analogies between +the arts are limited by essential differences of +material and of scope. All poetry represents successive +moments. Its figures are never in repose. And although +the action of Tragedy is concentrated and revolves +around a single point, yet it is a dull vision that confounds +rapidity of motion with rest.</p> + +<p>3. Sophocles found the subjects of his dramas already +embodied not only in previous tragedies but in Epic and +Lyric poetry. And there were some fables, such as that +of the death of Oedipus at Colonos, which seem to have +been known to him only through oral tradition. For +some reason which is not clearly apparent, both he and +Aeschylus drew more largely from the Cyclic poets than +from ‘our Homer’. The inferior and more recent Epics, +which are now lost, were probably more episodical, and +thus presented a more inviting repertory of legends than +the Iliad and Odyssey.</p> + +<p>Arctinus of Lesbos had treated at great length the +story of the House of Thebes. The legend of Orestes, +to which there are several allusions, not always consistent +with each other, in the Homeric poems, had been +a favourite and fruitful subject of tradition and of +poetical treatment in the intervening period. Passages +of the Tale of Troy, in which other heroes than Achilles +had the pre-eminence, had been elaborated by Lesches +and other Epic writers of the Post-Homeric time. The +voyage of the Argonauts, another favourite heroic +theme, supplied the subjects of many dramas which +have disappeared. Lastly, the taking of Oechalia by +<span class="page2">[page xx]</span> +Heracles, and the events which followed it, had been +narrated in a long poem, in which one version of that +hero’s multiform legend was fully set forth.</p> + +<p>The subjects of the King Oedipus, Oedipus at +Colonos, and Antigone, are taken from the Tale of +Thebes, the Aias and the Philoctetes are founded on +incidents between the end of the Iliad and the taking +of Troy, the Electra represents the vengeance of +Orestes, the crowning event in the tale of ‘Pelops’ +line’, the Trachiniae recounts the last crisis in the life +of Heracles.</p> + +<p>4. Of the three Theban plays, the Antigone was first +composed, although its subject is the latest. Aeschylus +in the Seven against Thebes had already represented +the young heroine as defying the victorious citizens who +forbade the burial of her brother, the rebel Polynices. +He allowed her to be supported in her action by a band +of sympathizing friends. But in the play of Sophocles +she stands alone, and the power which she defies is not +that of the citizens generally, but of Creon, whose will +is absolute in the State. Thus the struggle is intensified, +and both her strength and her desolation become more +impressive, while the opposing claims of civic authority +and domestic piety are more vividly realized, because +either is separately embodied in an individual will. By +the same means the situation is humanized to the last +degree, and the heart of the spectator, although strained +to the uttermost with pity for the heroic maiden whose +life when full of brightest hopes was sacrificed to affection +and piety, has still some feeling left for the living +desolation of the man, whose patriotic zeal, degenerating +into tyranny, brought his city to the brink of ruin, +and cost him the lives of his two sons and of his wife, +whose dying curse, as well as that of Haemon, is denounced +upon him.</p> + +<p>In the Oedipus Tyrannus, Sophocles goes back to the +central crisis of the Theban story. And again he fixes +our attention, not so much on the fortunes of the city, +or of the reigning house, as on the man Oedipus, his +glory and his fall.—</p> + +<p><span class="page2">[page xxi]</span></p> +<div class="poem"><span>‘O mirror of our fickle state<br /></span> +<span>Since man on earth unparalleled!<br /></span> +<span>The rarer thy example stands,<br /></span> +<span>By how much from the top of wondrous glory,<br /></span> +<span>Strongest of mortal men,<br /></span> +<span>To lowest pitch of abject fortune thou art fallen<a href="#Pref2_fn_2" class="fnref">[2]</a>.<br /></span></div> + +<p>The horror and the pity of it are both enhanced by +the character of Oedipus—his essential innocence, his +affectionateness, his uncalculating benevolence and +public spirit;—while his impetuosity and passionateness +make the sequel less incredible.</p> + +<p>The essential innocence of Oedipus, which survives +the ruin of his hopes in this world, supplies the chief +motive of the Oedipus at Colonos. This drama, which +Sophocles is said to have written late in life, is in many +ways contrasted with the former Oedipus. It begins +with pity and horror, and ends with peace. It is only +in part founded on Epic tradition, the main incident +belonging apparently to the local mythology of the +poet’s birthplace. It also implies a later stage of ethical +reflection, and in this respect resembles the Philoctetes; +it depends more on lyrical and melodramatic effects, +and allows more room for collateral and subsidiary +motives than any other of the seven. Yet in its principal +theme, the vindication or redemption of an essentially +noble spirit from the consequences of error, it +repeats a note which had been struck much earlier in the +Aias with great force, although with some crudities of +treatment which are absent from the later drama.</p> + +<p>5. In one of the Epic poems which narrated the fall of +Troy, the figure of Aias was more prominent than in the +Iliad. He alone and unassisted was there said to have +repulsed Hector from the ships, and he had the chief +share, although in this he was aided by Odysseus, in +rescuing the dead body of Achilles. Yet Achilles’ +arms were awarded by the votes of the chieftains, as the +prize of valour, not to Aias, but to Odysseus. This, no +doubt, meant that wisdom is better than strength. But +<span class="page2">[page xxii]</span> +the wisdom of Odysseus in these later Epics was often +less nobly esteemed than in the Iliad and Odyssey, and +was represented as alloyed with cunning.</p> + +<p>Aias has withdrawn with his Salaminians, in a rage, +from the fight, and after long brooding by the ships his +wrath has broken forth into a blaze which would have +endangered the lives of Odysseus and the Atridae, had +not Athena in her care for them changed his anger into +madness. Hence, instead of slaying the generals, he +makes havoc amongst the flocks and herds, which as +the result of various forays were the common property +of the whole army. The truth is discovered by Odysseus +with the help of Athena, and from being next to +Achilles in renown, Aias becomes the object of universal +scorn and hatred. The sequel of this hour of his downfall +is the subject of the Aias of Sophocles. After +lamenting his fate, the hero eludes the vigilance of his +captive bride Tecmessa, and of his Salaminian mariners, +and, in complete solitude, falls upon his sword. He is +found by Tecmessa and by his half-brother Teucer, who +has returned too late from a raid in the Mysian highlands. +The Atridae would prohibit Aias’ funeral; but Odysseus, +who has been specially enlightened by Athena, +advises generous forbearance, and his counsel prevails. +The part representing the disgrace and death of Aias is +more affecting to modern readers than the remainder of +the drama. But we should bear in mind that the vindication +of Aias after death, and his burial with undiminished +honours, had an absorbing interest for the +Athenian and Salaminian spectator.</p> + +<p>Philoctetes also is rejected by man and accepted by +Destiny. The Argives in his case, as the Thebans in +the case of Oedipus, are blind to the real intentions of +the Gods.</p> + +<p>The Philoctetes, like the Oedipus at Colonos, was a +work of Sophocles’ old age; and while it can hardly be +said that the fire of tragic feeling is abated in either of +these plays, dramatic effect is modified in both of them +by the influence of the poet’s contemplative mood. The +interest of the action in the Philoctetes is more inward +<span class="page2">[page xxiii]</span> +and psychological than in any other ancient drama. +The change of mind in Neoptolemus, the stubborn fixity +of will in Philoctetes, contrasted with the confiding +tenderness of his nature, form the elements of a dramatic +movement at once extremely simple and wonderfully +sustained. No purer ideal of virtuous youth has +been imagined than the son of Achilles, who in this play, +though sorely tempted, sets faithfulness before ambition.</p> + +<p>6. In the Electra, which, though much earlier than the +Philoctetes, is still a work of his mature genius, our poet +appears at first sight to be in unequal competition with +Aeschylus. If the Theban trilogy of the elder poet had +remained entire, a similar impression might have been +produced by the Oedipus Tyrannus. It is best to lay +such comparisons aside, and to consider the work of +Sophocles simply on its own merits. The subject, as +he has chosen to treat it, is the heroic endurance of a +woman who devotes her life to the vindication of intolerable +wrongs done to her father, and the restoration +of her young brother to his hereditary rights. Hers is +the human agency which for this purpose works together +with Apollo. But the divine intention is concealed +from her. She suffers countless indignities from +her father’s enemies, of whom her own mother is the +chief. And, at length, all her hopes are shattered by +the false tidings that Orestes is no more. Even then +she does not relinquish her resolve. And the revulsion +from her deep sorrow to extremity of joy, when she finds +Orestes at her side and ready to perform the act of +vengeance in his own person, is irresistably affecting, +even when the play is only read.</p> + +<p>Sophocles is especially great in the delineation of ideal +female characters. The heroic ardour of Antigone, and +the no less heroic persistence and endurance of Electra, +are both founded on the strength of their affection. +And the affection in both cases is what some moderns +too have called the purest of human feelings, the love of +a sister for a brother. Another aspect of that world-old +marvel, ‘the love of women,’ was presented in Aias’ +captive bride, Tecmessa. This softer type also attains +<span class="page2">[page xxiv]</span> +to heroic grandeur in Dêanira, the wronged wife of +Heracles, whose fatal error is caused by the innocent +working of her wounded love.</p> + +<p>It is strange that so acute a critic as A.W. Schlegel +should have doubted the Sophoclean authorship of the +Trachiniae. If its religious and moral lessons are even +less obtrusive than those of either Oedipus and of the +Antigone, there is no play which more directly pierces +to the very heart of humanity. And it is a superficial +judgement which complains that here at all events our +sympathies are distracted between the two chief persons, +Dêanira and Heracles. To one passion of his, to one +fond mistake of hers, the ruin of them both is due. Her +love has made their fates inseparable. And the spectator, +in sharing Hyllus’ grief, is afflicted for them both +at once. We may well recognize in this treatment of +the death of Heracles the hand of him who wrote—</p> + +<div class="poem" style="font-style: italic; font-size: larger;"> +<span class="i4" title="su kai dikaiôn adikous" style=" text-decoration: underline"> +συ +και +δικαιων +αδικουσ</span><br /> +<span title="phrenas paraspas epi lôba," style=" text-decoration: underline"> +φρενας +παρασπας +επι +λωβα,</span><br /> +..., ... <br /> +<span title="amachos gar empaizei theos Aphrodita" style=" text-decoration: underline"> +αμαχος +γαρ +εμπαιζει +θεος +’Αφροδιτα<a href="#Pref2_fn_3" class="fnref">[3]</a>.</span><br /></div> + +<p>7. It is unnecessary to expatiate here on the merits +of construction in which these seven plays are generally +acknowledged to be unrivalled; the natural way in +which the main situation is explained, the suddenness +and inevitableness of the complications, the steadily +sustained climax of emotion until the action culminates, +the preservation of the fitting mood until the end, the +subtlety and effectiveness of the minor contrasts of +situation and character<a href="#Pref2_fn_4" class="fnref">[4]</a>.</p> + +<p>But it may not be irrelevant to observe that the +‘acting qualities’ of Sophocles, as of Shakespeare, are +<span class="page2">[page xxv]</span> +best known to those who have seen him acted, whether +in Greek, as by the students at Harvard<a href="#Pref2_fn_5" class="fnref">[5]</a> and Toronto<a href="#Pref2_fn_6" class="fnref">[6]</a>, +and more recently at Cambridge<a href="#Pref2_fn_7" class="fnref">[7]</a>, or in English long +ago by Miss Helen Faucit (since Lady Martin<a href="#Pref2_fn_8" class="fnref">[8]</a>), or still +earlier and repeatedly in Germany, or in the French +version of the Antigone by MM. Maurice and Vacquerie +(1845) or of King Oedipus by M. Lacroix, in +which the part of Œdipe Roi was finely sustained by +M. Geoffroy in 1861, and by M. Mounet Sully in 1881<a href="#Pref2_fn_9" class="fnref">[9]</a>. +With reference to the latter performance, which was +continued throughout the autumn season, M. Francisque +Sarcey wrote an article for the <i>Temps</i> newspaper of +August 15, 1881, which is full of just and vivid appreciation. +At the risk of seeming absurdly ‘modern’, +I will quote from this article some of the more striking +passages.</p> + +<blockquote><p>‘Ce troisième et ce quatrième actes, les plus émouvants +qui se soient jamais produits sur aucune scène, +se composent d’une suite de narrations, qui viennent +l’une après l’autre frapper au cœur d’Œdipe, et qui ont +leur contrecoup dans l’âme des spectateurs. Je ne sais +qu’une pièce au monde qui soit construite de la sorte, +c’est l’<i>École des Femmes</i>. Ce rapprochement vous paraîtra +<span class="page2">[page xxvi]</span> +singulier, sans doute.... Mais ... c’est dans +le vieux drame grec comme dans la comédie du maître +français une trouvaille de génie....</p> + +<p>‘Sophocle a voulu, après des émotions si terribles, +après des angoisses si sèches, ouvrir la source des larmes: +il a écrit un cinquième acte....</p> + +<p>‘Les yeux crevés d’Œdipe ne sont qu’un accident, ou, +si vous aimez mieux, un accessoire, Le poète, sans +s’arrêter à ce détail, a mis sur les lèvres de son héros +toute la gamme des sentiments douloureux qu’excite +une si prodigieuse infortune....</p> + +<p>‘À la lecture, elle est un pen longue cette scène de +lamentations. Au théâtre, on n’a pas le temps de la +trouver telle: on pleure de toute son âme et de tous ses +yeux. C’est qu’après avoir eu le cœur si longtemps +serré comme dans un étau, on épreuve comme un soulagement +à sentir en soi jaillir la source des larmes. +Sophocle, qui semble avoir été le plus malin des dramaturges, +comme il est le plus parfait des écrivains dramatiques, +a cherché là un effet de contraste dont l’effet est +immanquant sur le public.’</p></blockquote> + +<p>These and other like remarks of one of the best-known +critics of the Parisian stage show that the dramatic art +of Sophocles is still a living power.</p> + +<p>I am well aware how feeble and inadequate the present +attempted reproduction must appear to any reader who +knows the Greek original. There is much to be said for +the view of an eminent scholar who once declared that +he would never think of translating a Greek poet. But +the end of translating is not to satisfy fastidious +scholars, but to make the classics partially accessible to +those whose acquaintance with them would otherwise +be still more defective. Part of this version of Sophocles +was printed several years ago in an imperfect form. +The present volume contains the seven extant plays +entire. As the object has been to give the effect of +each drama as a whole, rather than to dwell on particular +‘beauties’ (which only a poet can render), the fragments +have not been included. But the reader should +<span class="page2">[page xxvii]</span> +bear in mind that the seven plays are less than a tithe +of the work produced by the poet in his lifetime.</p> + +<p>It may very possibly be asked why verse has been +employed at all. Why not have listened to Carlyle’s +rough demand, ‘Tell us what they thought; none of +your silly poetry’? The present translator can only +reply that he began with prose, but soon found that, for +tragic dialogue in English, blank verse appeared a more +natural and effective vehicle than any prose style which +he could hope to frame. And with the dialogue in +verse, it was impossible to have the lyric parts in any +sort of prose, simply because the reader would then have +felt an intolerable incongruity. These parts have therefore +been turned into such familiar lyric measures as +seemed at once possible and not unsuitable. And +where this method was found impracticable, as sometimes +in the <i>Commoi</i>, blank metres have again been +used,—with such liberties as seemed appropriate to the +special purpose. The writer’s hope throughout has +been, not indeed fully to transfuse the poetry of Sophocles +into another tongue, but to make the poet’s dramatic +intention to be understood and felt by English +readers. One more such endeavour may possibly find +acceptance at a time when many causes have combined +to awaken a fresh interest at once in dramatic literature +and in Hellenic studies.</p> + +<p>The reader who is hitherto unacquainted with the +Greek drama, should be warned that the parts assigned +to the ‘Chorus’ were often distributed among its +several members, who spoke or chanted, singly or in +groups, alternately or in succession. In some cases, +but not in all, <i>Ch. 1</i>, <i>Ch. 2</i>, &c., have been prefixed, to +indicate such an arrangement.</p> + +<p class="left">Footnotes</p> + +<ol> +<li id="Pref2_fn_1">[Sir John Seeley’s] <i>Natural Religion</i>, p. 79.</li> + +<li id="Pref2_fn_2">Milton, <i>Samson Agonistes</i>, 164-169.</li> + +<li id="Pref2_fn_3"><div class="poem"><span class="i3">‘Thou drawest awry<br /></span> +<span>Just minds to wrong and ruin ...<br /></span> +<span>... With resistless charm<br /></span> +<span>Great Aphrodite mocks the might of men.’<br /></span> +<span style="margin-left:50%"><i>Antigone.</i></span></div></li> + +<li id="Pref2_fn_4">Cf. <i>Sophocles</i> in Green’s ‘Classical Writers.’ Macmillan +& Co.</li> + +<li id="Pref2_fn_5">Oed. Tyr., 1881.</li> + +<li id="Pref2_fn_6">Antigone, 1882.</li> + +<li id="Pref2_fn_7">Ajax, Nov. 1882.</li> + +<li id="Pref2_fn_8">Antigone, 1845.</li> + +<li id="Pref2_fn_9">The performance of Greek plays (as of the Agamemnon +at Oxford in 1880) is not altogether a new thing in England. +The author of Ion, Mr. Serjeant Talfourd, in his Notice +prefixed to that drama in 1836, mentions, amongst other +reasons for having intended to dedicate it to Dr. Valpy, +‘the exquisite representations of Greek Tragedy, which he +superintended,’ and which ‘made his images vital.’ At +a still earlier time, ‘the great Dr. Parr’ had encouraged +his pupils at Stanmore to recite the dialogue of Greek +tragedies before an audience and in costume. It would +be ungrateful to omit all reference here to some performances +of the Trachiniae in English in Edinburgh and +St. Andrews in 1877, which, though not of a public nature, +are still remembered with delight by those who were +present at them, and were really the first of a series.</li> +</ol> + +<hr class="major" /> + + + +<div><span class="page2" id="pg001">[page 1]</span></div> +<h2>ANTIGONE</h2> + + +<h3>THE PERSONS</h3> + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li><table summary=""> +<tr> +<td>ANTIGONE,</td><td>} </td> +<td rowspan="2"><i>Daughters of Oedipus and Sisters of Polynices and Eteocles.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>ISMENE,</td><td>} </td></tr></table></li> +<li>CHORUS <i>of Theban Elders.</i></li> +<li>CREON, <i>King of Thebes.</i></li> +<li><i>A Watchman.</i></li> +<li>HAEMON, <i>Son of Creon, betrothed to Antigone.</i></li> +<li>TIRESIAS, <i>the blind Prophet.</i></li> +<li><i>A Messenger.</i></li> +<li>EURYDICE, <i>the Wife of Creon.</i></li> +<li><i>Another Messenger.</i></li> +</ul> + +<p class="lftbrk">SCENE. Before the Cadmean Palace at Thebes.</p> + +<p class="left"><i>Note.</i> The town of Thebes is often personified as Thebè.</p> + + + + +<p class="break"><span class="page2">[page 2]</span> +Polynices, son and heir to the unfortunate Oedipus, +having been supplanted by his younger brother Eteocles, +brought an army of Argives against his native city, Thebes. +The army was defeated, and the two brothers slew each +other in single combat. On this Creon, the brother-in-law +of Oedipus, succeeding to the chief power, forbade the +burial of Polynices. But Antigone, sister of the dead, +placing the dues of affection and piety before her obligation +to the magistrate, disobeyed the edict at the sacrifice of her +life. Creon carried out his will, but lost his son Haemon and +his wife Eurydice, and received their curses on his head. +His other son, Megareus, had previously been devoted as +a victim to the good of the state.</p> + + + +<p><span class="page2">[page 3]</span></p> +<h3>ANTIGONE</h3> + + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">ANTIGONE. ISMENE.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANTIGONE.</span> +Own sister of my blood, one life with me,<br /> +Ismenè, have the tidings caught thine ear?<br /> +Say, hath not Heaven decreed to execute<br /> +On thee and me, while yet we are alive,<br /> +All the evil Oedipus bequeathed? All horror,<br /> +All pain, all outrage, falls on us! And now<br /> +The General’s proclamation of to-day—<br /> +Hast thou not heard?—Art thou so slow to hear<br /> +When harm from foes threatens the souls we love?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISMENE.</span> +No word of those we love, Antigone,<br /> +Painful or glad, hath reached me, since we two<br /> +Were utterly deprived of our two brothers,<br /> +Cut off with mutual stroke, both in one day.<br /> +And since the Argive host this now-past night<br /> +Is vanished, I know nought beside to make me<br /> +Nearer to happiness or more in woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +I knew it well, and therefore led thee forth<br /> +The palace gate, that thou alone mightst hear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Speak on! Thy troubled look bodes some dark news.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Why, hath not Creon, in the burial-rite,<br /> +Of our two brethren honoured one, and wrought<br /> +On one foul wrong? Eteocles, they tell,<br /> +With lawful consecration he lays out,<br /> +And after covers him in earth, adorned<br /> +With amplest honours in the world below.<br /> +But Polynices, miserably slain,<br /> +They say ’tis publicly proclaimed that none<br /> +Must cover in a grave, nor mourn for him;<br /> +But leave him tombless and unwept, a store<br /> +Of sweet provision for the carrion fowl<br /> +That eye him greedily. Such righteous law<br /> +Good Creon hath pronounced for thy behoof—<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 4]</span><span class="linenum">[32-65]</span> +Ay, and for mine! I am not left out!—And now<br /> +He moves this way to promulgate his will<br /> +To such as have not heard, nor lightly holds<br /> +The thing he bids, but, whoso disobeys,<br /> +The citizens shall stone him to the death.<br /> +This is the matter, and thou wilt quickly show<br /> +If thou art noble, or fallen below thy birth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Unhappy one! But what can I herein<br /> +Avail to do or undo?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in10">Wilt thou share</span><br /> +The danger and the labour? Make thy choice.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Of what wild enterprise? What canst thou mean?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Wilt thou join hand with mine to lift the dead?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +To bury him, when all have been forbidden?<br /> +Is that thy thought?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in8">To bury my own brother</span><br /> +And thine, even though thou wilt not do thy part.<br /> +I will not be a traitress to my kin.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Fool-hardy girl! against the word of Creon?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +He hath no right to bar me from mine own.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Ah, sister, think but how our father fell,<br /> +Hated of all and lost to fair renown,<br /> +Through self-detected crimes—with his own hand,<br /> +Self-wreaking, how he dashed out both his eyes:<br /> +Then how the mother-wife, sad two-fold name!<br /> +With twisted halter bruised her life away,<br /> +Last, how in one dire moment our two brothers<br /> +With internecine conflict at a blow<br /> +Wrought out by fratricide their mutual doom.<br /> +Now, left alone, O think how beyond all<br /> +Most piteously we twain shall be destroyed,<br /> +If in defiance of authority<br /> +We traverse the commandment of the King!<br /> +We needs must bear in mind we are but women,<br /> +Never created to contend with men;<br /> +Nay more, made victims of resistless power,<br /> +To obey behests more harsh than this to-day.<br /> +I, then, imploring those beneath to grant<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 5]</span><span class="linenum">[66-99]</span> +Indulgence, seeing I am enforced in this,<br /> +Will yield submission to the powers that rule,<br /> +Small wisdom were it to overpass the bound.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +I will not urge you! no! nor if now you list<br /> +To help me, will your help afford me joy.<br /> +Be what you choose to be! This single hand<br /> +Shall bury our lost brother. Glorious<br /> +For me to take this labour and to die!<br /> +Dear to him will my soul be as we rest<br /> +In death, when I have dared this holy crime.<br /> +My time for pleasing men will soon be over;<br /> +Not so my duty toward the Dead! My home<br /> +Yonder will have no end. You, if you will,<br /> +May pour contempt on laws revered on High.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Not from irreverence. But I have no strength<br /> +To strive against the citizens’ resolve.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Thou, make excuses! I will go my way<br /> +To raise a burial-mound to my dear brother.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Oh, hapless maiden, how I fear for thee!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Waste not your fears on me! Guide your own fortune.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Ah! yet divulge thine enterprise to none,<br /> +But keep the secret close, and so will I.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +O Heavens! Nay, tell! I hate your silence worse;<br /> +I had rather you proclaimed it to the world.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +You are ardent in a chilling enterprise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +I know that I please those whom I would please.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Yes, if you thrive; but your desire is bootless.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Well, when I fail I shall be stopt, I trow!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +One should not start upon a hopeless quest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Speak in that vein if you would earn my hate<br /> +And aye be hated of our lost one. Peace!<br /> +Leave my unwisdom to endure this peril;<br /> +Fate cannot rob me of a noble death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Go, if you must—Not to be checked in folly,<br /> +But sure unparalleled in faithful love!<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 6]</span><span class="linenum">[100-130]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS.</span> (entering).</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">Beam of the mounting Sun!</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in2">O brightest, fairest ray</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Seven-gated Thebè yet hath seen!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Over the vale where Dircè’s fountains run</span><br /> +<span class="in2">At length thou appearedst, eye of golden Day,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">And with incitement of thy radiance keen</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Spurredst to faster flight</span><br /> +<span class="in2">The man of Argos hurrying from the fight.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Armed at all points the warrior came,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">But driven before thy rising flame</span><br /> +<span class="in2">He rode, reverting his pale shield,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Headlong from yonder battlefield.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +In snow-white panoply, on eagle wing,<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Half-Chorus</span><br /> +<span class="in2">He rose, dire ruin on our land to bring,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Roused by the fierce debate</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Of Polynices’ hate,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Shrilling sharp menace from his breast,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Sheathed all in steel from crown to heel,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">With many a plumèd crest.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +Then stooped above the domes,<span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in2">With lust of carnage fired,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">And opening teeth of serried spears</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Yawned wide around the gates that guard our homes;</span><br /> +<span class="in2">But went, or e’er his hungry jaws had tired</span><br /> +<span class="in2">On Theban flesh,—or e’er the Fire-god fierce</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Seizing our sacred town</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Besmirched and rent her battlemented crown.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Such noise of battle as he fled</span><br /> +<span class="in2">About his back the War-god spread;</span><br /> +<span class="in2">So writhed to hard-fought victory</span><br /> +<span class="in2"><a href="#Anti_n_1" name="Anti_t_1" id="Anti_t_1">The serpent</a> struggling to be free.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +High Zeus beheld their stream that proudly rolled<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Half-Chorus</span><br /> +<span class="in2"><a href="#Anti_n_2" name="Anti_t_2" id="Anti_t_2">Idly caparisoned</a> with clanking gold:</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 7]</span><span class="linenum">[131-154]</span> +<span class="in8">Zeus hates the boastful tongue:</span><br /> +<span class="in8">He with hurled fire down flung</span><br /> +<span class="in2">One who in haste had mounted high,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">And that same hour from topmost tower</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Upraised the exulting cry.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +Swung rudely to the hard repellent earth<span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Amidst his furious mirth</span><br /> +<span class="in2">He fell, who then with flaring brand</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Held in his fiery hand</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Came breathing madness at the gate</span><br /> +<span class="in8">In eager blasts of hate.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">And doubtful swayed the varying fight</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Through the turmoil of the night,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">As turning now on these and now on those</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Ares hurtled ’midst our foes,</span><br /> +<span class="in2"><a href="#Anti_n_3" name="Anti_t_3" id="Anti_t_3">Self-harnessed helper</a> on our right.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +Seven matched with seven, at each gate one,<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Half Chorus</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Their captains, when the day was done,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Left for our Zeus who turned the scale,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">The brazen tribute in full tale:—</span><br /> +<span class="in2">All save the horror-burdened pair,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Dire children of despair,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Who from one sire, one mother, drawing breath,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Each with conquering lance in rest</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Against a true born brother’s breast,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Found equal lots in death.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +But with blithe greeting to glad Thebe came<span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in2">She of the glorious name,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Victory,—smiling on our chariot throng</span><br /> +<span class="in8">With eyes that waken song</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Then let those battle memories cease,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Silenced by thoughts of peace.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">With holy dances of delight</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Lasting through the livelong night</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Visit we every shrine, in solemn round,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Led by him who shakes the ground,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Our Bacchus, Thebe’s child of light.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 8]</span><span class="linenum">[155-190]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +But look! where Creon in his new-made power,<br /> +<span class="in2">Moved by the fortune of the recent hour,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Comes with fresh counsel. What intelligence</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Intends he for our private conference,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">That he hath sent his herald to us all,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Gathering the elders with a general call?</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CREON</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CREON.</span> +My friends, the noble vessel of our State,<br /> +After sore shaking her, the Gods have sped<br /> +On a smooth course once more. I have called you hither,<br /> +By special messengers selecting you<br /> +From all the city, first, because I knew you<br /> +Aye loyal to the throne of Laïus;<br /> +Then, both while Oedipus gave prosperous days,<br /> +And since his fall, I still beheld you firm<br /> +In sound allegiance to the royal issue.<br /> +Now since the pair have perished in an hour,<br /> +Twinned in misfortune, by a mutual stroke<br /> +Staining our land with fratricidal blood,<br /> +All rule and potency of sovereign sway,<br /> +In virtue of next kin to the deceased,<br /> +Devolves on me. But hard it is to learn<br /> +The mind of any mortal or the heart,<br /> +Till he be tried in chief authority.<br /> +Power shows the man. For he who when supreme<br /> +Withholds his hand or voice from the best cause,<br /> +Being thwarted by some fear, that man to me<br /> +Appears, and ever hath appeared, most vile.<br /> +He too hath no high place in mine esteem,<br /> +Who sets his friend before his fatherland.<br /> +Let Zeus whose eye sees all eternally<br /> +Be here my witness. I will ne’er keep silence<br /> +When danger lours upon my citizens<br /> +Who looked for safety, nor make him my friend<br /> +Who doth not love my country. For I know<br /> +Our country carries us, and whilst her helm<br /> +Is held aright we gain good friends and true.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 9]</span><span class="linenum">[191-225]</span> +<span class="in2">Following such courses ’tis my steadfast will</span><br /> +To foster Thebè’s greatness, and therewith<br /> +In brotherly accord is my decree<br /> +Touching the sons of Oedipus. The man—<br /> +Eteocles I mean—who died for Thebes<br /> +Fighting with eminent prowess on her side,<br /> +Shall be entombed with every sacred rite<br /> +That follows to the grave the lordliest dead.<br /> +But for his brother, who, a banished man,<br /> +Returned to devastate and burn with fire<br /> +The land of his nativity, the shrines<br /> +Of his ancestral gods, to feed him fat<br /> +With Theban carnage, and make captive all<br /> +That should escape the sword—for Polynices,<br /> +This law hath been proclaimed concerning him:<br /> +He shall have no lament, no funeral,<br /> +But he unburied, for the carrion fowl<br /> +And dogs to eat his corse, a sight of shame.<br /> +<span class="in2">Such are the motions of this mind and will.</span><br /> +Never from me shall villains reap renown<br /> +Before the just. But whoso loves the State,<br /> +I will exalt him both in life and death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Son of Menoeceus, we have heard thy mind<br /> +Toward him who loves, and him who hates our city.<br /> +And sure, ’tis thine to enforce what law thou wilt<br /> +Both on the dead and all of us who live.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Then be ye watchful to maintain my word.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Young strength for such a burden were more meet.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Already there be watchers of the dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What charge then wouldst thou further lay on us?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Not to give place to those that disobey.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Who is so fond, to be in love with death?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Such, truly, is the meed. But hope of gain<br /> +Full oft ere now hath been the ruin of men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCHMAN</span> +(<span class="sdm">entering</span>).<br /> +My lord, I am out of breath, but not with speed.<br /> +I will not say my foot was fleet. My thoughts<br /> +Cried halt unto me ever as I came<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 10]</span><span class="linenum">[226-257]</span> +And wheeled me to return. My mind discoursed<br /> +Most volubly within my breast, and said—<br /> +Fond wretch! why go where thou wilt find thy bane?<br /> +Unhappy wight! say, wilt thou bide aloof?<br /> +Then if the king shall hear this from another,<br /> +How shalt thou ’scape for ’t? Winding thus about<br /> +I hasted, but I could not speed, and so<br /> +Made a long journey of a little way.<br /> +At last ‘yes’ carried it, that I should come<br /> +To thee; and tell thee I must needs; and shall,<br /> +Though it be nothing that I have to tell.<br /> +For I came hither, holding fast by this—<br /> +Nought that is not my fate can happen to me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Speak forth thy cause of fear. What is the matter?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +First of mine own part in the business. For<br /> +I did it not, nor saw the man who did,<br /> +And ’twere not right that I should come to harm.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +You fence your ground, and keep well out of danger;<br /> +I see you have some strange thing to declare.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +A man will shrink who carries words of fear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CB.</span> +Let us have done with you. Tell your tale, and go.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +Well, here it is. The corse hath burial<br /> +From some one who is stolen away and gone,<br /> +But first hath strown dry dust upon the skin,<br /> +And added what religious rites require.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Ha!<br /> +What man hath been so daring in revolt?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +I cannot tell. There was no mark to show—<br /> +No dint of spade, or mattock-loosened sod,—<br /> +Only the hard bare ground, untilled and trackless.<br /> +Whoe’er he was, the doer left no trace.<br /> +And, when the scout of our first daylight watch<br /> +Showed us the thing, we marvelled in dismay.<br /> +The Prince was out of sight; not in a grave,<br /> +But a thin dust was o’er him, as if thrown<br /> +By one who shunned the dead man’s curse. No sign<br /> +Appeared of any hound or beast o’ the field<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 11]</span><span class="linenum">[258-295]</span> +Having come near, or pulled at the dead body.<br /> +Then rose high words among us sentinels<br /> +With bickering noise accusing each his mate,<br /> +And it seemed like to come to blows, with none<br /> +To hinder. For the hand that thus had wrought<br /> +Was any of ours, and none; the guilty man<br /> +Escaped all knowledge. And we were prepared<br /> +To lift hot iron with our bare palms; to walk<br /> +Through fire, and swear by all the Gods at once<br /> +That we were guiltless, ay, and ignorant<br /> +Of who had plotted or performed this thing.<br /> +<span class="in2">When further search seemed bootless, at the last</span><br /> +One spake, whose words bowed all our heads to the earth<br /> +With fear. We knew not what to answer him,<br /> +Nor how to do it and prosper. He advised<br /> +So grave a matter must not be concealed,<br /> +But instantly reported to the King.<br /> +<span class="in2">Well, this prevailed, and the lot fell on me,</span><br /> +Unlucky man! to be the ministrant<br /> +Of this fair service. So I am present here,<br /> +Against my will and yours, I am sure of that.<br /> +None love the bringer of unwelcome news.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +My lord, a thought keeps whispering in my breast,<br /> +Some Power divine hath interposed in this.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Cease, ere thou quite enrage me, and appear<br /> +Foolish as thou art old. Talk not to me<br /> +Of Gods who have taken thought for this dead man!<br /> +Say, was it for his benefits to them<br /> +They hid his corse, and honoured him so highly,<br /> +Who came to set on fire their pillared shrines,<br /> +With all the riches of their offerings,<br /> +And to make nothing of their land and laws?<br /> +Or, hast thou seen them honouring villany?<br /> +That cannot be. Long time the cause of this<br /> +Hath come to me in secret murmurings<br /> +From malcontents of Thebes, who under yoke<br /> +Turned restive, and would not accept my sway.<br /> +Well know I, these have bribed the watchmen here<br /> +To do this for some fee. For nought hath grown<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 12]</span><span class="linenum">[296-331]</span> +Current among mankind so mischievous<br /> +As money. This brings cities to their fall:<br /> +This drives men homeless, and moves honest minds<br /> +To base contrivings. This hath taught mankind<br /> +The use of wickedness, and how to give<br /> +An impious turn to every kind of act.<br /> +But whosoe’er hath done this for reward<br /> +Hath found his way at length to punishment.<br /> +If Zeus have still my worship, be assured<br /> +Of that which here on oath I say to thee—<br /> +Unless ye find the man who made this grave<br /> +And bring him bodily before mine eye,<br /> +Death shall not be enough, till ye have hung<br /> +Alive for an example of your guilt,<br /> +That henceforth in your rapine ye may know<br /> +Whence gain is to be gotten, and may learn<br /> +Pelf from all quarters is not to be loved.<br /> +For in base getting, ’tis a common proof,<br /> +More find disaster than deliverance.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +Am I to speak? or must I turn and go?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +What? know you not your speech offends even now?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +Doth the mind smart withal, or only the ear?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Art thou to probe the seat of mine annoy?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +If I offend, ’tis in your ear alone,<br /> +The malefactor wounds ye to the soul.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Out on thee! thou art nothing but a tongue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +Then was I ne’er the doer of this deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Yea, verily: self-hired to crime for gold.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +Pity so clear a mind should clearly err!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Gloze now on clearness! But unless ye bring<br /> +The burier, without glozing ye shall tell,<br /> +Craven advantage clearly worketh bane.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +By all means let the man be found; one thing<br /> +I know right well:—caught or not caught, howe’er<br /> +Fate rules his fortune, me you ne’er will see<br /> +Standing in presence here. Even now I owe<br /> +Deep thanks to Heaven for mine escape, so far<br /> +Beyond my hope and highest expectancy.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt severally</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 13]</span><span class="linenum">[332-364]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Many a wonder lives and moves, but the wonder of all is man,</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +That courseth over the grey ocean, carried of Southern gale,<br /> +Faring amidst high-swelling seas that rudely surge around,<br /> +And Earth, supreme of mighty Gods, eldest, imperishable,<br /> +Eternal, he with patient furrow wears and wears away<br /> +<span class="in6">As year by year the plough-shares turn and turn,—</span><br /> +Subduing her unwearied strength with <a href="#Anti_n_4" name="Anti_t_4" id="Anti_t_4">children of the steed.</a></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">And wound in woven coils of nets he seizeth for his prey</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +The aëry tribe of birds and wilding armies of the chase,<br /> +And sea-born millions of the deep—man is so crafty-wise.<br /> +And now with engine of his wit he tameth to his will<br /> +The mountain-ranging beast whose lair is in the country wild;<br /> +<span class="in6">And now his yoke hath passed upon the mane</span><br /> +Of horse with proudly crested neck and tireless mountain bull.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Wise utterance and wind-swift thought, and city-moulding mind,</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +And shelter from the clear-eyed power of biting frost,<br /> +He hath taught him, and to shun the sharp, roof-penetrating rain,—<br /> +Full of resource, without device he meets no coming time;<br /> +<span class="in6">From Death alone he shall not find reprieve;</span><br /> +No league may gain him that relief; but even for fell disease,<br /> +That long hath baffled wisest leech, he hath contrived a cure.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 14]</span> +<span class="in0">Inventive beyond wildest hope, endowed with boundless skill,</span><span class="chm">II 2 <span class="chln">[365-396]</span></span><br /> +One while he moves toward evil, and one while toward good,<br /> +According as he loves his land and fears the Gods above.<br /> +Weaving the laws into his life and steadfast oath of Heaven,<br /> +<span class="in6">High in the State he moves but outcast he,</span><br /> +Who hugs dishonour to his heart and follows paths of crime<br /> +Ne’er may he come beneath my roof, nor think like thoughts with me.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">What portent from the Gods is here?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">My mind is mazed with doubt and fear.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">How can I gainsay what I see?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">I know the girl Antigone,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">O hapless child of hapless sire!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Didst thou, then, recklessly aspire</span><br /> +<span class="in4">To brave kings’ laws, and now art brought</span><br /> +<span class="in4">In madness of transgression caught?</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">Watchman</span>, bringing in <span class="cnm">ANTIGONE</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +Here is the doer of the deed—this maid<br /> +We found her burying him. Where is the King?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Look, he comes forth again to meet thy call.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CREON</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +What call so nearly times with mine approach?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +My lord, no mortal should deny on oath,<br /> +Judgement is still belied by after thought<br /> +When quailing ’neath the tempest of your threats,<br /> +Methought no force would drive me to this place<br /> +But joy unlook’d for and surpassing hope<br /> +Is out of bound the best of all delight,<br /> +And so I am here again,—though I had sworn<br /> +I ne’er would come,—and in my charge this maid,<br /> +Caught in the act of caring for the dead<br /> +Here was no lot throwing, this hap was mine<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 15]</span><span class="linenum">[397-430]</span> +Without dispute. And now, my sovereign lord,<br /> +According to thy pleasure, thine own self<br /> +Examine and convict her. For my part<br /> +I have good right to be away and free<br /> +From the bad business I am come upon.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +This maiden!<br /> +How came she in thy charge? Where didst thou find her?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +Burying the prince. One word hath told thee all.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Hast thou thy wits, and knowest thou what thou sayest?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +I saw her burying him whom you forbade<br /> +To bury. Is that, now, clearly spoken, or no?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +And how was she detected, caught, and taken?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">WATCH.</span> +It fell in this wise. We were come to the spot,<br /> +Bearing the dreadful burden of thy threats;<br /> +And first with care we swept the dust away<br /> +From round the corse, and laid the dank limbs bare:<br /> +Then sate below the hill-top, out o’ the wind,<br /> +Where no bad odour from the dead might strike us,<br /> +Stirring each other on with interchange<br /> +Of loud revilings on the negligent<br /> +In ’tendance on this duty. So we stayed<br /> +Till in mid heaven the sun’s resplendent orb<br /> +Stood high, and the heat strengthened. Suddenly,<br /> +The Storm-god raised a whirlwind from the ground,<br /> +Vexing heaven’s concave, and filled all the plain,<br /> +Rending the locks of all the orchard groves,<br /> +Till the great sky was choked withal. We closed<br /> +Our lips and eyes, and bore the God-sent evil.<br /> +When after a long while this ceased, the maid<br /> +Was seen, and wailed in high and bitter key,<br /> +Like some despairing bird that hath espied<br /> +Her nest all desolate, the nestlings gone.<br /> +So, when she saw the body bare, she mourned<br /> +Loudly, and cursed the authors of this deed.<br /> +Then nimbly with her hands she brought dry dust,<br /> +And holding high a shapely brazen cruse,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 16]</span><span class="linenum">[431-467]</span> +Poured three libations, honouring the dead.<br /> +We, when we saw, ran in, and straightway seized<br /> +Our quarry, nought dismayed, and charged her with<br /> +The former crime and this. And she denied<br /> +Nothing;—to my delight, and to my grief.<br /> +One’s self to escape disaster is great joy;<br /> +Yet to have drawn a friend into distress<br /> +Is painful. But mine own security<br /> +To me is of more value than aught else.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Thou, with thine eyes down-fastened to the earth!<br /> +Dost thou confess to have done this, or deny it?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +I deny nothing. I avow the deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +(<span class="sdm">to <span class="cnm">Watchman</span></span>).<br /> +Thou may’st betake thyself whither thou wilt,<br /> +Acquitted of the grievous charge, and free.<br /> +(<span class="sdm">to <span class="cnm">ANTIGONE</span></span>)<br /> +And thou,—no prating talk, but briefly tell,<br /> +Knew’st thou our edict that forbade this thing?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +I could not fail to know. You made it plain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +How durst thou then transgress the published law?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +I heard it not from Heaven, nor came it forth<br /> +From Justice, where she reigns with Gods below.<br /> +They too have published to mankind a law.<br /> +Nor thought I thy commandment of such might<br /> +That one who is mortal thus could overbear<br /> +The infallible, unwritten laws of Heaven.<br /> +Not now or yesterday they have their being,<br /> +But everlastingly, and none can tell<br /> +The hour that saw their birth. I would not, I,<br /> +For any terror of a man’s resolve,<br /> +Incur the God-inflicted penalty<br /> +Of doing them wrong. That death would come, I knew<br /> +Without thine edict;—if before the time,<br /> +I count it gain. Who does not gain by death,<br /> +That lives, as I do, amid boundless woe?<br /> +Slight is the sorrow of such doom to me.<br /> +But had I suffered my own mother’s child,<br /> +Fallen in blood, to be without a grave,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 17]</span><span class="linenum">[468-503]</span> +That were indeed a sorrow. This is none.<br /> +And if thou deem’st me foolish for my deed,<br /> +I am foolish in the judgement of a fool.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Fierce shows the maiden’s vein from her fierce sire;<br /> +Calamity doth not subdue her will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Ay, but the stubborn spirit first doth fall.<br /> +Oft ye shall see the strongest bar of steel,<br /> +That fire hath hardened to extremity,<br /> +Shattered to pieces. A small bit controls<br /> +The fiery steed. Pride may not be endured<br /> +In one whose life is subject to command.<br /> +This maiden hath been conversant with crime<br /> +Since first she trampled on the public law;<br /> +And now she adds to crime this insolence,<br /> +To laugh at her offence, and glory in it.<br /> +Truly, if she that hath usurped this power<br /> +Shall rest unpunished, she then is a man,<br /> +And I am none. Be she my sister’s child,<br /> +Or of yet nearer blood to me than all<br /> +That take protection from my hearth, the pair<br /> +Shall not escape the worst of deaths. For know,<br /> +I count the younger of the twain no less<br /> +Copartner in this plotted funeral:<br /> +And now I bid you call her. Late I saw her<br /> +Within the house, beyond herself, and frantic.<br /> +—Full oft when one is darkly scheming wrong,<br /> +The disturbed spirit hath betrayed itself<br /> +Before the act it hides.—But not less hateful<br /> +Seems it to me, when one that hath been caught<br /> +In wickedness would give it a brave show.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Wouldst thou aught more of me than merely death?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +No more. ’Tis all I claim. Death closes all.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Why then delay? No talk of thine can charm me,<br /> +Forbid it Heaven! And my discourse no less<br /> +Must evermore sound noisome to thine ear.<br /> +Yet where could I have found a fairer fame<br /> +Than giving burial to my own true brother?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 18]</span><span class="linenum">[504-536]</span> +All here would tell thee they approve my deed,<br /> +Were they not tongue-tied to authority.<br /> +But kingship hath much profit; this in chief,<br /> +That it may do and say whate’er it will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +No Theban sees the matter with thine eye.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +They see, but curb their voices to thy sway</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +And art thou not ashamed, acting alone?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +A sister’s piety hath no touch of shame.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Was not Eteocles thy brother too?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +My own true brother from both parents’ blood.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +This duty was impiety to him.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +He that is dead will not confirm that word.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +If you impart his honours to the vile.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +It was his brother, not a slave, who fell.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +But laying waste the land for which he fought.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Death knows no difference, but demands his due.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Yet not equality ’twixt good and bad.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Both may be equal yonder; who can tell?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +An enemy is hated even in death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Love, and not hatred, is the part for me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Down then to death! and, if you must, there love<br /> +The dead. No woman rules me while I live.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Now comes Ismenè forth. Ah, see,<br /> +From clouds above her brow<br /> +The sister-loving tear<br /> +Is falling wet on her fair cheek,<br /> +Distaining all her passion-crimson’d face!</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">ISMENE</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +And thou, that like a serpent coiled i’ the house<br /> +Hast secretly been draining my life-blood,—<br /> +Little aware that I was cherishing<br /> +Two curses and subverters of my throne,—<br /> +Tell us, wilt thou avouch thy share in this<br /> +Entombment, or forswear all knowledge of it?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +If her voice go therewith, I did the deed,<br /> +And bear my part and burden of the blame.<br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 19]</span><span class="linenum">[537-574]</span> +<span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Nay, justice will not suffer that. You would not,<br /> +And I refused to make you mine ally.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +But now in thy misfortune I would fain<br /> +Embark with thee in thy calamity.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Who did the deed, the powers beneath can tell.<br /> +I care not for lip-kindness from my kin.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Ah! scorn me not so far as to forbid me<br /> +To die with thee, and honour our lost brother.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Die not with me, nor make your own a deed<br /> +you never touched! My dying is enough.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +What joy have I in life when thou art gone?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Ask Creon there. He hath your care and duty.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +What can it profit thee to vex me so?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +My heart is pained, though my lip laughs at thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +What can I do for thee now, even now?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Save your own life. I grudge not your escape.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Alas! and must I be debarred thy fate?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Life was the choice you made. Mine was to die.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +I warned thee—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in14">Yes, your prudence is admired</span><br /> +On earth. My wisdom is approved below.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Yet truly we are both alike in fault.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Fear not; you live. My life hath long been given<br /> +To death, to be of service to the dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Of these two girls, the one hath lost her wits:<br /> +The other hath had none since she was born.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +My lord, in misery, the mind one hath<br /> +Is wont to be dislodged, and will not stay.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +You have ta’en leave of yours at any rate,<br /> +When you cast in your portion with the vile.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +What can life profit me without my sister?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Say not ‘my sister’; she is nothing now.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +What? wilt thou kill thy son’s espousal too?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +He may find other fields to plough upon.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Not so as love was plighted ’twixt them twain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I hate a wicked consort for my son.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +O dearest Haemon! how thy father wrongs thee!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Thou and thy marriage are a torment to me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +And wilt thou sever her from thine own son?<br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 20]</span><span class="linenum">[575-610]</span> +<span class="cnm">CR.</span> +’Tis death must come between him and his joy,</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +All doubt is then resolved: the maid must die,</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I am resolved; and so, ’twould seem, are you.<br /> +In with her, slaves! No more delay! Henceforth<br /> +These maids must have but woman’s liberty<br /> +And be mewed up; for even the bold will fly<br /> +When they see Death nearing the house of life.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">ANTIGONE</span> and <span class="cnm">ISMENE</span> are led into the palace.</span><br /></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Blest is the life that never tasted woe.</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in6">When once the blow</span><br /> +Hath fallen upon a house with Heaven-sent doom,<br /> +Trouble descends in ever-widening gloom<br /> +Through all the number of the tribe to flow;<br /> +<span class="in6">As when the briny surge</span><br /> +<span class="in6">That Thrace-born tempests urge</span><br /> +(The big wave ever gathering more and more)<br /> +Runs o’er the darkness of the deep,<br /> +<span class="in6">And with far-searching sweep</span><br /> +Uprolls the storm-heap’d tangle on the shore,<br /> +While cliff to beaten cliff resounds with sullen roar.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">The stock of Cadmus from old time, I know,</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Hath woe on woe,</span><br /> +Age following age, the living on the dead,<br /> +Fresh sorrow falling on each new-ris’n head,<br /> +None freed by God from ruthless overthrow.<br /> +<span class="in6">E’en now a smiling light</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Was spreading to our sight</span><br /> +O’er one last fibre of a blasted tree,—<br /> +When, lo! the dust of cruel death,<br /> +<span class="in6">Tribute of Gods beneath,</span><br /> +And wildering thoughts, and fate-born ecstasy,<br /> +Quench the brief gleam in dark Nonentity.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">What froward will of man, O Zeus! can check thy might?</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +Not all-enfeebling sleep, nor tireless months divine,<br /> +Can touch thee, who through ageless time<br /> +Rulest mightily Olympus’ dazzling height.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 21]</span><span class="linenum">[611-647]</span> +This was in the beginning, and shall be<br /> +<span class="in6">Now and eternally,</span><br /> +Not here or there, but everywhere,<br /> +A law of misery that shall not spare.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">For Hope, that wandereth wide, comforting many a head,</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +Entangleth many more with glamour of desire:<br /> +Unknowing they have trode the fire.<br /> +Wise was the famous word of one who said,<br /> +‘Evil oft seemeth goodness to the mind<br /> +<span class="in6">An angry God doth blind.’</span><br /> +Few are the days that such as he<br /> +May live untroubled of calamity.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Lo, Haemon, thy last offspring, now is come,</span><br /> +Lamenting haply for the maiden’s doom,<br /> +Say, is he mourning o’er her young life lost,<br /> +Fiercely indignant for his bridal crossed?</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">HAEMON</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +We shall know soon, better than seers could teach us.<br /> +Can it be so, my son, that thou art brought<br /> +By mad distemperature against thy sire,<br /> +On hearing of the irrevocable doom<br /> +Passed on thy promised bride? Or is thy love<br /> +Thy father’s, be his actions what they may?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEMON.</span> +I am thine, father, and will follow still<br /> +Thy good directions; nor would I prefer<br /> +The fairest bride to thy wise government.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +That, O my son! should be thy constant mind,<br /> +In all to bend thee to thy father’s will.<br /> +Therefore men pray to have around their hearths<br /> +Obedient offspring, to requite their foes<br /> +With harm, and honour whom their father loves;<br /> +But he whose issue proves unprofitable,<br /> +Begets what else but sorrow to himself<br /> +And store of laughter to his enemies?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 22]</span><span class="linenum">[648-686]</span> +Make not, my son, a shipwreck of thy wit<br /> +For a woman. Thine own heart may teach thee this;—<br /> +There’s but cold comfort in a wicked wife<br /> +Yoked to the home inseparably. What wound<br /> +Can be more deadly than a harmful friend?<br /> +Then spurn her like an enemy, and send her<br /> +To wed some shadow in the world below!<br /> +For since of all the city I have found<br /> +Her only recusant, caught in the act,<br /> +I will not break my word before the State.<br /> +I will take her life. At this let her invoke<br /> +The god of kindred blood! For if at home<br /> +I foster rebels, how much more abroad?<br /> +Whoso is just in ruling his own house,<br /> +Lives rightly in the commonwealth no less:<br /> +But he that wantonly defies the law,<br /> +Or thinks to dictate to authority,<br /> +Shall have no praise from me. What power soe’er<br /> +The city hath ordained, must be obeyed<br /> +In little things and great things, right or wrong.<br /> +The man who so obeys, I have good hope<br /> +Will govern and be governed as he ought,<br /> +And in the storm of battle at my side<br /> +Will stand a faithful and a trusty comrade.<br /> +But what more fatal than the lapse of rule?<br /> +This ruins cities, this lays houses waste,<br /> +This joins with the assault of war to break<br /> +Full numbered armies into hopeless rout;<br /> +And in the unbroken host ’tis nought but rule<br /> +That keeps those many bodies from defeat,<br /> +I must be zealous to defend the law,<br /> +And not go down before a woman’s will.<br /> +Else, if I fall, ’twere best a man should strike me;<br /> +Lest one should say, ‘a woman worsted him.’</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Unless our sense is weakened by long time,<br /> +Thou speakest not unwisely.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +<span class="in14">O my sire,</span><br /> +Sound wisdom is a God implanted seed,<br /> +Of all possessions highest in regard.<br /> +I cannot, and I would not learn to say<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 23]</span><span class="linenum">[687-723]</span> +That thou art wrong in this; though in another,<br /> +It may be such a word were not unmeet.<br /> +But as thy son, ’tis surely mine to scan<br /> +Men’s deeds, and words, and muttered thoughts toward thee.<br /> +Fear of thy frown restrains the citizen<br /> +In talk that would fall harshly on thine ear.<br /> +I under shadow may o’erhear, how all<br /> +Thy people mourn this maiden, and complain<br /> +That of all women least deservedly<br /> +She perishes for a most glorious deed.<br /> +‘Who, when her own true brother on the earth<br /> +Lay weltering after combat in his gore,<br /> +Left him not graveless, for the carrion few<br /> +And raw devouring field dogs to consume—<br /> +Hath she not merited a golden praise?’<br /> +Such the dark rumour spreading silently.<br /> +Now, in my valuing, with thy prosperous life,<br /> +My father, no possession can compare.<br /> +Where can be found a richer ornament<br /> +For children, than their father’s high renown?<br /> +Or where for fathers, than their children’s fame?<br /> +Nurse not one changeless humour in thy breast,<br /> +That nothing can be right but as thou sayest.<br /> +Whoe’er presumes that he alone hath sense,<br /> +Or peerless eloquence, or reach of soul,<br /> +Unwrap him, and you’ll find but emptiness.<br /> +’Tis no disgrace even to the wise to learn<br /> +And lend an ear to reason. You may see<br /> +The plant that yields where torrent waters flow<br /> +Saves every little twig, when the stout tree<br /> +Is torn away and dies. The mariner<br /> +Who will not ever slack the sheet that sways<br /> +The vessel, but still tightens, oversets,<br /> +And so, keel upward, ends his voyaging.<br /> +Relent, I pray thee, and give place to change.<br /> +If any judgement hath informed my youth,<br /> +I grant it noblest to be always wise,<br /> +But,—for omniscience is denied to man—<br /> +Tis good to hearken to admonishment.<br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 24]</span><span class="linenum">[724-757]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +My lord, ’twere wise, if thou wouldst learn of him<br /> +In reason; and thou, Haemon, from thy sire!<br /> +Truth lies between you.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in14">Shall our age, forsooth,</span><br /> +Be taught discretion by a peevish boy?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +Only in what is right. Respects of time<br /> +Must be outbalanced by the actual need.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +To cringe to rebels cannot be a need.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +I do not claim observance for the vile.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Why, is not she so tainted? Is ’t not proved?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +All Thebes denies it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in20">Am I ruled by Thebes?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +If youth be folly, that is youngly said.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Shall other men prescribe my government?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +One only makes not up a city, father.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Is not the city in the sovereign’s hand?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +Nobly you’d govern as the desert’s king.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +This youngster is the woman’s champion.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +You are the woman, then—for you I care.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Villain, to bandy reasons with your sire!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +I plead against the unreason of your fault.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +What fault is there in reverencing my power?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +There is no reverence when you spurn the Gods.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Abominable spirit, woman-led!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +You will not find me following a base guide.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Why, all your speech this day is spent for her.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +For you and me too, and the Gods below.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +She will not live to be your wife on earth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +I know, then, whom she will ruin by her death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +What, wilt thou threaten, too, thou audacious boy?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +It is no threat to answer empty words.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Witless admonisher, thou shalt pay for this!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +Thou art my sire, else would I call thee senseless.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Thou woman’s minion! mince not terms with me,</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +Wouldst thou have all the speaking on thy side?<br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 25]</span><span class="linenum">[758-795]</span> +<span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Is ’t possible? By yon heaven! thou’lt not escape,<br /> +For adding contumely to words of blame.<br /> +Bring out the hated thing, that she may die<br /> +Immediately, before her lover’s face!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HAEM.</span> +Nay, dream not she shall suffer in my sight<br /> +Nor shalt thou ever see my face again<br /> +Let those stay with you that can brook your rage!<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +My lord, he is parted swiftly in deep wrath!<br /> +The youthful spirit offended makes wild work.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Ay, let him do his worst. Let him give scope<br /> +To pride beyond the compass of a man!<br /> +He shall not free these maidens from their doom.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Is death thy destination for them both?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Only for her who acted. Thou art right.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +And what hast thou determined for her death?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Where human footstep shuns the desert ground,<br /> +I’ll hide her living in a cave like vault,<br /> +With so much provender as may prevent<br /> +Pollution from o’ertaking the whole city<br /> +And there, perchance, she may obtain of Death,<br /> +Her only deity, to spare her soul,<br /> +Or else in that last moment she will learn<br /> +’Tis labour lost to worship powers unseen.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">CREON</span></span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Love, never foiled in fight!</span><span class="chm">1</span><br /> +Warrior Love, that on Wealth workest havoc!<br /> +Love, who in ambush of young maid’s soft cheek<br /> +All night keep’st watch!—Thou roamest over seas.<br /> +In lonely forest homes thou harbourest.<br /> +Who may avoid thee? None!<br /> +Mortal, Immortal,<br /> +All are o’erthrown by thee, all feel thy frenzy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Lightly thou draw’st awry</span><span class="chm">2</span> +Righteous minds into wrong to their ruin<br /> +Thou this unkindly quarrel hast inflamed<br /> +’Tween kindred men—Triumphantly prevails<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 26]</span><span class="linenum">[796-833]</span> +The heart-compelling eye of winsome bride,<br /> +Compeer of mighty Law<br /> +Thronèd, commanding.<br /> +Madly thou mockest men, dread Aphrodite.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Ah! now myself am carried past the bound</span><br /> +Of law, nor can I check the rising tear,<br /> +When I behold Antigone even here<br /> +Touching the quiet bourne where all must rest.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">ANTIGONE</span> guarded.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Ye see me on my way,<span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +O burghers of my father’s land!<br /> +With one last look on Helios’ ray,<br /> +Led my last path toward the silent strand.<br /> +Alive to the wide house of rest I go;<br /> +<span class="in6">No dawn for me may shine,</span><br /> +No marriage-blessing e’er be mine,<br /> +No hymeneal with my praises flow!<br /> +The Lord of Acheron’s unlovely shore<br /> +Shall be mine only husband evermore.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Yea, but with glory and fame,—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Not by award of the sword,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Not with blighting disease,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But by a law of thine own,—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Thou, of mortals alone,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Goest alive to the deep</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Tranquil home of the dead.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Erewhile I heard men say,<span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +How, in far Phrygia, Thebè’s friend,<br /> +Tantalus’ child, had dreariest end<br /> +On heights of Sipylus consumed away:<br /> +O’er whom the rock like clinging ivy grows,<br /> +<span class="in6">And while with moistening dew</span><br /> +Her cheek runs down, the eternal snows<br /> +Weigh o’er her, and the tearful stream renew<br /> +That from sad brows her stone-cold breast doth steep.<br /> +Like unto her the God lulls me to sleep.<br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 27]</span><span class="linenum">[834-873]</span> +<span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +But she was a goddess born,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">We but of mortal line;</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And sure to rival the fate</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of a daughter of sires Divine</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Were no light glory in death.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +O mockery of my woe!<span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +I pray you by our fathers’ holy Fear,<br /> +<span class="in4">Why must I hear</span><br /> +Your insults, while in life on earth I stand,<br /> +<span class="in4">O ye that flow</span><br /> +In wealth, rich burghers of my bounteous land?<br /> +O fount of Dircè, and thou spacious grove,<br /> +Where Thebè’s chariots move!<br /> +Ye are my witness, though none else be nigh,<br /> +By what enormity of lawless doom,<br /> +<span class="in4">Without one friendly sigh,</span><br /> +I go to the strong mound of yon strange tomb,—<br /> +All hapless, having neither part nor room<br /> +With those who live or those who die!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thy boldness mounted high,<br /> +And thou, my child, ’gainst the great pedestal<br /> +Of Justice with unmeasured force didst fall.<br /> +Thy father’s lot still presseth hard on thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +That pains me more than all.<span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +Ah! thou hast touched my father’s misery<br /> +<span class="in4">Still mourned anew,</span><br /> +With all the world-famed sorrows on us rolled<br /> +<span class="in4">Since Cadmus old.</span><br /> +O cursèd marriage that my mother knew!<br /> +O wretched fortune of my sire, who lay<br /> +<span class="in4">Where first he saw the day!</span><br /> +Such were the authors of my burdened life;<br /> +To whom, with curses dowered, never a wife,<br /> +<span class="in4">I go to dwell beneath.</span><br /> +O brother mine, thy princely marriage-tie<br /> +Hath been thy downfall, and in this thy death<br /> +Thou hast destroyed me ere I die.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +’Twas pious, we confess,<br /> +Thy fervent deed. But he, who power would show,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 28]</span><span class="linenum">[874-912]</span> +Must let no soul of all he rules transgress.<br /> +A self-willed passion was thine overthrow.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Friendless, uncomforted of bridal lay,<span class="chm">III</span><br /> +Unmourned, they lead me on my destined way.<br /> +Woe for my life forlorn! I may not see<br /> +The sacred round of yon great light<br /> +Rising again to greet me from the night;<br /> +No friend bemoans my fate, no tear hath fallen for me!</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CREON</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +If criminals were suffered to complain<br /> +In dirges before death, they ne’er would end.<br /> +Away with her at once, and closing her,<br /> +As I commanded, in the vaulty tomb,<br /> +Leave her all desolate, whether to die,<br /> +Or to live on in that sepulchral cell.<br /> +We are guiltless in the matter of this maid;<br /> +Only she shall not share the light of day.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +O grave! my bridal chamber, prison-house<br /> +Eterne, deep-hollowed, whither I am led<br /> +To find mine own,—of whom Persephonè<br /> +Hath now a mighty number housed in death:—<br /> +I last of all, and far most miserably,<br /> +Am going, ere my days have reached their term!<br /> +Yet lives the hope that, when I go, most surely<br /> +Dear will my coming be, father, to thee,<br /> +And dear to thee, my mother, and to thee,<br /> +Brother! since with these very hands I decked<br /> +And bathed you after death, and ministered<br /> +The last libations. And I reap this doom<br /> +For tending, Polynices, on thy corse.<br /> +Indeed I honoured thee, the wise will say.<br /> +For neither, had I children, nor if one<br /> +I had married were laid bleeding on the earth,<br /> +Would I have braved the city’s will, or taken<br /> +This burden on me. Wherefore? I will tell.<br /> +A husband lost might be replaced; a son,<br /> +If son were lost to me, might yet be born;<br /> +But, with both parents hidden in the tomb,<br /> +No brother may arise to comfort me.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 29]</span><span class="linenum">[913-952]</span> +Therefore above all else I honoured thee,<br /> +And therefore Creon thought me criminal,<br /> +And bold in wickedness, O brother mine!<br /> +And now by servile hands, for all to see,<br /> +He hastens me away, unhusbanded,<br /> +Before my nuptial, having never known<br /> +Or married joy or tender motherhood.<br /> +But desolate and friendless I go down<br /> +Alive, O horror! to the vaults of the dead.<br /> +For what transgression of Heaven’s ordinance?<br /> +Alas! how can I look to Heaven? on whom<br /> +Call to befriend me? seeing that I have earned,<br /> +By piety, the meed of impious?—<br /> +Oh! if this act be what the Gods approve,<br /> +In death I may repent me of my deed;<br /> +But if they sin who judge me, be their doom<br /> +No heavier than they wrongly wreak on me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +With unchanged fury beats the storm of soul<br /> +That shakes this maiden.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in14">Then for that, be sure</span><br /> +Her warders shall lament their tardiness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Alas! I hear Death’s footfall in that sound.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I may not reassure thee.—’Tis most true.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +O land of Thebè, city of my sires,<br /> +Ye too, ancestral Gods! I go—I go!<br /> +Even now they lead me to mine end. Behold!<br /> +Founders of Thebes, the only scion left<br /> +Of Cadmus’ issue, how unworthily,<br /> +By what mean instruments I am oppressed,<br /> +For reverencing the dues of piety.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit guarded</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Even Danaë’s beauty left the lightsome day.</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +Closed in her strong and brass-bound tower she lay<br /> +<span class="in6">In tomb-like deep confine.</span><br /> +Yet she was gendered, O my child!<br /> +<span class="in6">From sires of noblest line,</span><br /> +And treasured for the Highest the golden rain.<br /> +Fated misfortune hath a power so fell:<br /> +<span class="in6">Not wealth, nor warfare wild,</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 30]</span><span class="linenum">[953-994]</span> +Nor dark spray-dashing coursers of the main<br /> +Against great Destiny may once rebel.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">He too in darksome durance was compressed,</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +King of Edonians, <a href="#Anti_n_5" name="Anti_t_5" id="Anti_t_5">Dryas’ hasty son,</a><br /> +<span class="in6">In eyeless vault of stone</span><br /> +Immured by Dionysus’ hest,<br /> +<span class="in6">All for a wrathful jest.</span><br /> +Fierce madness issueth in such fatal flower.<br /> +He found ’twas mad to taunt the Heavenly Power,<br /> +<span class="in6">Chilling the Maenad breast</span><br /> +Kindled with Bacchic fire, and with annoy<br /> +Angering the Muse that in the flute hath joy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">And near twin rocks that guard the Colchian sea,</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +Bosporian cliffs ’fore Salmydessus rise,<br /> +Where neighbouring Ares from his shrine beheld<br /> +<a href="#Anti_n_6" name="Anti_t_6" id="Anti_t_6">Phineus’ two sons</a> by female fury quelled.<br /> +With cursèd wounding of their sight-reft eyes,<br /> +That cried to Heaven to ’venge the iniquity.<br /> +The shuttle’s sharpness in a cruel hand<br /> +Dealt the dire blow, not struck with martial brand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">But chiefly for her piteous lot they pined,</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +Who was the source of their rejected birth.<br /> +She touched the lineage of Erechtheus old;<br /> +Whence in far caves her life did erst unfold,<br /> +Cradled ’mid storms, daughter of Northern wind,<br /> +Steed-swift o’er all steep places of the earth.<br /> +Yet even on her, though reared of heavenly kind,<br /> +The long-enduring Fates at last took hold.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">TIRESIAS</span>, led by a boy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TIRESIAS.</span> +We are come, my lords of Thebes, joint wayfarers,<br /> +One having eyes for both. The blind must still<br /> +Thus move in frail dependence on a guide.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +And what hath brought thee, old Tirésias, now?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +I will instruct thee, if thou wilt hear my voice.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I have not heretofore rejected thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Therefore thy pilotage hath saved this city.<br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 31]</span><span class="linenum">[995-1032]</span> +<span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Grateful experience owns the benefit.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Take heed. Again thou art on an edge of peril.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +What is it? How I shudder at thy word!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +The tokens of mine art shall make thee know.<br /> +As I was sitting on that ancient seat<br /> +Of divination, where I might command<br /> +Sure cognisance of every bird of the air,<br /> +I heard strange clamouring of fowl, that screeched<br /> +In furious dissonance; and, I could tell,<br /> +Talons were bloodily engaged—the whirr<br /> +Of wings told a clear tale. At once, in fear,<br /> +I tried burnt sacrifice at the high altar:<br /> +Where from the offering the fire god refused<br /> +To gleam; but a dank humour from the bones<br /> +Dripped on the embers with a sputtering fume.<br /> +The gall was spirited high in air, the thighs<br /> +Lay wasting, bared of their enclosing fat.<br /> +Such failing tokens of blurred augury<br /> +This youth reported, who is guide to me,<br /> +As I to others. And this evil state<br /> +Is come upon the city from thy will:<br /> +Because our altars—yea, our sacred hearths—<br /> +Are everywhere infected from the mouths<br /> +Of dogs or beak of vulture that hath fed<br /> +On Oedipus’ unhappy slaughtered son.<br /> +And then at sacrifice the Gods refuse<br /> +Our prayers and savour of the thigh-bone fat—<br /> +And of ill presage is the thickening cry<br /> +Of bird that battens upon human gore<br /> +Now, then, my son, take thought. A man may err;<br /> +But he is not insensate or foredoomed<br /> +To ruin, who, when he hath lapsed to evil,<br /> +Stands not inflexible, but heals the harm.<br /> +The obstinate man still earns the name of fool.<br /> +Urge not contention with the dead, nor stab<br /> +The fallen. What valour is ’t to slay the slain?<br /> +I have thought well of this, and say it with care;<br /> +And careful counsel, that brings gain withal,<br /> +Is precious to the understanding soul.<br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 32]</span><span class="linenum">[1033-1071]</span> +<span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I am your mark, and ye with one consent<br /> +All shoot your shafts at me. Nought left untried,<br /> +Not even the craft of prophets, by whose crew<br /> +I am bought and merchandised long since. Go on!<br /> +Traffic, get gain, electrum from the mine<br /> +Of Lydia, and the gold of Ind! Yet know,<br /> +Grey-beard! ye ne’er shall hide him in a tomb.<br /> +No, not if heaven’s own eagle chose to snatch<br /> +And bear him to the throne supreme for food,<br /> +Even that pollution should not daunt my heart<br /> +To yield permission for his funeral.<br /> +For well know I defilement ne’er can rise<br /> +From man to God. But, old Tirésias, hear!<br /> +Even wisest spirits have a shameful fall<br /> +That fairly speak base words for love of gain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Ah! where is wisdom? who considereth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Wherefore? what means this universal doubt?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +How far the best of riches is good counsel!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +As far as folly is the mightiest bane.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Yet thou art sick of that same pestilence.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I would not give the prophet blow for blow.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +What blow is harder than to call me false?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Desire of money is the prophet’s plague.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +And ill-sought lucre is the curse of kings.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Know’st thou ’tis of thy sovereign thou speak’st this?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Yea, for my aid gives thee to sway this city.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Far seeing art thou, but dishonest too.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Thou wilt provoke the utterance of my tongue<br /> +To that even thought refused to dwell upon.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Say on, so thou speak sooth, and not for gain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +You think me likely to seek gain from you?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +You shall not make your merchandise on me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Not many courses of the racing sun<br /> +Shalt thou fulfil, ere of thine own true blood<br /> +Thou shalt have given a corpse in recompense<br /> +For one on earth whom thou hast cast beneath,<br /> +Entombing shamefully a living soul,<br /> +And one whom thou hast kept above the ground<br /> +And disappointed of all obsequies,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 33]</span><span class="linenum">[1070-1106]</span> +Unsanctified and godlessly forlorn.<br /> +Such violence the powers beneath will bear<br /> +Not even from the Olympian gods. For thee<br /> +The avengers wait. Hidden but near at hand,<br /> +Lagging but sure, the Furies of the grave<br /> +Are watching for thee to thy ruinous harm,<br /> +With thine own evil to entangle thee.<br /> +Look well to it now whether I speak for gold!<br /> +A little while, and thine own palace-halls<br /> +Shall flash the truth upon thee with loud noise<br /> +Of men and women, shrieking o’er the dead.<br /> +And all the cities whose unburied sons,<br /> +Mangled and torn, have found a sepulchre<br /> +In dogs or jackals or some ravenous bird<br /> +That stains their incense with polluted breath,<br /> +Are forming leagues in troublous enmity.<br /> +Such shafts, since thou hast stung me to the quick,<br /> +I like an archer at thee in my wrath<br /> +Have loosed unerringly—carrying their pang,<br /> +Inevitable, to thy very heart.<br /> +Now, sirrah! lead me home, that his hot mood<br /> +Be spent on younger objects, till he learn<br /> +To keep a safer mind and calmer tongue.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Sire, there is terror in that prophecy.<br /> +He who is gone, since ever these my locks,<br /> +Once black, now white with age, waved o’er my brow,<br /> +Hath never spoken falsely to the state.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I know it, and it shakes me to the core.<br /> +To yield is dreadful: but resistingly<br /> +To face the blow of fate, is full of dread.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +The time calls loud on wisdom, good my lord.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +What must I do? Advise me. I will obey.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Go and release the maiden from the vault,<br /> +And make a grave for the unburied dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Is that your counsel? Think you I will yield?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +With all the speed thou mayest: swift harms from heaven<br /> +With instant doom o’erwhelm the froward man.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Oh! it is hard. But I am forced to this<br /> +Against myself. I cannot fight with Destiny.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 34]</span><span class="linenum">[1107-1145]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Go now to do it. Trust no second hand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Even as I am, I go. Come, come, my people.<br /> +Here or not here, with mattocks in your hands<br /> +Set forth immediately to yonder hill!<br /> +And, since I have ta’en this sudden turn, myself,<br /> +Who tied the knot, will hasten to unloose it.<br /> +For now the fear comes over me, ’tis best<br /> +To pass one’s life in the accustomed round.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">O God of many a name!</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +Filling the heart of that Cadmeian bride<br /> +<span class="in6">With deep delicious pride,</span><br /> +Offspring of him who wields the withering flame!<br /> +<span class="in6">Thou for Italia’s good</span><br /> +Dost care, and ’midst <a href="#Anti_n_7" name="Anti_t_7" id="Anti_t_7">the all-gathering bosom wide</a><br /> +<span class="in6">Of Dêo dost preside;</span><br /> +Thou, Bacchus, by Ismenus’ winding waters<br /> +<span class="in6">’Mongst Thebè’s frenzied daughters,</span><br /> +Keep’st haunt, commanding the fierce dragon’s brood.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Thee o’er the forkèd hill</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +The pinewood flame beholds, where Bacchai rove,<br /> +<span class="in6">Nymphs of Corycian grove,</span><br /> +Hard by the flowing of Castalia’s rill.<br /> +<span class="in6">To visit Theban ways,</span><br /> +By bloomy wine-cliffs flushing tender bright<br /> +<span class="in6">’Neath far Nyseian height</span><br /> +Thou movest o’er the ivy-mantled mound,<br /> +<span class="in6">While myriad voices sound</span><br /> +Loud strains of ‘Evoe!’ to thy deathless praise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">For Thebè thou dost still uphold,</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +First of cities manifold,<br /> +Thou and the nymph whom lightning made<br /> +Mother of thy radiant head.<br /> +Come then with healing for the violent woe<br /> +That o’er our peopled land doth largely flow,<br /> +Passing the high Parnassian steep<br /> +Or moaning narrows of the deep!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 35]</span> +<span class="in0">Come, leader of the starry quire</span><span class="chm">II 2 <span class="chln">[1146-1179]</span></span><br /> +Quick-panting with their breath of fire!<br /> +Lord of high voices of the night,<br /> +Child born to him who dwells in light,<br /> +Appear with those who, joying in their madness,<br /> +Honour the sole dispenser of their gladness,<br /> +Thyiads of the Aegean main<br /> +Night-long trooping in thy train.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">Messenger</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Neighbours of Cadmus and Amphion’s halls,<br /> +No life of mortal, howsoe’er it stand,<br /> +Shall once have praise or censure from my mouth;<br /> +Since human happiness and human woe<br /> +Come even as fickle Fortune smiles or lours;<br /> +And none can augur aught from what we see.<br /> +Creon erewhile to me was enviable,<br /> +Who saved our Thebè from her enemies;<br /> +Then, vested with supreme authority,<br /> +Ruled her aright; and flourish’d in his home<br /> +With noblest progeny. What hath he now?<br /> +Nothing. For when a man is lost to joy,<br /> +I count him not to live, but reckon him<br /> +A living corse. Riches belike are his,<br /> +Great riches and the appearance of a King;<br /> +But if no gladness come to him, all else<br /> +Is shadow of a vapour, weighed with joy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What new affliction heaped on sovereignty<br /> +Com’st thou to tell?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +<span class="in8">They are dead; and they that live</span><br /> +Are guilty of the death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in12">The slayer, who?</span><br /> +And who the slain? Declare.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +<span class="in14">Haemon is dead,</span><br /> +And by a desperate hand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in14">His own, or Creon’s?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +By his own hand, impelled with violent wrath<br /> +At Creon for the murder of the maid.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Ah, Seer! how surely didst thou aim thy word!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +So stands the matter. Make of it what ye list.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 36]</span><span class="linenum">[1180-1217]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +See, from the palace cometh close to us<br /> +Creon’s unhappy wife, Eurydicè.<br /> +Is it by chance, or heard she of her son?</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">EURYDICE</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EURYDICE.</span> +Ye men of Thebes, the tidings met mine ear<br /> +As I was coming forth to visit Pallas<br /> +With prayerful salutation. I was loosening<br /> +The bar of the closed gate, when the sharp sound<br /> +Of mine own sorrow smote against my heart,<br /> +And I fell back astonied on my maids<br /> +And fainted. But the tale? tell me once more;<br /> +I am no novice in adversity.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Dear lady, I will tell thee what I saw,<br /> +And hide no grain of truth: why should I soothe<br /> +Thy spirit with soft tales, when the harsh fact<br /> +Must prove me a liar? Truth is always best.<br /> +I duly led the footsteps of thy lord<br /> +To the highest point of the plain, where still was lying,<br /> +Forlorn and mangled by the dogs, the corse<br /> +Of Polynices. We besought Persephonè<br /> +And Pluto gently to restrain their wrath,<br /> +And wash’d him pure and clean, and then we burned<br /> +The poor remains with brushwood freshly pulled,<br /> +And heaped a lofty mound of his own earth<br /> +Above him. Then we turned us to the vault,<br /> +The maiden’s stony bride-chamber of death.<br /> +And from afar, round the unhallowed cell,<br /> +One heard a voice of wailing loud and long,<br /> +And went and told his lord: who coming near<br /> +Was haunted by the dim and bitter cry,<br /> +And suddenly exclaiming on his fate<br /> +Said lamentably, ‘My prophetic heart<br /> +Divined aright. I am going, of all ways<br /> +That e’er I went, the unhappiest to-day.<br /> +My son’s voice smites me. Go, my men, approach<br /> +With speed, and, where the stones are torn away,<br /> +Press through the passage to that door of death,<br /> +Look hard, and tell me, if I hear aright<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 37]</span><span class="linenum">[1218-1252]</span> +The voice of Haemon, or the gods deceive me.’<br /> +Thus urged by our despairing lord, we made<br /> +Th’ espial. And in the farthest nook of the vault<br /> +We saw the maiden hanging by the neck<br /> +With noose of finest tissue firmly tied,<br /> +And clinging to her on his knees the boy,<br /> +Lamenting o’er his ruined nuptial-rite,<br /> +Consummated in death, his father’s crime<br /> +And his lost love. And when the father saw him,<br /> +With loud and dreadful clamour bursting in<br /> +He went to him and called him piteously:<br /> +‘What deed is this, unhappy youth? What thought<br /> +O’ermaster’d thee? Where did the force of woe<br /> +O’erturn thy reason? O come forth, my son,<br /> +I beg thee!’ But with savage eyes the youth<br /> +Glared scowling at him, and without a word<br /> +Plucked forth his two-edged blade. The father then<br /> +Fled and escaped: but the unhappy boy,<br /> +Wroth with himself, even where he stood, leant heavily<br /> +Upon his sword and plunged it in his side.—<br /> +And while the sense remained, his slackening arm<br /> +Enfolded still the maiden, and his breath,<br /> +Gaspingly drawn and panted forth with pain,<br /> +Cast ruddy drops upon her pallid face;<br /> +Then lay in death upon the dead, at last<br /> +Joined to his bride in Hades’ dismal hall:—<br /> +A monument unto mankind, that rashness<br /> +Is the worst evil of this mortal state.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">EURYDICE</span></span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What augur ye from this? The queen is gone<br /> +Without word spoken either good or bad.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +I, too, am struck with dread. But hope consoles me,<br /> +That having heard the affliction of her son,<br /> +Her pride forbids to publish her lament<br /> +Before the town, but to her maids within<br /> +She will prescribe to mourn the loss of the house.<br /> +She is too tried in judgement to do ill.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +I cannot tell. The extreme of silence, too,<br /> +Is dangerous, no less than much vain noise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 38]</span><span class="linenum">[1253-1283]</span> +<span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Well, we may learn, if there be aught unseen<br /> +Suppressed within her grief-distempered soul,<br /> +By going within the palace. Ye say well:<br /> +There is a danger, even in too much silence.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Ah! look where sadly comes our lord the King,<br /> +Bearing upon his arm a monument—<br /> +If we may speak it—of no foreign woe,<br /> +But of his own infirmity the fruit.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CREON</span> with the body of <span class="cnm">HAEMON</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +O error of my insensate soul,<span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +Stubborn, and deadly in the fateful end!<br /> +O ye who now behold<br /> +Slayer and slain of the same kindred blood!<br /> +O bitter consequence of seeming-wise decree!<br /> +Alas, my son!<br /> +Strange to the world wert thou, and strange the fate<br /> +That took thee off, that slew thee; woe is me!<br /> +Not for thy rashness, but my folly. Ah me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Alas for him who sees the right too late!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Alas!<br /> +I have learnt it now. But then upon my head<br /> +Some God had smitten with dire weight of doom;<br /> +And plunged me in a furious course, woe is me!<br /> +Discomforting and trampling on my joy.<br /> +Woe! for the bitterness of mortal pain!</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">2nd Messenger</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">2ND MESS.</span> +My lord and master. Thou art master here<br /> +Of nought but sorrows. One within thine arms<br /> +Thou bear’st with thee, and in thy palace hall<br /> +Thou hast possession of another grief,<br /> +Which soon thou shalt behold.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in18">What more of woe,</span><br /> +Or what more woeful, sounds anew from thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">2ND MESS.</span> +The honoured mother of that corse, thy queen,<br /> +Is dead, and bleeding with a new-given wound.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 39]</span> +<span class="cnm">CR.</span> +O horrible! O charnel gulf<span class="chm">I 2 <span class="chln">[1284-1325]</span></span><br /> +Of death on death, not to be done away,<br /> +Why harrowest thou my soul?<br /> +Ill boding harbinger of woe, what word<br /> +Have thy lips uttered? Oh, thou hast killed me again,<br /> +Before undone!<br /> +What say’st? What were thy tidings? Woe is me!<br /> +Saidst thou a slaughtered queen in yonder hall<br /> +Lay in her blood, crowning the pile of ruin?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +No longer hidden in the house. Behold!<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>The Corpse of <span class="cnm">EURYDICE</span> is disclosed</span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Alas!<br /> +Again I see a new, a second woe.<br /> +What more calamitous stroke of Destiny<br /> +Awaits me still? But now mine arms enfold<br /> +My child, and lo! yon corse before my face!<br /> +Ah! hapless, hapless mother, hapless son!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">2ND MESS.</span> +<a href="#Anti_n_8" name="Anti_t_8" id="Anti_t_8">She with keen knife before the altar place</a><br /> +Closed her dark orbs; but first lamented loud<br /> +<a href="#Anti_n_9" name="Anti_t_9" id="Anti_t_9">The glorious bed of buried Megareus,</a><br /> +And then of Haemon; lastly clamoured forth<br /> +The curse of murdered offspring upon thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Ay me! Ay me!<span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +I am rapt with terror. Is there none to strike me<br /> +With doubly sharpened blade a mortal blow?<br /> +Ah! I am plunged in fathomless distress.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">2ND MESS.</span> +The guilt of this and of the former grief<br /> +By this dead lady was denounced on thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Tell us, how ended she her life in blood?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">2ND MESS.</span> +Wounding herself to the heart, when she had heard<br /> +The loud lamented death of Haemon here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +O me! This crime can come<br /> +On no man else, exempting me.<br /> +I slew thee—I, O misery!<br /> +I say the truth, ’twas I! My followers,<br /> +Take me with speed—take me away, away!<br /> +Me, who am nothing now.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 40]</span><span class="linenum">[1326-1353]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thou sayest the best, if there be best in woe.<br /> +Briefest is happiest in calamity.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR. </span> +Ah! let it come,<span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +The day, most welcome of all days to me,<br /> +That brings the consummation of my doom.<br /> +Come! Come! I would not see another sun.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Time will determine that. We must attend<br /> +To present needs. Fate works her own dread work.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +All my desire was gathered in my prayer.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +But prayer is bootless. For to mortal men<br /> +There is no saviour from appointed woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Take me away, the vain-proud man that slew<br /> +Thee, O my son! unwittingly,—and thee!<br /> +Me miserable, which way shall I turn,<br /> +Which look upon? Since all that I can touch<br /> +Is falling,—falling,—round me, and o’erhead<br /> +Intolerable destiny descends.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Wise conduct hath command of happiness</span><br /> +Before all else, and piety to Heaven<br /> +Must be preserved. High boastings of the proud<br /> +Bring sorrow to the height to punish pride:—<br /> +A lesson men shall learn when they are old.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + + + +<div><span class="page2" id="pg041">[page 41]</span></div> +<h2>AIAS</h2> + + +<h3>THE PERSONS</h3> + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li>ATHENA.</li> +<li>ODYSSEUS.</li> +<li>AIAS, <i>the son of Telamon.</i></li> +<li>CHORUS <i>of Salaminian Mariners.</i></li> +<li>TECMESSA.</li> +<li><i>A Messenger.</i></li> +<li>TEUCER, <i>half brother of Aias.</i></li> +<li>MENELAUS.</li> +<li>AGAMEMNON.</li> +<li> </li> +<li>EURYSAKÈS, <i>the child of Aias and Tecmessa, appears, +but does not speak.</i></li> +</ul> + +<p class="lftbrk">SCENE. Before the encampment of Aias on the shore +of the Troad. Afterwards a lonely place beyond +Rhoeteum.</p> + +<p class="left">Time, towards the end of the Trojan War.</p> + + + + + +<div class="ctr"><p class="break"><span class="page2">[page 42]</span> +<i>‘A wounded spirit who can bear?’</i></p></div> + +<p class="break">After the death of Achilles, the armour made for him by +Hephaestus was to be given to the worthiest of the surviving +Greeks. Although Aias was the most valiant, the judges +made the award to Odysseus, because he was the wisest.</p> + +<p>Aias in his rage attempts to kill the generals; but +Athena sends madness upon him, and he makes a raid +upon the flocks and herds of the army, imagining the +bulls and rams to be the Argive chiefs. On awakening +from his delusion, he finds that he has fallen irrecoverably +from honour and from the favour of the Greeks. He also +imagines that the anger of Athena is unappeasable. Under +this impression he eludes the loving eyes of his captive-bride +Tecmessa, and of his Salaminian comrades, and falls +on his sword. (‘The soul and body rive not more in parting +Than greatness going off.’)</p> + +<p>But it is revealed through the prophet Calchas, that the +wrath of Athena will last only for a day; and on the return +of Teucer, Aias receives an honoured funeral, the tyrannical +reclamations of the two sons of Atreus being overcome by +the firm fidelity of Teucer and the magnanimity of Odysseus, +who has been inspired for this purpose by Athena.</p> + + + + +<p><span class="page2">[page 43]</span></p> +<h3>AIAS</h3> + + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">ATHENA</span> (above). <span class="cnm">ODYSSEUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATHENA.</span> +Oft have I seen thee, Laërtiades,<br /> +Intent on some surprisal of thy foes;<br /> +As now I find thee by the seaward camp,<br /> +Where Aias holds the last place in your line,<br /> +Lingering in quest, and scanning the fresh print<br /> +Of his late footsteps, to be certified<br /> +If he keep house or no. Right well thy sense<br /> +Hath led thee forth, like some keen hound of Sparta!<br /> +The man is even but now come home, his head<br /> +And slaughterous hands reeking with ardent toil.<br /> +Thou, then, no longer strain thy gaze within<br /> +Yon gateway, but declare what eager chase<br /> +Thou followest, that a god may give thee light.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ODYSSEUS.</span> +Athena, ’tis thy voice! Dearest in heaven,<br /> +How well discerned and welcome to my soul<br /> +From that dim distance doth thine utterance fly<br /> +In tones as of Tyrrhenian trumpet clang!<br /> +Rightly hast thou divined mine errand here,<br /> +Beating this ground for Aias of the shield,<br /> +The lion-quarry whom I track to day.<br /> +For he hath wrought on us to night a deed<br /> +Past thought—if he be doer of this thing;<br /> +We drift in ignorant doubt, unsatisfied—<br /> +And I unbidden have bound me to this toil.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +Brief time hath flown since suddenly we knew<br /> +That all our gathered spoil was reaved and slaughtered,<br /> +Flocks, herds, and herdmen, by some human hand,<br /> +All tongues, then, lay this deed at Aias’ door.<br /> +And one, a scout who had marked him, all alone,<br /> +With new-fleshed weapon bounding o’er the plain,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 44]</span><span class="linenum">[31-66]</span> +Gave me to know it, when immediately<br /> +I darted on the trail, and here in part<br /> +I find some trace to guide me, but in part<br /> +I halt, amazed, and know not where to look.<br /> +Thou com’st full timely. For my venturous course,<br /> +Past or to come, is governed by thy will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +I knew thy doubts, Odysseus, and came forth<br /> +Zealous to guard thy perilous hunting-path.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Dear Queen! and am I labouring to an end?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Thou schem’st not idly. This is Aias’ deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +What can have roused him to a work so wild?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +His grievous anger for Achilles’ arms.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +But wherefore on the flock this violent raid?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +He thought to imbrue his hands with your heart’s blood.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +What? Was this planned against the Argives, then?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Planned, and performed, had I kept careless guard.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +What daring spirit, what hardihood, was here!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Alone by night in craft he sought your tents.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +How? Came he near them? Won he to his goal?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +He stood in darkness at the generals’ gates.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +What then restrained his eager hand from murder?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +I turned him backward from his baleful joy,<br /> +And overswayed him with blind phantasies,<br /> +To swerve against the flocks and well-watched herd<br /> +Not yet divided from the public booty.<br /> +There plunging in he hewed the horned throng,<br /> +And with him Havoc ranged: while now he thought<br /> +To kill the Atreidae with hot hand, now this<br /> +Now that commander, as the fancy grew.<br /> +I, joining with the tumult of his mind,<br /> +Flung the wild victim on the fatal net.<br /> +Anon, this toil being overpast, he draws<br /> +The living oxen and the panting sheep<br /> +With cords to his home, not as a hornèd prey,<br /> +But as in triumph marshalling his foes:<br /> +Whom now he tortures in their bonds within.<br /> +<span class="in2">Come, thou shalt see this madness in clear day,</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 45]</span><span class="linenum">[67-100]</span> +And tell to the Argives all I show thee here<br /> +Only stand firm and shrink not, I will turn<br /> +His eyes askance, not to distinguish thee,<br /> +Fear nought—Ho! thou that bindest to thy will<br /> +The limbs of those thy captives, come thou forth!<br /> +Aias! advance before thy palace gate!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +My Queen! what dost thou? Never call him forth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Hush, hush! Be not so timorous, but endure.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Nay, nay! Enough. He is there, and let him bide.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +What fear you? Dates his valour from to day?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +He was and is my valiant enemy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Then is not laughter sweetest o’er a foe?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +No more! I care not he should pass abroad.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +You flinch from seeing the madman in full view.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +When sane, I ne’er had flinched before his face.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Well, but even now he shall not know thee near.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +How, if his eyes be not transformed or lost?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +I will confound his sense although he see.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Well, nothing is too hard for Deity.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Stand still and keep thy place without a word.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +I must. Would I were far away from here!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Aias! Again I summon thee. Why pay<br /> +So scanty heed to her who fights for thee?</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">AIAS</span> with a bloody scourge.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AIAS.</span> +Hail, offspring of the Highest! Pallas, hail!<br /> +Well hast thou stood by me. Triumphal gold<br /> +Shall crown thy temple for this lordly prey.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +A fair intention! But resolve me this:<br /> +Hast dyed thy falchion deep in Argive blood?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +There is my boast; that charge I’ll ne’er deny.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Have Atreus’ sons felt thy victorious might?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +They have. No more they’ll make a scorn of me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +I take it, then, they are dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +<span class="in24">Ay, now they are dead,</span><br /> +Let them arise and rob me of mine arms!</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 46]</span><span class="linenum">[101-133]</span> +<span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Good. Next inform us of Laërtes’ son;<br /> +How stands his fortune? Hast thou let him go?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +The accursed fox! Dost thou inquire of him?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Ay, of Odysseus, thy late adversary.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +He sits within, dear lady, to my joy,<br /> +Bound; for I mean him not just yet to die.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +What fine advantage wouldst thou first achieve?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +First, tie him to a pillar of my hall—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Poor wretch! What torment wilt thou wreak on him?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Then stain his back with scourging till he die.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Nay, ’tis too much. Poor caitiff! Not the scourge!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Pallas, in all things else have thou thy will,<br /> +But none shall wrest Odysseus from this doom.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Well, since thou art determined on the deed,<br /> +Spare nought of thine intent: indulge thy hand!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +(<span class="sdm">waving the bloody scourge</span>.)<br /> +I go! But thou, I charge thee, let thine aid<br /> +Be evermore like valiant as to-day.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +The gods are strong, Odysseus. Dost thou see?<br /> +What man than Aias was more provident,<br /> +Or who for timeliest action more approved?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +I know of none. But, though he hates me sore,<br /> +I pity him, poor mortal, thus chained fast<br /> +To a wild and cruel fate,—weighing not so much<br /> +His fortune as mine own. For now I feel<br /> +All we who live are but an empty show<br /> +And idle pageant of a shadowy dream.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Then, warned by what thou seest, be thou not rash<br /> +To vaunt high words toward Heaven, nor swell thy port<br /> +Too proudly, if in puissance of thy hand<br /> +Thou passest others, or in mines of wealth.<br /> +Since Time abases and uplifts again<br /> +All that is human, and the modest heart<br /> +Is loved by Heaven, who hates the intemperate will.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 47]</span><span class="linenum">[134-156]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span> (entering).</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">Telamonian child, whose hand</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Guards our wave-encircled land,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Salamis that breasts the sea,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Good of thine is joy to me;</span><br /> +<span class="in6">But if One who reigns above</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Smite thee, or if murmurs move</span><br /> +<span class="in6">From fierce Danaäns in their hate</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Full of threatening to thy state,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">All my heart for fear doth sigh,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Shrinking like a dove’s soft eye.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">Hardly had the darkness waned,</span><span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Half-Chorus I.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">When our ears were filled and pained</span><br /> +<span class="in6">With huge scandal on thy fame.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Telling, thine the arm that came</span><br /> +<span class="in6">To the cattle-browsèd mead,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Wild with prancing of the steed,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">And that ravaged there and slew</span><br /> +<span class="in6">With a sword of fiery hue</span><br /> +<span class="in6">All the spoils that yet remain,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">By the sweat of spearmen ta’en.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">Such report against thy life,</span><span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Half-Chorus II.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Whispered words with falsehood rife,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Wise Odysseus bringing near</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Shrewdly gaineth many an ear:</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Since invention against thee</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Findeth hearing speedily,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Tallying with the moment’s birth;</span><br /> +<span class="in6">And with loudly waxing mirth</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Heaping insult on thy grief,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Each who hears it glories more</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Than the tongue that told before.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Every slander wins belief</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Aimed at souls whose worth is chief:</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Shot at me, or one so small,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Such a bolt might harmless fall.</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 48]</span><span class="linenum">[157-192]</span> +<span class="in6">Ever toward the great and high</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Creepeth climbing jealousy</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Yet the low without the tall</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Make at need a tottering wall</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Let the strong the feeble save</span><br /> +<span class="in6">And the mean support the brave.</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">Ah! ’twere vain to tune such song</span><br /> +<span class="in6">’Mid the nought discerning throng</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Who are clamouring now ’gainst thee</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Long and loud, and strengthless we,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Mighty chieftain, thou away,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">To withstand the gathering fray</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Flocking fowl with carping cry</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Seem they, lurking from thine eye,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Till the royal eagle’s poise</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Overawe the paltry noise</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Till before thy presence hushed</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Sudden sink they, mute and crushed.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Did bull slaying Artemis, Zeus’ cruel daughter</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in2">(Ah, fearful rumour, fountain of my shame!)</span><br /> +Prompt thy fond heart to this disastrous slaughter<br /> +<span class="in2">Of the full herd stored in our army’s name!</span><br /> +Say, had <a href="#Aias_n_1" name="Aias_t_1" id="Aias_t_1">her blood stained temple</a> missed the kindness<br /> +<span class="in2">Of some vow promised fruit of victory,</span><br /> +Foiled of some glorious armour through thy blindness,<br /> +<span class="in2">Or fell some stag ungraced by gift from thee?</span><br /> +Or did stern Ares venge his thankless spear<br /> +Through this night foray that hath cost thee dear!</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">For never, if thy heart were not distracted</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in2">By stings from Heaven, O child of Telamon,</span><br /> +Wouldst thou have bounded leftward, to have acted<br /> +<span class="in2">Thus wildly, spoiling all our host hath won!</span><br /> +Madness might fall some heavenly power forfend it<br /> +<span class="in2">But if Odysseus and the tyrant lords</span><br /> +Suggest a forged tale, O rise to end it,<br /> +<span class="in2">Nor fan the fierce flame of their withering words!</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 49]</span><span class="linenum">[201-226]</span> +Forth from thy tent, and let thine eye confound<br /> +<a href="#Aias_n_2" name="Aias_t_2" id="Aias_t_2">The brood of Sisyphus</a> that would thee wound!</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Too long hast thou been fixed in grim repose,</span><span class="chm">III</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Heightening the haughty malice of thy foes,</span><br /> +That, while thou porest by the sullen sea,<br /> +<span class="in2">Through breezy glades advanceth fearlessly,</span><br /> +A mounting blaze with crackling laughter fed<br /> +From myriad throats; whence pain and sorrow bred<br /> +Within my bosom are establishèd.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">TECMESSA</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TECMESSA.</span> +Helpers of Aias’ vessel’s speed,<br /> +Erechtheus’ earth-derivèd seed,<br /> +Sorrows are ours who truly care<br /> +For the house of Telamon afar.<br /> +The dread, the grand, the rugged form<br /> +<span class="in6">Of him we know,</span><br /> +Is stricken with a troublous storm;<br /> +<span class="in4">Our Aias’ glory droopeth low.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHORUS.</span> +What burden through the darkness fell<br /> +Where still at eventide ’twas well?<br /> +Phrygian Teleutas’ daughter, say;<br /> +Since Aias, foremost in the fray,<br /> +Disdaining not the spear-won bride,<br /> +Still holds thee nearest at his side,<br /> +And thou may’st solve our doubts aright.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +How shall I speak the dreadful word?<br /> +How shall ye live when ye have heard?<br /> +Madness hath seized our lord by night<br /> +And blasted him with hopeless blight.<br /> +Such horrid victims mightst thou see<br /> +Huddled beneath yon canopy,<br /> +Torn by red hands and dyed in blood,<br /> +Dread offerings to his direful mood.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What news of our fierce lord thy story showeth,<span class="chm">1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Sharp to endure, impossible to fly!</span><br /> +News that on tongues of Danaäns hourly groweth,<br /> +<span class="in4">Which Rumour’s myriad voices multiply!</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 50]</span><span class="linenum">[227-266]</span> +Alas! the approaching doom awakes my terror.<br /> +<span class="in4">The man will die, disgraced in open day,</span><br /> +Whose dark dyed steel hath dared through mad brained error<br /> +<span class="in4">The mounted herdmen with their herds to slay.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +O horror! Then ’twas there he found</span><br /> +<span class="in6">The flock he brought as captives tied,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And some he slew upon the ground,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">And some, side smiting, sundered wide</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Two white foot rams he backward drew,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And bound. Of one he shore and threw</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The tipmost tongue and head away,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The other to an upright stay</span><br /> +<span class="in4">He tied, and with a harness thong</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Doubled in hand, gave whizzing blows,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Echoing his lashes with a song</span><br /> +<span class="in6">More dire than mortal fury knows.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Ah! then ’tis time, our heads in mantles hiding,<span class="chm">2</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Our feet on some stol’n pathway now to ply,</span><br /> +Or with swift oarage o’er the billows gliding,<br /> +<span class="in4">With ordered stroke to make the good ship fly</span><br /> +Such threats the Atridae, armed with two fold power,<br /> +<span class="in4">Launch to assail us. Oh, I sadly fear</span><br /> +Stones from fierce hands on us and him will shower,<br /> +<span class="in4">Whose heavy plight no comfort may come near.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +’Tis changed, his rage, like sudden blast,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Without the lightning gleam is past</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And now that Reason’s light returns,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">New sorrow in his spirit burns.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">For when we look on self made woe,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">In which no hand but ours had part,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Thought of such griefs and whence they flow</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Brings aching misery to the heart.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +If he hath ceased to rave, he should do well<br /> +The account of evil lessens when ’tis past.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +If choice were given you, would you rather choose<br /> +Hurting your friends, yourself to feel delight,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 51]</span><span class="linenum">[267-302]</span> +Or share with them in one commingled pain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +The two fold trouble is more terrible.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Then comes our torment now the fit is o’er.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +How mean’st thou by that word? I fail to see.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +He in his rage had rapture of delight<br /> +And knew not how he grieved us who stood near<br /> +And saw the madding tempest ruining him.<br /> +But now ’tis over and he breathes anew,<br /> +The counterblast of sorrow shakes his soul,<br /> +Whilst our affliction vexeth as before,<br /> +Have we not double for our single woe?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +I feel thy reasoning move me, and I fear<br /> +Some heavenly stroke hath fallen. How else, when the end<br /> +Of stormy sickness brings no cheering ray?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Our state is certain. Dream not but ’tis so.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +How first began the assault of misery?<br /> +Tell us the trouble, for we share the pain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +It toucheth you indeed, and ye shall hear<br /> +All from the first. ’Twas midnight, and the lamp<br /> +Of eve had died, when, seizing his sharp blade,<br /> +He sought on some vain errand to creep forth.<br /> +I broke in with my word: ‘Aias, what now?<br /> +Why thus uncalled for salliest thou? No voice<br /> +Of herald summoned thee. No trumpet blew.<br /> +What wouldst thou when the camp is hushed in sleep?’<br /> +He with few words well known to women’s ears<br /> +Checked me: ‘The silent partner is the best.’<br /> +I saw how ’twas and ceased. Forth then he fared<br /> +Alone—What horror passed upon the plain<br /> +This night, I know not. But he drags within,<br /> +Tied in a throng, bulls, shepherd dogs, and spoil<br /> +Of cattle and sheep. Anon he butchers them,<br /> +Felling or piercing, hacking or tearing wide,<br /> +Ribs from breast, limb from limb. Others in rage<br /> +He seized and bound and tortured, brutes for men.<br /> +Last, out he rushed before the doors, and there<br /> +Whirled forth wild language to some shadowy form,<br /> +Flouting the generals and Laërtes’ son<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 52]</span><span class="linenum">[303-341]</span> +With torrent laughter and loud triumphing<br /> +What in his raid he had wreaked to their despite.<br /> +Then diving back within—the fitful storm<br /> +Slowly assuaging left his spirit clear.<br /> +And when his eye had lightened through the room<br /> +Cumbered with ruin, smiting on his brow<br /> +He roared; and, tumbling down amid the wreck<br /> +Of woolly carnage he himself had made,<br /> +Sate with clenched hand tight twisted in his hair.<br /> +Long stayed he so in silence. Then flashed forth<br /> +Those frightful words of threatening vehemence,<br /> +That bade me show him all the night’s mishap,<br /> +And whither he was fallen I, dear my friends,<br /> +Prevailed on through my fear, told all I knew.<br /> +And all at once he raised a bitter cry,<br /> +Which heretofore I ne’er had heard, for still<br /> +He made us think such doleful utterance<br /> +Betokened the dull craven spirit, and still<br /> +Dumb to shrill wailings, he would only moan<br /> +With half heard muttering, like an angry bull.<br /> +But now, by such dark fortune overpowered,<br /> +Foodless and dry, amid the quivering heap<br /> +His steel hath quelled, all quietly he broods;<br /> +And out of doubt his mind intends some harm:<br /> +Such words, such groans, burst from him. O my friends.—<br /> +Therefore I hastened,—enter and give aid<br /> +If aught ye can! Men thus forgone will oft<br /> +Grow milder through the counsel of a friend.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Teleutas’ child! we shudder at thy tale<br /> +That fatal frenzy wastes our hero’s soul.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AIAS</span> +(<span class="sdm">within</span>). Woe’s me, me, me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +More cause anon! Hear ye not Aias there,<br /> +How sharp the cry that shrills from him?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +<span class="in26">Woe! Woe!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Madly it sounds—Or springs it of deep grief<br /> +For proofs of madness harrowing to his eye?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Boy, boy!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +<span class="in8">What means he? Oh, Eurysakes!</span><br /> +He cries on thee. Where art thou? O my heart!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 53]</span><span class="linenum">[342-376]</span> +<span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Teucer I call! Where ’s Teucer? Will he ne’er<br /> +Come from the chase, but leave me to my doom?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Not madness now. Disclose him. Let us look.<br /> +Haply the sight of us may calm his soul.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +There, then; I open to your view the form<br /> +Of Aias, and his fortunes as they are.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">AIAS</span> is discovered</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Dear comrades of the deep, whose truth and love</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Stand forth alone unbroken in my woe,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Behold what gory sea</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Of storm-lashed agony</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Doth round and round me flow!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +(<span class="sdm">to <span class="cnm">TEC.</span></span>). Too true thy witness: for the fact cries out<br /> +Wild thoughts were here and Reason’s lamp extinct.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Strong helpers of sea-speed, whose nimble hand</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Plied hither the salt oar with circling stroke,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">No shepherd there was found</span><br /> +<span class="in8">To give the avenging wound.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Come, lay me with the flock!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Speak no rash word! nor curing ill with ill<br /> +Augment the plague of this calamity.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Mark ye the brave and bold,</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Whom none could turn of old,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">When once he set his face to the fierce fight?</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Now beasts that thought no harm</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Have felt this puissant arm.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">O laughter of my foes! O mockery of my might!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Aias, my lord! I entreat thee, speak not so!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Thou here! Away! begone, and trouble me not!<br /> +O! O!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Be softened! bear a steadier mind!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +O heaven-accursèd hand</span><br /> +<span class="in6">That let the ruffians go,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But falling ’midst the horn’d and bleating band,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Made darkling blood-streams flow!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 54]</span><span class="linenum">[377-409]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Why vex thy heart with what is over and done?<br /> +Do what we may, this ne’er will alter now.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Child of Laërtes old,</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Thou that dost still behold</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And still contrive all shapes of monstrous ill,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Winding in foulest ways</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Through the army’s sinful maze,—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Now even for pleasure thou may’st laugh thy fill.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Laughter and tears are in the gift of God.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Ay, might I see him, though thus broken,—ay me!<br /> +Even yet—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Nay, vaunt not. Look where thou art fallen.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Source where my life-blood springs,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">O Zeus, might I but slay</span><br /> +<span class="in4">That crafty plague, with those twin-sceptred kings,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Then breathe my life away!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Pray thus, and pray that I too be no more!<br /> +If thou wert gone, what were my life to me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Darkness! my only light!</span><span class="chm">III 1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">O nether gloom, to me</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Brighter than morning to the wakeful eye!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Take me to dwell with thee.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Take me! What help? Zeus’ daughter with fell might</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Torments me sore. I may not look on high,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Nor to the tribe of momentary men.—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Oh, whither, then,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Should it avail to fly?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Ah! whither should I go and stay?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">All here is ruin. This mad prey</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Shames me for evermore:</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Vengeance is at the door;</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Yea, all the Achaean host, with armèd hand,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Is ready at command</span><br /> +<span class="in4">To slay me o’er and o’er.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 55]</span><span class="linenum">[410-447]</span> +<span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Woe ’s me! to hear from one so good and true<br /> +Words he had scorned to utter in past days.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Grey firths of foaming brine,<span class="chm">III 2</span> +And ye, deep groves, that crown<br /> +The sea-caves and long cliffs upon the shore,<br /> +Too long did ye confine<br /> +My life about the walls of Troia’s town:<br /> +But no more now! a breathing man, no more!<br /> +The wise in heart may duly learn that lore.<br /> +Let Xanthus know,<br /> +Whose waters neighbouring flow,<br /> +And minister to Argive men:<br /> +One man he ne’er shall see again;<br /> +One, I will vaunt it forth!<br /> +Highest in warlike worth<br /> +Of all Greek forms that Troia’s towers have eyed:<br /> +Now, shorn of all that pride,<br /> +I lie thus low.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +I know not how to let thee speak, nor how<br /> +To silence thee. Such evils close thee round.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Ay me!<br /> +<span class="in12">Could human thought have prophesied</span><br /> +My name would thus give echo to mine ill?<br /> +‘Ai’ now for Aias, doubly, trebly said,<br /> +Sorts all too well to mark my misery;<br /> +Whose father from this land of Troy, as noblest<br /> +Of all the host, carrying the fairest prize,<br /> +Came girt about with glory to his home.<br /> +But I his son, not less of might than he,<br /> +Nor poorer in the achievements of my hand,<br /> +To this same region following in my prime,<br /> +Am scouted by the Achaeans and destroyed.<br /> +Yet know I one thing well. Had Peleus’ child,<br /> +Living, adjudged his armour as a meed<br /> +Of well-tried bravery, no grasp save mine<br /> +Had clutched it. But the Atridae with mean craft<br /> +Conveyed his heirloom to a wit-proud knave,<br /> +Whilst Aias’ peerless prowess was despised.<br /> +And had not this mine eye and mind distraught<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 56]</span><span class="linenum">[448-486]</span> +Glanced from my purpose, ne’er again had they<br /> +Perverted judgement. But the invincible<br /> +Stern daughter of the Highest, with baneful eye,<br /> +Even as mine arm descended, baffled me,<br /> +And hurled upon my soul a frenzied plague,<br /> +To stain my hand with these dumb victims’ blood.<br /> +And those mine enemies exult in safety,—<br /> +Not with my will; but where a God misguides,<br /> +Strong arms are thwarted and the weakling lives.<br /> +<span class="in2">Now, what remains? Heaven hates me, ’tis too clear:</span><br /> +The Grecian host abhor me: Troy, with all<br /> +This country round our camp, is my sworn foe.<br /> +Shall I, across the Aegean sailing home,<br /> +Leave these Atridae and their fleet forlorn?<br /> +How shall I dare to front my father’s eye?<br /> +How will he once endure to look on me,<br /> +Denuded of the prize of high renown,<br /> +Whose coronal stood sparkling on his brow?<br /> +No! ’twere too dreadful. Then shall I advance<br /> +Before the Trojan battlements, and there<br /> +In single conflict doing valiantly<br /> +Last die upon their spears? Nay, for by this<br /> +I might perchance make Atreus’ offspring glad.<br /> +That may not be imagined. I must find<br /> +Some act to let my grey-haired father feel<br /> +No heartless recreant once called him sire.<br /> +Shame on the wight who when beset with ill<br /> +Cares to live on in misery unrelieved.<br /> +Can hour outlasting hour make less or more<br /> +Of death? Whereby then can it furnish joy?<br /> +That mortal weighs for nothing-worth with me,<br /> +Whom Hope can comfort with her fruitless fire.<br /> +Honour in life or honour in the grave<br /> +Befits the noble heart. You hear my will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +From thine own spirit, Aias, all may tell,<br /> +That utterance came, and none have prompted thee.<br /> +Yet stay thy hurrying thought, and by thy friends<br /> +Be ruled to loose this burden from thy mind.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +O my great master! heaviest of all woe<br /> +Is theirs whose life is crushed beyond recall.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 57]</span><span class="linenum">[487-526]</span> +I, born of one the mightiest of the free<br /> +And wealthiest in the Phrygian land, am now<br /> +A captive. So Heaven willed, and thy strong arm<br /> +Determined. Therefore, since the hour that made<br /> +My being one with thine, I breathe for thee;<br /> +And I beseech thee by the sacred fire<br /> +Of home, and by the sweetness of the night<br /> +When from thy captive I became thy bride,<br /> +Leave me not guardless to the unworthy touch<br /> +And cruel taunting of thine enemies’<br /> +For, shouldst thou die and leave us, then shall I<br /> +Borne off by Argive violence with thy boy<br /> +Eat from that day the bread of slavery.<br /> +And some one of our lords shall smite me there<br /> +With galling speech: Behold the concubine<br /> +Of Aias, first of all the Greeks for might,<br /> +How envied once, worn with what service now!<br /> +So will they speak; and while my quailing heart<br /> +Shall sink beneath its burden, clouds of shame<br /> +Will dim thy glory and degrade thy race.<br /> +Oh! think but of thy father, left to pine<br /> +In doleful age, and let thy mother’s grief—<br /> +Who, long bowed down with many a careful year,<br /> +Prays oftentimes thou may’st return alive—<br /> +O’er awe thee. Yea, and pity thine own son,<br /> +Unsheltered in his boyhood, lorn of thee,<br /> +With bitter foes to tend his orphanhood,<br /> +Think, O my lord, what sorrow in thy death<br /> +Thou send’st on him and me. For I have nought<br /> +To lean to but thy life. My fatherland<br /> +Thy spear hath ruined. Fate—not thou—hath sent<br /> +My sire and mother to the home of death<br /> +What wealth have I to comfort me for thee?<br /> +What land of refuge? Thou art all my stay<br /> +Oh, of me too take thought! Shall men have joy,<br /> +And not remember? Or shall kindness fade?<br /> +Say, can the mind be noble, where the stream<br /> +Of gratitude is withered from the spring?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Aias, I would thy heart were touched like mine<br /> +With pity; then her words would win thy praise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 58]</span><span class="linenum">[527-565]</span> +<span class="cnm">AI.</span> +My praise she shall not miss, if she perform<br /> +My bidding with firm heart, and fail not here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Dear Aias, I will fail in nought thou bidst me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Bring me my boy, that I may see his face.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Oh, in my terror I conveyed him hence!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Clear of this mischief, mean’st thou? or for what?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Lest he might run to thee, poor child, and die.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +That issue had been worthy of my fate!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +But I kept watch to fence his life from harm.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +’Twas wisely done. I praise thy foresight there.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Well, since ’tis so, how can I help thee now?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Give me to speak to him and see him near.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +He stands close by with servants tending him.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Then why doth he not come, but still delay?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Thy father calls thee, child. Come, lead him hither,<br /> +Whichever of you holds him by the hand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Moves he? or do thine accents idly fall?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +See, where thy people bring him to thine eye.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Lift him to me: lift him! He will not fear<br /> +At sight of this fresh havoc of the sword,<br /> +If rightly he be fathered of my blood.<br /> +Like some young colt he must be trained and taught<br /> +To run fierce courses with his warrior sire.<br /> +Be luckier than thy father, boy! but else<br /> +Be like him, and thy life will not be low.<br /> +One thing even now I envy thee, that none<br /> +Of all this misery pierces to thy mind.<br /> +For life is sweetest in the void of sense,<br /> +Ere thou know joy or sorrow. But when this<br /> +Hath found thee, make thy father’s enemies<br /> +Feel the great parent in the valiant child.<br /> +Meantime grow on in tender youthfulness,<br /> +Nursed by light breezes, gladdening this thy mother.<br /> +No Greek shall trample thee with brutal harm,<br /> +That I know well, though I shall not be near—<br /> +So stout a warder to protect thy life<br /> +I leave in Teucer. He’ll not fail, though now<br /> +He follow far the chase upon his foes.<br /> +My trusty warriors, people of the sea,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 59]</span><span class="linenum">[566-596]</span> +Be this your charge, no less,—and bear to him<br /> +My clear commandment, that he take this boy<br /> +Home to my fatherland, and make him known<br /> +To Telamon, and Eriboea too,<br /> +My mother. Let him tend them in their age.<br /> +And, for mine armour, let not that be made<br /> +The award of Grecian umpires or of him<br /> +Who ruined me. But thou, <a href="#Aias_n_3" name="Aias_t_3" id="Aias_t_3">named of the shield,</a><br /> +Eurysakes, hold mine, the unpierceable<br /> +Seven-hided buckler, and by the well stitched thong<br /> +Grasp firm and wield it mightily.—The rest<br /> +Shall lie where I am buried.—Take him now,<br /> +Quickly, and close the door. No tears! What! weep<br /> +Before the tent? How women crave for pity!<br /> +Make fast, I say. No wise physician dreams<br /> +With droning charms to salve a desperate sore.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +There sounds a vehement ardour in thy words<br /> +That likes me not. I fear thy sharpened tongue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Aias, my lord, what act is in thy mind?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Inquire not, question not; be wise, thou’rt best.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +How my heart sinks! Oh, by thy child, by Heaven,<br /> +I pray thee on my knees, forsake us not!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +Thou troublest me. What! know’st thou not that Heaven<br /> +Hath ceased to be my debtor from to-day?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Hush! Speak not so.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +<span class="in18">Speak thou to those that hear.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Will you not hear me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +<span class="in20">Canst thou not be still?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +My fears, my fears!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +(<span class="sdm">to the <span class="cnm">Attendants</span></span>). +<span class="in2">Come, shut me in, I say.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Oh, yet be softened!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +<span class="in18">’Tis a foolish hope,</span><br /> +If thou deem’st now to mould me to thy will.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">Aias</span> is withdrawn. Exit <span class="cnm">Tecmessa</span></span><br /></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Island of glory! whom the glowing eyes</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +Of all the wondering world immortalize,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 60]</span><span class="linenum">[597-648]</span> +Thou, Salamis, art planted evermore,<br /> +Happy amid the wandering billows’ roar;<br /> +While I—ah, woe the while!—this weary time,<br /> +<span class="in2">By the green wold where flocks from Ida stray,</span><br /> +Lie worn with fruitless hours of wasted prime,<br /> +<span class="in2">Hoping—ah, cheerless hope!—to win my way</span><br /> +Where Hades’ horrid gloom shall hide me from the day.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Aias is with me, yea, but crouching low,</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +Where Heaven-sent madness haunts his overthrow,<br /> +Beyond my cure or tendance: woful plight!<br /> +Whom thou, erewhile, to head the impetuous fight,<br /> +Sent’st forth, thy conquering champion. Now he feeds<br /> +<span class="in2">His spirit on lone paths, and on us brings</span><br /> +Deep sorrow; and all his former peerless deeds<br /> +Of prowess fall like unremembered things<br /> +From Atreus’ loveless brood, this caitiff brace of kings.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Ah! when his mother, full of days and bowed</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +With hoary eld, shall hear his ruined mind,<br /> +<span class="in6">How will she mourn aloud!</span><br /> +Not like the warbler of the dale,<br /> +<span class="in6">The bird of piteous wail,</span><br /> +But in shrill strains far borne upon the wind,<br /> +While on the withered breast and thin white hair<br /> +Falls the resounding blow, the rending of despair.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Best hid in death were he whom madness drives</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +Remediless; if, through his father’s race<br /> +<span class="in6">Born to the noblest place</span><br /> +Among the war-worn Greeks, he lives<br /> +<span class="in6">By his own light no more,</span><br /> +Self-aliened from the self he knew before.<br /> +Oh, hapless sire, what woe thine ear shall wound!<br /> +One that of all thy line no life save this hath found.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">Aias</span> with a bright sword, and <span class="cnm">Tecmessa</span>, severally.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AI.</span> +What change will never-terminable Time<br /> +Not heave to light, what hide not from the day?<br /> +What chance shall win men’s marvel? Mightiest oaths<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 61]</span><span class="linenum">[649-689]</span> +Fall frustrate, and the steely-tempered will.<br /> +Ay, and even mine, that stood so diamond-keen<br /> +Like iron lately dipped, droops now dis-edged<br /> +And weakened by this woman, whom to leave<br /> +A widow with her orphan to my foes,<br /> +Dulls me with pity. I will go to the baths<br /> +And meadows near the cliff, and purging there<br /> +My dark pollution, I will screen my soul<br /> +From reach of Pallas’ grievous wrath. I will find<br /> +Same place untrodden, and digging of the soil<br /> +Where none shall see, will bury this my sword,<br /> +Weapon of hate! for Death and Night to hold<br /> +Evermore underground. For, since my hand<br /> +Had this from Hector mine arch-enemy,<br /> +No kindness have I known from Argive men.<br /> +So true that saying of the bygone world,<br /> +‘A foe’s gift is no gift, and brings no good.’<br /> +<span class="in2">Well, we will learn of Time. Henceforth I’ll bow</span><br /> +To heavenly ordinance and give homage due<br /> +To Atreus’ sons. Who rules, must be obeyed.<br /> +Since nought so fierce and terrible but yields<br /> +Place to Authority. Wild Winter’s snows<br /> +Make way for bounteous Summer’s flowery tread,<br /> +And Night’s sad orb retires for lightsome Day<br /> +With his white steeds to illumine the glad sky.<br /> +The furious storm-blast leaves the groaning sea<br /> +Gently to rest. Yea, the all-subduer Sleep<br /> +Frees whom he binds, nor holds enchained for aye.<br /> +And shall not men be taught the temperate will?<br /> +Yea, for I now know surely that my foe<br /> +Must be so hated, as being like enough<br /> +To prove a friend hereafter, and my friend<br /> +So far shall have mine aid, as one whose love<br /> +Will not continue ever. Men have found<br /> +But treacherous harbour in companionship.<br /> +<span class="in2">Our ending, then, is peaceful. Thou, my girl,</span><br /> +Go in and pray the Gods my heart’s desire<br /> +Be all fulfilled. My comrades, join her here,<br /> +Honouring my wishes; and if Teucer come,<br /> +Bid him toward us be mindful, kind toward you.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 62]</span><span class="linenum">[690-718]</span> +I must go—whither I must go. Do ye<br /> +But keep my word, and ye may learn, though now<br /> +Be my dark hour, that all with me is well.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit towards the country. <span class="cnm">Tecmessa</span> retires</span><br /></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">A shudder of love thrills through me. Joy! I soar</span><span class="chm">1</span><br /> +<span class="in6">O Pan, wild Pan!</span><span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>They dance</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Come from Cyllenè hoar—</span><br /> +Come from the snow drift, the rock-ridge, the glen!<br /> +<span class="in6">Leaving the mountain bare</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Fleet through the salt sea-air,</span><br /> +Mover of dances to Gods and to men.<br /> +Whirl me in Cnossian ways—thrid me the Nysian maze!<br /> +Come, while the joy of the dance is my care!<br /> +<span class="in6">Thou too, Apollo, come</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Bright from thy Delian home,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Bringer of day,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Fly o’er the southward main</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Here in our hearts to reign,</span><br /> +Loved to repose there and kindly to stay.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Horror is past. Our eyes have rest from pain.</span><span class="chm">2</span><br /> +<span class="in8">O Lord of Heaven!</span><span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>They dance</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Now blithesome day again</span><br /> +Purely may smile on our swift-sailing fleet,<br /> +<span class="in8">Since, all his woe forgot,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Aias now faileth not</span><br /> +Aught that of prayer and Heaven-worship is meet.<br /> +Time bringeth mighty aid—nought but in time doth fade:<br /> +Nothing shall move me as strange to my thought.<br /> +<span class="in8">Aias our lord hath now</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Cleared his wrath-burdened brow</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Long our despair,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Ceased from his angry feud</span><br /> +<span class="in8">And with mild heart renewed</span><br /> +Peace and goodwill to the high-sceptred pair.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 63]</span><span class="linenum">[719-754]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">Messenger</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESSENGER.</span> +Friends, my first news is Teucer’s presence here,<br /> +Fresh from the Mysian heights; who, as he came<br /> +Right toward the generals’ quarter, was assailed<br /> +With outcry from the Argives in a throng:<br /> +For when they knew his motion from afar<br /> +They swarmed around him, and with shouts of blame<br /> +From each side one and all assaulted him<br /> +As brother to the man who had gone mad<br /> +And plotted ’gainst the host,—threatening aloud,<br /> +Spite of his strength, he should be stoned, and die.<br /> +—So far strife ran, that swords unscabbarded<br /> +Crossed blades, till as it mounted to the height<br /> +Age interposed with counsel, and it fell.<br /> +<span class="in2">But where is Aias to receive my word?</span><br /> +Tidings are best told to the rightful ear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Not in the hut, but just gone forth, preparing<br /> +New plans to suit his newly altered mind.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Alas!<br /> +Too tardy then was he who sped me hither;<br /> +Or I have proved too slow a messenger.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What point is lacking for thine errand’s speed?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Teucer was resolute the man should bide<br /> +Close held within-doors till himself should come.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Why, sure his going took the happiest turn<br /> +And wisest, to propitiate Heaven’s high wrath.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +The height of folly lives in such discourse,<br /> +If Calchas have the wisdom of a seer.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What knowest thou of our state? What saith he? Tell.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +I can tell only what I heard and saw.<br /> +Whilst all the chieftains and the Atridae twain<br /> +Were seated in a ring, Calchas alone<br /> +Rose up and left them, and in Teucer’s palm<br /> +Laid his right hand full friendly; then out-spake<br /> +With strict injunction by all means i’ the world<br /> +To keep beneath yon covert this one day<br /> +Your hero, and not suffer him to rove,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 64]</span><span class="linenum">[755-789]</span> +If he would see him any more alive.<br /> +For through this present light—and ne’er again—-<br /> +Holy Athena, so he said, will drive him<br /> +Before her anger. Such calamitous woe<br /> +Strikes down the unprofitable growth that mounts<br /> +Beyond his measure and provokes the sky.<br /> +‘Thus ever,’ said the prophet, ‘must he fall<br /> +Who in man’s mould hath thoughts beyond a man.<br /> +And Aias, ere he left his father’s door,<br /> +Made foolish answer to his prudent sire.<br /> +<span class="in2">‘My son,’ said Telamon, ‘choose victory</span><br /> +Always, but victory with an aid from Heaven.’<br /> +How loftily, how madly, he replied!<br /> +‘Father, with heavenly help men nothing worth<br /> +May win success. But I am confident<br /> +Without the Gods to pluck this glory down.’<br /> +So huge the boast he vaunted! And again<br /> +When holy Pallas urged him with her voice<br /> +To hurl his deadly spear against the foe,<br /> +He turned on her with speech of awful sound:<br /> +<span class="in2">‘Goddess, by other Greeks take thou thy stand;</span><br /> +Where I keep rank, the battle ne’er shall break.’<br /> +Such words of pride beyond the mortal scope<br /> +Have won him Pallas’ wrath, unlovely meed.<br /> +But yet, perchance, so be it he live to-day,<br /> +We, with Heaven’s succour, may restore his peace.’—<br /> +Thus far the prophet, when immediately<br /> +Teucer dispatched me, ere the assembly rose,<br /> +Bearing to thee this missive to be kept<br /> +With all thy care. But if my speed be lost,<br /> +And Calchas’ word have power, the man is dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +O trouble-tost Tecmessa, born to woe,<br /> +Come forth and see what messenger is here!<br /> +This news bites near the bone, a death to joy.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">TECMESSA</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Wherefore again, when sorrow’s cruel storm<br /> +Was just abating, break ye my repose?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +(<span class="sdm">pointing to the <span class="cnm">Messenger</span></span>).<br /> +Hear what he saith, and how he comes to bring<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 65]</span><span class="linenum">[797-821]</span> +News of our Aias that hath torn my heart.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Oh me! what is it, man? Am I undone?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Thy case I know not; but of Aias this,<br /> +That if he roam abroad, ’tis dangerous.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +He is, indeed, abroad. Oh! tell me quickly!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +’Tis Teucer’s strong command to keep him close<br /> +Beneath this roof, nor let him range alone.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +But where is Teucer? and what means his word?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Even now at hand, and eager to make known<br /> +That Aias, if he thus go forth, must fall.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Alas! my misery! Whence learned he this?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +From Thestor’s prophet-offspring, who to-day<br /> +Holds forth to Aias choice of life or death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Woe’s me! O friends, this desolating blow<br /> +Is falling! Oh, stand forward to prevent!<br /> +And some bring Teucer with more haste, while some<br /> +Explore the western bays and others search<br /> +Eastward to find your hero’s fatal path!<br /> +For well I see I am cheated and cast forth<br /> +From the old favour. Child, what shall I do? +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Looking at <span class="cnm">EURYSAKES</span></span><br /> +We must not stay. I too will fare along,<br /> +go far as I have power. Come, let us go.<br /> +Bestir ye! ’Tis no moment to sit still,<br /> +If we would save him who now speeds to die.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +I am ready. Come! Fidelity of foot,<br /> +And swift performance, shall approve me true.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt omnes</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">The scene changes to a lonely wooded spot.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">AIAS</span> (discovered alone).</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">The sacrificer stands prepared,—and when</span><br /> +More keen? Let me take time for thinking, too!<br /> +This gift of Hector, whom of stranger men<br /> +I hated most with heart and eyes, is set<br /> +In hostile Trojan soil, with grinding hone<br /> +Fresh-pointed, and here planted by my care<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 66]</span><span class="linenum">[822-863]</span> +Thus firm, to give me swift and friendly death.<br /> +Fine instrument, so much for thee! Then, first,<br /> +Thou, for ’tis meet, great Father, lend thine aid.<br /> +For no great gift I sue thee. Let some voice<br /> +Bear Teucer the ill news, that none but he<br /> +May lift my body, newly fallen in death<br /> +About my bleeding sword, ere I be spied<br /> +By some of those who hate me, and be flung<br /> +To dogs and vultures for an outcast prey.<br /> +So far I entreat thee, Lord of Heaven. And thou,<br /> +Hermes, conductor of the shadowy dead,<br /> +Speed me to rest, and when with this sharp steel<br /> +I have cleft a sudden passage to my heart,<br /> +At one swift bound waft me to painless slumber!<br /> +But most be ye my helpers, awful Powers,<br /> +Who know no blandishments, but still perceive<br /> +All wicked deeds i’ the world—strong, swift, and sure,<br /> +Avenging Furies, understand my wrong,<br /> +See how my life is ruined, and by whom.<br /> +Come, ravin on Achaean flesh—spare none;<br /> +Rage through the camp!—Last, thou that driv’st thy course<br /> +Up yon steep Heaven, thou Sun, when thou behold’st<br /> +My fatherland, checking thy golden rein,<br /> +Report my fall, and this my fatal end,<br /> +To my old sire, and the poor soul who tends him.<br /> +Ah, hapless one! when she shall hear this word,<br /> +How she will make the city ring with woe!<br /> +<span class="in2">’Twere from the business idly to condole.</span><br /> +To work, then, and dispatch. O Death! O Death!<br /> +Now come, and welcome! Yet with thee, hereafter,<br /> +I shall find close communion where I go.<br /> +But unto thee, fresh beam of shining Day,<br /> +And thee, thou travelling Sun-god, I may speak<br /> +Now, and no more for ever. O fair light!<br /> +O sacred fields of Salamis my home!<br /> +Thou, firm set natal hearth: Athens renowned,<br /> +And ye her people whom I love; O rivers,<br /> +Brooks, fountains here—yea, even the Trojan plain<br /> +I now invoke!—kind fosterers, farewell!<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 67]</span><span class="linenum">[864-901]</span> +This one last word from Aias peals to you:<br /> +Henceforth my speech will be with souls unseen<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Falls on his sword</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span> (re-entering severally).</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH. A.</span> +Toil upon toil brings toil,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">And what save trouble have I?</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Which path have I not tried?</span><br /> +<span class="in8">And never a place arrests me with its tale.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Hark! lo, again a sound!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH. B.</span> +’Tis we, the comrades of your good ship’s crew.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH. A.</span> +Well, sirs?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH. B.</span> +We have trodden all the westward arm o’ the bay.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH. A.</span> +Well, have ye found?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH. B.</span> +Troubles enow, but nought to inform our sight.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH. A.</span> +Nor yet along the road that fronts the dawn</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Is any sign of Aias to be seen.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Who then will tell me, who? What hard sea-liver,</span><span class="chm">1</span><br /> +<span class="in8">What toiling fisher in his sleepless quest,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">What Mysian nymph, what oozy Thracian river,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Hath seen our wanderer of the tameless breast?</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Where? tell me where!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">’Tis hard that I, far-toiling voyager,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Crossed by some evil wind,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Cannot the haven find,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Nor catch his form that flies me, where? ah! where?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +(<span class="sdm">behind</span>). +Oh, woe is me! woe, woe!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. A.</span> +Who cries there from the covert of the grove?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +O boundless misery!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. B.</span> +Steeped in this audible sorrow I behold<br /> +Tecmessa, poor fate-burdened bride of war.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Friends, I am spoiled, lost, ruined, overthrown!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. A.</span> +What ails thee now?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +See where our Aias lies, but newly slain,<br /> +Fallen on his sword concealed within the ground,</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Woe for my hopes of home!</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Aias, my lord, thou hast slain</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 68]</span><span class="linenum">[902-938]</span> +<span class="in6">Thy ship-companion on the salt sea foam.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Alas for us, and thee,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Child of calamity!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +So lies our fortune. Well may’st thou complain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. A.</span> +Whose hand employed he for the deed of blood?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +His own, ’tis manifest. This planted steel,<br /> +Fixed by his hand, gives verdict from his breast.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Woe for my fault, my loss!</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Thou hast fallen in blood alone,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">And not a friend to cross</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Or guard thee. I, deaf, senseless as a stone,</span><br /> +Left all undone. Oh, where, then, lies the stern<br /> +Aias, of saddest name, whose purpose none might turn?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +No eye shall see him. I will veil him round<br /> +With this all covering mantle; since no heart<br /> +That loved him could endure to view him there,<br /> +With ghastly expiration spouting forth<br /> +From mouth and nostrils, and the deadly wound,<br /> +The gore of his self slaughter. Ah, my lord!<br /> +What shall I do? What friend will carry thee?<br /> +Oh, where is Teucer! Timely were his hand,<br /> +Might he come now to smooth his brother’s corse.<br /> +O thou most noble, here ignobly laid,<br /> +Even enemies methinks must mourn thy fate!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Ah! ’twas too clear thy firm knit thoughts would fashion,</span><span class="chm">2</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Early or late, an end of boundless woe!</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Such heaving groans, such bursts of heart-bruised passion,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Midnight and morn, bewrayed the fire below.</span><br /> +<span class="in12">‘The Atridae might beware!’</span><br /> +<span class="in4">A plenteous fount of pain was opened there,</span><br /> +<span class="in12">What time the strife was set,</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Wherein the noblest met,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Grappling the golden prize that kindled thy despair!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Woe, woe is me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Deep sorrow wrings thy soul, I know it well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 69]</span><span class="linenum">[939-974]</span> +<span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +O woe, woe, woe!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thou may’st prolong thy moan, and be believed,<br /> +Thou that hast lately lost so true a friend.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Thou may’st imagine; ’tis for me to know.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Ay, ay, ’tis true.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Alas, my child! what slavish tasks and hard<br /> +We are drifting to! What eyes control our will!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Ay me! Through thy complaint</span><br /> +<span class="in10">I hear the wordless blow</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Of two high-throned, who rule without restraint</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Of Pity. Heaven forfend</span><br /> +<span class="in10">What evil they intend!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +The work of Heaven hath brought our life thus low.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +’Tis a sore burden to be laid on men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Yet such the mischief Zeus’ resistless maid,<br /> +Pallas, hath planned to make Odysseus glad.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +O’er that dark-featured soul</span><br /> +<span class="in6">What waves of pride shall roll,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">What floods of laughter flow,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Rudely to greet this madness-prompted woe,</span><br /> +Alas! from him who all things dares endure,<br /> +And from that lordly pair, who hear, and seat them sure!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEC.</span> +Ay, let them laugh and revel o’er his fall!<br /> +Perchance, albeit in life they missed him not,<br /> +Dead, they will cry for him in straits of war.<br /> +For dullards know not goodness in their hand,<br /> +Nor prize the jewel till ’tis cast away.<br /> +To me more bitter than to them ’twas sweet,<br /> +His death to him was gladsome, for he found<br /> +The lot he longed for, his self-chosen doom.<br /> +What cause have they to laugh? Heaven, not their crew,<br /> +Hath glory by his death. Then let Odysseus<br /> +Insult with empty pride. To him and his<br /> +Aias is nothing; but to me, to me,<br /> +He leaves distress and sorrow in his room!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEUCER</span> +(<span class="sdm">within</span>). +Alas, undone!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 70]</span><span class="linenum">[975-1009]</span> +<span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span><br /> +Hush! that was Teucer’s cry. Methought I heard<br /> +His voice salute this object of dire woe.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">TEUCER</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Aias, dear brother, comfort of mine eye,<br /> +Hast thou then done even as the rumour holds?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Be sure of that, Teucer. He lives no more.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Oh, then how heavy is the lot I bear!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Yes, thou hast cause—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +<span class="in18">O rash assault of woe!—</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +To mourn full loud.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +<span class="in14">Ay me! and where, oh where</span><br /> +On Trojan earth, tell me, is this man’s child?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Beside the huts, untended.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +(<span class="sdm">to <span class="cnm">TEC</span></span>). +<span class="in12">Oh, with haste</span><br /> +Go bring him hither, lest some enemy’s hand<br /> +Snatch him, as from the lion’s widowed mate<br /> +The lion-whelp is taken. Spare not speed.<br /> +All soon combine in mockery o’er the dead.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit TECMESSA</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Even such commands he left thee ere he died.<br /> +As thou fulfillest by this timely care.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +O sorest spectacle mine eyes e’er saw!<br /> +Woe for my journey hither, of all ways<br /> +Most grievous to my heart, since I was ware,<br /> +Dear Aias, of thy doom, and sadly tracked<br /> +Thy footsteps. For there darted through the host,<br /> +As from some God, a swift report of thee<br /> +That thou wert lost in death. I, hapless, heard,<br /> +And mourned even then for that whose presence kills me.<br /> +Ay me! But come,<br /> +Unveil. Let me behold my misery. +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>The corpse of <span class="cnm">AIAS</span> is uncovered</span><br /> +O sight unbearable! Cruelly brave!<br /> +Dying, what store of griefs thou sow’st for me!<br /> +Where, amongst whom of mortals, can I go,<br /> +That stood not near thee in thy troublous hour?<br /> +Will Telamon, my sire and thine, receive me<br /> +With radiant countenance and favouring brow<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 71]</span><span class="linenum">[1010-1046]</span> +Returning without thee? Most like! being one<br /> +<a href="#Aias_n_4" name="Aias_t_4" id="Aias_t_4">Who smiles no more,</a> yield Fortune what she may.<br /> +Will he hide aught or soften any word,<br /> +Rating the bastard of his spear-won thrall,<br /> +Whose cowardice and dastardy betrayed<br /> +Thy life, dear Aias,—or my murderous guile,<br /> +To rob thee of thy lordship and thy home?<br /> +Such greeting waits me from the man of wrath,<br /> +Whose testy age even without cause would storm.<br /> +Last, I shall leave my land a castaway,<br /> +Thrust forth an exile, and proclaimed a slave;<br /> +So should I fare at home. And here in Troy<br /> +My foes are many and my comforts few.<br /> +All these things are my portion through thy death.<br /> +Woe’s me, my heart! how shall I bear to draw thee,<br /> +O thou ill-starr’d! from this discoloured blade,<br /> +Thy self-shown slayer? Didst thou then perceive<br /> +Dead Hector was at length to be thine end?—<br /> +I pray you all, consider these two men.<br /> +Hector, whose gift from Aias was a girdle,<br /> +Tight-braced therewith to the car’s rim, was dragged<br /> +And scarified till he breathed forth his life.<br /> +And Aias with this present from his foe<br /> +Finds through such means his death-fall and his doom.<br /> +Say then what cruel workman forged the gifts,<br /> +But Fury this sharp sword, Hell that bright band?<br /> +In this, and all things human, I maintain,<br /> +Gods are the artificers. My thought is said.<br /> +And if there be who cares not for my thought,<br /> +Let him hold fast his faith and leave me mine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Spare longer speech, and think how to secure<br /> +Thy brother’s burial, and what plea will serve;<br /> +Since one comes here hath no good will to us<br /> +And like a villain haply comes in scorn.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +What man of all the host hath caught thine eye?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +The cause for whom we sailed, the Spartan King.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Yes; I discern him, now he moves more near.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 72]</span><span class="linenum">[1047-1083]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">MENELAUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MENELAUS.</span> +Fellow, give o’er. Cease tending yon dead man!<br /> +Obey my voice, and leave him where he lies.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Thy potent cause for spending so much breath?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +My will, and his whose word is sovereign here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +May we not know the reasons of your will?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +Because he, whom we trusted to have brought<br /> +To lend us loyal help with heart and hand,<br /> +Proved in the trial a worse than Phrygian foe;<br /> +Who lay in wait for all the host by night,<br /> +And sallied forth in arms to shed our blood;<br /> +That, had not one in Heaven foiled this attempt,<br /> +Our lot had been to lie as he doth here<br /> +Dead and undone for ever, while he lived<br /> +And flourished. Heaven hath turned this turbulence<br /> +To fall instead upon the harmless flock.<br /> +Wherefore no strength of man shall once avail<br /> +To encase his body with a seemly tomb,<br /> +But outcast on the wide and watery sand,<br /> +He’ll feed the birds that batten on the shore.<br /> +Nor let thy towering spirit therefore rise<br /> +In threatening wrath. Wilt thou or not, our hand<br /> +Shall rule him dead, howe’er he braved us living,<br /> +And that by force; for never would he yield,<br /> +Even while he lived, to words from me. And yet<br /> +It shows base metal when the subject-wight<br /> +Deigns not to hearken to the chief in power.<br /> +Since without settled awe, neither in states<br /> +Can laws have rightful sway, nor can a host<br /> +Be governed with due wisdom, if no fear<br /> +Or wholesome shame be there to shield its safety.<br /> +And though a man wax great in thews and bulk,<br /> +Let him be warned: a trifling harm may ruin him.<br /> +Whoever knows respect and honour both<br /> +Stands free from risk of dark vicissitude.<br /> +But whereso pride and licence have their fling,<br /> +Be sure that state will one day lose her course<br /> +And founder in the abysm. Let fear have place<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 73]</span><span class="linenum">[1084-1122]</span> +Still where it ought, say I, nor let men think<br /> +To do their pleasure and not bide the pain.<br /> +That wheel comes surely round. Once Aias flamed<br /> +With insolent fierceness. Now I mount in pride,<br /> +And loudly bid thee bury him not, lest burying<br /> +Thy brother thou be burrowing thine own grave.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Menelaüs, make not thy philosophy<br /> +A platform whence to insult the valiant dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +I nevermore will marvel, sirs, when one<br /> +Of humblest parentage is prone to sin,<br /> +Since those reputed men of noble strain<br /> +Stoop to such phrase of prating frowardness.<br /> +Come, tell it o’er again,—said you ye brought<br /> +My brother bound to aid you with his power?<br /> +Sailed he not forth of his own sovereign will?<br /> +Where is thy voucher of command o’er him?<br /> +Where of thy right o’er those that followed him?<br /> +Sparta, not we, shall buckle to thy sway.<br /> +’Twas written nowhere in the bond of rule<br /> +That thou shouldst check him rather than he thee.<br /> +Thou sailedst under orders, not in charge<br /> +Of all, much less of Aias. Then pursue<br /> +Thy limited direction, and chastise,<br /> +In haughty phrase, the men who fear thy nod.<br /> +But I will bury Aias, whether thou<br /> +Or the other general give consent or no.<br /> +’Tis not for me to tremble at your word.<br /> +Not to reclaim thy wife, like those poor souls<br /> +Thou flll’st with labour, issued this man forth,<br /> +But caring for his oath, and not for thee,<br /> +Or any other nobody. Then come<br /> +With heralds all arow, and bring the man<br /> +Called king of men with thee! For thy sole noise<br /> +I budge not, wert thou twenty times thy name.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +The sufferer should not bear a bitter tongue.<br /> +Hard words, how just soe’er, will leave their sting.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +Our bowman carries no small pride, I see.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +No mere mechanic’s menial craft is mine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +How wouldst thou vaunt it hadst thou but a shield!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 74]</span><span class="linenum">[1123-1158]</span> +<span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Unarmed I fear not thee in panoply.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +Redoubted is the wrath lives on thy tongue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Whose cause is just hath licence to be proud.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +Just, that my murderer have a peaceful end?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Thy murderer? Strange, to have been slain and live!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +Yea, through Heaven’s mercy. By his will, I am dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +If Heaven have saved thee, give the Gods their due.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +Am I the man to spurn at Heaven’s command?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Thou dost, to come and frustrate burial.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +Honour forbids to yield my foe a tomb.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +And Aias was thy foeman? Where and when?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +Hate lived between us; that thou know’st full well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +For thy proved knavery, coining votes i’ the court</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +The judges voted. He ne’er lost through me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Guilt hiding guile wears often fairest front.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +I know whom pain shall harass for that word.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Not without giving equal pain, ’tis clear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +No more, but this. No burial for this man!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Yea, this much more. He shall have instant burial.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +I have seen ere now a man of doughty tongue<br /> +Urge sailors in foul weather to unmoor,<br /> +Who, caught in the sea-misery by and by,<br /> +Lay voiceless, muffled in his cloak, and suffered<br /> +Who would of the sailors over trample him<br /> +Even so methinks thy truculent mouth ere long<br /> +Shall quench its outcry, when this little cloud<br /> +Breaks forth on thee with the full tempest’s might.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +I too have seen a man whose windy pride<br /> +Poured forth loud insults o’er a neighbour’s fall,<br /> +Till one whose cause and temper showed like mine<br /> +Spake to him in my hearing this plain word:<br /> +‘Man, do the dead no wrong; but, if thou dost,<br /> +Be sure thou shalt have sorrow.’ Thus he warned<br /> +The infatuate one: ay, one whom I behold,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 75]</span><span class="linenum">[1158-1185]</span> +For all may read my riddle—thou art he.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MEN.</span> +I will be gone. ’Twere shame to me, if known,<br /> +To chide when I have power to crush by force.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Off with you, then! ’Twere triple shame in me<br /> +To list the vain talk of a blustering fool.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">MENELAUS</span></span></p> + +<p class="sdn">LEADER OF CHORUS.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">High the quarrel rears his head!</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Haste thee, Teucer, trebly haste,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Grave-room for the valiant dead</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Furnish with what speed thou mayst,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Hollowed deep within the ground,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Where beneath his mouldering mound</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Aias aye shall be renowned.</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Re-enter <span class="cnm">TECMESSA</span> with <span class="cnm">EURYSAKES</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Lo! where the hero’s housemate and his child,<br /> +Hitting the moment’s need, appear at hand,<br /> +To tend the burial of the ill fated dead.<br /> +Come, child, take thou thy station close beside:<br /> +Kneel and embrace the author of thy life,<br /> +In solemn suppliant fashion holding forth<br /> +This lock of thine own hair, and hers, and mine<br /> +With threefold consecration, that if one<br /> +Of the army force thee from thy father’s corse,<br /> +My curse may banish him from holy ground,<br /> +Far from his home, unburied, and cut off<br /> +From all his race, even as I cut this curl.<br /> +There, hold him, child, and guard him; let no hand<br /> +Stir thee, but lean to the calm breast and cling.<br /> +(<span class="sdm">To <span class="cnm">CHORUS</span></span>) +And ye, be not like women in this scene,<br /> +Nor let your manhoods falter; stand true men<br /> +To this defence, till I return prepared,<br /> +Though all cry No, to give him burial.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">CHORUS.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">When shall the tale of wandering years be done?</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +When shall arise our exile’s latest sun?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 76]</span><span class="linenum">[1186-1125]</span> +Oh, where shall end the incessant woe<br /> +Of troublous spear-encounter with the foe,<br /> +<span class="in4">Through this vast Trojan plain,</span><br /> +Of Grecian arms the lamentable stain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Would he had gone to inhabit the wide sky,</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +Or that dark home of death where millions lie,<br /> +Who taught our Grecian world the way<br /> +To use vile swords and knit the dense array!<br /> +<span class="in4">His toil gave birth to toil</span><br /> +In endless line. He made mankind his spoil.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">His tyrant will hath forced me to forgo</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +The garland, and the goblet’s bounteous flow:<br /> +<span class="in4">Yea, and the flute’s dear noise,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And night’s more tranquil joys;</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Ay me! nor only these,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The fruits of golden ease,</span><br /> +But Love, but Love—O crowning sorrow!—<br /> +Hath ceased for me. I may not borrow<br /> +<span class="in2">Sweet thoughts from him to smooth my dreary bed,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Where dank night-dews fall ever on my head,</span><br /> +Lest once I might forget the sadness of the morrow.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Even here in Troy, Aias was erst my rock,</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +From darkling fears and ’mid the battle-shock<br /> +<span class="in4">To screen me with huge might:</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Now he is lost in night</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And horror. Where again</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Shall gladness heal my pain?</span><br /> +O were I where the waters hoary,<br /> +Round Sunium’s pine-clad promontory,<br /> +<span class="in2">Plash underneath the flowery upland height.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Then holiest Athens soon would come in sight,</span><br /> +And to Athena’s self I might declare my story.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">TEUCER</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +My steps were hastened, brethren, when I saw<br /> +Great Agamemnon hitherward afoot.<br /> +He means to talk perversely, I can tell.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 77]</span><span class="linenum">[1126-1261]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">AGAMEMNON</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +And so I hear thou’lt stretch thy mouth agape<br /> +With big bold words against us undismayed—<br /> +Thou, the she-captive’s offspring! High would scale<br /> +Thy voice, and pert would be thy strutting gait,<br /> +Were but thy mother noble; since, being naught,<br /> +So stiff thou stand’st for him who is nothing now,<br /> +And swear’st we came not as commanders here<br /> +Of all the Achaean navy, nor of thee;<br /> +But Aias sailed, thou say’st, with absolute right.<br /> +Must we endure detraction from a slave?<br /> +What was the man thou noisest here so proudly?<br /> +Have I not set my foot as firm and far?<br /> +Or stood his valour unaccompanied<br /> +In all this host? High cause have we to rue<br /> +That prize-encounter for Pelides’ arms,<br /> +Seeing Teucer’s sentence stamps our knavery<br /> +For all to know it; and nought will serve but ye,<br /> +Being vanquished, kick at the award that passed<br /> +By voice of the majority in the court,<br /> +And either pelt us with rude calumnies,<br /> +Or stab at us, ye laggards! with base guile.<br /> +Howbeit, these ways will never help to build<br /> +The wholesome order of established law,<br /> +If men shall hustle victors from their right,<br /> +And mix the hindmost rabble with the van.<br /> +That craves repression. Not by bulky size,<br /> +Or shoulders’ breadth, the perfect man is known;<br /> +But wisdom gives chief power in all the world.<br /> +The ox hath a huge broadside, yet is held<br /> +Right in the furrow by a slender goad;<br /> +Which remedy, I perceive, will pass ere long<br /> +To visit thee, unless thy wisdom grow;<br /> +Who hast uttered forth such daring insolence<br /> +For the pale shadow of a vanished man.<br /> +Learn modestly to know thy place and birth,<br /> +And bring with thee some freeborn advocate<br /> +To plead thy cause before us in thy room.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 78]</span><span class="linenum">[1262-1300]</span> +I understand not in the barbarous tongue,<br /> +And all thy talk sounds nonsense to mine ear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Would ye might both have sense to curb your ire!<br /> +No better hope for either can I frame.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Fie! How doth gratitude when men are dead<br /> +Prove renegade and swiftly pass away!<br /> +This Agamemnon hath no slightest word<br /> +Of kind remembrance any more for thee,<br /> +Aias, who oftentimes for his behoof<br /> +Hast jeoparded thy life in labour of war.<br /> +Now all is clean forgotten and out of mind.<br /> +Thou who hast multiplied words void of sense,<br /> +Hast thou no faintest memory of the time<br /> +When who but Aias came and rescued you<br /> +Already locked within the toils,—all lost,<br /> +The rout began: when close abaft the ships<br /> +The torches flared, and o’er the bootless trench<br /> +Hector was bounding high to board our fleet?<br /> +Who stayed that onset? Was not Aias he?<br /> +Whom thou deny’st to have once set foot by thine.<br /> +Find ye no merit there? And once again<br /> +When he met Hector singly, man to man,<br /> +Not by your bidding, but the lottery’s choice,<br /> +His lot, that skulked not low adown i’ the heap,<br /> +A moist earth-clod, but sure to spring in air,<br /> +And first to clear the plumy helmet’s brim.<br /> +Yes, Aias was the man, and I too there<br /> +Kept rank, the ‘barbarous mother’s servile son.’<br /> +I pity thee the blindness of that word.<br /> +Who was thy father’s father? A barbarian,<br /> +Pelops, the Phrygian, if you trace him far!<br /> +And what was Atreus, thine own father? One<br /> +Who served his brother with the abominable<br /> +Dire feast of his own flesh. And thou thyself<br /> +Cam’st from a Cretan mother, whom her sire<br /> +Caught with a man who had no right in her<br /> +And gave dumb fishes the polluted prey.<br /> +Such was thy race. What is the race thou spurnest?<br /> +My father, Telamon, of all the host<br /> +Being foremost proved in valour, took as prize<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 79]</span><span class="linenum">[1301-1337]</span> +My mother for his mate: a princess she,<br /> +Born of Laomedon; Alcmena’s son<br /> +Gave her to grace him—a triumphant meed.<br /> +Thus royally descended and thus brave,<br /> +Shall I renounce the brother of my blood,<br /> +Or suffer thee to thrust him in his woes<br /> +Far from all burial, shameless that thou art?<br /> +Be sure that, if ye cast him forth, ye’ll cast<br /> +Three bodies more beside him in one spot;<br /> +For nobler should I find it here to die<br /> +In open quarrel for my kinsman’s weal,<br /> +Than for thy wife—or Menelaüs’, was ’t?<br /> +Consider then, not my case, but your own.<br /> +For if you harm me you will wish some day<br /> +To have been a coward rather than dare me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Hail, Lord Odysseus! thou art come in time<br /> +Not to begin, but help to end, a fray.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">ODYSSEUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +What quarrel, sirs? I well perceived from far<br /> +The kings high-voicing o’er the valiant dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +Yea, Lord Odysseus, for our ears are full<br /> +Of this man’s violent heart-offending talk.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +What words have passed? I cannot blame the man<br /> +Who meets foul speech with bitterness of tongue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +My speech was bitter, for his deeds were foul.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +What deed of his could harm thy sovereign head?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +He boldly says this corse shall not be left<br /> +Unburied, but he’ll bury it in our spite.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +May I then speak true counsel to my friend,<br /> +And pull with thee in policy as of yore?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +Speak. I were else a madman; for no friend<br /> +Of all the Argeians do I count thy peer.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Then hear me in Heaven’s name! Be not so hard<br /> +Thus without ruth tombless to cast him forth;<br /> +Nor be so vanquished by a vehement will,<br /> +That to thy hate even Justice’ self must bow.<br /> +I, too, had him for my worst enemy,<br /> +Since I gained mastery o’er Pelides’ arms.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 80]</span><span class="linenum">[1338-1373]</span> +But though he used me so, I ne’er will grudge<br /> +For his proud scorn to yield him thus much honour,<br /> +That, save Achilles’ self, I have not seen<br /> +So noble an Argive on the fields of Troy.<br /> +Then ’twere not just in thee to slight him now;<br /> +Nor would thy treatment wound him, but confound<br /> +The laws of Heaven. No hatred should have scope<br /> +To offend the noble spirits of the dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +Wilt thou thus fight against me on his side?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Yea, though I hated him, while hate was comely.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +Why, thou shouldst trample him the more, being dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Rejoice not, King, in feats that soil thy fame!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +’Tis hard for power to observe each pious rule.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Not hard to grace the good words of a friend.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +The ‘noble spirit’ should hearken to command.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +No more! ’Tis conquest to be ruled by love.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +Remember what he was thou gracest so.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +A noisome enemy; but his life was great.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +And wilt thou honour such a pestilent corse?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Hatred gives way to magnanimity.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +With addle-pated fools.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +<span class="in18">Full many are found</span><br /> +Friends for an hour, yet bitter in the end.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +And wouldst thou have us gentle to such friends?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +I would not praise ungentleness in aught.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +We shall be known for weaklings through thy counsel.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Not so, but righteous in all Grecian eyes.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +Thou bidst me then let bury this dead man?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +I urge thee to the course myself shall follow.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +Ay, every man for his own line! That holds.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Why not for my own line? What else were natural?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +’Twill be thy doing then, ne’er owned by me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Own it or not, the kindness is the same.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AG.</span> +Well, for thy sake I’d grant a greater boon;<br /> +Then why not this? However, rest assured<br /> +That in the grave or out of it, Aias still<br /> +Shall have my hatred. Do thou what thou wilt.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 81]</span><span class="linenum">[1374-1407]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Whoso would sneer at thy philosophy,<br /> +While such thy ways, Odysseus, were a fool.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +And now let Teucer know that from this hour<br /> +I am more his friend than I was once his foe,<br /> +And fain would help him in this burial-rite<br /> +And service to his brother, nor would fail<br /> +In aught that mortals owe their noblest dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Odysseus, best of men, thine every word<br /> +Hath my heart’s praise, and my worst thought of thee<br /> +Is foiled by thy staunch kindness to the man<br /> +Who was thy rancorous foe. Thou wast not keen<br /> +To insult in present of his corse, like these,<br /> +The insensate general and his brother-king,<br /> +Who came with proud intent to cast him forth<br /> +Foully debarred from lawful obsequy.<br /> +Wherefore may he who rules in yon wide heaven,<br /> +And the unforgetting Fury-spirit, and she,<br /> +Justice, who crowns the right, so ruin them<br /> +With cruellest destruction, even as they<br /> +Thought ruthlessly to rob him of his tomb!<br /> +For thee, revered Laërtes’ lineal seed,<br /> +I fear to admit thy hand unto this rite,<br /> +Lest we offend the spirit that is gone.<br /> +But for the rest, I hail thy proffered aid;<br /> +And bring whom else thou wilt, I’ll ne’er resent it.<br /> +This work shall be my single care; but thou,<br /> +Be sure I love thee for thy generous heart.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +I had gladly done it; but, since thou declinest,<br /> +I bow to thy decision, and depart.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TEU.</span> +Speed we, for the hour grows late:<br /> +<span class="in8">Some to scoop his earthy cell,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Others by the cauldron wait,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Plenished from the purest well.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Hoist it, comrades, here at hand,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">High upon the three-foot stand!</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Let the cleansing waters flow;</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Brightly flame the fire below!</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Others in a stalwart throng</span><br /> +<span class="in6">From his chamber bear along</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 82]</span><span class="linenum">[1408-1419]</span> +<span class="in6">All the arms he wont to wield</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Save alone the mantling shield.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Thou with me thy strength employ,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Lifting this thy father, boy;</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Hold his frame with tender heed—</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Still the gashed veins darkly bleed.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Who professes here to love him?</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Ply your busy cares above him,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Come and labour for the man,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Nobler none since time began,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Aias, while his life-blood ran.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span> +Oft we know not till we see.<br /> +<span class="in6">Weak is human prophecy.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Judge not, till the hour have taught thee</span><br /> +<span class="in6">What the destinies have brought thee.</span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> + + + +<div><span class="page2" id="pg083">[page 83]</span></div> +<h2>KING OEDIPUS</h2> + + +<h3>THE PERSONS</h3> + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li>OEDIPUS, <i>King of Thebes.</i></li> +<li><i>Priest of Zeus.</i></li> +<li>CREON, <i>brother of Jocasta.</i></li> +<li>CHORUS <i>of Theban Elders.</i></li> +<li>TIRESIAS, <i>the Blind Prophet.</i></li> +<li>JOCASTA, <i>the Queen, sister to Creon.</i></li> +<li><i>A Corinthian Shepherd.</i></li> +<li><i>A Theban Shepherd.</i></li> +<li><i>Messenger</i></li> +</ul> +<p class="left">The following also appear, but do not speak:</p> + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li><i>A Train of Suppliants.</i></li> +<li><i>The children</i> ANTIGONE <i>and</i> ISMENE.</li> +</ul> + +<p class="lftbrk">SCENE. Before the Royal Palace in the Cadmean +citadel of Thebes.</p> + + + + + +<p class="break"><span class="page2">[page 84]</span> +Laius, the descendant of Cadmus, and king of Thebes +(or Thebè), had been told by an oracle that if a son were +born to him by his wife Jocasta the boy would be his +father’s death.</p> + +<p>Under such auspices, Oedipus was born, and to elude the +prophecy was exposed by his parents on Mount Cithaeron. +But he was saved by a compassionate shepherd, and became +the adopted son of Polybus, king of Corinth. When +he grew up he was troubled by a rumour that he was not +his father’s son. He went to consult the oracle of Apollo +at Delphi, and was told—not of his origin but of his destiny—that +he should be guilty of parricide and incest.</p> + +<p>He was too horror-stricken to return to Corinth, and as +he travelled the other way, he met Laius going from Thebes +to Delphi. The travellers quarrelled and the son killed his +father, but knew not whom he had slain. He went onward +till he came near Thebes, where the Sphinx was +making havoc of the noblest citizens, devouring all who +failed to solve her riddle. But Oedipus succeeded and +overcame her, and, as Laius did not return, was rewarded +with the regal sceptre,—and with the hand of the queen.</p> + +<p>He reigned nobly and prosperously, and lived happily +with Jocasta, by whom he had four children.</p> + +<p>But after some years a plague descended on the people, +and Apollo, on being inquired of, answered that it was for +Laius’ death. The act of regicide must be avenged. +Oedipus undertakes the task of discovering the murderer,—and +in the same act discovers his own birth, and the fulfilment +of both the former prophecies.</p> + +<p>Jocasta hangs herself, and Oedipus in his despair puts +out his eyes.</p> + + + + +<p><span class="page2">[page 85]</span></p> +<h3>KING OEDIPUS</h3> + + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">OEDIPUS</span>—<span class="cnm">Priest of Zeus</span><br /> +(with the <span class="cnm">Train of Suppliants</span> grouped before an altar).</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OEDIPUS.</span> +Nurslings of Cadmus, children of my care,<br /> +Why press ye now to kneel before my gate<br /> +With sacred branches in those suppliant hands,<br /> +While o’er your city clouds of incense rise<br /> +And sounds of praise, mingling with sounds of woe?<br /> +<span class="in2">I would not learn of your estate, my sons,</span><br /> +Through others, wherefore I myself am come,<br /> +Your Oedipus,—a name well known to men.<br /> +Speak, aged friend, whose look proclaims thee meet<br /> +To be their spokesman—What desire, what fear<br /> +Hath brought you? Doubt not of my earnest will<br /> +To lend all succour. Hard would be the heart<br /> +That looked unmoved on such a kneeling throng.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PRIEST.</span> +Great ruler of my country, thou beholdest<br /> +The different ages of our flock who here<br /> +Are gathered round thine altar,—some, whose wing<br /> +Hath not yet ventured far from home, and some<br /> +Burdened with many years, priests of the Gods,<br /> +Myself the arch priest of Zeus, and these fresh youths,<br /> +A chosen few. Others there are who crowd<br /> +The holy agora and the temples twain<br /> +Of Pallas, and Ismenus’ hallowed fires,<br /> +A suppliant host. For, as thyself perceivest,<br /> +Our city is tempest tost, and all too weak<br /> +To lift above the waves her weary prow<br /> +That plunges in a rude and ravenous sea.<br /> +Earth’s buds are nipped, withering the germs within,<br /> +Our cattle lose their increase, and our wives<br /> +Have fruitless travail; and that scourge from Heaven,<br /> +The fiery Pestilence abhorred of men,<br /> +Descending on our people with dire stroke<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 86]</span><span class="linenum">[27-65]</span> +Lays waste the Home of Cadmus, while dark Death<br /> +Wins ample tribute of laments and groans.<br /> +<span class="in2">We kneel, then, at thy hearth; not likening thee</span><br /> +Unto the gods, I nor these children here,<br /> +But of men counting thee the first in might<br /> +Whether to cope with earthly casualty<br /> +Or visiting of more than earthly Power.<br /> +Thou, in thy coming to this Theban land,<br /> +Didst take away the hateful tax we paid<br /> +To <a href="#King_n_1" name="King_t_1" id="King_t_1">that stern songstress,</a>—aided not by us<br /> +With hint nor counsel, but, as all believe,<br /> +Gifted from heaven with life-restoring thought.<br /> +Now too, great Oedipus of matchless fame,<br /> +We all uplift our suppliant looks to thee,<br /> +To find some help for us, whether from man,<br /> +Or through the prompting of a voice Divine.<br /> +Experienced counsel, we have seen and know,<br /> +Hath ever prosperous issue. Thou, then, come,<br /> +Noblest of mortals, give our city rest<br /> +From sorrow! come, take heed! seeing this our land<br /> +Now calls thee Saviour for thy former zeal;<br /> +And ’twere not well to leave this memory<br /> +Of thy great reign among Cadmean men,<br /> +‘He raised us up, only again to fall.’<br /> +Let the salvation thou hast wrought for us<br /> +Be flawless and assured! As once erewhile<br /> +Thy lucky star gave us prosperity,<br /> +Be the same man to-day. Wouldst thou be king<br /> +In power, as in command, ’tis greater far<br /> +To rule a people than a wilderness.<br /> +Since nought avails or city or buttressed wall<br /> +Or gallant vessel, if unmanned and void.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ye touch me to the core. Full well I know<br /> +Your trouble and your desire. Think not, my sons,<br /> +I have no feeling of your misery!<br /> +Yet none of you hath heaviness like mine.<br /> +Your grief is held within the single breast<br /> +Of each man severally. My burdened heart<br /> +Mourns for myself, for Thebè, and for you.<br /> +Your coming hath not roused me from repose:<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 87]</span><span class="linenum">[66-102]</span> +I have watched, and bitterly have wept; my mind<br /> +Hath travelled many a labyrinth of thought.<br /> +And now I have tried in act the only plan<br /> +Long meditation showed me. I have sent<br /> +The brother of my queen, Menoeceus’ son,<br /> +Creon, to learn, in Phoebus’ Delphian Hall,<br /> +What word or deed of mine may save this city.<br /> +And when I count the time, I am full of pain<br /> +To guess his speed; for he is absent long,<br /> +Beyond the limit of expectancy.<br /> +But when he shall appear, base then were I<br /> +In aught to disobey the voice of Heaven.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PR.</span> +Lo, in good time, crowning thy gracious word,<br /> +’Tis told me by these youths, Creon draws near.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Apollo! may his coming be as blest<br /> +With saving fortune, as his looks are bright.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PR.</span> +Sure he brings joyful news; else had he ne’er<br /> +Worn that full wreath of thickly-berried bay.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +We have not long to doubt. He can hear now.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CREON</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Son of Menoeceus, brother of my queen,</span><br /> +What answer from Apollo dost thou bring?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CREON.</span> +Good; for my message is that even our woes,<br /> +When brought to their right issue, shall be well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What saith the oracle? Thy words so far<br /> +Neither embolden nor dishearten me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Say, must I tell it with these standing by,<br /> +Or go within? I am ready either way.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Speak forth to all. The burden of their grief<br /> +Weighs more on me than my particular fear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CE.</span> +My lips shall utter what the God hath said.<br /> +Sovereign Apollo clearly bids us drive<br /> +Forth from this region an accursed thing<br /> +(For such is fostered in the land and stains<br /> +Our sacred clime), nor cherish it past cure.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What is the fault, and how to be redressed?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +By exile, or by purging blood with blood.<br /> +Since blood it is that shakes us with this storm.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Whose murder doth Apollo thus reveal?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 88]</span><span class="linenum">[103-137]</span> +<span class="cnm">CR.</span> +My gracious lord, before thy prosperous reign<br /> +King Laius was the leader of our land.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Though I ne’er saw him, I have heard, and know.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Phoebus commands us now to punish home,<br /> +Whoe’er they are, the authors of his death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +But they, where are they? Where shall now be read<br /> +The fading record of this ancient guilt?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR</span> +He saith, ’tis in this land. And what is sought<br /> +Is found, while things uncared for glide away.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +But where did Laius meet this violent end?<br /> +At home, afield, or on some foreign soil?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +He had left us, as he said, to visit Delphi;<br /> +But nevermore returned since he set forth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And was there none, no fellow traveller,<br /> +To see, and tell the tale, and help our search?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +No, they were slain; save one, who, flying in fear,<br /> +Had nought to tell us but one only thing.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What was that thing? A little door of hope,<br /> +Once opened, may discover much to view.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +A random troop of robbers, meeting him,<br /> +Outnumbered and o’erpowered him. So ’twas told.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What robber would have ventured such a deed,<br /> +If unsolicited with bribes from hence?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +We thought of that. But Laius being dead,<br /> +We found no helper in our miseries.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +When majesty was fallen, what misery<br /> +Could hinder you from searching out the truth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +A present trouble had engrossed our care.<br /> +The riddling Sphinx compelled us to observe<br /> +The moment’s grief, neglecting things unknown.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +But I will track this evil to the spring<br /> +And clear it to the day. Most worthily<br /> +Doth great Apollo, worthily dost thou<br /> +Prompt this new care for the unthought of dead.<br /> +And me too ye shall find a just ally,<br /> +Succouring the cause of Phoebus and the land.<br /> +Since, in dispelling this dark cloud, I serve<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 89]</span><span class="linenum">[137-170]</span> +No indirect or distant claim on me,<br /> +But mine own life, for he that slew the king<br /> +May one day turn his guilty hand ’gainst me<br /> +With equal rage. In righting Laius, then,<br /> +I forward mine own cause.—Now, children, rise<br /> +From the altar-steps, and lift your suppliant boughs,<br /> +And let some other summon to this place<br /> +All Cadmus’ people, and assure them, I<br /> +Will answer every need. This day shall see us<br /> +Blest with glad fortune through God’s help, or fallen.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PR.</span> +Rise then, my children. Even for this we came<br /> +Which our good lord hath promised of himself.<br /> +Only may Phoebus, who hath sent this word,<br /> +With healing power descend, and stay the plague. +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt severally</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span> (entering).</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Kind voice of Heaven, soft-breathing from the height</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +Of Pytho’s opulent home to Thebè bright,<br /> +<span class="in8">What wilt thou bring to day?</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Ah, Delian Healer, say!</span><br /> +My heart hangs on thy word with trembling awe:<br /> +<span class="in8">What new giv’n law,</span><br /> +Or what returning in Time’s circling round<br /> +Wilt thou unfold? Tell us, immortal sound,<br /> +Daughter of golden Hope, tell us, we pray, we pray!</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">First, child of Zeus, Pallas, to thee appealing,</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +Then to sweet Artemis, thy sister, kneeling,<br /> +<span class="in8">Who with benignant hand</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Still guards our sacred land,</span><br /> +Throned o’er the circling mart that hears her praise,<br /> +<span class="in8">And thou, whose rays</span><br /> +Pierce evil from afar, ho! come and save,<br /> +Ye mighty three! if e’er before ye drave<br /> +The threatening fire of woe from Thebè, come to day!</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +For ah! the griefs that on me weigh<span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Are numberless; weak are my helpers all,</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 90]</span><span class="linenum">[170-215]</span> +<span class="in2">And thought finds not a sword to fray</span><br /> +<span class="in2">This hated pestilence from hearth or hall.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Earth’s blossoms blasted fall:</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Nor can our women rise</span><br /> +<span class="in8">From childbed after pangs and cries;</span><br /> +<span class="in8">But flocking more and more</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Toward the western shore,</span><br /> +Soul after soul is known to wing her flight,<br /> +Swifter than quenchless flame, to the far realm of Night.</p> + + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4">So deaths innumerable abound.</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in2">My city’s sons unpitied lie around</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Over the plague-encumbered ground</span><br /> +<span class="in2">And wives and matrons old on every hand</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Along the altar-strand</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Groaning in saddest grief</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Pour supplication for relief.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Loud hymns are sounding clear</span><br /> +<span class="in8">With wailing voices near.</span><br /> +Then, golden daughter of the heavenly sire,<br /> +Send bright-eyed Succour forth to drive away this fire.</p> + + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in10">And swiftly speed afar,</span><span class="chm">III 1</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Windborne on backward car,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">The viewless fiend who scares me with wild cries,</span><br /> +<span class="in12">To oarless Thracian tide,</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Of ocean-chambers wide,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">About the bed where Amphitritè lies.</span><br /> +Day blights what night hath spared. O thou whose hand<br /> +Wields lightning, blast him with thy thundrous brand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in10">Shower from the golden string</span><span class="chm">III 2</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Thine arrows Lycian King!</span><br /> +<span class="in6">O Phoebus, let thy fiery lances fly</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Resistless, as they rove</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Through Xanthus’ mountain-grove!</span><br /> +<span class="in6">O Thoeban Bacchus of the lustrous eye,</span><br /> +With torch and trooping Maenads and bright crown<br /> +Blaze on thee god whom all in Heaven disown.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">OEDIPUS</span> has entered during the Choral song</span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 91]</span><span class="linenum">[216-251]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Your prayers are answered. Succour and relief<br /> +Are yours, if ye will heed my voice and yield<br /> +What help the plague requires. Hear it from me,<br /> +Who am hitherto a stranger to the tale,<br /> +As to the crime. Being nought concerned therewith,<br /> +I could not of myself divine the truth.<br /> +But now, as one adopted to your state,<br /> +To all of you Cadmeans I speak this:<br /> +Whoe’er among you knoweth the murderer<br /> +Of Laius, son of royal Labdacus,<br /> +Let him declare the deed in full to me.<br /> +First, if the man himself be touched with fear,<br /> +Let him depart, carrying the guilt away;<br /> +No harm shall follow him:—he shall go free.<br /> +Or if there be who knows another here,<br /> +Come from some other country, to have wrought<br /> +This murder, let him speak. Reward from me<br /> +And store of kind remembrance shall be his.<br /> +But if ye are silent, and one present here<br /> +Who might have uttered this, shall hold his peace,<br /> +As fearing for himself, or for his friend,<br /> +What then shall be performed, hear me proclaim.<br /> +I here prohibit all within this realm<br /> +Whereof I wield the sceptre and sole sway,<br /> +To admit the murderer, whosoe’er he be,<br /> +Within their houses, or to speak with him,<br /> +Or share with him in vow or sacrifice<br /> +Or lustral rite. All men shall thrust him forth,<br /> +Our dark pollution, so to me revealed<br /> +By this day’s oracle from Pytho’s cell.<br /> +<span class="in2">So firm is mine allegiance to the God</span><br /> +And your dead sovereign in this holy war.<br /> +Now on the man of blood, whether he lurk<br /> +In lonely guilt, or with a numerous band,<br /> +I here pronounce this curse:—Let his crushed life<br /> +Wither forlorn in hopeless misery.<br /> +Next, I pray Heaven, should he or they be housed<br /> +With mine own knowledge in my home, that I<br /> +May suffer all I imprecate on them.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 92]</span><span class="linenum">[252-287]</span> +Last, I enjoin each here to lend his aid<br /> +For my sake, and the God’s, and for your land<br /> +Reft of her increase and renounced by Heaven.<br /> +It was not right, when your good king had fallen,<br /> +Although the oracle were silent still,<br /> +To leave this inquisition unperformed.<br /> +Long since ye should have purged the crime. But now<br /> +I, to whom fortune hath transferred his crown,<br /> +And given his queen in marriage,—yea, moreover,<br /> +His seed and mine had been one family<br /> +Had not misfortune trampled on his head<br /> +Cutting him off from fair posterity,—<br /> +All this being so, I will maintain his cause<br /> +As if my father’s, racking means and might<br /> +To apprehend the author of the death<br /> +Of Laius, son to Labdacus, and heir<br /> +To Polydorus and to Cadmus old,<br /> +And proud Agenor of the eldest time.<br /> +<span class="in2">Once more, to all who disobey in this</span><br /> +May Heaven deny the produce of the ground<br /> +And offspring from their wives, and may they pine<br /> +With plagues more horrible than this to-day.<br /> +But for the rest of you Cadmean men,<br /> +Who now embrace my word, may Righteousness,<br /> +Strong to defend, and all the Gods for aye<br /> +Watch over you for blessing in your land.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span> +Under the shadow of thy curse, my lord,<br /> +I will speak. I slew him not, nor can I show<br /> +The man who slew. Phoebus, who gave the word,<br /> +Should name the guilty one.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in14">Thy thought is just,</span><br /> +But man may not compel the Gods.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in22">Again,</span><br /> +That failing, I perceive a second way.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Were there a third, spare not to speak it forth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +I know of one alone whose kingly mind<br /> +Sees all King Phoebus sees—Tirésias,—he<br /> +Infallibly could guide us in this quest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +That doth not count among my deeds undone.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 93]</span><span class="linenum">[288-321]</span> +By Creon’s counsel I have sent twice o’er<br /> +To fetch him, and I muse at his delay.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +The rumour that remains is old and dim.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What rumour? Let no tale be left untried.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +’Twas said he perished by some wandering band.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +But the one witness is removed from ken.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Well, if the man be capable of fear,<br /> +He’ll not remain when he hath heard thy curse.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Words have no terror for the soul that dares<br /> +Such doings.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in4">Yet lives one who shall convict him.</span><br /> +For look where now they lead the holy seer,<br /> +Whom sacred Truth inspires alone of men.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">TIRESIAS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +O thou whose universal thought commands<br /> +All knowledge and all mysteries, in Heaven<br /> +And on the earth beneath, thy mind perceives,<br /> +Tirésias, though thine outward eye be dark,<br /> +What plague is wasting Thebè, who in thee,<br /> +Great Sir, finds her one saviour, her sole guide.<br /> +Phoebus (albeit the messengers perchance<br /> +Have told thee this) upon our sending sent<br /> +This answer back, that no release might come<br /> +From this disaster, till we sought and found<br /> +And slew the murderers of king Laius,<br /> +Or drave them exiles from our land. Thou, then,<br /> +Withhold not any word of augury<br /> +Or other divination which thou knowest,<br /> +But rescue Thebè, and thyself, and me,<br /> +And purge the stain that issues from the dead.<br /> +On thee we lean: and ’tis a noble thing<br /> +To use what power one hath in doing good.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TIRESIAS.</span> +Ah! terrible is knowledge to the man<br /> +Whom knowledge profits not. This well I knew,<br /> +But had forgotten. Else I ne’er had come.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Why dost thou bring a mind so full of gloom?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Let me go home. Thy part and mine to-day<br /> +Will best be borne, if thou obey me in that.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 94]</span><span class="linenum">[322-356]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Disloyal and ungrateful! to deprive<br /> +The state that reared thee of thine utterance now.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Thy speech, I see, is foiling thine intent;<br /> +And I would shield me from the like mishap. (<span class="sdm">Going.</span>)</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Nay, if thou knowest, turn thee not away:<br /> +All here with suppliant hands importune thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Yea, for ye all are blind. Never will I<br /> +Reveal my woe;—mine, that I say not, thine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +So, then, thou hast the knowledge of the crime<br /> +And wilt not tell, but rather wouldst betray<br /> +This people, and destroy thy fatherland!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +You press me to no purpose. I’ll not pain<br /> +Thee, nor myself. Thou wilt hear nought from me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +How? Miscreant! Thy stubbornness would rouse<br /> +Wrath in a breast of stone. Wilt thou yet hold<br /> +That silent, hard, impenetrable mien?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +You censure me for my harsh mood. Your own<br /> +Dwells unsuspected with you. Me you blame!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Who can be mild and gentle, when thou speakest<br /> +Such words to mock this people?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +<span class="in22">It will come:</span><br /> +Although I bury it in silence here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Must not the King be told of what will come?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +No word from me. At this, an if thou wilt,<br /> +Rage to the height of passionate vehemence.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ay, and my passion shall declare my thought.<br /> +’Tis clear to me as daylight, thou hast been<br /> +The arch-plotter of this deed; yea, thou hast done<br /> +All but the actual blow. Hadst thou thy sight,<br /> +I had proclaimed thee the sole murderer.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Ay, say’st thou so?—I charge thee to abide<br /> +By thine own ordinance; and from this hour<br /> +Speak not to any Theban nor to me.<br /> +Thou art the vile polluter of the land.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +O void of shame! What wickedness is this?<br /> +What power will give thee refuge for such guilt?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +The might of truth is scatheless. I am free.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 95]</span><span class="linenum">[357-392]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Whence came the truth to thee? Not from thine art.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +From thee, whose rage impelled my backward tongue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Speak it once more, that I may know the drift.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Was it so dark? Or wouldst thou tempt me further?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I cannot say ’twas clear. Speak it again.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +I say thou art the murderer whom thou seekest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Again that baleful word! But thou shalt rue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Shall I add more, to aggravate thy wrath?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +All is but idleness. Say what thou wilt.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +I tell thee thou art living unawares<br /> +In shameful commerce with thy near’st of blood,<br /> +Ignorant of the abyss wherein thou liest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Think you to triumph in offending still?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +If Truth have power.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in14">She hath, but not for thee.</span><br /> +Blind as thou art in eyes and ears and mind.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +O miserable reproach, which all who now<br /> +Behold thee, soon shall thunder forth on thee!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Nursed in unbroken night, thou canst not harm<br /> +Or me, or any man who seeth the day.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +No, not from me proceeds thy fall; the God,<br /> +Who cares for this, is able to perform it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Came this device from Creon or thyself?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Not Creon: thou art thy sole enemy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +O wealth and sovereign power and high success<br /> +Attained through wisdom and admired of men,<br /> +What boundless jealousies environ you!<br /> +When for this rule, which to my hand the State<br /> +Committed unsolicited and free,<br /> +Creon, my first of friends, trusted and sure,<br /> +Would undermine and hurl me from my throne,<br /> +Meanly suborning such a mendicant<br /> +Botcher of lies, this crafty wizard rogue,<br /> +Blind in his art, and seeing but for gain.<br /> +Where are the proofs of thy prophetic power?<br /> +<a name="King_t_1a" id="King_t_1a"></a>How came it, when the minstrel-hound was here,<br /> +This folk had no deliverance through thy word?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 96]</span><span class="linenum">[393-426]</span> +Her snare could not be loosed by common wit,<br /> +But needed divination and deep skill;<br /> +No sign whereof proceeded forth from thee<br /> +Procured through birds or given by God, till I,<br /> +The unknowing traveller, overmastered her,<br /> +The stranger Oedipus, not led by birds,<br /> +But ravelling out the secret by my thought:<br /> +Whom now you study to supplant, and trust<br /> +To stand as a supporter of the throne<br /> +Of lordly Creon,—To your bitter pain<br /> +Thou and the man who plotted this <a href="#King_n_2" name="King_t_2" id="King_t_2">will hunt<br /> +Pollution forth.</a>—But for thy reverend look<br /> +Thou hadst atoned thy trespass on the spot.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Your friends would humbly deprecate the wrath<br /> +That sounds both in your speech, my lord, and his.<br /> +That is not what we need, but to discern<br /> +How best to solve the heavenly oracle.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Though thou art king and lord, I claim no less<br /> +Lordly prerogative to answer thee.<br /> +Speech is my realm; Apollo rules my life,<br /> +Not thou. Nor need I Creon to protect me.<br /> +Now, then: my blindness moves thy scorn:—thou hast<br /> +Thy sight, and seest not where thou art sunk in evil,<br /> +What halls thou dost inhabit, or with whom:<br /> +Know’st not from whence thou art—nay, to thy kin,<br /> +Buried in death and here above the ground,<br /> +Unwittingly art a most grievous foe.<br /> +And when thy father’s and thy mother’s curse<br /> +With fearful tread shall drive thee from the land,<br /> +On both sides lashing thee,—thine eye so clear<br /> +Beholding darkness in that day,—oh, then,<br /> +What region will not shudder at thy cry?<br /> +What echo in all Cithaeron will be mute,<br /> +When thou perceiv’st, what bride-song in thy hall<br /> +Wafted thy gallant bark with nattering gale<br /> +To anchor,—where? And other store of ill<br /> +Thou seest not, that shall show thee as thou art,<br /> +Merged with thy children in one horror of birth.<br /> +Then rail at noble Creon, and contemn<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 97]</span><span class="linenum">[427-460]</span> +My sacred utterance! No life on earth<br /> +More vilely shall be rooted out, than thine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Must I endure such words from him? Begone!<br /> +Off to thy ruin, and with speed! Away,<br /> +And take thy presence from our palace-hall!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Had you not sent for me, I ne’er had come.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I knew not thou wouldst utter folly here,<br /> +Else never had I brought thee to my door.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +To thee I am foolish, then; but to the pair<br /> +Who gave thee life, I was wise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in18">Hold, go not! who?</span><br /> +Who gave me being?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +<span class="in12">To-day shall bring to light</span><br /> +Thy birth and thy destruction.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in16">Wilt thou still</span><br /> +Speak all in riddles and dark sentences?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Methought thou wert the man to find them out.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ay! Taunt me with the gift that makes me great.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +And yet this luck hath been thy overthrow.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I care not, since I rescued this fair town.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +Then I will go. Come, sirrah, guide me forth!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Be it so! For standing here you vex our eye,<br /> +But, you being gone, our trouble goes with you.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">TI.</span> +I go, but I will speak. Why should I fear<br /> +Thy frown? Thou ne’er canst ruin me. The word<br /> +Wherefore I came, is this: The man you seek<br /> +With threatening proclamation of the guilt<br /> +Of Laius’ blood, that man is here to-day,<br /> +An alien sojourner supposed from far,<br /> +But by-and-by he shall be certified<br /> +A true-born Theban: nor will such event<br /> +Bring him great joy; for, blind from having sight<br /> +And beggared from high fortune, with a staff<br /> +In stranger lands he shall feel forth his way;<br /> +Shown living with the children of his loins,<br /> +Their brother and their sire, and to the womb<br /> +That bare him, husband-son, and, to his father,<br /> +Parricide and corrival. Now go in,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 98]</span><span class="linenum">[461-502]</span> +Ponder my words; and if thou find them false,<br /> +then say my power is naught in prophecy.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt severally</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Whom hath the voice from Delphi’s rocky</span> throne<span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Loudly declared to have done</span><br /> +Horror unnameable with murdering hand?<br /> +<span class="in6">With speed of storm-swift car</span><br /> +<span class="in6">’Tis time he fled afar</span><br /> +With mighty footstep hurrying from the land.<br /> +<span class="in6">For, armed with lightning brand,</span><br /> +The son of Zeus assails him with fierce bounds,<br /> +Hunting with Death’s inevitable hounds.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Late from divine Parnassus’ snow-capped height</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in6">This utterance sprang to light,</span><br /> +To track by every path the man unknown.<br /> +<span class="in6">Through woodland caverns deep</span><br /> +<span class="in6">And o’er the rocky steep</span><br /> +Harbouring in caves he roams the wild alone,<br /> +<span class="in6">With none to share his moan.</span><br /> +Shunning that prophet-voice’s central sound,<br /> +Which ever lives, and haunts him, hovering round.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">The reverend Seer hath stirred me with strange awe.</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +Gainsay I cannot, nor yet think him true.<br /> +I know not how to speak. My fluttering heart<br /> +In wild expectancy sees nothing clear.<br /> +Things past and future with the present doubt<br /> +Are shrouded in one mist. What quarrel lay<br /> +’Twixt Cadmus’ issue and Corinthus’ heir<br /> +Was never shown me, from old times till now,<br /> +By one on whose sure word I might rely<br /> +In running counter to the King’s fair fame,<br /> +To wreak for Laius that mysterious death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Zeus and Apollo scan the ways of men</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +With perfect vision. But of mortals here<br /> +That soothsayers are more inspired than I<br /> +What certain proof is given? A man through wit<br /> +May pass another’s wisdom in the race.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 99]</span><span class="linenum">[503-542]</span> +But never, till I see the word fulfilled,<br /> +Will I confirm their clamour ’gainst the King.<br /> +In open day the female monster came:<br /> +Then perfect witness made his wisdom clear.<br /> +Thebè hath tried him and delights in him.<br /> +Wherefore my heart shall still believe him good.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CREON</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Citizens, hearing of dire calumny<br /> +Denounced on me by Oedipus the King,<br /> +I am here to make loud protest. If he think,<br /> +In this embroilment of events, one word<br /> +Or deed of mine hath wrought him injury,<br /> +I am not careful to prolong my life<br /> +Beneath such imputation. For it means<br /> +No trifling danger, but disastrous harm,<br /> +Making my life dishonoured in the state,<br /> +And meanly thought of by my friends and you.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Perchance ’twas but the sudden flash of wrath,<br /> +Not the deliberate judgement of the soul.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<a href="#King_n_3" name="King_t_3" id="King_t_3">Who durst declare it,</a> that Tirésias spake<br /> +False prophecies, set on to this by me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Such things were said, I know not how advised.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +And were the eyes and spirit not distraught,<br /> +When the tongue uttered this to ruin me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +I cannot say. To what my betters do<br /> +I am blind. But see, the King comes forth again.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">OEDIPUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Insolent, art thou here? Hadst thou the face<br /> +To bring thy boldness near my palace-roof,<br /> +Proved as thou art to have contrived my death<br /> +And laid thy robber hands upon my state?<br /> +Tell me, by heaven, had you seen in me<br /> +A coward or a fool, when you planned this?—<br /> +Deemed you I should be blind to your attempt<br /> +Craftily creeping on, or, when perceived,<br /> +Not ward it off? Is’t not a silly scheme,<br /> +To think to compass without troops of friends<br /> +Power, that is only won by wealth and men?</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 100]</span><span class="linenum">[543-578]</span> +<span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Wilt them be counselled? Hear as much in turn<br /> +As thou hast spoken, and then thyself be judge.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I know thy tongue, but I am slow to learn<br /> +From thee, whom I have found my grievous foe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +First on this very point, hear me declare—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I will not hear that thou art not a villain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Thine is a shallow judgement, if thou thinkest<br /> +Self-will without true thought can bring thee gain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Thine is a shallow judgement, if thou thinkest<br /> +Thou canst abuse thy kinsman and be free.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +A rightful sentence. But I fain would learn<br /> +What wrong is that you speak of?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in20">Tell me this;</span><br /> +Didst thou, or not, urge me to send and bring<br /> +The reverend-seeming prophet?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in20">Yea, and still</span><br /> +I hold that counsel firm.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in12">How long is ’t now</span><br /> +Since Laius—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in6">What? I do not catch your drift.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Vanished in ruin by a dire defeat?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +’Twere long to count the years that come between.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And did this prophet then profess his art?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Wise then as now, nor less in reverence.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Then at that season did he mention me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Not in my hearing.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in14">But, I may presume,</span><br /> +Ye held an inquisition for the dead?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Yes, we inquired, of course: and could not hear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Why was he dumb, your prophet, in that day?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I cannot answer, for I do not know.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +This you can answer, for you know it well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Say what? I will not gainsay, if I know.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +That, but for your advice, he had not dared<br /> +To talk of Laius’ death as done by me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +You know, that heard him, what he spake. But I<br /> +Would ask thee too a question in my turn.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +No questioning will fasten blood on me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Hast thou my sister for thine honoured queen?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +The fact is patent, and denial vain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 101]</span><span class="linenum">[579-617]</span> +<span class="cnm">CR.</span> +And shar’st with her dominion of this realm?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +All she desires is given her by my will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Then, am not I third-partner with you twain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +There is your villany in breaking fealty.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Not so, if thou wouldst reason with thyself<br /> +As I do. First consider one thing well:<br /> +Who would choose rule accompanied with fear<br /> +Before safe slumbers with an equal sway?<br /> +’Tis not my nature, no, nor any man’s,<br /> +Who follows wholesome thoughts, to love the place<br /> +Of domination rather than the power.<br /> +Now, without fear, I have my will from thee;<br /> +But were I king, I should do much unwillingly.<br /> +How then can I desire to be a king,<br /> +When masterdom is mine without annoy?<br /> +Delusion hath not gone so far with me<br /> +As to crave more than honour joined with gain.<br /> +Now all men hail me happy, all embrace me;<br /> +All who have need of thee, call in my aid;<br /> +For thereupon their fortunes wholly turn.<br /> +How should I leave this substance for that show?<br /> +No man of sense can harbour thoughts of crime.<br /> +Such vain ambition hath no charm for me,<br /> +Nor could I bear to lend it countenance.<br /> +If you would try me, go and ask again<br /> +If I brought Phoebus’ answer truly back.<br /> +Nay more, should I be found to have devised<br /> +Aught in collusion with the seer, destroy me,<br /> +Not by one vote, but two, mine own with thine.<br /> +But do not on a dim suspicion blame me<br /> +Of thy mere will. To darken a good name<br /> +Without clear cause is heinous wickedness;<br /> +And to cast off a worthy friend I call<br /> +No less a folly than to fling away<br /> +What most we love, the life within our breast.<br /> +The certainty of this will come with time;<br /> +For time alone can clear the righteous man.<br /> +An hour suffices to make known the villain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Prudence bids hearken to such words, my lord,<br /> +For fear one fall. Swift is not sure in counsel.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 102]</span><span class="linenum">[618-645]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +When he who hath designs on me is swift<br /> +In his advance, I must bethink me swiftly.<br /> +Should I wait leisurely, his work hath gained<br /> +Achievement, while my plans have missed success.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +What would you then? To thrust me from the land?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Nay, death, not exile, is my wish for thee,<br /> +When all have seen what envy brings on men.</p> + +<p class="dlg">[<a href="#King_n_4" name="King_t_4" id="King_t_4"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +You’ll ne’er relent nor listen to my plea.</a>]</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +You’ll ne’er be governed or repent your guilt.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Because I see thou art blind.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in22">Not to my need.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Mine must be thought of too.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in22">You are a villain.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +How if thy thought be vain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in20">Authority</span><br /> +Must be maintained.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in10">Not when authority</span><br /> +Declines to evil.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in6">O my citizens!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I have a part in them no less than you.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span> +Cease, princes. Opportunely I behold<br /> +Jocasta coming toward you from the palace.<br /> +Her presence may attune your jarring minds.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">JOCASTA</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JOCASTA.</span> +Unhappy that ye are, why have ye reared<br /> +Your wordy rancour ’mid the city’s harms?<br /> +Have you no shame, to stir up private broils<br /> +In such a time as this? Get thee within! (<span class="sdm">To <span class="cnm">OED</span></span>)<br /> +And thou too, Creon! nor enlarge your griefs<br /> +To make a mountain out of nothingness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Sister, thy husband Oedipus declares<br /> +One of two horrors he will wreak on me,<br /> +Banishment from my native land, or death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Yea, for I caught him practising, my queen,<br /> +Against our person with malignant guile.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +May comfort fail me, and a withering curse<br /> +Destroy me, if I e’er planned aught of this.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 103]</span><span class="linenum">[646-679]</span> +<span class="cnm">JO.</span> +I pray thee, husband, listen to his plea;<br /> +Chiefly respecting his appeal to Heaven,<br /> +But also me, and these who stand by thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 1.</span> +Incline to our request<span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +Thy mind and heart, O King!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What would you I should yield unto your prayer?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 2.</span> +Respect one ever wise,<br /> +Whose oath protects him now.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Know ye what thing ye ask?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 3.</span> +I know.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in8">Then plainly tell.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 4.</span> +Thy friend, who is rendered sacred by his oath,<br /> +Rob not of honour through obscure surmise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +In asking that, you labour for my death<br /> +Or banishment. Of this be well assured.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 5.</span> +No, by the Sun I swear,<span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +Vaunt-courier of the host of heaven.<br /> +For may I die the last of deaths,<br /> +Unblest of God or friend,<br /> +If e’er such thought were mine.<br /> +But oh! this pining land<br /> +Afflicts my sorrow-burdened soul,<br /> +To think that to her past and present woe<br /> +She must add this, which springs to her from you.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Then let him range, though I must die outright,<br /> +Or be thrust forth with violence from the land!<br /> +—Not for his voice, but thine, which wrings my heart:<br /> +He, wheresoe’er he live, shall have my hate.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +You show yourself as sullen when you yield,<br /> +As unendurable in your fury’s height.<br /> +Such natures justly give themselves most pain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Let me alone, then, and begone!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in26">I go,</span><br /> +Untainted in their sight, though thou art blind.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 1.</span> +Lady, why tarriest thou<span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +To lead thy husband in?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 104]</span><span class="linenum">[680-713]</span> +<span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Not till I learn what mischief is befallen.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 2.</span> +A dim, unproved debate.<br /> +Reproach, though unfounded, stings.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +From both?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 3.</span> +<span class="in8">From both alike.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +How caused?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 4.</span> +<span class="in10">Enough for me,</span><br /> +Amply enough it seems, when our poor land<br /> +Is vexed already, not to wake what sleeps.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +(<span class="sdm">to <span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span></span>).<br /> +See where thine honest zeal hath landed thee,<br /> +Bating my wrath, and blunting my desire!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 5.</span> +My prince, I say it again:<span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +Assure thee, I were lost to sense,<br /> +Infatuate, void of wholesome thought,<br /> +Could I be tempted now<br /> +To loose my faith from thee,<br /> +Who, when the land I love<br /> +Laboured beneath a wildering load,<br /> +Didst speed her forth anew with favouring gale.<br /> +Now, too, if but thou may’st, be her good guide.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Let not thy queen be left in ignorance<br /> +What cause thou hadst to lift thy wrath so high.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I’ll tell thee, lady, for I honour thee<br /> +More than these citizens. ’Twas Creon there,<br /> +And his inveterate treason against me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Accuse him, so you make the quarrel plain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +He saith I am the murderer of the King.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Speaks he from hearsay, or as one who knows?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +He keeps his own lips free: but hath suborned<br /> +A rascal soothsayer to this villany.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Hearken to me, and set your heart at rest<br /> +On that you speak of, while I make you learn<br /> +No mortal thing is touched by soothsaying.<br /> +Of that I’ll give thee warrant brief and plain.<br /> +Word came to Laius once, I will not say<br /> +From Phoebus’ self, but from his ministers,<br /> +The King should be destroyed by his own son,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 105]</span><span class="linenum">[714-746]</span> +If son were born to him from me. What followed?<br /> +Laius was slain, by robbers from abroad,<br /> +Saith Rumour, in a cross-way! But the child<br /> +Lived not three days, ere by my husband’s hand<br /> +His feet were locked, and he was cast and left<br /> +By messengers on the waste mountain wold.<br /> +So Phoebus neither brought upon the boy<br /> +His father’s murder, nor on Laius<br /> +The thing he greatly feared, death by his son.<br /> +Such issue came of prophesying words.<br /> +Therefore regard them not. God can himself<br /> +With ease bring forth what for his ends he needs.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What strange emotions overcloud my soul,<br /> +Stirred to her depths on hearing this thy tale!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +What sudden change is this? What cares oppress thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Methought I heard thee say, King Laius<br /> +Was at a cross-road overpowered and slain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +So ran the talk that yet is current here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Where was the scene of this unhappy blow?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Phocis the land is named. The parted ways<br /> +Meet in one point from Dauha and from Delphi.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And since the event how much of time hath flown?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +’Twas just ere you appeared with prospering speed<br /> +And took the kingdom, that the tidings came.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What are thy purposes against me, Zeus?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Why broods thy mind upon such thoughts, my king?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Nay, ask me not! But tell me first what height<br /> +Had Laius, and what grace of manly prime?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Tall, with dark locks just sprinkled o’er with grey:<br /> +In shape and bearing much resembling thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +O heavy fate! How all unknowingly<br /> +I laid that dreadful curse on my own head!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +How?<br /> +I tremble as I gaze on thee, my king!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 106]</span><span class="linenum">[747-783]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +The fear appals me that the seer can see.<br /> +Tell one thing more, to make it doubly clear!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +I am lothe to speak, but, when you ask, I will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Had he scant following, or, as princes use,<br /> +Full numbers of a well-appointed train?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +There were but five in all: a herald one;<br /> +And Laius travelled in the only car.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Woe! woe! ’Tis clear as daylight. Who was he<br /> +That brought you this dire message, O my queen?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +A home-slave, who alone returned alive.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And is he now at hand within the house?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +No, truly. When he came from yonder scene<br /> +And found thee king in room of Laius murdered,<br /> +He touched my hand, and made his instant prayer<br /> +That I would send him to o’erlook the flocks<br /> +And rural pastures, so to live as far<br /> +As might be from the very thought of Thebes.<br /> +I granted his desire. No servant ever<br /> +More richly merited such boon than he.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Can he be brought again immediately?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Indeed he can. But why desire it so?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Words have by me been uttered, O my queen,<br /> +That give me too much cause to wish him here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Then come he shall. But I may surely claim<br /> +To hear what in thy state goes heavily.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Thou shalt not lose thy rights in such an hour,<br /> +When I am harrowed thus with doubt and fear.<br /> +To whom more worthy should I tell my grief?<br /> +—My father was Corinthian Polybus,<br /> +My mother, Dorian Meropè.—I lived<br /> +A prince among that people, till a chance<br /> +Encountered me, worth wonder, but, though strange,<br /> +Not worth the anxious thought it waked in me.<br /> +For at a feasting once over the wine<br /> +One deep in liquor called aloud to me,<br /> +‘Hail, thou false foundling of a foster-sire!’<br /> +That day with pain I held my passion down;<br /> +But early on the morrow I came near<br /> +And questioned both my parents, who were fierce<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 107]</span><span class="linenum">[784-820]</span> +In anger at the man who broached this word.<br /> +For their part I was satisfied, but still<br /> +It galled me, for the rumour would not die.<br /> +<span class="in2">Eluding then my parents I made way</span><br /> +To Delphi, where, as touching my desire,<br /> +Phoebus denied me; but brake forth instead<br /> +With other oracles of misery<br /> +And horrible misfortune, how that I<br /> +Must know my mother’s shame, and cause to appear<br /> +A birth intolerable in human view,<br /> +And do to death the author of my life.<br /> +I fled forth at the word, conjecturing now<br /> +Corinthia’s region by the stars of heaven,<br /> +And wandered, where I never might behold<br /> +Those dreadful prophecies fulfilled on me.<br /> +So travelling on, I came even to the place<br /> +Where, as thou tell’st, the King of Thebè fell.<br /> +And, O my wife, I will hide nought from thee.<br /> +When I drew near the cross-road of your tale,<br /> +A herald, and a man upon a car,<br /> +Like your description, there encountered me.<br /> +And he who led the car, and he himself<br /> +The greybeard, sought to thrust me from the path.<br /> +Then in mine angry mood I sharply struck<br /> +The driver-man who turned me from the way;<br /> +Which when the elder saw, he watched for me<br /> +As I passed by, and from the chariot-seat<br /> +Smote full upon my head with the fork’d goad;<br /> +But got more than he gave; for, by a blow<br /> +From this right hand, smit with my staff, he fell<br /> +Instantly rolled out of the car supine.<br /> +I slew them every one. Now if that stranger<br /> +Had aught in common with king Laius,<br /> +What wretch on earth was e’er so lost as I?<br /> +Whom have the Heavens so followed with their hate?<br /> +No house of Theban or of foreigner<br /> +Must any more receive me, none henceforth<br /> +Must speak to me, but drive me from the door!<br /> +I, I have laid this curse on mine own head!<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 108]</span><span class="linenum">[821-858]</span> +Yea, and this arm that slew him now enfolds<br /> +His queen. O cruel stain! Am I not vile?<br /> +Polluted utterly! Yes, I must flee,<br /> +And, lost to Thebè, nevermore behold<br /> +My home, nor tread my country, lest I meet<br /> +In marriage mine own mother, and bring low<br /> +His head that gave me life and reared my youth,<br /> +My father, Polybus. Ah! right were he<br /> +Who should declare some god of cruel mood<br /> +Had sent this trouble upon my soul! Ye Powers,<br /> +Worshipped in holiness, ne’er may I see<br /> +That day, but perish from the sight of men,<br /> +Ere sins like these be branded on my name!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thy fear is ours, O king: yet lose not hope,<br /> +Till thou hast heard the witness of the deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ay, that is all I still have left of hope,<br /> +To bide the coming of the shepherd man.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +What eager thought attends his presence here?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I’ll tell thee. Should his speech accord with thine,<br /> +My life stands clear from this calamity.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +What word of mine agreed not with the scene?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +You said he spake of robbers in a band<br /> +As having slain him. Now if he shall still<br /> +Persist in the same number, I am free.<br /> +One man and many cannot be the same.<br /> +But should he tell of one lone traveller,<br /> +Then, unavoidably, this falls on me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +So ’twas given out by him, be sure of that.<br /> +He cannot take it back. Not I alone<br /> +But all the people heard him speak it so.<br /> +And should he swerve in aught from his first tale,<br /> +He ne’er can show the murder of the king<br /> +Rightly accordant with the oracle.<br /> +For Phoebus said expressly he should fall<br /> +Through him whom I brought forth. But that poor babe<br /> +Ne’er slew his sire, but perished long before.<br /> +Wherefore henceforth I will pursue my way<br /> +Regardless of all words of prophecy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 109]</span><span class="linenum">[859-894]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Wisely resolved. But still send one to bring<br /> +The labourer swain, and be not slack in this.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +I will, and promptly. Go we now within!<br /> +My whole desire is but to work thy will.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">O may my life be evermore</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Pure in each holy word and deed</span><br /> +<span class="in2">By those eternal laws decreed</span><br /> +That pace the sapphire-paven floor!<br /> +Children of Heaven, of Ether born,<br /> +No mortal knew their natal morn,<br /> +Nor may Oblivion’s waters deep<br /> +E’er lull their wakeful spirit asleep,<br /> +Nor creeping Age o’erpower the mighty God<br /> +Who far within them holds his unprofaned abode.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Pride breeds the tyrant: monstrous birth!</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Insolent Pride, if idly nursed</span><br /> +<span class="in2">On timeless surfeit, plenty accursed,</span><br /> +Spurning the lowlier tract of Earth<br /> +Mounts to her pinnacle,—then falls,<br /> +Dashed headlong down sheer mountain walls<br /> +To dark Necessity’s deep ground,<br /> +Where never foothold can be found.<br /> +Let wrestlers for my country’s glory speed,<br /> +God, I thee pray! Be God my helper in all need!</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">But if one be, whose bold disdain</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +Walks in a round of vapourings vain<br /> +And violent acts, regarding not<br /> +The Rule of Right, but with proud thought<br /> +Scorning the place where Gods have set their seat,<br /> +—Made captive by an Evil Doom,<br /> +Shorn of that inauspicious bloom,<br /> +Let him be shown the path of lawful gain<br /> +And taught in holier ways to guide his feet,<br /> +Nor with mad folly strain<br /> +His passionate arms to clasp things impious to retain.<br /> +Who in such courses shall defend his soul<br /> +From storms of thundrous wrath that o’er him roll?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 110]</span><span class="linenum">[895-927]</span> +If honour to such lives be given,<br /> +What needs our choir to hymn the power of Heaven?</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">No more to Delphi, central shrine</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +Of Earth, I’ll seek, for light divine,<br /> +Nor visit Abae’s mystic fane<br /> +Nor travel o’er the well-trod plain<br /> +Where thousands throng to famed Olympia’s town,<br /> +Unless, with manifest accord,<br /> +The event fulfil the oracular word.<br /> +Zeus, Lord of all! if to eternity<br /> +Thou would’st confirm thy kingdom’s large renown,<br /> +Let not their vauntings high<br /> +Evade the sovereign look of the everlasting eye!<br /> +They make as though the ancient warning slept<br /> +By Laius erst with fear and trembling kept;<br /> +Apollo’s glory groweth pale,<br /> +And holiest rites are prone to faint and fail.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">JOCASTA</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Princes of Thebes, it came into my thought<br /> +To stand before some holy altar-place<br /> +With frankincense and garlands. For the king,<br /> +Transported by the tempest of his fear,<br /> +Runs wild in0grief, nor like a man of sense<br /> +Reasons of present things from what hath been.<br /> +Each tongue o’ermasters him that tells of woe.<br /> +Then since my counsels are of no avail,<br /> +To thee, for thou art nearest, Lykian God,<br /> +I bring my supplication with full hand.<br /> +O grant us absolution and relief!<br /> +For seeing him, our pilot, so distraught,<br /> +Like mariners, we are all amazed with dread.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter the <span class="cnm">CORINTHIAN SHEPHERD</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Are ye the men to tell me where to find<br /> +The mansion of the sovereign Oedipus?<br /> +Or better, where he may himself be found?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Here is the roof you seek, and he, our lord,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 111]</span><span class="linenum">[928-960]</span> +Is there within: and, stranger, thou behold’st<br /> +The queenly mother of his royal race.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +May she and hers be alway fortunate!<br /> +Still may she crown him with the joys of home!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Be thou, too, blest, kind sir! Thy gracious tongue<br /> +Deserves no less. But tell me what request<br /> +Or what intelligence thou bring’st with thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Good tidings for thy house and husband, queen.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +What are they? Who hath sent thee to our hall?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +From Corinth come I, and will quickly tell<br /> +What sure will please you; though perchance ’twill grieve.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +What news can move us thus two ways at once?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +’Twas rumoured that the people of the land<br /> +Of Corinth would make Oedipus their king.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Is ancient Polybus not still in power?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +No. Death confines him in a kingly grave.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Hold there! How say you? Polybus in his grave?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +May I die for him if I speak not true!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +(<span class="sdm">To an attendant</span>.)<br /> +Run thou, and tell this quickly to my lord!<br /> +Voices of prophecy, where are ye now?<br /> +Long time hath Oedipus, a homeless man,<br /> +Trembled with fear of slaying Polybus.<br /> +Who now lies slain by Fortune, not by him.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">OEDIPUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Jocasta, my dear queen, why didst thou send<br /> +To bring me hither from our palace-hall?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Hear that man’s tale, and then consider well<br /> +The end of yonder dreadful prophecy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Who is the man, and what his errand here?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +He comes from Corinth, to make known to thee<br /> +That Polybus, thy father, is no more.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +How, stranger? Let me learn it from thy mouth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +If my first duty be to make this clear,<br /> +Know beyond doubt that he is dead and gone.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +By illness coming o’er him, or by guile?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 112]</span><span class="linenum">[961-996]</span> +<span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Light pressure lays to rest the timeworn frame.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +He was subdued by sickness then, poor soul!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +By sickness and the burden of his years.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ah! my Jocasta, who again will heed<br /> +The Pythian hearth oracular, and birds<br /> +Screaming in air, blind guides! that would have made<br /> +My father’s death my deed; but he is gone,<br /> +Hidden underneath the ground, while I stand hero<br /> +Harmless and weaponless:—unless, perchance,<br /> +My absence killed him,—so he may have died<br /> +Through me. But be that as it may, the grave<br /> +That covers Polybus, hath silenced, too,<br /> +One voice of prophecy, worth nothing now.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Did I not tell thee so, long since?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in24">Thou didst.</span><br /> +But I was drawn to error by my fear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Now cast it altogether out of mind.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Must I not fear my mother’s marriage-bed?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Why should man fear, seeing his course is ruled<br /> +By fortune, and he nothing can foreknow?<br /> +’Tis best to live at ease as best one may.<br /> +Then fear not thou thy mother’s nuptial hour.<br /> +Many a man ere now in dreams hath lain<br /> +With her who bare him. He hath least annoy<br /> +Who with such omens troubleth not his mind.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +That word would be well spoken, were not she<br /> +Alive that gave me birth. But since she lives,<br /> +Though you speak well, yet have I cause for fear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Your father’s burial might enlighten you.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +It doth. But I am darkened by a life.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Whose being overshadows thee with fear?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Queen Meropè, the consort of your king.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +What in her life should make your heart afraid?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +A heaven-sent oracle of dreadful sound.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +May it be told, or must no stranger know?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Indeed it may. Word came from Phoebus once<br /> +That I must know my mother’s shame, and shed<br /> +With these my hands my own true father’s blood.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 113]</span><span class="linenum">[997-1028]</span> +Wherefore long since my home hath been removed<br /> +Far from Corinthos:—not unhappily;<br /> +But still ’tis sweet to see a parent’s face.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Did fear of this make thee so long an exile?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Of this and parricide, my aged friend.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +I came with kind intent—and, dear my lord,<br /> +I fain would rid thee from this haunting dread.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Our gratitude should well reward thy love.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Hope of reward from thee in thy return<br /> +Was one chief motive of my journey hither.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Return? Not to my parents’ dwelling-place!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Son, ’tis too clear, you know not what you do.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Wherefore, kind sir? For Heaven’s sake teach me this.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +If for these reasons you avoid your home.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +The fear torments me, Phoebus may prove true.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Lest from your parents you receive a stain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +That is the life-long torment of my soul.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Will you be certified your fears are groundless?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +How groundless, if I am my parents’ child?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Because with Polybus thou hast no kin.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Why? Was not he the author of my life?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +As much as I am, and no more than I.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +How can my father be no more to me<br /> +Than who is nothing?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +<span class="in6">In begetting thee</span><br /> +Nor I nor he had any part at all.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Why then did he declare me for his son?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Because he took thee once a gift from me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Was all that love unto a foundling shown?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Heirless affection so inclined his heart.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +A gift from you! <a href="#King_n_5" name="King_t_5" id="King_t_5">Your purchase, or your child?</a></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Found in Cithaeron’s hollowy wilderness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What led your travelling footstep to that ground?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +The flocks I tended grazed the mountain there.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 114]</span><span class="linenum">[1029-1061]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +A shepherd wast thou, and a wandering hind?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Whatever else, my son, thy saviour then.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +From what didst thou release me or relieve?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Thine instep bears memorial of the pain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ah! what old evil will thy words disclose?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Thy feet were pierced. ’Twas I unfastened them.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +So cruel to my tender infancy!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +From this thou hast received thy name.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in34">By heaven</span><br /> +I pray thee, did my father do this thing,<br /> +Or was’t my mother?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +<span class="in6">That I dare not say.</span><br /> +He should know best who gave thee to my hand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Another gave me, then? You did not find me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Another herdsman passed thee on to me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Can you describe him? Tell us what you know.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Methinks they called him one of Laius’ people.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Of Laius once the sovereign of this land?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +E’en so. He was a shepherd of his flock.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And is he still alive for me to see?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +You Thebans are most likely to know that.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Speak, any one of you in presence here,<br /> +Can you make known the swain he tells us of,<br /> +In town or country having met with him?<br /> +The hour for this discovery is full come.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Methinks it is no other than the peasant<br /> +Whom thou didst seek before to see: but this<br /> +Could best be told by queen Jocasta there.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +We lately sought that one should come, my queen.<br /> +Know’st thou, is this of whom he speaks the same?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +What matter who? Regard not, nor desire<br /> +Even vainly to remember aught he saith.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +When I have found such tokens of my birth,<br /> +I must disclose it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +<span class="in8">As you love your life,</span><br /> +By heaven I beg you, search no further here!<br /> +The sickness in my bosom is enough.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 115]</span><span class="linenum">[1062-1093]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Nay, never fear! Were I proved thrice a slave<br /> +And waif of bondwomen, you still are noble.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +Yet hearken, I implore you: do not so.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I cannot hear you. I must know this through.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +With clear perception I advise the best.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Thy ‘best’ is still my torment.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +<span class="in24">Wretched one,</span><br /> +Never may’st thou discover who thou art!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Will some one go and bring the herdman hither?<br /> +Leave her to revel in her lordly line!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">JO.</span> +O horrible! O lost one! This alone<br /> +I speak to thee, and no word more for ever.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Oedipus, wherefore is Jocasta gone,<br /> +Driven madly by wild grief? I needs must fear<br /> +Lest from this silence she make sorrow spring.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Leave her to raise what storm she will. But I<br /> +Will persevere to know mine origin,<br /> +Though from an humble seed. Her woman’s pride<br /> +Is shamed, it may be, by my lowliness.<br /> +But I, whilst I account myself the son<br /> +Of prospering Fortune, ne’er will be disgraced.<br /> +For she is my true mother: and the months,<br /> +Coheirs with me of the same father, Time,<br /> +Have marked my lowness and mine exaltation.<br /> +So born, so nurtured, I can fear no change,<br /> +That I need shrink to probe this to the root.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">OEDIPUS</span> remains, and gazes towards the country, +while the <span class="cnm">CHORUS</span> sing</span><br /></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">If I wield a prophet’s might,</span><span class="chm">1</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Or have sense to search aright,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Cithaeron, when all night the moon rides high,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Loud thy praise shall be confessed,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">How upon thy rugged breast,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Thou, mighty mother, nursed’st tenderly</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Great Oedipus, and gav’st his being room</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Within thy spacious home.</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 116]</span><span class="linenum">[1094-1125]</span> +<span class="in6">Yea, we will dance and sing</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Thy glory for thy kindness to our king.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Phoebus, unto thee we cry,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Be this pleasing in thine eye!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">Who, dear sovereign, gave thee birth,</span><span class="chm">2</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Of the long lived nymphs of earth?</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Say, was she clasped by mountain roving Pan?</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Or beguiled she one sweet hour</span><br /> +<span class="in6">With Apollo in her bower,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Who loves to trace the field untrod by man?</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Or was the ruler of Cyllene’s height</span><br /> +<span class="in6">The author of thy light?</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Or did the Bacchic god,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Who makes the top of Helicon to nod,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Take thee for a foundling care</span><br /> +<span class="in6">From his playmates that are there?</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">The <span class="cnm">THEBAN SHEPHERD</span> is seen approaching, guarded.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +If haply I, who never saw his face,<br /> +Thebans, may guess, methinks I see the hind<br /> +Whose coming we have longed for. Both his age,<br /> +Agreeing with this other’s wintry locks,<br /> +Accords with my conjecture, and the garb<br /> +Of his conductors is well known to me<br /> +As that of mine own people. But methinks (<span class="sdm">to <span class="cnm">LEADER of CHORUS</span></span>)<br /> +Thou hast more perfect knowledge in this case,<br /> +Having beheld the herdman in the past.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +I know him well, believe me. Laius<br /> +Had no more faithful shepherd than this man.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Corinthian friend, I first appeal to you:<br /> +Was’t he you spake of?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +<span class="in8">’Twas the man you see.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Turn thine eyes hither, aged friend, and tell<br /> +What I shall ask thee. Wast thou Laius’ slave?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +I was, not bought, but bred within the house.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What charge or occupation was thy care?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +Most of my time was spent in shepherding.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 117]</span><span class="linenum">[1126-1155]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And where didst thou inhabit with thy flock?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +’Twas now Cithaeron, now the neighbouring tract.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And hadst thou there acquaintance of this man?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +Following what service? What is he you mean?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +The man you see. Hast thou had dealings with him?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +I cannot bring him all at once to mind.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +No marvel, good my lord. But I will soon<br /> +Wake to clear knowledge his oblivious sense.<br /> +For sure I am he can recall the time,<br /> +When he with his two flocks, and I with one<br /> +Beside him, grazed Cithaeron’s pasture wide<br /> +Good six months’ space of three successive years,<br /> +From spring to rising of Arcturus; then<br /> +For the bleak winter season, I drove mine<br /> +To their own folds, he his to Laius’ stalls.<br /> +Do I talk idly, or is this the truth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +The time is far remote. But all is true.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Well, dost remember having given me then<br /> +A child, that I might nurture him for mine?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +What means thy question? Let me know thy drift.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">COR. SH.</span> +Friend, yonder stands the infant whom we knew.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +Confusion seize thee, and thy evil tongue!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Check not his speech, I pray thee, for thy words<br /> +Call more than his for chastisement, old sir.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +O my dread lord, therein do I offend?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Thou wilt not answer him about the child?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +He knows not what he speaks. His end is vain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +So! Thou’lt not tell to please us, but the lash<br /> +Will make thee tell.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +<span class="in4">By all that’s merciful,</span><br /> +Scourge not this aged frame!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in16">Pinion him straight!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +Unhappy! wherefore? what is’t you would know?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 118]</span><span class="linenum">[1156-1181]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Gave you this man the child of whom he asks you?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +I gave it him. Would I had died that hour!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Speak rightly, or your wish will soon come true.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +My ruin comes the sooner, if I speak.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +This man will balk us with his baffling prate.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +Not so. I said long since, ‘I gave the child.’</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Whence? Was’t your own, or from another’s hand?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +’Twas not mine own; another gave it me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What Theban gave it, from what home in Thebes?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +O, I implore thee, master, ask no more!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +You perish, if I have to ask again.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +The child was of the stock of Laius.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Slave-born, or rightly of the royal line?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +Ah me! Now comes the horror to my tongue!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And to mine ear. But thou shalt tell it me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +He was given out for Laius’ son: but she,<br /> +Thy queen, within the palace, best can tell.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +How? Did she give it thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +<span class="in16">My lord, she did.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +With what commission?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +<span class="in14">I was to destroy him.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And could a mother’s heart be steeled to this?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +With fear of evil prophecies.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in26">What were they?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +’Twas said the child should be his father’s death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What then possessed thee to give up the child<br /> +To this old man?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THEB. SH.</span> +<span class="in2">Pity, my sovereign lord!</span><br /> +Supposing he would take him far away<br /> +Unto the land whence he was come. But he<br /> +Preserved him to great sorrow. For if thou<br /> +Art he this man hath said, be well assured<br /> +Thou bear’st a heavy doom.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 119]</span><span class="linenum">[1182-1218]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in14">O horrible!</span><br /> +Horrible! All fulfilled, as sunlight clear!<br /> +Oh may I nevermore behold the day,<br /> +Since proved accursèd in my parentage,<br /> +In those I live with, and in him I slew!<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">O mortal tribes of men,</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in6">How near to nothingness</span><br /> +I count you while your lives remain!<br /> +What man that lives hath more of happiness<br /> +Than to seem blest, and, seeming, fade in night?<br /> +O Oedipus, in this thine hour of gloom,<br /> +Musing on thee and thy relentless doom,<br /> +I call none happy who beholds the light.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">Thou through surpassing skill</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Didst rise to wealth and power,</span><br /> +When thou the monstrous riddling maid didst kill,<br /> +And stoodst forth to my country as a tower<br /> +To guard from myriad deaths this glorious town;<br /> +Whence thou wert called my king, of faultless fame,<br /> +In all the world a far-resounded name,<br /> +Unparagoned in honour and renown.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">But now to hear of thee, who more distressed?</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Who more acquainted with fierce misery,</span><br /> +Assaulted by disasters manifest,<br /> +<span class="in4">Than thou in this thy day of agony?</span><br /> +Most noble, most renowned!—Yet one same room<br /> +<span class="in4">Heard thy first cry, and in thy prime of power,</span><br /> +Received thee, harbouring both bride and groom,<br /> +<span class="in4">And bore it silently till this dread hour.</span><br /> +How could that furrowing of thy father’s field<br /> +Year after year continue unrevealed?</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Time hath detected thine unwitting deed,</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Time, who discovers all with eyes of fire,</span><br /> +Accusing thee of living without heed<br /> +<span class="in4">In hideous wedlock husband, son, and sire.</span><br /> +Ah would that we, thou child of Laius born,<br /> +<span class="in4">Ah would that we had never seen thee nigh!</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 120]</span><span class="linenum">[1219-1253]</span><br /> +E’er since we knew thee who thou art, we mourn<br /> +<span class="in4">Exceedingly with cries that rend the sky.</span><br /> +For, to tell truth, thou didst restore our life<br /> +And gavest our soul sweet respite after strife.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">Messenger</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +O ye who in this land have ever held<br /> +Chief honour, what an object of dire woe<br /> +Awaits your eyes, your ears! What piercing grief<br /> +Your hearts must suffer, if as kinsmen should<br /> +Ye still regard the house of Laius!<br /> +Not Phasis, nor the Danube’s rolling flood,<br /> +Can ever wash away the stain and purge<br /> +This mansion of the horror that it hides.<br /> +—And more it soon shall give to light, not now<br /> +Unconsciously enacted. Of all ill,<br /> +Self-chosen sorrows are the worst to bear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What hast thou new to add? the weight of grief<br /> +From that we know burdens the heart enough.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Soon spoken and soon heard is the chief sum.<br /> +Jocasta’s royal head is sunk in death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +The hapless queen! What was the fatal cause?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Her own determination. You are spared<br /> +The worst affliction, not being there to see.<br /> +Yet to the height of my poor memory’s power<br /> +The wretched lady’s passion you shall hear.<br /> +When she had passed in her hot mood within<br /> +The vestibule, straight to the bridal room<br /> +She rushes, tearing with both hands her hair.<br /> +Then having entered, shutting fast the door,<br /> +She called aloud on Laius, long dead,<br /> +With anguished memory of that birth of old<br /> +Whereby the father fell, leaving his queen<br /> +To breed a dreadful brood for his own son.<br /> +And loudly o’er the bed she wailed, where she,<br /> +In twofold wedlock, hapless, had brought forth<br /> +Husband from husband, children from a child.<br /> +We could not know the moment of her death,<br /> +Which followed soon, for Oedipus with cries<br /> +Broke in, and would not let us see her end,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 121]</span><span class="linenum">[1254-1290]</span> +But held our eyes as he careered the hall,<br /> +Demanding arms, and where to find his wife,—<br /> +No, not his wife, but fatal mother-croft,<br /> +Cropped doubly with himself and his own seed.<br /> +And in his rage some god directed him<br /> +To find her:—’twas no man of us at hand.<br /> +Then with a fearful shout, as following<br /> +His leader, he assailed the folding-doors;<br /> +And battering inward from the mortised bolts<br /> +The bending boards, he burst into the room:<br /> +Where high suspended we beheld the queen,<br /> +In twisted cordage resolutely swung.<br /> +He all at once on seeing her, wretched king!<br /> +Undid the pendent noose, and on the ground<br /> +Lay the ill-starred queen. Oh, then ’twas terrible<br /> +To see what followed—for he tore away<br /> +The tiring-pins wherewith she was arrayed,<br /> +And, lifting, smote his eyeballs to the root,<br /> +Saying, Nevermore should they behold the evil<br /> +His life inherited from that past time,<br /> +But all in dark henceforth should look upon<br /> +Features far better not beheld, and fail<br /> +To recognize the souls he had longed to know.<br /> +Thus crying aloud, not once but oftentimes<br /> +He drave the points into his eyes; and soon<br /> +The bleeding pupils moistened all his beard,<br /> +Nor stinted the dark flood, but all at once<br /> +The ruddy hail poured down in plenteous shower.<br /> +Thus from two springs, from man and wife together,<br /> +Rose the joint evil that is now o’erflowing.<br /> +And the old happiness in that past day<br /> +Was truly happy, but the present hour<br /> +Hath pain, crime, ruin:—whatsoe’er of ill<br /> +Mankind have named, not one is absent here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +And finds the sufferer now some pause of woe?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +He bids make wide the portal and display<br /> +To all the men of Thebes the man who slew<br /> +His father, who unto his mother did<br /> +What I dare not repeat, and fain would fling<br /> +His body from the land, nor calmly bide<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 122]</span><span class="linenum">[1291-1324]</span> +The shock of his own curse on his own hall.<br /> +Meanwhile he needs some comfort and some guide,<br /> +For such a load of misery who can bear?<br /> +Thyself shalt judge: for, lo, the palace-gates<br /> +Unfold, and presently thine eyes will see<br /> +A hateful sight, yet one thou needs must pity.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">OEDIPUS</span>, blind and unattended.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span> +O horror of the world!<br /> +Too great for mortal eye!<br /> +More terrible than all I have known of ill!<br /> +What fury of wild thought<br /> +Came o’er thee? Who in heaven<br /> +Hath leapt against thy hapless life<br /> +With boundings out of measure fierce and huge?<br /> +Ah! wretched one, I cannot look on thee:<br /> +No, though I long to search, to ask, to learn.<br /> +Thine aspect is too horrible.—I cannot!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Me miserable! Whither am I borne?<br /> +Into what region are these wavering sounds<br /> +Wafted on aimless wings? O ruthless Fate!<br /> +To what a height thy fury hath soared!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in22">Too far</span><br /> +For human sense to follow, or human thought<br /> +To endure the horror.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in10">O dark cloud, descending</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +Unutterably on me! invincible,<br /> +Abhorred, borne onward by too sure a wind.<br /> +Woe, woe!<br /> +Woe! Yet again I voice it, with such pangs<br /> +Both from these piercing wounds I am assailed<br /> +And from within through memory of my grief.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Nay, ’tis no marvel if thy matchless woe<br /> +Redouble thine affliction and thy moan!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ah! Friend, thou art still constant! Thou remainest<span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +To tend me and to care for the blind man.<br /> +Alas!<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 123]</span><span class="linenum">[1325-1370]</span> +I know thee well, nor fail I to perceive,<br /> +Dark though I be, thy kind familiar voice.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +How dreadful is thy deed! How couldst thou bear<br /> +Thus to put out thine eyes? What Power impelled thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Apollo, dear my friends, Apollo brought to pass<span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +In dreadful wise, this my calamitous woe.<br /> +But I,—no being else,—I with this hand destroyed them. +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Pointing to his eyes</span><br /> +For why should I have sight,<br /> +To whom nought now gave pleasure through the eye?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +There speak’st thou truly.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in18">What could I see, whom hear</span><br /> +With gladness, whom delight in any more?<br /> +Lead me away out of the land with speed!<br /> +Be rid of the destroyer, the accursed,<br /> +Whom most of all the world the Gods abhor.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +O miserable in thy calamity<br /> +And not less miserable in thy despair,<br /> +Would thou wert still in ignorance of thy birth!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +My curse on him who from the cruel bond<span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +That held my feet in that high pasture-land<br /> +Freed me, and rescued me from murder there,<br /> +And saved my life! Vain kindness! Then to have died<br /> +Had spared this agony to me and mine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Ay, would it had been so!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Then had I ne’er<br /> +Been proved a parricide, ne’er borne the shame<br /> +Of marriage bonds incestuous! But now<br /> +I am God abandoned, Son of the unholy,<br /> +Rival of him who gave me being. Ah woe!<br /> +What sorrow beyond sorrows hath chief place?<br /> +That sorrow Oedipus must bear!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span> +I know not how to call thee wise in this:<br /> +Thou wert better dead than to be blind and live.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +That this last act hath not been for the best<br /> +Instruct me not, nor counsel me again.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 124]</span><span class="linenum">[1371-1409]</span> +How, if I kept my sight, could I have looked<br /> +In Hades on my father’s countenance,<br /> +Or mine all hapless mother, when, toward both,<br /> +I have done deeds no death can e’er atone?<br /> +Ah! but my children were a sight of joy,—<br /> +Offspring of such a marriage! were they so?<br /> +Never, to eyes of mine! nor town, nor tower,<br /> +Nor holy shrines o’ the gods, which I myself,<br /> +Dowered with the fairest life of Theban men,<br /> +Have forfeited, alas, by mine own law,<br /> +Declaring men should drive from every door<br /> +One marked by Heaven as impious and impure,<br /> +Nay worse, of Laius born! And was I then,<br /> +By mine own edict branded thus, to look<br /> +On Theban faces with unaltered eye?<br /> +Nay verily, but had there been a way<br /> +To stop the hearing fountain through the ear,<br /> +I had not faltered, but had closed and barred<br /> +Each gate of this poor body, deaf and blind!<br /> +So thought might sweetly dwell at rest from ill<br /> +Cithaeron! Why didst thou receive me? Why<br /> +Not slay me then and there? So had I not<br /> +Told to the world the horror of my birth.<br /> +O foster home of Corinth and her king,<br /> +How bright the life ye cherished, filming o’er<br /> +What foulness far beneath! For I am vile,<br /> +And vile were both my parents. So ’tis proved<br /> +O cross road in the covert of the glen,<br /> +O thicket in the gorge where three ways met,<br /> +Bedewed by these my hands with mine own blood<br /> +From whence I sprang—have ye forgotten me?<br /> +Or doth some memory haunt you of the deeds<br /> +I did before you, and went on to do<br /> +Worse horrors here? O marriage twice accurst!<br /> +That gave me being, and then again sent forth<br /> +Fresh saplings springing from the selfsame seed,<br /> +To amaze men’s eyes and minds with dire confusion<br /> +Of father, brother, son, bride, mother, wife,<br /> +Murder of parents, and all shames that are!<br /> +Silence alone befits such deeds. Then, pray you,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 125]</span><span class="linenum">[1410-1445]</span> +Hide me immediately away from men!<br /> +Kill me outright, or fling me far to sea,<br /> +Where never ye may look upon me more.<br /> +Come, lend your hand unto my misery!<br /> +Comply, and fear not, for my load of woe<br /> +Is incommunicable to all but me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +With timely presence to fulfil thy need<br /> +With act and counsel, Creon comes, who now<br /> +Is regent o’er this people in thy room.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Alas, what shall I say to him? What plea<br /> +For my defence will hold? My evil part<br /> +Toward him in all the past is clearly proved.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CREON</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I come not, Oedipus, to mock thy woes,<br /> +Nor to reproach thee for thine evils past.<br /> +But ye, (<span class="sdm">to <span class="cnm">Chorus</span></span>) if all respect of mortal eye<br /> +Be dead, let awe of the universal flame<br /> +Of life’s great nourisher, our lord the Sun,<br /> +Forbid your holding thus unveiled to view<br /> +This huge abomination, which nor Earth<br /> +Nor sacred Element, nor light of Heaven<br /> +Can once endure. Convey him in with speed.<br /> +Religion bids that kindred eyes and ears<br /> +Alone should witness kindred crime and woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +By Heaven, since thou hast reft away my fear,<br /> +So nobly meeting my unworthiness,<br /> +I pray thee, hear me for thine own behoof.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +What boon dost thou desire so earnestly?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Fling me with speediest swiftness from the land,<br /> +Where nevermore I may converse with men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Doubt not I would have done it, but the God<br /> +Must be inquired of, ere we act herein.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +His sacred utterance was express and clear,<br /> +The parricide, the unholy, should be slain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Ay, so ’twas spoken: but, in such a time,<br /> +We needs must be advised more perfectly.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Will ye then ask him for a wretch like me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Yea. For even thou methinks wilt now believe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 126]</span><span class="linenum">[1446-1485]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Not only so. But I will charge thee too,<br /> +With urgent exhortation, to perform<br /> +The funeral rite for her who lies within—<br /> +She is thy kinswoman—howe’er thou wilt.<br /> +But never let this city of my sires<br /> +Claim me for living habitant! There, there<br /> +Leave me to range the mountain, where my nurse,<br /> +Cithaeron, echoeth with my name,—Cithaeron,<br /> +Which both my parents destined for my tomb.<br /> +So my true murderers will be my death.<br /> +Yet one thing I can tell. Mine end will come<br /> +Not by disease nor ordinary chance<br /> +I had not lived when at the point to die,<br /> +But for some terrible doom. Then let my fate<br /> +Run out its full career. But for my children<br /> +Thou, Creon, shalt provide. As for my sons,<br /> +I pray thee burden not thyself with them.<br /> +They ne’er will lack subsistence—they are men.<br /> +But my poor maidens, hapless and forlorn,<br /> +Who never had a meal apart from mine,<br /> +But ever shared my table, yea, for them<br /> +Take heedful care, and grant me, though but once.<br /> +Yea, I beseech thee, with these hands to feel,<br /> +Thou noble heart! the forms I love so well,<br /> +And weep with them our common misery.<br /> +Oh, if my arms were round them, I might seem<br /> +To have them as of old when I could see—<br /> +What! Am I fooled once more, or do I hear<br /> +My dear ones weeping! And hath Creon sent,<br /> +Pitying my sorrows, mine own children to me<br /> +Whom most I love? Can this be truth I utter?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Yea, I have done it. For I knew the joy<br /> +Thou ever hadst in this, thy comfort now.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Fair be thy fortune, and, for this last deed,<br /> +Heaven guide thee on a better course than mine.<br /> +Where are ye, O my children? Come, draw near<br /> +To these my hands of brother blood with you,<br /> +Hands that have made so piteous to your sight<br /> +The darkened gaze of his once brilliant eyes,<br /> +Who all in blindness, with no thought of ill,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 127]</span><span class="linenum">[1486-1517]</span> +Became your father at that fount of life,<br /> +Where he himself took being! Oh! for you<br /> +I weep, not seeing you, when I but think<br /> +Of all the bitter passages of fate<br /> +That must attend you amongst men. For where<br /> +Can ye find fellowship, what civic throng<br /> +Shall ye resort unto, what festival,<br /> +From whence, instead of sight or sound enjoyed,<br /> +Ye will not come in tears unto your home?<br /> +And when ye reach the marriageable bloom,<br /> +My daughters, who will be the man to cast<br /> +His lot with yours, receiving for his own<br /> +All those reproaches which have marred the name<br /> +Of both my parents and your name no less?<br /> +What evil is not here? Your father slew<br /> +His father, and then eared the mother field<br /> +Where he himself was sown, and got you from<br /> +The source of his own birth. Such taunts will fly.<br /> +And who will marry you? No man, my daughters;<br /> +But ye must wither childless and unwed.<br /> +Son of Menoeceus, who alone art left<br /> +As father to these maidens, for the pair<br /> +That gave them birth are utterly undone,<br /> +Suffer them not, being your kinswomen,<br /> +To wander desolate and poor, nor make<br /> +Their lot perforce the counterpart of mine.<br /> +But look on them with pity, left in youth<br /> +Forlorn of all protection save from thee.<br /> +Noble one, seal this promise with thy hand!<br /> +—For you, my children, were ye of an age<br /> +To ponder speech, I would have counselled you<br /> +Full carefully. Now I would have you pray<br /> +To dwell where ’tis convenient, that your life<br /> +May find more blessing than your father knew.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Thou hast had enough of weeping. Close thee in thy chamber walls.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I must yield, though sore against me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in30">Yea, for strong occasion calls.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Know’st thou on what terms I yield it?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in32">Tell me, let us hear and know.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 128]</span><span class="linenum">[1518-1530]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +That ye send from the country.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in26">God alone can let thee go.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +But the Gods long since abhor me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in28">Thou wilt sooner gain that boon.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Then consent.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in12">’Tis not my wont to venture promises too soon.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Lead me now within the palace.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in26">Come, but leave thy children.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span style="margin-left:24em">Nay!</span><br /> +Tear not these from my embraces!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in22">Hope not for perpetual sway:</span><br /> +Since the power thou once obtainedst ruling with unquestioned might<br /> +Ebbing from thy life hath vanished ere the falling of the night.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Dwellers in our native Thebè, fix on Oedipus your eyes.</span><br /> +Who resolved the dark enigma, noblest champion and most wise.<br /> +Like a star <a href="#King_n_6" name="King_t_6" id="King_t_6">his envied fortune mounted beaming</a> far and wide:<br /> +Now he sinks in seas of anguish, whelmed beneath a raging tide.<br /> +Therefore, with the old-world sages, waiting for that final day,<br /> +I will call no mortal happy, while he holds his house of clay,<br /> +Till without one pang of sorrow, all his hours have passed away.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + + + +<div><span class="page2" id="pg129">[page 129]</span></div> +<h2>ELECTRA</h2> + + +<h3>THE PERSONS</h3> + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li>An Old Man, <i>formerly one of the retainers of Agamemnon.</i></li> +<li>ORESTES, <i>son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra</i>.</li> +<li>ELECTRA, <i>sister of Orestes</i>.</li> +<li>CHORUS <i>of Argive Women</i>.</li> +<li>CHRYSOTHEMIS, <i>sister of Orestes and Electra</i>.</li> +<li>CLYTEMNESTRA.</li> +<li>AEGISTHUS.</li> +<li> </li> +<li>PYLADES <i>appears with</i> ORESTES, <i>but does not speak</i>.</li> +</ul> + +<p class="lftbrk">SCENE. Mycenae: before the palace of the Pelopidae.</p> + + + + + +<p class="break"><span class="page2">[page 130]</span> +Agamemnon on his return from Troy, had been murdered +by his wife Clytemnestra and her paramour Aegisthus, +who had usurped the Mycenean throne. Orestes, then a +child, had been rescued by his sister Electra, and sent into +Phocis with the one servant who remained faithful to his +old master. The son of Agamemnon now returns, being of +a full age, accompanied by this same attendant and his +friend Pylades, with whom he has already concerted a plan +for taking vengeance on his father’s murderers, in obedience +to the command of Apollo.</p> + +<p>Orestes had been received in Phocis by Strophius, his +father’s friend. Another Phocian prince, named Phanoteus, +was a friend of Aegisthus.</p> + + + + +<p><span class="page2">[page 131]</span></p> +<h3>ELECTRA</h3> + + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">ORESTES</span> and the <span class="cnm">Old Man</span>—<span class="cnm">PYLADES</span> is present.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD MAN.</span> +Son of the king who led the Achaean host<br /> +Erewhile beleaguering Troy, ’tis thine to day<br /> +To see around thee what through many a year<br /> +Thy forward spirit hath sighed for. Argolis<br /> +Lies here before us, hallowed as the scene<br /> +Of Io’s wildering pain: yonder, the mart<br /> +Named from <a href="#Elec_n_1" name="Elec_t_1" id="Elec_t_1">the wolf slaying God,</a> and there, to our left,<br /> +Hera’s famed temple. For we reach the bourn<br /> +Of far renowned Mycenae, rich in gold<br /> +And Pelops’ fatal roofs before us rise,<br /> +Haunted with many horrors, whence my hand,<br /> +Thy murdered sire then lying in his gore,<br /> +Received thee from thy sister, and removed<br /> +Where I have kept thee safe and nourished thee<br /> +To this bright manhood thou dost bear, to be<br /> +The avenger of thy father’s bloody death.<br /> +Wherefore, Orestes, and thou, Pylades,<br /> +Dearest of friends, though from a foreign soil,<br /> +Prepare your enterprise with speed. Dark night<br /> +Is vanished with her stars, and day’s bright orb<br /> +Hath waked the birds of morn into full song.<br /> +Now, then, ere foot of man go forth, ye two<br /> +Knit counsels. ’Tis no time for shy delay:<br /> +The very moment for your act is come.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Kind faithful friend, how well thou mak’st appear<br /> +Thy constancy in service to our house!<br /> +As some good steed, aged, but nobly bred,<br /> +Slacks not his spirit in the day of war,<br /> +But points his ears to the fray, even so dost thou<br /> +Press on and urge thy master in the van.<br /> +Hear, then, our purpose, and if aught thy mind,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 132]</span><span class="linenum">[30-71]</span> +Keenly attent, discerns of weak or crude<br /> +In this I now set forth, admonish me.<br /> +<span class="in2">I, when I visited the Pythian shrine</span><br /> +Oracular, that I might learn whereby<br /> +To punish home the murderers of my sire,<br /> +Had word from Phoebus which you straight shall hear:<br /> +‘No shielded host, but thine own craft, O King!<br /> +The righteous death-blow to thine arm shall bring.’<br /> +Then, since the will of Heaven is so revealed,<br /> +Go thou within, when Opportunity<br /> +Shall marshal thee the way, and gathering all<br /> +Their business, bring us certain cognizance.<br /> +Age and long absence are a safe disguise;<br /> +They never will suspect thee who thou art.<br /> +And let thy tale be that another land,<br /> +Phocis, hath sent thee forth, and Phanoteus,<br /> +Than whom they have no mightier help in war.<br /> +Then, prefaced with an oath, declare thy news,<br /> +Orestes’ death by dire mischance, down-rolled<br /> +From wheel-borne chariot in the Pythian course.<br /> +So let the fable be devised; while we,<br /> +As Phoebus ordered, with luxuriant locks<br /> +Shorn from our brows, and fair libations, crown<br /> +My father’s sepulchre, and thence return<br /> +Bearing aloft the shapely vase of bronze<br /> +That’s hidden hard by in brushwood, as thou knowest,<br /> +And bring them welcome tidings, that my form<br /> +Is fallen ere now to ashes in the fire.<br /> +How should this pain me, in pretence being dead,<br /> +Really to save myself and win renown?<br /> +No saying bodes men ill, that brings them gain.<br /> +Oft have I known the wise, dying in word,<br /> +Return with glorious salutation home.<br /> +So lightened by this rumour shall mine eye<br /> +Blaze yet like bale-star on mine enemies.<br /> +O native earth! and Gods that hold the land,<br /> +Accept me here, and prosper this my way!<br /> +Thou, too, paternal hearth! To thee I come,<br /> +Justly to cleanse thee by behest from heaven.<br /> +Send me not bootless, Gods, but let me found<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 133]</span><span class="linenum">[72-101]</span> +A wealthy line of fair posterity!<br /> +I have spoken. To thy charge! and with good heed<br /> +Perform it. We go forth. The Occasion calls,<br /> +Great taskmaster of enterprise to men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="cnm">ELECTRA</span> +(<span class="sdm">within</span>). +Woe for my hapless lot!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Hark! from the doors, my son, methought there came<br /> +A moaning cry, as of some maid within.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Can it be poor Electra? Shall we stay,<br /> +And list again the lamentable sound?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Not so. Before all else begin the attempt<br /> +To execute Apollo’s sovereign will,<br /> +Pouring libation to thy sire: this makes<br /> +Victory ours, and our success assured.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">ELECTRA</span>.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">MONODY</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O purest light!<br /> +And air by earth alone<br /> +Measured and limitable, how oft have ye<br /> +Heard many a piercing moan,<br /> +Many a blow full on my bleeding breast,<br /> +When gloomy night<br /> +Hath slackened pace and yielded to the day!<br /> +And through the hours of rest,<br /> +Ah! well ’tis known<br /> +To my sad pillow in yon house of woe,<br /> +What vigil of scant joyance keeping,<br /> +Whiles all within are sleeping,<br /> +For my dear father without stint I groan,<br /> +Whom not in bloody fray<br /> +The War-god in the stranger-land<br /> +Received with hospitable hand,<br /> +But she that is my mother, and her groom,<br /> +As woodmen fell the oak,<br /> +Cleft through the skull with murdering stroke.<br /> +And o’er this gloom<br /> +No ray of pity, save from only me,<br /> +Goes forth on thee,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 134]</span><span class="linenum">[101-136]</span> +My father, who didst die<br /> +A cruel death of piteous agony.<br /> +But ne’er will I<br /> +Cease from my crying and sad mourning lay,<br /> +While I behold the sky,<br /> +Glancing with myriad fires, or this fair day.<br /> +But, like some brood-bereavèd nightingale,<br /> +With far-heard wail,<br /> +Here at my father’s door my voice shall sound.<br /> +O home beneath the ground!<br /> +Hades unseen, and dread Persephonè,<br /> +And darkling Hermes, and the Curse revered,<br /> +And ye, Erinyës, of mortals feared,<br /> +Daughters of Heaven, that ever see<br /> +Who die unjustly, who are wronged i’ the bed<br /> +Of those they wed,<br /> +Avenge our father’s murder on his foe!<br /> +Aid us, and send my brother to my side;<br /> +Alone I cannot longer bide<br /> +The oppressive strain of strength-o’ermastering woe.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span> (entering).</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4">O sad Electra, child</span><span class="chm">I 1</span> +Of a lost mother, why still flow<br /> +Unceasingly with lamentation wild<br /> +For him who through her treachery beguiled,<br /> +Inveigled by a wife’s deceit,<br /> +Fallen at the foul adulterer’s feet,<br /> +Most impiously was quelled long years ago?<br /> +Perish the cause! if I may lawfully pray so.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O daughters of a noble line,<br /> +Ye come to soothe me from my troublous woe.<br /> +<span class="in8">I see, I know:</span><br /> +Your love is not unrecognized of mine.<br /> +But yet I will not seem as I forgot,<br /> +Or cease to mourn my hapless father’s lot.<br /> +<span class="in8">Oh, of all love</span><br /> +That ever may you move,<br /> +This only boon I crave—<br /> +Leave me to rave!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 135]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Lament, nor praying breath<span class="chm">I 2 <span class="chln">[137-172]</span></span><br /> +Will raise thy sire, our honoured chief,<br /> +From that dim multitudinous gulf of death.<br /> +Beyond the mark, due grief that measureth,<br /> +Still pining with excess of pain<br /> +Thou urgest lamentation vain,<br /> +That from thy woes can bring thee no relief.<br /> +Why hast thou set thy heart on unavailing grief?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Senseless were he who lost from thought<br /> +A noble father, lamentably slain!<br /> +<span class="in8">I love thy strain,</span><br /> +Bewildered mourner, bird divinely taught,<br /> +For ‘Itys,’ ‘Itys,’ ever heard to pine.<br /> +O Niobè, I hold thee all divine,<br /> +<span class="in8">Of sorrows queen,</span><br /> +Who with all tearful mien<br /> +Insepulchred in stone<br /> +Aye makest moan.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Not unto thee alone hath sorrow come,<span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +Daughter, that thou shouldst carry grief so far<br /> +Beyond those dwellers in the palace-home<br /> +<span class="in8">Who of thy kindred are</span><br /> +And own one source with thee.<br /> +<span class="in8">What life hath she,</span><br /> +Chrysothemis, and Iphianassa bright,<br /> +<span class="in8">And he whose light</span><br /> +Is hidden afar from taste of horrid doom,<br /> +Youthful Orestes, who shall come<br /> +To fair Mycenae’s glorious town,<br /> +Welcomed as worthy of his sire’s renown,<br /> +Sped by great Zeus with kindly thought,<br /> +And to this land with happiest omen brought?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Awaiting him I endlessly endure;<br /> +Unwed and childless still I go,<br /> +<span class="in8">With tears in constant flow,</span><br /> +Girt round with misery that finds no cure.<br /> +But he forgets his wrong and all my teaching.<br /> +What message have I sent beseeching,<br /> +But baffled flies back idly home?<br /> +Ever he longs, he saith, but, longing, will not come.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 136]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Take heart, dear child! still mighty in the sky<span class="chm">II 2 <span class="chln">[173-208]</span></span><br /> +Is Zeus who ruleth all things and surveys.<br /> +Commit to him thy grief that surgeth high,<br /> +<span class="in8">And walk in safer ways,</span><br /> +Let not hate vex thee sore,<br /> +<span class="in8">Nor yet ignore</span><br /> +The cause of hate and sorrow in thy breast.<br /> +<span class="in8">Time bringeth rest:</span><br /> +All is made easy through his power divine.<br /> +The heir of Agamemnon’s line<br /> +Who dwells by Crisa’s pastoral strand<br /> +Shall yet return unto his native land;<br /> +And he shall yet regard his own<br /> +Who reigns beneath upon his Stygian throne.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Meanwhile my life falls from me in despair<br /> +Years pass and patience nought avails:<br /> +<span class="in8">My heart within me fails:</span><br /> +Orphaned I pine without protecting care;<br /> +And like a sojourner all unregarded<br /> +At slave-like labour unrewarded<br /> +I toil within my father’s hall<br /> +Thus meanly attired, and starved, a table-serving thrall.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Sad was thy greeting when he reached the strand,<span class="chm">III 1</span><br /> +Piteous thy crying where thy father lay<br /> +<span class="in8">On that fell day</span><br /> +When the bronze edge with dire effect was driven.<br /> +<span class="in8">By craft ’twas planned,</span><br /> +By frenzied lust the blow was given:<br /> +Mother and father of a monstrous birth,<br /> +Whether a God there wrought or mortal of the Earth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O day beyond all days that yet have rolled<br /> +Most hateful in thy course of light!<br /> +<span class="in8">O horror of that night!</span><br /> +O hideous feast, abhorr’d, not to be told!<br /> +How could I bear it, when my father’s eye<br /> +Saw death advancing from the ruthless pair,<br /> +Conjoint in cruel villany,<br /> +By whom my life was plunged in black despair?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 137]</span><span class="linenum">[209-243]</span> +Oh, to the workers of such deeds as these<br /> +<span class="in8">May great Olympus’ Lord</span><br /> +Return of evil still afford,<br /> +Nor let them wear the gloss of sovran ease!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Take thought to keep thy crying within bound.<span class="chm">III 2</span><br /> +Doth not thy sense enlighten thee to see<br /> +<span class="in8">How recklessly</span><br /> +Even now thou winnest undeservèd woe?<br /> +<span class="in8">Still art thou found</span><br /> +To make thy misery overflow<br /> +Through self-bred gloomy strife. But not for long<br /> +Shall one alone prevail who strives against the strong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +’Twas dire oppression taught me my complaint<br /> +I know my rage a quenchless fire:<br /> +<span class="in8">But nought, however dire,</span><br /> +Shall visit this my frenzy with restraint,<br /> +Or check my lamentation while I live.<br /> +Dear friends, kind women of true Argive breed,<br /> +Say, who can timely counsel give<br /> +Or word of comfort suited to my need?<br /> +Beyond all cure shall this my cause be known.<br /> +<span class="in8">No counsels more! Ah leave,</span><br /> +Vain comforters, and let me grieve<br /> +With ceaseless pain, unmeasured in my moan.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +With kind intent<span class="chm">IV</span><br /> +Full tenderly my words are meant;<br /> +Like a true mother pressing heart to heart,<br /> +I pray thee, do not aggravate thy smart.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +But have my miseries a measure? Tell.<br /> +<span class="in8">Can it be well</span><br /> +To pour forgetfulness upon the dead?<br /> +<span class="in8">Hath mortal head</span><br /> +Conceived a wickedness so bold?<br /> +O never may such brightness shine for me,<br /> +<span class="in8">Nor let me peaceful be</span><br /> +With aught of good my life may still enfold,<br /> +If from wide echoing of my father’s name<br /> +The wings of keen lament I must withhold.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 138]</span><span class="linenum">[244-287]</span> +<span class="in8">Sure holy shame</span><br /> +And pious care would vanish among men,<br /> +If he, mere earth and nothingness, must lie<br /> +In darkness, and his foes shall not again<br /> +Render him blood for blood in amplest penalty.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span> +Less from our own desires, my child, we came,<br /> +Than for thy sake. But, if we speak amiss,<br /> +Take thine own course. We still will side with thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Full well I feel that too impatiently<br /> +I seem to multiply the sounds of woe.<br /> +Yet suffer me, dear women! Mighty force<br /> +Compels me. Who that had a noble heart<br /> +And saw her father’s cause, as I have done,<br /> +By day and night more outraged, could refrain?<br /> +Are my woes lessening? Are they not in bloom?—<br /> +My mother full of hate and hateful proved,<br /> +Whilst I in my own home must dwell with these,<br /> +My father’s murderers, and by them be ruled,<br /> +Dependent on their bounty even for bread.<br /> +And then what days suppose you I must pass,<br /> +When I behold Aegisthus on the throne<br /> +That was my father’s; when I see him wear<br /> +Such robes, and pour libations by the hearth<br /> +Where he destroyed him; lastly, when I see<br /> +Their crowning insolence,—our regicide<br /> +Laid in my father’s chamber beside her,<br /> +My mother—if she still must bear the name<br /> +When resting in those arms? Her shame is dead.<br /> +She harbours with blood-guiltiness, and fears<br /> +No vengeance, but, as laughing at the wrong,<br /> +She watches for the hour wherein with guile<br /> +She killed our sire, and orders dance and mirth<br /> +That day o’ the month, and joyful sacrifice<br /> +Of thanksgiving. But I within the house<br /> +Beholding, weep and pine, and mourn that feast<br /> +Of infamy, called by my father’s name,<br /> +All to myself; for not even grief may flow<br /> +As largely as my spirit would desire.<br /> +That so-called princess of a noble race<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 139]</span><span class="linenum">[288-327]</span> +O’ercrows my wailing with loud obloquy:<br /> +‘Hilding! are you alone in grief? Are none<br /> +Mourning for loss of fathers but yourself?<br /> +‘Fore the blest Gods! ill may you thrive, and ne’er<br /> +Find cure of sorrow from the powers below!’<br /> +So she insults: unless she hear one say<br /> +‘Orestes will arrive’: then standing close,<br /> +She shouts like one possessed into mine ear,<br /> +‘These are your doings, this your work, I trow.<br /> +You stole Orestes from my gripe, and placed<br /> +His life with fosterers; but you shall pay<br /> +Full penalty.’ So harsh is her exclaim.<br /> +And he at hand, the husband she extols,<br /> +Hounds on the cry, that prince of cowardice,<br /> +From head to foot one mass of pestilent harm.<br /> +Tongue-doughty champion of this women’s-war.<br /> +I, for Orestes ever languishing<br /> +To end this, am undone. For evermore<br /> +Intending, still delaying, he wears out<br /> +All hope, both here and yonder. How, then, friends,<br /> +Can I be moderate, or feel the touch<br /> +Of holy resignation? Evil fruit<br /> +Cannot but follow on a life of ill.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Say, is Aegisthus near while thus you speak?<br /> +Or hath he left the palace? We would know.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Most surely. Never think, if he were by,<br /> +I could stray out of door. He is abroad.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Then with less fear I may converse with thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Ask what you will, for he is nowhere near.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +First of thy brother I beseech thee tell,<br /> +How deem’st thou? Will he come, or still delay?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +His promise comes, but still performance sleeps.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Well may he pause who plans a dreadful deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I paused not in his rescue from the sword.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Fear not. He will bestead you. He is true.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +But for that faith my life had soon gone by.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +No more! I see approaching from the house<br /> +Thy sister by both parents of thy blood,<br /> +Chrysothemis; in her hand an offering,<br /> +Such as old custom yields to those below.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 140]</span><span class="linenum">[328-363]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CHRYSOTHEMIS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHRYSOTHEMIS.</span> +What converse keeps thee now beyond the gates,<br /> +Dear sister? why this talk in the open day?<br /> +Wilt thou not learn after so long to cease<br /> +From vain indulgence of a bootless rage?<br /> +I know in my own breast that I am pained<br /> +By what thou griev’st at, and if I had power,<br /> +My censure of their deeds would soon be known.<br /> +But in misfortune I have chosen to sail<br /> +With lowered canvas, rather than provoke<br /> +With puny strokes invulnerable foes.<br /> +I would thou didst the like: though I must own<br /> +The right is on thy side, and not on mine.<br /> +But if I mean to dwell at liberty,<br /> +I must obey in all the stronger will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +’Tis strange and pitiful, thy father’s child<br /> +Can leave him in oblivion and subserve<br /> +The mother. All thy schooling of me springs<br /> +From her suggestion, not of thine own wit.<br /> +Sure, either thou art senseless, or thy sense<br /> +Deserts thy friends. Treason or dulness then?<br /> +Choose!—You declared but now, if you had strength,<br /> +You would display your hatred of this pair.<br /> +Yet, when I plan full vengeance for my sire,<br /> +You aid me not, but turn me from the attempt.<br /> +What’s this but adding cowardice to evil?<br /> +For tell me, or be patient till I show,<br /> +What should I gain by ceasing this my moan?<br /> +I live to vex them:—though my life be poor,<br /> +Yet that suffices, for I honour him,<br /> +My father,—if affection touch the dead.<br /> +You say you hate them, but belie your word,<br /> +Consorting with our father’s murderers.<br /> +I then, were all the gifts in which you glory<br /> +Laid at my feet, will never more obey<br /> +This tyrant power. I leave you your rich board<br /> +And life of luxury. <a href="#Elec_n_2" name="Elec_t_2" id="Elec_t_2">Ne’er be it mine</a> to feed<br /> +On dainties that would poison my heart’s peace!<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 141]</span><span class="linenum">[364-402]</span> +I care not for such honour as thou hast.<br /> +Nor wouldst thou care if thou wert wise. But now,<br /> +Having the noblest of all men for sire,<br /> +Be called thy mother’s offspring; so shall most<br /> +Discern thine infamy and traitorous mind<br /> +To thy dead father and thy dearest kin.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +No anger, we entreat. Both have said well,<br /> +If each would learn of other, and so do.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +For my part, women, use hath seasoned me<br /> +To her discourse. Nor had I spoken of this,<br /> +Had I not heard a horror coming on<br /> +That will restrain her from her endless moan.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Come speak it forth, this terror! I will yield,<br /> +If thou canst tell me worse than I endure.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +I’ll tell thee all I know. If thou persist<br /> +In these thy wailings, they will send thee far<br /> +From thine own land, and close thee from the day,<br /> +Where in a rock-hewn chamber thou may’st chant<br /> +Thine evil orisons in darkness drear.<br /> +Think of it, while there ’s leisure to reflect;<br /> +Or if thou suffer, henceforth blame me not.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +And have they so determined on my life?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +’Tis certain; when Aegisthus comes again.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +If that be all, let him return with speed!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Unhappy! why this curse upon thyself?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +If this be their intent, why, let him come!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +To work such harm on thee! What thought is this!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Far from mine eye to banish all your brood.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Art not more tender of the life thou hast?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Fair, to a marvel, is my life, I trow!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +It would be, couldst thou be advised for good.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Never advise me to forsake my kin.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +I do not: only to give place to power.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Thine be such flattery. ’Tis not my way.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Sure, to be wrecked by rashness is not well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Let me be wrecked in ’venging my own sire.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +I trust his pardon for my helplessness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Such talk hath commendation from the vile.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Wilt thou not listen? Wilt thou ne’er be ruled?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 142]</span><span class="linenum">[403-432]</span> +<span class="cnm">EL.</span> +No; not by thee! Let me not sink so low.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Then I will hie me on mine errand straight.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Stay; whither art bound? For whom to spend those gifts?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Sent by my mother to my father’s tomb<br /> +To pour libations to him.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in14">How? To him?</span><br /> +Most hostile to her of all souls that are?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Who perished by her hand—so thou wouldst say.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +What friend hath moved her? Who hath cared for this?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Methinks ’twas some dread vision, seen by night.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Gods of my father, O be with me now!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +What? art thou hopeful from the fear I spake of?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Tell me the dream, and I will answer thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +I know but little of it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in18">Speak but that.</span><br /> +A little word hath ofttimes been the cause<br /> +Of ruin or salvation unto men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +’Tis said she saw our father’s spirit come<br /> +Once more to visit the abodes of light;<br /> +Then take and firmly plant upon the hearth<br /> +The sceptre which he bore of old, and now<br /> +Aegisthus bears: and out of this upsprang<br /> +A burgeoned shoot, that shadowed all the ground<br /> +Of loved Mycenae. So I heard the tale<br /> +Told by a maid who listened when the Queen<br /> +Made known her vision to the God of Day.<br /> +But more than this I know not, save that I<br /> +Am sent by her through terror of the dream.<br /> +And I beseech thee by the Gods we serve<br /> +To take my counsel and not rashly fall.<br /> +If thou repel me now, the time may come<br /> +When suffering shall have brought thee to my side.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Now, dear Chrysothemis, of what thou bearest<br /> +Let nothing touch his tomb. ’Tis impious<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 143]</span><span class="linenum">[433-469]</span> +And criminal to offer to thy sire<br /> +Rites and libations from a hateful wife.<br /> +Then cast them to the winds, or deep in dust<br /> +Conceal them, where no particle may reach<br /> +His resting-place: but lie in store for her<br /> +When she goes underground. Sure, were she not<br /> +Most hardened of all women that have been,<br /> +She ne’er had sent those loveless offerings<br /> +To grace the sepulchre of him she slew.<br /> +For think how likely is the buried king<br /> +To take such present kindly from her hand,<br /> +Who slew him like an alien enemy,<br /> +Dishonoured even in death, and mangled him,<br /> +And wiped the death-stain with his flowing locks—<br /> +Sinful purgation! Think you that you bear<br /> +In those cold gifts atonement for her guilt?<br /> +It is not possible. Wherefore let be.<br /> +But take a ringlet from thy comely head,<br /> +And this from mine, <a href="#Elec_n_3" name="Elec_t_3" id="Elec_t_3">that lingers on my brow</a><br /> +Longing to shade his tomb. Ah, give it to him,<br /> +All I can give, and this my maiden-zone,<br /> +Not daintily adorned, as once erewhile.<br /> +Then, humbly kneeling, pray that from the ground<br /> +He would arise to help us ’gainst his foes,<br /> +And grant his son Orestes with high hand<br /> +Strongly to trample on his enemies;<br /> +That in our time to come from ampler stores<br /> +We may endow him, than are ours to-day.<br /> +I cannot but imagine that his will<br /> +Hath part in visiting her sleep with fears.<br /> +But howsoe’er, I pray thee, sister mine,<br /> +Do me this service, and thyself, and him,<br /> +Dearest of all the world to me and thee,<br /> +The father of us both, who rests below.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +She counsels piously; and thou, dear maid,<br /> +If thou art wise, wilt do her bidding here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Yea, when a thing is right, it is not well<br /> +Idly to wrangle, but to act with speed.<br /> +Only, dear friends, in this mine enterprise,<br /> +Let me have silence from your lips, I pray;<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 144]</span><span class="linenum">[470-507]</span> +For should my mother know of it, sharp pain<br /> +Will follow yet my bold adventurous feat.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">CHRYSOTHEMIS</span></span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">An erring seer am I,</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of sense and wisdom lorn,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">If this prophetic Power of right,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">O’ertaking the offender, come not nigh</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Ere many an hour be born.</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Yon vision of the night,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">That lately breathed into my listening ear,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Hath freed me, O my daughter, from all fear.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Sweet was that bodement. He doth not forget,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The Achaean lord that gave thee being, nor yet</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The bronzen-griding axe, edged like a spear,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Hungry and keen, though dark with stains of time,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">That in the hour of hideous crime</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Quelled him with cruel butchery:</span><br /> +<span class="in4">That, too, remembers, and shall testify.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">From ambush deep and dread</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in4">With power of many a hand</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And many hastening feet shall spring</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The Fury of the adamantine tread,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Visiting Argive land</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Swift recompense to bring</span><br /> +<span class="in4">For eager dalliance of a blood-stained pair</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Unhallowed, foul, forbidden. No omen fair,—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Their impious course hath fixed this in my soul,—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Nought but black portents full of blame shall roll</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Before their eyes that wrought or aided there.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Small force of divination would there seem</span><br /> +<span class="in4">In prophecy or solemn dream,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Should not this vision of the night</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Reach harbour in reality aright.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">O <a href="#Elec_n_4" name="Elec_t_4" id="Elec_t_4">chariot-course of Pelops, full of toil!</a></span><span class="chm">II</span><br /> +<span class="in10">How wearisome and sore</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Hath been thine issue to our native soil!—</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 145]</span><span class="linenum">[508-545]</span> +<span class="in4">Since, from the golden oar</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Hurled to the deep afar,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Myrtilus sank and slept,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Cruelly plucked from that fell chariot-floor,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">This house unceasingly hath kept</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Crime and misfortune mounting evermore.</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CLYTEMNESTRA</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLYTEMNESTRA.</span> +Again you are let loose and range at will.<br /> +Ay, for Aegisthus is not here, who barred<br /> +Your rashness from defaming your own kin<br /> +Beyond the gates. But now he’s gone from home,<br /> +You heed not me: though you have noised abroad<br /> +That I am bold in crime, and domineer<br /> +Outrageously, oppressing thee and thine.<br /> +I am no oppressor, but I speak thee ill,<br /> +For thou art ever speaking ill of me—<br /> +Still holding forth thy father’s death, that I<br /> +Have done it. So I did: I know it well:<br /> +That I deny not; for not I alone<br /> +But Justice slew him; and if you had sense,<br /> +To side with Justice ought to be your part.<br /> +For who but he of all the Greeks, your sire,<br /> +For whom you whine and cry, who else but he<br /> +Took heart to sacrifice unto the Gods<br /> +Thy sister?—having less of pain, I trow,<br /> +In getting her, than I, that bore her, knew!<br /> +Come, let me question thee! On whose behalf<br /> +Slew he my child? Was ’t for the Argive host?<br /> +What right had they to traffic in my flesh?—<br /> +Menelaüs was his brother. Wilt thou say<br /> +He slew my daughter for his brother’s sake?<br /> +How then should he escape me? Had not he,<br /> +Menelaüs, children twain, begotten of her<br /> +Whom to reclaim that army sailed to Troy?<br /> +Was Death then so enamoured of my seed,<br /> +That he must feast thereon and let theirs live?<br /> +Or was the God-abandoned father’s heart<br /> +Tender toward them and cruel to my child?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 146]</span><span class="linenum">[546-581]</span> +Doth this not argue an insensate sire?<br /> +I think so, though your wisdom may demur.<br /> +And could my lost one speak, she would confirm it.<br /> +For my part, I can dwell on what I have done<br /> +Without regret. You, if you think me wrong,<br /> +Bring reasons forth and blame me to my face!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Thou canst not say this time that I began<br /> +And brought this on me by some taunting word.<br /> +But, so you’d suffer me, I would declare<br /> +The right both for my sister and my sire.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +Thou hast my sufferance. Nor would hearing vex,<br /> +If ever thus you tuned your speech to me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Then I will speak. You say you slew him. Where<br /> +Could there be found confession more depraved,<br /> +Even though the cause were righteous? But I’ll prove<br /> +No rightful vengeance drew thee to the deed,<br /> +But the vile bands of him you dwell with now.<br /> +Or ask the huntress Artemis, what sin<br /> +She punished, when she tied up all the winds<br /> +Round Aulis.—I will tell thee, for her voice<br /> +Thou ne’er may’st hear! ’Tis rumoured that my sire,<br /> +Sporting within the goddess’ holy ground,<br /> +His foot disturbed a dappled hart, whose death<br /> +Drew from his lips some rash and boastful word.<br /> +Wherefore Latona’s daughter in fell wrath<br /> +Stayed the army, that in quittance for the deer<br /> +My sire should slay at the altar his own child.<br /> +So came her sacrifice. The Achaean fleet<br /> +Had else no hope of being launched to Troy<br /> +Nor to their homes. Wherefore, with much constraint<br /> +And painful urging of his backward will,<br /> +Hardly he yielded;—not for his brother’s sake.<br /> +But grant thy speech were sooth, and all were done<br /> +In aid of Menelaüs; for this cause<br /> +Hadst thou the right to slay him? What high law<br /> +Ordaining? Look to it, in establishing<br /> +Such precedent thou dost not lay in store<br /> +Repentance for thyself. For if by right<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 147]</span><span class="linenum">[581-620]</span> +One die for one, thou first wilt be destroyed<br /> +If Justice find thee.—But again observe<br /> +The hollowness of thy pretended plea.<br /> +Tell me, I pray, what cause thou dost uphold<br /> +In doing now the basest deed of all,<br /> +Chambered with the blood-guilty, with whose aid<br /> +Thou slewest our father in that day. For him<br /> +You now bear children—ousting from their right<br /> +The stainless offspring of a holy sire.<br /> +How should this plead for pardon? Wilt thou say<br /> +Thus thou dost ’venge thy daughter’s injury?<br /> +O shameful plea? Where is the thought of honour,<br /> +If foes are married for a daughter’s sake?—<br /> +Enough. No words can move thee. Thy rash tongue<br /> +With checkless clamour cries that we revile<br /> +Our mother. Nay, no mother, but the chief<br /> +Of tyrants to us! For my life is full<br /> +Of weariness and misery from thee<br /> +And from thy paramour. While he abroad,<br /> +Orestes, our one brother, who escaped<br /> +Hardly from thy attempt, unhappy boy!<br /> +Wears out his life, victim of cross mischance.<br /> +Oft hast thou taunted me with fostering him<br /> +To be thy punisher. And this, be sure,<br /> +Had I but strength, I had done. Now for this word,<br /> +Proclaim me what thou wilt,—evil in soul,<br /> +Or loud in cursing, or devoid of shame:<br /> +For if I am infected with such guilt,<br /> +Methinks my nature is not fallen from thine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +(<span class="sdm">looking at <span class="cnm">CLYTEMNESTRA</span></span>).<br /> +I see her fuming with fresh wrath: the thought<br /> +Of justice enters not her bosom now.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +What thought of justice should be mine for her,<br /> +Who at her age can so insult a mother?<br /> +Will shame withhold her from the wildest deed?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Not unashamed, assure thee, I stand here,<br /> +Little as thou mayest deem it. Well I feel<br /> +My acts untimely and my words unmeet.<br /> +But your hostility and treatment force me<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 148]</span><span class="linenum">[620-656]</span> +Against my disposition to this course.<br /> +Harsh ways are taught by harshness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +<span class="in22">Brazen thing!</span><br /> +Too true it is that words and deeds of mine<br /> +Are evermore informing thy harsh tongue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +The shame is yours, because the deeds are yours.<br /> +My words are but their issue and effect.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +By sovereign Artemis, whom still I serve,<br /> +You’ll rue this boldness when Aegisthus comes.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +See now, your anger bears you off, and ne’er<br /> +Will let you listen, though you gave me leave.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +Must I not even sacrifice in peace<br /> +From your harsh clamour, when you’ve had your say?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I have done. I check thee not. Go, sacrifice!<br /> +Accuse not me of hindering piety.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +(<span class="sdm">to an attendant</span>).<br /> +Then lift for me those fruitful offerings,<br /> +While to Apollo, before whom we stand,<br /> +I raise my supplication for release<br /> +From doubts and fears that shake my bosom now.<br /> +And, O defender of our house! attend<br /> +My secret utterance. No friendly ear<br /> +Is that which hearkens for my voice. My thought<br /> +Must not be blazoned with her standing by,<br /> +Lest through her envious and wide-babbling tongue<br /> +She fill the city full of wild surmise.<br /> +List, then, as I shall speak: and grant the dreams<br /> +Whose two-fold apparition I to-night<br /> +Have seen, if good their bodement, be fulfilled:<br /> +If hostile, turn their influence on my foes.<br /> +And yield not them their wish that would by guile<br /> +Thrust me from this high fortune, but vouchsafe<br /> +That ever thus exempt from harms I rule<br /> +The Atridae’s home and kingdom, in full life,<br /> +Partaking with the friends I live with now<br /> +All fair prosperity, and with my children,<br /> +Save those who hate and vex me bitterly.<br /> +Lykeian Phoebus, favourably hear<br /> +My prayer, and grant to all of us our need!<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 149]</span><span class="linenum">[657-689]</span> +More is there, which, though I be silent here,<br /> +A God should understand. No secret thing<br /> +Is hidden from the all-seeing sons of Heaven.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter the <span class="cnm">Old Man</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Kind dames and damsels, may I clearly know<br /> +If these be King Aegisthus’ palace-halls?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +They are, sir; you yourself have guessed aright.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +May I guess further that in yonder dame<br /> +I see his queen? She looks right royally.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +’Tis she,—no other,—whom your eyes behold.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Princess, all hail! To thee and to thy spouse<br /> +I come with words of gladness from a friend.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +That auspice I accept. But I would first<br /> +Learn from thee who of men hath sent thee forth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Phanoteus the Phocian, with a charge of weight.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +Declare it, stranger. Coming from a friend,<br /> +Thou bring’st us friendly tidings, I feel sure.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Orestes’ death. Ye have the sum in brief.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Ah me! undone! This day hath ruined me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +What? Let me hear again. Regard her not.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Again I say it, Orestes is no more.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Undone! undone! Farewell to life and hope!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +(<span class="sdm">to <span class="cnm">ELECTRA</span></span>).<br /> +See thou to thine own case! (<span class="sdm">To <span class="cnm">Old Man</span></span>) Now, stranger, tell me<br /> +In true discourse the manner of his death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +For that I am here, and I will tell the whole.<br /> +He, entering on the great arena famed<br /> +As Hellas’ pride, to win a Delphian prize,<br /> +On hearing the loud summons of the man<br /> +Calling the foot-race, which hath trial first,<br /> +Came forward, a bright form, admired by all.<br /> +And when his prowess in the course fulfilled<br /> +The promise of his form, he issued forth<br /> +Dowered with the splendid meed of victory.—<br /> +To tell a few out of the many feats<br /> +Of such a hero were beyond my power.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 150]</span><span class="linenum">[690-727]</span> +Know then, in brief, that of the prizes set<br /> +For every customary course proclaimed<br /> +By order of the judges, the whole sum<br /> +Victoriously he gathered, happy deemed<br /> +By all; declared an Argive, and his name<br /> +Orestes, son of him who levied once<br /> +The mighty armament of Greeks for Troy.<br /> +So fared he then: but when a God inclines<br /> +To hinder happiness, not even the strong<br /> +Are scatheless. So, another day, when came<br /> +At sunrise the swift race of charioteers,<br /> +He entered there with many a rival car:—<br /> +One from Achaia, one from Sparta, two<br /> +Libyan commanders of the chariot-yoke;<br /> +And he among them fifth, with steeds of price<br /> +From Thessaly;—the sixth Aetolia sent<br /> +With chestnut mares; the seventh a Magnete man;<br /> +The eighth with milk-white colts from Oeta’s vale;<br /> +The ninth from god-built Athens; and the tenth<br /> +Boeotia gave to make the number full.<br /> +Then stood they where the judges of the course<br /> +Had posted them by lot, each with his team;<br /> +And sprang forth at the brazen trumpet’s blare.<br /> +Shouting together to their steeds, they shook<br /> +The reins, and all the course was filled with noise<br /> +Of rattling chariots, and the dust arose<br /> +To heaven. Now all in a confusèd throng<br /> +Spared not the goad, each eager to outgo<br /> +The crowded axles and the snorting steeds;<br /> +For close about his nimbly circling wheels<br /> +And stooping sides fell flakes of panted foam.<br /> +Orestes, ever nearest at the turn,<br /> +With whirling axle seemed to graze the stone,<br /> +And loosing with free rein the right-hand steed<br /> +<a href="#Elec_n_5" name="Elec_t_5" id="Elec_t_5">That pulled the side-rope,</a> held the near one in.<br /> +<span class="in2">So for a time all chariots upright moved,</span><br /> +But soon the Oetaean’s hard-mouthed horses broke<br /> +From all control, and wheeling as they passed<br /> +From the sixth circuit to begin the seventh,<br /> +Smote front to front against the Barcan car.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 151]</span><span class="linenum">[728-766]</span> +And when that one disaster had befallen,<br /> +Each dashed against his neighbour and was thrown,<br /> +Till the whole plain was strewn with chariot-wreck.<br /> +Then the Athenian, skilled to ply the rein,<br /> +Drew on one side, and heaving to, let pass<br /> +The rider-crested surge that rolled i’ the midst.<br /> +Meanwhile Orestes, trusting to the end,<br /> +Was driving hindmost with tight rein; but now,<br /> +Seeing him left the sole competitor,<br /> +Hurling fierce clamour through his steeds, pursued:<br /> +So drave they yoke by yoke—now this, now that<br /> +Pulling ahead with car and team. Orestes,<br /> +Ill-fated one, each previous course had driven<br /> +Safely without a check, but after this,<br /> +<a href="#Elec_n_6" name="Elec_t_6" id="Elec_t_6">In letting loose again the left-hand rein,</a><br /> +He struck the edge of the stone before he knew,<br /> +Shattering the axle’s end, and tumbled prone,<br /> +<a href="#Elec_n_7" name="Elec_t_7" id="Elec_t_7">Caught in the reins,</a> that dragged him with sharp thongs.<br /> +Then as he fell to the earth the horses swerved,<br /> +And roamed the field. The people when they saw<br /> +Him fallen from out the car, lamented loud<br /> +For the fair youth, who had achieved before them<br /> +Such glorious feats, and now had found such woe,—<br /> +Dashed on the ground, then tossed with legs aloft<br /> +Against the sky,—until the charioteers,<br /> +Hardly restraining the impetuous team,<br /> +Released him, covered so with blood that none,—<br /> +No friend who saw—had known his hapless form.<br /> +Which then we duly burned upon the pyre.<br /> +And straightway men appointed to the task<br /> +From all the Phocians bear his mighty frame—<br /> +Poor ashes! narrowed in a brazen urn,—<br /> +That he may find in his own fatherland<br /> +His share of sepulture.—Such our report,<br /> +Painful to hear, but unto us, who saw,<br /> +The mightiest horror that e’er met mine eye.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Alas! the stock of our old masters, then,<br /> +Is utterly uprooted and destroyed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +O heavens! what shall I say? That this is well?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 152]</span><span class="linenum">[767-799]</span> +Or terrible, but gainful? Hard my lot,<br /> +To save my life through my calamity!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Lady, why hath my speech disheartened thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +To be a mother hath a marvellous power:<br /> +No injury can make one hate one’s child.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Then it should seem our coming was in vain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +In vain? Nay, verily; thou, that hast brought<br /> +Clear evidences of his fate, who, sprung<br /> +Prom my life’s essence, severed from my breast<br /> +And nurture, was estranged in banishment,<br /> +And never saw me from the day he went<br /> +Out from this land, but for his father’s blood<br /> +Threatened me still with accusation dire;<br /> +That sleep nor soothed at night nor sweetly stole<br /> +My senses from the day, but, all my time,<br /> +Each instant led me on the way to death!—<br /> +But this day’s chance hath freed me from all fear<br /> +Of him, and of this maid: who being at home<br /> +Troubled me more, and with unmeasured thirst<br /> +Kept draining my life-blood; but now her threats<br /> +Will leave us quiet days, methinks, and peace<br /> +Unbroken.—How then shouldst thou come in vain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O misery! ’Tis time to wail thy fate,<br /> +Orestes, when, in thy calamity,<br /> +Thy mother thus insults thee. Is it well?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +’Tis well that he is gone, not that you live.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Hear, ’venging spirits of the lately dead!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +The avenging spirits have heard and answered well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Insult us now, for thou art fortunate!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +You and Orestes are to quench my pride.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Our pride is quenched. No hope of quenching thee!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +A world of good is in thy coming, stranger,<br /> +Since thou hast silenced this all-clamorous tongue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Then I may go my way, seeing all is well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 153]</span><span class="linenum">[800-836]</span> +<span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +Nay, go not yet! That would disgrace alike<br /> +Me and the friend who sent you to our land.<br /> +But come thou in, and leave her out of door<br /> +To wail her own and loved ones’ overthrow.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt <span class="cnm">CLYTEMNESTRA</span> and <span class="cnm">Old Man</span></span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Think you the wretch in heartfelt agony<br /> +Weeps inconsolably her perished son?<br /> +She left us with a laugh! O misery!<br /> +How thou hast ruined me, dear brother mine,<br /> +By dying! Thou hast torn from out my heart<br /> +The only hope I cherished yet, that thou<br /> +Living wouldst come hereafter to avenge<br /> +Thy father’s woes and mine. Where must I go?<br /> +Since I am left of thee and of my sire<br /> +Bereaved and lonely, and once more must be<br /> +The drudge and menial of my bitterest foes,<br /> +My father’s murderers. Say, is it well?<br /> +Nay, nevermore will I consort with these,<br /> +But sinking here before the palace gate,<br /> +Thus, friendless, I will wither out my life.<br /> +Hereat if any in the house be vexed,<br /> +Let them destroy me; for to take my life<br /> +Were kindness, and to live is only pain:<br /> +Life hath not kindled my desires with joy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH. 1.</span> +O ever-blazing sun!</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in6">O lightning of the eternal Sire!</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Can ye behold this done</span><br /> +<span class="in6">And tamely hide your all-avenging fire?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Ah me!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH. 2.</span> +<span class="in4">My daughter, why these tears?</span></span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Woe!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH. 3.</span> +<span class="in4">Weep not, calm thy fears.</span></span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +You kill me.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH. 4.</span> +<span class="in8">How?</span></span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in16">To breathe</span></span><br /> +<span class="in6">A hope for one beneath</span><br /> +<span class="in6">So clearly sunk in death,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">’Tis to afflict me more</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Already pining sore.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 154]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH. 5.</span> +<a href="#Elec_n_8" name="Elec_t_8" id="Elec_t_8">One in a woman’s toils</a><span class="chm">I 2 <span class="chln">[837-870]</span></span><br /> +<a href="#Elec_n_8">Was tangled,</a> buried by her glittering coils,<br /> +Who now beneath—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in12">Ah woe!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 6.</span> +Rules with a spirit unimpaired and strong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O dreadful!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 7.</span> +<span class="in8">Dreadful was the wrong.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +But she was quelled.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 8.</span> +<span class="in14">Ay.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in20">True!</span><br /> +That faithful mourner knew<br /> +A brother’s aid. But I<br /> +Have no man now. The one<br /> +I had, is gone, is gone.<br /> +Rapt into nothingness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 9.</span> +Thou art wrung with sore distress.<span class="chm">II 1</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I know it. Too well I know,<br /> +Taught by a life of woe,<br /> +Where horror dwells without relief.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 10.</span> +Our eyes have seen thy grief.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Then comfort not again—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 11.</span> +Whither now turns thy strain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +One utterly bereft,<br /> +Seeing no hope is left,<br /> +Of help from hands owning the same great sire.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH. 12.</span> +’Tis nature’s debt.</span><span class="chm">II 2</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in18">To expire</span></span><br /> +<span class="in4">On sharp-cut dragging thongs,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">’Midst wildly trampling throngs</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of swiftly racing hoofs, like him,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Poor hapless one?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH. 13.</span> +<span class="in6">Vast, dim,</span></span><br /> +<span class="in4">And boundless was the harm.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Yea, severed from mine arm,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">By strangers kept—</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH. 14.</span> +<span class="in8">O pain!</span></span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Hidden he must remain,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of me unsepulchred, unmourned, unwept.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 155]</span><span class="linenum">[871-906]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CHRYSOTHEMIS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Driven by delight, dear sister, I am come,<br /> +Reckless of dignity, with headlong speed.<br /> +For news I bear of joy and sweet relief<br /> +From ills that drew from thee thy ceaseless moan.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Whence couldst thou hear of succour for my woes,<br /> +That close in darkness without hope of dawn?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Here is Orestes, learn it from my mouth,<br /> +As certainly as you now look on me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +What? Art thou mad, unhappy one, to laugh<br /> +Over thine own calamity and mine?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +No, by our father’s hearth, I say not this<br /> +In mockery. I tell you he is come.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Me miserable! Who hath given thine ear<br /> +The word that so hath wrought on thy belief?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Myself am the eyewitness, no one else<br /> +Gained my belief, but proofs I clearly saw.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +What sign hath so engrossed thine eye, poor girl?<br /> +What sight hath fired thee with this quenchless glow?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +But list to me, I pray thee, that henceforth<br /> +Thou mayest account me clear eyed, or a fool!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +By all means, if it pleasure thee, say on.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Well, I will tell thee all I saw:—I came<br /> +Unto the ancient tomb that holds our sire;<br /> +And from the topmost mound I marked a stream<br /> +Of milk fresh-flowing, and his resting place<br /> +Ringed round with garlands of all flowers that blow.<br /> +I marvelled at the sight, and peered about,<br /> +Lest some one might be nearer than we knew.<br /> +But finding all was quiet in the spot,<br /> +I ventured closer to the tomb, and there,<br /> +Hard by the limit, I beheld a curl<br /> +Of hair new shorn, with all the gloss of youth<br /> +And straight it struck my heart, as with a sense<br /> +Of something seen, ah me! long, long ago,<br /> +And told me that my sight encountered here<br /> +The token of Orestes, dearest soul<br /> +Then, clasping it, I did not cry aloud,<br /> +But straight mine eyes were filled with tears of joy.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 156]</span><span class="linenum">[907-943]</span> +And now as much as then I feel assured<br /> +He and none else bestowed this ornament.<br /> +To whom beyond thyself and me belongs<br /> +Such consecration? And I know this well,<br /> +I did it not,—nor thou. Impossible!<br /> +Thou canst not worship even the blessèd Gods<br /> +Forth of this roof, unpunished. And, most sure,<br /> +Our mother is not minded so to act,<br /> +Nor, had she done it, could we fail to know.<br /> +This offering comes then of Orestes’ hand.<br /> +Take courage, dear one. Not one fate pursues<br /> +One house perpetually, but changeth still.<br /> +Ours was a sullen Genius, but perchance<br /> +This day begins the assurance of much good.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Oh how I pity thine infatuate mind!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Why? Dost thou find no comfort in my news?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +You know not where you roam. Far wide! far wide!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Not know? when I have seen it with mine eyes?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Dear, he is dead. Look not to him, poor girl!<br /> +Salvation comes to thee no more from him.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Oh me, unfortunate! Who told thee this?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +He who stood by and saw his life destroyed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Amazement seizes me. Where is that man?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Right welcome to the mother there within.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Me miserable! Who then can have decked<br /> +With all those ceremonies our father’s tomb?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I cannot but suppose some hand hath brought<br /> +These gifts in memory of Orestes dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +O cruel fate! While I in ecstasy<br /> +Sped with such news, all ignorant, it seems,<br /> +Of our dire fortune; and, arriving, find<br /> +Fresh sorrows added to the former woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +It is so, sister; yet if thou wilt list<br /> +To me, thou mayest disperse this heaviness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +What? Shall I raise the dead again to life?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I did not mean so. I am not so fond.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +What bid you then that I have power to do?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +To endure courageously what I enjoin.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 157]</span><span class="linenum">[944-981]</span> +<span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +So it make profit, I will not refuse.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Remember, without toil no plan may thrive!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +I know it, and will aid thee to my power.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Then hearken my resolve. Thou seëst now,<br /> +We have no friendly succour in the world;<br /> +But death has taken all, and we are left<br /> +Two only. I, so long as I could hear<br /> +My brother lived and flourished, still had hope<br /> +He would arise to wreak his father’s blood.<br /> +But now that he is gone, to thee I turn,<br /> +To help thy sister boldly to destroy<br /> +The guilty author of our father’s death,<br /> +Aegisthus.—Wherefore hide it from thee now?<br /> +—Yea, sister! Till what term wilt thou remain<br /> +Inactive? To what end? What hope is yet<br /> +Left standing? Surely thou hast cause to grieve,<br /> +Bobbed of thy father’s opulent heritage,<br /> +And feeling bitterly the creeping years<br /> +That find thee still a virgin and unwed.<br /> +Nay, nor imagine thou shalt ever know<br /> +That blessing. Not so careless of his life<br /> +Is King Aegisthus, as to risk the birth<br /> +Of sons from us, to his most certain fall.<br /> +But if thou wilt but follow my resolve,<br /> +First thou shalt win renown of piety<br /> +From our dead father, and our brother too,<br /> +Who rest beneath the ground, and shalt be free<br /> +For evermore in station as in birth,<br /> +And nobly matched in marriage, for the good<br /> +Draw gazers to them still. Then seest thou not<br /> +What meed of honour, if thou dost my will,<br /> +Thou shalt apportion to thyself and me?<br /> +For who, beholding us, what citizen,<br /> +What foreigner, will not extend the hand<br /> +Of admiration, and exclaim, ‘See, friends,<br /> +These scions of one stock, these noble twain,<br /> +These that have saved their father’s house from woe,<br /> +Who once when foes were mighty, set their life<br /> +Upon a cast, and stood forth to avenge<br /> +The stain of blood! Who will not love the pair<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 158]</span><span class="linenum">[981-1018]</span> +And do them reverence? Who will not give<br /> +Honour at festivals, and in the throng<br /> +Of popular resort, to these in chief,<br /> +For their high courage and their bold emprise?’<br /> +Such fame will follow us in all the world.<br /> +Living or dying, still to be renowned.<br /> +Ah, then, comply, dear sister; give thy sire<br /> +This toil—this labour to thy brother give;<br /> +End these my sufferings, end thine own regret:<br /> +The well-born cannot bear to live in shame.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +In such affairs, for those who speak and hear<br /> +Wise thoughtfulness is still the best ally.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +True, noble women, and before she spake<br /> +Sound thought should have prevented the rash talk<br /> +That now hath proved her reckless. What wild aim<br /> +Beckons thee forth in arming this design<br /> +Whereto thou wouldst demand my ministry?<br /> +Dost not perceive, thou art not man but woman,<br /> +Of strength inferior to thine enemies,—<br /> +Their Genius daily prospering more and more,<br /> +Whilst ours is dwindling into nothingness?<br /> +Who then that plots against a life so strong<br /> +Shall quit him of the danger without harm?<br /> +Take heed we do not add to our distress<br /> +Should some one hear of this our colloquy.<br /> +Small help and poor advantage ’twere for us<br /> +To win brief praise and then inglorious die.<br /> +Nay, death is not so hateful as when one<br /> +Desiring death is balked of that desire.<br /> +And I beseech thee, ere in utter ruin<br /> +We perish and make desolate our race,<br /> +Refrain thy rage. And I will guard for thee<br /> +In silence these thy words unrealized;<br /> +If thou wilt learn this wisdom from long time,<br /> +Having no strength, to bend before the strong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Comply. Than prudence and a heedful mind,<br /> +No fairer treasure can be found for men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Thy words have not surprised me. Well I knew<br /> +The good I offered would come back with scorn.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 159]</span><span class="linenum">[1019-1052]</span> +I, all alone and with a single hand,<br /> +Must do this. For it shall not rest undone.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Would thou hadst been thus minded when our sire<br /> +Lay dying! In one act thou hadst compassed all.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +My spirit was the same: my mind was less.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Be such the life-long temper of thy mind!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Thine admonition augurs little aid.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Yea. For the attempt would bring me certain bane.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I envy thee thy prudence, hate thy fear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Even when thou speak’st me fair, I will endure it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Take heart. That never will be thine from me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Long time remains to settle that account.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I find no profit in thee. Go thy way.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Profit there is, hadst thou a mind to learn.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Go to thy mother and declare all this!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +I am not so in hatred of thy life.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Yet know the shame thou wouldst prepare for me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +No, no! Not shame, but care for thine estate.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Must I still follow as thou thinkest good?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +When thou hast wisdom, thou shalt be the guide.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +’Tis hard when error wears the garb of sense.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Right. That is the misfortune of your case.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Why? Feel you not the justice of my speech?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Justice may chance to bring me injury.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I care not, I, to live by such a rule.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Well, if you do it, you will find me wise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Well, I will do it, nought dismayed by thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Speak you plain sooth? and will you not be counselled?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +No, for bad counsel is of all most hateful.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +You take the sense of nothing that I say.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Long since, not newly, my resolve is firm.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +Then I will go. Thy heart will ne’er be brought<br /> +To praise my words, nor I thine action here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Then go within! I will not follow thee,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 160]</span><span class="linenum">[1053-1089]</span> +Though thou desire it vehemently. None<br /> +Would be so fond to hunt on a cold trail.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CHR.</span> +If this seem wisdom to thee, then be wise<br /> +Thy way: but in the hour of misery,<br /> +When it hath caught thee, thou wilt praise my words. +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">CHRYSOTHEMIS</span></span><br /></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in8">Wise are the birds of air</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in10">That with true filial care</span><br /> +<span class="in4">For those provide convenient food</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Who gave them birth, who wrought their good.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Why will not men the like perfection prove?</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Else, by the fires above,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">And heavenly Rectitude,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Fierce recompense they shall not long elude.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">O darkling rumour, world-o’er-wandering voice</span><br /> +<span class="in4">That piercest to the shades beneath the ground,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">To dead Atrides waft a sound</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of sad reproach, not bidding him rejoice.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in8">Stained is the ancestral hall,</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Broken the battle-call,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">That heretofore his children twain</span><br /> +<span class="in4">In loving concord did sustain.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Alone, deserted, vexed, Electra sails,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Storm-tossed with rugged gales,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Lamenting evermore</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Like piteous Philomel, and pining sore</span><br /> +<span class="in4">For her lost father;—might she but bring down</span><br /> +<span class="in4">That two-fold Fury, caring not for death,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But ready to resign her breath,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">What maid so worthy of a sire’s renown?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">None who inherit from a noble race,</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Complying with things base</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Will let their ancient glory be defiled.</span><br /> +<span class="in10">So ’twas thy choice, dear child,</span><br /> +<span class="in4"><a href="#Elec_n_9" name="Elec_t_9" id="Elec_t_9">Through homeless misery</a> to win a two-fold prize,</span><br /> +<span class="in10"><a href="#Elec_n_10" name="Elec_t_10" id="Elec_t_10">Purging the sin and shame</a></span><br /> +<span class="in10">That cloud the Argive name,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">So to be called most noble and most wise.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 161]</span> +<span class="in2">May’st thou surpass thy foes in wealth and power</span><span class="chm">II 2 <span class="chln">[1090-1123]</span></span><br /> +<span class="in10">As o’er thee now they tower!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Since I have found thee, not in bright estate,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Nor blessed by wayward fate,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But through thy loyalty to Heaven’s eternal cause</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Wearing the stainless crown</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Of perfectest renown,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And richly dowered by the mightiest laws.</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">ORESTES</span> and <span class="cnm">PYLADES</span>, with the urn.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Say, dames and damsels, have we heard aright,<br /> +And speed we to the goal of our desire?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +And what desire or quest hath brought thee hither?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +I seek Aegisthus’ dwelling all this while.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Welcome. The tongue that told thee hath no blame.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Which of you all will signify within<br /> +Our joint arrival,—not unwelcome here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +This maiden, if the nearest should report.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Mistress, wilt thou go yonder and make known,<br /> +That certain Phocians on Aegisthus wait?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Oh! can it be that you are come to bring<br /> +Clear proofs of the sad rumour we have heard?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +I know not what ye have heard. Old Strophius<br /> +Charged me with tidings of Orestes’ fate.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +What, stranger? How this terror steals on me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Bearing scant remnants of his body dead<br /> +In this small vase thou seest, we bring them home.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O sorrow! thou art here: I see full well<br /> +That burden of my heart in present view.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +If thou hast tears for aught Orestes suffered,<br /> +Know that he lies within this vessel’s room.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Ah, sir! by all in Heaven, if yonder urn<br /> +Hide him, ah! give it once into my hand,<br /> +That o’er that dust I may lament and mourn<br /> +Myself and mine own house and all our woe!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Bring it and give her, whosoe’er she be.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 162]</span><span class="linenum">[1124-1163]</span> +For not an enemy—this petition shows it—<br /> +But of his friends or kindred, is this maid.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>The urn is given into <span class="cnm">ELECTRA’S</span> hands</span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O monument of him whom o’er all else<br /> +I loved! sole relic of Orestes’ life,<br /> +How cold in this thy welcome is the hope<br /> +Wherein I decked thee as I sent thee forth!<br /> +Then bright was thy departure, whom I now<br /> +Bear lightly, a mere nothing, in my hands.<br /> +Would I had gone from life, ere I dispatched<br /> +Thee from my arms that saved thee to a land<br /> +Of strangers, stealing thee from death! For then<br /> +Thou hadst been quiet on that far off day,<br /> +And had thy portion in our father’s tomb<br /> +Now thou hast perished in the stranger land<br /> +Far from thy sister, lorn and comfortless<br /> +And I, O wretchedness! neither have bathed<br /> +And laid thee forth, nor from the blazing fire<br /> +Collected the sad burden, as was meet<br /> +But thou, when foreign hands have tended thee<br /> +Com’st a small handful in a narrow shell<br /> +Woe for the constant care I spent on thee<br /> +Of old all vainly, with sweet toil! For never<br /> +Wast thou thy mother’s darling, nay, but mine,<br /> +And I of all the household most thy nurse,<br /> +While ‘sister, sister,’ was thy voice to me<br /> +But now all this is vanished in one day,<br /> +Dying in thy death. Thou hast carried all away<br /> +As with a whirlwind, and art gone. No more<br /> +My father lives, thyself art lost in death,<br /> +I am dead, who lived in thee. Our enemies<br /> +Laugh loudly, and she maddens in her joy,<br /> +Our mother most unmotherly, of whom<br /> +Thy secret missives ofttimes told me, thou<br /> +Wouldst be the punisher. But that fair hope<br /> +The hapless Genius of thy lot and mine<br /> +Hath reft away, and gives thee thus to me,—<br /> +For thy loved form thy dust and fruitless shade<br /> +O bitterness! O piteous sight! Woe! woe!<br /> +Oh! sent on thy dire journey, dearest one,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 163]</span><span class="linenum">[1164-1197]</span> +How thou hast ruined me! Thou hast indeed,<br /> +Dear brother! Then receive me to thyself,<br /> +Hide me in this thy covering, there to dwell,<br /> +Me who am nothing, with thy nothingness,<br /> +For ever! Yea, when thou wert here above,<br /> +I ever shared with thee in all, and now<br /> +I would not have thee shut me from thy tomb.<br /> +Oh! let me die and follow thee! the dead,<br /> +My mind assures me now, have no more pain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Electra, think! Thou hadst a mortal sire,<br /> +And mortal was thy brother. Grieve not far.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +O me! What shall I speak, or which way turn<br /> +The desperate word? I cannot hold my tongue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +What pain o’ercomes thee? Wherefore speak’st thou so?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Can this be famed Electra I behold?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +No other. In sad case, as you may see</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Ah! deep indeed was this calamity!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Is’t possible that thou shouldst grieve for me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +O ruined form! abandoned to disgrace!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +’Tis me you mean, stranger, I feel it now.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Woe ’s me! Untrimmed for bridal, hapless maid!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Why this fixed gaze, O stranger! that deep groan?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +How all unknowing was I of mine ill!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +What thing hath passed to make it known to thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +The sight of thee attired with boundless woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +And yet thine eye sees little of my pain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Can aught be still more hateful to be seen?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I have my dwelling with the murderers—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Of whom? What evil would thy words disclose?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Of him who gave me birth. I am their slave.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Whose power compels thee to this sufferance?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +One called my mother, most unmotherly.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +How? by main force, or by degrading shames?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +By force and shames, and every kind of evil.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +And is there none to succour or prevent?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +None. Him I had, you give me here in dust.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 164]</span><span class="linenum">[1199-1229]</span> +<span class="cnm">OR.</span> +How mine eye pities thee this while, poor maid!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Know now, none ever pitied me but you.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +None ever came whose heart like sorrow wrung.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Is’t possible we have some kinsman here?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +I will tell it, if these women here be friendly.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +They are. They may be trusted. Only speak.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Let go yon vase, that thou may’st learn the whole.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Nay, by the Gods! be not so cruel, sir!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Obey me and thou shalt not come to harm.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Ah, never rob me of what most I love!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +You must not hold it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in18">O me miserable</span><br /> +For thee, Orestes, if I lose thy tomb!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Speak no rash word. Thou hast no right to mourn.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +No right to mourn my brother who is gone?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Such utterance belongs not to thy tongue,</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Oh, am I thus dishonoured of the dead?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Far from dishonour. But this ne’er was thine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Is’t not Orestes’ body that I bear?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Nay, but the idle dressing of a tale.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +And where is his poor body’s resting-place?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Nowhere. Seek not the living with the dead,</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +My son, what saidst thou?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in20">Nought but what is true.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Doth he yet live?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in14">If I have life in me.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Art thou Orestes?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in14">Let my signet here,</span><br /> +That was our father’s, tell thine eyes, I am.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O day of days!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in12">Time hath no happier hour.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Is it thy voice?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in12">Hearken not otherwhere.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Have my arms caught thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in22">Hold me so for aye!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O dearest women, Argives of my home!<br /> +Ye see Orestes, dead in craft, but now<br /> +By that same craft delivered and preserved.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 165]</span><span class="linenum">[1230-1270]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +We see, dear daughter, and the gladsome tear<br /> +Steals from our eye to greet the bright event.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Offspring of him I loved beyond all telling!<span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +Ah! thou art come,—hast found me, eye to eye<br /> +Behold’st the face thou didst desire to see.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +True, I am here; but bide in silence still.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Wherefore?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Hush! speak not loud, lest one within should hearken.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +By ever-virgin Artemis, ne’er will I<br /> +Think worthy of my fear<br /> +This useless mass of woman-cowardice<br /> +Burdening the house within,<br /> +Not peering out of door.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Yet know that women too have might in war.<br /> +Of that methinks thou hast feeling evidence.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Ah me! thou hast unveiled<br /> +And thrust before my gaze<br /> +That burning load of my distress<br /> +No time will soothe, no remedy will heal.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +I know that too. But when we are face to face<br /> +With the evildoers,—then let remembrance work.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +All times alike are fit with instant pain<span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +Justly to mind me of that dreadful day;<br /> +Even now but hardly hath my tongue been free.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Yes, that is it. Therefore preserve this boon.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Whereby?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Put limits to unseasonable talk.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Ah! brother, who, when thou art come,<br /> +Could find it meet to exchange<br /> +Language for silence, as thou bidst me do?<br /> +Since beyond hope or thought<br /> +Was this thy sight to me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +God gave me to your sight when so he willed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O heaven of grace beyond<br /> +The joy I knew but now!<br /> +If God hath brought thee to our roof,<br /> +A miracle of bounty then is here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 166]</span> +<span class="linenum">[]<ins class="correction" title="Note: original printing had 1071-1304">1271-1304</ins></span> +<span class="cnm">OR.</span> +I hate to curb the gladness of thy spirit,<br /> +But yet I fear this ecstasy of joy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Oh! after all these years,<span class="chm">II</span><br /> +Now thou at length hast sped<br /> +Thy dearest advent on the wished-for way,<br /> +Do not, in all this woe<br /> +Thou seest surrounding me—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +What means this prayer?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in20">Forbid me not my joy,</span><br /> +Nor make me lose the brightness of thy face!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Deep were my wrath at him who should attempt it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Is my prayer heard?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in16">Why doubt it?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in28">Friends, I learned</span><br /> +A tale beyond my thought; and hearing I restrained<br /> +My passion, voiceless in my misery,<br /> +Uttering no cry. But now<br /> +I have thee safe; now, dearest, thou art come,<br /> +With thy blest countenance, which I<br /> +Can ne’er forget, even at the worst of woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +A truce now to unnecessary words.<br /> +My mother’s vileness and Aegisthus’ waste,<br /> +Draining and squandering with spendthrift hand<br /> +Our patrimony, tell me not anew.<br /> +Such talk might stifle opportunity.<br /> +But teach me, as befits the present need,<br /> +What place may serve by lurking vigilance<br /> +Or sudden apparition to o’erwhelm<br /> +Our foes in the adventure of to-day.<br /> +And, when we pass within, take heedful care<br /> +Bright looks betray thee not unto our mother.<br /> +But groan as for the dire calamity<br /> +Vainly reported:—Let’s achieve success,<br /> +Then with free hearts we may rejoice and laugh.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Dear brother, wheresoe’er thy pleasure leads,<br /> +My will shall follow, since the joys I know,<br /> +Not from myself I took them, but from thee.<br /> +And ne’er would I consent thy slightest grief<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 167]</span><span class="linenum">[1305-1342]</span> +Should win for me great gain. Ill should I then<br /> +Serve the divinity of this high hour!<br /> +Thou knowest how matters in the palace stand.<br /> +Thou hast surely heard, Aegisthus is from home,<br /> +And she, our mother, is within. Nor fear<br /> +She should behold me with a smiling face.<br /> +Mine ancient hate of her hath sunk too deep.<br /> +And from the time I saw thee, tears of joy<br /> +Will cease not. Wherefore should I stint their flow?<br /> +I, who in this thy coming have beheld<br /> +Thee dead and living? Strangely hast thou wrought<br /> +On me;—that should my father come alive,<br /> +I would not think the sight were miracle,<br /> +But sober truth. Since such thy presence, then,<br /> +Lead as thy spirit prompts. For I alone<br /> +Of two things surely had achieved one,<br /> +Noble deliverance or a noble death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Be silent; for I hear within the house<br /> +A footstep coming forth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +(<span class="sdm">loudly</span>). +<span class="in8">Strangers, go in!</span><br /> +For none within the palace will reject<br /> +Your burden, nor be gladdened by the event.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter the <span class="cnm">Old Man</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +O lost in folly and bereft of soul!<br /> +Is’t that your care for life hath ebbed away,<br /> +Or were you born without intelligence,<br /> +When fallen, not near, but in the midst of ill,<br /> +And that the greatest, ye perceive it not?<br /> +Had I not watched the doors this while, your deeds<br /> +Had gone within the palace ere yourselves.<br /> +But, as things are, my care hath fenced you round.<br /> +Now, then, have done with long-protracted talk,<br /> +And this insatiable outburst of joy,<br /> +And enter, for in such attempts as these<br /> +Delay is harmful: and ’tis more than time.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +But how shall I find matters there within?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Well. You are shielded by their ignorance.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +That means you have delivered me as dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Alone of dead men thou art here above.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 168]</span><span class="linenum">[1343-1375]</span> +<span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Doth this delight them, or how went the talk?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +I will report, when all is done. Meanwhile,<br /> +Know, all is well with them, even what is evil.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Who is this, brother? I beseech thee, tell.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Dost not perceive?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in16">I cannot even imagine.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Know’st not into whose hands thou gav’st me once?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Whose hands? How say you?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in24">His, who through thy care</span><br /> +Conveyed me secretly to Phocis’ plain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +What! is this he, whom I, of all the band,<br /> +Found singly faithful in our father’s death?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +He is that man. No more!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in22">O gladsome day!</span><br /> +Dear only saviour of our father’s house,<br /> +How earnest thou hither? Art thou he indeed,<br /> +That didst preserve Orestes and myself<br /> +From many sorrows? O dear hands, kind feet,<br /> +Swift in our service,—how couldst thou so long<br /> +Be near, nor show one gleam, but didst destroy<br /> +My heart with words, hiding the loveliest deeds?<br /> +Father!—in thee methinks I see my father.<br /> +O welcome! thou of all the world to me<br /> +Most hated and most loved in one short hour.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Enough, dear maiden! Many nights and days<br /> +Are circling hitherward, that shall reveal<br /> +In clear recountment all that came between.<br /> +<span class="in2">But to you two that stand beside I tell,</span><br /> +Now is your moment, with the Queen alone,<br /> +And none of men within; but if you pause,<br /> +Know that with others of profounder skill<br /> +You’ll have to strive, more than your present foes.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Then, Pylades, we need no more to dwell<br /> +On words, but enter on this act with speed,<br /> +First worshipping the holy shrines o’ the Gods<br /> +That were my father’s, harboured at the gate.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>They pass within. <span class="cnm">ELECTRA</span> remains in +an attitude of prayer</span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 169]</span><span class="linenum">[1376-1406]</span> +<span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O King Apollo! hear them graciously,<br /> +And hear me too, that with incessant hand<br /> +Honoured thee richly from my former store!<br /> +And now, fierce slayer, I importune thee,<br /> +And woo thee with such gifts as I can give,<br /> +Be kindly aidant to this enterprise,<br /> +And make the world take note, what meed of bane<br /> +Heaven still bestows on man’s iniquity.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">ELECTRA</span> goes within</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Lo, where the War-god moves</span><span class="chm">1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">With soft, sure footstep, on to his design,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Breathing hot slaughter of an evil feud!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Even now the inevitable hounds that track</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Dark deeds of hideous crime</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Are gone beneath the covert of the domes.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Not long in wavering suspense shall hang</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The dreaming presage of my wistful soul.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">For lo! within is led</span><span class="chm">2</span><br /> +<span class="in4">With crafty tread the avenger of the shades,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Even to his father’s throne of ancient power,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And in his hand the bright new-sharpened death!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And Hermes, Maia’s son,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Is leading him, and hath concealed the guile</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Even to the fatal end in clouds of night.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">His time of weary waiting all is o’er.</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Re-enter <span class="cnm">ELECTRA</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +O dearest women! they are even now<br /> +About it. Only bide in silence still.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What is the present scene?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in22">She decks the vase</span><br /> +For burial, and they both are standing by.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +And wherefore hast thou darted forth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in30">To watch</span><br /> +Aegisthus’ coming, that he enter not<br /> +At unawares.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +(<span class="sdm">within</span>).<br /> +<span class="in10">Ah! ah! Woe for the house,</span><br /> +Desert of friends, and filled with hands of death!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +A cry within! Did ye not hear it, friends?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 170]</span><span class="linenum">[1407-1432]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Would I had not! I heard, and shivered through.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +(<span class="sdm">within</span>).<br /> +Oh me! Alas, Aegisthus! where art thou?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Hark! yet again that sound!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +(<span class="sdm">within</span>). +<span class="in14">O son, have pity!</span><br /> +Pity the womb that bare thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in18">Thou hadst none</span><br /> +For him, nor for his father, in that day.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HALF-CH.</span> +Poor city! hapless race!<span class="chm">1</span><br /> +Thy destiny to-day<br /> +Wears thee away, away.<br /> +What morn shall see thy face?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +(<span class="sdm">within</span>). +Oh, I am smitten!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in22">Give a second stroke,</span><br /> +If thou hast power.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CLY.</span> +(<span class="sdm">within</span>). +Oh me! again, again!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Would thou wert shrieking for Aegisthus too!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +The curse hath found, and they in earth who lie<br /> +Are living powers to-day.<br /> +Long dead, they drain away<br /> +The streaming blood of those who made them die.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">ORESTES</span> and <span class="cnm">PYLADES</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Behold, they come, they come!</span><br /> +His red hand dripping as he moves<br /> +With drops of sacrifice the War-god loves.<br /> +My ’wildered heart is dumb.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +How is it with you, brother?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in22">If Apollo</span><br /> +Spake rightfully, the state within is well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Wretched one, is she dead?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in22">No more have fear</span><br /> +Thou shalt be slighted by thy mother’s will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Cease, for I see Aegisthus near in view.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +In, in again, boys!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in14">Where do ye behold</span><br /> +The tyrant?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in4">To our hand from yonder gate</span><br /> +He comes with beaming look.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 171]</span> +<span class="cnm">HALF-CH.</span> +Haste, with what speed ye may,<span class="chm">2 <span class="chln">[1433-1461]</span></span><br /> +Stand on the doorway stone,<br /> +That, having thus much done,<br /> +Ye may do all to-day.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Fear not: we will perform it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +<span class="in22">Speed ye now:</span><br /> +Follow your thought.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in10">We are already there.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Leave matters here to me. All shall go well. +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">ORESTES</span> with <span class="cnm">PYLADES</span></span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Few words, as if in gentleness, ’twere good<br /> +To utter in his ear,<br /> +That, eager and unware,<br /> +One step may launch him on the field of blood.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">AEGISTHUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEGISTHUS.</span> +Which of you know where are the Phocian men<br /> +Who brought the news I hear, Orestes’ life<br /> +Hath suffered shipwreck in a chariot-race?<br /> +You, you I question, you in former time<br /> +So fearless! You methinks most feelingly<br /> +Can tell us, for it touches you most near.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I know: assure thee. Else had I not heard<br /> +The dearest of all fortunes to my heart.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +Where are the strangers then? Enlighten me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Yonder. Their hostess entertained them well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +And did they certainly report him dead?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Not only so. They showed him to our sight.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +May this clear evidence be mine to see?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +I envy not the sight that waits you there.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +Against their wont thy words have given me joy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Much joy be thine, if this be joy to thee!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +Silence, I say! Wide let the gates be flung!<br /> +For all the Myceneans to behold<br /> +And all in Argolis, that if but one<br /> +Hath heretofore been buoyed on empty hopes<br /> +Fixed in Orestes, seeing him now dead,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 172]</span><span class="linenum">[1462-1493]</span> +He may accept my manage, and not wait<br /> +For our stern chastisement to teach him sense.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +My lesson is already learnt: at length<br /> +I am schooled to labour with the stronger will.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>The body of <span class="cnm">CLYTEMNESTRA</span> is disclosed +under a veil: <span class="cnm">ORESTES</span> standing by</span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +Zeus! Divine envy surely hath laid low<br /> +The form I here behold. But if the truth<br /> +Provoke Heaven’s wrath, be it unexpressed.—Unveil!<br /> +Off with all hindrance, that mine eye may see,<br /> +And I may mourn my kinsman as I should.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Thyself put forth thy hand. Not mine but thine<br /> +To look and speak with kindness to this corse.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +I will, for thou advisest well; but thou,<br /> +Call Clytemnestra, if she be within. +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">AEGISTHUS</span> lifts the shroud</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +She is beside thee, gaze not otherwhere.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +What do I see! oh!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in16">Why so strange? Whom fear you?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +Who are the men into whose midmost toils<br /> +All hapless I am fallen?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in12">Ha! knowest thou not</span><br /> +<a href="#Elec_n_11" name="Elec_t_11" id="Elec_t_11">Thou hast been taking</a> living men for dead?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +I understand that saying. Woe is me!<br /> +I know, Orestes’ voice addresseth me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +A prophet! How wert thou so long deceived?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +Undone, undone! Yet let me speak one word.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">EL.</span> +Brother, by Heaven, no more! Let him not speak.<br /> +When death is certain, what do men in woe<br /> +Gain from a little time? Kill him at once!<br /> +And, killed, expose him to such burial<br /> +From dogs and vultures, as beseemeth such,<br /> +Far from our view. Nought less will solace me<br /> +For the remembrance of a life of pain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Go in and tarry not. No contest this<br /> +Of verbal question, but of life or death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +Why drive you me within? If this you do<br /> +Be noble, why must darkness hide the deed?<br /> +Why not destroy me out of hand?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 173]</span><span class="linenum">[1494-1510]</span> +<span class="cnm">OR.</span> +<span class="in20">Command not!</span><br /> +Enter, and in the place where ye cut down<br /> +My father, thou shalt yield thy life to me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +Is there no help but this abode must see<br /> +The past and future ills of Pelops’ race?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Thine anyhow. That I can prophesy<br /> +With perfect inspiration to thine ear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +The skill you boast belonged not to your sire.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +You question and delay. Go in!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +<span class="in24">Lead on.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +Nay, go thou first.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">AEG.</span> +<span class="in14">That I may not escape thee?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OR.</span> +No, that thou may’st not have thy wish in death.<br /> +I may not stint one drop of bitterness.<br /> +And would this doom were given without reprieve,<br /> +If any try to act beyond the law,<br /> +To kill them. Then the wicked would be few.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span> +O seed of Atreus! how triumphantly<br /> +Through grief and hardness thou hast freedom found,<br /> +With full achievement in this onset crowned!</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + + + +<div><span class="page2" id="pg175">[page 175]</span></div> +<h2>THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS</h2> + + +<h3>THE PERSONS</h3> + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li>DÊANIRA, <i>wife of Heracles.</i></li> +<li><i>An</i> Attendant.</li> +<li>HYLLUS, <i>son of Heracles and Dêanira</i>.</li> +<li>CHORUS <i>of Trachinian Maidens</i>.</li> +<li><i>A</i> Messenger.</li> +<li>LICHAS, <i>the Herald</i>.</li> +<li><i>A</i> Nurse.</li> +<li><i>An</i> Old Man.</li> +<li>HERACLES.</li> +<li>IOLE, <i>who does not speak</i>.</li> +</ul> + +<p class="lftbrk">SCENE. Before the temporary abode of Heracles in Trachis.</p> + + + + +<p class="break"><span class="page2">[page 176]</span> +This tragedy is named from the Chorus. From the +subject it might have been called ‘Deanira or the Death +of Heracles’.</p> + +<p>The Centaur Nessus, in dying by the arrow of Heracles, +which had been dipped in the venom of the Hydra, persuaded +the bride Deanira, whose beauty was the cause of +his death, to keep some of the blood from the wound as a +love-charm for her husband. Many years afterwards, +when Heracles was returning from his last exploit of sacking +Oechalia, in Euboea, he sent before him, by his herald +Lichas, Iole, the king’s daughter, whom he had espoused. +Deanira, when she had discovered this, commissioned +Lichas when he returned to present his master with a robe, +which she had anointed with the charm,—hoping by this +means to regain her lord’s affection. But the poison of +the Hydra did its work, and Heracles died in agony, Deanira +having already killed herself on ascertaining what she had +done. The action takes place in Trachis, near the Mahae +Gulf, where Heracles and Deanira, by permission of Ceyx, +the king of the country, have been living in exile. At the +close of the drama, Heracles, while yet alive, is carried +towards his pyre on Mount Oeta.</p> + + + + +<p><span class="page2">[page 177]</span></p> +<h3>THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS</h3> + + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">DÊANIRA.</span> +Men say,—’twas old experience gave the word,</span><br /> +—‘No lot of mortal, ere he die, can once<br /> +Be known for good or evil.’ But I know,<br /> +Before I come to the dark dwelling-place,<br /> +Mine is a lot, adverse and hard and sore.<br /> +Who yet at Pleuron, in my father’s home,<br /> +Of all Aetolian women had most cause<br /> +To fear my bridal. For a river-god,<br /> +Swift Achelôüs, was my suitor there<br /> +And sought me from my father in three forms;<br /> +Now in his own bull-likeness, now a serpent<br /> +Of coiling sheen, and now with manlike build<br /> +But bovine front, while from the shadowy beard<br /> +Sprang fountain-waters in perpetual spray.<br /> +Looking for such a husband, I, poor girl!<br /> +Still prayed that Death might find me, ere I knew<br /> +That nuptial.—Later, to my glad relief,<br /> +Zeus’ and Alcmena’s glorious offspring came,<br /> +And closed with him in conflict, and released<br /> +My heart from torment. How the fight was won<br /> +I could not tell. If any were who saw<br /> +Unshaken of dread foreboding, such may speak.<br /> +But I sate quailing with an anguished fear,<br /> +Lest beauty might procure me nought but pain,<br /> +Till He that rules the issue of all strife,<br /> +Gave fortunate end—if fortunate! For since,<br /> +Assigned by that day’s conquest, I have known<br /> +The couch of Heracles, my life is spent<br /> +In one continual terror for his fate.<br /> +Night brings him, and, ere morning, some fresh toil<br /> +Drives him afar. And I have borne him seed;<br /> +Which he, like some strange husbandman that farms<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 178]</span> +A distant field, finds but at sowing time<br /> +And once in harvest. Such a weary life<br /> +Still tossed him to and fro,—no sooner home<br /> +But forth again, serving I know not whom.<br /> +<span class="in2">And when his glorious head had risen beyond</span><br /> +These labours, came the strongest of my fear.<br /> +For since he quelled the might of Iphitus,<br /> +We here in Trachis dwell, far from our home,<br /> +Dependent on a stranger, but where he<br /> +Is gone, none knoweth. Only this I know,<br /> +His going pierced my heart with pangs for him,<br /> +And now I am all but sure he bears some woe.<br /> +These fifteen months he hath sent me not one word.<br /> +And I have cause for fear. Ere he set forth<br /> +He left a scroll with me, whose dark intent<br /> +I oft pray Heaven may bring no sorrow down.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATTENDANT.</span> +Queen Dêanira, many a time ere now<br /> +Have I beheld thee with all tearful moan<br /> +Bewailing the departure of thy lord.<br /> +But, if it be permitted that a slave<br /> +Should tender counsel to the free, my voice<br /> +May venture this:—Of thy strong band of sons<br /> +Why is not one commissioned to explore<br /> +For Heracles? and why not Hyllus first,<br /> +Whom most it would beseem to show regard<br /> +For tidings of his father’s happiness?<br /> +Ah! here I see him bounding home, with feet<br /> +Apt for employment! If you count me wise,<br /> +He and my words attend upon your will.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">HYLLUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Dear child, dear boy! even from the lowliest head<br /> +Wise counsel may come forth. This woman here,<br /> +Though a bond-maiden, hath a free-born tongue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +What word is spoken, mother? May I know?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +That, with thy father lost to us so long,<br /> +’Tis shame thou dost not learn his dwelling-place.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Yea, I have learnt, if one may trust report.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Where art thou told his seat is fixed, my son?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 179]</span> +<span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +’Tis said that through the length of this past year<br /> +He wrought as bondman to a Lydian girl.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Hath he borne that? Then nothing can be strange!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Well, that is over, I am told. He is free.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Where is he rumoured, then, alive or dead?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +In rich Euboea, besieging, as they tell,<br /> +The town of Eurytus, or offering siege.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Child, hast thou heard what holy oracles<br /> +He left with me, touching that very land?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +What were they, mother, for I never knew?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +That either he must end his being there,<br /> +Or, this one feat performed, his following time<br /> +Should grace his life with fair prosperity.<br /> +Wilt thou not then, my child, when he is held<br /> +In such a crisis of uncertain peril,<br /> +Run to his aid?—since we must perish with him,<br /> +Or owe our lasting safety to his life.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +I will go, mother. Had I heard this voice<br /> +Of prophecy, long since I had been there.<br /> +Fear is unwonted for our father’s lot.<br /> +But now I know, my strength shall all be spent<br /> +To learn the course of these affairs in full.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Go then, my son. Though late, to learn and do<br /> +What wisdom bids, hath certainty of gain.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">HYLLUS</span>. <span class="cnm">DÊANIRA</span> withdraws</span><br /></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span> (entering and turning towards the East).</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">Born of the starry night in her undoing,</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Lulled in her bosom at thy parting glow,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">O Sun! I bid thee show,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">What journey is Alcmena’s child pursuing?</span><br /> +<span class="in8">What region holds him now,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">’Mong winding channels of the deep,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Or Asian plains, or rugged Western steep?</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Declare it, thou</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Peerless in vision of thy flashing ray</span><br /> +<span class="in4">That lightens on the world with each new day.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="dpgn">[page 180]</span> +<span class="in2">Sad Dêanira, <a href="#Trac_n_1" name="Trac_t_1" id="Trac_t_1">bride of battle-wooing,</a></span><span class="chm">I 2 <span class="chln">[104-143]</span></span><br /> +<span class="in4">Ne’er lets her tearful eyelids close in rest,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">But in love-longing breast,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Like some lorn bird its desolation rueing,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Of her great husband’s way</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Still mindful, worn with harrowing fear</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Lest some new danger for him should be near,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">By night and day</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Pines on her widowed couch of ceaseless thought,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">With dread of evil destiny distraught:</span><span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Enter <span class="cnm">DÊANIRA</span>.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">For many as are billows of the South</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Blowing unweariedly, or Northern gale,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">One going and another coming on</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Incessantly, baffling the gazer’s eye,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Such Cretan ocean of unending toil</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Cradles our Cadmus-born, and swells his fame.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">But still some power doth his foot recall</span><br /> +<span class="in6">From stumbling down to Hades’ darkling hall.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">Wherefore, in censure of thy mood, I bring</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Glad, though opposing, counsel. Let not hope</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Grow weary. Never hath a painless life</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Been cast on mortals by the power supreme</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of the All-disposer, Cronos’ son. But joy</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And sorrow visit in perpetual round</span><br /> +<span class="in6">All mortals, even as circleth still on high</span><br /> +<span class="in6">The constellation of the Northern sky.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">What lasteth in the world? Not starry night,</span><span class="chm">III</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Nor wealth, nor tribulation; but is gone</span><br /> +<span class="in4">All suddenly, while to another soul</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The joy or the privation passeth on.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">These hopes I bid thee also, O my Queen!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Hold fast continually, for who hath seen</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Zeus so forgetful of his own?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">How can his providence forsake his son?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +I see you have been told of my distress,<br /> +And that hath brought you. But my inward woe,<br /> +Be it evermore unknown to you, as now!<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 181]</span><span class="linenum">[144-179]</span> +Such the fair garden of untrammeled ease<br /> +Where the young life grows safely. No fierce heat,<br /> +No rain, no wind disturbs it, but unharmed<br /> +It rises amid airs of peace and joy,<br /> +Till maiden turn to matron, and the night<br /> +Inherit her dark share of anxious thought,<br /> +Haunted with fears for husband or for child.<br /> +Then, imaged through her own calamity,<br /> +Some one may guess the burden of my life.<br /> +<span class="in2">Full many have been the sorrows I have wept,</span><br /> +But one above the rest I tell to-day.<br /> +When my great husband parted last from home,<br /> +He left within the house an ancient scroll<br /> +Inscribed with characters of mystic note,<br /> +Which Heracles had never heretofore,<br /> +In former labours, cared to let me see,—<br /> +As bound for bright achievement, not for death.<br /> +But now, as though his life had end, he told<br /> +What marriage-portion I must keep, what shares<br /> +He left his sons out of their father’s ground:<br /> +And set a time, when fifteen moons were spent,<br /> +Counted from his departure, that even then<br /> +Or he must die, or if that date were out<br /> +And he had run beyond it, he should live<br /> +Thenceforth a painless and untroubled life.<br /> +Such by Heaven’s fiat was the promised end<br /> +Of Heracles’ long labours, as he said;<br /> +So once the ancient oak-tree had proclaimed<br /> +In high Dodona through the sacred Doves.<br /> +Of which prediction on this present hour<br /> +In destined order of accomplishment<br /> +The veritable issue doth depend.<br /> +And I, dear friends, while taking rest, will oft<br /> +Start from sweet slumbers with a sudden fear,<br /> +Scared by the thought, my life may be bereft<br /> +Of the best husband in the world of men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Hush! For I see approaching one in haste,<br /> +Garlanded, as if laden with good news.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 182]</span><span class="linenum">[180-212]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">Messenger</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESSENGER.</span> +Queen Dêanira, mine shall be the tongue<br /> +To free thee first from fear. Alcmena’s child<br /> +Is living, be assured, and triumphing,<br /> +And bringing to our Gods the fruits of war.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +What mean’st thou, aged sir, by what thou sayest?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +That soon thy husband, envied all around,<br /> +Will come, distinguished with victorious might.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +What citizen or stranger told thee this?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Your herald Lichas, where the oxen graze<br /> +The summer meadow, cries this to a crowd.<br /> +I, hearing, flew off hither, that being first<br /> +To bring thee word thereof, I might be sure<br /> +To win reward and gratitude from thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +And how is he not here, if all be well?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Crossed by no light impediment, my Queen.<br /> +For all the Maliac people, gathering round,<br /> +Throng him with question, that he cannot move.<br /> +But he must still the travail of each soul,<br /> +And none will be dismissed unsatisfied.<br /> +Such willing audience he unwillingly<br /> +Harangues, but soon himself will come in sight.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +O Zeus! who rulest Oeta’s virgin wold,<br /> +At last, though late, thou hast vouchsafed us joy.<br /> +Lift up your voices, O my women! ye<br /> +Within the halls, and ye beyond the gate!<br /> +For now we reap the gladness of a ray,<br /> +That dawns unhoped for in this rumour’s sound.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">With a shout by the hearth let the palace roof ring</span><br /> +<span class="in2">From those that are dreaming of bridal, and ye,</span><br /> +Young men, let your voices in harmony sing<br /> +<span class="in2">To the God of the quiver, the Lord of the free!</span><br /> +And the Paean withal from the maiden band<br /> +To Artemis, huntress of many a land,<br /> +<span class="in4">Let it rise o’er the glad roof tree,</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 183]</span><span class="linenum">[213-243]</span> +To Phoebus’ own sister, with fire in each hand,<br /> +<span class="in4">And the Nymphs that her co-mates be!</span><br /> +My spirit soars. O sovereign of my soul!<br /> +I will accept the thrilling flute’s control.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>They dance</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The ivy-crownèd thyrsus, see!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">With Bacchic fire is kindling me,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And turns my emulous tread</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Where’er the mazy dance may lead.</span><br /> +Euoî! Euoî!<br /> +O Paean! send us joy.<br /> +See, dearest Queen, behold!<br /> +Before thy gaze the event will now unfold.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Think not mine eye hath kept such careless guard,<br /> +Dear maids, that I could miss this moving train.<br /> +Herald, I bid thee hail, although so late<br /> +Appearing, if thou bringest health with thee!</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">LICHAS</span>, with <span class="cnm">Captive Women</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICHAS.</span> +A happy welcome on a happy way,<br /> +As prosperous our achievement. Meet it is<br /> +Good words should greet bright actions, mistress mine!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Kind friend, first tell me what I first would know—<br /> +Shall I receive my Heracles alive?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +I left him certainly alive and strong:<br /> +Blooming in health, not with disease oppressed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +In Greece, or in some barbarous country? Tell!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +Euboea’s island hath a promontory,<br /> +Where to Cenaean Zeus he consecrates<br /> +Rich altars and the tribute of the ground.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Moved by an oracle, or from some vow?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +So vowed he when he conquered with the spear<br /> +The country of these women whom you see.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +And who, by Heaven, are they? Who was their sire?<br /> +Their case is piteous, or eludes my thought.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 184]</span><span class="linenum">[244-280]</span> +<span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +He took them for the service of the Gods<br /> +And his own house, when high Oechalia fell.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Was’t then before that city he was kept<br /> +Those endless ages of uncounted time?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +Not so. The greater while he was detained<br /> +Among the Lydians, sold, as he declares,<br /> +To bondage. Nor be jealous of the word,<br /> +Since Heaven, my Queen, was author of the deed.<br /> +Enthrallèd so to Asian Omphalè,<br /> +He, as himself avers, fulfilled his year.<br /> +The felt reproach whereof so chafed his soul,<br /> +He bound fierce curses on himself and sware<br /> +That,—children, wife and all,—he yet would bring<br /> +In captive chains the mover of this harm.<br /> +Nor did this perish like an idle word,<br /> +But, when the stain was off him, straight he drew<br /> +Allied battalions to assault the town<br /> +Of Eurytus, whom, sole of earthly powers,<br /> +He had noted as the source of his annoy,<br /> +Because, having received him in his hall<br /> +A guest of ancient days, he burst on him<br /> +With outrage of loud voice and villanous mind,<br /> +Saying, ‘with his hand upon the unerring bow,<br /> +Oechalia’s princes could o’ershoot his skill;<br /> +And born to bondage, he must quail beneath<br /> +His overlord’; lastly, to crown this cry,<br /> +When at a banquet he was filled with wine,<br /> +He flung him out of door. Whereat being wroth,<br /> +When Iphitus to the Tirynthian height<br /> +Followed the track where his brood-mares had strayed,<br /> +He, while the thought and eye of the man by chance<br /> +Were sundered, threw him from the tower-crowned cliff.<br /> +In anger for which deed the Olympian King,<br /> +Father of Gods and men, delivered him<br /> +To be a bond-slave, nor could brook the offence,<br /> +That of all lives he vanquished, this alone<br /> +Should have been ta’en by guile. For had he wrought<br /> +In open quittance of outrageous wrong,<br /> +Even Zeus had granted that his cause was just.<br /> +The braggart hath no favour even in Heaven.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 185]</span><span class="linenum">[281-316]</span> +Whence they, o’erweening with their evil tongue,<br /> +Are now all dwellers in the house of death,<br /> +Their ancient city a captive;—but these women<br /> +Whom thou beholdest, from their blest estate<br /> +Brought suddenly to taste of piteous woe,<br /> +Come to thy care. This task thy wedded lord<br /> +Ordained, and I, his faithful minister,<br /> +Seek to perform. But, for his noble self,<br /> +When with pure hands he hath done sacrifice<br /> +To his Great Father for the victory given,<br /> +Look for his coming, lady. This last word<br /> +Of all my happy speech is far most sweet.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Now surety of delight is thine, my Queen,<br /> +Part by report and part before thine eye.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Yea, now I learn this triumph of my lord,<br /> +Joy reigns without a rival in my breast.<br /> +This needs must run with that in fellowship.<br /> +Yet wise consideration even of good<br /> +Is flecked with fear of what reverse may come.<br /> +And I, dear friends, when I behold these maids,<br /> +Am visited with sadness deep and strange.<br /> +Poor friendless beings, in a foreign land<br /> +Wandering forlorn in homeless orphanhood!<br /> +Erewhile, free daughters of a freeborn race,<br /> +Now, snared in strong captivity for life.<br /> +O Zeus of battles, breaker of the war,<br /> +<a href="#Trac_n_2" name="Trac_t_2" id="Trac_t_2">Ne’er may I see thee</a> turn against my seed<br /> +So cruelly; or, if thou meanest so,<br /> +Let me be spared that sorrow by my death!<br /> +Such fear in me the sight of these hath wrought.<br /> +Who art thou, of all damsels most distressed?<br /> +Single or child-bearing? Thy looks would say,<br /> +A maid, of no mean lineage. Lichas, tell,<br /> +Who is the stranger-nymph? Who gave her birth?<br /> +Who was her sire? Mine eye hath pitied her<br /> +O’er all, as she o’er all hath sense of woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +What know I? Why should’st thou demand? Perchance<br /> +Not lowest in the list of souls there born.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +How if a princess, offspring of their King?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 186]</span><span class="linenum">[317-348]</span> +<span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +I cannot tell. I did not question far.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Have none of her companions breathed her name?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +I brought them silently. I did not hear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Yet speak it to us of thyself, poor maid!<br /> +’Tis sorrow not to know thee who thou art.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +She’ll ne’er untie her tongue, if she maintain<br /> +An even tenor, since nor more nor less<br /> +Would she disclose; but, poor unfortunate!<br /> +With agonizing sobs and tears she mourns<br /> +This crushing sorrow, from the day she left<br /> +Her wind-swept home. Her case is cruel, sure,—<br /> +And claims a privilege from all who feel.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Well, let her go, and pass beneath the roof<br /> +In peace, as she desires; nor let fresh pain<br /> +From me be added to her previous woe.<br /> +She hath enough already. Come, away!<br /> +Let’s all within at once, that thou mayest speed<br /> +Thy journey, and I may order all things here.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">LICHAS</span>, with <span class="cnm">Captives</span>, into the house. +<span class="cnm">DÊANIRA</span> is about to follow them</span><br /></p> + +<p class="sdn">Re-enter <span class="cnm">Messenger</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Pause first there on the threshold, till you learn<br /> +(Apart from those) who ’tis you take within,<br /> +And more besides that you yet know not of,<br /> +Which deeply imports your knowing. Of all this<br /> +I throughly am informed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +<span class="in14">What cause hast thou</span><br /> +Thus to arrest my going?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +<span class="in12">Stand, and hear.</span><br /> +Not idle was my former speech, nor this.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Say, must we call them back in presence here,<br /> +Or would’st thou tell thy news to these and me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +To thee and these I may, but let those be.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Well, they are gone. Let words declare thy drift.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +That man, in all that he hath lately said,<br /> +Hath sinned against the truth: or now he’s false,<br /> +Or else unfaithful in his first report.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 187]</span><span class="linenum">[349-384]</span> +<span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +What? Tell me thy full meaning clearly forth.<br /> +That thou hast uttered is all mystery.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +I heard this herald say, while many thronged<br /> +To hearken, that this maiden was the cause,<br /> +Why lofty-towered Oechalia and her lord<br /> +Fell before Heracles, whom Love alone<br /> +Of heavenly powers had warmed to this emprise,<br /> +And not the Lydian thraldom or the tasks<br /> +Of rigorous Omphalè, nor that wild fate<br /> +Of rock-thrown Iphitus. Now he thrusts aside<br /> +The Love-god, contradicting his first tale.<br /> +<span class="in2">When he that was her sire could not be brought</span><br /> +To yield the maid for Heracles to hold<br /> +In love unrecognized, he framed erelong<br /> +A feud about some trifle, and set forth<br /> +In arms against this damsel’s fatherland<br /> +(Where Eurytus, the herald said, was king)<br /> +And slew the chief her father; yea, and sacked<br /> +Their city. Now returning, as you see,<br /> +He sends her hither to his halls, no slave,<br /> +Nor unregarded, lady,—dream not so!<br /> +Since all his heart is kindled with desire.<br /> +I, O my Queen! thought meet to show thee all<br /> +The tale I chanced to gather from his mouth,<br /> +Which many heard as well as I, i’ the midst<br /> +Of Trachis’ market-place, and can confirm<br /> +My witness. I am pained if my plain speech<br /> +Sound harshly, but the honest truth I tell.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Ah me! Where am I? Whither am I fallen?<br /> +What hidden woe have I unwarily<br /> +Taken beneath my roof? O misery!<br /> +Was she unknown, as he that brought her sware?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Nay, most distinguished both in birth and mien;<br /> +Called in her day of freedom Iolè,<br /> +Eurytus’ daughter,—of whose parentage,<br /> +Forsooth as ignorant, he ne’er would speak.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +I curse not all the wicked, but the man<br /> +Whose secret practices deform his life.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 188]</span><span class="linenum">[385-413]</span> +<span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Say, maidens, how must I proceed? The words<br /> +Now spoken have bewildered all my mind.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Go in and question Lichas, who perchance<br /> +Will tell the truth if you but tax him home.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +I will; you counsel reasonably.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +<span class="in22">And I,</span><br /> +Shall I bide here till thou com’st forth? Or how?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Remain. For see, without my sending for him,<br /> +He issueth from the palace of himself.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">LICHAS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +What message must I carry to my lord?<br /> +Tell me, my Queen. I am going, as thou seest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +So slow in coming, and so quickly flown,<br /> +Ere one have time to talk with thee anew!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +What wouldst thou ask me? I am bent to hear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +And art thou bent on truth in the reply?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +By Heaven! in all that I have knowledge of.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Then tell me, who is she thou brought’st with thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +An islander. I cannot trace her stock.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Look hither, man. Who is’t to whom thou speakest?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +Why such a question? What is thine intent?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Nay, start not, but make answer if thou knowest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +To Dêanira, Oeneus’ queenly child,<br /> +Heracles’ wife,—if these mine eyes be true,—<br /> +My mistress.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +<span class="in2">Ay, that is the very word</span><br /> +I longed to hear thee speak. Thy mistress, sayest?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +To whom I am bound.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +<span class="in18">Hold there! What punishment</span><br /> +Wilt thou accept, if thou art found to be<br /> +Faithless to her?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +<span class="in6">I faithless! What dark speech</span><br /> +Hast thou contrived?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +<span class="in8">Not I at all. ’Tis thou</span><br /> +Dost wrap thy thoughts i’ the dark.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 189]</span><span class="linenum">[414-448]</span> +<span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +<span class="in18">Well, I will go.</span><br /> +’Tis folly to have heard thee for so long.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +You go not till you answer one word more.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +One, or a thousand! You’ll not stint, I see.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Thou knowest the captive maid thou leddest home?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +I do. But wherefore ask?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +<span class="in20">Did you not say</span><br /> +That she, on whom you look with ignorant eye,<br /> +Was Iolè, the daughter of the King,<br /> +Committed to your charge?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +<span class="in14">Where? Among whom?</span><br /> +What witness of such words will bear thee out?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Many and sound. A goodly company<br /> +In Trachis’ market-place heard thee speak this.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +Ay.<br /> +I said ’twas rumoured. But I could not give<br /> +My vague impression for advised report.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Impression, quotha! Did you not on oath<br /> +Proclaim your captive for your master’s bride?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +My master’s bride! Dear lady, by the Gods,<br /> +Who is the stranger? for I know him not.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +One who was present where he heard thee tell,<br /> +How that whole city was subdued and taken,<br /> +Not for the bondage to the Lydian girl,<br /> +But through the longing passion for this maid.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +Dear lady, let the fellow be removed.<br /> +To prate with madmen is mere foolishness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Nay, I entreat thee by His name, whose fire<br /> +Lightens down Oeta’s topmost glen, be not<br /> +A niggard of the truth. Thou tell’st thy tale<br /> +To no weak woman, but to one who knows<br /> +Mankind are never constant to one joy.<br /> +Whoso would buffet Love, aspires in vain.<br /> +For Love leads even Immortals at his will,<br /> +And me. Then how not others, like to me?<br /> +’Twere madness, sure, in me to blame my lord<br /> +When this hath caught him, or the woman there,<br /> +His innocent accomplice in a thing,<br /> +No shame to either, and no harm to me.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 190]</span><span class="linenum">[449-490]</span> +It is not so. But if from him thou learnest<br /> +The lore of falsehood, it were best unlearnt;<br /> +Or if the instruction comes of thine own thought,<br /> +Such would-be kindness doth not prove thee kind.<br /> +Then tell me all the truth. To one free-born<br /> +The name of liar is a hateful lot.<br /> +And thou canst not be hid. Thy news was heard<br /> +By many, who will tell me. If thou fearest,<br /> +Thou hast no cause—for doubtfulness is pain,<br /> +But to know all, what harm? His loves ere now<br /> +Were they not manifold? And none hath borne<br /> +Reproach or evil word from me. She shall not,<br /> +Though his new passion were as strong as death;<br /> +Since most mine eye hath pitied her, because<br /> +Her beauty was the ruin of her life,<br /> +And all unweeting, she her own bright land,<br /> +Poor hapless one! hath ravaged and enslaved.—<br /> +Let that be as it must. But for thy part,<br /> +Though false to others, be still true to me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +’Tis fairly said. Comply. Thou ne’er wilt blame<br /> +Her faithfulness, and thou wilt earn our loves.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +Yea, dear my Queen, now I have seen thee hold<br /> +Thy mortal wishes within mortal bound<br /> +So meekly, I will freely tell thee all.<br /> +It is as he avers. This maiden’s love,<br /> +Piercing through Heracles, was the sole cause,<br /> +Why her Oechalia, land of plenteous woe,<br /> +Was made the conquest of his spear. And he—<br /> +For I dare so far clear him—never bade<br /> +Concealment or denial. But myself,<br /> +Fearing the word might wound thy queenly heart,<br /> +Sinned, if thou count such tenderness a sin.<br /> +But now that all is known, for both your sakes,<br /> +His, and thine own no less, look favouringly<br /> +Upon the woman, and confirm the word<br /> +Thou here hast spoken in regard to her:—<br /> +For he, whose might is in all else supreme,<br /> +Is wholly overmastered by her love.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Yea, so my mind is bent. I will do so.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 191]</span><span class="linenum">[491-519]</span> +I will not, in a bootless strife ’gainst Heaven,<br /> +Augment my misery with self-sought ill.<br /> +Come, go we in, that thou may’st bear from me<br /> +Such message as is meet, and also carry<br /> +Gifts, such as are befitting to return<br /> +For gifts new-given. Thou ought’st not to depart<br /> +Unladen, having brought so much with thee.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">Victorious in her might,</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in8">The Queen of soft delight</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Still ranges onward with triumphant sway.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">What she from Kronos’ son</span><br /> +<span class="in8">And strong Poseidon won,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And Pluto, King of Night, I durst not say.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">But who, to earn this bride,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Came forth in sinewy pride</span><br /> +<span class="in4">To strive, or e’er the nuptial might be known</span><br /> +<span class="in8">With fearless heart I tell</span><br /> +<span class="in8">What heroes wrestled well,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">With showering blows, and dust in clouds upthrown.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">One was a river bold,</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Horn-crowned, with tramp fourfold,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Bull Achelôüs, Acarnania’s Fear;</span><br /> +<span class="in8">And one from Bacchus’ town,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Own son of Zeus, came down,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">With brandished mace, bent bow, and barbèd spear.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Who then in battle brunt,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Together, front to front,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Hurled, eager both to win the beauteous prize;</span><br /> +<span class="in8">And Cypris ’mid the fray</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Alone, that dreadful day,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Sate umpire, holding promise in her eyes.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">Then clashed the fist, then clanged the bow;</span><span class="chm">II</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Then horns gave crashing blow for blow,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Whilst, as they clung,</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 192]</span><span class="linenum">[520-555]</span> +<span class="in4">The twining hip throw both essay</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And hurtling foreheads’ fearful play,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">And groans from each were wrung.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">But the tender fair one far away</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Sate watching with an eye of piteous cheer</span><br /> +<span class="in4">(A mother’s heart will heed the thing I say,)</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Till won by him who freed her from her fear.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Sudden she leaves her mother’s gentle side,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Borne through the waste, our hero’s tender bride.</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">DÊANIRA</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Dear friends, while yonder herald in the house<br /> +Holds converse with the captives ere he go,<br /> +I have stol’n forth to you, partly to tell<br /> +The craft my hand hath compassed, and in part,<br /> +To crave your pity for my wretchedness.<br /> +For I have taken to my hearth a maid,—<br /> +And yet, methinks, no maiden any more,<br /> +Like some fond shipmaster, taking on board<br /> +A cargo fraught with treason to my heart.<br /> +And now we two are closed in one embrace<br /> +Beneath one coverlet. Such generous meed<br /> +For faith in guarding home this dreary while<br /> +Hath the kind Heracles our trusty spouse,<br /> +Sent in return! Yet, oft as he hath caught<br /> +This same distemperature, I know not how<br /> +To harbour indignation against him.<br /> +But who that is a woman could endure<br /> +To dwell with her, both married to one man?<br /> +One bloom is still advancing, one doth fade.<br /> +The budding flower is cropped, the full-blown head<br /> +Is left to wither, while love passeth by<br /> +Unheeding. Wherefore I am sore afraid<br /> +He will be called my husband, but her mate,<br /> +For she is younger. Yet no prudent wife<br /> +Would take this angerly, as I have said.<br /> +But, dear ones, I will tell you of a way,<br /> +Whereof I have bethought me, to prevent<br /> +This heart-break. I had hidden of long time<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 193]</span><span class="linenum">[555-591]</span> +In a bronze urn the ancient Centaur’s gift,<br /> +Which I, when a mere girl, culled from the wound<br /> +Of hairy-breasted Nessus in his death.<br /> +He o’er Evenus’ rolling depths, for hire,<br /> +Ferried wayfarers on his arm, not plying<br /> +Or rowing-boat, or canvas-wingèd bark.<br /> +Who, when with Heracles, a new-made bride,<br /> +I followed by my father’s sending forth,<br /> +Shouldering me too, in the mid-stream, annoyed<br /> +With wanton touch. And I cried out; and he,<br /> +Zeus’ son, turned suddenly, and from his bow<br /> +Sent a wing’d shaft, that whizzed into his chest<br /> +To the lungs. Then the weird Thing, with dying voice<br /> +Spake to me:—‘Child of aged Oeneüs,<br /> +Since thou wert my last burden, thou shalt win<br /> +Some profit from mine act, if thou wilt do<br /> +What now I bid thee. With a careful hand<br /> +Collect and bear away the clotted gore<br /> +That clogs my wound, e’en where the monster snake<br /> +Had dyed the arrow with dark tinct of gall;<br /> +And thou shalt have this as a charm of soul<br /> +For Heracles, that never through the eye<br /> +Shall he receive another love than thine.’<br /> +Whereof bethinking me, for since his death<br /> +I kept it in a closet locked with care,<br /> +I have applied it to this robe, with such<br /> +Addition as his living voice ordained.—<br /> +The thing is done. No criminal attempts<br /> +Could e’er be mine. Far be they from my thought,<br /> +As I abhor the woman who conceives them!<br /> +But if by any means through gentle spells<br /> +And bonds on Heracles’ affection, we<br /> +May triumph o’er this maiden in his heart,<br /> +My scheme is perfected. Unless you deem<br /> +Mine action wild. If so, I will desist.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +If any ground of confidence approve<br /> +Thine act, we cannot check thy counsel here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +My confidence is grounded on belief,<br /> +Though unconfirmed as yet by actual proof.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 194]</span><span class="linenum">[592-627]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Well, do it and try. Assurance cannot come<br /> +Till action bring experience after it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +The truth will soon be known. The man e’en now<br /> +Is coming forth, and quickly will be there.<br /> +Screen ye but well my counsel. Doubtful deeds,<br /> +Wrapt close, will not deliver us to shame.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">LICHAS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +Daughter of Oeneus, tell me thy commands.<br /> +Already time rebukes our tardiness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Even that hath been my care, Lichas, while thou<br /> +Wert talking to the stranger-maids within,<br /> +That thou shouldst take for me this finewoven web,<br /> +A present from these fingers to my lord.<br /> +And when thou giv’st it, say that none of men<br /> +Must wear it on his shoulders before him;<br /> +And neither light of sun may look upon it,<br /> +Nor holy temple-court, nor household flame,<br /> +Till he in open station ’fore the Gods<br /> +Display it on a day when bulls are slaughtered.<br /> +So once I vowed, that should I ever see<br /> +Or hear his safe return, I would enfold<br /> +His glorious person in this robe, and show<br /> +To all the Gods in doing sacrifice<br /> +Him a fresh worshipper in fresh array.—<br /> +The truth hereof he will with ease descry<br /> +Betokened on this treasure-guarding seal.—<br /> +Now go, and be advised, of this in chief,<br /> +To act within thine office; then of this,<br /> +To bear thee so, that from his thanks and mine<br /> +Meeting in one, a twofold grace may spring.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +If this my Hermes-craft be firm and sure,<br /> +Then never will I fail thee, O my Queen!<br /> +But I will show the casket as it is<br /> +To whom I bear it, and in faithfulness<br /> +Add all the words thou sendest in fit place.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Go, then, at once. Thou hast full cognizance<br /> +How things within the palace are preserved?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +I know, and will declare. There is no flaw.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 195]</span><span class="linenum">[628-662]</span> +<span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Methinks thou knowest too, for thou hast seen,<br /> +My kind reception of the stranger-maid?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LICH.</span> +I saw, and was amazed with heart-struck joy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +What more is there to tell?—Too rash, I fear,<br /> +Were thy report of longing on my part,<br /> +Till we can learn if we be longed for there.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt severally</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">O ye that haunt the strand</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Where ships in quiet land</span><br /> +Near Oeta’s height and the warm rock-drawn well,<br /> +And ye round Melis’ inland gulf who dwell,<br /> +Worshipping her who wields the golden wand,—<br /> +(There Hellas’ wisest meet in council strong):<br /> +<span class="in8">Soon shall the flute arise</span><br /> +<span class="in8">With sound of glad surprise,</span><br /> +Thrilling your sense with no unwelcome song,<br /> +But tones that to the harp of Heavenly Muse belong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">Zeus’ and Alcmena’s son,—</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in8">All deeds of glory done,—</span><br /> +Speeds now triumphant to his home, whom we<br /> +Twelve weary months of blind expectancy<br /> +Lost in vast distance, from our country gone.<br /> +While, sadly languishing, his loving wife,<br /> +<span class="in8">Still flowing down with tears,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Pined with unnumbered fears.</span><br /> +But Ares, lately stung to furious strife,<br /> +<a href="#Trac_n_3" name="Trac_t_3" id="Trac_t_3">Frees him for ever</a> from the toilsome life.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">O let him come to-day!</span><span class="chm">II</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Ne’er may his vessel stay,</span><br /> +But glide with feathery sweep of many an oar,<br /> +Till from his altar by yon island shore<br /> +Even to our town he wind his prosperous way,<br /> +<span class="in8">In mien returning mild,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">And inly reconciled,</span><br /> +With that anointing in his heart ingrained,<br /> +Which the dark Centaur’s wizard lips ordained.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 196]</span><span class="linenum">[663-695]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">DÊANIRA</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +O how I fear, my friends, lest all too far<br /> +I have ventured in my action of to-day!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What ails thee, Dêanira, Oeneus’ child?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +I know not, but am haunted by a dread,<br /> +Lest quickly I be found to have performed<br /> +A mighty mischief, through bright hopes betrayed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thou dost not mean thy gift to Heracles?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Indeed I do. Now I perceive how fond<br /> +Is eagerness, where actions are obscure.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Tell, if it may be told, thy cause of fear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +A thing is come to pass, which should I tell,<br /> +Will strike you with strange wonder when you learn.<br /> +For, O my friends, the stuff wherewith I dressed<br /> +That robe, a flock of soft and milkwhite wool,<br /> +Is shrivelled out of sight, not gnawn by tooth<br /> +Of any creature here, but, self-consumed,<br /> +Frittered and wasting on the courtyard-stones.<br /> +<span class="in2">To let you know the circumstance at full,</span><br /> +I will speak on. Of all the Centaur-Thing,<br /> +When labouring in his side with the fell point<br /> +O’ the shaft, enjoined me, I had nothing lost,<br /> +But his vaticination in my heart<br /> +Remained indelible, as though engraved<br /> +With pen of iron upon brass. ’Twas thus:—<br /> +I was to keep this unguent closely hid<br /> +In dark recesses, where no heat of fire<br /> +Or warming ray might reach it, till with fresh<br /> +Anointing I addressed it to an end.<br /> +So I had done. And now this was to do,<br /> +Within my chamber covertly I spread<br /> +The ointment with piece of wool, a tuft<br /> +Pulled from a home-bred sheep; and, as ye saw,<br /> +I folded up my gift and packed it close<br /> +In hollow casket from the glaring sun.<br /> +But, entering in, a fact encounters me<br /> +Past human wit to fathom with surmise.<br /> +For, as it happened, I had tossed aside<br /> +The bit of wool I worked with, carelessly,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 197]</span><span class="linenum">[696-733]</span> +Into the open daylight, ’mid the blaze<br /> +Of Helios’ beam. And, as it kindled warm,<br /> +It fell away to nothing, crumbled small,<br /> +Like dust in severing wood by sawyers strewn.<br /> +So, on the point of vanishing, it lay.<br /> +But, from the place where it had lain, brake forth<br /> +A frothy scum in clots of seething foam,<br /> +Like the rich draught in purple vintage poured<br /> +From Bacchus’ vine upon the thirsty ground.<br /> +And I, unhappy, know not toward what thought<br /> +To turn me, but I see mine act is dire.<br /> +For wherefore should the Centaur, for what end,<br /> +Show kindness to the cause for whom he died?<br /> +That cannot be. But seeking to destroy<br /> +His slayer, he cajoled me. This I learn<br /> +Too late, by sad experience, for no good.<br /> +And, if I err not now, my hapless fate<br /> +Is all alone to be his murderess.<br /> +For, well I know, the shaft that made the wound<br /> +Gave pain to Cheiron, who was more than man;<br /> +And wheresoe’er it falls, it ravageth<br /> +All the wild creatures of the world. And now<br /> +This gory venom blackly spreading bane<br /> +From Nessus’ angry wound, must it not cause<br /> +The death of Heracles? I think it must.<br /> +<span class="in2">Yet my resolve is firm, if aught harm him,</span><br /> +My death shall follow in the self-same hour.<br /> +She cannot bear to live in evil fame,<br /> +Who cares to have a nature pure from ill.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Horrid mischance must needs occasion fear.<br /> +But Hope is not condemned before the event.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +In ill-advised proceeding not even Hope<br /> +Remains to minister a cheerful mind.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Yet to have erred unwittingly abates<br /> +The fire of wrath; and thou art in this case.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +So speaks not he who hath a share of sin,<br /> +But who is clear of all offence at home.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +’Twere well to say no more, unless thou hast aught<br /> +To impart to thine own son: for he is here,<br /> +Who went erewhile to find his father forth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 198]</span><span class="linenum">[734-766]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">HYLLUS</span> (re-entering).</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">O mother, mother!</span> +I would to heaven one of three things were true:<br /> +Either that thou wert dead, or, living, wert<br /> +No mother to me, or hadst gained a mind<br /> +Furnished with better thoughts than thou hast now!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +My son! what canst thou so mislike in me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +I tell thee thou this day hast been the death<br /> +Of him that was thy husband and my sire.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +What word hath passed thy lips? my child, my child!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +A word that must be verified. For who<br /> +Can make the accomplished fact as things undone?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +Alas, my son! what saidst thou? Who hath told<br /> +That I have wrought a deed so full of woe?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +’Twas I myself that saw with these mine eyes<br /> +My father’s heavy state:—no hearsay word.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">DÊ.</span> +And where didst thou come near him and stand by?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Art thou to hear it? On, then, with my tale!<br /> +When after sacking Eurytus’ great city<br /> +He marched in triumph with first-fruits of war,—<br /> +There is a headland, last of long Euboea,<br /> +Surf-beat Cenaeum,—where to his father Zeus<br /> +He dedicates high altars and a grove.<br /> +There first I saw him, gladdened from desire.<br /> +And when he now addressed him to the work<br /> +Of various sacrifice, the herald Lichas<br /> +Arrived from home, bearing thy fatal gift,<br /> +The deadly robe: wherewith invested straight,<br /> +As thou hadst given charge, he sacrificed<br /> +The firstlings of the spoil, twelve bulls entire,<br /> +Each after each. But the full count he brought<br /> +Was a clear hundred of all kinds of head.<br /> +<span class="in2">Then the all-hapless one commenced his prayer</span><br /> +In solemn gladness for the bright array.<br /> +But presently, when from the holy things,<br /> +And from the richness of the oak-tree core,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 199]</span><span class="linenum">[766-802]</span> +There issued flame mingled with blood, a sweat<br /> +Rose on his flesh, and close to every limb<br /> +Clung, like stone-drapery from the craftsman’s hand,<br /> +The garment, glued unto his side. Then came<br /> +The tearing pangs within his bones, and then<br /> +The poison feasted like the venomed tooth<br /> +Of murderous basilisk.—When this began,<br /> +He shouted on poor Lichas, none to blame<br /> +For thy sole crime, ‘What guile is here, thou knave?<br /> +What was thy fraud in fetching me this robe?’<br /> +He, all-unknowing, in an evil hour<br /> +Declared his message, that the gift was thine.<br /> +Whereat the hero, while the shooting spasm<br /> +Had fastened on the lungs, seized him by the foot<br /> +Where the ankle turns i’ the socket, and, with a thought,<br /> +Hurl’d on a surf-vex’d reef that showed i’ the sea:<br /> +And rained the grey pulp from the hair, the brain<br /> +Being scattered with the blood. Then the great throng<br /> +Saddened their festival with piteous wail<br /> +For one in death and one in agony.<br /> +And none had courage to approach my sire,—<br /> +Convulsed upon the ground, then tossed i’ the air<br /> +With horrid yells and crying, till the cliffs<br /> +Echoed round, the mountain-promontories<br /> +Of Locris, and Euboea’s rugged shore.<br /> +Wearied at length with flinging on the earth,<br /> +And shrieking oft with lamentable cry,<br /> +Cursing the fatal marriage with thyself<br /> +The all-wretched, and the bond to Oeneus’ house,<br /> +That prize that was the poisoner of his peace,<br /> +He lifted a wild glance above the smoke<br /> +That hung around, and ’midst the crowd of men<br /> +Saw me in tears, and looked on me and said,<br /> +‘O son, come near; fly not from my distress,<br /> +Though thou shouldst be consumèd in my death,<br /> +But lift and bear me forth; and, if thou mayest,<br /> +Set me where no one of mankind shall see me.<br /> +But if thy heart withhold thee, yet convey me<br /> +Out of this land as quickly as ye may.<br /> +Let me not die where I am now.’ We then,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 200]</span><span class="linenum">[803-833]</span> +Thus urgently commanded, laid him down<br /> +Within our bark, and hardly to this shore<br /> +Rowed him convulsed and roaring.—Presently,<br /> +He will appear, alive or lately dead.<br /> +<span class="in2">Such, mother, is the crime thou hast devised</span><br /> +And done against our sire, wherefore let Right<br /> +And Vengeance punish thee!—May I pray so?<br /> +I may: for thou absolv’st me by thy deed,<br /> +Thou that hast slain the noblest of the Earth,<br /> +Thy spouse, whose like thou ne’er wilt see again. +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">DÊANIRA</span>.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Why steal’st thou forth in silence? Know’st thou not<br /> +Thy silence argues thine accuser’s plea?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Let her go off. Would that a sudden flood<br /> +Might sweep her far and swiftly from mine eye!<br /> +Why fondle vainly the fair-sounding name<br /> +Of mother, when her acts are all unmotherly?<br /> +Let her begone for me: and may she find<br /> +Such joy as she hath rendered to my sire!<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">HYLLUS</span></span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">See where falls the doom, of old</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in8">By the unerring Voice foretold,—</span><br /> +<span class="in8">‘When twelve troublous years have rolled,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Then shall end your long desire:</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Toil on toil no more shall tire</span><br /> +<span class="in8">The offspring of the Eternal Sire.’</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Lo! the destined Hour is come!</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Lo! it hath brought its burden home.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">For when the eyes have looked their last</span><br /> +<span class="in4">How should sore labour vex again?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">How, when the powers of will and thought are past,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Should life be any more enthralled to pain?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">And if Nessus’ withering shroud,</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Wrought by destiny and craft,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Steep him in a poisonous cloud.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Steaming from the venomed shaft,</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 201]</span><span class="linenum">[834-870]</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Which to Death in hideous lair</span><br /> +<span class="in8">The many-wreathed Hydra bare,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">How shall he another day</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Feel the glad warmth of Helios’ ray?—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Enfolded by the Monster-Thing</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of Lerna, while the cruel sting</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of the shagg’d Centaur’s murderous-guileful tongue</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Breaks forth withal to do him painful wrong.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">And she, poor innocent, who saw</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Checkless advancing to the gate</span><br /> +<span class="in10">A mighty harm unto her state,—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">This rash young bridal without fear of law,—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Gave not her will to aught that caused this woe,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">But since it came through that strange mind’s conceiving,—</span><br /> +<span class="in6">That ruined her in meeting,—deeply grieving,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">She mourns with dewy tears in tenderest flow.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The approaching hour appeareth great with woe:</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Some guile-born misery doth Fate foreshow.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">The springs of sorrow are unbound,</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in10">And such an agony disclose,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">As never from the hands of foes</span><br /> +<span class="in4">To afflict the life of Heracles was found.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">O dark with battle-stains, world-champion spear,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">That from Oechalia’s highland leddest then</span><br /> +<span class="in6">This bride that followed swiftly in thy train,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">How fatally overshadowing was thy fear!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But these wild sorrows all too clearly come</span><br /> +<span class="in4"><a href="#Trac_n_4" name="Trac_t_4" id="Trac_t_4">From Love’s dread minister,</a> disguised and dumb.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH. 1.</span> +Am I a fool, or do I truly hear</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Lament new-rising from our master’s home?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Tell!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH. 2.</span> +Clearly from within a wailing voice</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Peals piteously. The house hath some fresh woe.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH. 3.</span> +Mark!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">How strangely, with what cloud upon her brow,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Yon aged matron with her tidings moves!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 202]</span><span class="linenum">[871-902]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">Nurse</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NURSE.</span> +Ah! mighty, O my daughters! was the grief<br /> +Sprung from the gift to Heracles conveyed!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span> +What new thing is befallen? Why speak’st thou so?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +Our Queen hath found her latest journey’s end.<br /> +Even now she is gone, without the help of feet.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Not dead?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +<span class="in8">You know the whole.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in26">Dead! hapless Queen!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +The truth hath twice been told.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in26">O tell us how!</span><br /> +What was her death, poor victim of dire woe?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +Most ruthless was the deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in24">Say, woman, say!</span><br /> +What was the sudden end?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +<span class="in14">Herself she slew.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What rage, what madness, clutched<br /> +The mischief-working brand?<br /> +How could her single thought<br /> +Contrive the accomplishment of death on death?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +Chill iron stopped the sources of her breath.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +And thou, poor helpless crone, didst see this done?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +Yea, I stood near and saw.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in24">How was it? Tell!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +With her own hand this violence was given.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What do I hear?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +<span class="in12">The certainty of truth.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +A child is come,<br /> +From this new bridal that hath rushed within,<br /> +A fresh-born Fury of woe!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +Too true. But hadst thou been at hand to see<br /> +Her action, pity would have wrung thy soul.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Could this be ventured by a woman’s hand?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NUR.</span> +Ay, and in dreadful wise, as thou shalt hear.<br /> +When all alone she had gone within the gate,<br /> +And passing through the court beheld her boy<br /> +Spreading the couch that should receive his sire,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 203]</span><span class="linenum">[902-946]</span> +Ere he returned to meet him,—out of sight<br /> +She hid herself, and fell at the altar’s foot,<br /> +And loudly cried that she was left forlorn;<br /> +And, taking in her touch each household thing<br /> +That formerly she used, poor lady, wept<br /> +O’er all; and then went ranging through the rooms,<br /> +Where, if there caught her eye the well-loved form<br /> +Of any of her household, she would gaze<br /> +And weep aloud, accusing her own fate<br /> +And her abandoned lot, childless henceforth!<br /> +When this was ended, suddenly I see her<br /> +Fly to the hero’s room of genial rest.<br /> +With unsuspected gaze o’ershadowed near,<br /> +I watched, and saw her casting on the bed<br /> +The finest sheets of all. When that was done,<br /> +She leapt upon the couch where they had lain<br /> +And sat there in the midst. And the hot flood<br /> +Burst from her eyes before she spake:—‘Farewell,<br /> +My bridal bed, for never more shalt thou<br /> +Give me the comfort I have known thee give.’<br /> +Then with tight fingers she undid her robe,<br /> +Where the brooch lay before the breast, and bared<br /> +All her left arm and side. I, with what speed<br /> +Strength ministered, ran forth to tell her son<br /> +The act she was preparing. But meanwhile,<br /> +Ere we could come again, the fatal blow<br /> +Fell, and we saw the wound. And he, her boy,<br /> +Seeing, wept aloud. For now the hapless youth<br /> +Knew that himself had done this in his wrath,<br /> +Told all too late i’ the house, how she had wrought<br /> +Most innocently, from the Centaur’s wit.<br /> +So now the unhappy one, with passionate words<br /> +And cries and wild embracings of the dead,<br /> +Groaned forth that he had slain her with false breath<br /> +Of evil accusation, and was left<br /> +Orphaned of both, his mother and his sire.<br /> +<span class="in2">Such is the state within. What fool is he</span><br /> +That counts one day, or two, or more to come?<br /> +To-morrow is not, till the present day<br /> +In fair prosperity have passed away.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 204]</span><span class="linenum">[947-975]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">Which shall come first in my wail,</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Which shall be last to prevail,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Is a doubt that will never be done.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">Trouble at home may be seen,</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Trouble is looked for with teen;</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And to have and to look for are one.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">Would some fair wind</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But waft me forth to roam</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Far from the native region of my home,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Ere death me find, oppressed with wild affright</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Even at the sudden sight</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Of him, the valiant son of Zeus most High!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Before the house, they tell, he fareth nigh,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">A wonder beyond thought,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">With torment unapproachable distraught.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +Hark! ...<span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in2">The cause then of my cry</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Was coming all too nigh:</span><br /> +<span class="in2">(Doth the clear nightingale lament for nought?)</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Some step of stranger folk is this way brought.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">As for a friend they love</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Heavy and slow with noiseless feet they move.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Which way? which way? Ah me! behold him come.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">His pallid lips are dumb.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Dead, or at rest in sleep? What shall I say?</span><br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">HERACLES</span> is brought in on a litter, accompanied +by <span class="cnm">HYLLUS</span> and an <span class="cnm">Old Man</span></span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Oh, woe is me!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">My father, piteous woe for thee!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Oh, whither shall I turn my thought! Ah me!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Hush! speak not, O my child,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Lest torment fierce and wild</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Rekindle in thy father’s rugged breast,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">And break this rest</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 205]</span><span class="linenum">[976-1003]</span> +<span class="in2">Where now his life is held at point to fall.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">With firm lips clenched refrain thy voice through all.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Yet tell me, doth he live,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Old sir?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Wake not the slumberer,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Nor kindle and revive</span><br /> +<span class="in2">The terrible recurrent power of pain,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">My son!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +My foolish words are done,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">But my full heart sinks ’neath the heavy strain.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">HERACLES.</span> +O Father, who are these?</span><br /> +<span class="in2">What countrymen? Where am I? What far land</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Holds me in pain that ceaseth not? Ah me!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Again that pest is rending me. Pain, pain!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Now thou may’st know</span><br /> +<span class="in2">’Twas better to have lurked in silent shade</span><br /> +<span class="in2">And not thus widely throw</span><br /> +<span class="in2">The slumber from his eyelids and his head.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +I could not brook</span><br /> +<span class="in2">All speechless on his misery to look.</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">MONODY</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +O altar on the Euboean strand,<br /></span> +<span class="in2">High-heaped with offerings from my hand,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">What meed for lavish gifts bestowed</span><br /> +<span class="in2">From thy new sanctuary hath flowed!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Father of Gods! thy cruel power</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Hath foiled me with an evil blight.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Ah! would mine eyes had closed in night</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Ere madness in a fatal hour</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Had burst upon them with a blaze,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">No help or soothing once allays!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +What hand to heal, what voice to charm,<br /> +<span class="in2">Can e’er dispel this hideous harm?</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Whose skill save thine,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Monarch Divine?</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Mine eyes, if such I saw,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Would hail him from afar with trembling awe.</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 206]</span><span class="linenum">[1004-1040]</span> +<span class="in2">Ah! ah!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">O vex me not, touch me not, leave me to rest,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">To sleep my last sleep on Earth’s gentle breast.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">You touch me, you press me, you turn me again,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">You break me, you kill me! O pain! O pain!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">You have kindled the pang that had slumbered still.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">It comes, it hath seized me with tyrannous will!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +Where are ye, men, whom over Hellas wide<br /> +<span class="in2">This arm hath freed, and o’er the ocean-tide,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">And through rough brakes, from every monstrous thing?</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Yet now in mine affliction none will bring</span><br /> +<span class="in2">A sword to aid, a fire to quell this fire,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">O most unrighteous! nor to my desire</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Will come and quench the hateful life I hold</span><br /> +<span class="in2">With mortal stroke! Ah! is there none so bold?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">OLD M.</span> +Son of our hero, this hath mounted past</span><br /> +<span class="in2">My feeble force to cope with. Take him thou!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Fresher thine eye and more the hope thou hast</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Than mine to save him.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +<span class="in12">I support him now</span></span><br /> +<span class="in2">Thus with mine arm: but neither fleshly vest</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Nor inmost spirit can I lull to rest</span><br /> +<span class="in2">From torture. None may dream</span><br /> +<span class="in2">To wield this power, save he, the King supreme.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in2"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Son!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Where art thou to lift me and hold me aright?</span><br /> +<span class="in2">It tears me, it kills me, it rushes in might,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">This cruel, devouring, unconquered pain</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Shoots forth to consume me. Again! again!</span><br /> +<span class="in2">O Fate! O Athena!—O son, at my word</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Have pity and slay me with merciful sword!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +Pity thy father, boy; with sharp relief<br /> +<span class="in2">Smite on my breast, and heal the wrathful grief</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Wherewith thy mother, God-abandoned wife,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Hath wrought this ruin on her husband’s life.</span><br /> +<span class="in2">O may I see her falling, even so</span><br /> +<span class="in2">As she hath thrown me, to like depth of woe!</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 207]</span><span class="linenum">[1041-1080]</span> +<span class="in2">Sweet Hades, with swift death,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Brother of Zeus, release my suffering breath!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Horror hath caught me as I hear this, woe,<br /> +Racking our mighty one with mightier pain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Many hot toils and hard beyond report,<br /> +With sturdy thews and sinews I have borne,<br /> +But no such labour hath the Thunderer’s wife<br /> +Or sour Eurystheus ever given, as this,<br /> +Which Oeneus’ daughter of the treacherous eye<br /> +Hath fastened on my back, this amply-woven<br /> +Net of the Furies, that is breaking me.<br /> +For, glued unto my side, it hath devoured<br /> +My flesh to the bone, and lodging in the lungs<br /> +It drains the vital channels, and hath drunk<br /> +The fresh life-blood, and ruins all my frame,<br /> +Foiled in the tangle of a viewless bond.<br /> +Yet me nor War-host, nor Earth’s giant brood,<br /> +Nor Centaur’s monstrous violence could subdue,<br /> +Nor Hellas, nor the Stranger, nor all lands<br /> +Where I have gone, cleansing the world from harms.<br /> +But a soft woman without manhood’s strain<br /> +Alone and weaponless hath conquered me.<br /> +Son, let me know thee mine true-born, nor rate<br /> +Thy mother’s claim beyond thy sire’s, but bring<br /> +Thyself from out the chambers to my hand<br /> +Her body that hath borne thee, that my heart<br /> +May be assured, if lesser than my pain<br /> +It will distress thee to behold her limbs<br /> +With righteous torment agonized and torn.<br /> +Nay, shrink not, son, but pity me, whom all<br /> +May pity—me, who, like a tender girl,<br /> +Am heard to weep aloud! This none could say<br /> +He knew in me of old; for, murmuring not,<br /> +I went with evil fortune, silent still.<br /> +Now, such a foe hath found the woman in me!<br /> +<span class="in2">Ay, but come near; stand by me, and behold</span><br /> +What cause I have for crying. Look but here!<br /> +Here is the mystery unveiled. O see!<br /> +Ye people, gaze on this poor quivering flesh,<br /> +Look with compassion on my misery!<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 208]</span><span class="linenum">[1081-1117]</span> +Ah me!<br /> +Ah! ah! Again!<br /> +Even now the hot convulsion of disease<br /> +Shoots through my side, and will not let me rest<br /> +From this fierce exercise of wearing woe.<br /> +Take me, O King of Night!<br /> +O sudden thunderstroke.<br /> +Smite me! O sire, transfix me with the dart<br /> +Of thy swift lightning! Yet again that fang<br /> +Is tearing; it hath blossomed forth anew,<br /> +It soars up to the height!</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in18">O breast and back,</span><br /> +O shrivelling arms and hands, ye are the same<br /> +That crushed the dweller of the Némean wild,<br /> +The lion unapproachable and rude,<br /> +The oxherd’s plague, and Hydra of the lake<br /> +Of Lerna, and the twi-form prancing throng<br /> +Of Centaurs,—insolent, unsociable,<br /> +Lawless, ungovernable:—the tuskèd pest<br /> +Of Erymanthine glades; then underground<br /> +Pluto’s three-headed cur—a perilous fear,<br /> +Born from the monster-worm; and, on the verge<br /> +Of Earth, the dragon, guarding fruits of gold.<br /> +These toils and others countless I have tried,<br /> +And none hath triumphed o’er me. But to-day,<br /> +Jointless and riven to tatters, I am wrecked<br /> +Thus utterly by imperceptible woe;<br /> +I, proudly named Alcmena’s child, and His<br /> +Who reigns in highest heaven, the King supreme!<br /> +<span class="in2">Ay, but even yet, I tell ye, even from here,</span><br /> +Where I am nothingness and cannot move,<br /> +She who hath done this deed shall feel my power.<br /> +Let her come near, that, mastered by my might,<br /> +She may have this to tell the world, that, dying,<br /> +As living, I gave punishment to wrong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +O Hellas, how I grieve for thy distress!<br /> +How thou wilt mourn in losing him we see!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +My father, since thy silence gives me leave,<br /> +Still hear me patiently, though in thy pain!<br /> +For my request is just. Lend me thy mind<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 209]</span><span class="linenum">[1117-1149]</span> +Less wrathfully distempered than ’tis now;<br /> +Else thou canst never know, where thou art keen<br /> +With vain resentment and with vain desire</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Speak what thou wilt and cease, for I in pain<br /> +Catch not the sense of thy mysterious talk</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +I come to tell thee of my mother’s case,<br /> +And her involuntary unconscious fault.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Base villain! hast thou breathed thy mother’s name,<br /> +Thy father’s murderess, in my hearing too!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Her state requires not silence, but full speech.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Her faults in former time might well be told.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +So might her fault to day, couldst thou but know.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Speak, but beware base words disgrace thee not.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +List! She is dead even now with new-given wound.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +By whom? Thy words flash wonder through my woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Her own hand slaughtered her, no foreign stroke.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Wretch! to have reft this office from my hands.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Even your rash spirit were softened, if you knew.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +This bodes some knavery. But declare thy thought!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +She erred with good intent. The whole is said.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Good, O thou villain, to destroy thy sire!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +When she perceived that marriage in her home,<br /> +She erred, supposing to enchain thy love.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Hath Trachis a magician of such might?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Long since the Centaur Nessus moved her mind<br /> +To work this charm for heightening thy desire.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +O horror, thou art here! I am no more.<br /> +My day is darkened, boy! Undone, undone!<br /> +I see our plight too plainly. woe is me!<br /> +Come, O my son! —thou hast no more a father,—<br /> +Call to me all the brethren of thy blood,<br /> +And poor Alcmena, wedded all in vain<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 210]</span><span class="linenum">[1149-1185]</span> +Unto the Highest, that ye may hear me tell<br /> +With my last breath what prophecies I know.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Thy mother is not here, but by the shore<br /> +Of Tiryns hath obtained a dwelling-place;<br /> +And of thy sons, some she hath with her there,<br /> +And some inhabit Thebè’s citadel.<br /> +But we who are with thee, sire, if there be aught<br /> +That may by us be done, will hear, and do.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Then hearken thou unto this task, and show<br /> +If worthily thou art reputed mine.<br /> +Now is time to prove thee. My great father<br /> +Forewarned me long ago that I should die<br /> +By none who lived and breathed, but from the will<br /> +Of one now dwelling in the house of death.<br /> +And so this Centaur, as the voice Divine<br /> +Then prophesied, in death hath slain me living.<br /> +And in agreement with that ancient word<br /> +I now interpret newer oracles<br /> +Which I wrote down on going within the grove<br /> +Of the hill-roving and earth-couching Selli,—<br /> +Dictated to me by the mystic tongue<br /> +Innumerous, of my Father’s sacred tree;<br /> +Declaring that my ever instant toils<br /> +Should in the time that new hath being and life<br /> +End and release me. And I look’d for joy.<br /> +But the true meaning plainly was my death.—<br /> +No labour is appointed for the dead.—<br /> +Then, since all argues one event, my son,<br /> +Once more thou must befriend me, and not wait<br /> +For my voice goading thee, but of thyself<br /> +Submit and second my resolve, and know<br /> +Filial obedience for thy noblest rule.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +I will obey thee, father, though my heart<br /> +Sinks heavily in approaching such a theme.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Before aught else, lay thy right hand in mine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Why so intent on this assurance, sire?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Give it at once and be not froward, boy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +There is my hand: I will gainsay thee nought.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Swear by the head of him who gave me life.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 211]</span><span class="linenum">[1186-1221]</span> +<span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Tell me the oath, and I will utter it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Swear thou wilt do the thing I bid thee do.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +I swear, and make Zeus witness of my troth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +But if you swerve, pray that the curse may come.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +It will not come for swerving:—but I pray.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Now, dost thou know on Oeta’s topmost height<br /> +The crag of Zeus?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +<span class="in8">I know it, and full oft</span><br /> +Have stood there sacrificing.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +<span class="in16">Then even there,</span><br /> +With thine own hand uplifting this my body,<br /> +Taking what friends thou wilt, and having lopped<br /> +Much wood from the deep-rooted oak and rough<br /> +Wild olive, lay me on the gathered pile,<br /> +And burn all with the touch of pine-wood flame.<br /> +Let not a tear of mourning dim thine eye;<br /> +But silent, with dry gaze, if thou art mine,<br /> +Perform it. Else my curse awaits thee still<br /> +To weigh thee down when I am lost in night.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +How cruel, O my father, is thy tongue!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +’Tis peremptory. Else, if thou refuse,<br /> +Be called another’s and be no more mine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Alas that thou shouldst challenge me to this,<br /> +To be thy murderer, guilty of thy blood!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Not I, in sooth: but healer of my pain,<br /> +And sole preserver from a life of woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +How can it heal to burn thee on the pyre?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +If this act frighten thee, perform the rest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Mine arms shall not refuse to carry thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +And wilt thou gather the appointed wood?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +So my hand fire it not. In all but this,<br /> +Not scanting labour, I will do my part.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Enough. ’Tis well. And having thus much given<br /> +Add one small kindness to a list so full.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +How great soe’er it were, it should be done.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +The maid of Eurytus thou knowest, I ween.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Of Iolè thou speak’st, or I mistake.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Of her. This then is all I urge, my son.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 212]</span><span class="linenum">[1222-1258]</span> +When I am dead, if thou wouldst show thy duty,<br /> +Think of thine oath to me, and, on my word,<br /> +Make her thy wife: nor let another man<br /> +Take her, but only thou; since she hath lain<br /> +So near this heart. Obey me, O my boy!<br /> +And be thyself the maker of this bond.<br /> +To spurn at trifles after great things given,<br /> +Were to confound the meed already won.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Oh, anger is not right, when men are ill!<br /> +But who could bear to see thee in this mind?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +You murmur, as you meant to disobey.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +How can I do it, when my mother’s death<br /> +And thy sad state sprang solely from this girl?<br /> +Who, not possessed with furies, could choose this?<br /> +Far better, father, for me too to die,<br /> +Than to live still with my worst enemy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +This youth withdraws his reverence in my death.<br /> +But, if thou yield’st not to thy father’s best,<br /> +The curse from Heaven shall dog thy footsteps still.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Ah! thou wilt tell me that thy pain is come.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Yea, for thou wak’st the torment that had slept.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Ay me! how cross and doubtful is my way!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Because you will reject your father’s word.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Must I be taught impiety from thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +It is not impious to content my heart.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Then you require this with an absolute will?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +And bid Heaven witness to my strong command.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Then I will do it, for the act is thine.<br /> +I will not cast it off. Obeying thee,<br /> +My sire, the Gods will ne’er reprove my deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Thou endest fairly. Now, then, O my son,<br /> +Add the performance swiftly, that, before<br /> +Some spasm or furious onset of my pain<br /> +Have seized me, ye may place me on the pyre.<br /> +Come, loiter not, but lift me. Now my end<br /> +Is near, the last cessation of my woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Since thy command is urgent, O my sire!<br /> +We tarry not, but bear thee to the pyre.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 213]</span><span class="linenum">[1259-1278]</span> +<span class="in4"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Stubborn heart, ere yet again</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Wakes the fierce rebound of pain,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">While the evil holds aloof,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Thou, with bit of diamond proof,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Curb thy cry, with forcèd will</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Seeming to do gladly still!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">HYL.</span> +Lift him, men, and hate not me</span><br /> +<span class="in4">For the evil deeds ye see,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Since the Heavens’ relentless sway</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Recks not of the righteous way.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">He who gave life and doth claim</span><br /> +<span class="in4">From his seed a Father’s name</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Can behold this hour of blame.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Though the future none can tell,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Yet the present is not well:</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Sore for him who bears the blow,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Sad for us who feel his woe,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Shameful to the Gods, we trow.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Maidens from the palace-hall,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Come ye forth, too, at our call!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Mighty deaths beyond belief,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Many an unknown form of grief,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Ye have seen to-day; and nought</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But the power of Zeus hath wrought.</span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> + + + +<div><span class="page2" id="pg215">[page 215]</span></div> +<h2>PHILOCTETES</h2> + + +<h3>THE PERSONS</h3> + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li>ODYSSEUS.</li> +<li>NEOPTOLEMUS.</li> +<li>CHORUS <i>of Mariners</i>.</li> +<li>PHILOCTETES.</li> +<li>Messenger, <i>disguised as a Merchantman</i>.</li> +<li>HERACLES, <i>appearing from the sky</i>.</li> +</ul> + + +<p class="lftbrk">SCENE. A desert shore of the Island of Lemnos.</p> + + + + +<p class="break"><span class="page2">[page 216]</span> +It was fated that Troy should be taken by Neoptolemus, +the son of Achilles, assisted by the bow of Heracles in the +hands of Philoctetes.</p> + +<p>Now Philoctetes had been rejected by the army because of +a trouble in his foot, which made his presence with them +insufferable; and had been cast away by Odysseus on the +island of Lemnos.</p> + +<p>But when the decree of fate was revealed by prophecy, +Odysseus undertook to bring Philoctetes back, and took +with him Neoptolemus, whose ambition could only be +gratified through the return of Philoctetes with the bow.</p> + +<p>Philoctetes was resolutely set against returning, and at +the opening of the drama Neoptolemus is persuaded by +Odysseus to take him with guile.</p> + +<p>But when Philoctetes appears, the youth’s ingenuous +nature is so wrought upon through pity and remorse, that +his sympathy and native truthfulness at length overcome +his ambition.</p> + +<p>When the inward sacrifice is complete, Heracles appears +from heaven, and by a few words changes the mind of +Philoctetes, so that all ends well.</p> + + + + +<p><span class="page2">[page 217]</span></p> +<h3>PHILOCTETES</h3> + + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">ODYSSEUS. NEOPTOLEMUS.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ODYSSEUS.</span> +This coast of sea-girt Lemnos, where we stand,<br /> +Is uninhabited, untrodden of men.<br /> +And here, O noble son of noblest sire,<br /> +Achilles-born Neoptolemus, I erewhile,—<br /> +Ordered by those who had command,—cast forth<br /> +Trachinian Philoctetes, Poeas’ son,<br /> +His foot dark-dripping with a rankling wound;<br /> +When with wild cries, that frighted holy rest,<br /> +Filling the camp, he troubled every rite,<br /> +That none might handle sacrifice, or pour<br /> +Wine-offering, but his noise disturbed our peace.<br /> +<span class="in2">But why these words? No moment this for talk,</span><br /> +Lest he discern my coming, and I lose<br /> +The scheme, wherewith I think to catch him soon.<br /> +Now most behoves thy service, to explore<br /> +This headland for a cave with double mouth,<br /> +Whose twofold aperture, on wintry days,<br /> +Gives choice of sunshine, and in summer noons<br /> +The breeze wafts slumber through the airy cell.<br /> +Then, something lower down, upon the left,<br /> +Unless ’tis dried, thine eye may note a spring.<br /> +Go near now silently, and make me know<br /> +If still he persevere, and hold this spot,<br /> +Or have roamed elsewhere, that informed of this<br /> +I may proceed with what remains to say,<br /> +And we may act in concert.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEOPTOLEMUS.</span> +<span class="in4">Lord Odysseus,</span><br /> +Thy foremost errand will not task me far.<br /> +Methinks I see the cave whereof thou speakest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Where? let me see it. Above there, or below?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 218]</span><span class="linenum">[29-64]</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Yonder, above. And yet I hear no tread.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">NEOPTOLEMUS</span> climbs up to the cave</span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Look if he be not lodged in slumber there.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I find no inmate, but an empty room.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +What? no provision for a dwelling-place?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +A bed of leaves for some one harbouring here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Nought else beneath the roof? Is all forlorn?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +A cup of wood, some untaught craftsman’s skill,<br /> +And, close at hand, these embers of a fire.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +That store is his. I read the token clear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Oh! and these festering rags give evidence,<br /> +Steeped as with dressing some malignant sore.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +The man inhabits here: I know it now.<br /> +And sure he’s not far off. How can he range,<br /> +Whose limb drags heavy with an ancient harm?<br /> +But he’s gone, either to bring forage home,<br /> +Or where he hath found some plant of healing power.<br /> +Send therefore thine attendant to look forth,<br /> +Lest unawares he find me. All our host<br /> +Were not so fair a prize for him as I.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +My man is going, and shall watch the path.<br /> +What more dost thou require of me? Speak on.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Son of Achilles, know that thou art come<br /> +To serve us nobly, not with strength alone,<br /> +But, faithful to thy mission, if so be,<br /> +To do things strange, unwonted to thine ear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What dost thou bid me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +<span class="in20">’Tis thy duty now</span><br /> +To entrap the mind of Poeas’ son with words.<br /> +When he shall ask thee, who and whence thou art,<br /> +Declare thy name and father. ’Tis not that<br /> +I charge thee to conceal. But for thy voyage,<br /> +’Tis homeward, leaving the Achaean host,<br /> +With perfect hatred hating them, because<br /> +They who had drawn thee with strong prayers from home,<br /> +Their hope for taking Troy, allowed thee not<br /> +Thy just demand to have thy father’s arms,<br /> +But, e’er thy coming, wrongly gave them o’er<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 219]</span><span class="linenum">[64-101]</span> +Unto Odysseus: and thereon launch forth<br /> +With boundless execration against me.<br /> +That will not pain me, but if thou reject<br /> +This counsel, thou wilt trouble all our host,<br /> +Since, if his bow shall not be ta’en, thy life<br /> +Will ne’er be crowned through Troy’s discomfiture.<br /> +<span class="in2">Now let me show, why thine approach to him</span><br /> +Is safe and trustful as mine cannot be<br /> +Thou didst sail forth, not to redeem thine oath,<br /> +Nor by constraint, nor with the foremost band.<br /> +All which reproaches I must bear: and he,<br /> +But seeing me, while master of his bow,<br /> +Will slay me, and my ruin will be thine.<br /> +This point then craves our cunning, to acquire<br /> +By subtle means the irresistible bow—<br /> +Thy nature was not framed, I know it well,<br /> +For speaking falsehood, or contriving harm.<br /> +Yet, since the prize of victory is so dear,<br /> +Endure it—We’ll be just another day<br /> +But now, for one brief hour, devote thyself<br /> +To serve me without shame, and then for aye<br /> +Hereafter be the pearl of righteousness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +The thing that, being named, revolts mine ear,<br /> +Son of Laërtes, I abhor to do<br /> +’Tis not my nature, no, nor, as they tell,<br /> +My father’s, to work aught by craft and guile.<br /> +I’ll undertake to bring him in by force,<br /> +Not by deceit. For, sure, with his one foot,<br /> +He cannot be a match for all our crew<br /> +Being sent, my lord, to serve thee, I am loth<br /> +To seem rebellious. But I rather choose<br /> +To offend with honour, than to win by wrong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Son of a valiant sire, I, too, in youth,<br /> +Had once a slow tongue and an active hand.<br /> +But since I have proved the world, I clearly see<br /> +Words and not deeds give mastery over men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What then is thy command? To lie? No more?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +To entangle Philoctetes with deceit.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 210]</span><span class="linenum">[102-134]</span> +<span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Why through deceit? May not persuasion fetch him?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Never. And force as certainly will fail.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What lends him such assurance of defence?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Arrows, the unerring harbingers of Death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Then to go near him is a perilous thing.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Unless with subtlety, as I have said.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +And is not lying shameful to thy soul?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Not if by lying I can save my soul.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +How must one look in speaking such a word?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Where gain invites, this shrinking is not good.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What gain I through his coming back to Troy?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +His arms alone have power to take Troy-town.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Then am not I the spoiler, as ye said?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Thou without them, they without thee, are powerless.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +If it be so, they must be sought and won.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Yea, for in this two prizes will be thine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What? When I learn them, I will not refuse.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Wisdom and valour joined in one good name.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Shame, to the winds! Come, I will do this thing.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Say, dost thou bear my bidding full in mind?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Doubt not, since once for all I have embraced it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Thou, then, await him here. I will retire,<br /> +For fear my hated presence should be known,<br /> +And take back our attendant to the ship.<br /> +And then once more, should ye appear to waste<br /> +The time unduly, I will send again<br /> +This same man hither in disguise, transformed<br /> +To the strange semblance of a merchantman;<br /> +From dark suggestion of whose crafty tongue,<br /> +Thou, O my son, shalt gather timely counsel.<br /> +<span class="in2">Now to my ship. This charge I leave to thee.</span><br /> +May secret Hermes guide us to our end,<br /> +And civic Pallas, named of victory,<br /> +The sure protectress of my devious way.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 221]</span><span class="linenum">[135-162]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span> (entering).</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in4">Strange in the stranger land,</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in6">What shall I speak? What hide</span><br /> +<span class="in6">From a heart suspicious of ill?</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Tell me, O master mine!</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Wise above all is the man,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Peerless in searching thought,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Who with the Zeus-given wand</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Wieldeth a Heaven-sent power.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">This unto thee, dear son,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Fraught with ancestral might,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">This to thy life hath come.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Wherefore I bid thee declare,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">What must I do for thy need?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Even now methinks thou longest to espy<br /> +Near ocean’s marge the place where he doth lie.<br /> +Gaze without fear. But when the traveller stern,<br /> +Who from this roof is parted, shall return,<br /> +Advancing still as I the signal give,<br /> +To serve each moment’s mission thou shalt strive.</p> + + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +That, O my son, from of old</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Hath been my care, to take note</span><br /> +<span class="in6">What by thy beck’ning is told;</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Still thy success to promote.</span><br /> +<span class="in6">But for our errand to-day</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Behoves thee, master, to say</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Where is the hearth of his home;</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Or where even now doth he roam?</span><br /> +<span class="in6">O tell me, lest all unaware</span><br /> +<span class="in6">He spring like a wolf from his lair</span><br /> +<span class="in6">And I by surprise should be ta’en,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Where doth he move or remain,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Here lodging, or wandering away?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Thou seëst yon double doorway of his cell,<br /> +Poor habitation of the rock.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 2.</span> +<span class="in14">But tell</span><br /> +Where is the pain-worn wight himself abroad?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +To me ’tis clear, that, in his quest for food,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 222]</span><span class="linenum">[163-204]</span> +Here, not far off, he trails yon furrowed path.<br /> +For, so ’tis told, this mode the sufferer hath<br /> +Of sustenance, oh hardness! bringing low<br /> +Wild creatures with wing’d arrows from his bow;<br /> +Nor findeth healer for his troublous woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in8"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +I feel his misery.</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in8">With no companion eye,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Far from all human care,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">He pines with fell disease;</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Each want he hourly sees</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Awakening new despair.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">How can he bear it still?</span><br /> +<span class="in8">O cruel Heavens! O pain</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Of that afflicted mortal train</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Whose life sharp sorrows fill!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">Born in a princely hall,</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Highest, perchance, of all,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Now lies he comfortless</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Alone in deep distress,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">’Mongst rough and dappled brutes,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">With pangs and hunger worn;</span><br /> +<span class="in8">While from far distance shoots,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">On airy pinion borne,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">The unbridled Echo, still replying</span><br /> +<span class="in8">To his most bitter crying.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +At nought of this I marvel—for if I<br /> +Judge rightly, there assailed him from on high<br /> +That former plague <a href="#Phil_n_1" name="Phil_t_1" id="Phil_t_1">through Chrysa’s cruel sting:</a><br /> +And if to-day he suffer anything<br /> +With none to soothe, it must be from the will<br /> +Of some great God, so caring to fulfil<br /> +The word of prophecy, lest he should bend<br /> +On Troy the shaft no mortal may forfend,<br /> +Before the arrival of Troy’s destined hour,<br /> +When she must fall, o’er-mastered by their power.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 1.</span> +Hush, my son!<span class="chm">III 1</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in12">Why so?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 1.</span> +<span class="in20">A sound</span><br /> +Gendered of some mortal woe,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 223]</span><span class="linenum">[205-237]</span> +Started from the neighbouring ground.<br /> +Here, or there? Ah! now I know.<br /> +Hark! ’tis the voice of one in pain,<br /> +Travelling hardly, the deep strain<br /> +Of human anguish, all too clear,<br /> +That smites my heart, that wounds mine ear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 2.</span> +From far it peals. But thou, my son!<span class="chm">III 2</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 2.</span> +<span class="in6">Think again. He moveth nigh:</span><br /> +He holds the region: not with tone<br /> +Of piping shepherd’s rural minstrelsy,<br /> +But belloweth his far cry,<br /> +Stumbling perchance with mortal pain,<br /> +<span class="in2">Or else in wild amaze,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">As he our ship surveys</span><br /> +Unwonted on the inhospitable main.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">PHILOCTETES</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHILOCTETES.</span> +Ho!<br /> +What men are ye that to this desert shore,<br /> +Harbourless, uninhabited, are come<br /> +On shipboard? Of what country or what race<br /> +Shall I pronounce ye? For your outward garb<br /> +Is Grecian, ever dearest to this heart<br /> +That hungers now to hear your voices’ tune.<br /> +Ah! do not fear me, do not shrink away<br /> +From my wild looks: but, pitying one so poor,<br /> +Forlorn and desolate in nameless woe,<br /> +Speak, if with friendly purpose ye are come.<br /> +Oh answer! ’Tis not meet that I should lose<br /> +This kindness from your lips, or ye from mine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Then know this first, O stranger, as thou wouldest,<br /> +That we are Greeks.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in10">O dear, dear name! Ah me!</span><br /> +In all these years, once, only once, I hear it!<br /> +My son, what fairest gale hath wafted thee?<br /> +What need hath brought thee to the shore? What mission?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 224]</span><span class="linenum">[238-273]</span> +Declare all this, that I may know thee well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +The sea-girt Scyros is my native home.<br /> +Thitherward I make voyage:—Achilles’ son,<br /> +Named Neoptolemus.—I have told thee all.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Dear is that shore to me, dear is thy father<br /> +O ancient Lycomedes’ foster-child,<br /> +Whence cam’st thou hither? How didst thou set forth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +From Troy we made our course in sailing hither.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +How? Sure thou wast not with us, when at first<br /> +We launched our vessels on the Troyward way?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Hadst thou a share in that adventurous toil?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +And know’st thou not whom thou behold’st in me,<br /> +Young boy?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in4">How should I know him whom I ne’er</span><br /> +Set eye on?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in4">Hast not even heard my name,</span><br /> +Nor echoing rumour of my ruinous woe?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Nay, I know nought of all thy questioning.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +How full of griefs am I, how Heaven-abhorred,<br /> +When of my piteous state no faintest sound<br /> +Hath reached my home, or any Grecian land!<br /> +But they, who pitilessly cast me forth,<br /> +Keep silence and are glad, while this my plague<br /> +Blooms ever, and is strengthened more and more.<br /> +Boy, great Achilles’ offspring, in this form<br /> +Thou seest the man, of whom, methinks, erewhile<br /> +Thou hast been told, to whom the Hercúlean bow<br /> +Descended, Philoctetes, Poeas’ son;<br /> +Whom the two generals and the Ithacan king<br /> +Cast out thus shamefully forlorn, afflicted<br /> +With the fierce malady and desperate wound<br /> +Made by the cruel basilisk’s murderous tooth.<br /> +With this for company they left me, child!<br /> +Exposed upon this shore, deserted, lone.<br /> +<span class="in2">From seaward Chrysa came they with their fleet</span><br /> +And touched at Lemnos. I had fallen to rest<br /> +From the long tossing, in a shadowy cave<br /> +On yonder cliff by the shore. Gladly they saw,<br /> +And left me, having set forth for my need,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 225]</span><span class="linenum">[273-314]</span> +Poor man, some scanty rags, and a thin store<br /> +Of provender. Such food be theirs, I pray!<br /> +Imagine, O my son, when they were gone,<br /> +What wakening, what arising, then was mine;<br /> +What weeping, what lamenting of my woe!<br /> +When I beheld the ships, wherewith I sailed,<br /> +Gone, one and all! and no man in the place,<br /> +None to bestead me, none to comfort me<br /> +In my sore sickness. And where’er I looked,<br /> +Nought but distress was present with me still.<br /> +No lack of that, for one thing!—Ah! my son,<br /> +Time passed, and there I found myself alone<br /> +Within my narrow lodging, forced to serve<br /> +Each pressing need. For body’s sustenance<br /> +This bow supplied me with sufficient store,<br /> +Wounding the feathered doves, and when the shaft,<br /> +From the tight string, had struck, myself, ay me!<br /> +Dragging this foot, would crawl to my swift prey.<br /> +Then water must be fetched, and in sharp frost<br /> +Wood must be found and broken,—all by me.<br /> +Nor would fire come unbidden, but with flint<br /> +From flints striking dim sparks, I hammered forth<br /> +The struggling flame that keeps the life in me.<br /> +For houseroom with the single help of fire<br /> +Gives all I need, save healing for my sore.<br /> +<span class="in2">Now learn, my son, the nature of this isle.</span><br /> +No mariner puts in here willingly.<br /> +For it hath neither moorage, nor sea-port,<br /> +For traffic or kind shelter or good cheer.<br /> +Not hitherward do prudent men make voyage.<br /> +Perchance one may have touched against his will.<br /> +Many strange things may happen in long time.<br /> +These, when they come, in words have pitied me,<br /> +And given me food, or raiment, in compassion.<br /> +But none is willing, when I speak thereof,<br /> +To take me safely home. Wherefore I pine<br /> +Now this tenth year, in famine and distress,<br /> +Feeding the hunger of my ravenous plague.<br /> +<span class="in2">Such deeds, my son, the Atridae, and the might</span><br /> +Of sage Odysseus, have performed on me.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 226]</span><span class="linenum">[315-349]</span> +Wherefore may all the Olympian gods, one day,<br /> +Plague them with stern requital for my wrong!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Methinks my feeling for thee, Poeas’ child,<br /> +Is like that of thy former visitants.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I, too, a witness to confirm his words,<br /> +Know them for verities, since I have found<br /> +The Atridae and Odysseus evil men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Art thou, too, wroth with the all-pestilent sons<br /> +Of Atreus? Have they given thee cause to grieve?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Would that my hand might ease the wrath I feel!<br /> +Then Sparta and Mycenae should be ware<br /> +That Scyros too breeds valiant sons for war.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Brave youth! I love thee. Tell me the great cause<br /> +Why thou inveighest against them with such heat?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +O son of Poeas, hardly shall I tell<br /> +What outrage I endured when I had come;<br /> +Yet I will speak it. When the fate of death<br /> +O’ertook Achilles—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in10">Out, alas! no more!</span><br /> +Hold, till thou first hast made me clearly know,<br /> +Is Peleus’ offspring dead?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in14">Alas! he is,</span><br /> +Slain by no mortal, felled by Phoebus’ shaft:<br /> +So men reported—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in10">Well, right princely was he!</span><br /> +And princely is he who slew him. Shall I mourn<br /> +Him first, or wait till I have heard thy tale?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Methinks thou hast thyself enough to mourn,<br /> +Without the burden of another’s woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Well spoken. Then renew thine own complaint,<br /> +And tell once more wherein they insulted thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +There came to fetch me, in a gallant ship,<br /> +Odysseus and <a href="#Phil_n_2" name="Phil_t_2" id="Phil_t_2">the fosterer of my sire,</a><br /> +Saying, whether soothly, or in idle show,<br /> +That, since my father perished, it was known<br /> +None else but I should take Troy’s citadel.<br /> +Such words from them, my friend, thou may’st believe,<br /> +Held me not long from making voyage with speed,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 227]</span><span class="linenum">[350-385]</span> +Chiefly through longing for my father’s corse,<br /> +To see him yet unburied,—<a href="#Phil_n_3" name="Phil_t_3" id="Phil_t_3">for I ne’er<br /> +Had seen him.</a> Then, besides, ’twas a fair cause,<br /> +If, by my going, I should vanquish Troy.<br /> +One day I had sailed, and on the second came<br /> +To sad Sigeum with wind-favoured speed,<br /> +When straightway all the host, surrounding me<br /> +As I set foot on shore, saluted me,<br /> +And swore the dead Achilles was in life,<br /> +Their eyes being witness, when they looked on me.<br /> +He lay there in his shroud: but I, unhappy,<br /> +Soon ending lamentation for the dead,<br /> +Went near to those Atridae, as to friends,<br /> +To obtain my father’s armour and all else<br /> +That had been his. And then,—alas the while,<br /> +That men should be so hard!—they spake this word:<br /> +‘Seed of Achilles, thou may’st freely take<br /> +All else thy father owned, but for those arms,<br /> +Another wields them now, Laërtes’ son.’<br /> +Tears rushed into mine eyes, and in hot wrath<br /> +I straightway rose, and bitterly outspake:<br /> +‘O miscreant! What? And have ye dared to give<br /> +Mine arms to some man else, unknown to me?’<br /> +Then said Odysseus, for he chanced to be near,<br /> +‘Yea, child, and justly have they given me these.<br /> +I saved them and their master in the field.’<br /> +Then in fierce anger all at once I launched<br /> +All terms of execration at his head,<br /> +Bating no word, being maddened by the thought<br /> +That I should lose this heirloom,—and to him!<br /> +He, at this pass, though not of wrathful mood,<br /> +Stung by such utterance, made rejoinder thus:<br /> +‘Thou wast not with us here, but wrongfully<br /> +Didst bide afar. And, since thou mak’st so bold,<br /> +I tell thee, never shalt thou, as thou sayest,<br /> +Sail with these arms to Scyros.’—Thus reviled,<br /> +With such an evil echo in mine ear,<br /> +I voyage homeward, robbed of mine own right<br /> +By that <a href="#Phil_n_4" name="Phil_t_4" id="Phil_t_4">vile offset of an evil tree.</a><br /> +Yet less I blame him than the men in power.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 228]</span><span class="linenum">[386-423]</span> +For every multitude, be it army or state,<br /> +Takes tone from those who rule it, and all taint<br /> +Of disobedience from bad counsel springs.<br /> +I have spoken. May the Atridae’s enemy<br /> +Be dear to Heaven, as he is loved by me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in6"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Mother of mightiest Zeus,</span><span class="chm">1</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Feeder of all that live,</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Who from thy mountainous breast</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Rivers of gold dost give!</span><br /> +<span class="in6">To thee, O Earth, I cried that shameful day,</span><br /> +<span class="in6">When insolence from Atreus’ sons went forth</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Full on our lord: when they bestowed away</span><br /> +<span class="in6">His father’s arms to crown Odysseus’ worth;</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Thou, whom bull-slaughtering lions yoked bear,</span><br /> +<span class="in12">O mighty mother, hear!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Your coming is commended by a grief<br /> +That makes you kindly welcome. For I feel<br /> +A chord that vibrates to your voice, and tells,<br /> +Thus have Odysseus and the Atridae wrought.<br /> +Full well I know, Odysseus’ poisoned tongue<br /> +Shrinks from no mischief nor no guileful word<br /> +That leads to bad achievement in the end.<br /> +This moves not my main marvel, but if one<br /> +Saw this and bore it,—Aias of the shield.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Ah, friend, he was no more. Had he but lived,<br /> +This robbery had ne’er been wrought on me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +What? Is he too departed?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in20">He is dead.</span><br /> +The light no more beholds him.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in18">Oh! alas!</span><br /> +But Tydeus’ offspring, and the rascal birth<br /> +Laërtes bought of Sisyphus, they live:<br /> +I know it. For their death were to be wished.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Yea, be assured, they live and flourish high<br /> +Exalted in the host of Argive men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +And Nestor, my old friend, good aged man,<br /> +Is he yet living? Oft he would prevent<br /> +Their evils, by the wisdom of his thought.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 229]</span><span class="linenum">[424-461]</span> +<span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +He too is now in trouble, having lost<br /> +Antilochus, the comfort of his age.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +There, there! In one brief word thou hast revealed<br /> +The mournful case of twain, whom I would last<br /> +Have chosen to hear of as undone. Ah me!<br /> +Where must one look? when these are dead, and he,<br /> +Odysseus, lives,—and in a time like this,<br /> +That craves their presence, and his death for theirs.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +He wrestles cleverly; but, O my friend,<br /> +Even ablest wits are ofttimes snared at last.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Tell me, I pray, what was become of him,<br /> +Patroclus, whom thy father loved so well?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +He, too, was gone. I’ll teach thee in a word<br /> +One truth for all. War doth not willingly<br /> +Snatch off the wicked, but still takes the good.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +True! and to prove thy saying, I will inquire<br /> +The fate of a poor dastard, of mean worth,<br /> +But ever shrewd and nimble with his tongue.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Whom but Odysseus canst thou mean by this?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +I meant not him. But there was one Thersites,<br /> +Who ne’er made conscience to stint speech, where all<br /> +Cried ‘Silence!’ Is he living, dost thou know?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I saw him not, but knew he was alive.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +He must be: for no evil yet was crushed.<br /> +The Heavens will ever shield it. ’Tis their sport<br /> +To turn back all things rancorous and malign<br /> +From going down to the grave, and send instead<br /> +The good and true. Oh, how shall we commend<br /> +Such dealings, how defend them? When I praise<br /> +Things god-like, I find evil in the Gods.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I, O thou child of a Trachinian sire,<br /> +Henceforth will take good care, from far away<br /> +To look on Troy and Atreus’ children twain.<br /> +Yea, where the trickster lords it o’er the just,<br /> +And goodness languishes and rascals rule,<br /> +—Such courses I will nevermore endure.<br /> +But rock-bound Scyros henceforth shall suffice<br /> +To yield me full contentment in my home.<br /> +Now, to my vessel! And thou, Poeas’ child,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 230]</span><span class="linenum">[462-499]</span> +Farewell, right heartily farewell! May Heaven<br /> +Grant thy desire, and rid thee of thy plague!<br /> +Let us be going, that when God shall give<br /> +Fair voyage, that moment we may launch away.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +My son, are ye now setting forth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in26">Our time</span><br /> +Bids us go near and look to sail erelong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Now, by thy father, by thy mother,—nay,<br /> +By all thy love e’er cherished in thy home,<br /> +Suppliant I beg thee, leave me not thus lone,<br /> +Forlorn in all my misery which thou seest,<br /> +In all thou hast heard of here surrounding me!<br /> +Stow me with other freightage. Full of care,<br /> +I know, and burdensome the charge may prove.<br /> +Yet venture! Surely to the noble mind<br /> +All shame is hateful and all kindness blest.<br /> +And shame would be thy meed, didst thou fail here<br /> +But, doing this, thou shalt have glorious fame,<br /> +When I return alive to Oeta’s vale.<br /> +Come, ’tis the labour not of one whole day.<br /> +So thou durst take me, fling me where thou wilt<br /> +O’ the ship, in hold, prow, stern, or wheresoe’er<br /> +I least may trouble those on board with me.<br /> +Ah! by great Zeus, the suppliant’s friend, comply,<br /> +My son, be softened! See, where I am fall’n<br /> +Thus on my knees before thee, though so weak,<br /> +Crippled and powerless. Ah! forsake me not<br /> +Thus far from human footstep. Take me, take me!<br /> +If only to thy home, or to the town<br /> +<a href="#Phil_n_5" name="Phil_t_5" id="Phil_t_5">Of old Chalcodon</a> in Euboea.—From thence<br /> +I have not far to Oeta, and the ridge<br /> +Of Trachis, and Spercheius’ lordly flood.<br /> +So thou shalt bless my father with my sight.<br /> +And yet long since I fear he may be gone.<br /> +For oft I sent him suppliant prayers by men<br /> +Who touched this isle, entreating him to fetch<br /> +And bear me safely home with his own crew.<br /> +But either he is dead, or else, methinks,<br /> +It well may be, my messengers made light<br /> +Of my concerns, and hastened onward home.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 231]</span><span class="linenum">[500-536]</span> +But now in thee I find both messenger<br /> +And convoy, thou wilt pity me and save.<br /> +For, well thou knowest, danger never sleeps,<br /> +And fear of dark reverse is always nigh.<br /> +Mortals, when free, should look where mischief lurks,<br /> +And in their happiest hour consider well<br /> +Their life, lest ruin unsuspected come.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="in4"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Pity him, O my king!</span><span class="chm">2</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Many a crushing woe</span><br /> +<span class="in10">He telleth, such as I pray</span><br /> +<span class="in10">None of my friends may know.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And if, dear master, thou mislikest sore</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Yon cruel-hearted lordly pair, I would,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Turning their plan of evil to his good,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">On swift ship bear him to his native shore,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Meeting his heart’s desire; and free thy path</span><br /> +<span class="in10">From fear of heavenly wrath.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Thou mak’st small scruple here; but be advised:<br /> +Lest, when this plague on board shall weary thee,<br /> +Thy voice should alter from this liberal tone.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +No, truly! Fear not thou shalt ever have<br /> +Just cause to utter such reproach on me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Then sure ’twere shame, should I more backward prove<br /> +Than thou, to labour for the stranger’s need.<br /> +Come, if thou wilt, let us make voyage, and he,<br /> +Let him set forth with speed. Our ship shall take him.<br /> +He shall not be refused. Only may Heaven<br /> +Lead safely hence and to our destined port!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +O morning full of brightness! Kindest friend,<br /> +Sweet mariners, how can I make you feel,<br /> +In act, how dearly from my heart I love you!<br /> +Ye have won my soul. Let us be gone, my son,—<br /> +First having said farewell to this poor cave,<br /> +My homeless dwelling-place, that thou may’st know,<br /> +How barely I have lived, how firm my heart!<br /> +Methinks another could not have endured<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 232]</span><span class="linenum">[537-572]</span> +The very sight of what I bore. But I<br /> +Through strong necessity have conquered pain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Stay: let us understand. There come two men<br /> +A stranger, with a shipmate of thy crew.<br /> +When ye have heard them, ye may then go in.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">Messenger</span>, disguised as a merchantman.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MERCHANTMAN.</span> +Son of Achilles, my companion here,<br /> +Who with two more remained to guard thy ship,<br /> +Agreed to help me find thee where thou wert,<br /> +Since unexpectedly, through fortune’s will,<br /> +I meet thee, mooring by the self-same shore.<br /> +For like a merchantman, with no great sail,<br /> +Making my course from Ilion to my home,<br /> +Grape-clustered Peparethos, when I heard<br /> +The mariners declare that one and all<br /> +Were of thy crew, I would not launch again,<br /> +Without a word, till we had told our news.—<br /> +Methinks thou knowest nought of thine own case,<br /> +What new devices of the Argive chiefs<br /> +Surround thee; nor devices only now,<br /> +But active deeds, no longer unperformed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Well, stranger, for the kindness thou hast shown,—<br /> +Else were I base,—my heart must thank thee still.<br /> +But tell me what thou meanest, that I may learn<br /> +What new-laid plot thou bring’st me from the camp.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +Old Phoenix, Acamas and Demophon<br /> +Are gone in thy pursuit with ships and men.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +To bring me back with reasons or perforce?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +I know not. What I heard, I am here to tell.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +How? And is this in act? Are they set forth<br /> +To please the Atridae, Phoenix and the rest?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +The thing is not to do, but doing now.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What kept Odysseus back, if this be so,<br /> +From going himself? Had he some cause for fear?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +He and the son of Tydeus, when our ship<br /> +Hoist sail, were gone to fetch another man.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +For whom could he himself be sailing forth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 233]</span><span class="linenum">[573-607]</span> +<span class="cnm">MER.</span> +For some one,—but first tell me, whispering low<br /> +Whate’er thou speakest,—who is this I see?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +(<span class="sdm">speaking aloud</span>).<br /> +This, sir, is Philoctetes the renowned.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +(<span class="sdm">aside to <span class="cnm">NEOPTOLEMUS</span></span>).<br /> +Without more question, snatch thyself away<br /> +And sail forth from this land.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in16">What saith he, boy?</span><br /> +Through what dark traffic is the mariner<br /> +Betraying me with whispering in thine ear?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I have not caught it, but whate’er he speaks<br /> +He must speak openly to us and thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +Seed of Achilles, let me not offend<br /> +The army by my words! Full many a boon,<br /> +Being poor, I reap from them for service done.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +The Atridae are my foes; the man you see<br /> +Is my fast friend, because he hates them sore.<br /> +Then, if you come in kindness, you must hide<br /> +Nothing from him or me of all thou hast heard.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +Look what thou doest, my son!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in26">I mark it well.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +Thou shalt be answerable.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in22">Content: but speak.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +Then hear me. These two men whom I have named,<br /> +Diomedes and Odysseus, are set forth<br /> +Engaged on oath to bring this man by force<br /> +If reasons fail. The Achaeans every one<br /> +Have heard this plainly from Odysseus’ mouth.<br /> +He was the louder and more confident.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Say, for what cause, after so long a time,<br /> +Can Atreus’ sons have turned their thoughts on him,<br /> +Whom long they had cast forth? What passing touch<br /> +Of conscience moved them, or what stroke from Heaven,<br /> +Whose wrath requites all wicked deeds of men?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +Methinks thou hast not heard what I will now<br /> +Unfold to thee. There was a princely seer,<br /> +A son of Priam, Helenus by name,<br /> +Whom he for whom no word is bad enough,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 234]</span><span class="linenum">[608-645]</span> +Crafty Odysseus, sallying forth alone<br /> +One night, had taken, and in bonds displayed<br /> +‘Fore all the Achaeans, a right noble prey.<br /> +He, ’mid his other prophecies, foretold<br /> +No Grecian force should sack Troy’s citadel,<br /> +Till with fair reasons they had brought this man<br /> +From Lemnos isle, his lonely dwelling-place.<br /> +<span class="in2">When thus the prophet spake, Laërtes’ son</span><br /> +Straight undertook to fetch this man, and show him<br /> +To all the camp:—he hoped, with fair consent:<br /> +But else, perforce.—And, if he failed in this,<br /> +Whoever would might smite him on the head.<br /> +<span class="in2">My tale is told, dear youth. I counsel speed</span><br /> +To thee and to the friend for whom thou carest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Ah me, unhappy! has that rascal knave<br /> +Sworn to fetch me with reasons to their camp?<br /> +As likely might his reasons bring me back,<br /> +Like his begetter, from the house of death.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MER.</span> +You talk of what I know not. I will go<br /> +Shipward. May God be with you for all good.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Is not this terrible, Laërtes’ son<br /> +Should ever think to bring me with soft words<br /> +And show me from his deck to all their host?<br /> +No! Sooner will I listen to the tongue<br /> +Of the curs’d basilisk that thus hath maim’d me.<br /> +<span class="in2">Ay, but he’ll venture anything in word</span><br /> +Or deed. And now I know he will be here.<br /> +Come, O my son, let us be gone, while seas<br /> +And winds divide us from Odysseus’ ship.<br /> +Let us depart. Sure timely haste brings rest<br /> +And quiet slumber when the toil is done.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Shall we not sail when this south-western wind<br /> +Hath fallen, that now is adverse to our course?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +All winds are fair to him who flies from woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Nay, but this head-wind hinders them no less.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +No head-wind hinders pirates on their way,<br /> +When violence and rapine lead them on.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Well, then, let us be going, if you will;<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 235]</span><span class="linenum">[646-675]</span> +When you have taken from within the cave<br /> +What most you need and value.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in18">Though my all</span><br /> +Be little, there is that I may not lose.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What can there be that we have not on board?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +A leaf I have found, wherewith I still the rage<br /> +Of my sore plague, and lull it quite to rest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Well, bring it forth.—What? Is there something more?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +If any of these arrows here are fallen,<br /> +I would not leave them for a casual prey.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +How? Do I see thee with the marvellous bow?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Here in my hand. The world hath only one.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +And may one touch and handle it, and gaze<br /> +With reverence, as on a thing from Heaven?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Thou mayest, my son. This and whate’er of mine<br /> +May stead thee, ’tis thy privilege to enjoy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +In very truth I long for it, but so,<br /> +That longing waits on leave. Am I permitted?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Thou art, my son,—and well thou speakest,—thou art.<br /> +Thou, that hast given me light and life, the joy<br /> +Of seeing Mount Oeta and my father’s home,<br /> +With all I love there, and his aged head,—<br /> +Thou that hast raised me far above my foes<br /> +Who triumphed! Thou may’st take it in thine hand,<br /> +And,—when thou hast given it back to me,—may’st vaunt<br /> +Alone of mortals for thine excellence<br /> +To have held this in thy touch. I, too, at first,<br /> +Received it as a boon for kindness done.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Well, go within.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in14">Nay, I must take thee too.</span><br /> +My sickness craves thee for its comforter.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">PHILOCTETES</span> and <span class="cnm">NEOPTOLEMUS</span> go into +the cave</span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 236]</span><span class="linenum">[676-711]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">In fable I have heard,</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Though sight hath ne’er confirmed the word,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">How he who attempted once the couch supreme,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">To a whirling wheel by Zeus the all-ruler bound,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Tied head and heel, careering ever round,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Atones his impious unsubstantial dream.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of no man else, through eye or ear,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Have I discerned a fate more full of fear</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Than yonder sufferer’s of the cureless wound:</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Who did no violence, defrauded none:—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">A just man, had he dwelt among the just</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Unworthily behold him thrust</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Alone to hear the billows roar</span><br /> +<span class="in4">That break around a rugged shore!</span><br /> +How could he live, whose life was thus consumed with moan?</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">Where neighbour there was none:</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in4">No arm to stay him wandering lone,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Unevenly, with stumbling steps and sore;</span><br /> +<span class="in4">No friend in need, no kind inhabitant,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">To minister to his importunate want,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">No heart whereto his pangs he might deplore.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">None who, whene’er the gory flow</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Was rushing hot, might healing herbs bestow,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Or cull from teeming Earth some genial plant</span><br /> +<span class="in4">To allay the anguish of malignant pain</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And soothe the sharpness of his poignant woe.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Like infant whom the nurse lets go,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">With tottering movement here and there,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">He crawled for comfort, whensoe’er</span><br /> +His soul-devouring plague relaxed its cruel strain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +Not fed with foison of all-teeming Earth<span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Whence we sustain us, ever-toiling men,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">But only now and then</span><br /> +With wingèd things, by his wing’d shafts brought low,<br /> +<span class="in2">He stayed his hunger from his bow.</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 237]</span><span class="linenum">[712-749]</span> +<span class="in2">Poor soul, that never through ten years of dearth</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Had pleasure from the fruitage of the vine,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">But seeking to some standing pool,</span><br /> +<span class="in12">Nor clear nor cool,</span><br /> +Foul water heaved to head for lack of heartening wine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +But now, consorted with the hero’s child,<span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in2">He winneth greatness and a joyful change;</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Over the water wild</span><br /> +Borne by a friendly bark beneath the range<br /> +<span class="in2">Of Oeta, where Spercheius fills</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Wide channels winding among lovely hills</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Haunted of Melian nymphs, till he espies</span><br /> +<span class="in2">The roof-tree of his father’s hall,</span><br /> +<span class="in12">And high o’er all</span><br /> +Shines the bronze shield <a href="#Phil_n_6" name="Phil_t_6" id="Phil_t_6">of him, whose home is in the skies.</a><br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">NEOPTOLEMUS</span> comes out of the cave, followed +by <span class="cnm">PHILOCTETES</span> in pain</span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Prithee, come on! Why dost thou stand aghast,<br /> +Voiceless, and thus astonied in thine air?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Oh! oh!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in6">What?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in14">Nothing. Come my son, fear nought.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Is pain upon thee? Hath thy trouble come?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +No pain, no pain! ’Tis past; I am easy now.<br /> +Ye heavenly powers!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in10">Why dost thou groan aloud,</span><br /> +And cry to Heaven?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in10">To come and save. Kind Heaven!</span><br /> +Oh, oh!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What is ’t? Why silent? Wilt not speak?<br /> +I see thy misery.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in6">Oh! I am lost, my son!</span><br /> +I cannot hide it from you. Oh! it shoots,<br /> +It pierces. Oh unhappy! Oh! my woe!<br /> +I am lost, my son, I am devoured. Oh me!<br /> +Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Pain! pain! Oh pain! oh pain!<br /> +Child, if a sword be to thine hand, smite hard,<br /> +Shear off my foot! heed not my life! Quick, come!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 238]</span><span class="linenum">[751-786]</span> +<span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What hath so suddenly arisen, that thus<br /> +Thou mak’st ado and groanest o’er thyself?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Thou knowest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in12">What know I?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in26">O! thou knowest, my son!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I know not.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in10">How? Not know? Ah me! Pain, pain!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Thy plague is a sore burden, heavy and sore.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Sore? ’Tis unutterable. Have pity on me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +What shall I do?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in14">Do not in fear forsake me.</span><br /> +This wandering evil comes in force again,<br /> +Hungry as ere it fed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in10">O hapless one!</span><br /> +Thrice hapless in thy manifold distress!<br /> +What wilt thou? Shall I raise thee on mine arm?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Nay, but receiving from my hand the bow,<br /> +As late thou didst desire me, keep it safe<br /> +And guard it, till the fury of my pain<br /> +Pass over me and cease. For when ’tis spent,<br /> +Slumber will seize me, else it ne’er would end.<br /> +I must sleep undisturbed. But if meanwhile<br /> +They come,—by Heaven I charge thee, in no wise,<br /> +Willingly nor perforce, let them have this!<br /> +Else thou wilt be the slayer of us both;<br /> +Of me thy suppliant, and of thyself.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Fear not my care. No hand shall hold these arms<br /> +But thine and mine. Give, and Heaven bless the deed!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +I give them; there, my son! But look to Heaven<br /> +And pray no envy smite thee, nor such bane<br /> +In having them, as fell on me and him<br /> +Who bore them formerly.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in12">O grant it, Gods!</span><br /> +And grant us fair and happy voyage, where’er<br /> +Our course is shaped and righteous Heaven shall guide.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Ah! but I fear, my son, thy prayer is vain:<br /> +For welling yet again from depths within,<br /> +This gory ooze is dripping. It will come!<br /> +I know it will. O, foot, torn helpless thing,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 239]</span><span class="linenum">[786-816]</span> +What wilt thou do to me? Ah! ah! It comes,<br /> +It is at hand. ’Tis here! Woe’s me, undone!<br /> +I have shown you all. Stay near me. Go not far:<br /> +Ah! ah!<br /> +O island king, I would this agony<br /> +Might cleave thy bosom through and through! Woe, woe!<br /> +Woe! Ah! ye two commanders of the host,<br /> +Agamemnon, Menelaüs, O that ye,<br /> +Another ten years’ durance in my room<br /> +Might nurse this malady! O Death, Death, Death!<br /> +I call thee daily—wilt thou never come?<br /> +Will it not be?—My son, thou noble boy,<br /> +If thou art noble, take and burn me there<br /> +Aloft in yon all-worshipped Lemnian fire!<br /> +Yea, when the bow thou keep’st was my reward,<br /> +I did like service for the child of Heaven.<br /> +How now, my son?<br /> +What say’st? Art silent? Where—where art thou, boy?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +My heart is full, and groaning o’er thy woes.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Nay, yet have comfort. This affliction oft<br /> +Goes no less swiftly than it came. I pray thee,<br /> +Stand fast and leave me not alone!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in20">Fear nought.</span><br /> +We will not stir.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in6">Wilt thou remain?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in20">Be sure of it.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +I’ll not degrade thee with an oath, my son.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Rest satisfied. I may not go without thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Thy hand, to pledge me that!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in22">There, I will stay.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Now, now, aloft!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in14">Where mean’st thou?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in32">Yonder aloft!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Whither? Thou rav’st. Why starest thou at the sky?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Now, let me go.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in12">Where?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in20">Let me go, I say!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 240]</span><span class="linenum">[817-847]</span> +<span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I will not.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in8">You will kill me. Let me go!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Well, thou know’st best I hold thee not.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in32">O Earth,</span><br /> +I die. receive me to thy breast! This pain<br /> +Subdues me utterly, I cannot stand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Methinks he will be fast in slumber soon<br /> +That head sinks backward, and a clammy sweat<br /> +Bathes all his limbs, while from his foot hath burst<br /> +A vein, dark bleeding. Let us leave him, friends,<br /> +In quietness, till he hath fallen to sleep.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">Lord of the happiest life,</span><span class="chm">I</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Sleep, thou that know’st not strife,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">That know’st not grief,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Still wafting sure relief,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Come, saviour now!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Thy healing balm is spread</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Over this pain worn head,</span><br /> +Quench not the beam that gives calm to his brow.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">Look, O my lord, to thy path,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Either to go or to stay</span><br /> +<span class="in4">How is my thought to proceed?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">What is our cause for delay?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Look! Opportunity’s power,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Fitting the task to the hour,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Giveth the race to the swift.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +He hears not. But I see that to have ta’en<br /> +His bow without him were a bootless gain<br /> +He must sail with us. So the god hath said<br /> +Heaven hath decreed this garland for his head:<br /> +And to have failed with falsehood were a meed<br /> +Of shameful soilure for a shameless deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +God shall determine the end—<span class="chm">II</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But for thine answer, friend,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Waft soft words low!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">All sick men’s sleep, we know,</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 241]</span><span class="linenum">[848-879]</span> +<span class="in8">Hath open eye;</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Their quickly ruffling mind</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Quivers in lightest wind,</span><br /> +Sleepless in slumber new danger to spy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">Think, O my lord, of thy path,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Secretly look forth afar,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">What wilt thou do for thy need?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">How with the wise wilt thou care?</span><br /> +<span class="in4">If toward the nameless thy heart</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Chooseth this merciful part,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Huge are the dangers that drift.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">The wind is fair, my son, the wind is fair,</span><br /> +The man is dark and helpless, stretched in night.<br /> +(O kind, warm sleep that calmest human care!)<br /> +Powerless of hand and foot and ear and sight,<br /> +Blind, as one lying in the house of death.<br /> +(Think well if here thou utterest timely breath.)<br /> +This, O my son, is all my thought can find,<br /> +Best are the toils that without frightening bind.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Hush! One word more were madness. He revives.<br /> +His eye hath motion. He uplifts his head.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Fair daylight following sleep, and ye, dear friends,<br /> +Faithful beyond all hope in tending me!<br /> +I never could have dreamed that thou, dear youth,<br /> +Couldst thus have borne my sufferings and stood near<br /> +So full of pity to relieve my pain.<br /> +Not so the worthy generals of the host;—<br /> +This princely patience was not theirs to show.<br /> +Only thy noble nature, nobly sprung,<br /> +Made light of all the trouble, though oppressed<br /> +With fetid odours and unceasing cries.<br /> +And now, since this my plague would seem to yield<br /> +Some pause and brief forgetfulness of pain,<br /> +With thine own hand, my son, upraise me here,<br /> +And set me on my feet, that, when my strength<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 242]</span><span class="linenum">[880-913]</span> +After exhaustion shall return again,<br /> +We may move shoreward and launch forth with speed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I feel unhoped-for gladness when I see<br /> +Thy painless gaze, and hear thy living breath,<br /> +For thine appearance and surroundings both<br /> +Were deathlike. But arise! Or, if thou wilt,<br /> +These men shall raise thee. For they will not shrink<br /> +From toil which thou and I at once enjoin.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Right, right, my son! But lift me thine own self,<br /> +As I am sure thou meanest. Let these be,<br /> +Lest they be burdened with the noisome smell<br /> +Before the time. Enough for them to bear<br /> +The trouble on board.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in10">I will; stand up, endure!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Fear not. Old habit will enable me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +O me!<br /> +What shall I do? Now ’tis my turn to exclaim!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +What canst thou mean? What change is here, my son?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I know not how to shift the troublous word.<br /> +’Tis hopeless.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in4">What is hopeless? Speak not so,</span><br /> +Dear child!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in2">But so my wretched lot hath fallen.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Ah! Can it be, the offence of my disease<br /> +Hath moved thee not to take me now on board?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +All is offence to one who hath forced himself<br /> +From the true bent to an unbecoming deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Nought misbecoming to thyself or sire<br /> +Doest thou or speak’st, befriending a good man.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +My baseness will appear. That wrings my soul.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Not in thy deeds. But for thy words, I fear me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +O Heaven! Must double vileness then be mine<br /> +Both shameful silence and most shameful speech?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Or my discernment is at fault, or thou<br /> +Mean’st to betray me and make voyage without me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Nay, not without thee, there is my distress!<br /> +Lest I convey thee to thy bitter grief.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 243]</span><span class="linenum">[914-946]</span> +<span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +How? How, dear youth? I do not understand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Here I unveil it. Thou art to sail to Troy,<br /> +To join the chieftains and the Achaean host.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +What do I hear? Ah!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in16">Grieve not till you learn.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Learn what? What wilt thou make of me? What mean’st thou?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +First to release thee from this plague, and then<br /> +With thee to go and take the realm of Troy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +And is this thine intent?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in18">’Tis so ordained</span><br /> +Unchangeably. Be not dismayed! ’Tis so.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Me miserable! I am betrayed, undone!<br /> +What guile is here? My bow! give back my bow!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I may not. Interest, and duty too,<br /> +Force me to obey commandment.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in20">O thou fire,</span><br /> +Thou terror of the world! Dark instrument<br /> +Of ever-hateful guile!—What hast thou done?<br /> +How thou hast cheated me! Art not ashamed<br /> +To look on him that sued to thee for shelter?<br /> +O heart of stone, thou hast stolen my life away<br /> +With yonder bow!—Ah, yet I beg of thee,<br /> +Give it me back, my son, I entreat thee, give!<br /> +By all thy father worshipped, rob me not<br /> +Of life!—Ah me! Now he will speak no more,<br /> +But turns away, obdúrate to retain it.<br /> +O ye, my comrades in this wilderness,<br /> +Rude creatures of the rocks, O promontories,<br /> +Creeks, precipices of the hills, to you<br /> +And your familiar presence I complain<br /> +Of this foul trespass of Achilles’ son.<br /> +Sworn to convey me home, to Troy he bears me.<br /> +And under pledge of his right hand hath ta’en<br /> +And holds from me perforce my wondrous bow,<br /> +The sacred gift of Zeus-born Heracles,<br /> +Thinking to wave it midst the Achaean host<br /> +Triumphantly for his. In conquering me<br /> +He vaunts as of some valorous feat, and knows not<br /> +He is spoiling a mere corse, an empty dream,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 244]</span><span class="linenum">[947-980]</span> +The shadow of a vapour. In my strength<br /> +He ne’er had vanquished me. Even as I am,<br /> +He could not, but by guile. Now, all forlorn,<br /> +I am abused, deceived. What must I do?<br /> +Nay, give it me. Nay, yet be thy true self!<br /> +Thou art silent. I am lost. O misery!<br /> +Rude face of rock, back I return to thee<br /> +And thy twin gateway, robbed of arms and food,<br /> +To wither in thy cave companionless:—<br /> +No more with these mine arrows to destroy<br /> +Or flying bird or mountain-roving beast.<br /> +But, all unhappy! I myself must be<br /> +The feast of those on whom I fed, the chase<br /> +Of that I hunted, and shall dearly pay<br /> +In bloody quittance for their death, through one<br /> +Who seemed all ignorant of sinful guile.<br /> +Perish,—not till I am certain if thy heart<br /> +Will change once more,—if not, my curse on thee!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What shall we do, my lord? We wait thy word<br /> +Or to sail now, or yield to his desire.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +My heart is pressed with a strange pity for him,<br /> +Not now beginning, but long since begun.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Ay, pity me, my son! by all above,<br /> +Make not thy name a scorn by wronging me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +O! I am troubled sore. What must I do?<br /> +Would I had never left mine island home!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Thou art not base, but seemest to have learnt<br /> +Some baseness from base men. Now, as ’tis meet,<br /> +Be better guided—leave me mine arms, and go.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +(<span class="sdm">to Chorus</span>).<br /> +What shall we do?</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">ODYSSEUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ODYSSEUS.</span> +<span class="in2">What art thou doing, knave?</span><br /> +Give me that bow, and haste thee back again.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Alas! What do I hear? Odysseus’ voice?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Be sure of that, Odysseus, whom thou seest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Oh, I am bought and sold, undone! ’Twas he<br /> +That kidnapped me, and robbed me of my bow.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Yea. I deny it not. Be sure, ’twas I.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 245]</span><span class="linenum">[981-1015]</span> +<span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Give back, my son, the bow; release it!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +<span class="in30">That,</span><br /> +Though he desire it, he shall never do.<br /> +Thou too shalt march along, or these shall force thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +They force me! O thou boldest of bad men!<br /> +They force me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +<span class="in6">If thou com’st not willingly.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +O Lemnian earth and thou almighty flame,<br /> +Hephaestos’ workmanship, shall this be borne,<br /> +That he by force must drag me from your care?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +’Tis Zeus, I tell thee, monarch of this isle,<br /> +Who thus hath willed. I am his minister.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Wretch, what vile words thy wit hath power to say!<br /> +The gods are liars when invoked by thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Nay, ’tis their truth compels thee to this voyage.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +I will not have it so.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +<span class="in16">I will. Thou shalt.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Woe for my wretchedness! My father, then,<br /> +Begat no freeman, but a slave in me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Nay, but the peer of noblest men, with whom<br /> +Thou art to take and ravage Troy with might.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Never,—though I must suffer direst woe,—<br /> +While this steep Lemnian ground is mine to tread!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +What now is thine intent?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in20">Down from the crag</span><br /> +This head shall plunge and stain the crag beneath.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +(<span class="sdm">to the Attendants</span>.)<br /> +Ay, seize and bind him. Baffle him in this.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Poor hands, for lack of your beloved string,<br /> +Caught by this craven! O corrupted soul!<br /> +How thou hast undermined me, having taken<br /> +To screen thy quest this youth to me unknown,<br /> +Far worthier of my friendship than of thine,<br /> +Who knew no better than to obey command.<br /> +Even now ’tis manifest he burns within<br /> +With pain for his own error and my wrong.<br /> +But, though unwilling and mapt for ill,<br /> +Thy crafty, mean, and cranny spying soul<br /> +Too well hath lessoned him in sinful lore.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 246]</span><span class="linenum">[1016-1052]</span> +Now thou hast bound me, O thou wretch, and thinkest<br /> +To take me from this coast, where thou didst cast me<br /> +Outlawed and desolate, a corpse ’mongst men.<br /> +<span class="in2">Oh!</span><br /> +I curse thee now, as ofttimes in the past:<br /> +But since Heaven yields me nought but bitterness,<br /> +Thou livest and art blithe, while ’tis my pain<br /> +To live on in my misery, laughed to scorn<br /> +By thee and Atreus’ sons, those generals twain<br /> +Whom thou art serving in this chase. But thou<br /> +With strong compulsion and deceit was driven<br /> +Troyward, whilst I, poor victim, of free will<br /> +Took my seven ships and sailed there, yet was thrown<br /> +Far from all honour,—as thou sayest, by them,<br /> +But, as they turn the tale, by thee.—And now<br /> +Why fetch me hence and take me? To what end?<br /> +I am nothing, dead to you this many a year.<br /> +How, O thou Heaven-abhorred! am I not now<br /> +Lame and of evil smell? how shall ye vaunt<br /> +Before the gods drink-offering or the fat<br /> +Of victims, if I sail among your crew?<br /> +For this, as ye professed, was the chief cause<br /> +Why ye disowned me. Perish!—So ye shall,<br /> +For the wrong done me, if the Heavens be just.<br /> +And that they are, I know. Else had ye ne’er<br /> +Sailed on this errand for an outcast wretch,<br /> +Had they not pricked your heart with thoughts of me.<br /> +Oh, if ye pity me, chastising powers,<br /> +And thou, the Genius of my land, revenge,<br /> +Revenge this crime on all their heads at once!<br /> +My life is pitiable; but if I saw<br /> +Their ruin, I would think me well and strong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +How full of bitterness is his resolve,<br /> +Wrathfully spoken with unbending will!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +I might speak long in answer, did the time<br /> +Give scope, but now one thing is mine to say.<br /> +I am known to vary with the varying need;<br /> +And when ’tis tried, who can be just and good,<br /> +My peer will not be found for piety.<br /> +But though on all occasions covetous<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 247]</span><span class="linenum">[1053-1092]</span> +Of victory, this once I yield to thee,<br /> +And willingly. Unhand him there. Let go!<br /> +Leave him to stay. What further use of thee,<br /> +When we have ta’en these arms? Have we not Teucer,<br /> +Skilled in this mystery? Yea, I may boast<br /> +Myself thine equal both in strength and aim<br /> +To wield them. Fare thee well, then! Thou art free<br /> +To roam thy barren isle. We need thee not.<br /> +Let us be going! And perchance thy gift<br /> +May bring thy destined glory to my brow.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +What shall I do? Alas, shalt thou be seen<br /> +Graced with mine arms amongst Achaean men?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +No more! I am going.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in18">O Achilles’ child!</span><br /> +Wilt thou, too, vanish? Must I lose thy voice?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Come on, and look not, noble though thou be,<br /> +Lest thou undo our fortune.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in14">Mariners,</span><br /> +Must ye, too, leave me thus disconsolate?<br /> +Will ye not pity me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in10">Our captain’s here.</span><br /> +Whate’er he saith to thee, that we too speak.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +My chief will call me weakling, soft of heart;<br /> +But go not yet, since our friend bids you stay.<br /> +Till we have prayed, and all be ready on board.<br /> +Meanwhile, perchance, he may conceive some thought<br /> +That favours our design. We two will start;<br /> +And ye, be swift to speed forth at our call.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">MONODY</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +O cavern of the hollow rock,<span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +Frosty and stifling in the seasons’ change!<br /> +How I seem fated never more to range<br /> +From thy sad covert, that hath felt the shock<br /> +Of pain on pain, steeped with my wretchedness.<br /> +Now thou wilt be my comforter in death!<br /> +Grief haunted harbour, choked with my distress!<br /> +Tell me, what hope is mine of daily food,<br /> +Who will be careful for my good?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 248]</span><span class="linenum">[1093-1132]</span> +I fail. Ye cowering creatures of the sky,<br /> +<span class="in10">Oh, as ye fly,</span><br /> +Snatch me, borne upward on the blast’s sharp breath!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 1.</span> +Thou child of misery!<br /> +<span class="in8">No mightier power hath this decreed,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">But thine own will and deed</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Hath bound thee thus in grief,</span><br /> +Since, when kind Heaven had sent relief<br /> +And shown the path of wisdom firm and sure,<br /> +Thou still hast chosen this evil to endure.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +O hapless life, sore bruised with pain!<span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +No more with living mortal may I dwell,<br /> +But ever pining in this desert cell<br /> +With lonely grief, all famished must remain<br /> +And perish; for what food is mine to share,<br /> +When this strong arm no longer wields my bow,<br /> +Whose fleet shafts flew to smite the birds of air<br /> +I was o’erthrown by words, words dark and blind,<br /> +Low-creeping from a traitorous mind!<br /> +O might I see him, whose unrighteous thought<br /> +<span class="in10">This ruin wrought,</span><br /> +Plagued for no less a period with like woe!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 2.</span> +Not by our craft thou art caught,<br /> +But Destiny divine hath wrought<br /> +<span class="in8">The net that holds thee bound.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Aim not at us the sound</span><br /> +Of thy dread curse with dire disaster fraught.<br /> +On others let that light! ’Tis our true care<br /> +Thou should’st not scorn our love in thy despair.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Now, seated by the shore<span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of heaving ocean hoar,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">He mocks me, waving high</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The sole support of my precarious being,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The bow which none e’er held but I.</span><br /> +O treasure of my heart, torn from this hand,<br /> +That loved thy touch,—if thou canst understand,<br /> +How sad must be thy look in seeing<br /> +Thy master destined now no more,<br /> +Like Heracles of yore,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 249]</span><span class="linenum">[1133-1168]</span> +To wield thee with an archer’s might!<br /> +But in the grasp of an all-scheming wight,<br /> +O bitter change! thou art plied;<br /> +And swaying ever by his side,<br /> +Shalt view his life of dark malignity,<br /> +Teeming with guileful shames, like those he wrought on me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 3.</span> +Nobly to speak for the right<br /> +<span class="in4">Is manly and strong;</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But not with an envious blight</span><br /> +<span class="in4">To envenom the tongue;</span><br /> +<span class="in4">He to serve all his friends of the fleet,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">One obeying a many-voiced word,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Through the minist’ring craft of our lord</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Hath but done what was meet.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Come, legions of the wild,<span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of aspect fierce or mild,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Fowl from the fields of air,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And beasts that roam with bright untroubled gaze,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">No longer bounding from my lair</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Fly mine approach! Now freely without fear</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Ye may surround my covert and come near,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Treading the savage rock-strewn ways.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The might I had is no more mine,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Stolen with those arms divine.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">This fort hath no man to defend.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Come satisfy your vengeful jaws, and rend</span><br /> +<span class="in4">These quivering tainted limbs!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Already hovering death bedims</span><br /> +<span class="in4">My fainting sense. Who thus can live on air,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Tasting no gift of earth that breathing mortals share?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 4.</span> +Ah! do not shrink from thy friend,<br /> +<span class="in8">If love thou reverest,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">But know ’tis for thee to forfend</span><br /> +<span class="in8">The fate which thou fearest.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">The lot thou hast here to deplore,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Is sad evermore to maintain,</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 250]</span><span class="linenum">[1169-1202]</span> +<span class="in8">And hardship in sickness is sore,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">But sorest in pain.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Kindest of all that e’er before<span class="chm">III</span><br /> +Have trod this shore,<br /> +Again thou mind’st me of mine ancient woe!<br /> +Why wilt thou ruin me? What wouldst thou do?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 5.</span> +How mean’st thou?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in18">If to Troy, of me abhorred</span><br /> +Thou e’er hast hoped to lead me with thy lord.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 6.</span> +So I judge best.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in14">Begone at once, begone!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 7.</span> +Sweet is that word, and swiftly shall be done!<br /> +Let us be gone, each to his place on board.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">The Chorus</span> make as if they were going</span><br /></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Nay, by dear Zeus, to whom all suppliants moan<br /> +Leave me not yet!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 8.</span> +<span class="in6">Keep measure in thy word.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Stay, by Heaven, stay!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 9.</span> +What wilt thou say?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +O misery! O cruel power<br /> +That rul’st this hour!<br /> +I am destroyed. Ah me!<br /> +O poor torn limb, what shall I do with thee<br /> +Through all my days to be?<br /> +Ah, strangers, come, return, return!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 10.</span> +What new command are we to learn<br /> +Crossing thy former mind?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Ah! yet be kind.<br /> +Reprove not him, whose tongue, with grief distraught,<br /> +Obeys not, in dark storms, the helm of thought!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 11.</span> +Come, poor friend, the way we call.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Never, learn it once for all!<br /> +Not though he, whom Heaven obeys,<br /> +Blast me with fierce lightning’s blaze!<br /> +Perish Troy, and all your host,<br /> +That have chosen, to their cost,<br /> +To despise and cast me forth,<br /> +Since my wound obscured my worth!<br /> +Ah, but, strangers, if your sense<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 251]</span><span class="linenum">[1203-1233]</span> +Hath o’er-mastered this offence,<br /> +Yield but one thing to my prayer!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 12.</span> +What wouldst thou have?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in22">Some weapon bare,</span><br /> +Axe or sword or sharpened dart,<br /> +Bring it to content my heart.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 13.</span> +What is thy new intent?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +To sever point by point<br /> +This body, joint from joint.<br /> +On bloody death my mind is bent.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 14.</span> +Wherefore?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in12">To see my father’s face.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH. 15.</span> +Where upon earth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in18">He hath no place</span><br /> +Where sun doth shine, but in the halls of night.<br /> +O native country, land of my delight,<br /> +Would I were blest one moment with thy sight!<br /> +Why did I leave thy sacred dew<br /> +And loose my vessels from thy shore,<br /> +To join the hateful Danaän crew<br /> +And lend them succour? Oh, I am no more!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span><br /> +Long since thou hadst seen me nearing yonder ship,<br /> +Had I not spied Odysseus and the son<br /> +Of great Achilles hastening to our side.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Wilt thou not tell me why thou art hurrying<br /> +This backward journey with reverted speed?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +To undo what I have wrongly done to-day.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Thy words appal me. What is wrongly done?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +When in obeying thee and all the host—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Thou didst what deed that misbecame thy life?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I conquered with base stratagem and fraud—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Whom? What new plan is rising in thy mind?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Not new. But to the child of Poeas here—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +What wilt thou do? I quake with strange alarm.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +From whom I took these weapons, back again——</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +O Heaven! thou wilt not give them! Mean’st thou this?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 252]</span><span class="linenum">[1234-1262]</span> +<span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Yea, for I have them through base sinful means.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +I pray thee, speak’st thou thus to anger me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +If the truth anger thee, the truth is said.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Achilles’ son! What word is fallen from thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Must the same syllables be thrice thrown forth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Once was too much. Would they had ne’er been said!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Enough. Thou hast heard my purpose clearly told.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +I know what power shall thwart thee in the deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Whose will shall hinder me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +<span class="in24">The Achaean host</span><br /> +And I among them.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in8">Thou’rt sharp-witted, sure!</span><br /> +But little wit or wisdom show’st thou here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +Neither thy words nor thy design is wise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +But if ’tis righteous, that is better far.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +How righteous, to release what thou hast ta’en<br /> +By my device?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in4">I sinned a shameful sin,</span><br /> +And I will do mine utmost to retrieve it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +How? Fear’st thou not the Achaeans in this act?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +In doing right I fear not them nor thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +I call thy power in question.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in20">Then I’ll fight,</span><br /> +Not with Troy’s legions, but with thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +<span class="in24">Come on!</span><br /> +Let fortune arbitrate.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in10">Thou seest my hand</span><br /> +Feeling the hilt.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +<span class="in6">And me thou soon shalt see</span><br /> +Doing the like and dallying not!—And yet<br /> +I will not touch thee, but will go and tell<br /> +The army, that shall wreak this on thy head.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Thou show’st discretion: which if thou preserve,<br /> +Thou may’st maintain a path exempt from pain.<br /> +Ho! son of Poeas, Philoctetes, come<br /> +And leave thy habitation in the rock.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 253]</span><span class="linenum">[1263-1294]</span> +<span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +What noise again is troubling my poor cave?<br /> +Why do ye summon me? What crave ye, sirs?<br /> +Ha! ’tis some knavery. Are ye come to add<br /> +Some monster evil to my mountainous woe?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Fear not, but hearken to what now I speak.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +I needs must fear thee, whose fair words erewhile<br /> +Brought me to bitter fortune.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in14">May not men</span><br /> +Repent and change?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in10">Such wast thou in thy talk,</span><br /> +When thou didst rob me of my bow,—so bright<br /> +Without, so black within.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in12">Ah, but not now,</span><br /> +Assure thee! Only let me hear thy will,<br /> +Is ’t constant to remain here and endure,<br /> +Or to make voyage with us?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in16">Stop, speak no more!</span><br /> +Idle and vain will all thine utterance be.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Thou art so resolved?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in18">More firmly than I say.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I would I might have brought thee to my mind,<br /> +But since my words are out of tune, I have done.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Thou wert best. No word of thine can touch my soul<br /> +Or win me to thy love, who by deceit<br /> +Hast reft my life away. And then thou com’st<br /> +To school me,—of noblest father, basest son!<br /> +Perish, the Atridae first of all, and then<br /> +Laërtes’ child, and thou!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in12">Curse me no more,</span><br /> +But take this hallowed weapon from my hand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +What words are these? Am I again deceived?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +No, by the holiest name of Zeus on high!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +O voice of gladness, if thy speech be true!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +The deed shall prove it. Only reach thy hand,<br /> +And be again sole master of thy bow.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">ODYSSEUS</span> appears</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +But I make protest, in the sight of Heaven,<br /> +For Atreus’ sons, and all the Achaean host.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 254]</span><span class="linenum">[1295-1330]</span> +<span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Dear son, whose voice disturbs us? Do I hear<br /> +Odysseus?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OD.</span> +<span class="in4">Ay, and thou behold’st him nigh,</span><br /> +And he shall force thee to the Trojan plain,<br /> +Howe’er Achilles’ offspring make or mar.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +This shaft shall bear thee sorrow for that boast.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Let it not fly, by Heaven!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in20">Dear child, let go</span><br /> +Mine arm!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in2">I will not.</span><span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">ODYSSEUS</span></span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in12">Ah! Why hast thou robbed</span><br /> +My bow of bringing down mine enemy?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +This were ignoble both for thee and me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +One thing is manifest, the first o’ the host<br /> +Lying forerunners of the Achaean band,<br /> +Are brave with words, but cowards with the steel.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Well, now the bow is thine. Thou hast no cause<br /> +For blame or anger any more ’gainst me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +None. Thou hast proved thy birthright, dearest boy.<br /> +Not from the loins of Sisyphus thou earnest,<br /> +But from Achilles, who in life was held<br /> +Noblest of men alive, and now o’ the dead.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +It gladdens me that thou shouldst speak in praise<br /> +Both of my sire and me. But hear me tell<br /> +The boon for which I sue thee.—Mortal men<br /> +Must bear such evils as high Heaven ordains;<br /> +But those afflicted by self-chosen ills,<br /> +Like thine to-day, receive not from just men<br /> +Or kind indulgence or compassionate thought.<br /> +And thou art restive grown, and wilt not hearken,<br /> +But though one counsel thee with kind’st intent,<br /> +Wilt take him for a dark malignant foe.<br /> +Yet, calling Zeus to witness for my soul,<br /> +Once more I will speak. Know this, and mark it well:<br /> +Thou bear’st this sickness by a heavenly doom,<br /> +Through coming near to Chrysa’s sentinel,<br /> +The lurking snake, that guards <a href="#Phil_n_7" name="Phil_t_7" id="Phil_t_7">the sky-roofed fold.</a><br /> +And from this plague thou ne’er shall find reprieve<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 255]</span><span class="linenum">[1330-1368]</span> +While the same Sun god rears him from the east<br /> +And droops to west again, till thou be come<br /> +Of thine own willing mind to Troia’s plain,<br /> +Where our physicians, sons of <a href="#Phil_n_8" name="Phil_t_8" id="Phil_t_8">Phoebus’ child,</a><br /> +Shall soothe thee from thy sore, and thou with me<br /> +And with this bow shalt take Troy’s citadel.<br /> +How do I know this? I will tell thee straight<br /> +We have a Trojan captive, Helenus,<br /> +Both prince and prophet, who hath clearly told<br /> +This must be so, yea, and ere harvest time<br /> +This year, great Troy must fall, else if his words<br /> +Be falsified, who will may slay the seer.<br /> +Now, since thou know’st of this, yield thy consent;<br /> +For glorious is the gain, being singled forth<br /> +From all the Greeks as noblest, first to come<br /> +To healing hands, and then to win renown<br /> +Unrivalled, vanquishing all tearful Troy.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Oh how I hate my life! Why must it keep<br /> +This breathing form from sinking to the shades?<br /> +How can I prove a rebel to his mind<br /> +Who thus exhorts me with affectionate heart?<br /> +And yet, oh misery! must I give way?<br /> +Then how could I endure the light of heaven?<br /> +With whom could I exchange a word? Ay me!<br /> +Eyes that have seen each act of my sad life,<br /> +How could ye bear it, to behold the sons<br /> +Of Atreus, my destroyers, comrades now<br /> +And friends! Laërtes’ wicked son, my friend!<br /> +And less I feel the grief of former wrong<br /> +Than shudder with expectance of fresh harm<br /> +They yet may work on me. For when the mind<br /> +Hath once been mother of an evil brood,<br /> +It nurses nought but evils. Yea, at thee<br /> +I marvel. Thou should’st ne’er return to Troy,<br /> +Nor suffer me to go, when thou remember’st<br /> +What insult they have done thee, ravishing<br /> +Thy father’s rights from thee. And wilt thou then<br /> +Sail to befriend them, pressing me in aid?<br /> +Nay, do not, son; but, even as thou hast sworn,<br /> +Convey me home, and thou, in Scyros dwelling,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 256]</span><span class="linenum">[1369-1402]</span> +Leave to their evil doom those evil men.<br /> +So thou shalt win a twofold gratitude<br /> +From me and from my father, and not seem,<br /> +Helping vile men, to be as vile as they.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +’Tis fairly spoken. Yet I would that thou<br /> +Relying on my word and on Heaven’s aid,<br /> +Would’st voyage forth from Lemnos with thy friend.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Mean’st thou to Troy, and to the hateful sons<br /> +Of Atreus, me, with this distressful limb?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Nay, but to those that will relieve the pain<br /> +Of thy torn foot and heal thee of thy plague.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Thy words are horrible. What mean’st thou, boy?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +The act I deem the noblest for us both.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Wilt thou speak so? Where is thy fear of Heaven?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Why should I fear, when I see certain gain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Gain for the sons of Atreus, or for me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Methinks a friend should give thee friendly counsel.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Friendly, to hand me over to my foes?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Ah, be not hardened in thy misery!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +I know thou wilt ruin me by what thou speakest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Not I. The case is dark to thee, I see.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +I know the Atreidae cast me on this rock.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +But how, if they should save thee afterward?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +They ne’er shall make me see Troy with my will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Hard is my fortune, then, if by no sleight<br /> +Of reasoning I can draw thee to my mind.<br /> +For me, ’twere easiest to end speech, that thou<br /> +Might’st live on as thou livest in hopeless pain.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Then leave me to my fate!—But thou hast touched<br /> +My right hand with thine own, and given consent<br /> +To bear me to my home. Do this, dear son!<br /> +And do not linger to take thought of Troy.<br /> +Enough that name hath echoed in my groans.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +If thou wilt, let us be going.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in22">Nobly hast thou said the word.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 257]</span><span class="linenum">[1402-1436]</span> +<span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Lean thy steps on mine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in20">As firmly as my foot will strength afford.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Ah! but how shall I escape Achaean anger?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in34">Do not care!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +Ah! but should they spoil my country!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in30">I to shield thee will be there.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +How to shield me, how to aid me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +<span class="in28">With the shafts of Heracles</span><br /> +I will scare them.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +<span class="in6">Give thy blessing to this isle, and come in peace.</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">HERACLES</span> appears from above.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HERACLES.</span> +First, son of Poeas, wait till thou hast heard<br /> +The voice of Heracles, and weighed his word.<br /> +Him thou beholdest from the Heavenly seat<br /> +Come down, for thee leaving the blest retreat,<br /> +To tell thee all high Zeus intends, and stay<br /> +Thy purpose in the journey of to-day.<br /> +<span class="in2">Then hear me, first how after my long toils</span><br /> +By strange adventure I have found and won<br /> +Immortal glory, which thine eyes perceive;<br /> +And the like lot, I tell thee, shall be thine,<br /> +After these pains to rise to glorious fame.<br /> +Sailing with this thy comrade to Troy-town,<br /> +First thou shalt heal thee from thy grievous sore,<br /> +And then, being singled forth from all the host<br /> +As noblest, thou shalt conquer with that bow<br /> +Paris, prime author of these years of harm,<br /> +And capture Troy, and bear back to thy hall<br /> +The choicest guerdon, for thy valour’s meed,<br /> +To Oeta’s vale and thine own father’s home.<br /> +But every prize thou tak’st be sure thou bear<br /> +Unto my pyre, in memory of my bow.<br /> +<span class="in2">This word, Achilles’ offspring, is for thee</span><br /> +No less. For, as thou could’st not without him,<br /> +So, without thee, he cannot conquer Troy.<br /> +Then, like twin lions hunting the same hill,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 258]</span><span class="linenum">[1437-1471]</span> +Guard thou him, and he thee! and I will send<br /> +Asclepius Troyward to relieve thy pain.<br /> +For Ilion now a second time must fall<br /> +Before the Herculean bow. But, take good heed,<br /> +Midst all your spoil to hold the gods in awe.<br /> +For our great Father counteth piety<br /> +Far above all. This follows men in death,<br /> +And fails them not when they resign their breath.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Thou whom I have longed to see,<br /> +<span class="in4">Thy dear voice is law to me.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">NEO.</span> +I obey with gladdened heart.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">HER.</span> +Lose no time: at once depart!<br /> +<span class="in4">Bright occasion and fair wind</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Urge your vessel from behind.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">PHI.</span> +Come, let me bless the region ere I go.<br /> +<span class="in4">Poor house, sad comrade of my watch, farewell!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Ye nymphs of meadows where soft waters flow</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Thou ocean headland, pealing thy deep knell,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Where oft within my cavern as I lay</span><br /> +<span class="in4">My hair was moist with dashing south-wind’s spray,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And ofttimes came from Hermes’ foreland high</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Sad replication of my storm-vext cry;</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Ye fountains and thou Lycian water sweet,—</span><br /> +<span class="in4">I never thought to leave you, yet my feet</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Are turning from your paths,—we part for aye.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Farewell! and waft me kindly on my way,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">O Lemnian earth enclosed by circling seas,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">To sail, where mighty Fate my course decrees,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And friendly voices point me, and the will</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Of that heroic power, who doth this act fulfil.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Come now all in one strong band;<br /> +<span class="in4">Then, ere loosing from the land,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Pray we to the nymphs of sea</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Kind protectresses to be,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Till we touch the Trojan strand.</span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> + + + +<div><span class="page2" id="pg259">[page 259]</span></div> +<h2>OEDIPUS AT COLONOS</h2> + + +<h3>THE PERSONS</h3> + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li>OEDIPUS, <i>old and blind.</i></li> +<li>ANTIGONE, <i>his daughter, a young girl.</i></li> +<li>ISMENE, <i>his daughter, a young girl.</i></li> +<li>CHORUS <i>of Village Guardians.</i></li> +<li><i>An Athenian.</i></li> +<li>THESEUS, <i>King of Athens.</i></li> +<li>CREON, <i>Envoy from Thebes.</i></li> +<li>POLYNICES, <i>the elder son of Oedipus.</i></li> +<li><i>Messenger.</i></li> +</ul> + +<p class="lftbrk">SCENE. Colonos.</p> + + + + +<p class="break"><span class="page2">[page 260]</span> +Oedipus had remained at Thebes for some time after his +fall. But he was afterwards banished by the command +of Creon, with the consent of his own sons. Their intention +at first was to lay no claim to the throne. But by-and-by +ambition prevailed with Eteocles, the younger-born, and +he persuaded Creon and the citizens to banish his elder +brother. Polynices took refuge at Argos, where he +married the daughter of Adrastus, and levied an army of +auxiliaries to support his pretensions to the throne of +Thebes. Before going into exile Oedipus had cursed his +sons.</p> + +<p>Antigone after a while fled forth to join her father and +support him in his wanderings. Ismenè also once brought +him secret intelligence.</p> + +<p>Years have now elapsed, and the Delphian oracle proclaims +that if Oedipus dies in a foreign land the enemies of +Thebes shall overcome her.</p> + +<p>In ignorance of this fact, Oedipus, now aged as well as +blind, and led by his daughter Antigone, appears before +the grove of the Eumenides, at Colonos, in the neighbourhood +of Athens. He has felt an inward intimation, which +is strengthened by some words of the oracle received by +him long since at Delphi, that his involuntary crimes have +been atoned for, and that the Avenging Deities will now +receive him kindly and make his cause their own.</p> + +<p>After some natural hesitation on the part of the village-councillors +of Colonos, Oedipus is received with princely +magnanimity by Theseus, who takes him under the protection +of Athens, and defends him against the machinations +of Creon.</p> + +<p>Thus the blessing of the Gods, which Oedipus carried with +him, is secured to Athens, and denied to Thebes. The +craft of Creon and the prayers of Polynices alike prove +unavailing. Then the man of many sorrows, whose +essential nobleness has survived them all, passes away +mysteriously from the sight of men.</p> + +<p>The scene is laid at Colonos, a suburb of Athens much +frequented by the upper classes, especially the Knights +(see Thuc. viii. 67); and before the sacred grove of the +Eumenides, or Gentle Goddesses, a euphemistic title for the +Erinyes, or Goddesses of Vengeance.</p> + + + + +<p><span class="page2">[page 261]</span></p> +<h3>OEDIPUS AT COLONOS</h3> + + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">OEDIPUS</span>. <span class="cnm">ANTIGONE</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OEDIPUS.</span> +Antigone, child of the old blind sire,<br /> +What land is here, what people? Who to-day<br /> +Shall dole to Oedipus, the wandering exile,<br /> +Their meagre gifts? Little I ask, and less<br /> +Receive with full contentment; for my woes,<br /> +And the long years ripening the noble mind,<br /> +Have schooled me to endure.—But, O my child,<br /> +If thou espiest where we may sit, though near<br /> +Some holy precinct, stay me and set me there,<br /> +Till we may learn where we are come. ’Tis ours<br /> +To hear the will of strangers and to obey.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANTIGONE.</span> +Woe-wearied father, yonder city’s wall<br /> +That shields her, looks far distant; but this ground<br /> +Is surely sacred, thickly planted over<br /> +With olive, bay and vine, within whose bowers<br /> +Thick-fluttering song-birds make sweet melody.<br /> +Here then repose thee on this unhewn stone.<br /> +Thou hast travelled far to-day for one so old.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Seat me, my child, and be the blind man’s guard.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Long time hath well instructed me in that.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Now, canst thou tell me where we have set our feet?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Athens I know, but not the nearer ground.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ay, every man that met us in the way<br /> +Named Athens.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in6">Shall I go, then, and find out</span><br /> +The name of the spot?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in10">Yes, if ’tis habitable.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +It is inhabited. Yet I need not go.<br /> +I see a man even now approaching here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 262]</span><span class="linenum">[30-59]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +How? Makes he towards us? Is he drawing nigh?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +He is close beside us. Whatsoe’er thou findest<br /> +Good to be spoken, say it. The man is here.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter an <span class="cnm">Athenian</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +O stranger, learning from this maid, who sees<br /> +Both for herself and me, that thou art come<br /> +With timely light to clear our troubled thought—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATHENIAN.</span> +Ere thou ask more, come forth from where thou sittest!<br /> +Ye trench on soil forbidden human tread.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What soil? And to what Power thus consecrate?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +None may go near, nor dwell there. ’Tis possessed<br /> +By the dread sisters, children of Earth and Night.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What holy name will please them, if I pray?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +‘All seeing Gentle Powers’ the dwellers here<br /> +Would call them. But each land hath its own rule.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And gently may they look on him who now<br /> +Implores them, and will never leave this grove!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +What saying is this?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in16">The watchword of my doom.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Yet dare I not remove thee, till the town<br /> +Have heard my purpose and confirm the deed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +By Heaven, I pray thee, stranger, scorn me not,<br /> +Poor wanderer that I am, but answer me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Make clear thy drift. Thou’lt get no scorn from me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Then, pray thee, tell me how ye name the place<br /> +Where now I sit.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +<span class="in6">The region all around</span><br /> +Is sacred. For ’tis guarded and possessed<br /> +<a name="Oedi_t_2a" id="Oedi_t_2a"></a>By dread Poseidon, and the Titan mind<br /> +That brought us fire—Prometheus. But that floor<br /> +Whereon thy feet are resting, hath been called<br /> +The brazen threshold of our land, the stay<br /> +Of glorious Athens, and the neighbouring fields<br /> +Are fain to honour for their patron-god<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 263]</span> +Thee, O Colonos, first of Knights, whose name +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Pointing to a statue <span class="chln">[60-95]</span></span><br /> +They bear in brotherhood and own for theirs.<br /> +Such, friend, believe me, is this place, not praised<br /> +In story, but of many a heart beloved.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Then is the land inhabited of men?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +By men, who name them from Colonos there.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Have they a lord, or sways the people’s voice?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Lord Theseus, child of Aegeus, our late king.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Will some one of your people bring him hither?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Wherefore? What urgent cause requires his presence?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +He shall gain mightily by granting little.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Who can gain profit from the blind?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in28">The words</span><br /> +These lips shall utter, shall be full of sight.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ATH.</span> +Well, thou look’st nobly, but for thy hard fate.<br /> +This course is safe. Thus do. Stay where I found thee,<br /> +Till I go tell the neighbour townsmen here<br /> +Not of the city, but Colonos. They<br /> +Shall judge for thee to abide or to depart.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Tell me, my daughter, is the man away?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +He is gone, father. I alone am near.<br /> +Speak what thou wilt in peace and quietness.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Dread Forms of holy Fear, since in this land<br /> +Your sanctuary first gave my limbs repose,<br /> +Be not obdurate to my prayer, nor spurn<br /> +The voice of Phoebus, who that fateful day,<br /> +When he proclaimed my host of ills to come,<br /> +Told me of rest after a weary time,<br /> +Where else but here? ‘When I should reach my bourne,<br /> +And find repose and refuge with the Powers<br /> +Of reverend name, my troubled life should end<br /> +With blessing to the men who sheltered me,<br /> +And curses on their race who banished me<br /> +and sent me wandering forth.’ Whereof he vouched me<br /> +Sure token, or by earthquake, or by fire<br /> +From heaven, or thundrous voices. And I know<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 264]</span><span class="linenum">[96-137]</span> +Some aëry message from your shrine hath drawn me<br /> +With wingèd whisper to this grove. Not else<br /> +Had ye first met me coming, nor had I<br /> +Sate on your dread unchiselled seat of stone,<br /> +With dry cold lips greeting your sober shrine.<br /> +Then give Apollo’s word due course, and give<br /> +Completion to my life, if in your sight<br /> +These toils and sorrows past the human bound<br /> +Seem not too little. Kindly, gentle powers,<br /> +Offspring of primal darkness, hear my prayer!<br /> +Hear it, Athenai, of all cities queen,<br /> +Great Pallas’ foster-city! Look with ruth<br /> +On this poor shadow of great Oedipus,<br /> +This fading semblance of his kingly form.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Be silent now. There comes an aged band<br /> +With jealous looks to know thine errand here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I will be silent, and thine arm shall guide<br /> +My footstep under covert of the grove<br /> +Out of the path, till I make sure what words<br /> +These men will utter. Warily to observe<br /> +Is the prime secret of the prudent mind.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span> (entering).</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in2">Keep watch! Who is it? Look!</span><span class="chm">1</span><br /> +Where is he? Vanished! Gone! Oh where?<br /> +<span class="in4">Most uncontrolled of men!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Look well, inquire him out,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Search keenly in every nook!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">—Some wanderer is the aged wight,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">A wanderer surely, not a native here.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Else never had he gone within</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The untrodden grove</span><br /> +Of these—unmarried, unapproachable in might,<br /> +<span class="in4">—Whose name we dare not breathe,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But pass their shrine</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Without a look, without a word,</span><br /> +Uttering the unheard voice of reverential thought.<br /> +<span class="in4">But now, one comes, they tell, devoid of awe,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Whom, peering all around this grove</span><br /> +<span class="in4">I find not, where he abideth.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 265]</span><span class="linenum">[138-177]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +(<span class="sdm">behind</span>). +Behold me! For I ‘see by sound,’<br /> +As mortals say.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Oh, Oh!<br /> +With horror I see him, with horror hear him speak.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Pray you, regard me not as a transgressor!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Defend us, Zeus! Who is that aged wight?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Not one of happiest fate,<br /> +Or enviable, O guardians of this land!<br /> +’Tis manifest; else had I not come hither<br /> +Led by another’s eyes, not moored my bark<br /> +On such a slender stay.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Alas! And are thine eyes<span class="chm">2</span><br /> +Sightless? O full of misery,<br /> +<span class="in4">As thou look’st full of years!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">But not, if I prevail,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Shalt thou bring down this curse.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Thou art trespassing. Yet keep thy foot</span><br /> +<span class="in4">From stumbling in that verdant, voiceless dell,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Where running water as it fills</span><br /> +<span class="in4">The hallowed bowl,</span><br /> +<a href="#Oedi_n_1" name="Oedi_t_1" id="Oedi_t_1">Mingles with draughts</a> of honey. Stranger, hapless one!<br /> +<span class="in4">Avoid that with all care.</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Away! Remove!</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Distance impedes the sound. Dost hear,</span><br /> +Woe-burdened wanderer? If aught thou carest to bring<br /> +<span class="in4">Before our council, leave forbidden ground,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">And there, where all have liberty,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Speak,—but till then, avaunt thee!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Daughter, what must I think, or do?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in28">My sire!</span><br /> +We must conform us to the people’s will,<br /> +Yielding ere they compel.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in12">Give me thy hand.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Thou hast it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in10">—Strangers, let me not</span><br /> +Be wronged, when I have trusted you<br /> +And come from where I stood!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Assure thee, from this seat<br /> +No man shall drag thee off against thy will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 266]</span><span class="linenum">[178-211]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Farther?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in8">Advance thy foot.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in22">Yet more?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in32">Assist him onward</span><br /> +Maiden, thou hast thy sight.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Come, follow, this way follow with thy darkened steps,<br /> +Father, the way I am leading thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Content thee, sojourning in a strange land,<br /> +O man of woe!<br /> +To eschew whate’er the city holds in hate,<br /> +And honour what she loves!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in14">Then do thou lead me, child,</span><br /> +Where with our feet secure from sin<br /> +We may be suffered both to speak and hear.<br /> +Let us not war against necessity.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +There! From that bench of rock<br /> +Go not again astray.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Even here?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in10">Enough, I tell thee.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in24">May I sit?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Ay, crouch thee low adown<br /> +Crooking thy limbs, upon the stone.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Father, this task is mine—<br /> +Sink gently down into thy resting-place,</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Woe is me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Supporting on this loving hand<br /> +Thy reverend aged form.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Woe, for my cruel fate!<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span><span class="cnm">OEDIPUS</span> is seated</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Now thou unbendest from thy stubborn ways,<br /> +O man of woe!<br /> +Declare, what mortal wight thou art,<br /> +That, marked by troublous fortune, here art led.<br /> +What native country, shall we learn, is thine?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +O strangers, I have none!<br /> +But do not—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in6">What dost thou forbid, old sir?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Do not, oh, do not ask me who I am,<br /> +Nor probe me with more question.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 267]</span><span class="linenum">[212-244]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in20">What dost thou mean?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +My birth is dreadful.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in18">Tell it forth.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What should I utter, O my child? Woe is me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thy seed, thy father’s name, stranger, pronounce!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Alas! What must I do? My child!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Since no resource avails thee, speak!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I will. I cannot hide it further.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Ye are long about it. Haste thee!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in24">Know ye of one</span><br /> +Begotten of Laius?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in10">Horror! Horror! Oh!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Derived from Labdacus?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in22">O Heaven!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Fate-wearied Oedipus?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in22">Art thou he?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Fear not my words.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in18">Oh! Oh!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Unhappy me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in12">Oh!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in14">Daughter, what is coming?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Away! Go forth. Leave ye the land. Begone!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And where, then, is the promise thou hast given?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +No doom retributive attends the deed<br /> +That wreaks prevenient wrong.<br /> +Deceit, matched with deceit, makes recompense<br /> +Of evil, not of kindness. Get thee forth!<br /> +Desert that seat again, and from this land<br /> +Unmooring speed thee away, lest on our state<br /> +Thou bring some further bale!</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">MONODY</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +O strangers, full of reverent care!<br /> +Since ye cannot endure my father here,<br /> +Aged and blind,<br /> +Because ye have heard a rumour of the deeds<br /> +He did unknowingly,—yet, we entreat you.<br /> +Strangers, have pity on me, the hapless girl,<br /> +Who pray for mine own sire and for none else,<br /> +—Pray, looking in your eyes with eyes not blind.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 268]</span><span class="linenum">[245-282]</span> +As if a daughter had appeared to you.<br /> +Pleading for mercy to the unfortunate.<br /> +We are in your hands as in the hand of God,<br /> +Helpless. O then accord the unhoped for boon!<br /> +By what is dear to thee, thy veriest own,<br /> +I pray thee,—chattel or child, or holier name!<br /> +Search through the world, thou wilt not find the man<br /> +Who could resist the leading of a God.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Daughter of Oedipus, be well assured<br /> +We view with pity both thy case and his,<br /> +But fear of Heavenly wrath confines our speech<br /> +To that we have already said to you.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What profit lives in fame and fair renown<br /> +By unsubstantial rumour idly spread?<br /> +When Athens is extolled with peerless praise<br /> +For reverence, and for mercy!—She alone<br /> +The sufferer’s shield, the exile’s comforter!<br /> +What have I reaped hereof? Ye have raised me up<br /> +From yonder seat, and now would drive me forth<br /> +Fearing a name! For there is nought in me<br /> +Or deeds of mine to make you fear. My life<br /> +Hath more of wrong endured than of wrong done,<br /> +Were it but lawful to disclose to you<br /> +Wherefore ye dread me,—not my sin but theirs,<br /> +My mother’s and my sire’s. I know your thought.<br /> +Yet never can ye fasten guilt on me,<br /> +Who, though I had acted with the clear’st intent,<br /> +Were guiltless, for my deed requited wrong.<br /> +But as it was, all blindly I went forth<br /> +On that dire road, while they who planned my death<br /> +Planned it with perfect knowledge. Therefore, sirs,<br /> +By Heaven I pray you, as ye have bid me rise,<br /> +Protect your suppliant without fail; and do not<br /> +In jealous reverence for the blessed Gods<br /> +Rob them of truest reverence, but know this:—<br /> +God looks upon the righteousness of men<br /> +And their unrighteousness, nor ever yet<br /> +Hath one escaped who wrought iniquity.<br /> +Take part, then, with the Gods, nor overcloud<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 269]</span><span class="linenum">[283-316]</span> +The golden fame of Athens with dark deeds;<br /> +But as ye have pledged your faith to shelter me,<br /> +Defend me and rescue, not rejecting me<br /> +Through mere abhorrence of my ruined face.<br /> +For on a holy mission am I come,<br /> +Sent with rich blessings for your neighbours here.<br /> +And when the head and sovereign of your folk<br /> +Is present, ye shall learn the truth at full.<br /> +Till then, be gracious to me, and not perverse.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thy meaning needs must strike our hearts with awe,<br /> +Old wanderer! so weighty are the words<br /> +That body it forth. Therefore we are content<br /> +The Lord of Athens shall decide this case.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And where is he who rules this country, sirs?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +He keeps his father’s citadel. But one<br /> +Is gone to fetch him, he who brought us hither.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Think you he will consider the blind man,<br /> +And come in person here to visit him?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Be sure he will,—when he hath heard thy name.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And who will carry that?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in20">’Tis a long road;</span><br /> +But rumour from the lips of wayfarers<br /> +Flies far and wide, so that he needs must hear;<br /> +And hearing, never doubt but he will come.<br /> +So noised in every land hath been thy name,<br /> +Old sovereign,—were he sunk in drowsiness,<br /> +That sound would bring him swiftly to thy side.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Well, may he come to bless his city and me!<br /> +When hath not goodness blessed the giver of good?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +O Heavens! What shall I say, what think, my father?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Daughter Antigone, what is it?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in24">I see</span><br /> +A woman coming toward us, mounted well<br /> +On a fair Sicilian palfrey, and her face<br /> +With brow-defending hood of Thessaly<br /> +Is shadowed from the sun. What must I think?<br /> +Is it she or no? Can the eye so far deceive?<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 270]</span><span class="linenum">[317-346]</span> +It is. ’Tis not. Unhappy that I am,<br /> +I know not.—Yes, ’tis she. For drawing near<br /> +She greets me with bright glances, and declares<br /> +Beyond a doubt, Ismene’s self is here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What say’st thou, daughter?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in22">That I see thy child,</span><br /> +My sister. Soon her voice will make thee sure.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">ISMENE</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISMENE.</span> +Father and sister!—names for ever dear!<br /> +Hard hath it been to find you, yea, and hard<br /> +I feel it now to look on you for grief.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Child, art thou here?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in16">Father! O sight of pain!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Offspring and sister!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in16">Woe for thy dark fate!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Hast thou come, daughter?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in22">On a troublous way.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Touch me, my child!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in16">I give a hand to both.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +To her and me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in14">Three linked in one sad knot.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Child, wherefore art thou come?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in26">In care for thee.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Because you missed me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in20">Ay, and to bring thee tidings,</span><br /> +With the only slave whom I could trust.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in22">And they,</span><br /> +Thy brethren, what of them? Were they not there<br /> +To take this journey for their father’s good?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Ask not of them. Dire deeds are theirs to day.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +How in all points their life obeys the law<br /> +Of Egypt, where the men keep house and weave<br /> +Sitting within doors, while the wives abroad<br /> +Provide with ceaseless toil the means of life.<br /> +So in your case, my daughters, they who should<br /> +Have ta’en this burden on them, bide at home<br /> +Like maidens, while ye take their place, and lighten<br /> +My miseries by your toil. Antigone,<br /> +E’er since her childhood ended, and her frame<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 271]</span><span class="linenum">[347-387]</span> +Was firmly knit, with ceaseless ministry<br /> +Still tends upon the old man’s wandering,<br /> +Oft in the forest ranging up and down<br /> +Fasting and barefoot through the burning heat<br /> +Or pelting rain, nor thinks, unhappy maid,<br /> +Of home or comfort, so her father’s need<br /> +Be satisfied. And thou, that camest before,<br /> +Eluding the Cadmeans, and didst tell me<br /> +What words Apollo had pronounced on me.<br /> +And when they banished me, stood’st firm to shield me,<br /> +What news, Ismene, bring’st thou to thy sire<br /> +To day? What mission sped thee forth? I know<br /> +Thou com’st not idly, but with fears for me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Father, I will not say what I endured<br /> +In searching out the place that sheltered thee.<br /> +To tell it o’er would but renew the pain.<br /> +But of the danger now encompassing<br /> +Thine ill starred sons,—of that I came to speak.<br /> +At first they strove with Creon and declared<br /> +The throne should be left vacant and the town<br /> +Freed from pollution,—paying deep regard<br /> +In their debate to the dark heritage<br /> +Of ruin that o’ershadowed all thy race.<br /> +Far different is the strife which holds them now,<br /> +Since some great Power, joined to their sinful mind,<br /> +Incites them both to seize on sovereign sway.<br /> +Eteocles, in pride of younger years,<br /> +Robbed elder Polynices of his right,<br /> +Dethroned and banished him. To Argos then<br /> +Goes exiled Polynices, and obtains<br /> +Through intermarriage a strong favouring league,<br /> +Whose word is, ‘Either Argos vanquishes<br /> +The seed of Cadmus or exalts their fame’<br /> +This, father, is no tissue of empty talk,<br /> +But dreadful truth, nor can I tell where Heaven<br /> +Is to reveal his mercy to thy woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And hadst thou ever hoped the Gods would care<br /> +For mine affliction, and restore my life?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +I hope it now since this last oracle.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 272]</span><span class="linenum">[388-417]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What oracle hath been declared, my child?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +That they shall seek thee forth, alive or dead,<br /> +To bring salvation to the Theban race.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Who can win safety through such help as mine?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +’Tis said their victory depends on thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +When shrunk to nothing, am I indeed a man?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Yea, for the Gods uphold thee, who then destroyed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Poor work, to uphold in age who falls when young!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Know howsoe’er that Creon will be here<br /> +For this same end, ere many an hour be spent.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +For what end, daughter? Tell me in plain speech.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +To set thee near their land, that thou may’st be<br /> +Beyond their borders, but within their power.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What good am I, thus lying at their gate?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Thine inauspicious burial brings them woe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +There needs no oracle to tell one that.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +And therefore they would place thee near their land,<br /> +Where thou may’st have no power upon thyself.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Say then, shall Theban dust o’ershadow me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +The blood of kindred cleaving to thy hand,<br /> +Father, forbids thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in8">Never, then, henceforth,</span><br /> +Shall they lay hold on me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in14">If that be true,</span><br /> +The brood of Cadmus shall have bale.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in22">What cause</span><br /> +Having appeared, will bring this doom to pass?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Thy wrath, when they are marshalled at thy tomb.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +From whom hast thou heard this?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in26">Sworn messengers</span><br /> +Brought such report from Delphi’s holy shrine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Hath Phoebus so pronounced my destiny?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +So they declare who brought the answer back.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Did my sons hear?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in16">They know it, both of them.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 273]</span><span class="linenum">[418-450]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Villains, who, being informed of such a word,<br /> +Turned not their thoughts toward me, but rather chose<br /> +Ambition and a throne!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in12">It wounds mine ear</span><br /> +To hear it spoken, but the news I bring<br /> +Is to that stern effect.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in10">Then I pray Heaven</span><br /> +The fury of their fate-appointed strife<br /> +May ne’er be quenched, but that the end may come<br /> +According to my wish upon them twain<br /> +To this contention and arbitrament<br /> +Of battle which they now assay and lift<br /> +The threatening spear! So neither he who wields<br /> +The sceptred power should keep possession still,<br /> +Nor should his brother out of banishment<br /> +Ever return:—who, when their sire—when I<br /> +Was shamefully thrust from my native land,<br /> +Checked not my fall nor saved me, but, for them,<br /> +I was driven homeless and proclaimed an exile.<br /> +Ye will tell me ’twas in reason that the State<br /> +Granted this boon to my express desire.<br /> +Nay; for in those first hours of agony,<br /> +When my heart raged, and it seemed sweetest to me<br /> +To die the death, and to be stoned with stones,<br /> +No help appeared to yield me that relief.<br /> +But after lapse of days, when all my pain<br /> +Was softened, and I felt that my hot spirit<br /> +Had run to fierce excess of bitterness<br /> +In wreaking mine offence—then, then the State<br /> +Drove me for ever from the land, and they,<br /> +Their father’s sons, who might have saved their father,<br /> +Cared not to help him, but betrayed by them,<br /> +For lack of one light word, I wandered forth<br /> +To homeless banishment and beggary.<br /> +But these weak maidens to their nature’s power<br /> +Have striven to furnish me with means to live<br /> +And dwell securely, girded round with love.<br /> +My sons have chosen before their father’s life<br /> +A lordly throne and sceptred sovereignty.<br /> +But never shall they win me to their aid,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 274]</span><span class="linenum">[451-481]</span> +Nor shall the Theban throne for which they strive<br /> +Bring them desired content. That well I know,<br /> +Comparing with my daughter’s prophecies<br /> +Those ancient oracles which Phoebus once<br /> +Spake in mine ear. Then let them send to seek me<br /> +Creon, or who is strongest in their State.<br /> +For if ye, strangers, will but add your might<br /> +To the protection of these awful Powers,<br /> +The guardians of your soil, to shelter me,<br /> +Ye shall acquire for this your State a saviour<br /> +Mighty to save, and ye shall vex my foes.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thou art worthy of all compassion, Oedipus,<br /> +Thyself and these thy daughters. Now, moreover<br /> +Since thou proclaim’st thyself our country’s saviour<br /> +I would advise thee for the best.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in18">Kind sir,</span><br /> +Be my good guide. I will do all thou biddest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Propitiate then these holy powers, whose grove<br /> +Received thee when first treading this their ground.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What are the appointed forms? Advise me, sirs.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +First see to it that from some perennial fount<br /> +Clean hands provide a pure drink-offering.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And when I have gotten this unpolluted draught?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +You will find bowls, formed by a skilful hand,<br /> +Whose brims and handles you must duly wreathe.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +With leaves or flocks of wool, or in what way?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +With tender wool ta’en from a young ewe-lamb.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Well, and what follows to complete the rite?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Next, make libation toward the earliest dawn.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Mean’st thou from those same urns whereof thou speakest?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +From those three vessels pour three several streams,<br /> +Filling the last to the brim.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in14">With what contents</span><br /> +Must this be filled? Instruct me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in18">Not with wine,</span><br /> +But water and the treasure of the bee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 275]</span><span class="linenum">[482-513]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +And when leaf-shadowed Earth has drunk of this,<br /> +What follows?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in6">Thou shalt lay upon her then</span><br /> +From both thy hands a row of olive-twigs—<br /> +Counting thrice nine in all—and add this prayer—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +That is the chief thing,—that I long to hear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +As we have named them Gentle, so may they<br /> +From gentle hearts accord their suppliant aid;—<br /> +Be this thy prayer, or whoso prays for thee,<br /> +Spoken not aloud, but so that none may hear;<br /> +And in departing, turn not. This being done,<br /> +I can stand by thee without dread. But else,<br /> +I needs must fear concerning thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in20">My daughters,</span><br /> +Have ye both heard our friends who inhabit here?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Yea, father; and we wait for thy command.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I cannot go. Two losses hinder me,<br /> +Two evils, want of strength and want of sight.<br /> +Let one of you go and perform this service.<br /> +One soul, methinks, in paying such a debt<br /> +May quit a million, if the heart be pure.<br /> +Haste, then, to do it. Only leave me not<br /> +Untended. For I cannot move alone<br /> +Nor without some one to support me and guide.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +I will be ministrant. But let me know<br /> +Where I must find the place of offering.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Beyond this grove. And, stranger maid, if aught<br /> +Seem wanting, there is one at hand to show it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Then to my task. Meantime, Antigone,<br /> +Watch by our sire. We must not make account<br /> +Of labour that supplies a parent’s need.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thy long since slumbering woe I would not wake again,<span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +But yet I long to learn.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in10">What hidden lore?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in26">The pain</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 276]</span><span class="linenum">[514-541]</span> +That sprang against thy life with spirit-mastering force.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ah, sirs, as ye are kind, re-open not that source<br /> +Of unavoided shame.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in12">Friend, we would hear the tale</span><br /> +Told truly, whose wide voice doth hourly more prevail.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Misery!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in8">Be not loth!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in16">O bitterness!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in28">Consent.</span><br /> +For all thou didst require we gave to thy content.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Oh, strangers, I have borne an all-too-willing brand,<span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +Yet not of mine own choice.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in16">Whence? We would understand.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Nought knowing of the curse she fastened on my head<br /> +Thebè in evil bands bound me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in18">Thy mother’s bed,</span><br /> +Say, didst thou fill? mine ear still echoes to the noise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +’Tis death to me to hear, but, these, mine only joys,<br /> +Friends, are my curse.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in12">O Heaven!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in20">The travail of one womb</span><br /> +Hath gendered all you see, one mother, one dark doom.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +How? Are they both thy race, and—<span class="chm">II 1</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in28">Sister branches too,</span><br /> +Nursed at the self-same place with him from whom they grew.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +O horror!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in8">Ay, not one, ten thousand charged me then!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +O sorrow!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in8">Never done, an ever-sounding strain.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +O crime!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in6">By me ne’er wrought.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in24">But how?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in32">The guerdon fell.</span><br /> +Would I had earned it not from those I served too well.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 277]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +But, hapless, didst thou slay—<span class="chm">II 2 <span class="chln">[542-572]</span></span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in22">What seek ye more to know?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thy father?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in8">O dismay! Ye wound me, blow on blow.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thy hand destroyed him.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in18">Yes. Yet lacks there not herein</span><br /> +A plea for my redress.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in12">How canst thou clear that sin?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I’ll tell thee. For the deed, ’twas proved mine,—Oh ’tis true!<br /> +Yet by Heaven’s law I am freed:—I wist not whom I slew.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Enough. For lo! where Aegeus’ princely son,<br /> +Theseus, comes hither, summoned at thy word.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">THESEUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THESEUS.</span> +From many voices in the former time<br /> +Telling thy cruel tale of sight destroyed<br /> +I have known thee, son of Laius, and to-day<br /> +I know thee anew, in learning thou art here.<br /> +Thy raiment, and the sad change in thy face,<br /> +Proclaim thee who thou art, and pitying thee,<br /> +Dark-fated Oedipus, I fain would hear<br /> +What prayer or supplication thou preferrest<br /> +To me and to my city, thou and this<br /> +Poor maid who moves beside thee. Full of dread<br /> +Must be that fortune thou canst name, which I<br /> +Would shrink from, since I know of mine own youth,<br /> +How in strange lands a stranger as thou art<br /> +I bore the brunt of perilous circumstance<br /> +Beyond all others; nor shall any man,<br /> +Like thee an alien from his native home,<br /> +Find me to turn my face from succouring him.<br /> +I am a man and know it. To-morrow’s good<br /> +Is no more mine than thine or any man’s.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Thy noble spirit, Theseus, in few words<br /> +Hath made my task of utterance brief indeed.<br /> +Thou hast told aright my name and parentage<br /> +And native city. Nought remains for me<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 278]</span><span class="linenum">[573-598]</span> +But to make known mine errand, and our talk<br /> +Is ended.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in2">Tell me plainly thy desire.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I come to offer thee this woe-worn frame,<br /> +As a free boon,—not goodly in outward view.<br /> +A better gift than beauty is that I bring.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +What boon dost thou profess to have brought with thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Thou shalt know by and by,—not yet awhile.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +When comes the revelation of thine aid?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +When I am dead, and thou hast buried me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Thou cravest the last kindness. What’s between<br /> +Thou dost forget or else neglect.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in18">Herein</span><br /> +One word conveys the assurance of the whole.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +You sum up your petition in brief form.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Look to it. Great issues hang upon this hour.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Mean’st thou in this the fortune of thy sons<br /> +Or mine?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in2">I mean the force of their behest</span><br /> +Compelling my removal hence to Thebes.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +So thy consent were sought, ’twere fair to yield.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Once I was ready enough. They would not then.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Wrath is not wisdom in misfortune, man!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Nay, chide not till thou knowest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in26">Inform me, then!</span><br /> +I must not speak without just grounds.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in22">O Theseus,</span><br /> +I am cruelly harassed with wrong heaped on wrong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Mean’st thou that prime misfortune of thy birth?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +No. That hath long been rumoured through the world.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +What, then, can be thy grief? If more than that,<br /> +’Tis more than human.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in10">Here is my distress:—</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 279]</span><span class="linenum">[599-633]</span> +I am made an outcast from my native land<br /> +By mine own offspring. And return is barred<br /> +For ever to the man who slew his sire.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +How then should they require thee to go near,<br /> +And yet dwell separate?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in12">The voice of Heaven</span><br /> +Will drive them to it.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in10">As fearing what reverse</span><br /> +Prophetically told?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in8">Destined defeat</span><br /> +By Athens in the Athenian land.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in18">What source</span><br /> +Of bitterness ’twixt us and Thebes can rise?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Dear son of Aegeus, to the Gods alone<br /> +Comes never Age nor Death. All else i’ the world<br /> +Time, the all subduer, merges in oblivion.<br /> +Earth and men’s bodies weaken, fail, and perish.<br /> +Faith withers, breach of faith springs up and glows<br /> +And neither men nor cities that are friends<br /> +Breathe the same spirit with continuing breath.<br /> +Love shall be turned to hate, and hate to love<br /> +With many hereafter, as with some to-day.<br /> +And though, this hour, between great Thebes and thee<br /> +No cloud be in the heaven, yet moving Time<br /> +Enfolds a countless brood of days to come,<br /> +Wherein for a light cause they shall destroy<br /> +Your now harmonious league with severing war,<br /> +Even where my slumbering form, buried in death,<br /> +Coldly shall drink the life blood of my foes,<br /> +If Zeus be Zeus, and his son Phoebus true.<br /> +I would not speak aloud of mysteries.<br /> +Then let me leave where I began. Preserve<br /> +Thine own good faith, and thou shalt never say,<br /> +Unless Heaven’s promise fail me, that for nought<br /> +Athens took Oedipus to dwell with her.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +My lord, long since the stranger hath professed<br /> +Like augury of blessings to our land.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +And who would dare reject his proffered good?<br /> +Whose bond with us of warrior amity<br /> +Hath ne’er been sundered,—and to day he comes<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 280]</span><span class="linenum">[634-663]</span> +A God-sent suppliant, whose sacred hand<br /> +Is rich with gifts for Athens and for me.<br /> +In reverent heed whereof I ne’er will scorn<br /> +The boon he brings, but plant him in our land.<br /> +And if it please our friend to linger here,<br /> +Ye shall protect him:—if to go with me<br /> +Best likes thee, Oedipus,—ponder, and use<br /> +Thy preference. For my course shall join with thine.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ye Heavens, reward such excellence!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in30">How, then?</span><br /> +Is it thy choice now to go home with me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Yea, were it lawful. But in this same spot—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +What wouldst thou do? I’ll not withstand thy will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I must have victory o’er my banishers.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Thy dwelling with us, then, is our great gain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Yes, if thou fail me not, but keep thy word.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Nay, fear not me! I will aye be true to thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I will not bind thee, like a knave, with oaths.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Oaths were no stronger than my simple word.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What will ye do, then?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in18">What is that thou fearest?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +They will come hither.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in18">Thy guards will see to that.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Beware, lest, if you leave me—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in24">Tell not me,</span><br /> +I know my part.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in6">Terror will have me speak.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Terror and I are strangers.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in20">But their threats!</span><br /> +Thou canst not know—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in12">I know that none shall force</span><br /> +Thee from this ground against thy will. Full oft<br /> +Have threatening words in wrath been voluble,<br /> +Yet, when the mind regained her place again,<br /> +The threatened evil vanished. So to-day<br /> +Bold words of boastful meaning have proclaimed<br /> +Thy forcible abduction by thy kin.<br /> +Yet shall they find (I know it) the voyage from Thebes,<br /> +On such a quest, long and scarce navigable.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 281]</span><span class="linenum">[664-706]</span> +Whate’er my thought, if Phoebus sent thee forth,<br /> +I would bid thee have no fear. And howsoe’er,<br /> +My name will shield thee from all injury.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Friend! in our land of conquering steeds thou art come</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +To this Heaven-fostered haunt, Earth’s fairest home,<br /> +Gleaming Colonos, where the nightingale<br /> +In cool green covert warbleth ever clear,<br /> +True to the clustering ivy and the dear<br /> +<span class="in4">Divine, impenetrable shade,</span><br /> +From wildered boughs and myriad fruitage made,<br /> +Sunless at noon, stormless in every gale.<br /> +Wood-roving Bacchus there, with mazy round,<br /> +And his nymph nurses range the unoffended ground.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">And nourished day by day with heavenly dew</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +Bright flowers their never-failing bloom renew,<br /> +From eldest time Dêo and Cora’s crown<br /> +Full-flowered narcissus, and the golden beam<br /> +Of crocus, while Cephisus’ gentle stream<br /> +<span class="in4">In runnels fed by sleepless springs</span><br /> +Over the land’s broad bosom daily brings<br /> +His pregnant waters, never dwindling down.<br /> +The quiring Muses love to seek the spot<br /> +And Aphroditè’s golden car forsakes it not.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Here too a plant, nobler than e’er was known</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +On Asian soil, grander than yet hath grown<br /> +In Pelops’ mighty Dorian isle, unsown,<br /> +<span class="in2">Free, self-create, the conquering foeman’s fear,</span><br /> +The kind oil-olive, silvery-green,<br /> +Chief nourisher of childish life, is seen<br /> +To burgeon best in this our mother-land.<br /> +No warrior, young, nor aged in command,<br /> +<span class="in2">Shall ravage this, or scathe it with the spear;</span><br /> +<span class="in2">For guardian Zeus’ unslumbering eye</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Beholds it everlastingly,</span><br /> +And Athens’ grey-eyed Queen, dwelling for ever near.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 282]</span> +<span class="in0">Yet one more praise mightier than all I tell</span><span class="chm">II 2 <span class="chln">[707-739]</span></span><br /> +O’er this my home, that Ocean loves her well,<br /> +<span class="in2">And coursers love her, children of the wave</span><br /> +To grace these roadways Prince Poseidon first<br /> +Framed for the horse, that else had burst<br /> +From man’s control, the spirit taming bit<br /> +And the trim bark, rowed by strong arms, doth flit<br /> +<span class="in2">O’er briny seas with glancing motion brave</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Lord of the deep! by that thy glorious gift</span><br /> +Thou hast established our fair town<br /> +For ever in supreme renown—<br /> +The Sea nymphs’ plashing throng glide not more smoothly swift.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +O land exalted thus in blessing and praise,<br /> +Now is thy time to prove these brave words true.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What hath befallen, my daughter?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in26">Here at hand,</span><br /> +Not unaccompanied, is Creon, father.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Dear aged friends, be it yours now to provide<br /> +My safety and the goal of my desire!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +It shall be so. Fear nought. I am old and weak,<br /> +But Athens in her might is ever young.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">CREON</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CREON.</span> +Noble inhabiters of Attic ground<br /> +I see as ’twere conceived within your eyes<br /> +At mine approach some new engendered fear<br /> +Nay, shrink not, nor let fall one fretful word.<br /> +I bring no menace with me, for mine age<br /> +Is feeble, and the state whereto I come<br /> +Is mighty,—none in Hellas mightier,—<br /> +That know I well. But I am sent to bring<br /> +By fair persuasion to our Theban plain<br /> +The reverend form of him now present here.<br /> +Nor came this mission from one single will,<br /> +But the commands of all my citizens<br /> +Are on me, seeing that it becomes my birth<br /> +To mourn his sorrows most of all the state<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 283]</span><span class="linenum">[740-774]</span> +Thou, then, poor sufferer, lend thine ear to me<br /> +And come. All Cadmus’ people rightfully<br /> +Invite thee with one voice unto thy home,<br /> +I before all,—since I were worst of men,<br /> +Were I not pained at thy misfortunes, sir,<br /> +—To see thee wandering in the stranger’s land<br /> +Aged and miserable, unhoused, unfed,<br /> +Singly attended by this girl, whose fall<br /> +To such a depth of undeservèd woe<br /> +I could not have imagined! Hapless maid!<br /> +Evermore caring for thy poor blind head,<br /> +Roving in beggary, so young, with no man<br /> +To marry her,—a mark for all mischance.<br /> +O misery, what deep reproach I have laid<br /> +On thee and me and our whole ill-starred race!<br /> +But who can hide evil that courts the day?<br /> +Thou, therefore, Oedipus, without constraint,<br /> +(By all the Gods of Cadmus’ race I pray thee)<br /> +Remove this horror from the sight of men<br /> +By coming to the ancestral city and home<br /> +Of thy great sires,—bidding a kind farewell<br /> +To worthiest Athens, as is meet. But Thebes,<br /> +Thy native land, yet more deserves thy love.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Thou unabashed in knavery, who canst frame<br /> +For every cause the semblance of a plea<br /> +Pranked up with righteous seeming, why again<br /> +Would’st thou contrive my ruin, and attempt<br /> +To catch me where I most were grieved being caught?<br /> +Beforetime, when my self-procurèd woes<br /> +Were plaguing me, and I would fain have rushed<br /> +To instant banishment, thou wouldst not then<br /> +Grant this indulgence to my keen desire.<br /> +But when I had fed my passion to the full,<br /> +And all my pleasure was to live at home,<br /> +Then ’twas thy cue to expel and banish me,<br /> +Nor was this name of kindred then so dear.<br /> +Now once again, when thou behold’st this city<br /> +And people joined in friendly bands with me,<br /> +Thou wouldst drag me from my promised resting-place,<br /> +Hiding hard policy with courtly show.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 284]</span><span class="linenum">[775-809]</span> +Strange kindness, to love men against their will!<br /> +Suppose, when thou wert eager in some suit,<br /> +No grace were granted thee, but all denied,<br /> +And when thy soul was sated, then the boon<br /> +Were offered, when such grace were graceless now;<br /> +—Poor satisfaction then were thine, I ween!<br /> +Even such a gift thou profferest me to-day,<br /> +Kind in pretence, but really full of evil.<br /> +These men shall hear me tell thy wickedness.<br /> +Thou comest to take me, not unto my home,<br /> +But to dwell outlawed at your gate, that so<br /> +Your Thebè may come off untouched of harm<br /> +From her encounter with Athenian men.<br /> +Ye shall not have me thus. But you shall have<br /> +My vengeful spirit ever in your land<br /> +Abiding for destruction,—and my sons<br /> +Shall have this portion in their father’s ground,<br /> +To die thereon. Know I not things in Thebes<br /> +Better than thou? Yea, for ’tis mine to hear<br /> +Safer intelligencers,—Zeus himself,<br /> +And Phoebus, high interpreter of Heaven.<br /> +Thou bring’st a tongue suborned with false pretence,<br /> +Sharpened with insolence;—but in shrewd speech<br /> +Thou shalt find less of profit than of bane.<br /> +This thou wilt ne’er believe. Therefore begone!<br /> +Let me live here. For even such life as mine<br /> +Were not amiss, might I but have my will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Which of us twain, believ’st thou, in this talk<br /> +Hath more profoundly sinned against thy peace?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +If thou prevail’st with these men present here<br /> +Even as with me, I shall be well content.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Unhappy man, will not even Time bring forth<br /> +One spark of wisdom to redeem thine age?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Thou art a clever talker. But I know<br /> +No just man who in every cause abounds<br /> +With eloquent speech.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in12">’Tis not to abound in speech,</span><br /> +When one speaks fitting words in season.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in26">Oh!</span><br /> +As if thy words were few and seasonable!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 285]</span><span class="linenum">[810-834]</span> +<span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Not in the dotard’s judgement.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in22">Get thee gone!</span><br /> +I speak their mind as well—and dog not me<br /> +Beleaguering mine appointed dwelling-place!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +These men shall witness—for thy word is naught;<br /> +And for thy spiteful answer to thy friends,<br /> +If once I seize thee—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in10">Who shall seize on me</span><br /> +Without the will of my protectors here?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Well, short of that, thou shalt have pain, I trow.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What hast thou done, that thou canst threaten thus?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +One of thy daughters I have sent in charge.<br /> +This other, I myself will quickly take.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Oh, cruel!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in10">Soon thou’lt have more cause to cry.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Hast thou my child?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in18">I will have both ere long.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Dear friends, what will ye do? Will ye forsake me?<br /> +Will you not drive the offender from your land?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Stranger, depart at once! Thou hast done wrong,<br /> +And wrong art doing.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +(<span class="sdm">to attendants</span>).<br /> +<span class="in16">Now then, lead her away</span><br /> +By force, if she refuse to go with you.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Ah me! unhappy! Whither shall I flee?<br /> +What aid of God or mortal can I find?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +What dost thou, stranger?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in20">I will lay no hand</span><br /> +On him, but on my kinswoman.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in18">Alas!</span><br /> +Lords of Colonos, will ye suffer it?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thou art transgressing, stranger.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in24">Nay, I stand</span><br /> +Within my right.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in8">How so?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in16">I take mine own.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Athens to aid!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in14">Stranger, forbear! What dost thou?</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 286]</span><span class="linenum">[835-859]</span> +Let go, or thou shalt try thy strength with us.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Unhand me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in10">Not while this intent is thine.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +If you harm me, you will have war with Thebes.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Did I not tell you this would come?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in28">Release</span><br /> +The maid with speed.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in12">Command where you have power.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Leave hold, I say!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in14">Away with her, say I!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Come hither, neighbours, come!<br /> +My city suffers violence. Wrongful men<br /> +Are hurting her with force. Come hither to me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Unhappy, I am dragged away,—O strangers!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Where art thou, O my child?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in22">I go away</span><br /> +Against my will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in6">Reach forth thy hands, my daughter!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +I cannot.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in10">Off with her!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in20">Alas, undone!</span> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit <span class="cnm">ANTIGONE</span>, guarded</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Thou shalt not have these staves henceforth to prop<br /> +Thy roaming to and fro. Take thine own way!<br /> +Since thou hast chosen to thwart thy nearest kin,—<br /> +Beneath whose orders, though a royal man,<br /> +I act herein,—and thine own native land.<br /> +The time will surely come when thou shalt find<br /> +That in this deed and all that thou hast done<br /> +In opposition to their friendly will,<br /> +Thou hast counselled foolishly against thy peace,<br /> +Yielding to anger, thy perpetual bane.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Going</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Stranger, stand where thou art!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in24">Hands off, I say!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Thou shalt not go, till thou restore the maids.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Soon, then, my city shall retain from you<br /> +A weightier cause of war. I will lay hands<br /> +Not on the maidens only.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 287]</span><span class="linenum">[860-886]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in14">What wilt thou do?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Oedipus I will seize and bear away.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Great Heaven forfend!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in18">It shall be done forthwith,</span><br /> +Unless the ruler of this land prevent me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +O shameless utterance! Wilt thou lay thy hold<br /> +On me?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in2">Be silent! Speak no more!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in22">No more?</span><br /> +May these dread Goddesses not close my lips<br /> +To this one prayer of evil against thee,<br /> +Thou villain, who, when I have lost mine eyes,<br /> +Bereavest me of all that I had left<br /> +To make my darkness light! Therefore I pray,<br /> +For this thy wrongful act, may He in heaven<br /> +Whose eye sees all things, Helios, give to thee<br /> +Slowly to wither in an age like mine!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Men of this land, bear witness to his rage!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +They see us both, and are aware that I<br /> +Repay thee but with words for deeds of wrong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +No longer will I curb my wrath. Though lonely<br /> +And cumbered by mine age, I will bear off<br /> +This man!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in2">Me miserable!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in16">How bold thou art,</span><br /> +If standing here thou think’st to do this thing!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I do.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in4">Then Athens is to me no city.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +Slight men prevail o’er strength in a just cause.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Hear ye his words?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in18">He shall not make them good.</span><br /> +Be witness, Zeus!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in8">Zeus knows more things than thou.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Is not this violence?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in16">Violence you must bear.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Come, chieftain of our land!<br /> +Come hither with all speed. They pass the bound.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 288]</span><span class="linenum">[887-918]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">THESEUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Wherefore that shouting? Daunted by what fear<br /> +Stayed ye me sacrificing to <a href="#Oedi_n_2" name="Oedi_t_2" id="Oedi_t_2">the God</a><br /> +Who guards this deme Colonos? Let me know<br /> +What cause so hastened my reluctant foot.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Dear friend (I know thy voice addressing us),<br /> +One here hath lately done me cruel wrong.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Who is the wrong-doer, say, and what the deed?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +This Creon, whom thou seest, hath torn away<br /> +Two children that were all in all to me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Can this be possible?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in16">Thou hear’st the truth.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Then one of you run to the altar-foot<br /> +Hard by, and haste the people from the rite,<br /> +Horsemen and footmen at the height of speed<br /> +To race unto the parting of the roads<br /> +Where travellers from both gorges wont to meet.<br /> +Lest there the maidens pass beyond our reach<br /> +And I be worsted by this stranger’s might<br /> +And let him laugh at me. Be swift! Away!<br /> +—For him, were I as wroth as he deserves,<br /> +He should not go unpunished from my hand.<br /> +But now he shall be ruled by the same law<br /> +He thought to enforce. Thou goest not from this ground<br /> +Till thou hast set these maids in presence here;<br /> +Since by thine act thou hast disgraced both me<br /> +And thine own lineage and thy native land,<br /> +Who with unlicensed inroad hast assailed<br /> +An ancient city, that hath still observed<br /> +Justice and equity, and apart from law<br /> +Ratifies nothing; and, being here, hast cast<br /> +Authority to the winds, and made thine own<br /> +Whate’er thou wouldst, bearing it off perforce,—<br /> +Deeming of me forsooth as nothing worth,<br /> +And of my city as one enslaved to foes<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 289]</span><span class="linenum">[917-955]</span> +Or void of manhood. Not of Thebe’s will<br /> +Come such wild courses. It is not her way<br /> +To foster men in sin, nor would she praise<br /> +Thy doing, if she knew that thou hast robbed<br /> +Me and the gods, dragging poor suppliant wights<br /> +From their last refuge at thy will—I would not,<br /> +Had I perchance set foot within thy land,<br /> +Even were my cause most righteous, have presumed,<br /> +Without consent of him who bore chief sway,<br /> +To seize on any man, but would have known<br /> +How men should act who tread on foreign soil.<br /> +Thou bring’st disgrace on thine own mother state<br /> +All undeservedly, and the lapse of years<br /> +Hath left thee aged, but not wise—Again<br /> +I bid those maids now to be brought with speed,<br /> +Unless thou would’st be made a sojourner<br /> +In Athens by compulsion. This I speak<br /> +Not with my lips alone, but from my will.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Stranger, dost thou perceive? Thy parentage<br /> +Is owned as noble, but thine evil deeds<br /> +Are blazoned visibly.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +<span class="in10">Great Aegeus’ son!</span><br /> +Not as misprising this thy city’s strength<br /> +In arms, or wisdom in debate, I dared<br /> +This capture, but in simple confidence<br /> +Thy citizens would not so envy me<br /> +My blood relations, as to harbour them<br /> +Against my will,—nor welcome to their hearths<br /> +A man incestuous and a parricide,<br /> +The proved defiler of his mother’s bed<br /> +Such was the mount of Ares that I knew,<br /> +Seat of high wisdom, planted in their soil,<br /> +That suffers no such lawless runaways<br /> +To haunt within the borders of your realm.<br /> +Relying on that I laid my hands upon<br /> +This quarry, nor had done so, were it not<br /> +That bitterly he cursed myself and mine.<br /> +That moved me to requital, since even Age<br /> +Still bears resentment, till the power of death<br /> +Frees men from anger, as from all annoy.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 290]</span><span class="linenum">[956-993]</span> +Being sovereign here thou wilt do thy pleasure. I,<br /> +Though I have justice on my side, am weak<br /> +Through being alone. Yet if you meddle with me,<br /> +Old as I am, you’ll find me dangerous.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +O boldness void of shame! Whom dost thou think<br /> +Thy obloquy most harms, this agèd head<br /> +Or thine, who hast thus let pass thy lips the crimes<br /> +I have borne unwittingly. So Heaven was pleased<br /> +To wreak some old offence upon our race.<br /> +Since in myself you will find no stain of sin<br /> +For which such ruinous error ’gainst myself<br /> +And mine own house might be the recompense.<br /> +Tell me, I pray thee, if a word from Heaven<br /> +Came to my father through the oracle<br /> +That he should die by his son’s hand,—what right<br /> +Hast thou to fasten that reproach on me,<br /> +The child not yet begotten of my sire,<br /> +An unborn nothing, unconceived? Or if,<br /> +Born as I was to misery, I encountered<br /> +And killed my father in an angry fray,<br /> +Nought knowing of what I did or whom I slew,<br /> +What reason is’t to blame the unwitting deed?<br /> +And, oh, thou wretch! art not ashamed to force me<br /> +To speak that of my mother, thine own sister,<br /> +Which I will speak, for I will not keep silence,<br /> +Since thou hast been thus impious with thy tongue.<br /> +She was my mother, oh, the bitter word!<br /> +Though neither knew it, and having borne me, she<br /> +Became the mother of children to her son,<br /> +An infamous birth! Yet this I know, thy crime<br /> +Of speech against us both is voluntary.<br /> +But all involuntary was my deed<br /> +In marriage and is this mine utterance now.<br /> +No,—that shall not be called a bosom-sin,<br /> +Nor shall my name be sullied with the deed,<br /> +Thy tongue would brand on me, against my sire.<br /> +For answer me one question. If to-day,<br /> +Here, now, one struck at thee a murderous stroke,—<br /> +At thee, the righteous person,—wouldst thou ask<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 291]</span><span class="linenum">[994-1028]</span> +If such assailant were thy sire, or strike<br /> +Forthwith? Methinks, as one who cares to live,<br /> +You would strike before you questioned of the right,<br /> +Or reasoned of his kindred whom you slew.<br /> +Such was the net that snared me: such the woes<br /> +Heaven drew me to fulfil. My father’s spirit,<br /> +Came he to life, would not gainsay my word.<br /> +But thou, to whom, beneath the garb of right,<br /> +No matter is too dreadful or too deep<br /> +For words, so rail’st on me, in such a presence.<br /> +Well thou dost flatter the great name of Theseus,<br /> +And Athens in her glory stablished here,<br /> +But midst thy fulsome praises thou forgettest<br /> +How of all lands that yield the immortal Gods<br /> +Just homage of true piety, this land<br /> +Is foremost. Yet from hence thou would’st beguile<br /> +Me, the aged suppliant. Nay, from hence thou would’st drag<br /> +Myself with violence, and hast reft away<br /> +My children. Wherefore I conjure these powers,<br /> +With solemn invocation and appeal,<br /> +To come and take my part, that thou may’st know<br /> +What men they are who guard this hallowed realm.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +My lord, the stranger deserves well. His fate<br /> +Is grievous, but the more demands our aid.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Enough of words. The captors and their prey<br /> +Are hasting;—we, they have wronged, are standing still.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I am powerless here. What dost thou bid me do?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Lead us the way they are gone. I too must be<br /> +Thine escort, that if hereabout thou hast<br /> +Our maidens, thou mayest show them to my sight.<br /> +But if men flee and bear them, we may spare<br /> +Superfluous labour. Others hotly urge<br /> +That business, whom those robbers shall not boast<br /> +Before their Gods to have ’scaped out of this land.<br /> +Come, be our guide! Thou hast and hast not. Fortune<br /> +Hath seized thee seizing on thy prey. So quickly<br /> +Passes the gain that’s got by wrongful guile.<br /> +Nay, thou shalt have no helper. Well I wot<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 292]</span><span class="linenum">[1029-1065]</span> +Thou flew’st not to this pitch of truculent pride<br /> +Alone, or unsupported by intrigue;<br /> +But thy bold act hath some confederate here.<br /> +This I must look into, nor let great Athens<br /> +Prove herself weaker than one single man.<br /> +Hast caught my drift? Or is my voice as vain<br /> +Now, as you thought it when you planned this thing?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CR.</span> +I will gainsay nought of what thou utterest here.<br /> +But once in Thebes, I too shall know my course.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Threaten, but go! Thou, Oedipus, remain<br /> +In quietness and perfect trust that I,<br /> +If death do not prevent me, will not rest<br /> +Till I restore thy children to thy hand.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +Soon shall the wheeling foes<span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +Clash with the din of brazen-throated War.<br /> +<span class="in2">Would I were there to see them close,</span><br /> +Be the onset near or far!<br /> +Whether at Daphnè’s gorge to Phoebus dear,<br /> +<span class="in2">Or by the torch-lit shore</span><br /> +Where kind maternal powers for evermore<br /> +Guard golden mysteries of holy fear<br /> +<span class="in2">To nourish mortal souls</span><br /> +Whose voice the seal of silent awe controls<br /> +Imprinted by the Eumolpid minister.<br /> +<span class="in2">There, on that sacred way,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Shall the divinest head</span><br /> +Of royal Theseus, rouser of the fray,<br /> +And those free maids, in their two squadrons led,<br /> +<span class="in2">Meet in the valorous fight</span><br /> +<span class="in2">That conquers for the right.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +Else, by the snow-capped rock,<span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +Passing to westward, they are drawing nigh<br /> +The tract beyond the pasture high<br /> +<span class="in2">Where Oea feeds her flock.</span><br /> +The riders ride, the rattling chariots flee<br /> +<span class="in2">At racing speed.—’Tis done!</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 293]</span><span class="linenum">[1063-1101]</span> +He shall be vanquished. Our land’s chivalry<br /> +<span class="in2">Are valiant, valiant every warrior son</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Of Theseus.—On they run?</span><br /> +Frontlet and bridle glancing to the light,<br /> +Forward each steed is straining to the fight,<br /> +<span class="in2">Forward each eye and hand</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Of all that mounted band,</span><br /> +Athena’s knighthood, champions of her name<br /> +And his who doth the mighty waters tame,<br /> +<span class="in2">Rhea’s son that from of old</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Doth the Earth with seas enfold.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Strive they? Or is the battle still to be?</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in4">An eager thought in me</span><br /> +Is pleading, ‘Soon must they restore<br /> +The enduring maid, whose kinsmen vex her sore!’<br /> +To-day shall Zeus perform his will.<br /> +The noble cause wins my prophetic skill.<br /> +Oh! had I wings, and like a storm-swift dove<br /> +Poised on some aery cloud might there descry<br /> +<span class="in4">The conflict from above,</span><br /> +Scouring the region with mine eye!</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Sovran of Heaven, all-seeing Zeus, afford</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Unto this nation’s lord</span><br /> +Puissance to crown the fair emprise,<br /> +Thou, and all-knowing Pallas, thy dread child!<br /> +Apollo, huntsman of the wild,<br /> +—Thou and thy sister, who doth still pursue<br /> +Swift many-spotted stags,—arise, arise,<br /> +With love we pray you, be our champions true!<br /> +<span class="in4">Yea, both together come</span><br /> +To aid our people and our home!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">LEADER OF CH.</span> +Ah! wanderer friend, thou wilt not have to accuse<br /> +Thy seer of falsehood. I behold the maids<br /> +This way once more in safe protection brought.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Where? Is it true? How say you?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in26">Father, father!</span><br /> +Oh that some God would give thee once to see<br /> +The man whose royal virtue brings us hither!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 294]</span><span class="linenum">[1102-1134]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +My daughters, are ye there?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in22">Saved by the arm</span><br /> +Of Theseus and his most dear ministers.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Come near me, child, and let your father feel<br /> +The treasure he had feared for ever gone.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Not hard the boon which the heart longs to give.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Where are ye, where?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in18">Together we draw near.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Loved saplings of a solitary tree!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +A father’s heart hides all.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in20">Staves of mine age!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Forlorn supporters of an ill-starred life!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I have all I love; nor would the stroke of death<br /> +Be wholly bitter, with you standing by.<br /> +Press close to either side of me, my children;<br /> +Grow to your sire, and ye shall give me rest<br /> +From mine else lonely, hapless, wandering life.<br /> +And tell your tale as briefly as ye may,<br /> +Since at your age short speaking is enough.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Here is our saviour. He shall tell thee all,<br /> +And shorten labour both for us and thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Think it not strange, dear friend, that I prolong<br /> +The unhoped-for greeting with my children here.<br /> +Full well I know, the joy I find in them<br /> +Springs from thee only, and from none beside.<br /> +Thou, thou alone hast saved them. May the Gods<br /> +Fulfil my prayer for thee and for thy land!<br /> +Since only in Athens, only here i’ the world,<br /> +Have I found pious thought and righteous care,<br /> +And truth in word and deed. From a full heart<br /> +And thankful mind I thus requite thy love,<br /> +Knowing all I have is due to none but thee.<br /> +Extend to me, I pray thee, thy right hand,<br /> +O King, that I may feel thee, and may kiss,<br /> +If that be lawful, thy dear head! And yet<br /> +What am I asking? How can one like me<br /> +Desire of thee to touch an outlawed man,<br /> +On whose dark life all stains of sin and woe<br /> +Are fixed indelibly? I will not dare—<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 295]</span><span class="linenum">[1135-1169]</span> +No, nor allow thee!—None but only they<br /> +Who have experience of such woes as mine<br /> +May share their wretchedness. Thou, where thou art<br /> +Receive my salutation, and henceforth<br /> +Continue in thy promised care of me<br /> +As true as to this moment thou hast proved.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +I marvel not at all if mere delight<br /> +In these thy daughters lengthened thy discourse,<br /> +Or led thee to address them before me.<br /> +That gives me not the shadow of annoy.<br /> +Nor am I careful to adorn my life<br /> +With words of praise, but with the light of deeds.<br /> +And thou hast proof of this. For I have failed<br /> +In nought of all I promised, agèd King!<br /> +Here stand I with thy children in full life<br /> +Unharmed in aught the foe had threatened them.<br /> +And now why vaunt the deeds that won the day,<br /> +When these dear maids will tell them in thine ear?<br /> +But let me crave thy counsel on a thing<br /> +That crossed me as I came. Small though it seem<br /> +When told, ’tis worthy of some wonder, too.<br /> +Be it small or great, men should not let things pass.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What is it, O son of Aegeus? Let me hear,<br /> +I am wholly ignorant herein.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in14">We are told</span><br /> +One, not thy townsman, but of kin to thee,<br /> +Hath come in unawares, and now is found<br /> +Kneeling at great Poseidon’s altar, where<br /> +I sacrificed, what time ye called me hither.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +What countryman, and wherefore suppliant there?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +One thing alone I know. He craves of thee<br /> +Some speech, they say, that will not hold thee long.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +His kneeling there imports no trivial suit.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +All he desires, they tell me, is to come,<br /> +Have speech with thee, and go unharmed away.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Who can he be that kneels for such a boon?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Think, if at Argos thou a kinsman hast<br /> +Who might desire to obtain so much of thee.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Dear friend! Hold there! No more!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 296]</span><span class="linenum">[1169-1207]</span> +<span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in28">What troubles thee?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ask it not of me!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in14">What? Speak plainly forth.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Thy words have shown me who the stranger is.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +And who is he that I should say him nay?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +My son, O King,—hateful to me, whose tongue<br /> +Least of the world I could endure to hear.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +What pain is there in hearing? Canst thou not<br /> +Hear, and refuse to do what thou mislikest?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +My Lord, I have come to loathe his very voice.<br /> +I pray thee, urge me not to yield in this.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Think that the God must be considered too,<br /> +The right of suppliants may compel thy care.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Father, give ear, though I be young that speak.<br /> +Yield to the scruple of the King, who claims<br /> +This reverence for his people’s God, and yield<br /> +To us who beg our brother may come near.<br /> +Take heart! He will not force thee from thy will.<br /> +What harm can come of hearkening? Wisdom’s ways<br /> +Reveal themselves through words. He is thy son.<br /> +Whence, were his heartless conduct against thee<br /> +Beyond redemption impious, O my sire,<br /> +Thy vengeance still would be unnatural.<br /> +Oh let him!—Others have had evil sons<br /> +And passionate anger, but the warning voice<br /> +Of friends hath charmed their mood. Then do not thou<br /> +Look narrowly upon thy present griefs,<br /> +But on those ancient wrongs thou didst endure<br /> +From father and from mother. Thence thou wilt learn<br /> +That evil passion ever ends in woe.<br /> +Thy sightless eyes are no light argument<br /> +To warn thee through the feeling of thy loss.<br /> +Relent and hear us! ’Tis a mere disgrace<br /> +To beg so long for a just boon. The King<br /> +Is kind to thee. Be generous in return.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Child, your dear pleading to your hard request<br /> +Hath won me. Let this be as ye desire.<br /> +Only, my lord, if he is to come near,<br /> +Let no man’s power molest my liberty.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 297]</span><span class="linenum">[1208-1245]</span> +<span class="cnm">THE.</span> +I need no repetition, aged friend,<br /> +Of that request. Vaunt will I not, but thou<br /> +Be sure, if Heaven protect me, thou art free.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">Who, loving life, hath sought</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +<span class="in10">To outlive the appointed span,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Shall be arraigned before my thought</span><br /> +<span class="in10">For an infatuate man.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Since the added years entail</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Much that is bitter,—joy</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Flies out of ken, desire doth fail,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">The longed-for moments cloy.</span><br /> +<span class="in8">But when the troublous life,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Be it less or more, is past,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">With power to end the strife</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Comes rescuing Death at last.</span><br /> +Lo! the dark bridegroom waits! No festal choir<br /> +Shall grace his destined hour, no dance, no lyre!</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in6">Far best were ne’er to be,</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +<span class="in10">But, having seen the day,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Next best by far for each to flee</span><br /> +<span class="in10">As swiftly as each may,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Yonder from whence he came:</span><br /> +<span class="in10">For once let Youth be there</span><br /> +<span class="in8">With her light fooleries, who shall name</span><br /> +<span class="in10">The unnumbered brood of Care?</span><br /> +<span class="in8">No trial spared, no fall!</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Feuds, battles, murders, rage,</span><br /> +<span class="in8">Envy, and last of all,</span><br /> +<span class="in10">Despised, dim, friendless age!</span><br /> +Ay, there all evils, crowded in one room,<br /> +Each at his worst of ill, augment the gloom.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Such lot is mine, and round this man of woe,</span><span class="chm">II</span><br /> +<span class="in2">—As some grey headland of a northward shore</span><br /> +Bears buffets of all-wintry winds that blow,—<br /> +<span class="in2">New storms of Fate are bursting evermore</span><br /> +<span class="in4">In thundrous billows, borne</span><br /> +<span class="in4">Some from the waning light,</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 298]</span><span class="linenum">[1246-1279]</span> +Some through mid-noon, some from the rising morn,<br /> +<span class="in4">Some from the realm of Night.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Ah! Who comes here? Sure ’tis the Argive man<br /> +Approaching hitherward, weeping amain.<br /> +And, father, it is he!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in8">Whom dost thou mean?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +The same our thoughts have dwelt on all this while,<br /> +Polynices. He is here.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POLYNICES.</span> +<span class="in4">What shall I do?</span><br /> +I stand in doubt which first I should lament,<br /> +My own misfortune or my father’s woe,<br /> +Whom here I find an outcast in his age<br /> +With you, my sisters, in the stranger land,<br /> +Clothed in such raiment, whose inveterate filth<br /> +Horridly clings, wasting his reverend form,<br /> +While the grey locks over the eye-reft brow<br /> +Wave all unkempt upon the ruffling breeze.<br /> +And likewise miserable appears the store<br /> +He bears to nourish that time-wasted frame.<br /> +Wretch that I am! Too late I learn the truth,<br /> +And here give witness to mine own disgrace,<br /> +Which is as deep as thy distress. Myself<br /> +Declare it. Ask not others of my guilt.<br /> +But seeing that Zeus on his almighty throne<br /> +Keeps Mercy in all he doth to counsel him,<br /> +Thou, too, my father, let her plead with thee!<br /> +The evil that is done may yet be healed;<br /> +It cannot be augmented. Art thou silent?<br /> +O turn not from me, father! Speak but once!<br /> +Wilt thou not answer, but with shame dismiss me<br /> +Voiceless, nor make known wherefore thou art wroth?<br /> +O ye his daughters, one with me in blood,<br /> +Say, will not ye endeavour to unlock<br /> +The stern lips of our unrelenting sire?<br /> +Let him not thus reject in silent scorn<br /> +Without response the suppliant of Heaven!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 299]</span><span class="linenum">[1280-1318]</span> +<span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Thyself, unhappy one, say why thou camest.<br /> +Speech ofttimes, as it flows, touching some root<br /> +Of pity or joy, or even of hate, hath stirred<br /> +The dumb to utterance.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +<span class="in12">I will tell my need:—</span><br /> +First claiming for protector the dread God<br /> +From whose high altar he who rules this land<br /> +Hath brought me under safe-guard of his power,<br /> +Scatheless to speak and hear and go my way.<br /> +His word, I am well assured, will be made good,<br /> +Strangers, by you, and by my sisters twain,<br /> +And by our sire.—Now let me name mine errand.<br /> +I am banished, father, from our native land,<br /> +Because, being elder-born, I claimed to sit<br /> +Upon thy sovereign throne. For this offence<br /> +Eteocles, thy younger son, exíled me,<br /> +Not having won the advantage in debate<br /> +Or trial of manhood, but through guileful art<br /> +Gaining the people’s will. Whereof I deem<br /> +Thy Fury the chief author; and thereto<br /> +Prophetic voices also testify.<br /> +For when I had come to Dorian Argolis,<br /> +I raised, through marriage with Adrastus’ child,<br /> +An army bound in friendly league with me,<br /> +Led by the men who in the Apian land<br /> +Hold first pre-eminence and honour in war,<br /> +With whose aid levying all that mighty host<br /> +Of seven battalions, I have deeply sworn<br /> +Either to die, or drive from Theban ground<br /> +Those who such wrongs have wrought. So far, so well.<br /> +But why come hither? Father, to crave thine aid<br /> +With earnest supplication for myself<br /> +And for my firm allies, who at this hour,<br /> +Seven leaders of seven bands embattled there,<br /> +Encompass Thebè’s plain. Amphiaráus,<br /> +Foremost in augury, foremost in war,<br /> +First wields his warlike spear. Next, Oeneus’ son,<br /> +Aetolian Tydeus; then Etéoclus<br /> +Of Argive lineage; fourth, Hippomedon,<br /> +Sent by his father Tálaüs, and the fifth<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 300]</span><span class="linenum">[1319-1354]</span> +Is Capancus, who brags he will destroy<br /> +Thebè with desolating fire. The sixth,<br /> +Parthonopaeus, from the Arcadian glen<br /> +Comes bravely down, swift Atalanta’s child,<br /> +Named from his mother’s lingering maidenhood<br /> +Ere she conceived him. And the seventh am I,<br /> +Thy son, or if not thine, but the dire birth<br /> +Of evil Destiny, yet named thy son,<br /> +Who lead this dauntless host from Argolis<br /> +Against the Theban land. Now one and all<br /> +We pray thee on our knees, conjuring thee<br /> +As thou dost love these maids and thine own life,<br /> +My father, to forgive me, ere I go<br /> +To be revenged upon my brother there<br /> +Who drave me forth and robbed me of my throne.<br /> +If aught in prophecy deserves belief,<br /> +’Tis certain, whom thou favourest, those shall win.<br /> +Now by the wells whereof our fathers drank<br /> +And by the Gods they worshipped, hear our prayer,<br /> +Grant this petition: since alike in woe,<br /> +Alike in poverty and banishment,<br /> +Partakers of one destiny, thou and I<br /> +Cringe to the stranger for a dwelling place.<br /> +Whilst he at home, the tyrant, woe is me,<br /> +Laughs at us both in soft luxurious pride.<br /> +Whose might, so thou wilt favour my design,<br /> +I will lightly scatter in one little hour;<br /> +And plant thee in thy Theban palace home<br /> +Near to myself, hurling the usurper forth.<br /> +All this with thy consent I shall achieve,<br /> +But without thee, I forfeit life and all.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +For his sake who hath brought him, Oedipus,<br /> +Say what is meet, and let him go in peace.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Ay, were it not the lord of all this land<br /> +Theseus, that brought him to me and desired<br /> +He might hear words from me,—never again<br /> +Had these tones fallen upon his ear. But now<br /> +That boon is granted him: he shall obtain,<br /> +Ere he depart, such utterance of my tongue,<br /> +As ne’er shall give him joy,—ne’er comfort thee,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 301]</span><span class="linenum">[1354-1390]</span> +Villain, who when possessed of the chief power<br /> +Which now thy brother holds o’er Theban land,<br /> +Didst banish me, thy father, who stand here,<br /> +To live in exile, clothed with such attire,<br /> +That moves thy tears now that thine own estate<br /> +Is fallen into like depth of struggling woe.<br /> +But tears are bootless. Howsoe’er I live,<br /> +I must endure, and hold thee still my murderer.<br /> +’Tis thou hast girt me round with misery,<br /> +’Tis thou didst drive me forth, and driven by thee<br /> +I beg my bread, a wandering sojourner.<br /> +Yea, had these daughters not been born to me<br /> +To tend me, I were dead, for all thou hast done.<br /> +They have rescued, they have nursed me. They are men,<br /> +Not women, in the strength of ministry.<br /> +Ye are another’s, not my sons—For this<br /> +The eye of Destiny pursues thee still<br /> +Eager to light on thee with instant doom<br /> +If once that army move toward the town<br /> +Of ancient Thebes,—the <i>town</i>, no dearer name,<br /> +‘City’ or ‘Country’ shall beseem thy lip<br /> +Till ye both fall, stained with fraternal gore<br /> +Long since I launched that curse against you twain<br /> +Which here again I summon to mine aid,<br /> +That ye may learn what duty children owe<br /> +To a parent, nor account it a light thing<br /> +That ye were cruel sons to your blind sire.<br /> +These maidens did not so. Wherefore my curse<br /> +Prevails against thy prayer for Thebe’s throne,<br /> +If ancient Zeus, the eternal lawgiver,<br /> +Have primal Justice for his counsellor.<br /> +Begone, renounced and fatherless for me,<br /> +And take with thee, vilest of villanous men,<br /> +This imprecation:—Vain be thine attempt<br /> +In levying war against thy father’s race,<br /> +Frustrate be thy return to Argos’ vale:<br /> +Die foully by a fratricidal hand<br /> +And foully slay him who hath banished thee!<br /> +Further, I bid the horror breathing gloom<br /> +Tartarean, of the vault that holds my sire,<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 302]</span><span class="linenum">[1391-1427]</span> +To banish thee from that last home: I invoke<br /> +The Spirits who haunt this ground, and the fierce God<br /> +Who hath filled you both with this unnatural hate.—<br /> +Go now with all this in thine ears, and tell<br /> +The people of Cadmus and thy firm allies<br /> +In whom thou trustest, what inheritance<br /> +Oedipus hath divided to his sons.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +’Tis pity for thee, prince, to have come at all;<br /> +And now we bid thee go the way thou camest.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +Alas! Vain enterprise, and hope undone!<br /> +Oh, my poor comrades! To what fatal end<br /> +I led you forth from Argos, woe is me!<br /> +I may not tell it you,—no, nor return.<br /> +In silence I must go to meet my doom.<br /> +Daughters of this inexorable sire,<br /> +Since now ye have heard his cruel curse on me,<br /> +Ah! in Heaven’s name, my sisters, do not you<br /> +Treat me despitefully, but if, one day,<br /> +Our father’s execration is fulfilled<br /> +And ye shall be restored to Theban ground,<br /> +Grace me with funeral honours and a tomb!<br /> +So shall this ample praise which ye receive<br /> +For filial ministration, in that day<br /> +Be more than doubled through your care for me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Brother, I beg thee, listen to my prayer!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +Dearest Antigone, speak what thou wilt.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Turn back thy host to Argos with all speed,<br /> +And ruin not thyself and Thebè too.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +Impossible. If once I shrink for fear,<br /> +No longer may I lead them to the war.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +But why renew thy rage? What benefit<br /> +Comes to thee from o’erturning thine own land?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +’Tis shameful to remain in banishment,<br /> +And let my brother mock my right of birth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Then seest thou not how true unto their aim<br /> +Our father’s prophecies of mutual death<br /> +Against you both are sped?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +<span class="in14">He speaks his wish.</span><br /> +’Tis not for me to yield.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in12">O me, unhappy!</span><br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 303]</span><span class="linenum">[1427-1456]</span> +But who that hears the deep oracular sound<br /> +Of his dark words, will dare to follow thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +They will not hear of danger from my mouth.<br /> +Wise generals tell of vantage, not of bale.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Art thou then so resolved, O brother mine?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +I am. Retard me not! I must attend<br /> +To my dark enterprise, blasted and foiled<br /> +Beforehand by my father’s angry curse.<br /> +But as for you, Heaven prosper all your way,<br /> +If ye will show this kindness in my death,<br /> +For nevermore in life shall ye befriend me!<br /> +Nay, cling to me no longer. Fare ye well.<br /> +Ye will behold my living form no more.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +O misery!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +<span class="in8">Bewail me not.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in20">And who</span><br /> +That saw thee hurrying forth to certain death<br /> +Would not bewail thee, brother?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +<span class="in18">If Fate wills,</span><br /> +Why, I must die.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in6">Nay, but be ruled by me.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +Give me not craven counsel.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in22">Woe is me,</span><br /> +To lose thee!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">POL.</span> +<span class="in4">Heaven hath power to guide the event</span><br /> +Or thus or otherwise. Howe’er it prove,<br /> +I pray that ye may ne’er encounter ill.<br /> +All men may know, ye merit nought but good.<br /> +<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exit. The sky is overcast—a storm is threatened</span><br /></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">New trouble, strange trouble, deep laden with doom,</span><span class="chm">I 1</span><br /> +From the sight-bereft stranger seems dimly to loom!<br /> +<span class="in6">Or peers Fate through the gloom?</span><br /> +She will move toward her mark or through shining or shade;<br /> +Since no purpose of Gods ever idly was made.<br /> +Time sees the fulfilment, who lifteth to-day<br /> +What was lowly, and trampleth the lofty to clay.<br /> +<span class="in6">Thunder! Heavens! what a sound!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 304]</span><span class="linenum">[1457-1490]</span> +<span class="cnm">OED.</span> +My children! Would but some one in the place<br /> +Haste hither Theseus, noblest among men!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Wherefore, my father? What is thy desire?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +These winged thunders of the Highest will soon<br /> +Bear me away to the Unseen. Send quickly!</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Again, yonder crash through the fire-startled air</span><span class="chm">I 2</span><br /> +Wing’d from Zeus, rushes down, till my thin locks of hair,<br /> +<span class="in6">Stiff with fear, upward stare.</span><br /> +My soul shrinks and cowers, for yon gleam from on high<br /> +Darts again! Ne’er in vain hath it leapt from the sky,<br /> +But flies forth amain to what task Zeus hath given.<br /> +I fear the unknown fatal edict of Heaven!<br /> +<span class="in6">Lightning glares all around!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +My daughters, the divinely promised end<br /> +Here unavoidably descends on me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +How dost thou know it? By what certain sign?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I know it perfectly. Let some one go<br /> +With speed to bring the lord of Athens hither.</p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Great Heaven, how above me, beside me, around,</span><span class="chm">II 1</span><br /> +<span class="in6">Peals redoubled the soul-thrilling sound!</span><br /> +O our God, to this land, to our mother, if aught<br /> +Thou wouldst send with some darkness of destiny fraught,<br /> +Smile gently once more! With the good let me bear<br /> +<span class="in6">What of fortune soe’er,—</span><br /> +Taste no cup, touch no food, the doomed sinner may share.<br /> +<span class="in6">Zeus, to thee, Lord, I cry!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Is the King coming? Will he find me alive,<br /> +My daughters, and with reason undisturbed?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Say wherefore dost thou crave with such desire<br /> +The clearness of an undistracted mind?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +I would fully render from a grateful soul<br /> +The boon I promised, when I gained my suit.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 305]</span><span class="linenum">[1491-1521]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span> (looking towards Athens).</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Come, my chief! come with speed! Or, if haply at hand,</span><span class="chm">II 2</span><br /> +<span class="in6">On the height where the curved altars stand,</span><br /> +Thou art hallowing with oxen in sacrifice slain<br /> +Yonder shrine of Poseidon, dread lord of the main,<br /> +Hie thee hither! Be swift! The blind stranger intends<br /> +<span class="in6">To thee, to thy friends,</span><br /> +To thy city, for burdens imposed, just amends.<br /> +<span class="in6">Haste thee, King! Hear our cry!</span></p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">THESEUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Why sounds again from hence your joint appeal,<br /> +Wherein the stranger’s voice is loudly heard?<br /> +Is it some lightning-bolt new-fallen from Zeus,<br /> +Or cloud-born hail that is come rattling down?<br /> +From Heavens so black with storm nought can surprise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +Prince, thou art come to my desire. Some God<br /> +Hath happily directed this thy way.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +What is befallen? Son of Laius, tell!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +My path slopes downward, and before my death<br /> +I would confirm to Athens and to thee<br /> +My promised boon.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +<span class="in8">What sign dost thou perceive</span><br /> +That proves thine end so near?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in16">The Gods themselves</span><br /> +With herald voices are proclaiming it,<br /> +Nought failing of the fore-appointed signs.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +What are these tokens, aged monarch, say?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +The loud continual thunder, and the darts<br /> +That flash in volleys from the unconquered hand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +I may not doubt thee; for thy speech, I feel,<br /> +Hath ample witness of prophetic power.<br /> +What must I do?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">OED.</span> +<span class="in6">I will instruct thee now,</span><br /> +Aegeus’ great son! in rites that shall remain<br /> +An ageless treasure to thy countrymen.<br /> +I will presently, with no man guiding me,<br /> +Conduct thee to the spot, where I must die.<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 306]</span><span class="linenum">[1522-1555]</span> +This is thy secret, not to be revealed<br /> +To any one of men, or where ’tis hid<br /> +Or whereabout it lies. So through all time<br /> +This <a href="#Oedi_n_3" name="Oedi_t_3" id="Oedi_t_3">neighbouring</a> mound shall yield thee mightier aid<br /> +Than many a shield and help of alien spears.<br /> +More shalt thou learn, too sacred to divulge,<br /> +When yonder thou art come thyself alone.<br /> +Since to none other of these citizens<br /> +Nor even unto the children of my love<br /> +May I disclose it. ’Tis for thee to keep<br /> +Inviolate while thou livest, and when thy days<br /> +Have ending, breathe it to the foremost man<br /> +Alone, and he in turn unto the next<br /> +Successively. So shalt thou ever hold<br /> +Athens unravaged by <a href="#Oedi_n_4" name="Oedi_t_4" id="Oedi_t_4">the dragon brood.</a><br /> +Cities are numberless, and any one<br /> +May lightly insult even those who dwell secure.<br /> +For the eye of Heaven though late yet surely sees<br /> +When, casting off respect, men turn to crime.<br /> +Erechtheus’ heir! let that be far from thee!<br /> +A warning needless to a man so wise!<br /> +Now go we—for this leading of the God<br /> +Is urgent—to the place, nor loiter more.<br /> +This way, my children! follow me! For I<br /> +Am now your guide, as ye were mine. Come on!<br /> +Nay, touch me not, but leave me of myself<br /> +To find the holy sepulchre, wherein<br /> +This form must rest beneath Athenian soil.<br /> +Come this way! Come! This way are leading me<br /> +Guide Hermes and the Queen of realms below.<br /> +O Light, all dark to me! In former time<br /> +Bright seemed thy shining! Now thy latest ray<br /> +Sheds vital influence o’er this frame. I go<br /> +To hide the close of my disastrous life<br /> +With Hades. Kind Athenian friend, farewell!<br /> +May’st thou, thy followers, and this glorious land<br /> +Be happy, and in your endless happiness<br /> +Remember him who blessed you in his death.<span class="sdr"><span class="cnm">[</span>Exeunt</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 307]</span><span class="linenum">[1556-1590]</span></p> + +<p class="sdn"><span class="cnm">CHORUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Prince of the Powers Unseen,</span><span class="chm">1</span><br /> +<span class="in2">Durst we with prayers adore</span><br /> +Thee and thy viewless Queen,<br /> +<span class="in2">Your aid, Aidôneus, would our lips implore!</span><br /> +By no harsh-sounding doom<br /> +<span class="in4">Let him we love descend,</span><br /> +<span class="in4">With calm and cloudless end,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">In deep Plutonian dwelling evermore</span><br /> +To abide among the people of the tomb!<br /> +Long worn with many an undeservèd woe,<br /> +Just Gods will give thee glory there below.</p> + +<p class="dlg"> +<span class="in0">Dread Forms, who haunt this floor,</span><span class="chm">2</span><br /> +<span class="in2">And thou, the Unconquered Beast,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">That hugely liest at rest</span><br /> +By the dim shining adamantine door,<br /> +—Still from thy cavernous lair<br /> +<span class="in2">Gnarling, so legends tell,</span><br /> +<span class="in2">A tameless guard of Hell,—</span><br /> +Mayest thou this once thy vigilance forbear,<br /> +And leave large room for him now entering there.<br /> +Hear us, great Son of Darkness and the Deep;<br /> +On thee we call, God of the dreamless sleep!</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">Messenger</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Athenian citizens, my briefest tale<br /> +Were to say singly, Oedipus is gone;<br /> +But to describe the scene enacted yonder<br /> +Craves no brief speech, nor was the action brief.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Then he is gone! Poor man!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +<span class="in20">Know it once for all,</span><br /> +He hath left eternally the light of day.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Poor soul! What? Ended he with peace divine?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +Ay, there is the main marvel. How he moved<br /> +From hence, thou knowest, for thou too wert here,<br /> +And saw’st that of his friends none guided him,<br /> +But he they loved was leader to them all.<br /> +Now, when he came to the steep pavement, rooted<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 308]</span><span class="linenum">[1591-1628]</span> +With adamant foundation deep in Earth,<br /> +On one of many paths he took his stand<br /> +Near the stone basin, where Peirithoüs<br /> +And Theseus graved their everlasting league.<br /> +There, opposite the mass of Laurian ore,<br /> +Turned from the hollow pear-tree and the tomb<br /> +Of marble, he sate down, and straight undid<br /> +His travel-soiled attire, then called aloud<br /> +On both his children, and bade some one fetch<br /> +Pure water from a running stream. And they,<br /> +Hasting together to the neighbouring hill<br /> +Of green Demeter, goddess of the Spring,<br /> +Brought back their sire’s commission speedily,<br /> +And bathed, and clothed him with the sacred robe.<br /> +When he was satisfied, and nothing now<br /> +Remained undone of all he bade them do,<br /> +The God of darkness thundered, and the maids<br /> +Stood horror-stricken on hearing; then together<br /> +Fell at their father’s knees and wept and wailed<br /> +Loudly and long with beating of the breast.<br /> +He, when that sound of sorrow pierced his ear,<br /> +Caressed them in his arms and said:—‘My daughters,<br /> +From this day forth you have no more a father.<br /> +All that was mine is ended, and no longer<br /> +Shall ye continue your hard ministry<br /> +Of labour for my life.—And yet, though hard,<br /> +Not unendurable, since all the toil<br /> +Was rendered light through love, which ye can never<br /> +Receive on earth so richly, as from him<br /> +Bereaved of whom ye now shall live forlorn.’<br /> +Such was the talk, mingled with sobs and crying,<br /> +As each clung fast to each. But when they came<br /> +To an end of weeping and those sounds were stilled,<br /> +First all was silent; then a sudden voice<br /> +Hurried him onward, making each man’s hair<br /> +Bristle on end with force of instant fear.<br /> +Now here, now there, not once but oftentimes,<br /> +A God called loudly, ‘Oedipus, Oedipus!<br /> +Why thus delay our going? This long while<br /> +We are stayed for and thou tarriest. Come away!’<br /> +<span class="dpgn">[page 309]</span><span class="linenum">[1629-1666]</span> +He, when he knew the summons of the God,<br /> +Gave word for royal Theseus to go near;<br /> +And when he came, said: ‘Friend for ever kind,<br /> +Reach thy right hand, I pray thee (that first pledge)<br /> +To these my children:—daughters, yours to him!—<br /> +And give thy sacred word that thou wilt never<br /> +Betray these willingly: but still perform<br /> +All that thou mayest with true thought for their good.’<br /> +He, with grand calmness like his noble self,<br /> +Promised on oath to keep this friendly bond.<br /> +And when he had done so, Oedipus forthwith<br /> +Stroking his children with his helpless hands<br /> +Spake thus:—‘My daughters, you must steel your hearts<br /> +To noble firmness, and depart from hence,<br /> +Nor ask to see or hear forbidden things.<br /> +Go, go at once! Theseus alone must stay<br /> +Sole rightful witness of these mysteries.’<br /> +Those accents were the last we all might hear.<br /> +Then, following the two maids, with checkless tears<br /> +And groans we took our way. But by and by,<br /> +At distance looking round, we saw,—not him,<br /> +Who was not there,—but Theseus all alone<br /> +Holding his hand before his eyes, as if<br /> +Some apparition unendurable<br /> +Had dazed his vision. In a little while,<br /> +We marked him making reverence in one prayer<br /> +To the Earth, and to the home of Gods on high.<br /> +But by what fate He perished, mortal man,<br /> +Save Theseus, none can say. No lightning-flash<br /> +From heaven, no tempest rising from the deep,<br /> +Caused his departure in that hour, but either<br /> +Some messenger from heaven, or, from beneath,<br /> +The lower part of Earth, where comes no pain,<br /> +Opening kindly to receive him in.<br /> +Not to be mourned, nor with a tearful end<br /> +Of sickness was he taken from the Earth,<br /> +But wondrously, beyond recorded fate.<br /> +If any deem my words unwise, I care not<br /> +In that man’s judgement to be counted wise.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 310]</span><span class="linenum">[1667-1705]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Where are those maidens and their escort? Say.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">MESS.</span> +They are not far off, but here. The voice of weeping<br /> +Betokens all too plainly their approach.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Alas!<br /> +How manifold, the inheritance of woe<br /> +Drawn from the troubled fountain of our birth!<br /> +Indelible, ineradicable grief!<br /> +For him erewhile<br /> +We had labour infinite and unrelieved,<br /> +And now in his last hour we have to tell<br /> +Of sights and sorrows beyond thought.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in24">How then?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Friends, ye might understand.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in24">Speak. Is he gone?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Gone! Even as heart could wish, had wishes power.<br /> +How else, when neither war, nor the wide sea<br /> +Encountered him, but viewless realms enwrapt him,<br /> +Wafted away to some mysterious doom?<br /> +Whence on our hearts a horror of night is fallen.<br /> +Woe ’s me! For whither wandering shall we find<br /> +Hard livelihood, by land or over sea?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +I know not. Let dark Hades take me off<br /> +To lie in death with mine age honoured sire!<br /> +Death were far better than my life to be.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Noblest of maidens, ye must learn to bear<br /> +Meekly the sending of the Gods. Be not<br /> +On fire with grief. Your state is well assured.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +If to be thus is well, then may one long<br /> +For evil to return. Things nowise dear<br /> +Were dear to me, whiles I had him to embrace.<br /> +O father! loved one! that art wearing now<br /> +The eternal robe of darkness underground,<br /> +Old as thou wert, think not this maid and I<br /> +Will cease from loving thee!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in16">He met his doom.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +He met the doom he longed for.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in26">How was that?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 311]</span><span class="linenum">[1705-1741]</span> +<span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +In the strange land where he desired to die<br /> +He died. He rests in shadow undisturbed;<br /> +Nor hath he left a tearless funeral.<br /> +For these mine eyes, father, unceasingly<br /> +Mourn thee with weeping, nor can I subdue<br /> +This ever-mounting sorrow for thy loss.<br /> +Ah me! Would thou hadst not desired to die<br /> +Here among strangers, but alone with thee<br /> +There, in the desert, I had seen thee die!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Unhappy me! What destiny, dear girl,<br /> +Awaits us both, bereaved and fatherless?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +His end was fortunate. He rests in peace.<br /> +Dear maidens, then desist from your complaint.<br /> +Sorrow is swift to overtake us all.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Thither again, dear girl, let us go speedily!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Say, for what end?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in16">Desire possesses me—</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Whereof?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +To see the darksome dwelling-place—</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Of whom?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in8">Woe is me! Of him, our sire!</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in30">But how</span><br /> +Can this be lawful? Seest thou not?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in20">How say’st thou?</span><br /> +Why this remonstrance?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in12">Seest thou not, again,</span><br /> +He hath no grave and no man buried him.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Take me but where he lies. Then slay me there.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +Ah! woe is me, doubly unfortunate,<br /> +Forlorn and destitute, whither henceforth<br /> +For wretched comfort must we go?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in22">Fear nought,</span><br /> +Dear maidens!</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ISM.</span> +<span class="in6">Where shall we find refuge?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in30">Here,</span><br /> +Long since, your refuge is secure.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in18">How so?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +No harm shall touch you.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in18">I know that.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="dpgn">[page 312]</span><span class="linenum">[1741-1778]</span> +<span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in30">What then</span><br /> +Further engrosseth thee?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in12">How to get home</span><br /> +I know not.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in4">Seek not for it.</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +<span class="in14">Weariness</span><br /> +O’erweighs me.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +<span class="in6">Hath it not before oppressed thee?</span></p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Before, it vexed me; now it overwhelms.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +A mighty sea of misery is your lot.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Woe is me! O Zeus! And whither must we go?<br /> +Unto what doom doth my Fate drive me now?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">CH.</span> +Children, lament no longer. ’Tis not well<br /> +To mourn ’mongst those with whom the honoured dead<br /> +Hath left the heirloom of his benison.</p> + +<p class="sdn">Enter <span class="cnm">THESEUS</span>.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Theseus, behold us falling at thy feet.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +What boon, my children, are ye bent to obtain?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +Our eyes would see our father’s burial-place.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +’Tis not permitted to go near that spot.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +O Athens’ sovereign lord, what hast thou said?</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +Dear children, ’twas your father’s spoken will<br /> +That no man should approach his resting-place,<br /> +Nor human voice should ever violate<br /> +The mystery of the tomb wherein he lies.<br /> +He promised, if I truly kept this word,<br /> +My land would evermore be free from harm.<br /> +The power which no man may transgress and live,<br /> +The oath of Zeus, bore witness to our troth.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">ANT.</span> +His wishes are enough. Then, pray thee, send<br /> +An escort to convey us to our home,<br /> +Primeval Thebes, if so we may prevent<br /> +The death that menaces our brethren there.</p> + +<p class="dlg"><span class="cnm">THE.</span> +That will I; and in all that I may do<br /> +To prosper you and solace him beneath,—<br /> +Who even now passes to eternity,—<br /> +I must not falter. Come, lament no more.<br /> +His destiny hath found a perfect end.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + + + +<div><span class="page2" id="pg313">[page 313]</span></div> +<h2>NOTES</h2> + + +<h3>SOME PROPER NAMES</h3> + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li>AIDONEUS, Hades or Pluto.</li> +<li>ARES, The War-God, a destructive Power.</li> +<li>DEO, Demeter.</li> +<li>ERINYES, the Furies.</li> +<li>HELIOS, The Sun-God.</li> +<li>RHEA, the Mother of the Gods.</li> +<li>THEBE, the town of Thebes personified.</li> +</ul> + +<div class="ctr"><p class="break"><b>ANTIGONE.</b></p></div> + +<p><a href="#Anti_t_1" name="Anti_n_1" id="Anti_n_1">P. 6, l. 126.</a> +<i>The serpent.</i> The dragon, the emblem of +Thebes.</p> + +<p style="text-indent: 2em;"><a href="#Anti_t_2" name="Anti_n_2" id="Anti_n_2">l. 130.</a> +<i>Idly caparisoned.</i> Reading +<span class="Greek" title="huperopliais"> +υπεροπλιαις</span>.</p> + +<p><a href="#Anti_t_3" name="Anti_n_3" id="Anti_n_3">P. 7, l. 140.</a> +<i>Self-harnessed helper.</i> An allusion to the +<span class="Greek" title="seiraphoros"> +σειραφορος</span>, +or side trace-horse, in a chariot-race.</p> + +<p><a href="#Anti_t_4" name="Anti_n_4" id="Anti_n_4">P. 13, l. 342.</a> +<i>Children of the steed.</i> Mules are so-called by +Homer.</p> + +<p><a href="#Anti_t_5" name="Anti_n_5" id="Anti_n_5">P. 30, l. 955.</a> +<i>Dryas’ hasty son.</i> Lycurgus. See Homer, +<i>Iliad</i>, vi.</p> + +<p style="text-indent: 2em;"><a href="#Anti_t_6" name="Anti_n_6" id="Anti_n_6">l. 971.</a> +<i>Phineus’ two sons.</i> Idothea, the second wife of +Phineus, persecuted his two sons by Cleopatra, a daughter +of Boreas, whom he had repudiated and immured. The +Argonauts saw them in the condition here described.</p> + +<p><a href="#Anti_t_7" name="Anti_n_7" id="Anti_n_7">P. 34, l. 1120.</a> +<i>The all-gathering bosom wide.</i> The plain +of Eleusis, where mysteries were held in honour of Dêo or +Demeter.</p> + +<p><a href="#Anti_t_8" name="Anti_n_8" id="Anti_n_8">P. 39, l. 1301.</a> +Reading +<span class="Greek" title="*oxuthêktô ... peri*xiphei"> +*οξυθηκτω +... +περι*ξιφει</span>.</p> + +<p style="text-indent: 2em;"><a href="#Anti_t_9" name="Anti_n_9" id="Anti_n_9">l. 1303.</a> +<i>The glorious bed of buried Megareus.</i> Megareus, +son of Creon and Eurydice, sacrificed himself for Thebes +by falling into a deep cave called the Dragon’s Lair.</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"><p class="break"><span class="page2">[page 314]</span><b>AIAS.</b></p></div> + +<p><a href="#Aias_t_1" name="Aias_n_1" id="Aias_n_1">P. 48, l. 172.</a> +<i>Her blood-stained temple.</i> In some of her +temples Artemis was worshipped with sacrifices of bulls, +and, according to an old tradition, also with human +sacrifices.</p> + +<p><a href="#Aias_t_2" name="Aias_n_2" id="Aias_n_2">P. 49. l. 190.</a> +<i>The brood of Sisyphus.</i> Amongst his enemies, +Odysseus was reputed to be the offspring of Sisyphus and +not of Laertes.</p> + +<p><a href="#Aias_t_3" name="Aias_n_3" id="Aias_n_3">P. 59, l. 574.</a> +<i>Named of the shield.</i> Eurysakes means +Broadshield.</p> + +<p><a href="#Aias_t_4" name="Aias_n_4" id="Aias_n_4">P. 71, l. 1011.</a> +<i>Who smiles no more.</i> Compare a fragment +of the <i>Teucer</i> of Sophocles (519, Nauck),</p> + +<div class="poem"><span class="i6">‘How vain then, O my son,<br /></span> +<span>How vain was my delight in thy proud fame,<br /></span> +<span>While I supposed thee living! The fell Fury<br /></span> +<span>From her dark shroud beguiled me with sweet lies.’<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="ctr"><p class="break"><b>KING OEDIPUS.</b></p></div> + +<p><a href="#King_t_1" name="King_n_1" id="King_n_1">P. 86, l. 36.</a> +<i>That stern songstress.</i> The Sphinx. See +also <a href="#King_t_1a">‘minstrel hound.’</a></p> + +<p><a href="#King_t_2" name="King_n_2" id="King_n_2">P. 96, l. 402.</a> +<i>Will hunt | Pollution forth.</i> The party cry +of ‘driving out the pollution’ was raised against the +Alcmaeonidae and other families in Athens, who were supposed +to lie under a traditional curse.</p> + +<p><a href="#King_t_3" name="King_n_3" id="King_n_3">P. 99. l. 525.</a> +<i>Who durst declare it.</i> +<span class="Greek" title="Tou pros d’ ephanthê"> +Του +προς +δ’ +εφανθη</span>. +Though the emphatic order of words is unusual, this seems +more forcible than the var. +<span class="Greek" title="toupos d’ ephanthe"> +τουπος +δ’ +εφανθη</span>.</p> + +<p><a href="#King_t_4" name="King_n_4" id="King_n_4">P. 102, l. 625.</a> +[CR. <i>You’ll ne’er relent nor listen to my +plea.</i>] A line has here been lost in the original.</p> + +<p><a href="#King_t_5" name="King_n_5" id="King_n_5">P. 113, l. 1025.</a> +<i>Your purchase or your child?</i> Oedipus +is not to be supposed to have weighed the import of the +Corinthian shepherd’s words, ‘Nor I nor he,’ &c., <i>supra</i>.</p> + +<p><a href="#King_t_6" name="King_n_6" id="King_n_6">P. 128. l. 1526.</a> +<i>His envied fortune mounted beaming.</i> +Reading +<span class="Greek" title="en zêlô politôn"> +εν +ζηλω +πολιτων</span> +(with 2 MSS) and +<span class="Greek" title="epiphlegôn"> +επιφλεγων</span> +from my conjecture.</p> + + +<div class="ctr"><p class="break"><b>ELECTRA.</b></p></div> + +<p><a href="#Elec_t_1" name="Elec_n_1" id="Elec_n_1">P. 131, l. 6.</a> +<i>The wolf-slaying God.</i> Apollo Lyceius, from +<i>Lycos</i>, a wolf.</p> + +<p><a href="#Elec_t_2" name="Elec_n_2" id="Elec_n_2">P. 140, l. 363.</a> +<i>Ne’er be it mine,</i> &c. Reading +<span class="Greek" title="toume mê *lupoun monon | boskêma"> +τουμε +μη +*λυπουν +μονον | +βοσκημα</span>.</p> + +<p><span class="page2">[page 315]</span><a href="#Elec_t_3" name="Elec_n_3" id="Elec_n_3">P. 143, l. 451.</a> +<i>That lingers on my brow.</i> A somewhat +forced interpretation of +<span class="Greek" title="tênde liparê tricha"> +τηνδε +λιπαρη +τριχα</span>. +Possibly +<span class="Greek" title="tênd’ alamprunton tricha"> +τηνδ’ +αλαμπρυντον +τριχα</span>: +‘And this—unkempt and poor—yet +give it to him.’</p> + +<p><a href="#Elec_t_4" name="Elec_n_4" id="Elec_n_4">P. 144, l. 504.</a> +<i>Chariot course of Pelops, full of toil.</i> +Pelops won his bride Hippodameia by bribing Myrtilus, +his charioteer; whom, in order to conceal his fault, he +flung into the sea.</p> + +<p><a href="#Elec_t_5" name="Elec_n_5" id="Elec_n_5">P. 150, l. 722.</a> +<i>That pulled the side-rope.</i> See on <a href="#Anti_n_3">Ant., +p. 7, l. 140.</a></p> + +<p style="text-indent: 2em;"><a href="#Elec_t_6" name="Elec_n_6" id="Elec_n_6">l. 151.</a> +<i>In letting loose again the left-hand rein.</i> The +near horse (see above) knows his business, and, when the +slackening of the rein shows that the goal is cleared, makes +eagerly for the direct downward course. But if he is let +go an instant too soon, he brings the car into contact with +the stone.</p> + +<p style="text-indent: 2em;"><a href="#Elec_t_7" name="Elec_n_7" id="Elec_n_7">l. 746.</a> +<i>Caught in the reins.</i> In an ancient chariot-race, +the reins were often passed round the body of the charioteer, +so as to give more purchase. See this described in the +<i>Hippolytus</i> of Euripides.</p> + +<p><a href="#Elec_t_8" name="Elec_n_8" id="Elec_n_8">P. 154, l. 837.</a> +<i>One in a woman’s toils | was tangled.</i> Amphiaraus, +betrayed by Eriphyle for a necklace.</p> + +<p><a href="#Elec_t_9" name="Elec_n_9" id="Elec_n_9">P. 160, l. 1085.</a> +<i>Through homeless misery.</i> I read +<span class="Greek" title="aiôn’ aoikon"> +αιων’ +αοικον</span> +for +<span class="Greek" title="aiôna koinon"> +αιωνα +κοινον</span> +of the MSS.</p> + +<p style="text-indent: 2em;"><a href="#Elec_t_10" name="Elec_n_10" id="Elec_n_10">l. 1086.</a> +<i>Purging the sin and shame.</i> I read +<span class="Greek" title="kathagnisasa"> +καθαγνισασα</span> +for the impossible +<span class="Greek" title="kathoplisasa"> +καθοπλισασα</span>.</p> + +<p><a href="#Elec_t_11" name="Elec_n_11" id="Elec_n_11">P. 172, l. 1478.</a> +<i>Thou hast been taking,</i> &c. Otherwise, +reading with the MSS +<span class="Greek" title="zôn tois thanousin ounek’ antaudas isa"> +ζων +τοις +θανουσιν +ουνεκ’ +ανταυδας +ισα</span>, +<i>At point to die, thou art talking with the dead.</i></p> + + +<div class="ctr"><p class="break"><b>TRACHINIAN MAIDENS.</b></p></div> + +<p><a href="#Trac_t_1" name="Trac_n_1" id="Trac_n_1">P. 180, l. 104.</a> +<i>Bride of battle-wooing.</i> ‘Dêanira’ signifies +‘Cause of strife to heroes.’</p> + +<p><a href="#Trac_t_2" name="Trac_n_2" id="Trac_n_2">P. 185, l. 303.</a> +<i>Ne’er may I see thee.</i> The Spartan captives +from Pylos had lately been at Athens, and some of them +were reputed descendants of Hyllus, the son of Dêanira.</p> + +<p><a href="#Trac_t_3" name="Trac_n_3" id="Trac_n_3">P. 195, l. 654.</a> +<i>Frees him for ever.</i> His last contest brings +his final deliverance.</p> + +<p><a href="#Trac_t_4" name="Trac_n_4" id="Trac_n_4">P. 201, l. 860.</a> +<i>From Love’s dread minister,</i> i.e. from +Aphrodite, working through the concealed and silent Iole.</p> + + +<div class="ctr"><p class="break"><span class="page2">[page 316]</span><b>PHILOCTETES.</b></p></div> + +<p><a href="#Phil_t_1" name="Phil_n_1" id="Phil_n_1">P. 222, l. 194.</a> +<i>Through Chrysa’s cruel sting.</i> Chrysa was +an island near the Troad, sacred to a goddess of the name. +Her precinct was guarded by a serpent, whose bite, from +which Philoctetes suffered, was incurable. See below +<a href="#Phil_n_7">p. 254, l. 1327.</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Phil_t_2" name="Phil_n_2" id="Phil_n_2">P. 226, l. 344.</a> +<i>The fosterer of my sire.</i> Phoenix, the +tutor of Achilles.</p> + +<p><a href="#Phil_t_3" name="Phil_n_3" id="Phil_n_3">P. 227, l. 351.</a> +<i>For I ne’er | Had seen him.</i> The legend +which makes Achilles go to Troy from Scyros is probably +ignored.</p> + +<p style="text-indent: 2em;"><a href="#Phil_t_4" name="Phil_n_4" id="Phil_n_4">l. 384.</a> +<i>Vile offset of an evil tree.</i> Alluding to the supposed +birth of Odysseus. See on Ai., <a href="#Aias_n_2" title="Note: Original printing had p. 60">l. 190, p. 49.</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Phil_t_5" name="Phil_n_5" id="Phil_n_5">P. 230, l. 489.</a> +<i>Of old Chalcodon.</i> One of the former +generation, a friend and neighbour of Poeas the father of +Philoctetes.</p> + +<p><a href="#Phil_t_6" name="Phil_n_6" id="Phil_n_6">P. 237, l. 729.</a> +<i>Of him, whose home is in the skies.</i> Heracles, +imagined as transfigured on Mount Oeta.</p> + +<p><a href="#Phil_t_7" name="Phil_n_7" id="Phil_n_7">P. 254, l. 1328.</a> +<i>The sky-roofed fold.</i> The open precinct +that was sacred to the goddess, merely surrounded by a +wall. See above, note on <a href="#Phil_n_1">p. 222, l. 194.</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Phil_t_8" name="Phil_n_8" id="Phil_n_8">P. 255, l. 1333.</a> +<i>Phoebus’ child.</i> Asclepius.</p> + + +<div class="ctr"><p class="break"><b>OEDIPUS AT COLONOS.</b></p></div> + +<p><a href="#Oedi_t_1" name="Oedi_n_1" id="Oedi_n_1">P. 265, l. 158.</a> +<i>Mingles with draughts,</i> &c. Where libations +are mixed of water and honey.</p> + +<p><a href="#Oedi_t_2" name="Oedi_n_2" id="Oedi_n_2">P. 288, l. 888.</a> +<i>The God.</i> Poseidon. See above, <a href="#Oedi_t_2a" title="Note: Original printing had p. 282">p. 262, +l. 55.</a></p> + +<p><a href="#Oedi_t_3" name="Oedi_n_3" id="Oedi_n_3">P. 306, l. 1525.</a> +<i>neighbouring.</i> +<span class="Greek" title="geitonôn"> +γειτονων</span> +(the participle).</p> + +<p style="text-indent: 2em;"><a href="#Oedi_t_4" name="Oedi_n_4" id="Oedi_n_4">l. 1534.</a> +<i>The dragon-brood.</i> The Cadmeian race at +Thebes, sprung from the dragon’s teeth sown by Cadmus.</p> + + +<p class="break">N.B.—For other questionable points the student is +referred to the small edition of <i>Sophocles</i>, by Campbell and +Abbott (2 vols., Clarendon Press, 1900).</p> + + +<div class="ctr"><p class="break">Oxford: HORACE HART, Printer to the University.</p></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Seven Plays in English Verse, by Sophocles + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN PLAYS IN ENGLISH VERSE *** + +***** This file should be named 14484-h.htm or 14484-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/4/8/14484/ + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Fred Robinson and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Seven Plays in English Verse + +Author: Sophocles + +Release Date: December 27, 2004 [EBook #14484] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN PLAYS IN ENGLISH VERSE *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Fred Robinson and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + + + + + SOPHOCLES + + THE + SEVEN PLAYS IN ENGLISH VERSE + + BY + LEWIS CAMPBELL, M.A. + + HON. LL.D., HON. D.LITT. + EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS + HON. FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD + + [Illustration: THE WORLD'S CLASSICS] + + NEW EDITION, REVISED + + HENRY FROWDE + OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + LONDON, NEW YORK AND TORONTO + + + + + SOPHOCLES + + Born at Colonos probably 495 B.C. + Died 406 B.C. + +_The present translation was first published in 'The World's Classics' + in 1906._ + + + + + Sie hoeren nicht die folgenden Gesaenge, + Die Seelen, denen ich die ersten sang. + + + + + CONTENTS + + PREFACE + PREFATORY NOTE TO THE EDITION OF 1883 + + ANTIGONE + AIAS + KING OEDIPUS + ELECTRA + THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS + PHILOCTETES + OEDIPUS AT COLONOS + NOTES + + * * * * * + + + + + PREFACE + + +In 1869, having read the Antigone with a pupil who at the time had a +passion for the stage, I was led to attempt a metrical version of the +_Antigone_, and, by and by, of the Electra and Trachiniae.[1] I had +the satisfaction of seeing this last very beautifully produced by an +amateur company in Scotland in 1877; when Mrs. Fleeming Jenkin may be +said to have 'created' the part of Deanira. Thus encouraged, I +completed the translation of the seven plays, which was published by +Kegan Paul in 1883 and again by Murray in 1896. I have now to thank +Mr. Murray for consenting to this cheaper issue. + +The seven extant plays of Sophocles have been variously arranged. In +the order most frequently adopted by English editors, the three plays +of the Theban cycle, Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus Coloneus, and Antigone, +have been placed foremost. + +In one respect this is obviously convenient, as appearing to present +continuously a connected story. But on a closer view, it is in two +ways illusory. + +1. The Antigone is generally admitted to be, comparatively speaking, +an early play, while the Oedipus Coloneus belongs to the dramatist's +latest manner; the first Oedipus coming in somewhere between the two. +The effect is therefore analogous to that produced on readers of +Shakespeare by the habit of placing Henry VI after Henry IV and V. But +tragedies and 'histories' or chronicle plays are not _in pari +materia_. + +2. The error has been aggravated by a loose way of speaking of 'the +Theban Trilogy', a term which could only be properly applicable if the +three dramas had been produced in the same year. I have therefore now +arranged the seven plays in an order corresponding to the most +probable dates of their production, viz. Antigone, Aias, King Oedipus, +Electra, Trachiniae, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonos. A credible +tradition refers the Antigone to 445 B.C. The Aias appears to be not +much later--it may even be earlier--than the Antigone. The Philoctetes +was produced in 408 B.C., when the poet was considerably over eighty. +The Oedipus at Colonos has always been believed to be a composition of +Sophocles' old age. It is said to have been produced after his death, +though it may have been composed some years earlier. The tragedy of +King Oedipus, in which the poet's art attained its maturity, is +plausibly assigned to an early year of the Peloponnesian war (say 427 +B.C.), the Trachiniae to about 420 B.C. The time of the Electra is +doubtful; but Professor Jebb has shown that, on metrical grounds, it +should be placed after, rather than before, King Oedipus. Even the +English reader, taking the plays as they are grouped in this volume, +may be aware of a gradual change of manner, not unlike what is +perceptible in passing from Richard II to Macbeth, and from Macbeth to +The Winter's Tale or Cymbeline. For although the supposed date of the +Antigone was long subsequent to the poet's first tragic victory, the +forty years over which the seven plays are spread saw many changes of +taste in art and literature. + +Footnote: + 1 _Three Plays of Sophocles:_ Blackwood, 1873. + + * * * * * + + + + + PREFATORY NOTE TO THE + EDITION OF 1883 + + +I. The Hellenic spirit has been repeatedly characterized as simple +Nature-worship. Even the Higher Paganism has been described as 'in +other words the purified worship of natural forms.'[1] One might +suppose, in reading some modern writers, that the Nymphs and Fauns, +the River-Gods and Pan, were at least as prominent in all Greek poetry +as Zeus, Apollo, and Athena, or that Apollo was only the sweet singer +and not also the prophet of retribution. + +The fresh and unimpaired enjoyment of the Beautiful is certainly the +aspect of ancient life and literature which most attracted the +humanists of the sixteenth century, and still most impresses those +amongst ourselves who for various reasons desire to point the contrast +between Paganism and Judaism. The two great groups of forces vaguely +known as the Renaissance and the Revolution have both contributed to +this result. Men who were weary of conventionality and of the weight +of custom 'heavy as frost and deep almost as life,' have longed for +the vision of 'Oread or Dryad glancing through the shade,' or to 'hear +old Triton blow his wreathed horn.' Meanwhile, that in which the +Greeks most resembled us, 'the human heart by which we live,' for the +very reason that it lies so near to us, is too apt to be lost from our +conception of them. Another cause of this one-sided view is the +illusion produced by the contemplation of statuary, together with the +unapproachable perfection of form which every relic of Greek antiquity +indisputably possesses. + +But on turning from the forms of Greek art to the substance of Greek +literature, we find that Beauty, although everywhere an important +element, is by no means the sole or even the chief attribute of the +greatest writings, nor is the Hellenic consciousness confined within +the life of Nature, unless this term is allowed to comprehend man with +all his thoughts and aspirations. It was in this latter sense that +Hegel recognized the union of depth with brightness in Greek culture: +'If the first paradise was the paradise of nature, this is the second, +the higher paradise of the human spirit, which in its fair +naturalness, freedom, depth and brightness here comes forth like a +bride out of her chamber. The first wild majesty of the rise of +spiritual life in the East is here circumscribed by the dignity of +form, and softened into beauty. Its depth shows itself no longer in +confusion, obscurity, and inflation, but lies open before us in simple +clearness. Its brightness (Heiterkeit) is not a childish play, but +covers a sadness which knows the baldness of fate but is not by that +knowledge driven out of freedom and measure.' Hegel's Werke, vol. XVI. +p. 139 (translated by Prof. Caird). The simplicity of Herodotus, for +example, does not exclude far reaching thoughts on the political +advantages of liberty, nor such reflections on experience as are +implied in the saying of Artabanus, that the transitoriness of human +life is the least of its evils. And in what modern writing is more of +the wisdom of life condensed than in the History of Thucydides? It is +surely more true to say of Greek literature that it contains types of +all things human, stamped with the freshness, simplicity, and +directness which belong to first impressions, and to the first +impressions of genius. + +Now the 'thoughts and aspirations,' which are nowhere absent from +Greek literature, and make a centre of growing warmth and light in its +Periclean period--when the conception of human nature for the first +time takes definite shape--have no less of Religion in them than +underlay the 'creed outworn'. To think otherwise would be an error of +the same kind as that 'abuse of the word Atheism' against which the +author of the work above alluded to protests so forcibly. + +Religion, in the sense here indicated, is the mainspring and vital +principle of Tragedy. The efforts of Aeschylus and Sophocles were +sustained by it, and its inevitable decay through the scepticism which +preceded Socrates was the chief hindrance to the tragic genius of +Euripides. Yet the inequality of which we have consequently to +complain in him is redeemed by pregnant hints of something yet 'more +deeply interfused,' which in him, as in his two great predecessors, is +sometimes felt as 'modern,' because it is not of an age but for all +time. The most valuable part of every literature is something which +transcends the period and nation out of which it springs. + +On the other hand, much that at first sight seems primitive in Greek +tragedy belongs more to the subject than to the mode of handling. The +age of Pericles was in advance of that in which the legends were first +Hellenized and humanized, just as this must have been already far +removed from the earliest stages of mythopoeic imagination. The reader +of Aeschylus or Sophocles should therefore be warned against +attributing to the poet's invention that which is given in the fable. + +An educated student of Italian painting knows how to discriminate--say +in an Assumption by Botticelli--between the traditional conventions, +the contemporary ideas, and the refinements of the artist's own fancy. +The same indulgence must be extended to dramatic art. The tragedy of +King Lear is not rude or primitive, although the subject belongs to +prehistoric times in Britain. Nor is Goethe's Faust mediaeval in +spirit as in theme. So neither is the Oedipus Rex the product of +'lawless and uncertain thoughts,' notwithstanding the unspeakable +horror of the story, but is penetrated by the most profound estimate +of all in human life that is saddest, and all that is most precious. + +Far from being naive naturalists after the Keats fashion, the Greek +tragic poets had succeeded to a pessimistic reaction from simple Pagan +enjoyment; they were surrounded with gloomy questionings about human +destiny and Divine Justice, and they replied by looking steadily at +the facts of life and asserting the supreme worth of innocence, +equity, and mercy. + +They were not philosophers, for they spoke the language of feeling; +but the civilization of which they were the strongest outcome was +already tinged with influences derived from early philosophy-- +especially from the gnomic wisdom of the sixth century and from the +spirit of theosophic speculation, which in Aeschylus goes far even to +recast mythology. The latter influence was probably reinforced, +through channels no longer traceable, by the Eleusinian worship, in +which the mystery of life and death and of human sorrow had replaced +the primitive wonder at the phenomena of the year. + +And whatever elements of philosophic theory or mystic exaltation the +drama may have reflected, it was still more emphatically the +repository of some of the most precious traditions of civilized +humanity--traditions which philosophy has sometimes tended to +extenuate, if not to destroy. + +Plato's Gorgias contains one of the most eloquent vindications of the +transcendent value of righteousness and faithfulness as such. But when +we ask, 'Righteousness in what relation?'--'Faithfulness to whom?'-- +the Gorgias is silent; and when the vacant outline is filled up in the +Republic, we are presented with an ideal of man's social relations, +which, although it may be regarded as the ultimate development of +existing tendencies, yet has no immediate bearing on any actual +condition of the world. + +The ideal of the tragic poet may be less perfect; or rather he does +not attempt to set before us abstractedly any single ideal. But the +grand types of character which he presents to the world are not merely +imaginary. They are creatures of flesh and blood, men and women, to +whom the unsullied purity of their homes, the freedom and power of +their country, the respect and love of their fellow-citizens, are +inestimably dear. From a Platonic, and still more from a Christian +point of view, the best morality of the age of Pericles is no doubt +defective. Such counsels of perfection as 'Love your enemies', or 'A +good man can harm no one, not even an enemy',--are beyond the horizon +of tragedy, unless dimly seen in the person of Antigone. The +coexistence of savage vindictiveness with the most affectionate +tenderness is characteristic of heroes and heroines alike, and +produces some of the most moving contrasts. But the tenderness is no +less deep and real for this, and while the chief persons are thus +passionate, the Greek lesson of moderation and reasonableness is +taught by the event, whether expressed or not by the mouth of sage or +prophet or of the 'ideal bystander'. + +Greek tragedy, then, is a religious art, not merely because associated +with the festival of Dionysus, nor because the life which it +represented was that of men who believed, with all the Hellenes, in +Zeus, Apollo, and Athena, or in the power of Moira and the Erinyes,-- +not merely because it represented + + 'the dread strife + Of poor humanity's afflicted will + Struggling in vain with ruthless destiny,' + +but much more because it awakened in the Athenian spectator emotions +of wonder concerning human life, and of admiration for nobleness in +the unfortunate--a sense of the infinite value of personal uprightness +and of domestic purity--which in the most universal sense of the word +were truly religious,--because it expressed a consciousness of depths +which Plato never fathomed, and an ideal of character which, if less +complete than Shakespeare's, is not less noble. It is indeed a 'rough' +generalization that ranks the Agamemnon with the Adoniazusae as a +religious composition. + +II. This spiritual side of tragic poetry deserves to be emphasized +both as the most essential aspect of it, and as giving it the most +permanent claim to lasting recognition. And yet, apart from this, +merely as dramas, the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides +will never cease to be admired. These poets are teachers, but they +teach through art. To ask simply, as Carlyle once did, 'What did they +think?' is not the way to understand or learn from them. + +Considered simply as works of art, the plays of Sophocles stand alone +amongst dramatic writings in their degree of concentration and complex +unity. + +1. The interest of a Sophoclean drama is always intensely personal, +and is almost always centred in an individual destiny. In other words, +it is not historical or mythical, but ethical. Single persons stand +out magnificently in Aeschylus. But the action is always larger than +any single life. Each tragedy or trilogy resembles the fragment of a +sublime Epic poem. Mighty issues revolve about the scene, whether this +is laid on Earth or amongst the Gods, issues far transcending the fate +of Orestes or even of Prometheus. In the perspective painting of +Sophocles, these vast surroundings fall into the background, and the +feelings of the spectator are absorbed in sympathy with the chief +figure on the stage, round whom the other characters--the members of +the chorus being included--are grouped with the minutest care. + +2. In this grouping of the persons, as well as in the conduct of the +action, Sophocles is masterly in his use of pathetic contrast. This +motive must of course enter into all tragedy--nothing can be finer +than the contrast of Cassandra to Clytemnestra in the Agamemnon,--but +in Sophocles it is all-pervading, and some of the minor effects of it +are so subtle that although inevitably felt by the spectator they are +often lost upon the mere reader or student. And every touch, however +transient, is made to contribute to the main effect. + +To recur once more to the much-abused analogy of statuary:--the work +of Aeschylus may be compared to a colossal frieze, while that of +Sophocles resembles the pediment of a smaller temple. Or if, as in +considering the Orestean trilogy, the arrangement of the pediment +affords the more fitting parallel even for Aeschylus, yet the forms +are so gigantic that minute touches of characterization and of +contrast are omitted as superfluous. Whereas in Sophocles, it is at +once the finish of the chief figure and the studied harmony of the +whole, which have led his work to be compared with that of his +contemporary Phidias. Such comparison, however, is useful by way of +illustration merely. It must never be forgotten that, as Lessing +pointed out to some who thought the Philoctetes too sensational, +analogies between the arts are limited by essential differences of +material and of scope. All poetry represents successive moments. Its +figures are never in repose. And although the action of Tragedy is +concentrated and revolves around a single point, yet it is a dull +vision that confounds rapidity of motion with rest. + +3. Sophocles found the subjects of his dramas already embodied not +only in previous tragedies but in Epic and Lyric poetry. And there +were some fables, such as that of the death of Oedipus at Colonos, +which seem to have been known to him only through oral tradition. For +some reason which is not clearly apparent, both he and Aeschylus drew +more largely from the Cyclic poets than from 'our Homer'. The inferior +and more recent Epics, which are now lost, were probably more +episodical, and thus presented a more inviting repertory of legends +than the Iliad and Odyssey. + +Arctinus of Lesbos had treated at great length the story of the House +of Thebes. The legend of Orestes, to which there are several +allusions, not always consistent with each other, in the Homeric +poems, had been a favourite and fruitful subject of tradition and of +poetical treatment in the intervening period. Passages of the Tale of +Troy, in which other heroes than Achilles had the pre-eminence, had +been elaborated by Lesches and other Epic writers of the Post-Homeric +time. The voyage of the Argonauts, another favourite heroic theme, +supplied the subjects of many dramas which have disappeared. Lastly, +the taking of Oechalia by Heracles, and the events which followed it, +had been narrated in a long poem, in which one version of that hero's +multiform legend was fully set forth. + +The subjects of the King Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonos, and Antigone, +are taken from the Tale of Thebes, the Aias and the Philoctetes are +founded on incidents between the end of the Iliad and the taking of +Troy, the Electra represents the vengeance of Orestes, the crowning +event in the tale of 'Pelops' line', the Trachiniae recounts the last +crisis in the life of Heracles. + +4. Of the three Theban plays, the Antigone was first composed, +although its subject is the latest. Aeschylus in the Seven against +Thebes had already represented the young heroine as defying the +victorious citizens who forbade the burial of her brother, the rebel +Polynices. He allowed her to be supported in her action by a band of +sympathizing friends. But in the play of Sophocles she stands alone, +and the power which she defies is not that of the citizens generally, +but of Creon, whose will is absolute in the State. Thus the struggle +is intensified, and both her strength and her desolation become more +impressive, while the opposing claims of civic authority and domestic +piety are more vividly realized, because either is separately embodied +in an individual will. By the same means the situation is humanized to +the last degree, and the heart of the spectator, although strained to +the uttermost with pity for the heroic maiden whose life when full of +brightest hopes was sacrificed to affection and piety, has still some +feeling left for the living desolation of the man, whose patriotic +zeal, degenerating into tyranny, brought his city to the brink of +ruin, and cost him the lives of his two sons and of his wife, whose +dying curse, as well as that of Haemon, is denounced upon him. + +In the Oedipus Tyrannus, Sophocles goes back to the central crisis of +the Theban story. And again he fixes our attention, not so much on the +fortunes of the city, or of the reigning house, as on the man Oedipus, +his glory and his fall.-- + + 'O mirror of our fickle state + Since man on earth unparalleled! + The rarer thy example stands, + By how much from the top of wondrous glory, + Strongest of mortal men, + To lowest pitch of abject fortune thou art fallen[2]. + +The horror and the pity of it are both enhanced by the character of +Oedipus--his essential innocence, his affectionateness, his +uncalculating benevolence and public spirit;--while his impetuosity +and passionateness make the sequel less incredible. + +The essential innocence of Oedipus, which survives the ruin of his +hopes in this world, supplies the chief motive of the Oedipus at +Colonos. This drama, which Sophocles is said to have written late in +life, is in many ways contrasted with the former Oedipus. It begins +with pity and horror, and ends with peace. It is only in part founded +on Epic tradition, the main incident belonging apparently to the local +mythology of the poet's birthplace. It also implies a later stage of +ethical reflection, and in this respect resembles the Philoctetes; it +depends more on lyrical and melodramatic effects, and allows more room +for collateral and subsidiary motives than any other of the seven. Yet +in its principal theme, the vindication or redemption of an +essentially noble spirit from the consequences of error, it repeats a +note which had been struck much earlier in the Aias with great force, +although with some crudities of treatment which are absent from the +later drama. + +5. In one of the Epic poems which narrated the fall of Troy, the +figure of Aias was more prominent than in the Iliad. He alone and +unassisted was there said to have repulsed Hector from the ships, and +he had the chief share, although in this he was aided by Odysseus, in +rescuing the dead body of Achilles. Yet Achilles' arms were awarded by +the votes of the chieftains, as the prize of valour, not to Aias, but +to Odysseus. This, no doubt, meant that wisdom is better than +strength. But the wisdom of Odysseus in these later Epics was often +less nobly esteemed than in the Iliad and Odyssey, and was represented +as alloyed with cunning. + +Aias has withdrawn with his Salaminians, in a rage, from the fight, +and after long brooding by the ships his wrath has broken forth into a +blaze which would have endangered the lives of Odysseus and the +Atridae, had not Athena in her care for them changed his anger into +madness. Hence, instead of slaying the generals, he makes havoc +amongst the flocks and herds, which as the result of various forays +were the common property of the whole army. The truth is discovered by +Odysseus with the help of Athena, and from being next to Achilles in +renown, Aias becomes the object of universal scorn and hatred. The +sequel of this hour of his downfall is the subject of the Aias of +Sophocles. After lamenting his fate, the hero eludes the vigilance of +his captive bride Tecmessa, and of his Salaminian mariners, and, in +complete solitude, falls upon his sword. He is found by Tecmessa and +by his half-brother Teucer, who has returned too late from a raid in +the Mysian highlands. The Atridae would prohibit Aias' funeral; but +Odysseus, who has been specially enlightened by Athena, advises +generous forbearance, and his counsel prevails. The part representing +the disgrace and death of Aias is more affecting to modern readers +than the remainder of the drama. But we should bear in mind that the +vindication of Aias after death, and his burial with undiminished +honours, had an absorbing interest for the Athenian and Salaminian +spectator. + +Philoctetes also is rejected by man and accepted by Destiny. The +Argives in his case, as the Thebans in the case of Oedipus, are blind +to the real intentions of the Gods. + +The Philoctetes, like the Oedipus at Colonos, was a work of Sophocles' +old age; and while it can hardly be said that the fire of tragic +feeling is abated in either of these plays, dramatic effect is +modified in both of them by the influence of the poet's contemplative +mood. The interest of the action in the Philoctetes is more inward and +psychological than in any other ancient drama. The change of mind in +Neoptolemus, the stubborn fixity of will in Philoctetes, contrasted +with the confiding tenderness of his nature, form the elements of a +dramatic movement at once extremely simple and wonderfully sustained. +No purer ideal of virtuous youth has been imagined than the son of +Achilles, who in this play, though sorely tempted, sets faithfulness +before ambition. + +6. In the Electra, which, though much earlier than the Philoctetes, is +still a work of his mature genius, our poet appears at first sight to +be in unequal competition with Aeschylus. If the Theban trilogy of the +elder poet had remained entire, a similar impression might have been +produced by the Oedipus Tyrannus. It is best to lay such comparisons +aside, and to consider the work of Sophocles simply on its own merits. +The subject, as he has chosen to treat it, is the heroic endurance of +a woman who devotes her life to the vindication of intolerable wrongs +done to her father, and the restoration of her young brother to his +hereditary rights. Hers is the human agency which for this purpose +works together with Apollo. But the divine intention is concealed from +her. She suffers countless indignities from her father's enemies, of +whom her own mother is the chief. And, at length, all her hopes are +shattered by the false tidings that Orestes is no more. Even then she +does not relinquish her resolve. And the revulsion from her deep +sorrow to extremity of joy, when she finds Orestes at her side and +ready to perform the act of vengeance in his own person, is +irresistably affecting, even when the play is only read. + +Sophocles is especially great in the delineation of ideal female +characters. The heroic ardour of Antigone, and the no less heroic +persistence and endurance of Electra, are both founded on the strength +of their affection. And the affection in both cases is what some +moderns too have called the purest of human feelings, the love of a +sister for a brother. Another aspect of that world-old marvel, 'the +love of women,' was presented in Aias' captive bride, Tecmessa. This +softer type also attains to heroic grandeur in Deanira, the wronged +wife of Heracles, whose fatal error is caused by the innocent working +of her wounded love. + +It is strange that so acute a critic as A.W. Schlegel should have +doubted the Sophoclean authorship of the Trachiniae. If its religious +and moral lessons are even less obtrusive than those of either Oedipus +and of the Antigone, there is no play which more directly pierces to +the very heart of humanity. And it is a superficial judgement which +complains that here at all events our sympathies are distracted +between the two chief persons, Deanira and Heracles. To one passion of +his, to one fond mistake of hers, the ruin of them both is due. Her +love has made their fates inseparable. And the spectator, in sharing +Hyllus' grief, is afflicted for them both at once. We may well +recognize in this treatment of the death of Heracles the hand of him +who wrote-- + +[Greek: + su kai dikaion adikous + phrenas paraspas epi loba, + ..., ... + amachos gar empaizei theos Aphrodita[3].] + +7. It is unnecessary to expatiate here on the merits of construction +in which these seven plays are generally acknowledged to be +unrivalled; the natural way in which the main situation is explained, +the suddenness and inevitableness of the complications, the steadily +sustained climax of emotion until the action culminates, the +preservation of the fitting mood until the end, the subtlety and +effectiveness of the minor contrasts of situation and character[4]. + +But it may not be irrelevant to observe that the 'acting qualities' of +Sophocles, as of Shakespeare, are best known to those who have seen +him acted, whether in Greek, as by the students at Harvard[5] and +Toronto[6], and more recently at Cambridge[7], or in English long ago +by Miss Helen Faucit (since Lady Martin[8]), or still earlier and +repeatedly in Germany, or in the French version of the Antigone by MM. +Maurice and Vacquerie (1845) or of King Oedipus by M. Lacroix, in +which the part of OEdipe Roi was finely sustained by M. Geoffroy in +1861, and by M. Mounet Sully in 1881[9]. With reference to the latter +performance, which was continued throughout the autumn season, M. +Francisque Sarcey wrote an article for the _Temps_ newspaper of August +15, 1881, which is full of just and vivid appreciation. At the risk of +seeming absurdly 'modern', I will quote from this article some of the +more striking passages. + + 'Ce troisieme et ce quatrieme actes, les plus emouvants qui se + soient jamais produits sur aucune scene, se composent d'une suite + de narrations, qui viennent l'une apres l'autre frapper au coeur + d'OEdipe, et qui ont leur contrecoup dans l'ame des spectateurs. + Je ne sais qu'une piece au monde qui soit construite de la sorte, + c'est l'_Ecole des Femmes_. Ce rapprochement vous paraitra + singulier, sans doute.... Mais ... c'est dans le vieux drame grec + comme dans la comedie du maitre francais une trouvaille de + genie.... + + 'Sophocle a voulu, apres des emotions si terribles, apres des + angoisses si seches, ouvrir la source des larmes: il a ecrit un + cinquieme acte.... + + 'Les yeux creves d'OEdipe ne sont qu'un accident, ou, si vous + aimez mieux, un accessoire, Le poete, sans s'arreter a ce detail, + a mis sur les levres de son heros toute la gamme des sentiments + douloureux qu'excite une si prodigieuse infortune.... + + 'A la lecture, elle est un pen longue cette scene de + lamentations. Au theatre, on n'a pas le temps de la trouver + telle: on pleure de toute son ame et de tous ses yeux. C'est + qu'apres avoir eu le coeur si longtemps serre comme dans un etau, + on epreuve comme un soulagement a sentir en soi jaillir la source + des larmes. Sophocle, qui semble avoir ete le plus malin des + dramaturges, comme il est le plus parfait des ecrivains + dramatiques, a cherche la un effet de contraste dont l'effet est + immanquant sur le public.' + +These and other like remarks of one of the best-known critics of the +Parisian stage show that the dramatic art of Sophocles is still a +living power. + +I am well aware how feeble and inadequate the present attempted +reproduction must appear to any reader who knows the Greek original. +There is much to be said for the view of an eminent scholar who once +declared that he would never think of translating a Greek poet. But +the end of translating is not to satisfy fastidious scholars, but to +make the classics partially accessible to those whose acquaintance +with them would otherwise be still more defective. Part of this +version of Sophocles was printed several years ago in an imperfect +form. The present volume contains the seven extant plays entire. As +the object has been to give the effect of each drama as a whole, +rather than to dwell on particular 'beauties' (which only a poet can +render), the fragments have not been included. But the reader should +bear in mind that the seven plays are less than a tithe of the work +produced by the poet in his lifetime. + +It may very possibly be asked why verse has been employed at all. Why +not have listened to Carlyle's rough demand, 'Tell us what they +thought; none of your silly poetry'? The present translator can only +reply that he began with prose, but soon found that, for tragic +dialogue in English, blank verse appeared a more natural and effective +vehicle than any prose style which he could hope to frame. And with +the dialogue in verse, it was impossible to have the lyric parts in +any sort of prose, simply because the reader would then have felt an +intolerable incongruity. These parts have therefore been turned into +such familiar lyric measures as seemed at once possible and not +unsuitable. And where this method was found impracticable, as +sometimes in the _Commoi_, blank metres have again been used,--with +such liberties as seemed appropriate to the special purpose. The +writer's hope throughout has been, not indeed fully to transfuse the +poetry of Sophocles into another tongue, but to make the poet's +dramatic intention to be understood and felt by English readers. One +more such endeavour may possibly find acceptance at a time when many +causes have combined to awaken a fresh interest at once in dramatic +literature and in Hellenic studies. + +The reader who is hitherto unacquainted with the Greek drama, should +be warned that the parts assigned to the 'Chorus' were often +distributed among its several members, who spoke or chanted, singly or +in groups, alternately or in succession. In some cases, but not in +all, _Ch. 1_, _Ch. 2_, &c., have been prefixed, to indicate such an +arrangement. + +Footnotes: + 1 [Sir John Seeley's] _Natural Religion_, p. 79. + + 2 Milton, _Samson Agonistes_, 164-169. + + 3 'Thou drawest awry + Just minds to wrong and ruin ... + ... With resistless charm + Great Aphrodite mocks the might of men.' + _Antigone._ + + 4 Cf. _Sophocles_ in Green's 'Classical Writers.' Macmillan & Co. + + 5 Oed. Tyr., 1881. + + 6 Antigone, 1882. + + 7 Ajax, Nov. 1882. + + 8 Antigone, 1845. + + 9 The performance of Greek plays (as of the Agamemnon at Oxford in + 1880) is not altogether a new thing in England. The author of Ion, + Mr. Serjeant Talfourd, in his Notice prefixed to that drama in + 1836, mentions, amongst other reasons for having intended to + dedicate it to Dr. Valpy, 'the exquisite representations of Greek + Tragedy, which he superintended,' and which 'made his images + vital.' At a still earlier time, 'the great Dr. Parr' had + encouraged his pupils at Stanmore to recite the dialogue of Greek + tragedies before an audience and in costume. It would be + ungrateful to omit all reference here to some performances of the + Trachiniae in English in Edinburgh and St. Andrews in 1877, which, + though not of a public nature, are still remembered with delight + by those who were present at them, and were really the first of a + series. + + * * * * * + + + + + ANTIGONE + + + THE PERSONS + +ANTIGONE,} _Daughters of Oedipus and Sisters of Polynices_ +ISMENE, } _and Eteocles._ +CHORUS _of Theban Elders._ +CREON, _King of Thebes._ +_A Watchman._ +HAEMON, _Son of Creon, betrothed to Antigone._ +TIRESIAS, _the blind Prophet._ +_A Messenger._ +EURYDICE, _the Wife of Creon._ +_Another Messenger._ + + +SCENE. Before the Cadmean Palace at Thebes. + +_Note._ The town of Thebes is often personified as Thebe. + + + + +Polynices, son and heir to the unfortunate Oedipus, having been +supplanted by his younger brother Eteocles, brought an army of Argives +against his native city, Thebes. The army was defeated, and the two +brothers slew each other in single combat. On this Creon, the brother- +in-law of Oedipus, succeeding to the chief power, forbade the burial +of Polynices. But Antigone, sister of the dead, placing the dues of +affection and piety before her obligation to the magistrate, disobeyed +the edict at the sacrifice of her life. Creon carried out his will, +but lost his son Haemon and his wife Eurydice, and received their +curses on his head. His other son, Megareus, had previously been +devoted as a victim to the good of the state. + + + + + ANTIGONE + + +ANTIGONE. ISMENE. + +ANTIGONE. Own sister of my blood, one life with me, +Ismene, have the tidings caught thine ear? +Say, hath not Heaven decreed to execute +On thee and me, while yet we are alive, +All the evil Oedipus bequeathed? All horror, +All pain, all outrage, falls on us! And now +The General's proclamation of to-day-- +Hast thou not heard?--Art thou so slow to hear +When harm from foes threatens the souls we love? + +ISMENE. No word of those we love, Antigone, +Painful or glad, hath reached me, since we two +Were utterly deprived of our two brothers, +Cut off with mutual stroke, both in one day. +And since the Argive host this now-past night +Is vanished, I know nought beside to make me +Nearer to happiness or more in woe. + +ANT. I knew it well, and therefore led thee forth +The palace gate, that thou alone mightst hear. + +ISM. Speak on! Thy troubled look bodes some dark news. + +ANT. Why, hath not Creon, in the burial-rite, +Of our two brethren honoured one, and wrought +On one foul wrong? Eteocles, they tell, +With lawful consecration he lays out, +And after covers him in earth, adorned +With amplest honours in the world below. +But Polynices, miserably slain, +They say 'tis publicly proclaimed that none +Must cover in a grave, nor mourn for him; +But leave him tombless and unwept, a store +Of sweet provision for the carrion fowl +That eye him greedily. Such righteous law +Good Creon hath pronounced for thy behoof-- +Ay, and for mine! I am not left out!--And now +He moves this way to promulgate his will +To such as have not heard, nor lightly holds +The thing he bids, but, whoso disobeys, +The citizens shall stone him to the death. +This is the matter, and thou wilt quickly show +If thou art noble, or fallen below thy birth. + +ISM. Unhappy one! But what can I herein +Avail to do or undo? + +ANT. Wilt thou share +The danger and the labour? Make thy choice. + +ISM. Of what wild enterprise? What canst thou mean? + +ANT. Wilt thou join hand with mine to lift the dead? + +ISM. To bury him, when all have been forbidden? +Is that thy thought? + +ANT. To bury my own brother +And thine, even though thou wilt not do thy part. +I will not be a traitress to my kin. + +ISM. Fool-hardy girl! against the word of Creon? + +ANT. He hath no right to bar me from mine own. + +ISM. Ah, sister, think but how our father fell, +Hated of all and lost to fair renown, +Through self-detected crimes--with his own hand, +Self-wreaking, how he dashed out both his eyes: +Then how the mother-wife, sad two-fold name! +With twisted halter bruised her life away, +Last, how in one dire moment our two brothers +With internecine conflict at a blow +Wrought out by fratricide their mutual doom. +Now, left alone, O think how beyond all +Most piteously we twain shall be destroyed, +If in defiance of authority +We traverse the commandment of the King! +We needs must bear in mind we are but women, +Never created to contend with men; +Nay more, made victims of resistless power, +To obey behests more harsh than this to-day. +I, then, imploring those beneath to grant +Indulgence, seeing I am enforced in this, +Will yield submission to the powers that rule, +Small wisdom were it to overpass the bound. + +ANT. I will not urge you! no! nor if now you list +To help me, will your help afford me joy. +Be what you choose to be! This single hand +Shall bury our lost brother. Glorious +For me to take this labour and to die! +Dear to him will my soul be as we rest +In death, when I have dared this holy crime. +My time for pleasing men will soon be over; +Not so my duty toward the Dead! My home +Yonder will have no end. You, if you will, +May pour contempt on laws revered on High. + +ISM. Not from irreverence. But I have no strength +To strive against the citizens' resolve. + +ANT. Thou, make excuses! I will go my way +To raise a burial-mound to my dear brother. + +ISM. Oh, hapless maiden, how I fear for thee! + +ANT. Waste not your fears on me! Guide your own fortune. + +ISM. Ah! yet divulge thine enterprise to none, +But keep the secret close, and so will I. + +ANT. O Heavens! Nay, tell! I hate your silence worse; +I had rather you proclaimed it to the world. + +ISM. You are ardent in a chilling enterprise. + +ANT. I know that I please those whom I would please. + +ISM. Yes, if you thrive; but your desire is bootless. + +ANT. Well, when I fail I shall be stopt, I trow! + +ISM. One should not start upon a hopeless quest. + +ANT. Speak in that vein if you would earn my hate +And aye be hated of our lost one. Peace! +Leave my unwisdom to endure this peril; +Fate cannot rob me of a noble death. + +ISM. Go, if you must--Not to be checked in folly, +But sure unparalleled in faithful love! [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS (_entering_). + Beam of the mounting Sun! I 1 + O brightest, fairest ray + Seven-gated Thebe yet hath seen! + Over the vale where Dirce's fountains run + At length thou appearedst, eye of golden Day, + And with incitement of thy radiance keen + Spurredst to faster flight + The man of Argos hurrying from the fight. + Armed at all points the warrior came, + But driven before thy rising flame + He rode, reverting his pale shield, + Headlong from yonder battlefield. + + In snow-white panoply, on eagle wing, [_Half-Chorus_ + He rose, dire ruin on our land to bring, + Roused by the fierce debate + Of Polynices' hate, + Shrilling sharp menace from his breast, + Sheathed all in steel from crown to heel, + With many a plumed crest. + + Then stooped above the domes, I 2 + With lust of carnage fired, + And opening teeth of serried spears + Yawned wide around the gates that guard our homes; + But went, or e'er his hungry jaws had tired + On Theban flesh,--or e'er the Fire-god fierce + Seizing our sacred town + Besmirched and rent her battlemented crown. + Such noise of battle as he fled + About his back the War-god spread; + So writhed to hard-fought victory + The serpent[1] struggling to be free. + + High Zeus beheld their stream that proudly rolled [_Half-Chorus_ + Idly caparisoned[2] with clanking gold: + Zeus hates the boastful tongue: + He with hurled fire down flung + One who in haste had mounted high, + And that same hour from topmost tower + Upraised the exulting cry. + + Swung rudely to the hard repellent earth II 1 + Amidst his furious mirth + He fell, who then with flaring brand + Held in his fiery hand + Came breathing madness at the gate + In eager blasts of hate. + And doubtful swayed the varying fight + Through the turmoil of the night, + As turning now on these and now on those + Ares hurtled 'midst our foes, + Self-harnessed helper[3] on our right. + + Seven matched with seven, at each gate one, [_Half-Chorus_ + Their captains, when the day was done, + Left for our Zeus who turned the scale, + The brazen tribute in full tale:-- + All save the horror-burdened pair, + Dire children of despair, + Who from one sire, one mother, drawing breath, + Each with conquering lance in rest + Against a true born brother's breast, + Found equal lots in death. + + But with blithe greeting to glad Thebe came II 2 + She of the glorious name, + Victory,--smiling on our chariot throng + With eyes that waken song + Then let those battle memories cease, + Silenced by thoughts of peace. + With holy dances of delight + Lasting through the livelong night + Visit we every shrine, in solemn round, + Led by him who shakes the ground, + Our Bacchus, Thebe's child of light. + +LEADER OF CHORUS. + But look! where Creon in his new-made power, + Moved by the fortune of the recent hour, + Comes with fresh counsel. What intelligence + Intends he for our private conference, + That he hath sent his herald to us all, + Gathering the elders with a general call? + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CREON. My friends, the noble vessel of our State, +After sore shaking her, the Gods have sped +On a smooth course once more. I have called you hither, +By special messengers selecting you +From all the city, first, because I knew you +Aye loyal to the throne of Laius; +Then, both while Oedipus gave prosperous days, +And since his fall, I still beheld you firm +In sound allegiance to the royal issue. +Now since the pair have perished in an hour, +Twinned in misfortune, by a mutual stroke +Staining our land with fratricidal blood, +All rule and potency of sovereign sway, +In virtue of next kin to the deceased, +Devolves on me. But hard it is to learn +The mind of any mortal or the heart, +Till he be tried in chief authority. +Power shows the man. For he who when supreme +Withholds his hand or voice from the best cause, +Being thwarted by some fear, that man to me +Appears, and ever hath appeared, most vile. +He too hath no high place in mine esteem, +Who sets his friend before his fatherland. +Let Zeus whose eye sees all eternally +Be here my witness. I will ne'er keep silence +When danger lours upon my citizens +Who looked for safety, nor make him my friend +Who doth not love my country. For I know +Our country carries us, and whilst her helm +Is held aright we gain good friends and true. + Following such courses 'tis my steadfast will +To foster Thebe's greatness, and therewith +In brotherly accord is my decree +Touching the sons of Oedipus. The man-- +Eteocles I mean--who died for Thebes +Fighting with eminent prowess on her side, +Shall be entombed with every sacred rite +That follows to the grave the lordliest dead. +But for his brother, who, a banished man, +Returned to devastate and burn with fire +The land of his nativity, the shrines +Of his ancestral gods, to feed him fat +With Theban carnage, and make captive all +That should escape the sword--for Polynices, +This law hath been proclaimed concerning him: +He shall have no lament, no funeral, +But he unburied, for the carrion fowl +And dogs to eat his corse, a sight of shame. + Such are the motions of this mind and will. +Never from me shall villains reap renown +Before the just. But whoso loves the State, +I will exalt him both in life and death. + +CH. Son of Menoeceus, we have heard thy mind +Toward him who loves, and him who hates our city. +And sure, 'tis thine to enforce what law thou wilt +Both on the dead and all of us who live. + +CR. Then be ye watchful to maintain my word. + +CH. Young strength for such a burden were more meet. + +CR. Already there be watchers of the dead. + +CH. What charge then wouldst thou further lay on us? + +CR. Not to give place to those that disobey. + +CH. Who is so fond, to be in love with death? + +CR. Such, truly, is the meed. But hope of gain +Full oft ere now hath been the ruin of men. + +WATCHMAN (_entering_). + My lord, I am out of breath, but not with speed. +I will not say my foot was fleet. My thoughts +Cried halt unto me ever as I came +And wheeled me to return. My mind discoursed +Most volubly within my breast, and said-- +Fond wretch! why go where thou wilt find thy bane? +Unhappy wight! say, wilt thou bide aloof? +Then if the king shall hear this from another, +How shalt thou 'scape for 't? Winding thus about +I hasted, but I could not speed, and so +Made a long journey of a little way. +At last 'yes' carried it, that I should come +To thee; and tell thee I must needs; and shall, +Though it be nothing that I have to tell. +For I came hither, holding fast by this-- +Nought that is not my fate can happen to me. + +CR. Speak forth thy cause of fear. What is the matter? + +WATCH. First of mine own part in the business. For +I did it not, nor saw the man who did, +And 'twere not right that I should come to harm. + +CR. You fence your ground, and keep well out of danger; +I see you have some strange thing to declare. + +WATCH. A man will shrink who carries words of fear. + +CB. Let us have done with you. Tell your tale, and go. + +WATCH. Well, here it is. The corse hath burial +From some one who is stolen away and gone, +But first hath strown dry dust upon the skin, +And added what religious rites require. + +CR. Ha! +What man hath been so daring in revolt? + +WATCH. I cannot tell. There was no mark to show-- +No dint of spade, or mattock-loosened sod,-- +Only the hard bare ground, untilled and trackless. +Whoe'er he was, the doer left no trace. +And, when the scout of our first daylight watch +Showed us the thing, we marvelled in dismay. +The Prince was out of sight; not in a grave, +But a thin dust was o'er him, as if thrown +By one who shunned the dead man's curse. No sign +Appeared of any hound or beast o' the field +Having come near, or pulled at the dead body. +Then rose high words among us sentinels +With bickering noise accusing each his mate, +And it seemed like to come to blows, with none +To hinder. For the hand that thus had wrought +Was any of ours, and none; the guilty man +Escaped all knowledge. And we were prepared +To lift hot iron with our bare palms; to walk +Through fire, and swear by all the Gods at once +That we were guiltless, ay, and ignorant +Of who had plotted or performed this thing. + When further search seemed bootless, at the last +One spake, whose words bowed all our heads to the earth +With fear. We knew not what to answer him, +Nor how to do it and prosper. He advised +So grave a matter must not be concealed, +But instantly reported to the King. + Well, this prevailed, and the lot fell on me, +Unlucky man! to be the ministrant +Of this fair service. So I am present here, +Against my will and yours, I am sure of that. +None love the bringer of unwelcome news. + +CH. My lord, a thought keeps whispering in my breast, +Some Power divine hath interposed in this. + +CR. Cease, ere thou quite enrage me, and appear +Foolish as thou art old. Talk not to me +Of Gods who have taken thought for this dead man! +Say, was it for his benefits to them +They hid his corse, and honoured him so highly, +Who came to set on fire their pillared shrines, +With all the riches of their offerings, +And to make nothing of their land and laws? +Or, hast thou seen them honouring villany? +That cannot be. Long time the cause of this +Hath come to me in secret murmurings +From malcontents of Thebes, who under yoke +Turned restive, and would not accept my sway. +Well know I, these have bribed the watchmen here +To do this for some fee. For nought hath grown +Current among mankind so mischievous +As money. This brings cities to their fall: +This drives men homeless, and moves honest minds +To base contrivings. This hath taught mankind +The use of wickedness, and how to give +An impious turn to every kind of act. +But whosoe'er hath done this for reward +Hath found his way at length to punishment. +If Zeus have still my worship, be assured +Of that which here on oath I say to thee-- +Unless ye find the man who made this grave +And bring him bodily before mine eye, +Death shall not be enough, till ye have hung +Alive for an example of your guilt, +That henceforth in your rapine ye may know +Whence gain is to be gotten, and may learn +Pelf from all quarters is not to be loved. +For in base getting, 'tis a common proof, +More find disaster than deliverance. + +WATCH. Am I to speak? or must I turn and go? + +CR. What? know you not your speech offends even now? + +WATCH. Doth the mind smart withal, or only the ear? + +CR. Art thou to probe the seat of mine annoy? + +WATCH. If I offend, 'tis in your ear alone, +The malefactor wounds ye to the soul. + +CR. Out on thee! thou art nothing but a tongue. + +WATCH. Then was I ne'er the doer of this deed. + +CR. Yea, verily: self-hired to crime for gold. + +WATCH. Pity so clear a mind should clearly err! + +CR. Gloze now on clearness! But unless ye bring +The burier, without glozing ye shall tell, +Craven advantage clearly worketh bane. + +WATCH. By all means let the man be found; one thing +I know right well:--caught or not caught, howe'er +Fate rules his fortune, me you ne'er will see +Standing in presence here. Even now I owe +Deep thanks to Heaven for mine escape, so far +Beyond my hope and highest expectancy. [_Exeunt severally_ + +CHORUS. +Many a wonder lives and moves, but the wonder of all is man, I 1 +That courseth over the grey ocean, carried of Southern gale, +Faring amidst high-swelling seas that rudely surge around, +And Earth, supreme of mighty Gods, eldest, imperishable, +Eternal, he with patient furrow wears and wears away + As year by year the plough-shares turn and turn,-- +Subduing her unwearied strength with children of the steed[4]. + +And wound in woven coils of nets he seizeth for his prey I 2 +The aery tribe of birds and wilding armies of the chase, +And sea-born millions of the deep--man is so crafty-wise. +And now with engine of his wit he tameth to his will +The mountain-ranging beast whose lair is in the country wild; + And now his yoke hath passed upon the mane +Of horse with proudly crested neck and tireless mountain bull. + +Wise utterance and wind-swift thought, and city-moulding mind, II 1 +And shelter from the clear-eyed power of biting frost, +He hath taught him, and to shun the sharp, roof-penetrating rain,-- +Full of resource, without device he meets no coming time; + From Death alone he shall not find reprieve; +No league may gain him that relief; but even for fell disease, +That long hath baffled wisest leech, he hath contrived a cure. + +Inventive beyond wildest hope, endowed with boundless skill, II 2 +One while he moves toward evil, and one while toward good, +According as he loves his land and fears the Gods above. +Weaving the laws into his life and steadfast oath of Heaven, + High in the State he moves but outcast he, +Who hugs dishonour to his heart and follows paths of crime +Ne'er may he come beneath my roof, nor think like thoughts with me. + +LEADER OF CHORUS + What portent from the Gods is here? + My mind is mazed with doubt and fear. + How can I gainsay what I see? + I know the girl Antigone, + O hapless child of hapless sire! + Didst thou, then, recklessly aspire + To brave kings' laws, and now art brought + In madness of transgression caught? + +_Enter_ Watchman, _bringing in_ ANTIGONE + +WATCH. Here is the doer of the deed--this maid +We found her burying him. Where is the King? + +CH. Look, he comes forth again to meet thy call. + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CR. What call so nearly times with mine approach? + +WATCH. My lord, no mortal should deny on oath, +Judgement is still belied by after thought +When quailing 'neath the tempest of your threats, +Methought no force would drive me to this place +But joy unlook'd for and surpassing hope +Is out of bound the best of all delight, +And so I am here again,--though I had sworn +I ne'er would come,--and in my charge this maid, +Caught in the act of caring for the dead +Here was no lot throwing, this hap was mine +Without dispute. And now, my sovereign lord, +According to thy pleasure, thine own self +Examine and convict her. For my part +I have good right to be away and free +From the bad business I am come upon. + +CR. This maiden! +How came she in thy charge? Where didst thou find her? + +WATCH. Burying the prince. One word hath told thee all. + +CR. Hast thou thy wits, and knowest thou what thou sayest? + +WATCH. I saw her burying him whom you forbade +To bury. Is that, now, clearly spoken, or no? + +CR. And how was she detected, caught, and taken? + +WATCH. It fell in this wise. We were come to the spot, +Bearing the dreadful burden of thy threats; +And first with care we swept the dust away +From round the corse, and laid the dank limbs bare: +Then sate below the hill-top, out o' the wind, +Where no bad odour from the dead might strike us, +Stirring each other on with interchange +Of loud revilings on the negligent +In 'tendance on this duty. So we stayed +Till in mid heaven the sun's resplendent orb +Stood high, and the heat strengthened. Suddenly, +The Storm-god raised a whirlwind from the ground, +Vexing heaven's concave, and filled all the plain, +Rending the locks of all the orchard groves, +Till the great sky was choked withal. We closed +Our lips and eyes, and bore the God-sent evil. +When after a long while this ceased, the maid +Was seen, and wailed in high and bitter key, +Like some despairing bird that hath espied +Her nest all desolate, the nestlings gone. +So, when she saw the body bare, she mourned +Loudly, and cursed the authors of this deed. +Then nimbly with her hands she brought dry dust, +And holding high a shapely brazen cruse, +Poured three libations, honouring the dead. +We, when we saw, ran in, and straightway seized +Our quarry, nought dismayed, and charged her with +The former crime and this. And she denied +Nothing;--to my delight, and to my grief. +One's self to escape disaster is great joy; +Yet to have drawn a friend into distress +Is painful. But mine own security +To me is of more value than aught else. + +CR. Thou, with thine eyes down-fastened to the earth! +Dost thou confess to have done this, or deny it? + +ANT. I deny nothing. I avow the deed. + +CR. (_to_ Watchman). +Thou may'st betake thyself whither thou wilt, +Acquitted of the grievous charge, and free. +(_to_ ANTIGONE) +And thou,--no prating talk, but briefly tell, +Knew'st thou our edict that forbade this thing? + +ANT. I could not fail to know. You made it plain. + +CR. How durst thou then transgress the published law? + +ANT. I heard it not from Heaven, nor came it forth +From Justice, where she reigns with Gods below. +They too have published to mankind a law. +Nor thought I thy commandment of such might +That one who is mortal thus could overbear +The infallible, unwritten laws of Heaven. +Not now or yesterday they have their being, +But everlastingly, and none can tell +The hour that saw their birth. I would not, I, +For any terror of a man's resolve, +Incur the God-inflicted penalty +Of doing them wrong. That death would come, I knew +Without thine edict;--if before the time, +I count it gain. Who does not gain by death, +That lives, as I do, amid boundless woe? +Slight is the sorrow of such doom to me. +But had I suffered my own mother's child, +Fallen in blood, to be without a grave, +That were indeed a sorrow. This is none. +And if thou deem'st me foolish for my deed, +I am foolish in the judgement of a fool. + +CH. Fierce shows the maiden's vein from her fierce sire; +Calamity doth not subdue her will. + +CR. Ay, but the stubborn spirit first doth fall. +Oft ye shall see the strongest bar of steel, +That fire hath hardened to extremity, +Shattered to pieces. A small bit controls +The fiery steed. Pride may not be endured +In one whose life is subject to command. +This maiden hath been conversant with crime +Since first she trampled on the public law; +And now she adds to crime this insolence, +To laugh at her offence, and glory in it. +Truly, if she that hath usurped this power +Shall rest unpunished, she then is a man, +And I am none. Be she my sister's child, +Or of yet nearer blood to me than all +That take protection from my hearth, the pair +Shall not escape the worst of deaths. For know, +I count the younger of the twain no less +Copartner in this plotted funeral: +And now I bid you call her. Late I saw her +Within the house, beyond herself, and frantic. +--Full oft when one is darkly scheming wrong, +The disturbed spirit hath betrayed itself +Before the act it hides.--But not less hateful +Seems it to me, when one that hath been caught +In wickedness would give it a brave show. + +ANT. Wouldst thou aught more of me than merely death? + +CR. No more. 'Tis all I claim. Death closes all. + +ANT. Why then delay? No talk of thine can charm me, +Forbid it Heaven! And my discourse no less +Must evermore sound noisome to thine ear. +Yet where could I have found a fairer fame +Than giving burial to my own true brother? +All here would tell thee they approve my deed, +Were they not tongue-tied to authority. +But kingship hath much profit; this in chief, +That it may do and say whate'er it will. + +CR. No Theban sees the matter with thine eye. + +ANT. They see, but curb their voices to thy sway + +CR. And art thou not ashamed, acting alone? + +ANT. A sister's piety hath no touch of shame. + +CR. Was not Eteocles thy brother too? + +ANT. My own true brother from both parents' blood. + +CR. This duty was impiety to him. + +ANT. He that is dead will not confirm that word. + +CR. If you impart his honours to the vile. + +ANT. It was his brother, not a slave, who fell. + +CR. But laying waste the land for which he fought. + +ANT. Death knows no difference, but demands his due. + +CR. Yet not equality 'twixt good and bad. + +ANT. Both may be equal yonder; who can tell? + +CR. An enemy is hated even in death. + +ANT. Love, and not hatred, is the part for me. + +CR. Down then to death! and, if you must, there love +The dead. No woman rules me while I live. + +CH. Now comes Ismene forth. Ah, see, +From clouds above her brow +The sister-loving tear +Is falling wet on her fair cheek, +Distaining all her passion-crimson'd face! + +_Enter_ ISMENE. + +CR. And thou, that like a serpent coiled i' the house +Hast secretly been draining my life-blood,-- +Little aware that I was cherishing +Two curses and subverters of my throne,-- +Tell us, wilt thou avouch thy share in this +Entombment, or forswear all knowledge of it? + +ISM. If her voice go therewith, I did the deed, +And bear my part and burden of the blame. + +ANT. Nay, justice will not suffer that. You would not, +And I refused to make you mine ally. + +ISM. But now in thy misfortune I would fain +Embark with thee in thy calamity. + +ANT. Who did the deed, the powers beneath can tell. +I care not for lip-kindness from my kin. + +ISM. Ah! scorn me not so far as to forbid me +To die with thee, and honour our lost brother. + +ANT. Die not with me, nor make your own a deed +you never touched! My dying is enough. + +ISM. What joy have I in life when thou art gone? + +ANT. Ask Creon there. He hath your care and duty. + +ISM. What can it profit thee to vex me so? + +ANT. My heart is pained, though my lip laughs at thee. + +ISM. What can I do for thee now, even now? + +ANT. Save your own life. I grudge not your escape. + +ISM. Alas! and must I be debarred thy fate? + +ANT. Life was the choice you made. Mine was to die. + +ISM. I warned thee---- + +ANT. Yes, your prudence is admired +On earth. My wisdom is approved below. + +ISM. Yet truly we are both alike in fault. + +ANT. Fear not; you live. My life hath long been given +To death, to be of service to the dead. + +CR. Of these two girls, the one hath lost her wits: +The other hath had none since she was born. + +ISM. My lord, in misery, the mind one hath +Is wont to be dislodged, and will not stay. + +CR. You have ta'en leave of yours at any rate, +When you cast in your portion with the vile. + +ISM. What can life profit me without my sister? + +CR. Say not 'my sister'; she is nothing now. + +ISM. What? wilt thou kill thy son's espousal too? + +CR. He may find other fields to plough upon. + +ISM. Not so as love was plighted 'twixt them twain. + +CR. I hate a wicked consort for my son. + +ANT. O dearest Haemon! how thy father wrongs thee! + +CR. Thou and thy marriage are a torment to me. + +CH. And wilt thou sever her from thine own son? + +CR. 'Tis death must come between him and his joy, + +CH. All doubt is then resolved: the maid must die, + +CR. I am resolved; and so, 'twould seem, are you. +In with her, slaves! No more delay! Henceforth +These maids must have but woman's liberty +And be mewed up; for even the bold will fly +When they see Death nearing the house of life. + [ANTIGONE _and_ ISMENE _are led into the palace._ + +CHORUS. +Blest is the life that never tasted woe. I 1 + When once the blow +Hath fallen upon a house with Heaven-sent doom, +Trouble descends in ever-widening gloom +Through all the number of the tribe to flow; + As when the briny surge + That Thrace-born tempests urge +(The big wave ever gathering more and more) +Runs o'er the darkness of the deep, + And with far-searching sweep +Uprolls the storm-heap'd tangle on the shore, +While cliff to beaten cliff resounds with sullen roar. + +The stock of Cadmus from old time, I know, I 2 + Hath woe on woe, +Age following age, the living on the dead, +Fresh sorrow falling on each new-ris'n head, +None freed by God from ruthless overthrow. + E'en now a smiling light + Was spreading to our sight +O'er one last fibre of a blasted tree,-- +When, lo! the dust of cruel death, + Tribute of Gods beneath, +And wildering thoughts, and fate-born ecstasy, +Quench the brief gleam in dark Nonentity. + +What froward will of man, O Zeus! can check thy might? II 1 +Not all-enfeebling sleep, nor tireless months divine, +Can touch thee, who through ageless time +Rulest mightily Olympus' dazzling height. +This was in the beginning, and shall be + Now and eternally, +Not here or there, but everywhere, +A law of misery that shall not spare. + +For Hope, that wandereth wide, comforting many a head, II 2 +Entangleth many more with glamour of desire: +Unknowing they have trode the fire. +Wise was the famous word of one who said, +'Evil oft seemeth goodness to the mind + An angry God doth blind.' +Few are the days that such as he +May live untroubled of calamity. + +LEADER OF CHORUS. +Lo, Haemon, thy last offspring, now is come, +Lamenting haply for the maiden's doom, +Say, is he mourning o'er her young life lost, +Fiercely indignant for his bridal crossed? + +_Enter_ HAEMON. + +CR. We shall know soon, better than seers could teach us. +Can it be so, my son, that thou art brought +By mad distemperature against thy sire, +On hearing of the irrevocable doom +Passed on thy promised bride? Or is thy love +Thy father's, be his actions what they may? + +HAEMON. I am thine, father, and will follow still +Thy good directions; nor would I prefer +The fairest bride to thy wise government. + +CR. That, O my son! should be thy constant mind, +In all to bend thee to thy father's will. +Therefore men pray to have around their hearths +Obedient offspring, to requite their foes +With harm, and honour whom their father loves; +But he whose issue proves unprofitable, +Begets what else but sorrow to himself +And store of laughter to his enemies? +Make not, my son, a shipwreck of thy wit +For a woman. Thine own heart may teach thee this;-- +There's but cold comfort in a wicked wife +Yoked to the home inseparably. What wound +Can be more deadly than a harmful friend? +Then spurn her like an enemy, and send her +To wed some shadow in the world below! +For since of all the city I have found +Her only recusant, caught in the act, +I will not break my word before the State. +I will take her life. At this let her invoke +The god of kindred blood! For if at home +I foster rebels, how much more abroad? +Whoso is just in ruling his own house, +Lives rightly in the commonwealth no less: +But he that wantonly defies the law, +Or thinks to dictate to authority, +Shall have no praise from me. What power soe'er +The city hath ordained, must be obeyed +In little things and great things, right or wrong. +The man who so obeys, I have good hope +Will govern and be governed as he ought, +And in the storm of battle at my side +Will stand a faithful and a trusty comrade. +But what more fatal than the lapse of rule? +This ruins cities, this lays houses waste, +This joins with the assault of war to break +Full numbered armies into hopeless rout; +And in the unbroken host 'tis nought but rule +That keeps those many bodies from defeat, +I must be zealous to defend the law, +And not go down before a woman's will. +Else, if I fall, 'twere best a man should strike me; +Lest one should say, 'a woman worsted him.' + +CH. Unless our sense is weakened by long time, +Thou speakest not unwisely. + +HAEM. O my sire, +Sound wisdom is a God implanted seed, +Of all possessions highest in regard. +I cannot, and I would not learn to say +That thou art wrong in this; though in another, +It may be such a word were not unmeet. +But as thy son, 'tis surely mine to scan +Men's deeds, and words, and muttered thoughts toward thee. +Fear of thy frown restrains the citizen +In talk that would fall harshly on thine ear. +I under shadow may o'erhear, how all +Thy people mourn this maiden, and complain +That of all women least deservedly +She perishes for a most glorious deed. +'Who, when her own true brother on the earth +Lay weltering after combat in his gore, +Left him not graveless, for the carrion few +And raw devouring field dogs to consume-- +Hath she not merited a golden praise?' +Such the dark rumour spreading silently. +Now, in my valuing, with thy prosperous life, +My father, no possession can compare. +Where can be found a richer ornament +For children, than their father's high renown? +Or where for fathers, than their children's fame? +Nurse not one changeless humour in thy breast, +That nothing can be right but as thou sayest. +Whoe'er presumes that he alone hath sense, +Or peerless eloquence, or reach of soul, +Unwrap him, and you'll find but emptiness. +'Tis no disgrace even to the wise to learn +And lend an ear to reason. You may see +The plant that yields where torrent waters flow +Saves every little twig, when the stout tree +Is torn away and dies. The mariner +Who will not ever slack the sheet that sways +The vessel, but still tightens, oversets, +And so, keel upward, ends his voyaging. +Relent, I pray thee, and give place to change. +If any judgement hath informed my youth, +I grant it noblest to be always wise, +But,--for omniscience is denied to man-- +Tis good to hearken to admonishment. + +CH. My lord, 'twere wise, if thou wouldst learn of him +In reason; and thou, Haemon, from thy sire! +Truth lies between you. + +CR. Shall our age, forsooth, +Be taught discretion by a peevish boy? + +HAEM. Only in what is right. Respects of time +Must be outbalanced by the actual need. + +CR. To cringe to rebels cannot be a need. + +HAEM. I do not claim observance for the vile. + +CR. Why, is not she so tainted? Is 't not proved? + +HAEM. All Thebes denies it. + +CR. Am I ruled by Thebes? + +HAEM. If youth be folly, that is youngly said. + +CR. Shall other men prescribe my government? + +HAEM. One only makes not up a city, father. + +CR. Is not the city in the sovereign's hand? + +HAEM. Nobly you'd govern as the desert's king. + +CR. This youngster is the woman's champion. + +HAEM. You are the woman, then--for you I care. + +CR. Villain, to bandy reasons with your sire! + +HAEM. I plead against the unreason of your fault. + +CR. What fault is there in reverencing my power? + +HAEM. There is no reverence when you spurn the Gods. + +CR. Abominable spirit, woman-led! + +HAEM. You will not find me following a base guide. + +CR. Why, all your speech this day is spent for her. + +HAEM. For you and me too, and the Gods below. + +CR. She will not live to be your wife on earth. + +HAEM. I know, then, whom she will ruin by her death. + +CR. What, wilt thou threaten, too, thou audacious boy? + +HAEM. It is no threat to answer empty words. + +CR. Witless admonisher, thou shalt pay for this! + +HAEM. Thou art my sire, else would I call thee senseless. + +CR. Thou woman's minion! mince not terms with me, + +HAEM. Wouldst thou have all the speaking on thy side? + +CR. Is 't possible? By yon heaven! thou'lt not escape, +For adding contumely to words of blame. +Bring out the hated thing, that she may die +Immediately, before her lover's face! + +HAEM. Nay, dream not she shall suffer in my sight +Nor shalt thou ever see my face again +Let those stay with you that can brook your rage! [_Exit_ + +CH. My lord, he is parted swiftly in deep wrath! +The youthful spirit offended makes wild work. + +CR. Ay, let him do his worst. Let him give scope +To pride beyond the compass of a man! +He shall not free these maidens from their doom. + +CH. Is death thy destination for them both? + +CR. Only for her who acted. Thou art right. + +CH. And what hast thou determined for her death? + +CH. Where human footstep shuns the desert ground, +I'll hide her living in a cave like vault, +With so much provender as may prevent +Pollution from o'ertaking the whole city +And there, perchance, she may obtain of Death, +Her only deity, to spare her soul, +Or else in that last moment she will learn +'Tis labour lost to worship powers unseen. [_Exit_ CREON + +CHORUS +Love, never foiled in fight! 1 +Warrior Love, that on Wealth workest havoc! +Love, who in ambush of young maid's soft cheek +All night keep'st watch!--Thou roamest over seas. +In lonely forest homes thou harbourest. +Who may avoid thee? None! +Mortal, Immortal, +All are o'erthrown by thee, all feel thy frenzy. + +Lightly thou draw'st awry 2 +Righteous minds into wrong to their ruin +Thou this unkindly quarrel hast inflamed +'Tween kindred men--Triumphantly prevails +The heart-compelling eye of winsome bride, +Compeer of mighty Law +Throned, commanding. +Madly thou mockest men, dread Aphrodite. + +LEADER OF CHORUS. +Ah! now myself am carried past the bound +Of law, nor can I check the rising tear, +When I behold Antigone even here +Touching the quiet bourne where all must rest. + +_Enter_ ANTIGONE _guarded._ + +ANT. Ye see me on my way, I 1 +O burghers of my father's land! +With one last look on Helios' ray, +Led my last path toward the silent strand. +Alive to the wide house of rest I go; + No dawn for me may shine, +No marriage-blessing e'er be mine, +No hymeneal with my praises flow! +The Lord of Acheron's unlovely shore +Shall be mine only husband evermore. + +CH. Yea, but with glory and fame,-- + Not by award of the sword, + Not with blighting disease, + But by a law of thine own,-- + Thou, of mortals alone, + Goest alive to the deep + Tranquil home of the dead. + +ANT. Erewhile I heard men say, I 2 +How, in far Phrygia, Thebe's friend, +Tantalus' child, had dreariest end +On heights of Sipylus consumed away: +O'er whom the rock like clinging ivy grows, + And while with moistening dew +Her cheek runs down, the eternal snows +Weigh o'er her, and the tearful stream renew +That from sad brows her stone-cold breast doth steep. +Like unto her the God lulls me to sleep. + +CH. But she was a goddess born, + We but of mortal line; + And sure to rival the fate + Of a daughter of sires Divine + Were no light glory in death. + +ANT. O mockery of my woe! II 1 +I pray you by our fathers' holy Fear, + Why must I hear +Your insults, while in life on earth I stand, + O ye that flow +In wealth, rich burghers of my bounteous land? +O fount of Dirce, and thou spacious grove, +Where Thebe's chariots move! +Ye are my witness, though none else be nigh, +By what enormity of lawless doom, + Without one friendly sigh, +I go to the strong mound of yon strange tomb,-- +All hapless, having neither part nor room +With those who live or those who die! + +CH. Thy boldness mounted high, +And thou, my child, 'gainst the great pedestal +Of Justice with unmeasured force didst fall. +Thy father's lot still presseth hard on thee. + +ANT. That pains me more than all. II 2 +Ah! thou hast touched my father's misery + Still mourned anew, +With all the world-famed sorrows on us rolled + Since Cadmus old. +O cursed marriage that my mother knew! +O wretched fortune of my sire, who lay + Where first he saw the day! +Such were the authors of my burdened life; +To whom, with curses dowered, never a wife, + I go to dwell beneath. +O brother mine, thy princely marriage-tie +Hath been thy downfall, and in this thy death +Thou hast destroyed me ere I die. + +CH. 'Twas pious, we confess, +Thy fervent deed. But he, who power would show, +Must let no soul of all he rules transgress. +A self-willed passion was thine overthrow. + +ANT. Friendless, uncomforted of bridal lay, III +Unmourned, they lead me on my destined way. +Woe for my life forlorn! I may not see +The sacred round of yon great light +Rising again to greet me from the night; +No friend bemoans my fate, no tear hath fallen for me! + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CR. If criminals were suffered to complain +In dirges before death, they ne'er would end. +Away with her at once, and closing her, +As I commanded, in the vaulty tomb, +Leave her all desolate, whether to die, +Or to live on in that sepulchral cell. +We are guiltless in the matter of this maid; +Only she shall not share the light of day. + +ANT. O grave! my bridal chamber, prison-house +Eterne, deep-hollowed, whither I am led +To find mine own,--of whom Persephone +Hath now a mighty number housed in death:-- +I last of all, and far most miserably, +Am going, ere my days have reached their term! +Yet lives the hope that, when I go, most surely +Dear will my coming be, father, to thee, +And dear to thee, my mother, and to thee, +Brother! since with these very hands I decked +And bathed you after death, and ministered +The last libations. And I reap this doom +For tending, Polynices, on thy corse. +Indeed I honoured thee, the wise will say. +For neither, had I children, nor if one +I had married were laid bleeding on the earth, +Would I have braved the city's will, or taken +This burden on me. Wherefore? I will tell. +A husband lost might be replaced; a son, +If son were lost to me, might yet be born; +But, with both parents hidden in the tomb, +No brother may arise to comfort me. +Therefore above all else I honoured thee, +And therefore Creon thought me criminal, +And bold in wickedness, O brother mine! +And now by servile hands, for all to see, +He hastens me away, unhusbanded, +Before my nuptial, having never known +Or married joy or tender motherhood. +But desolate and friendless I go down +Alive, O horror! to the vaults of the dead. +For what transgression of Heaven's ordinance? +Alas! how can I look to Heaven? on whom +Call to befriend me? seeing that I have earned, +By piety, the meed of impious?-- +Oh! if this act be what the Gods approve, +In death I may repent me of my deed; +But if they sin who judge me, be their doom +No heavier than they wrongly wreak on me! + +CH. With unchanged fury beats the storm of soul +That shakes this maiden. + +CR. Then for that, be sure +Her warders shall lament their tardiness. + +ANT. Alas! I hear Death's footfall in that sound. + +CR. I may not reassure thee.--'Tis most true. + +ANT. O land of Thebe, city of my sires, +Ye too, ancestral Gods! I go--I go! +Even now they lead me to mine end. Behold! +Founders of Thebes, the only scion left +Of Cadmus' issue, how unworthily, +By what mean instruments I am oppressed, +For reverencing the dues of piety. [_Exit guarded_ + +CHORUS. +Even Danae's beauty left the lightsome day. I 1 +Closed in her strong and brass-bound tower she lay + In tomb-like deep confine. +Yet she was gendered, O my child! + From sires of noblest line, +And treasured for the Highest the golden rain. +Fated misfortune hath a power so fell: + Not wealth, nor warfare wild, +Nor dark spray-dashing coursers of the main +Against great Destiny may once rebel. + +He too in darksome durance was compressed, I 2 +King of Edonians, Dryas' hasty son[5], + In eyeless vault of stone +Immured by Dionysus' hest, + All for a wrathful jest. +Fierce madness issueth in such fatal flower. +He found 'twas mad to taunt the Heavenly Power, + Chilling the Maenad breast +Kindled with Bacchic fire, and with annoy +Angering the Muse that in the flute hath joy. + +And near twin rocks that guard the Colchian sea, II 1 +Bosporian cliffs 'fore Salmydessus rise, +Where neighbouring Ares from his shrine beheld +Phineus' two sons[6] by female fury quelled. +With cursed wounding of their sight-reft eyes, +That cried to Heaven to 'venge the iniquity. +The shuttle's sharpness in a cruel hand +Dealt the dire blow, not struck with martial brand. + +But chiefly for her piteous lot they pined, II 2 +Who was the source of their rejected birth. +She touched the lineage of Erechtheus old; +Whence in far caves her life did erst unfold, +Cradled 'mid storms, daughter of Northern wind, +Steed-swift o'er all steep places of the earth. +Yet even on her, though reared of heavenly kind, +The long-enduring Fates at last took hold. + +_Enter_ TIRESIAS, _led by a boy._ + +TIRESIAS. We are come, my lords of Thebes, joint wayfarers, +One having eyes for both. The blind must still +Thus move in frail dependence on a guide. + +CR. And what hath brought thee, old Tiresias, now? + +TI. I will instruct thee, if thou wilt hear my voice. + +CR. I have not heretofore rejected thee. + +TI. Therefore thy pilotage hath saved this city. + +CR. Grateful experience owns the benefit. + +TI. Take heed. Again thou art on an edge of peril. + +CR. What is it? How I shudder at thy word! + +TI. The tokens of mine art shall make thee know. +As I was sitting on that ancient seat +Of divination, where I might command +Sure cognisance of every bird of the air, +I heard strange clamouring of fowl, that screeched +In furious dissonance; and, I could tell, +Talons were bloodily engaged--the whirr +Of wings told a clear tale. At once, in fear, +I tried burnt sacrifice at the high altar: +Where from the offering the fire god refused +To gleam; but a dank humour from the bones +Dripped on the embers with a sputtering fume. +The gall was spirited high in air, the thighs +Lay wasting, bared of their enclosing fat. +Such failing tokens of blurred augury +This youth reported, who is guide to me, +As I to others. And this evil state +Is come upon the city from thy will: +Because our altars--yea, our sacred hearths-- +Are everywhere infected from the mouths +Of dogs or beak of vulture that hath fed +On Oedipus' unhappy slaughtered son. +And then at sacrifice the Gods refuse +Our prayers and savour of the thigh-bone fat-- +And of ill presage is the thickening cry +Of bird that battens upon human gore +Now, then, my son, take thought. A man may err; +But he is not insensate or foredoomed +To ruin, who, when he hath lapsed to evil, +Stands not inflexible, but heals the harm. +The obstinate man still earns the name of fool. +Urge not contention with the dead, nor stab +The fallen. What valour is 't to slay the slain? +I have thought well of this, and say it with care; +And careful counsel, that brings gain withal, +Is precious to the understanding soul. + +CR. I am your mark, and ye with one consent +All shoot your shafts at me. Nought left untried, +Not even the craft of prophets, by whose crew +I am bought and merchandised long since. Go on! +Traffic, get gain, electrum from the mine +Of Lydia, and the gold of Ind! Yet know, +Grey-beard! ye ne'er shall hide him in a tomb. +No, not if heaven's own eagle chose to snatch +And bear him to the throne supreme for food, +Even that pollution should not daunt my heart +To yield permission for his funeral. +For well know I defilement ne'er can rise +From man to God. But, old Tiresias, hear! +Even wisest spirits have a shameful fall +That fairly speak base words for love of gain. + +TI. Ah! where is wisdom? who considereth? + +CR. Wherefore? what means this universal doubt? + +TI. How far the best of riches is good counsel! + +CR. As far as folly is the mightiest bane. + +TI. Yet thou art sick of that same pestilence. + +CR. I would not give the prophet blow for blow. + +TI. What blow is harder than to call me false? + +CR. Desire of money is the prophet's plague. + +TI. And ill-sought lucre is the curse of kings. + +CR. Know'st thou 'tis of thy sovereign thou speak'st this? + +TI. Yea, for my aid gives thee to sway this city. + +CR. Far seeing art thou, but dishonest too. + +TI. Thou wilt provoke the utterance of my tongue +To that even thought refused to dwell upon. + +CR. Say on, so thou speak sooth, and not for gain. + +TI. You think me likely to seek gain from you? + +CR. You shall not make your merchandise on me! + +TI. Not many courses of the racing sun +Shalt thou fulfil, ere of thine own true blood +Thou shalt have given a corpse in recompense +For one on earth whom thou hast cast beneath, +Entombing shamefully a living soul, +And one whom thou hast kept above the ground +And disappointed of all obsequies, +Unsanctified and godlessly forlorn. +Such violence the powers beneath will bear +Not even from the Olympian gods. For thee +The avengers wait. Hidden but near at hand, +Lagging but sure, the Furies of the grave +Are watching for thee to thy ruinous harm, +With thine own evil to entangle thee. +Look well to it now whether I speak for gold! +A little while, and thine own palace-halls +Shall flash the truth upon thee with loud noise +Of men and women, shrieking o'er the dead. +And all the cities whose unburied sons, +Mangled and torn, have found a sepulchre +In dogs or jackals or some ravenous bird +That stains their incense with polluted breath, +Are forming leagues in troublous enmity. +Such shafts, since thou hast stung me to the quick, +I like an archer at thee in my wrath +Have loosed unerringly--carrying their pang, +Inevitable, to thy very heart. +Now, sirrah! lead me home, that his hot mood +Be spent on younger objects, till he learn +To keep a safer mind and calmer tongue. [_Exit_ + +CH. Sire, there is terror in that prophecy. +He who is gone, since ever these my locks, +Once black, now white with age, waved o'er my brow, +Hath never spoken falsely to the state. + +CR. I know it, and it shakes me to the core. +To yield is dreadful: but resistingly +To face the blow of fate, is full of dread. + +CH. The time calls loud on wisdom, good my lord. + +CR. What must I do? Advise me. I will obey. + +CH. Go and release the maiden from the vault, +And make a grave for the unburied dead. + +CR. Is that your counsel? Think you I will yield? + +CH. With all the speed thou mayest: swift harms from heaven +With instant doom o'erwhelm the froward man. + +CR. Oh! it is hard. But I am forced to this +Against myself. I cannot fight with Destiny. + +CH. Go now to do it. Trust no second hand. + +CR. Even as I am, I go. Come, come, my people. +Here or not here, with mattocks in your hands +Set forth immediately to yonder hill! +And, since I have ta'en this sudden turn, myself, +Who tied the knot, will hasten to unloose it. +For now the fear comes over me, 'tis best +To pass one's life in the accustomed round. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS. +O God of many a name! I 1 +Filling the heart of that Cadmeian bride + With deep delicious pride, +Offspring of him who wields the withering flame! + Thou for Italia's good +Dost care, and 'midst the all-gathering bosom wide[7] + Of Deo dost preside; +Thou, Bacchus, by Ismenus' winding waters + 'Mongst Thebe's frenzied daughters, +Keep'st haunt, commanding the fierce dragon's brood. + +Thee o'er the forked hill I 2 +The pinewood flame beholds, where Bacchai rove, + Nymphs of Corycian grove, +Hard by the flowing of Castalia's rill. + To visit Theban ways, +By bloomy wine-cliffs flushing tender bright + 'Neath far Nyseian height +Thou movest o'er the ivy-mantled mound, + While myriad voices sound +Loud strains of 'Evoe!' to thy deathless praise. + +For Thebe thou dost still uphold, II 1 +First of cities manifold, +Thou and the nymph whom lightning made +Mother of thy radiant head. +Come then with healing for the violent woe +That o'er our peopled land doth largely flow, +Passing the high Parnassian steep +Or moaning narrows of the deep! + +Come, leader of the starry quire II 2 +Quick-panting with their breath of fire! +Lord of high voices of the night, +Child born to him who dwells in light, +Appear with those who, joying in their madness, +Honour the sole dispenser of their gladness, +Thyiads of the Aegean main +Night-long trooping in thy train. + +_Enter_ Messenger. + +MESS. Neighbours of Cadmus and Amphion's halls, +No life of mortal, howsoe'er it stand, +Shall once have praise or censure from my mouth; +Since human happiness and human woe +Come even as fickle Fortune smiles or lours; +And none can augur aught from what we see. +Creon erewhile to me was enviable, +Who saved our Thebe from her enemies; +Then, vested with supreme authority, +Ruled her aright; and flourish'd in his home +With noblest progeny. What hath he now? +Nothing. For when a man is lost to joy, +I count him not to live, but reckon him +A living corse. Riches belike are his, +Great riches and the appearance of a King; +But if no gladness come to him, all else +Is shadow of a vapour, weighed with joy. + +CH. What new affliction heaped on sovereignty +Com'st thou to tell? + +MESS. They are dead; and they that live +Are guilty of the death. + +CH. The slayer, who? +And who the slain? Declare. + +MESS. Haemon is dead, +And by a desperate hand. + +CH. His own, or Creon's? + +MESS. By his own hand, impelled with violent wrath +At Creon for the murder of the maid. + +CH. Ah, Seer! how surely didst thou aim thy word! + +MESS. So stands the matter. Make of it what ye list. + +CH. See, from the palace cometh close to us +Creon's unhappy wife, Eurydice. +Is it by chance, or heard she of her son? + +_Enter_ EURYDICE. + +EURYDICE. Ye men of Thebes, the tidings met mine ear +As I was coming forth to visit Pallas +With prayerful salutation. I was loosening +The bar of the closed gate, when the sharp sound +Of mine own sorrow smote against my heart, +And I fell back astonied on my maids +And fainted. But the tale? tell me once more; +I am no novice in adversity. + +MESS. Dear lady, I will tell thee what I saw, +And hide no grain of truth: why should I soothe +Thy spirit with soft tales, when the harsh fact +Must prove me a liar? Truth is always best. +I duly led the footsteps of thy lord +To the highest point of the plain, where still was lying, +Forlorn and mangled by the dogs, the corse +Of Polynices. We besought Persephone +And Pluto gently to restrain their wrath, +And wash'd him pure and clean, and then we burned +The poor remains with brushwood freshly pulled, +And heaped a lofty mound of his own earth +Above him. Then we turned us to the vault, +The maiden's stony bride-chamber of death. +And from afar, round the unhallowed cell, +One heard a voice of wailing loud and long, +And went and told his lord: who coming near +Was haunted by the dim and bitter cry, +And suddenly exclaiming on his fate +Said lamentably, 'My prophetic heart +Divined aright. I am going, of all ways +That e'er I went, the unhappiest to-day. +My son's voice smites me. Go, my men, approach +With speed, and, where the stones are torn away, +Press through the passage to that door of death, +Look hard, and tell me, if I hear aright +The voice of Haemon, or the gods deceive me.' +Thus urged by our despairing lord, we made +Th' espial. And in the farthest nook of the vault +We saw the maiden hanging by the neck +With noose of finest tissue firmly tied, +And clinging to her on his knees the boy, +Lamenting o'er his ruined nuptial-rite, +Consummated in death, his father's crime +And his lost love. And when the father saw him, +With loud and dreadful clamour bursting in +He went to him and called him piteously: +'What deed is this, unhappy youth? What thought +O'ermaster'd thee? Where did the force of woe +O'erturn thy reason? O come forth, my son, +I beg thee!' But with savage eyes the youth +Glared scowling at him, and without a word +Plucked forth his two-edged blade. The father then +Fled and escaped: but the unhappy boy, +Wroth with himself, even where he stood, leant heavily +Upon his sword and plunged it in his side.-- +And while the sense remained, his slackening arm +Enfolded still the maiden, and his breath, +Gaspingly drawn and panted forth with pain, +Cast ruddy drops upon her pallid face; +Then lay in death upon the dead, at last +Joined to his bride in Hades' dismal hall:-- +A monument unto mankind, that rashness +Is the worst evil of this mortal state. [_Exit_ EURYDICE + +CH. What augur ye from this? The queen is gone +Without word spoken either good or bad. + +MESS. I, too, am struck with dread. But hope consoles me, +That having heard the affliction of her son, +Her pride forbids to publish her lament +Before the town, but to her maids within +She will prescribe to mourn the loss of the house. +She is too tried in judgement to do ill. + +CH. I cannot tell. The extreme of silence, too, +Is dangerous, no less than much vain noise. + +MESS. Well, we may learn, if there be aught unseen +Suppressed within her grief-distempered soul, +By going within the palace. Ye say well: +There is a danger, even in too much silence. + +CH. Ah! look where sadly comes our lord the King, +Bearing upon his arm a monument-- +If we may speak it--of no foreign woe, +But of his own infirmity the fruit. + +_Enter_ CREON _with the body of_ HAEMON. + +CR. O error of my insensate soul, I 1 +Stubborn, and deadly in the fateful end! +O ye who now behold +Slayer and slain of the same kindred blood! +O bitter consequence of seeming-wise decree! +Alas, my son! +Strange to the world wert thou, and strange the fate +That took thee off, that slew thee; woe is me! +Not for thy rashness, but my folly. Ah me! + +CH. Alas for him who sees the right too late! + +CR. Alas! +I have learnt it now. But then upon my head +Some God had smitten with dire weight of doom; +And plunged me in a furious course, woe is me! +Discomforting and trampling on my joy. +Woe! for the bitterness of mortal pain! + +_Enter_ 2nd Messenger. + +2ND MESS. My lord and master. Thou art master here +Of nought but sorrows. One within thine arms +Thou bear'st with thee, and in thy palace hall +Thou hast possession of another grief, +Which soon thou shalt behold. + +CR. What more of woe, +Or what more woeful, sounds anew from thee? + +2ND MESS. The honoured mother of that corse, thy queen, +Is dead, and bleeding with a new-given wound. + +CR. O horrible! O charnel gulf I 2 +Of death on death, not to be done away, +Why harrowest thou my soul? +Ill boding harbinger of woe, what word +Have thy lips uttered? Oh, thou hast killed me again, +Before undone! +What say'st? What were thy tidings? Woe is me! +Saidst thou a slaughtered queen in yonder hall +Lay in her blood, crowning the pile of ruin? + +CH. No longer hidden in the house. Behold! + [_The Corpse of_ EURYDICE _is disclosed_ + +CR. Alas! +Again I see a new, a second woe. +What more calamitous stroke of Destiny +Awaits me still? But now mine arms enfold +My child, and lo! yon corse before my face! +Ah! hapless, hapless mother, hapless son! + +2ND MESS. She with keen knife before the altar place[8] +Closed her dark orbs; but first lamented loud +The glorious bed of buried Megareus[9], +And then of Haemon; lastly clamoured forth +The curse of murdered offspring upon thee. + +CR. Ay me! Ay me! II 1 +I am rapt with terror. Is there none to strike me +With doubly sharpened blade a mortal blow? +Ah! I am plunged in fathomless distress. + +2ND MESS. The guilt of this and of the former grief +By this dead lady was denounced on thee. + +CR. Tell us, how ended she her life in blood? + +2ND MESS. Wounding herself to the heart, when she had heard +The loud lamented death of Haemon here. + +CR. O me! This crime can come +On no man else, exempting me. +I slew thee--I, O misery! +I say the truth, 'twas I! My followers, +Take me with speed--take me away, away! +Me, who am nothing now. + +CH. Thou sayest the best, if there be best in woe. +Briefest is happiest in calamity. + +CR. Ah! let it come, II 2 +The day, most welcome of all days to me, +That brings the consummation of my doom. +Come! Come! I would not see another sun. + +CH. Time will determine that. We must attend +To present needs. Fate works her own dread work. + +CR. All my desire was gathered in my prayer. + +CH. But prayer is bootless. For to mortal men +There is no saviour from appointed woe. + +CR. Take me away, the vain-proud man that slew +Thee, O my son! unwittingly,--and thee! +Me miserable, which way shall I turn, +Which look upon? Since all that I can touch +Is falling,--falling,--round me, and o'erhead +Intolerable destiny descends. + +LEADER OF CHORUS. +Wise conduct hath command of happiness +Before all else, and piety to Heaven +Must be preserved. High boastings of the proud +Bring sorrow to the height to punish pride:-- +A lesson men shall learn when they are old. + + * * * * * + + + + + AIAS + + + THE PERSONS + +ATHENA. +ODYSSEUS. +AIAS, _the son of Telamon._ +CHORUS _of Salaminian Mariners._ +TECMESSA. +_A Messenger._ +TEUCER, _half brother of Aias._ +MENELAUS. +AGAMEMNON. + +EURYSAKES, _the child of Aias and Tecmessa, appears, but does not +speak._ + + +SCENE. Before the encampment of Aias on the shore of the Troad. +Afterwards a lonely place beyond Rhoeteum. + +Time, towards the end of the Trojan War. + + + + + _'A wounded spirit who can bear?'_ + +After the death of Achilles, the armour made for him by Hephaestus was +to be given to the worthiest of the surviving Greeks. Although Aias +was the most valiant, the judges made the award to Odysseus, because +he was the wisest. + +Aias in his rage attempts to kill the generals; but Athena sends +madness upon him, and he makes a raid upon the flocks and herds of the +army, imagining the bulls and rams to be the Argive chiefs. On +awakening from his delusion, he finds that he has fallen irrecoverably +from honour and from the favour of the Greeks. He also imagines that +the anger of Athena is unappeasable. Under this impression he eludes +the loving eyes of his captive-bride Tecmessa, and of his Salaminian +comrades, and falls on his sword. ('The soul and body rive not more in +parting Than greatness going off.') + +But it is revealed through the prophet Calchas, that the wrath of +Athena will last only for a day; and on the return of Teucer, Aias +receives an honoured funeral, the tyrannical reclamations of the two +sons of Atreus being overcome by the firm fidelity of Teucer and the +magnanimity of Odysseus, who has been inspired for this purpose by +Athena. + + + + + AIAS + + +ATHENA (_above_). ODYSSEUS. + +ATHENA. Oft have I seen thee, Laertiades, +Intent on some surprisal of thy foes; +As now I find thee by the seaward camp, +Where Aias holds the last place in your line, +Lingering in quest, and scanning the fresh print +Of his late footsteps, to be certified +If he keep house or no. Right well thy sense +Hath led thee forth, like some keen hound of Sparta! +The man is even but now come home, his head +And slaughterous hands reeking with ardent toil. +Thou, then, no longer strain thy gaze within +Yon gateway, but declare what eager chase +Thou followest, that a god may give thee light. + +ODYSSEUS. Athena, 'tis thy voice! Dearest in heaven, +How well discerned and welcome to my soul +From that dim distance doth thine utterance fly +In tones as of Tyrrhenian trumpet clang! +Rightly hast thou divined mine errand here, +Beating this ground for Aias of the shield, +The lion-quarry whom I track to day. +For he hath wrought on us to night a deed +Past thought--if he be doer of this thing; +We drift in ignorant doubt, unsatisfied-- +And I unbidden have bound me to this toil. + + Brief time hath flown since suddenly we knew +That all our gathered spoil was reaved and slaughtered, +Flocks, herds, and herdmen, by some human hand, +All tongues, then, lay this deed at Aias' door. +And one, a scout who had marked him, all alone, +With new-fleshed weapon bounding o'er the plain, +Gave me to know it, when immediately +I darted on the trail, and here in part +I find some trace to guide me, but in part +I halt, amazed, and know not where to look. +Thou com'st full timely. For my venturous course, +Past or to come, is governed by thy will. + +ATH. I knew thy doubts, Odysseus, and came forth +Zealous to guard thy perilous hunting-path. + +OD. Dear Queen! and am I labouring to an end? + +ATH. Thou schem'st not idly. This is Aias' deed. + +OD. What can have roused him to a work so wild? + +ATH. His grievous anger for Achilles' arms. + +OD. But wherefore on the flock this violent raid? + +ATH. He thought to imbrue his hands with your heart's blood. + +OD. What? Was this planned against the Argives, then? + +ATH. Planned, and performed, had I kept careless guard. + +OD. What daring spirit, what hardihood, was here! + +ATH. Alone by night in craft he sought your tents. + +OD. How? Came he near them? Won he to his goal? + +ATH. He stood in darkness at the generals' gates. + +OD. What then restrained his eager hand from murder? + +ATH. I turned him backward from his baleful joy, +And overswayed him with blind phantasies, +To swerve against the flocks and well-watched herd +Not yet divided from the public booty. +There plunging in he hewed the horned throng, +And with him Havoc ranged: while now he thought +To kill the Atreidae with hot hand, now this +Now that commander, as the fancy grew. +I, joining with the tumult of his mind, +Flung the wild victim on the fatal net. +Anon, this toil being overpast, he draws +The living oxen and the panting sheep +With cords to his home, not as a horned prey, +But as in triumph marshalling his foes: +Whom now he tortures in their bonds within. + Come, thou shalt see this madness in clear day, +And tell to the Argives all I show thee here +Only stand firm and shrink not, I will turn +His eyes askance, not to distinguish thee, +Fear nought--Ho! thou that bindest to thy will +The limbs of those thy captives, come thou forth! +Aias! advance before thy palace gate! + +OD. My Queen! what dost thou? Never call him forth. + +ATH. Hush, hush! Be not so timorous, but endure. + +OD. Nay, nay! Enough. He is there, and let him bide. + +ATH. What fear you? Dates his valour from to day? + +OD. He was and is my valiant enemy. + +ATH. Then is not laughter sweetest o'er a foe? + +OD. No more! I care not he should pass abroad. + +ATH. You flinch from seeing the madman in full view. + +OD. When sane, I ne'er had flinched before his face. + +ATH. Well, but even now he shall not know thee near. + +OD. How, if his eyes be not transformed or lost? + +ATH. I will confound his sense although he see. + +OD. Well, nothing is too hard for Deity. + +ATH. Stand still and keep thy place without a word. + +OD. I must. Would I were far away from here! + +ATH. Aias! Again I summon thee. Why pay +So scanty heed to her who fights for thee? + +_Enter_ AIAS _with a bloody scourge._ + +AIAS. Hail, offspring of the Highest! Pallas, hail! +Well hast thou stood by me. Triumphal gold +Shall crown thy temple for this lordly prey. + +ATH. A fair intention! But resolve me this: +Hast dyed thy falchion deep in Argive blood? + +AI. There is my boast; that charge I'll ne'er deny. + +ATH. Have Atreus' sons felt thy victorious might? + +AI. They have. No more they'll make a scorn of me! + +ATH. I take it, then, they are dead. + +AI. Ay, now they are dead, +Let them arise and rob me of mine arms! + +ATH. Good. Next inform us of Laertes' son; +How stands his fortune? Hast thou let him go? + +AI. The accursed fox! Dost thou inquire of him? + +ATH. Ay, of Odysseus, thy late adversary. + +AI. He sits within, dear lady, to my joy, +Bound; for I mean him not just yet to die. + +ATH. What fine advantage wouldst thou first achieve? + +AI. First, tie him to a pillar of my hall-- + +ATH. Poor wretch! What torment wilt thou wreak on him? + +AI. Then stain his back with scourging till he die. + +ATH. Nay, 'tis too much. Poor caitiff! Not the scourge! + +AI. Pallas, in all things else have thou thy will, +But none shall wrest Odysseus from this doom. + +ATH. Well, since thou art determined on the deed, +Spare nought of thine intent: indulge thy hand! + +AI. (_waving the bloody scourge_). +I go! But thou, I charge thee, let thine aid +Be evermore like valiant as to-day. [_Exit_ + +ATH. The gods are strong, Odysseus. Dost thou see? +What man than Aias was more provident, +Or who for timeliest action more approved? + +OD. I know of none. But, though he hates me sore, +I pity him, poor mortal, thus chained fast +To a wild and cruel fate,--weighing not so much +His fortune as mine own. For now I feel +All we who live are but an empty show +And idle pageant of a shadowy dream. + +ATH. Then, warned by what thou seest, be thou not rash +To vaunt high words toward Heaven, nor swell thy port +Too proudly, if in puissance of thy hand +Thou passest others, or in mines of wealth. +Since Time abases and uplifts again +All that is human, and the modest heart +Is loved by Heaven, who hates the intemperate will. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS (_entering_). + Telamonian child, whose hand + Guards our wave-encircled land, + Salamis that breasts the sea, + Good of thine is joy to me; + But if One who reigns above + Smite thee, or if murmurs move + From fierce Danaaens in their hate + Full of threatening to thy state, + All my heart for fear doth sigh, + Shrinking like a dove's soft eye. + + Hardly had the darkness waned, [_Half-Chorus I._ + When our ears were filled and pained + With huge scandal on thy fame. + Telling, thine the arm that came + To the cattle-browsed mead, + Wild with prancing of the steed, + And that ravaged there and slew + With a sword of fiery hue + All the spoils that yet remain, + By the sweat of spearmen ta'en. + + Such report against thy life, [_Half-Chorus II._ + Whispered words with falsehood rife, + Wise Odysseus bringing near + Shrewdly gaineth many an ear: + Since invention against thee + Findeth hearing speedily, + Tallying with the moment's birth; + And with loudly waxing mirth + Heaping insult on thy grief, + Each who hears it glories more + Than the tongue that told before. + Every slander wins belief + Aimed at souls whose worth is chief: + Shot at me, or one so small, + Such a bolt might harmless fall. + Ever toward the great and high + Creepeth climbing jealousy + Yet the low without the tall + Make at need a tottering wall + Let the strong the feeble save + And the mean support the brave. + +CHORUS + Ah! 'twere vain to tune such song + 'Mid the nought discerning throng + Who are clamouring now 'gainst thee + Long and loud, and strengthless we, + Mighty chieftain, thou away, + To withstand the gathering fray + Flocking fowl with carping cry + Seem they, lurking from thine eye, + Till the royal eagle's poise + Overawe the paltry noise + Till before thy presence hushed + Sudden sink they, mute and crushed. + +Did bull slaying Artemis, Zeus' cruel daughter I 1 + (Ah, fearful rumour, fountain of my shame!) +Prompt thy fond heart to this disastrous slaughter + Of the full herd stored in our army's name! +Say, had her blood stained temple[1] missed the kindness + Of some vow promised fruit of victory, +Foiled of some glorious armour through thy blindness, + Or fell some stag ungraced by gift from thee? +Or did stern Ares venge his thankless spear +Through this night foray that hath cost thee dear! + +For never, if thy heart were not distracted I 2 + By stings from Heaven, O child of Telamon, +Wouldst thou have bounded leftward, to have acted + Thus wildly, spoiling all our host hath won! +Madness might fall some heavenly power forfend it + But if Odysseus and the tyrant lords +Suggest a forged tale, O rise to end it, + Nor fan the fierce flame of their withering words! +Forth from thy tent, and let thine eye confound +The brood of Sisyphus[2] that would thee wound! + +Too long hast thou been fixed in grim repose, III + Heightening the haughty malice of thy foes, +That, while thou porest by the sullen sea, + Through breezy glades advanceth fearlessly, +A mounting blaze with crackling laughter fed +From myriad throats; whence pain and sorrow bred +Within my bosom are established. + +_Enter_ TECMESSA. + +TECMESSA. Helpers of Aias' vessel's speed, +Erechtheus' earth-derived seed, +Sorrows are ours who truly care +For the house of Telamon afar. +The dread, the grand, the rugged form + Of him we know, +Is stricken with a troublous storm; + Our Aias' glory droopeth low. + +CHORUS. What burden through the darkness fell +Where still at eventide 'twas well? +Phrygian Teleutas' daughter, say; +Since Aias, foremost in the fray, +Disdaining not the spear-won bride, +Still holds thee nearest at his side, +And thou may'st solve our doubts aright. + +TEC. How shall I speak the dreadful word? +How shall ye live when ye have heard? +Madness hath seized our lord by night +And blasted him with hopeless blight. +Such horrid victims mightst thou see +Huddled beneath yon canopy, +Torn by red hands and dyed in blood, +Dread offerings to his direful mood. + +CH. What news of our fierce lord thy story showeth, 1 + Sharp to endure, impossible to fly! +News that on tongues of Danaaens hourly groweth, + Which Rumour's myriad voices multiply! +Alas! the approaching doom awakes my terror. + The man will die, disgraced in open day, +Whose dark dyed steel hath dared through mad brained error + The mounted herdmen with their herds to slay. + +TEC. O horror! Then 'twas there he found + The flock he brought as captives tied, + And some he slew upon the ground, + And some, side smiting, sundered wide + Two white foot rams he backward drew, + And bound. Of one he shore and threw + The tipmost tongue and head away, + The other to an upright stay + He tied, and with a harness thong + Doubled in hand, gave whizzing blows, + Echoing his lashes with a song + More dire than mortal fury knows. + +CH. Ah! then 'tis time, our heads in mantles hiding, 2 + Our feet on some stol'n pathway now to ply, +Or with swift oarage o'er the billows gliding, + With ordered stroke to make the good ship fly +Such threats the Atridae, armed with two fold power, + Launch to assail us. Oh, I sadly fear +Stones from fierce hands on us and him will shower, + Whose heavy plight no comfort may come near. + +TEC. 'Tis changed, his rage, like sudden blast, + Without the lightning gleam is past + And now that Reason's light returns, + New sorrow in his spirit burns. + For when we look on self made woe, + In which no hand but ours had part, + Thought of such griefs and whence they flow + Brings aching misery to the heart. + +CH. If he hath ceased to rave, he should do well +The account of evil lessens when 'tis past. + +TEC. If choice were given you, would you rather choose +Hurting your friends, yourself to feel delight, +Or share with them in one commingled pain? + +CH. The two fold trouble is more terrible. + +TEC. Then comes our torment now the fit is o'er. + +CH. How mean'st thou by that word? I fail to see. + +TEC. He in his rage had rapture of delight +And knew not how he grieved us who stood near +And saw the madding tempest ruining him. +But now 'tis over and he breathes anew, +The counterblast of sorrow shakes his soul, +Whilst our affliction vexeth as before, +Have we not double for our single woe? + +CH. I feel thy reasoning move me, and I fear +Some heavenly stroke hath fallen. How else, when the end +Of stormy sickness brings no cheering ray? + +TEC. Our state is certain. Dream not but 'tis so. + +CH. How first began the assault of misery? +Tell us the trouble, for we share the pain. + +TEC. It toucheth you indeed, and ye shall hear +All from the first. 'Twas midnight, and the lamp +Of eve had died, when, seizing his sharp blade, +He sought on some vain errand to creep forth. +I broke in with my word: 'Aias, what now? +Why thus uncalled for salliest thou? No voice +Of herald summoned thee. No trumpet blew. +What wouldst thou when the camp is hushed in sleep?' +He with few words well known to women's ears +Checked me: 'The silent partner is the best.' +I saw how 'twas and ceased. Forth then he fared +Alone--What horror passed upon the plain +This night, I know not. But he drags within, +Tied in a throng, bulls, shepherd dogs, and spoil +Of cattle and sheep. Anon he butchers them, +Felling or piercing, hacking or tearing wide, +Ribs from breast, limb from limb. Others in rage +He seized and bound and tortured, brutes for men. +Last, out he rushed before the doors, and there +Whirled forth wild language to some shadowy form, +Flouting the generals and Laertes' son +With torrent laughter and loud triumphing +What in his raid he had wreaked to their despite. +Then diving back within--the fitful storm +Slowly assuaging left his spirit clear. +And when his eye had lightened through the room +Cumbered with ruin, smiting on his brow +He roared; and, tumbling down amid the wreck +Of woolly carnage he himself had made, +Sate with clenched hand tight twisted in his hair. +Long stayed he so in silence. Then flashed forth +Those frightful words of threatening vehemence, +That bade me show him all the night's mishap, +And whither he was fallen I, dear my friends, +Prevailed on through my fear, told all I knew. +And all at once he raised a bitter cry, +Which heretofore I ne'er had heard, for still +He made us think such doleful utterance +Betokened the dull craven spirit, and still +Dumb to shrill wailings, he would only moan +With half heard muttering, like an angry bull. +But now, by such dark fortune overpowered, +Foodless and dry, amid the quivering heap +His steel hath quelled, all quietly he broods; +And out of doubt his mind intends some harm: +Such words, such groans, burst from him. O my friends.-- +Therefore I hastened,--enter and give aid +If aught ye can! Men thus forgone will oft +Grow milder through the counsel of a friend. + +CH. Teleutas' child! we shudder at thy tale +That fatal frenzy wastes our hero's soul. + +AIAS (_within_). Woe's me, me, me! + +TEC. More cause anon! Hear ye not Aias there, +How sharp the cry that shrills from him? + +AI. Woe! Woe! + +CH. Madly it sounds--Or springs it of deep grief +For proofs of madness harrowing to his eye? + +AI. Boy, boy! + +TEC. What means he? Oh, Eurysakes! +He cries on thee. Where art thou? O my heart! + +AI. Teucer I call! Where 's Teucer? Will he ne'er +Come from the chase, but leave me to my doom? + +CH. Not madness now. Disclose him. Let us look. +Haply the sight of us may calm his soul. + +TEC. There, then; I open to your view the form +Of Aias, and his fortunes as they are. [AIAS _is discovered_ + +AI. Dear comrades of the deep, whose truth and love I 1 + Stand forth alone unbroken in my woe, + Behold what gory sea + Of storm-lashed agony + Doth round and round me flow! + +CH. (_to_ TEC.) Too true thy witness: for the fact cries out +Wild thoughts were here and Reason's lamp extinct. + +AI. Strong helpers of sea-speed, whose nimble hand I 2 + Plied hither the salt oar with circling stroke, + No shepherd there was found + To give the avenging wound. + Come, lay me with the flock! + +CH. Speak no rash word! nor curing ill with ill +Augment the plague of this calamity. + +AI. Mark ye the brave and bold, II 1 + Whom none could turn of old, + When once he set his face to the fierce fight? + Now beasts that thought no harm + Have felt this puissant arm. + O laughter of my foes! O mockery of my might! + +TEC. Aias, my lord! I entreat thee, speak not so! + +AI. Thou here! Away! begone, and trouble me not! +O! O! + +CH. Be softened! bear a steadier mind! + +AI. O heaven-accursed hand + That let the ruffians go, + But falling 'midst the horn'd and bleating band, + Made darkling blood-streams flow! + +CH. Why vex thy heart with what is over and done? +Do what we may, this ne'er will alter now. + +AI. Child of Laertes old, II 2 + Thou that dost still behold + And still contrive all shapes of monstrous ill, + Winding in foulest ways + Through the army's sinful maze,-- + Now even for pleasure thou may'st laugh thy fill. + +CH. Laughter and tears are in the gift of God. + +AI. Ay, might I see him, though thus broken,--ay me! +Even yet-- + +CH. Nay, vaunt not. Look where thou art fallen. + +AI. Source where my life-blood springs, + O Zeus, might I but slay + That crafty plague, with those twin-sceptred kings, + Then breathe my life away! + +TEC. Pray thus, and pray that I too be no more! +If thou wert gone, what were my life to me? + +AI. Darkness! my only light! III 1 + O nether gloom, to me + Brighter than morning to the wakeful eye! + Take me to dwell with thee. + Take me! What help? Zeus' daughter with fell might + Torments me sore. I may not look on high, + Nor to the tribe of momentary men.-- + Oh, whither, then, + Should it avail to fly? + Ah! whither should I go and stay? + All here is ruin. This mad prey + Shames me for evermore: + Vengeance is at the door; + Yea, all the Achaean host, with armed hand, + Is ready at command + To slay me o'er and o'er. + +TEC. Woe 's me! to hear from one so good and true +Words he had scorned to utter in past days. + +AI. Grey firths of foaming brine, III 2 +And ye, deep groves, that crown +The sea-caves and long cliffs upon the shore, +Too long did ye confine +My life about the walls of Troia's town: +But no more now! a breathing man, no more! +The wise in heart may duly learn that lore. +Let Xanthus know, +Whose waters neighbouring flow, +And minister to Argive men: +One man he ne'er shall see again; +One, I will vaunt it forth! +Highest in warlike worth +Of all Greek forms that Troia's towers have eyed: +Now, shorn of all that pride, +I lie thus low. + +CH. I know not how to let thee speak, nor how +To silence thee. Such evils close thee round. + +AI. Ay me! + Could human thought have prophesied +My name would thus give echo to mine ill? +'Ai' now for Aias, doubly, trebly said, +Sorts all too well to mark my misery; +Whose father from this land of Troy, as noblest +Of all the host, carrying the fairest prize, +Came girt about with glory to his home. +But I his son, not less of might than he, +Nor poorer in the achievements of my hand, +To this same region following in my prime, +Am scouted by the Achaeans and destroyed. +Yet know I one thing well. Had Peleus' child, +Living, adjudged his armour as a meed +Of well-tried bravery, no grasp save mine +Had clutched it. But the Atridae with mean craft +Conveyed his heirloom to a wit-proud knave, +Whilst Aias' peerless prowess was despised. +And had not this mine eye and mind distraught +Glanced from my purpose, ne'er again had they +Perverted judgement. But the invincible +Stern daughter of the Highest, with baneful eye, +Even as mine arm descended, baffled me, +And hurled upon my soul a frenzied plague, +To stain my hand with these dumb victims' blood. +And those mine enemies exult in safety,-- +Not with my will; but where a God misguides, +Strong arms are thwarted and the weakling lives. + Now, what remains? Heaven hates me, 'tis too clear: +The Grecian host abhor me: Troy, with all +This country round our camp, is my sworn foe. +Shall I, across the Aegean sailing home, +Leave these Atridae and their fleet forlorn? +How shall I dare to front my father's eye? +How will he once endure to look on me, +Denuded of the prize of high renown, +Whose coronal stood sparkling on his brow? +No! 'twere too dreadful. Then shall I advance +Before the Trojan battlements, and there +In single conflict doing valiantly +Last die upon their spears? Nay, for by this +I might perchance make Atreus' offspring glad. +That may not be imagined. I must find +Some act to let my grey-haired father feel +No heartless recreant once called him sire. +Shame on the wight who when beset with ill +Cares to live on in misery unrelieved. +Can hour outlasting hour make less or more +Of death? Whereby then can it furnish joy? +That mortal weighs for nothing-worth with me, +Whom Hope can comfort with her fruitless fire. +Honour in life or honour in the grave +Befits the noble heart. You hear my will. + +CH. From thine own spirit, Aias, all may tell, +That utterance came, and none have prompted thee. +Yet stay thy hurrying thought, and by thy friends +Be ruled to loose this burden from thy mind. + +TEC. O my great master! heaviest of all woe +Is theirs whose life is crushed beyond recall. +I, born of one the mightiest of the free +And wealthiest in the Phrygian land, am now +A captive. So Heaven willed, and thy strong arm +Determined. Therefore, since the hour that made +My being one with thine, I breathe for thee; +And I beseech thee by the sacred fire +Of home, and by the sweetness of the night +When from thy captive I became thy bride, +Leave me not guardless to the unworthy touch +And cruel taunting of thine enemies' +For, shouldst thou die and leave us, then shall I +Borne off by Argive violence with thy boy +Eat from that day the bread of slavery. +And some one of our lords shall smite me there +With galling speech: Behold the concubine +Of Aias, first of all the Greeks for might, +How envied once, worn with what service now! +So will they speak; and while my quailing heart +Shall sink beneath its burden, clouds of shame +Will dim thy glory and degrade thy race. +Oh! think but of thy father, left to pine +In doleful age, and let thy mother's grief-- +Who, long bowed down with many a careful year, +Prays oftentimes thou may'st return alive-- +O'er awe thee. Yea, and pity thine own son, +Unsheltered in his boyhood, lorn of thee, +With bitter foes to tend his orphanhood, +Think, O my lord, what sorrow in thy death +Thou send'st on him and me. For I have nought +To lean to but thy life. My fatherland +Thy spear hath ruined. Fate--not thou--hath sent +My sire and mother to the home of death +What wealth have I to comfort me for thee? +What land of refuge? Thou art all my stay +Oh, of me too take thought! Shall men have joy, +And not remember? Or shall kindness fade? +Say, can the mind be noble, where the stream +Of gratitude is withered from the spring? + +CH. Aias, I would thy heart were touched like mine +With pity; then her words would win thy praise. + +AI. My praise she shall not miss, if she perform +My bidding with firm heart, and fail not here. + +TEC. Dear Aias, I will fail in nought thou bidst me. + +AI. Bring me my boy, that I may see his face. + +TEC. Oh, in my terror I conveyed him hence! + +AI. Clear of this mischief, mean'st thou? or for what? + +TEC. Lest he might run to thee, poor child, and die. + +AI. That issue had been worthy of my fate! + +TEC. But I kept watch to fence his life from harm. + +AI. 'Twas wisely done. I praise thy foresight there. + +TEC. Well, since 'tis so, how can I help thee now? + +AI. Give me to speak to him and see him near. + +TEC. He stands close by with servants tending him. + +AI. Then why doth he not come, but still delay? + +TEC. Thy father calls thee, child. Come, lead him hither, +Whichever of you holds him by the hand. + +AI. Moves he? or do thine accents idly fall? + +TEC. See, where thy people bring him to thine eye. + +AI. Lift him to me: lift him! He will not fear +At sight of this fresh havoc of the sword, +If rightly he be fathered of my blood. +Like some young colt he must be trained and taught +To run fierce courses with his warrior sire. +Be luckier than thy father, boy! but else +Be like him, and thy life will not be low. +One thing even now I envy thee, that none +Of all this misery pierces to thy mind. +For life is sweetest in the void of sense, +Ere thou know joy or sorrow. But when this +Hath found thee, make thy father's enemies +Feel the great parent in the valiant child. +Meantime grow on in tender youthfulness, +Nursed by light breezes, gladdening this thy mother. +No Greek shall trample thee with brutal harm, +That I know well, though I shall not be near-- +So stout a warder to protect thy life +I leave in Teucer. He'll not fail, though now +He follow far the chase upon his foes. +My trusty warriors, people of the sea, +Be this your charge, no less,--and bear to him +My clear commandment, that he take this boy +Home to my fatherland, and make him known +To Telamon, and Eriboea too, +My mother. Let him tend them in their age. +And, for mine armour, let not that be made +The award of Grecian umpires or of him +Who ruined me. But thou, named of the shield[3], +Eurysakes, hold mine, the unpierceable +Seven-hided buckler, and by the well stitched thong +Grasp firm and wield it mightily.--The rest +Shall lie where I am buried.--Take him now, +Quickly, and close the door. No tears! What! weep +Before the tent? How women crave for pity! +Make fast, I say. No wise physician dreams +With droning charms to salve a desperate sore. + +CH. There sounds a vehement ardour in thy words +That likes me not. I fear thy sharpened tongue. + +TEC. Aias, my lord, what act is in thy mind? + +AI. Inquire not, question not; be wise, thou'rt best. + +TEC. How my heart sinks! Oh, by thy child, by Heaven, +I pray thee on my knees, forsake us not! + +AI. Thou troublest me. What! know'st thou not that Heaven +Hath ceased to be my debtor from to-day? + +TEC. Hush! Speak not so. + +AI. Speak thou to those that hear. + +TEC. Will you not hear me? + +AI. Canst thou not be still? + +TEC. My fears, my fears! + +AI. (_to the_ Attendants). Come, shut me in, I say. + +TEC. Oh, yet be softened! + +AI. 'Tis a foolish hope, +If thou deem'st now to mould me to thy will. + [Aias _is withdrawn. Exit_ Tecmessa + +CHORUS. +Island of glory! whom the glowing eyes I 1 +Of all the wondering world immortalize, +Thou, Salamis, art planted evermore, +Happy amid the wandering billows' roar; +While I--ah, woe the while!--this weary time, + By the green wold where flocks from Ida stray, +Lie worn with fruitless hours of wasted prime, + Hoping--ah, cheerless hope!--to win my way +Where Hades' horrid gloom shall hide me from the day. + +Aias is with me, yea, but crouching low, I 2 +Where Heaven-sent madness haunts his overthrow, +Beyond my cure or tendance: woful plight! +Whom thou, erewhile, to head the impetuous fight, +Sent'st forth, thy conquering champion. Now he feeds + His spirit on lone paths, and on us brings +Deep sorrow; and all his former peerless deeds +Of prowess fall like unremembered things +From Atreus' loveless brood, this caitiff brace of kings. + +Ah! when his mother, full of days and bowed II 1 +With hoary eld, shall hear his ruined mind, + How will she mourn aloud! +Not like the warbler of the dale, + The bird of piteous wail, +But in shrill strains far borne upon the wind, +While on the withered breast and thin white hair +Falls the resounding blow, the rending of despair. + +Best hid in death were he whom madness drives II 2 +Remediless; if, through his father's race + Born to the noblest place +Among the war-worn Greeks, he lives + By his own light no more, +Self-aliened from the self he knew before. +Oh, hapless sire, what woe thine ear shall wound! +One that of all thy line no life save this hath found. + +_Enter_ Aias _with a bright sword, and_ Tecmessa, _severally._ + +AI. What change will never-terminable Time +Not heave to light, what hide not from the day? +What chance shall win men's marvel? Mightiest oaths +Fall frustrate, and the steely-tempered will. +Ay, and even mine, that stood so diamond-keen +Like iron lately dipped, droops now dis-edged +And weakened by this woman, whom to leave +A widow with her orphan to my foes, +Dulls me with pity. I will go to the baths +And meadows near the cliff, and purging there +My dark pollution, I will screen my soul +From reach of Pallas' grievous wrath. I will find +Same place untrodden, and digging of the soil +Where none shall see, will bury this my sword, +Weapon of hate! for Death and Night to hold +Evermore underground. For, since my hand +Had this from Hector mine arch-enemy, +No kindness have I known from Argive men. +So true that saying of the bygone world, +'A foe's gift is no gift, and brings no good.' + Well, we will learn of Time. Henceforth I'll bow +To heavenly ordinance and give homage due +To Atreus' sons. Who rules, must be obeyed. +Since nought so fierce and terrible but yields +Place to Authority. Wild Winter's snows +Make way for bounteous Summer's flowery tread, +And Night's sad orb retires for lightsome Day +With his white steeds to illumine the glad sky. +The furious storm-blast leaves the groaning sea +Gently to rest. Yea, the all-subduer Sleep +Frees whom he binds, nor holds enchained for aye. +And shall not men be taught the temperate will? +Yea, for I now know surely that my foe +Must be so hated, as being like enough +To prove a friend hereafter, and my friend +So far shall have mine aid, as one whose love +Will not continue ever. Men have found +But treacherous harbour in companionship. + Our ending, then, is peaceful. Thou, my girl, +Go in and pray the Gods my heart's desire +Be all fulfilled. My comrades, join her here, +Honouring my wishes; and if Teucer come, +Bid him toward us be mindful, kind toward you. +I must go--whither I must go. Do ye +But keep my word, and ye may learn, though now +Be my dark hour, that all with me is well. + [_Exit towards the country._ Tecmessa _retires_ + +CHORUS. +A shudder of love thrills through me. Joy! I soar 1 + O Pan, wild Pan! [_They dance_ + Come from Cyllene hoar-- +Come from the snow drift, the rock-ridge, the glen! + Leaving the mountain bare + Fleet through the salt sea-air, +Mover of dances to Gods and to men. +Whirl me in Cnossian ways--thrid me the Nysian maze! +Come, while the joy of the dance is my care! + Thou too, Apollo, come + Bright from thy Delian home, + Bringer of day, + Fly o'er the southward main + Here in our hearts to reign, +Loved to repose there and kindly to stay. + +Horror is past. Our eyes have rest from pain. 2 + O Lord of Heaven! [_They dance_ + Now blithesome day again +Purely may smile on our swift-sailing fleet, + Since, all his woe forgot, + Aias now faileth not +Aught that of prayer and Heaven-worship is meet. +Time bringeth mighty aid--nought but in time doth fade: +Nothing shall move me as strange to my thought. + Aias our lord hath now + Cleared his wrath-burdened brow + Long our despair, + Ceased from his angry feud + And with mild heart renewed +Peace and goodwill to the high-sceptred pair. + +_Enter_ Messenger. + +MESSENGER. Friends, my first news is Teucer's presence here, +Fresh from the Mysian heights; who, as he came +Right toward the generals' quarter, was assailed +With outcry from the Argives in a throng: +For when they knew his motion from afar +They swarmed around him, and with shouts of blame +From each side one and all assaulted him +As brother to the man who had gone mad +And plotted 'gainst the host,--threatening aloud, +Spite of his strength, he should be stoned, and die. +--So far strife ran, that swords unscabbarded +Crossed blades, till as it mounted to the height +Age interposed with counsel, and it fell. + But where is Aias to receive my word? +Tidings are best told to the rightful ear. + +CH. Not in the hut, but just gone forth, preparing +New plans to suit his newly altered mind. + +MESS. Alas! +Too tardy then was he who sped me hither; +Or I have proved too slow a messenger. + +CH. What point is lacking for thine errand's speed? + +MESS. Teucer was resolute the man should bide +Close held within-doors till himself should come. + +CH. Why, sure his going took the happiest turn +And wisest, to propitiate Heaven's high wrath. + +MESS. The height of folly lives in such discourse, +If Calchas have the wisdom of a seer. + +CH. What knowest thou of our state? What saith he? Tell. + +MESS. I can tell only what I heard and saw. +Whilst all the chieftains and the Atridae twain +Were seated in a ring, Calchas alone +Rose up and left them, and in Teucer's palm +Laid his right hand full friendly; then out-spake +With strict injunction by all means i' the world +To keep beneath yon covert this one day +Your hero, and not suffer him to rove, +If he would see him any more alive. +For through this present light--and ne'er again--- +Holy Athena, so he said, will drive him +Before her anger. Such calamitous woe +Strikes down the unprofitable growth that mounts +Beyond his measure and provokes the sky. +'Thus ever,' said the prophet, 'must he fall +Who in man's mould hath thoughts beyond a man. +And Aias, ere he left his father's door, +Made foolish answer to his prudent sire. + 'My son,' said Telamon, 'choose victory +Always, but victory with an aid from Heaven.' +How loftily, how madly, he replied! +'Father, with heavenly help men nothing worth +May win success. But I am confident +Without the Gods to pluck this glory down.' +So huge the boast he vaunted! And again +When holy Pallas urged him with her voice +To hurl his deadly spear against the foe, +He turned on her with speech of awful sound: + 'Goddess, by other Greeks take thou thy stand; +Where I keep rank, the battle ne'er shall break.' +Such words of pride beyond the mortal scope +Have won him Pallas' wrath, unlovely meed. +But yet, perchance, so be it he live to-day, +We, with Heaven's succour, may restore his peace.'-- +Thus far the prophet, when immediately +Teucer dispatched me, ere the assembly rose, +Bearing to thee this missive to be kept +With all thy care. But if my speed be lost, +And Calchas' word have power, the man is dead. + +CH. O trouble-tost Tecmessa, born to woe, +Come forth and see what messenger is here! +This news bites near the bone, a death to joy. + +_Enter_ TECMESSA. + +TEC. Wherefore again, when sorrow's cruel storm +Was just abating, break ye my repose? + +CH. (_pointing to the_ Messenger). +Hear what he saith, and how he comes to bring +News of our Aias that hath torn my heart. + +TEC. Oh me! what is it, man? Am I undone? + +MESS. Thy case I know not; but of Aias this, +That if he roam abroad, 'tis dangerous. + +TEC. He is, indeed, abroad. Oh! tell me quickly! + +MESS. 'Tis Teucer's strong command to keep him close +Beneath this roof, nor let him range alone. + +TEC. But where is Teucer? and what means his word? + +MESS. Even now at hand, and eager to make known +That Aias, if he thus go forth, must fall. + +TEC. Alas! my misery! Whence learned he this? + +MESS. From Thestor's prophet-offspring, who to-day +Holds forth to Aias choice of life or death. + +TEC. Woe's me! O friends, this desolating blow +Is falling! Oh, stand forward to prevent! +And some bring Teucer with more haste, while some +Explore the western bays and others search +Eastward to find your hero's fatal path! +For well I see I am cheated and cast forth +From the old favour. Child, what shall I do? [_Looking at_ EURYSAKES +We must not stay. I too will fare along, +go far as I have power. Come, let us go. +Bestir ye! 'Tis no moment to sit still, +If we would save him who now speeds to die. + +CH. I am ready. Come! Fidelity of foot, +And swift performance, shall approve me true. [_Exeunt omnes_ + +_The scene changes to a lonely wooded spot._ + +AIAS (_discovered alone_). +The sacrificer stands prepared,--and when +More keen? Let me take time for thinking, too! +This gift of Hector, whom of stranger men +I hated most with heart and eyes, is set +In hostile Trojan soil, with grinding hone +Fresh-pointed, and here planted by my care +Thus firm, to give me swift and friendly death. +Fine instrument, so much for thee! Then, first, +Thou, for 'tis meet, great Father, lend thine aid. +For no great gift I sue thee. Let some voice +Bear Teucer the ill news, that none but he +May lift my body, newly fallen in death +About my bleeding sword, ere I be spied +By some of those who hate me, and be flung +To dogs and vultures for an outcast prey. +So far I entreat thee, Lord of Heaven. And thou, +Hermes, conductor of the shadowy dead, +Speed me to rest, and when with this sharp steel +I have cleft a sudden passage to my heart, +At one swift bound waft me to painless slumber! +But most be ye my helpers, awful Powers, +Who know no blandishments, but still perceive +All wicked deeds i' the world--strong, swift, and sure, +Avenging Furies, understand my wrong, +See how my life is ruined, and by whom. +Come, ravin on Achaean flesh--spare none; +Rage through the camp!--Last, thou that driv'st thy course +Up yon steep Heaven, thou Sun, when thou behold'st +My fatherland, checking thy golden rein, +Report my fall, and this my fatal end, +To my old sire, and the poor soul who tends him. +Ah, hapless one! when she shall hear this word, +How she will make the city ring with woe! + 'Twere from the business idly to condole. +To work, then, and dispatch. O Death! O Death! +Now come, and welcome! Yet with thee, hereafter, +I shall find close communion where I go. +But unto thee, fresh beam of shining Day, +And thee, thou travelling Sun-god, I may speak +Now, and no more for ever. O fair light! +O sacred fields of Salamis my home! +Thou, firm set natal hearth: Athens renowned, +And ye her people whom I love; O rivers, +Brooks, fountains here--yea, even the Trojan plain +I now invoke!--kind fosterers, farewell! +This one last word from Aias peals to you: +Henceforth my speech will be with souls unseen. [_Falls on his sword_ + +CHORUS (_re-entering severally_). + +CH. A. Toil upon toil brings toil, + And what save trouble have I? + Which path have I not tried? + And never a place arrests me with its tale. + Hark! lo, again a sound! + +CH. B. 'Tis we, the comrades of your good ship's crew. + +CH. A. Well, sirs? + +CH. B. We have trodden all the westward arm o' the bay. + +CH. A. Well, have ye found? + +CH. B. Troubles enow, but nought to inform our sight. + +CH. A. Nor yet along the road that fronts the dawn + Is any sign of Aias to be seen. + +CH. Who then will tell me, who? What hard sea-liver, 1 + What toiling fisher in his sleepless quest, + What Mysian nymph, what oozy Thracian river, + Hath seen our wanderer of the tameless breast? + Where? tell me where! + 'Tis hard that I, far-toiling voyager, + Crossed by some evil wind, + Cannot the haven find, + Nor catch his form that flies me, where? ah! where? + +TEC. (_behind_). Oh, woe is me! woe, woe! + +CH. A. Who cries there from the covert of the grove? + +TEC. O boundless misery! + +CH. B. Steeped in this audible sorrow I behold +Tecmessa, poor fate-burdened bride of war. + +TEC. Friends, I am spoiled, lost, ruined, overthrown! + +CH. A. What ails thee now? + +TEC. See where our Aias lies, but newly slain, +Fallen on his sword concealed within the ground, + +CH. Woe for my hopes of home! + Aias, my lord, thou hast slain + Thy ship-companion on the salt sea foam. + Alas for us, and thee, + Child of calamity! + +TEC. So lies our fortune. Well may'st thou complain. + +CH. A. Whose hand employed he for the deed of blood? + +TEC. His own, 'tis manifest. This planted steel, +Fixed by his hand, gives verdict from his breast. + +CH. Woe for my fault, my loss! + Thou hast fallen in blood alone, + And not a friend to cross + Or guard thee. I, deaf, senseless as a stone, +Left all undone. Oh, where, then, lies the stern +Aias, of saddest name, whose purpose none might turn? + +TEC. No eye shall see him. I will veil him round +With this all covering mantle; since no heart +That loved him could endure to view him there, +With ghastly expiration spouting forth +From mouth and nostrils, and the deadly wound, +The gore of his self slaughter. Ah, my lord! +What shall I do? What friend will carry thee? +Oh, where is Teucer! Timely were his hand, +Might he come now to smooth his brother's corse. +O thou most noble, here ignobly laid, +Even enemies methinks must mourn thy fate! + +CH. Ah! 'twas too clear thy firm knit thoughts would fashion, 2 + Early or late, an end of boundless woe! + Such heaving groans, such bursts of heart-bruised passion, + Midnight and morn, bewrayed the fire below. + 'The Atridae might beware!' + A plenteous fount of pain was opened there, + What time the strife was set, + Wherein the noblest met, + Grappling the golden prize that kindled thy despair! + +TEC. Woe, woe is me! + +CH. Deep sorrow wrings thy soul, I know it well. + +TEC. O woe, woe, woe! + +CH. Thou may'st prolong thy moan, and be believed, +Thou that hast lately lost so true a friend. + +TEC. Thou may'st imagine; 'tis for me to know. + +CH. Ay, ay, 'tis true. + +TEC. Alas, my child! what slavish tasks and hard +We are drifting to! What eyes control our will! + +CH. Ay me! Through thy complaint + I hear the wordless blow + Of two high-throned, who rule without restraint + Of Pity. Heaven forfend + What evil they intend! + +TEC. The work of Heaven hath brought our life thus low. + +CH. 'Tis a sore burden to be laid on men. + +TEC. Yet such the mischief Zeus' resistless maid, +Pallas, hath planned to make Odysseus glad. + +CH. O'er that dark-featured soul + What waves of pride shall roll, + What floods of laughter flow, + Rudely to greet this madness-prompted woe, +Alas! from him who all things dares endure, +And from that lordly pair, who hear, and seat them sure! + +TEC. Ay, let them laugh and revel o'er his fall! +Perchance, albeit in life they missed him not, +Dead, they will cry for him in straits of war. +For dullards know not goodness in their hand, +Nor prize the jewel till 'tis cast away. +To me more bitter than to them 'twas sweet, +His death to him was gladsome, for he found +The lot he longed for, his self-chosen doom. +What cause have they to laugh? Heaven, not their crew, +Hath glory by his death. Then let Odysseus +Insult with empty pride. To him and his +Aias is nothing; but to me, to me, +He leaves distress and sorrow in his room! + +TEUCER (_within_). Alas, undone! + +LEADER OF CH. Hush! that was Teucer's cry. Methought I heard +His voice salute this object of dire woe. + +_Enter_ TEUCER. + +TEU. Aias, dear brother, comfort of mine eye, +Hast thou then done even as the rumour holds? + +CH. Be sure of that, Teucer. He lives no more. + +TEU. Oh, then how heavy is the lot I bear! + +CH. Yes, thou hast cause-- + +TEU. O rash assault of woe!-- + +CH. To mourn full loud. + +TEU. Ay me! and where, oh where +On Trojan earth, tell me, is this man's child? + +CH. Beside the huts, untended. + +TEU. (_to_ TEC). Oh, with haste +Go bring him hither, lest some enemy's hand +Snatch him, as from the lion's widowed mate +The lion-whelp is taken. Spare not speed. +All soon combine in mockery o'er the dead. [_Exit_ TECMESSA + +CH. Even such commands he left thee ere he died. +As thou fulfillest by this timely care. + +TEU. O sorest spectacle mine eyes e'er saw! +Woe for my journey hither, of all ways +Most grievous to my heart, since I was ware, +Dear Aias, of thy doom, and sadly tracked +Thy footsteps. For there darted through the host, +As from some God, a swift report of thee +That thou wert lost in death. I, hapless, heard, +And mourned even then for that whose presence kills me. +Ay me! But come, +Unveil. Let me behold my misery. [_The corpse of_ AIAS _is uncovered_ +O sight unbearable! Cruelly brave! +Dying, what store of griefs thou sow'st for me! +Where, amongst whom of mortals, can I go, +That stood not near thee in thy troublous hour? +Will Telamon, my sire and thine, receive me +With radiant countenance and favouring brow +Returning without thee? Most like! being one +Who smiles no more[4], yield Fortune what she may. +Will he hide aught or soften any word, +Rating the bastard of his spear-won thrall, +Whose cowardice and dastardy betrayed +Thy life, dear Aias,--or my murderous guile, +To rob thee of thy lordship and thy home? +Such greeting waits me from the man of wrath, +Whose testy age even without cause would storm. +Last, I shall leave my land a castaway, +Thrust forth an exile, and proclaimed a slave; +So should I fare at home. And here in Troy +My foes are many and my comforts few. +All these things are my portion through thy death. +Woe's me, my heart! how shall I bear to draw thee, +O thou ill-starr'd! from this discoloured blade, +Thy self-shown slayer? Didst thou then perceive +Dead Hector was at length to be thine end?-- +I pray you all, consider these two men. +Hector, whose gift from Aias was a girdle, +Tight-braced therewith to the car's rim, was dragged +And scarified till he breathed forth his life. +And Aias with this present from his foe +Finds through such means his death-fall and his doom. +Say then what cruel workman forged the gifts, +But Fury this sharp sword, Hell that bright band? +In this, and all things human, I maintain, +Gods are the artificers. My thought is said. +And if there be who cares not for my thought, +Let him hold fast his faith and leave me mine. + +CH. Spare longer speech, and think how to secure +Thy brother's burial, and what plea will serve; +Since one comes here hath no good will to us +And like a villain haply comes in scorn. + +TEU. What man of all the host hath caught thine eye? + +CH. The cause for whom we sailed, the Spartan King. + +TEU. Yes; I discern him, now he moves more near. + +_Enter_ MENELAUS. + +MENELAUS. Fellow, give o'er. Cease tending yon dead man! +Obey my voice, and leave him where he lies. + +TEU. Thy potent cause for spending so much breath? + +MEN. My will, and his whose word is sovereign here. + +TEU. May we not know the reasons of your will? + +MEN. Because he, whom we trusted to have brought +To lend us loyal help with heart and hand, +Proved in the trial a worse than Phrygian foe; +Who lay in wait for all the host by night, +And sallied forth in arms to shed our blood; +That, had not one in Heaven foiled this attempt, +Our lot had been to lie as he doth here +Dead and undone for ever, while he lived +And flourished. Heaven hath turned this turbulence +To fall instead upon the harmless flock. +Wherefore no strength of man shall once avail +To encase his body with a seemly tomb, +But outcast on the wide and watery sand, +He'll feed the birds that batten on the shore. +Nor let thy towering spirit therefore rise +In threatening wrath. Wilt thou or not, our hand +Shall rule him dead, howe'er he braved us living, +And that by force; for never would he yield, +Even while he lived, to words from me. And yet +It shows base metal when the subject-wight +Deigns not to hearken to the chief in power. +Since without settled awe, neither in states +Can laws have rightful sway, nor can a host +Be governed with due wisdom, if no fear +Or wholesome shame be there to shield its safety. +And though a man wax great in thews and bulk, +Let him be warned: a trifling harm may ruin him. +Whoever knows respect and honour both +Stands free from risk of dark vicissitude. +But whereso pride and licence have their fling, +Be sure that state will one day lose her course +And founder in the abysm. Let fear have place +Still where it ought, say I, nor let men think +To do their pleasure and not bide the pain. +That wheel comes surely round. Once Aias flamed +With insolent fierceness. Now I mount in pride, +And loudly bid thee bury him not, lest burying +Thy brother thou be burrowing thine own grave. + +CH. Menelaues, make not thy philosophy +A platform whence to insult the valiant dead. + +TEU. I nevermore will marvel, sirs, when one +Of humblest parentage is prone to sin, +Since those reputed men of noble strain +Stoop to such phrase of prating frowardness. +Come, tell it o'er again,--said you ye brought +My brother bound to aid you with his power? +Sailed he not forth of his own sovereign will? +Where is thy voucher of command o'er him? +Where of thy right o'er those that followed him? +Sparta, not we, shall buckle to thy sway. +'Twas written nowhere in the bond of rule +That thou shouldst check him rather than he thee. +Thou sailedst under orders, not in charge +Of all, much less of Aias. Then pursue +Thy limited direction, and chastise, +In haughty phrase, the men who fear thy nod. +But I will bury Aias, whether thou +Or the other general give consent or no. +'Tis not for me to tremble at your word. +Not to reclaim thy wife, like those poor souls +Thou flll'st with labour, issued this man forth, +But caring for his oath, and not for thee, +Or any other nobody. Then come +With heralds all arow, and bring the man +Called king of men with thee! For thy sole noise +I budge not, wert thou twenty times thy name. + +CH. The sufferer should not bear a bitter tongue. +Hard words, how just soe'er, will leave their sting. + +MEN. Our bowman carries no small pride, I see. + +TEU. No mere mechanic's menial craft is mine. + +MEN. How wouldst thou vaunt it hadst thou but a shield! + +TEU. Unarmed I fear not thee in panoply. + +MEN. Redoubted is the wrath lives on thy tongue. + +TEU. Whose cause is just hath licence to be proud. + +MEN. Just, that my murderer have a peaceful end? + +TEU. Thy murderer? Strange, to have been slain and live! + +MEN. Yea, through Heaven's mercy. By his will, I am dead. + +TEU. If Heaven have saved thee, give the Gods their due. + +MEN. Am I the man to spurn at Heaven's command? + +TEU. Thou dost, to come and frustrate burial. + +MEN. Honour forbids to yield my foe a tomb. + +TEU. And Aias was thy foeman? Where and when? + +MEN. Hate lived between us; that thou know'st full well. + +TEU. For thy proved knavery, coining votes i' the court + +MEN. The judges voted. He ne'er lost through me. + +TEU. Guilt hiding guile wears often fairest front. + +MEN. I know whom pain shall harass for that word. + +TEU. Not without giving equal pain, 'tis clear. + +MEN. No more, but this. No burial for this man! + +TEU. Yea, this much more. He shall have instant burial. + +MEN. I have seen ere now a man of doughty tongue +Urge sailors in foul weather to unmoor, +Who, caught in the sea-misery by and by, +Lay voiceless, muffled in his cloak, and suffered +Who would of the sailors over trample him +Even so methinks thy truculent mouth ere long +Shall quench its outcry, when this little cloud +Breaks forth on thee with the full tempest's might. + +TEU. I too have seen a man whose windy pride +Poured forth loud insults o'er a neighbour's fall, +Till one whose cause and temper showed like mine +Spake to him in my hearing this plain word: +'Man, do the dead no wrong; but, if thou dost, +Be sure thou shalt have sorrow.' Thus he warned +The infatuate one: ay, one whom I behold, +For all may read my riddle--thou art he. + +MEN. I will be gone. 'Twere shame to me, if known, +To chide when I have power to crush by force. + +TEU. Off with you, then! 'Twere triple shame in me +To list the vain talk of a blustering fool. [_Exit_ MENELAUS + +LEADER OF CHORUS. + High the quarrel rears his head! + Haste thee, Teucer, trebly haste, + Grave-room for the valiant dead + Furnish with what speed thou mayst, + Hollowed deep within the ground, + Where beneath his mouldering mound + Aias aye shall be renowned. + +_Re-enter_ TECMESSA _with_ EURYSAKES. + +TEU. Lo! where the hero's housemate and his child, +Hitting the moment's need, appear at hand, +To tend the burial of the ill fated dead. +Come, child, take thou thy station close beside: +Kneel and embrace the author of thy life, +In solemn suppliant fashion holding forth +This lock of thine own hair, and hers, and mine +With threefold consecration, that if one +Of the army force thee from thy father's corse, +My curse may banish him from holy ground, +Far from his home, unburied, and cut off +From all his race, even as I cut this curl. +There, hold him, child, and guard him; let no hand +Stir thee, but lean to the calm breast and cling. +(_To_ CHORUS) And ye, be not like women in this scene, +Nor let your manhoods falter; stand true men +To this defence, till I return prepared, +Though all cry No, to give him burial. [_Exit_ + +CHORUS. +When shall the tale of wandering years be done? I 1 +When shall arise our exile's latest sun? +Oh, where shall end the incessant woe +Of troublous spear-encounter with the foe, + Through this vast Trojan plain, +Of Grecian arms the lamentable stain? + +Would he had gone to inhabit the wide sky, I 2 +Or that dark home of death where millions lie, +Who taught our Grecian world the way +To use vile swords and knit the dense array! + His toil gave birth to toil +In endless line. He made mankind his spoil. + +His tyrant will hath forced me to forgo II 1 +The garland, and the goblet's bounteous flow: + Yea, and the flute's dear noise, + And night's more tranquil joys; + Ay me! nor only these, + The fruits of golden ease, +But Love, but Love--O crowning sorrow!-- +Hath ceased for me. I may not borrow + Sweet thoughts from him to smooth my dreary bed, + Where dank night-dews fall ever on my head, +Lest once I might forget the sadness of the morrow. + +Even here in Troy, Aias was erst my rock, II 2 +From darkling fears and 'mid the battle-shock + To screen me with huge might: + Now he is lost in night + And horror. Where again + Shall gladness heal my pain? +O were I where the waters hoary, +Round Sunium's pine-clad promontory, + Plash underneath the flowery upland height. + Then holiest Athens soon would come in sight, +And to Athena's self I might declare my story. + +_Enter_ TEUCER. + +TEU. My steps were hastened, brethren, when I saw +Great Agamemnon hitherward afoot. +He means to talk perversely, I can tell. + +_Enter_ AGAMEMNON. + +AG. And so I hear thou'lt stretch thy mouth agape +With big bold words against us undismayed-- +Thou, the she-captive's offspring! High would scale +Thy voice, and pert would be thy strutting gait, +Were but thy mother noble; since, being naught, +So stiff thou stand'st for him who is nothing now, +And swear'st we came not as commanders here +Of all the Achaean navy, nor of thee; +But Aias sailed, thou say'st, with absolute right. +Must we endure detraction from a slave? +What was the man thou noisest here so proudly? +Have I not set my foot as firm and far? +Or stood his valour unaccompanied +In all this host? High cause have we to rue +That prize-encounter for Pelides' arms, +Seeing Teucer's sentence stamps our knavery +For all to know it; and nought will serve but ye, +Being vanquished, kick at the award that passed +By voice of the majority in the court, +And either pelt us with rude calumnies, +Or stab at us, ye laggards! with base guile. +Howbeit, these ways will never help to build +The wholesome order of established law, +If men shall hustle victors from their right, +And mix the hindmost rabble with the van. +That craves repression. Not by bulky size, +Or shoulders' breadth, the perfect man is known; +But wisdom gives chief power in all the world. +The ox hath a huge broadside, yet is held +Right in the furrow by a slender goad; +Which remedy, I perceive, will pass ere long +To visit thee, unless thy wisdom grow; +Who hast uttered forth such daring insolence +For the pale shadow of a vanished man. +Learn modestly to know thy place and birth, +And bring with thee some freeborn advocate +To plead thy cause before us in thy room. +I understand not in the barbarous tongue, +And all thy talk sounds nonsense to mine ear. + +CH. Would ye might both have sense to curb your ire! +No better hope for either can I frame. + +TEU. Fie! How doth gratitude when men are dead +Prove renegade and swiftly pass away! +This Agamemnon hath no slightest word +Of kind remembrance any more for thee, +Aias, who oftentimes for his behoof +Hast jeoparded thy life in labour of war. +Now all is clean forgotten and out of mind. +Thou who hast multiplied words void of sense, +Hast thou no faintest memory of the time +When who but Aias came and rescued you +Already locked within the toils,--all lost, +The rout began: when close abaft the ships +The torches flared, and o'er the bootless trench +Hector was bounding high to board our fleet? +Who stayed that onset? Was not Aias he? +Whom thou deny'st to have once set foot by thine. +Find ye no merit there? And once again +When he met Hector singly, man to man, +Not by your bidding, but the lottery's choice, +His lot, that skulked not low adown i' the heap, +A moist earth-clod, but sure to spring in air, +And first to clear the plumy helmet's brim. +Yes, Aias was the man, and I too there +Kept rank, the 'barbarous mother's servile son.' +I pity thee the blindness of that word. +Who was thy father's father? A barbarian, +Pelops, the Phrygian, if you trace him far! +And what was Atreus, thine own father? One +Who served his brother with the abominable +Dire feast of his own flesh. And thou thyself +Cam'st from a Cretan mother, whom her sire +Caught with a man who had no right in her +And gave dumb fishes the polluted prey. +Such was thy race. What is the race thou spurnest? +My father, Telamon, of all the host +Being foremost proved in valour, took as prize +My mother for his mate: a princess she, +Born of Laomedon; Alcmena's son +Gave her to grace him--a triumphant meed. +Thus royally descended and thus brave, +Shall I renounce the brother of my blood, +Or suffer thee to thrust him in his woes +Far from all burial, shameless that thou art? +Be sure that, if ye cast him forth, ye'll cast +Three bodies more beside him in one spot; +For nobler should I find it here to die +In open quarrel for my kinsman's weal, +Than for thy wife--or Menelaues', was 't? +Consider then, not my case, but your own. +For if you harm me you will wish some day +To have been a coward rather than dare me. + +CH. Hail, Lord Odysseus! thou art come in time +Not to begin, but help to end, a fray. + +_Enter_ ODYSSEUS. + +OD. What quarrel, sirs? I well perceived from far +The kings high-voicing o'er the valiant dead. + +AG. Yea, Lord Odysseus, for our ears are full +Of this man's violent heart-offending talk. + +OD. What words have passed? I cannot blame the man +Who meets foul speech with bitterness of tongue. + +AG. My speech was bitter, for his deeds were foul. + +OD. What deed of his could harm thy sovereign head? + +AG. He boldly says this corse shall not be left +Unburied, but he'll bury it in our spite. + +OD. May I then speak true counsel to my friend, +And pull with thee in policy as of yore? + +AG. Speak. I were else a madman; for no friend +Of all the Argeians do I count thy peer. + +OD. Then hear me in Heaven's name! Be not so hard +Thus without ruth tombless to cast him forth; +Nor be so vanquished by a vehement will, +That to thy hate even Justice' self must bow. +I, too, had him for my worst enemy, +Since I gained mastery o'er Pelides' arms. +But though he used me so, I ne'er will grudge +For his proud scorn to yield him thus much honour, +That, save Achilles' self, I have not seen +So noble an Argive on the fields of Troy. +Then 'twere not just in thee to slight him now; +Nor would thy treatment wound him, but confound +The laws of Heaven. No hatred should have scope +To offend the noble spirits of the dead. + +AG. Wilt thou thus fight against me on his side? + +OD. Yea, though I hated him, while hate was comely. + +AG. Why, thou shouldst trample him the more, being dead. + +OD. Rejoice not, King, in feats that soil thy fame! + +AG. 'Tis hard for power to observe each pious rule. + +OD. Not hard to grace the good words of a friend. + +AG. The 'noble spirit' should hearken to command. + +OD. No more! 'Tis conquest to be ruled by love. + +AG. Remember what he was thou gracest so. + +OD. A noisome enemy; but his life was great. + +AG. And wilt thou honour such a pestilent corse? + +OD. Hatred gives way to magnanimity. + +AG. With addle-pated fools. + +OD. Full many are found +Friends for an hour, yet bitter in the end. + +AG. And wouldst thou have us gentle to such friends? + +OD. I would not praise ungentleness in aught. + +AG. We shall be known for weaklings through thy counsel. + +OD. Not so, but righteous in all Grecian eyes. + +AG. Thou bidst me then let bury this dead man? + +OD. I urge thee to the course myself shall follow. + +AG. Ay, every man for his own line! That holds. + +OD. Why not for my own line? What else were natural? + +AG. 'Twill be thy doing then, ne'er owned by me. + +OD. Own it or not, the kindness is the same. + +AG. Well, for thy sake I'd grant a greater boon; +Then why not this? However, rest assured +That in the grave or out of it, Aias still +Shall have my hatred. Do thou what thou wilt. [_Exit_ + +CH. Whoso would sneer at thy philosophy, +While such thy ways, Odysseus, were a fool. + +OD. And now let Teucer know that from this hour +I am more his friend than I was once his foe, +And fain would help him in this burial-rite +And service to his brother, nor would fail +In aught that mortals owe their noblest dead. + +TEU. Odysseus, best of men, thine every word +Hath my heart's praise, and my worst thought of thee +Is foiled by thy staunch kindness to the man +Who was thy rancorous foe. Thou wast not keen +To insult in present of his corse, like these, +The insensate general and his brother-king, +Who came with proud intent to cast him forth +Foully debarred from lawful obsequy. +Wherefore may he who rules in yon wide heaven, +And the unforgetting Fury-spirit, and she, +Justice, who crowns the right, so ruin them +With cruellest destruction, even as they +Thought ruthlessly to rob him of his tomb! +For thee, revered Laertes' lineal seed, +I fear to admit thy hand unto this rite, +Lest we offend the spirit that is gone. +But for the rest, I hail thy proffered aid; +And bring whom else thou wilt, I'll ne'er resent it. +This work shall be my single care; but thou, +Be sure I love thee for thy generous heart. + +OD. I had gladly done it; but, since thou declinest, +I bow to thy decision, and depart. [_Exit_ + +TEU. Speed we, for the hour grows late: + Some to scoop his earthy cell, + Others by the cauldron wait, + Plenished from the purest well. + Hoist it, comrades, here at hand, + High upon the three-foot stand! + Let the cleansing waters flow; + Brightly flame the fire below! + Others in a stalwart throng + From his chamber bear along + All the arms he wont to wield + Save alone the mantling shield. + Thou with me thy strength employ, + Lifting this thy father, boy; + Hold his frame with tender heed-- + Still the gashed veins darkly bleed. + Who professes here to love him? + Ply your busy cares above him, + Come and labour for the man, + Nobler none since time began, + Aias, while his life-blood ran. + +LEADER OF CH. Oft we know not till we see. + Weak is human prophecy. + Judge not, till the hour have taught thee + What the destinies have brought thee. + + * * * * * + + + + + KING OEDIPUS + + + THE PERSONS + +OEDIPUS, _King of Thebes._ +_Priest of Zeus._ +CREON, _brother of Jocasta._ +CHORUS _of Theban Elders._ +TIRESIAS, _the Blind Prophet._ +JOCASTA, _the Queen, sister to Creon._ +_A Corinthian Shepherd._ +_A Theban Shepherd._ +_Messenger_ + +The following also appear, but do not speak: + +_A Train of Suppliants._ +_The children_ ANTIGONE _and_ ISMENE. + + +SCENE. Before the Royal Palace in the Cadmean citadel of Thebes. + + + + +Laius, the descendant of Cadmus, and king of Thebes (or Thebe), had +been told by an oracle that if a son were born to him by his wife +Jocasta the boy would be his father's death. + +Under such auspices, Oedipus was born, and to elude the prophecy was +exposed by his parents on Mount Cithaeron. But he was saved by a +compassionate shepherd, and became the adopted son of Polybus, king of +Corinth. When he grew up he was troubled by a rumour that he was not +his father's son. He went to consult the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, +and was told--not of his origin but of his destiny--that he should be +guilty of parricide and incest. + +He was too horror-stricken to return to Corinth, and as he travelled +the other way, he met Laius going from Thebes to Delphi. The +travellers quarrelled and the son killed his father, but knew not whom +he had slain. He went onward till he came near Thebes, where the +Sphinx was making havoc of the noblest citizens, devouring all who +failed to solve her riddle. But Oedipus succeeded and overcame her, +and, as Laius did not return, was rewarded with the regal sceptre,-- +and with the hand of the queen. + +He reigned nobly and prosperously, and lived happily with Jocasta, by +whom he had four children. + +But after some years a plague descended on the people, and Apollo, on +being inquired of, answered that it was for Laius' death. The act of +regicide must be avenged. Oedipus undertakes the task of discovering +the murderer,--and in the same act discovers his own birth, and the +fulfilment of both the former prophecies. + +Jocasta hangs herself, and Oedipus in his despair puts out his eyes. + + + + + KING OEDIPUS + + +OEDIPUS--Priest of Zeus +(_with the_ Train of Suppliants _grouped before an altar_). + +OEDIPUS. Nurslings of Cadmus, children of my care, +Why press ye now to kneel before my gate +With sacred branches in those suppliant hands, +While o'er your city clouds of incense rise +And sounds of praise, mingling with sounds of woe? + I would not learn of your estate, my sons, +Through others, wherefore I myself am come, +Your Oedipus,--a name well known to men. +Speak, aged friend, whose look proclaims thee meet +To be their spokesman--What desire, what fear +Hath brought you? Doubt not of my earnest will +To lend all succour. Hard would be the heart +That looked unmoved on such a kneeling throng. + +PRIEST. Great ruler of my country, thou beholdest +The different ages of our flock who here +Are gathered round thine altar,--some, whose wing +Hath not yet ventured far from home, and some +Burdened with many years, priests of the Gods, +Myself the arch priest of Zeus, and these fresh youths, +A chosen few. Others there are who crowd +The holy agora and the temples twain +Of Pallas, and Ismenus' hallowed fires, +A suppliant host. For, as thyself perceivest, +Our city is tempest tost, and all too weak +To lift above the waves her weary prow +That plunges in a rude and ravenous sea. +Earth's buds are nipped, withering the germs within, +Our cattle lose their increase, and our wives +Have fruitless travail; and that scourge from Heaven, +The fiery Pestilence abhorred of men, +Descending on our people with dire stroke +Lays waste the Home of Cadmus, while dark Death +Wins ample tribute of laments and groans. + We kneel, then, at thy hearth; not likening thee +Unto the gods, I nor these children here, +But of men counting thee the first in might +Whether to cope with earthly casualty +Or visiting of more than earthly Power. +Thou, in thy coming to this Theban land, +Didst take away the hateful tax we paid +To that stern songstress[1],--aided not by us +With hint nor counsel, but, as all believe, +Gifted from heaven with life-restoring thought. +Now too, great Oedipus of matchless fame, +We all uplift our suppliant looks to thee, +To find some help for us, whether from man, +Or through the prompting of a voice Divine. +Experienced counsel, we have seen and know, +Hath ever prosperous issue. Thou, then, come, +Noblest of mortals, give our city rest +From sorrow! come, take heed! seeing this our land +Now calls thee Saviour for thy former zeal; +And 'twere not well to leave this memory +Of thy great reign among Cadmean men, +'He raised us up, only again to fall.' +Let the salvation thou hast wrought for us +Be flawless and assured! As once erewhile +Thy lucky star gave us prosperity, +Be the same man to-day. Wouldst thou be king +In power, as in command, 'tis greater far +To rule a people than a wilderness. +Since nought avails or city or buttressed wall +Or gallant vessel, if unmanned and void. + +OED. Ye touch me to the core. Full well I know +Your trouble and your desire. Think not, my sons, +I have no feeling of your misery! +Yet none of you hath heaviness like mine. +Your grief is held within the single breast +Of each man severally. My burdened heart +Mourns for myself, for Thebe, and for you. +Your coming hath not roused me from repose: +I have watched, and bitterly have wept; my mind +Hath travelled many a labyrinth of thought. +And now I have tried in act the only plan +Long meditation showed me. I have sent +The brother of my queen, Menoeceus' son, +Creon, to learn, in Phoebus' Delphian Hall, +What word or deed of mine may save this city. +And when I count the time, I am full of pain +To guess his speed; for he is absent long, +Beyond the limit of expectancy. +But when he shall appear, base then were I +In aught to disobey the voice of Heaven. + +PR. Lo, in good time, crowning thy gracious word, +'Tis told me by these youths, Creon draws near. + +OED. Apollo! may his coming be as blest +With saving fortune, as his looks are bright. + +PR. Sure he brings joyful news; else had he ne'er +Worn that full wreath of thickly-berried bay. + +OED. We have not long to doubt. He can hear now. + +_Enter_ CREON. + +Son of Menoeceus, brother of my queen, +What answer from Apollo dost thou bring? + +CREON. Good; for my message is that even our woes, +When brought to their right issue, shall be well. + +OED. What saith the oracle? Thy words so far +Neither embolden nor dishearten me. + +CR. Say, must I tell it with these standing by, +Or go within? I am ready either way. + +OED. Speak forth to all. The burden of their grief +Weighs more on me than my particular fear. + +CE. My lips shall utter what the God hath said. +Sovereign Apollo clearly bids us drive +Forth from this region an accursed thing +(For such is fostered in the land and stains +Our sacred clime), nor cherish it past cure. + +OED. What is the fault, and how to be redressed? + +CR. By exile, or by purging blood with blood. +Since blood it is that shakes us with this storm. + +OED. Whose murder doth Apollo thus reveal? + +CR. My gracious lord, before thy prosperous reign +King Laius was the leader of our land. + +OED. Though I ne'er saw him, I have heard, and know. + +CR. Phoebus commands us now to punish home, +Whoe'er they are, the authors of his death. + +OED. But they, where are they? Where shall now be read +The fading record of this ancient guilt? + +CR He saith, 'tis in this land. And what is sought +Is found, while things uncared for glide away. + +OED. But where did Laius meet this violent end? +At home, afield, or on some foreign soil? + +CR. He had left us, as he said, to visit Delphi; +But nevermore returned since he set forth. + +OED. And was there none, no fellow traveller, +To see, and tell the tale, and help our search? + +CR. No, they were slain; save one, who, flying in fear, +Had nought to tell us but one only thing. + +OED. What was that thing? A little door of hope, +Once opened, may discover much to view. + +CR. A random troop of robbers, meeting him, +Outnumbered and o'erpowered him. So 'twas told. + +OED. What robber would have ventured such a deed, +If unsolicited with bribes from hence? + +CR. We thought of that. But Laius being dead, +We found no helper in our miseries. + +OED. When majesty was fallen, what misery +Could hinder you from searching out the truth? + +CR. A present trouble had engrossed our care. +The riddling Sphinx compelled us to observe +The moment's grief, neglecting things unknown. + +OED. But I will track this evil to the spring +And clear it to the day. Most worthily +Doth great Apollo, worthily dost thou +Prompt this new care for the unthought of dead. +And me too ye shall find a just ally, +Succouring the cause of Phoebus and the land. +Since, in dispelling this dark cloud, I serve +No indirect or distant claim on me, +But mine own life, for he that slew the king +May one day turn his guilty hand 'gainst me +With equal rage. In righting Laius, then, +I forward mine own cause.--Now, children, rise +From the altar-steps, and lift your suppliant boughs, +And let some other summon to this place +All Cadmus' people, and assure them, I +Will answer every need. This day shall see us +Blest with glad fortune through God's help, or fallen. + +PR. Rise then, my children. Even for this we came +Which our good lord hath promised of himself. +Only may Phoebus, who hath sent this word, +With healing power descend, and stay the plague. [_Exeunt severally_ + +CHORUS (_entering_). +Kind voice of Heaven, soft-breathing from the height I 1 +Of Pytho's opulent home to Thebe bright, + What wilt thou bring to day? + Ah, Delian Healer, say! +My heart hangs on thy word with trembling awe: + What new giv'n law, +Or what returning in Time's circling round +Wilt thou unfold? Tell us, immortal sound, +Daughter of golden Hope, tell us, we pray, we pray! + +First, child of Zeus, Pallas, to thee appealing, I 2 +Then to sweet Artemis, thy sister, kneeling, + Who with benignant hand + Still guards our sacred land, +Throned o'er the circling mart that hears her praise, + And thou, whose rays +Pierce evil from afar, ho! come and save, +Ye mighty three! if e'er before ye drave +The threatening fire of woe from Thebe, come to day! + + For ah! the griefs that on me weigh II 1 + Are numberless; weak are my helpers all, + And thought finds not a sword to fray + This hated pestilence from hearth or hall. + Earth's blossoms blasted fall: + Nor can our women rise + From childbed after pangs and cries; + But flocking more and more + Toward the western shore, +Soul after soul is known to wing her flight, +Swifter than quenchless flame, to the far realm of Night. + + So deaths innumerable abound. II 2 + My city's sons unpitied lie around + Over the plague-encumbered ground + And wives and matrons old on every hand + Along the altar-strand + Groaning in saddest grief + Pour supplication for relief. + Loud hymns are sounding clear + With wailing voices near. +Then, golden daughter of the heavenly sire, +Send bright-eyed Succour forth to drive away this fire. + + And swiftly speed afar, III 1 + Windborne on backward car, + The viewless fiend who scares me with wild cries, + To oarless Thracian tide, + Of ocean-chambers wide, + About the bed where Amphitrite lies. +Day blights what night hath spared. O thou whose hand +Wields lightning, blast him with thy thundrous brand. + + Shower from the golden string III 2 + Thine arrows Lycian King! + O Phoebus, let thy fiery lances fly + Resistless, as they rove + Through Xanthus' mountain-grove! + O Thoeban Bacchus of the lustrous eye, +With torch and trooping Maenads and bright crown +Blaze on thee god whom all in Heaven disown. + [OEDIPUS _has entered during the Choral song_ + +OED. Your prayers are answered. Succour and relief +Are yours, if ye will heed my voice and yield +What help the plague requires. Hear it from me, +Who am hitherto a stranger to the tale, +As to the crime. Being nought concerned therewith, +I could not of myself divine the truth. +But now, as one adopted to your state, +To all of you Cadmeans I speak this: +Whoe'er among you knoweth the murderer +Of Laius, son of royal Labdacus, +Let him declare the deed in full to me. +First, if the man himself be touched with fear, +Let him depart, carrying the guilt away; +No harm shall follow him:--he shall go free. +Or if there be who knows another here, +Come from some other country, to have wrought +This murder, let him speak. Reward from me +And store of kind remembrance shall be his. +But if ye are silent, and one present here +Who might have uttered this, shall hold his peace, +As fearing for himself, or for his friend, +What then shall be performed, hear me proclaim. +I here prohibit all within this realm +Whereof I wield the sceptre and sole sway, +To admit the murderer, whosoe'er he be, +Within their houses, or to speak with him, +Or share with him in vow or sacrifice +Or lustral rite. All men shall thrust him forth, +Our dark pollution, so to me revealed +By this day's oracle from Pytho's cell. + So firm is mine allegiance to the God +And your dead sovereign in this holy war. +Now on the man of blood, whether he lurk +In lonely guilt, or with a numerous band, +I here pronounce this curse:--Let his crushed life +Wither forlorn in hopeless misery. +Next, I pray Heaven, should he or they be housed +With mine own knowledge in my home, that I +May suffer all I imprecate on them. +Last, I enjoin each here to lend his aid +For my sake, and the God's, and for your land +Reft of her increase and renounced by Heaven. +It was not right, when your good king had fallen, +Although the oracle were silent still, +To leave this inquisition unperformed. +Long since ye should have purged the crime. But now +I, to whom fortune hath transferred his crown, +And given his queen in marriage,--yea, moreover, +His seed and mine had been one family +Had not misfortune trampled on his head +Cutting him off from fair posterity,-- +All this being so, I will maintain his cause +As if my father's, racking means and might +To apprehend the author of the death +Of Laius, son to Labdacus, and heir +To Polydorus and to Cadmus old, +And proud Agenor of the eldest time. + Once more, to all who disobey in this +May Heaven deny the produce of the ground +And offspring from their wives, and may they pine +With plagues more horrible than this to-day. +But for the rest of you Cadmean men, +Who now embrace my word, may Righteousness, +Strong to defend, and all the Gods for aye +Watch over you for blessing in your land. + +LEADER OF CH. Under the shadow of thy curse, my lord, +I will speak. I slew him not, nor can I show +The man who slew. Phoebus, who gave the word, +Should name the guilty one. + +OED. Thy thought is just, +But man may not compel the Gods. + +CH. Again, +That failing, I perceive a second way. + +OED. Were there a third, spare not to speak it forth. + +CH. I know of one alone whose kingly mind +Sees all King Phoebus sees--Tiresias,--he +Infallibly could guide us in this quest. + +OED. That doth not count among my deeds undone. +By Creon's counsel I have sent twice o'er +To fetch him, and I muse at his delay. + +CH. The rumour that remains is old and dim. + +OED. What rumour? Let no tale be left untried. + +CH. 'Twas said he perished by some wandering band. + +OED. But the one witness is removed from ken. + +CH. Well, if the man be capable of fear, +He'll not remain when he hath heard thy curse. + +OED. Words have no terror for the soul that dares +Such doings. + +CH. Yet lives one who shall convict him. +For look where now they lead the holy seer, +Whom sacred Truth inspires alone of men. + +_Enter_ TIRESIAS. + +OED. O thou whose universal thought commands +All knowledge and all mysteries, in Heaven +And on the earth beneath, thy mind perceives, +Tiresias, though thine outward eye be dark, +What plague is wasting Thebe, who in thee, +Great Sir, finds her one saviour, her sole guide. +Phoebus (albeit the messengers perchance +Have told thee this) upon our sending sent +This answer back, that no release might come +From this disaster, till we sought and found +And slew the murderers of king Laius, +Or drave them exiles from our land. Thou, then, +Withhold not any word of augury +Or other divination which thou knowest, +But rescue Thebe, and thyself, and me, +And purge the stain that issues from the dead. +On thee we lean: and 'tis a noble thing +To use what power one hath in doing good. + +TIRESIAS. Ah! terrible is knowledge to the man +Whom knowledge profits not. This well I knew, +But had forgotten. Else I ne'er had come. + +OED. Why dost thou bring a mind so full of gloom? + +TI. Let me go home. Thy part and mine to-day +Will best be borne, if thou obey me in that. + +OED. Disloyal and ungrateful! to deprive +The state that reared thee of thine utterance now. + +TI. Thy speech, I see, is foiling thine intent; +And I would shield me from the like mishap. (_Going._) + +OED. Nay, if thou knowest, turn thee not away: +All here with suppliant hands importune thee. + +TI. Yea, for ye all are blind. Never will I +Reveal my woe;--mine, that I say not, thine. + +OED. So, then, thou hast the knowledge of the crime +And wilt not tell, but rather wouldst betray +This people, and destroy thy fatherland! + +TI. You press me to no purpose. I'll not pain +Thee, nor myself. Thou wilt hear nought from me. + +OED. How? Miscreant! Thy stubbornness would rouse +Wrath in a breast of stone. Wilt thou yet hold +That silent, hard, impenetrable mien? + +TI. You censure me for my harsh mood. Your own +Dwells unsuspected with you. Me you blame! + +OED. Who can be mild and gentle, when thou speakest +Such words to mock this people? + +TI. It will come: +Although I bury it in silence here. + +OED. Must not the King be told of what will come? + +TI. No word from me. At this, an if thou wilt, +Rage to the height of passionate vehemence. + +OED. Ay, and my passion shall declare my thought. +'Tis clear to me as daylight, thou hast been +The arch-plotter of this deed; yea, thou hast done +All but the actual blow. Hadst thou thy sight, +I had proclaimed thee the sole murderer. + +TI. Ay, say'st thou so?--I charge thee to abide +By thine own ordinance; and from this hour +Speak not to any Theban nor to me. +Thou art the vile polluter of the land. + +OED. O void of shame! What wickedness is this? +What power will give thee refuge for such guilt? + +TI. The might of truth is scatheless. I am free. + +OED. Whence came the truth to thee? Not from thine art. + +TI. From thee, whose rage impelled my backward tongue. + +OED. Speak it once more, that I may know the drift. + +TI. Was it so dark? Or wouldst thou tempt me further? + +OED. I cannot say 'twas clear. Speak it again. + +TI. I say thou art the murderer whom thou seekest. + +OED. Again that baleful word! But thou shalt rue. + +TI. Shall I add more, to aggravate thy wrath? + +OED. All is but idleness. Say what thou wilt. + +TI. I tell thee thou art living unawares +In shameful commerce with thy near'st of blood, +Ignorant of the abyss wherein thou liest. + +OED. Think you to triumph in offending still? + +TI. If Truth have power. + +OED. She hath, but not for thee. +Blind as thou art in eyes and ears and mind. + +TI. O miserable reproach, which all who now +Behold thee, soon shall thunder forth on thee! + +OED. Nursed in unbroken night, thou canst not harm +Or me, or any man who seeth the day. + +TI. No, not from me proceeds thy fall; the God, +Who cares for this, is able to perform it. + +OED. Came this device from Creon or thyself? + +TI. Not Creon: thou art thy sole enemy. + +OED. O wealth and sovereign power and high success +Attained through wisdom and admired of men, +What boundless jealousies environ you! +When for this rule, which to my hand the State +Committed unsolicited and free, +Creon, my first of friends, trusted and sure, +Would undermine and hurl me from my throne, +Meanly suborning such a mendicant +Botcher of lies, this crafty wizard rogue, +Blind in his art, and seeing but for gain. +Where are the proofs of thy prophetic power? +How came it, when the minstrel-hound was here, +This folk had no deliverance through thy word? +Her snare could not be loosed by common wit, +But needed divination and deep skill; +No sign whereof proceeded forth from thee +Procured through birds or given by God, till I, +The unknowing traveller, overmastered her, +The stranger Oedipus, not led by birds, +But ravelling out the secret by my thought: +Whom now you study to supplant, and trust +To stand as a supporter of the throne +Of lordly Creon,--To your bitter pain +Thou and the man who plotted this will hunt +Pollution forth[2].--But for thy reverend look +Thou hadst atoned thy trespass on the spot. + +CH. Your friends would humbly deprecate the wrath +That sounds both in your speech, my lord, and his. +That is not what we need, but to discern +How best to solve the heavenly oracle. + +TI. Though thou art king and lord, I claim no less +Lordly prerogative to answer thee. +Speech is my realm; Apollo rules my life, +Not thou. Nor need I Creon to protect me. +Now, then: my blindness moves thy scorn:--thou hast +Thy sight, and seest not where thou art sunk in evil, +What halls thou dost inhabit, or with whom: +Know'st not from whence thou art--nay, to thy kin, +Buried in death and here above the ground, +Unwittingly art a most grievous foe. +And when thy father's and thy mother's curse +With fearful tread shall drive thee from the land, +On both sides lashing thee,--thine eye so clear +Beholding darkness in that day,--oh, then, +What region will not shudder at thy cry? +What echo in all Cithaeron will be mute, +When thou perceiv'st, what bride-song in thy hall +Wafted thy gallant bark with nattering gale +To anchor,--where? And other store of ill +Thou seest not, that shall show thee as thou art, +Merged with thy children in one horror of birth. +Then rail at noble Creon, and contemn +My sacred utterance! No life on earth +More vilely shall be rooted out, than thine. + +OED. Must I endure such words from him? Begone! +Off to thy ruin, and with speed! Away, +And take thy presence from our palace-hall! + +TI. Had you not sent for me, I ne'er had come. + +OED. I knew not thou wouldst utter folly here, +Else never had I brought thee to my door. + +TI. To thee I am foolish, then; but to the pair +Who gave thee life, I was wise. + +OED. Hold, go not! who? +Who gave me being? + +TI. To-day shall bring to light +Thy birth and thy destruction. + +OED. Wilt thou still +Speak all in riddles and dark sentences? + +TI. Methought thou wert the man to find them out. + +OED. Ay! Taunt me with the gift that makes me great. + +TI. And yet this luck hath been thy overthrow. + +OED. I care not, since I rescued this fair town. + +TI. Then I will go. Come, sirrah, guide me forth! + +OED. Be it so! For standing here you vex our eye, +But, you being gone, our trouble goes with you. + +TI. I go, but I will speak. Why should I fear +Thy frown? Thou ne'er canst ruin me. The word +Wherefore I came, is this: The man you seek +With threatening proclamation of the guilt +Of Laius' blood, that man is here to-day, +An alien sojourner supposed from far, +But by-and-by he shall be certified +A true-born Theban: nor will such event +Bring him great joy; for, blind from having sight +And beggared from high fortune, with a staff +In stranger lands he shall feel forth his way; +Shown living with the children of his loins, +Their brother and their sire, and to the womb +That bare him, husband-son, and, to his father, +Parricide and corrival. Now go in, +Ponder my words; and if thou find them false, +then say my power is naught in prophecy. [_Exeunt severally_ + +CHORUS. +Whom hath the voice from Delphi's rocky throne I 1 + Loudly declared to have done +Horror unnameable with murdering hand? + With speed of storm-swift car + 'Tis time he fled afar +With mighty footstep hurrying from the land. + For, armed with lightning brand, +The son of Zeus assails him with fierce bounds, +Hunting with Death's inevitable hounds. + +Late from divine Parnassus' snow-capped height I 2 + This utterance sprang to light, +To track by every path the man unknown. + Through woodland caverns deep + And o'er the rocky steep +Harbouring in caves he roams the wild alone, + With none to share his moan. +Shunning that prophet-voice's central sound, +Which ever lives, and haunts him, hovering round. + +The reverend Seer hath stirred me with strange awe. II 1 +Gainsay I cannot, nor yet think him true. +I know not how to speak. My fluttering heart +In wild expectancy sees nothing clear. +Things past and future with the present doubt +Are shrouded in one mist. What quarrel lay +'Twixt Cadmus' issue and Corinthus' heir +Was never shown me, from old times till now, +By one on whose sure word I might rely +In running counter to the King's fair fame, +To wreak for Laius that mysterious death. + +Zeus and Apollo scan the ways of men II 2 +With perfect vision. But of mortals here +That soothsayers are more inspired than I +What certain proof is given? A man through wit +May pass another's wisdom in the race. +But never, till I see the word fulfilled, +Will I confirm their clamour 'gainst the King. +In open day the female monster came: +Then perfect witness made his wisdom clear. +Thebe hath tried him and delights in him. +Wherefore my heart shall still believe him good. + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CR. Citizens, hearing of dire calumny +Denounced on me by Oedipus the King, +I am here to make loud protest. If he think, +In this embroilment of events, one word +Or deed of mine hath wrought him injury, +I am not careful to prolong my life +Beneath such imputation. For it means +No trifling danger, but disastrous harm, +Making my life dishonoured in the state, +And meanly thought of by my friends and you. + +CH. Perchance 'twas but the sudden flash of wrath, +Not the deliberate judgement of the soul. + +CR. Who durst declare it[3], that Tiresias spake +False prophecies, set on to this by me? + +CH. Such things were said, I know not how advised. + +CR. And were the eyes and spirit not distraught, +When the tongue uttered this to ruin me? + +CH. I cannot say. To what my betters do +I am blind. But see, the King comes forth again. + +_Enter_ OEDIPUS. + +OED. Insolent, art thou here? Hadst thou the face +To bring thy boldness near my palace-roof, +Proved as thou art to have contrived my death +And laid thy robber hands upon my state? +Tell me, by heaven, had you seen in me +A coward or a fool, when you planned this?-- +Deemed you I should be blind to your attempt +Craftily creeping on, or, when perceived, +Not ward it off? Is't not a silly scheme, +To think to compass without troops of friends +Power, that is only won by wealth and men? + +CR. Wilt them be counselled? Hear as much in turn +As thou hast spoken, and then thyself be judge. + +OED. I know thy tongue, but I am slow to learn +From thee, whom I have found my grievous foe. + +CR. First on this very point, hear me declare-- + +OED. I will not hear that thou art not a villain. + +CR. Thine is a shallow judgement, if thou thinkest +Self-will without true thought can bring thee gain. + +OED. Thine is a shallow judgement, if thou thinkest +Thou canst abuse thy kinsman and be free. + +CR. A rightful sentence. But I fain would learn +What wrong is that you speak of? + +OED. Tell me this; +Didst thou, or not, urge me to send and bring +The reverend-seeming prophet? + +CR. Yea, and still +I hold that counsel firm. + +OED. How long is 't now +Since Laius-- + +CR. What? I do not catch your drift. + +OED. Vanished in ruin by a dire defeat? + +CR. 'Twere long to count the years that come between. + +OED. And did this prophet then profess his art? + +CR. Wise then as now, nor less in reverence. + +OED. Then at that season did he mention me? + +CR. Not in my hearing. + +OED. But, I may presume, +Ye held an inquisition for the dead? + +CR. Yes, we inquired, of course: and could not hear. + +OED. Why was he dumb, your prophet, in that day? + +CR. I cannot answer, for I do not know. + +OED. This you can answer, for you know it well. + +CR. Say what? I will not gainsay, if I know. + +OED. That, but for your advice, he had not dared +To talk of Laius' death as done by me. + +CR. You know, that heard him, what he spake. But I +Would ask thee too a question in my turn. + +OED. No questioning will fasten blood on me. + +CR. Hast thou my sister for thine honoured queen? + +OED. The fact is patent, and denial vain. + +CR. And shar'st with her dominion of this realm? + +OED. All she desires is given her by my will. + +CR. Then, am not I third-partner with you twain? + +OED. There is your villany in breaking fealty. + +CR. Not so, if thou wouldst reason with thyself +As I do. First consider one thing well: +Who would choose rule accompanied with fear +Before safe slumbers with an equal sway? +'Tis not my nature, no, nor any man's, +Who follows wholesome thoughts, to love the place +Of domination rather than the power. +Now, without fear, I have my will from thee; +But were I king, I should do much unwillingly. +How then can I desire to be a king, +When masterdom is mine without annoy? +Delusion hath not gone so far with me +As to crave more than honour joined with gain. +Now all men hail me happy, all embrace me; +All who have need of thee, call in my aid; +For thereupon their fortunes wholly turn. +How should I leave this substance for that show? +No man of sense can harbour thoughts of crime. +Such vain ambition hath no charm for me, +Nor could I bear to lend it countenance. +If you would try me, go and ask again +If I brought Phoebus' answer truly back. +Nay more, should I be found to have devised +Aught in collusion with the seer, destroy me, +Not by one vote, but two, mine own with thine. +But do not on a dim suspicion blame me +Of thy mere will. To darken a good name +Without clear cause is heinous wickedness; +And to cast off a worthy friend I call +No less a folly than to fling away +What most we love, the life within our breast. +The certainty of this will come with time; +For time alone can clear the righteous man. +An hour suffices to make known the villain. + +CH. Prudence bids hearken to such words, my lord, +For fear one fall. Swift is not sure in counsel. + +OED. When he who hath designs on me is swift +In his advance, I must bethink me swiftly. +Should I wait leisurely, his work hath gained +Achievement, while my plans have missed success. + +CR. What would you then? To thrust me from the land? + +OED. Nay, death, not exile, is my wish for thee, +When all have seen what envy brings on men. + +[CR. You'll ne'er relent nor listen to my plea.][4] + +OED. You'll ne'er be governed or repent your guilt. + +CR. Because I see thou art blind. + +OED. Not to my need. + +CR. Mine must be thought of too. + +OED. You are a villain. + +CR. How if thy thought be vain? + +OED. Authority +Must be maintained. + +CR. Not when authority +Declines to evil. + +OED. O my citizens! + +CR. I have a part in them no less than you. + +LEADER OF CH. Cease, princes. Opportunely I behold +Jocasta coming toward you from the palace. +Her presence may attune your jarring minds. + +_Enter_ JOCASTA. + +JOCASTA. Unhappy that ye are, why have ye reared +Your wordy rancour 'mid the city's harms? +Have you no shame, to stir up private broils +In such a time as this? Get thee within! (_To_ OED) +And thou too, Creon! nor enlarge your griefs +To make a mountain out of nothingness. + +CR. Sister, thy husband Oedipus declares +One of two horrors he will wreak on me, +Banishment from my native land, or death. + +OED. Yea, for I caught him practising, my queen, +Against our person with malignant guile. + +CR. May comfort fail me, and a withering curse +Destroy me, if I e'er planned aught of this. + +JO. I pray thee, husband, listen to his plea; +Chiefly respecting his appeal to Heaven, +But also me, and these who stand by thee. + +CH. 1. Incline to our request I 1 +Thy mind and heart, O King! + +OED. What would you I should yield unto your prayer? + +CH. 2. Respect one ever wise, +Whose oath protects him now. + +OED. Know ye what thing ye ask? + +CH. 3. I know. + +OED. Then plainly tell. + +CH. 4. Thy friend, who is rendered sacred by his oath, +Rob not of honour through obscure surmise. + +OED. In asking that, you labour for my death +Or banishment. Of this be well assured. + +CH. 5. No, by the Sun I swear, II 1 +Vaunt-courier of the host of heaven. +For may I die the last of deaths, +Unblest of God or friend, +If e'er such thought were mine. +But oh! this pining land +Afflicts my sorrow-burdened soul, +To think that to her past and present woe +She must add this, which springs to her from you. + +OED. Then let him range, though I must die outright, +Or be thrust forth with violence from the land! +--Not for his voice, but thine, which wrings my heart: +He, wheresoe'er he live, shall have my hate. + +CR. You show yourself as sullen when you yield, +As unendurable in your fury's height. +Such natures justly give themselves most pain. + +OED. Let me alone, then, and begone! + +CR. I go, +Untainted in their sight, though thou art blind. [_Exit_ + +CH. 1. Lady, why tarriest thou I 2 +To lead thy husband in? + +JO. Not till I learn what mischief is befallen. + +CH. 2. A dim, unproved debate. +Reproach, though unfounded, stings. + +JO. From both? + +CH. 3. From both alike. + +JO. How caused? + +CH. 4. Enough for me, +Amply enough it seems, when our poor land +Is vexed already, not to wake what sleeps. + +OED. (_to_ LEADER OF CH.). +See where thine honest zeal hath landed thee, +Bating my wrath, and blunting my desire! + +CH. 5. My prince, I say it again: II 2 +Assure thee, I were lost to sense, +Infatuate, void of wholesome thought, +Could I be tempted now +To loose my faith from thee, +Who, when the land I love +Laboured beneath a wildering load, +Didst speed her forth anew with favouring gale. +Now, too, if but thou may'st, be her good guide. + +JO. Let not thy queen be left in ignorance +What cause thou hadst to lift thy wrath so high. + +OED. I'll tell thee, lady, for I honour thee +More than these citizens. 'Twas Creon there, +And his inveterate treason against me. + +JO. Accuse him, so you make the quarrel plain. + +OED. He saith I am the murderer of the King. + +JO. Speaks he from hearsay, or as one who knows? + +OED. He keeps his own lips free: but hath suborned +A rascal soothsayer to this villany. + +JO. Hearken to me, and set your heart at rest +On that you speak of, while I make you learn +No mortal thing is touched by soothsaying. +Of that I'll give thee warrant brief and plain. +Word came to Laius once, I will not say +From Phoebus' self, but from his ministers, +The King should be destroyed by his own son, +If son were born to him from me. What followed? +Laius was slain, by robbers from abroad, +Saith Rumour, in a cross-way! But the child +Lived not three days, ere by my husband's hand +His feet were locked, and he was cast and left +By messengers on the waste mountain wold. +So Phoebus neither brought upon the boy +His father's murder, nor on Laius +The thing he greatly feared, death by his son. +Such issue came of prophesying words. +Therefore regard them not. God can himself +With ease bring forth what for his ends he needs. + +OED. What strange emotions overcloud my soul, +Stirred to her depths on hearing this thy tale! + +JO. What sudden change is this? What cares oppress thee? + +OED. Methought I heard thee say, King Laius +Was at a cross-road overpowered and slain? + +JO. So ran the talk that yet is current here. + +OED. Where was the scene of this unhappy blow? + +JO. Phocis the land is named. The parted ways +Meet in one point from Dauha and from Delphi. + +OED. And since the event how much of time hath flown? + +JO. 'Twas just ere you appeared with prospering speed +And took the kingdom, that the tidings came. + +OED. What are thy purposes against me, Zeus? + +JO. Why broods thy mind upon such thoughts, my king? + +OED. Nay, ask me not! But tell me first what height +Had Laius, and what grace of manly prime? + +JO. Tall, with dark locks just sprinkled o'er with grey: +In shape and bearing much resembling thee. + +OED. O heavy fate! How all unknowingly +I laid that dreadful curse on my own head! + +JO. How? +I tremble as I gaze on thee, my king! + +OED. The fear appals me that the seer can see. +Tell one thing more, to make it doubly clear! + +JO. I am lothe to speak, but, when you ask, I will. + +OED. Had he scant following, or, as princes use, +Full numbers of a well-appointed train? + +JO. There were but five in all: a herald one; +And Laius travelled in the only car. + +OED. Woe! woe! 'Tis clear as daylight. Who was he +That brought you this dire message, O my queen? + +JO. A home-slave, who alone returned alive. + +OED. And is he now at hand within the house? + +JO. No, truly. When he came from yonder scene +And found thee king in room of Laius murdered, +He touched my hand, and made his instant prayer +That I would send him to o'erlook the flocks +And rural pastures, so to live as far +As might be from the very thought of Thebes. +I granted his desire. No servant ever +More richly merited such boon than he. + +OED. Can he be brought again immediately? + +JO. Indeed he can. But why desire it so? + +OED. Words have by me been uttered, O my queen, +That give me too much cause to wish him here. + +JO. Then come he shall. But I may surely claim +To hear what in thy state goes heavily. + +OED. Thou shalt not lose thy rights in such an hour, +When I am harrowed thus with doubt and fear. +To whom more worthy should I tell my grief? +--My father was Corinthian Polybus, +My mother, Dorian Merope.--I lived +A prince among that people, till a chance +Encountered me, worth wonder, but, though strange, +Not worth the anxious thought it waked in me. +For at a feasting once over the wine +One deep in liquor called aloud to me, +'Hail, thou false foundling of a foster-sire!' +That day with pain I held my passion down; +But early on the morrow I came near +And questioned both my parents, who were fierce +In anger at the man who broached this word. +For their part I was satisfied, but still +It galled me, for the rumour would not die. + Eluding then my parents I made way +To Delphi, where, as touching my desire, +Phoebus denied me; but brake forth instead +With other oracles of misery +And horrible misfortune, how that I +Must know my mother's shame, and cause to appear +A birth intolerable in human view, +And do to death the author of my life. +I fled forth at the word, conjecturing now +Corinthia's region by the stars of heaven, +And wandered, where I never might behold +Those dreadful prophecies fulfilled on me. +So travelling on, I came even to the place +Where, as thou tell'st, the King of Thebe fell. +And, O my wife, I will hide nought from thee. +When I drew near the cross-road of your tale, +A herald, and a man upon a car, +Like your description, there encountered me. +And he who led the car, and he himself +The greybeard, sought to thrust me from the path. +Then in mine angry mood I sharply struck +The driver-man who turned me from the way; +Which when the elder saw, he watched for me +As I passed by, and from the chariot-seat +Smote full upon my head with the fork'd goad; +But got more than he gave; for, by a blow +From this right hand, smit with my staff, he fell +Instantly rolled out of the car supine. +I slew them every one. Now if that stranger +Had aught in common with king Laius, +What wretch on earth was e'er so lost as I? +Whom have the Heavens so followed with their hate? +No house of Theban or of foreigner +Must any more receive me, none henceforth +Must speak to me, but drive me from the door! +I, I have laid this curse on mine own head! +Yea, and this arm that slew him now enfolds +His queen. O cruel stain! Am I not vile? +Polluted utterly! Yes, I must flee, +And, lost to Thebe, nevermore behold +My home, nor tread my country, lest I meet +In marriage mine own mother, and bring low +His head that gave me life and reared my youth, +My father, Polybus. Ah! right were he +Who should declare some god of cruel mood +Had sent this trouble upon my soul! Ye Powers, +Worshipped in holiness, ne'er may I see +That day, but perish from the sight of men, +Ere sins like these be branded on my name! + +CH. Thy fear is ours, O king: yet lose not hope, +Till thou hast heard the witness of the deed. + +OED. Ay, that is all I still have left of hope, +To bide the coming of the shepherd man. + +JO. What eager thought attends his presence here? + +OED. I'll tell thee. Should his speech accord with thine, +My life stands clear from this calamity. + +JO. What word of mine agreed not with the scene? + +OED. You said he spake of robbers in a band +As having slain him. Now if he shall still +Persist in the same number, I am free. +One man and many cannot be the same. +But should he tell of one lone traveller, +Then, unavoidably, this falls on me. + +JO. So 'twas given out by him, be sure of that. +He cannot take it back. Not I alone +But all the people heard him speak it so. +And should he swerve in aught from his first tale, +He ne'er can show the murder of the king +Rightly accordant with the oracle. +For Phoebus said expressly he should fall +Through him whom I brought forth. But that poor babe +Ne'er slew his sire, but perished long before. +Wherefore henceforth I will pursue my way +Regardless of all words of prophecy. + +OED. Wisely resolved. But still send one to bring +The labourer swain, and be not slack in this. + +JO. I will, and promptly. Go we now within! +My whole desire is but to work thy will. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS +O may my life be evermore I 1 + Pure in each holy word and deed + By those eternal laws decreed +That pace the sapphire-paven floor! +Children of Heaven, of Ether born, +No mortal knew their natal morn, +Nor may Oblivion's waters deep +E'er lull their wakeful spirit asleep, +Nor creeping Age o'erpower the mighty God +Who far within them holds his unprofaned abode. + +Pride breeds the tyrant: monstrous birth! I 2 + Insolent Pride, if idly nursed + On timeless surfeit, plenty accursed, +Spurning the lowlier tract of Earth +Mounts to her pinnacle,--then falls, +Dashed headlong down sheer mountain walls +To dark Necessity's deep ground, +Where never foothold can be found. +Let wrestlers for my country's glory speed, +God, I thee pray! Be God my helper in all need! + +But if one be, whose bold disdain I 2 +Walks in a round of vapourings vain +And violent acts, regarding not +The Rule of Right, but with proud thought +Scorning the place where Gods have set their seat, +--Made captive by an Evil Doom, +Shorn of that inauspicious bloom, +Let him be shown the path of lawful gain +And taught in holier ways to guide his feet, +Nor with mad folly strain +His passionate arms to clasp things impious to retain. +Who in such courses shall defend his soul +From storms of thundrous wrath that o'er him roll? +If honour to such lives be given, +What needs our choir to hymn the power of Heaven? + +No more to Delphi, central shrine II 2 +Of Earth, I'll seek, for light divine, +Nor visit Abae's mystic fane +Nor travel o'er the well-trod plain +Where thousands throng to famed Olympia's town, +Unless, with manifest accord, +The event fulfil the oracular word. +Zeus, Lord of all! if to eternity +Thou would'st confirm thy kingdom's large renown, +Let not their vauntings high +Evade the sovereign look of the everlasting eye! +They make as though the ancient warning slept +By Laius erst with fear and trembling kept; +Apollo's glory groweth pale, +And holiest rites are prone to faint and fail. + +_Enter_ JOCASTA. + +JO. Princes of Thebes, it came into my thought +To stand before some holy altar-place +With frankincense and garlands. For the king, +Transported by the tempest of his fear, +Runs wild in grief, nor like a man of sense +Reasons of present things from what hath been. +Each tongue o'ermasters him that tells of woe. +Then since my counsels are of no avail, +To thee, for thou art nearest, Lykian God, +I bring my supplication with full hand. +O grant us absolution and relief! +For seeing him, our pilot, so distraught, +Like mariners, we are all amazed with dread. + +_Enter the_ CORINTHIAN SHEPHERD. + +COR. SH. Are ye the men to tell me where to find +The mansion of the sovereign Oedipus? +Or better, where he may himself be found? + +CH. Here is the roof you seek, and he, our lord, +Is there within: and, stranger, thou behold'st +The queenly mother of his royal race. + +COR. SH. May she and hers be alway fortunate! +Still may she crown him with the joys of home! + +JO. Be thou, too, blest, kind sir! Thy gracious tongue +Deserves no less. But tell me what request +Or what intelligence thou bring'st with thee? + +COR. SH. Good tidings for thy house and husband, queen. + +JO. What are they? Who hath sent thee to our hall? + +COR. SH. From Corinth come I, and will quickly tell +What sure will please you; though perchance 'twill grieve. + +JO. What news can move us thus two ways at once? + +COR. SH. 'Twas rumoured that the people of the land +Of Corinth would make Oedipus their king. + +JO. Is ancient Polybus not still in power? + +COR. SH. No. Death confines him in a kingly grave. + +JO. Hold there! How say you? Polybus in his grave? + +COR. SH. May I die for him if I speak not true! + +JO. (_To an attendant_). +Run thou, and tell this quickly to my lord! +Voices of prophecy, where are ye now? +Long time hath Oedipus, a homeless man, +Trembled with fear of slaying Polybus. +Who now lies slain by Fortune, not by him. + +_Enter_ OEDIPUS. + +OED. Jocasta, my dear queen, why didst thou send +To bring me hither from our palace-hall? + +JO. Hear that man's tale, and then consider well +The end of yonder dreadful prophecy. + +OED. Who is the man, and what his errand here? + +JO. He comes from Corinth, to make known to thee +That Polybus, thy father, is no more. + +OED. How, stranger? Let me learn it from thy mouth. + +COR. SH. If my first duty be to make this clear, +Know beyond doubt that he is dead and gone. + +OED. By illness coming o'er him, or by guile? + +COR. SH. Light pressure lays to rest the timeworn frame. + +OED. He was subdued by sickness then, poor soul! + +COR. SH. By sickness and the burden of his years. + +OED. Ah! my Jocasta, who again will heed +The Pythian hearth oracular, and birds +Screaming in air, blind guides! that would have made +My father's death my deed; but he is gone, +Hidden underneath the ground, while I stand hero +Harmless and weaponless:--unless, perchance, +My absence killed him,--so he may have died +Through me. But be that as it may, the grave +That covers Polybus, hath silenced, too, +One voice of prophecy, worth nothing now. + +JO. Did I not tell thee so, long since? + +OED. Thou didst. +But I was drawn to error by my fear. + +JO. Now cast it altogether out of mind. + +OED. Must I not fear my mother's marriage-bed? + +JO. Why should man fear, seeing his course is ruled +By fortune, and he nothing can foreknow? +'Tis best to live at ease as best one may. +Then fear not thou thy mother's nuptial hour. +Many a man ere now in dreams hath lain +With her who bare him. He hath least annoy +Who with such omens troubleth not his mind. + +OED. That word would be well spoken, were not she +Alive that gave me birth. But since she lives, +Though you speak well, yet have I cause for fear. + +JO. Your father's burial might enlighten you. + +OED. It doth. But I am darkened by a life. + +COR. SH. Whose being overshadows thee with fear? + +OED. Queen Merope, the consort of your king. + +COR. SH. What in her life should make your heart afraid? + +OED. A heaven-sent oracle of dreadful sound. + +COR. SH. May it be told, or must no stranger know? + +OED. Indeed it may. Word came from Phoebus once +That I must know my mother's shame, and shed +With these my hands my own true father's blood. +Wherefore long since my home hath been removed +Far from Corinthos:--not unhappily; +But still 'tis sweet to see a parent's face. + +COR. SH. Did fear of this make thee so long an exile? + +OED. Of this and parricide, my aged friend. + +COR. SH. I came with kind intent--and, dear my lord, +I fain would rid thee from this haunting dread. + +OED. Our gratitude should well reward thy love. + +COR. SH. Hope of reward from thee in thy return +Was one chief motive of my journey hither. + +OED. Return? Not to my parents' dwelling-place! + +COR. SH. Son, 'tis too clear, you know not what you do. + +OED. Wherefore, kind sir? For Heaven's sake teach me this. + +COR. SH. If for these reasons you avoid your home. + +OED. The fear torments me, Phoebus may prove true. + +COR. SH. Lest from your parents you receive a stain? + +OED. That is the life-long torment of my soul. + +COR. SH. Will you be certified your fears are groundless? + +OED. How groundless, if I am my parents' child? + +COR. SH. Because with Polybus thou hast no kin. + +OED. Why? Was not he the author of my life? + +COR. SH. As much as I am, and no more than I. + +OED. How can my father be no more to me +Than who is nothing? + +COR. SH. In begetting thee +Nor I nor he had any part at all. + +OED. Why then did he declare me for his son? + +COR. SH. Because he took thee once a gift from me. + +OED. Was all that love unto a foundling shown? + +COR. SH. Heirless affection so inclined his heart. + +OED. A gift from you! Your purchase, or your child?[5] + +COR. SH. Found in Cithaeron's hollowy wilderness. + +OED. What led your travelling footstep to that ground? + +COR. SH. The flocks I tended grazed the mountain there. + +OED. A shepherd wast thou, and a wandering hind? + +COR. SH. Whatever else, my son, thy saviour then. + +OED. From what didst thou release me or relieve? + +COR. SH. Thine instep bears memorial of the pain. + +OED. Ah! what old evil will thy words disclose? + +COR. SH. Thy feet were pierced. 'Twas I unfastened them. + +OED. So cruel to my tender infancy! + +COR. SH. From this thou hast received thy name. + +OED. By heaven +I pray thee, did my father do this thing, +Or was't my mother? + +COR. SH. That I dare not say. +He should know best who gave thee to my hand. + +OED. Another gave me, then? You did not find me? + +COR. SH. Another herdsman passed thee on to me. + +OED. Can you describe him? Tell us what you know. + +COR. SH. Methinks they called him one of Laius' people. + +OED. Of Laius once the sovereign of this land? + +COR. SH. E'en so. He was a shepherd of his flock. + +OED. And is he still alive for me to see? + +COR. SH. You Thebans are most likely to know that. + +OED. Speak, any one of you in presence here, +Can you make known the swain he tells us of, +In town or country having met with him? +The hour for this discovery is full come. + +CH. Methinks it is no other than the peasant +Whom thou didst seek before to see: but this +Could best be told by queen Jocasta there. + +OED. We lately sought that one should come, my queen. +Know'st thou, is this of whom he speaks the same? + +JO. What matter who? Regard not, nor desire +Even vainly to remember aught he saith. + +OED. When I have found such tokens of my birth, +I must disclose it. + +JO. As you love your life, +By heaven I beg you, search no further here! +The sickness in my bosom is enough. + +OED. Nay, never fear! Were I proved thrice a slave +And waif of bondwomen, you still are noble. + +JO. Yet hearken, I implore you: do not so. + +OED. I cannot hear you. I must know this through. + +JO. With clear perception I advise the best. + +OED. Thy 'best' is still my torment. + +JO. Wretched one, +Never may'st thou discover who thou art! + +OED. Will some one go and bring the herdman hither? +Leave her to revel in her lordly line! + +JO. O horrible! O lost one! This alone +I speak to thee, and no word more for ever. [_Exit_ + +CH. Oedipus, wherefore is Jocasta gone, +Driven madly by wild grief? I needs must fear +Lest from this silence she make sorrow spring. + +OED. Leave her to raise what storm she will. But I +Will persevere to know mine origin, +Though from an humble seed. Her woman's pride +Is shamed, it may be, by my lowliness. +But I, whilst I account myself the son +Of prospering Fortune, ne'er will be disgraced. +For she is my true mother: and the months, +Coheirs with me of the same father, Time, +Have marked my lowness and mine exaltation. +So born, so nurtured, I can fear no change, +That I need shrink to probe this to the root. + [OEDIPUS _remains, and gazes towards the country, + while the_ CHORUS _sing_ + +CHORUS. + If I wield a prophet's might, 1 + Or have sense to search aright, + Cithaeron, when all night the moon rides high, + Loud thy praise shall be confessed, + How upon thy rugged breast, + Thou, mighty mother, nursed'st tenderly + Great Oedipus, and gav'st his being room + Within thy spacious home. + Yea, we will dance and sing + Thy glory for thy kindness to our king. + Phoebus, unto thee we cry, + Be this pleasing in thine eye! + + Who, dear sovereign, gave thee birth, 2 + Of the long lived nymphs of earth? + Say, was she clasped by mountain roving Pan? + Or beguiled she one sweet hour + With Apollo in her bower, + Who loves to trace the field untrod by man? + Or was the ruler of Cyllene's height + The author of thy light? + Or did the Bacchic god, + Who makes the top of Helicon to nod, + Take thee for a foundling care + From his playmates that are there? + +_The_ THEBAN SHEPHERD _is seen approaching, guarded._ + +OED. If haply I, who never saw his face, +Thebans, may guess, methinks I see the hind +Whose coming we have longed for. Both his age, +Agreeing with this other's wintry locks, +Accords with my conjecture, and the garb +Of his conductors is well known to me +As that of mine own people. But methinks [_to_ LEADER of CHORUS] +Thou hast more perfect knowledge in this case, +Having beheld the herdman in the past. + +CH. I know him well, believe me. Laius +Had no more faithful shepherd than this man. + +OED. Corinthian friend, I first appeal to you: +Was't he you spake of? + +COR. SH. 'Twas the man you see. + +OED. Turn thine eyes hither, aged friend, and tell +What I shall ask thee. Wast thou Laius' slave? + +THEB. SH. I was, not bought, but bred within the house. + +OED. What charge or occupation was thy care? + +THEB. SH. Most of my time was spent in shepherding. + +OED. And where didst thou inhabit with thy flock? + +THEB. SH. 'Twas now Cithaeron, now the neighbouring tract. + +OED. And hadst thou there acquaintance of this man? + +THEB. SH. Following what service? What is he you mean? + +OED. The man you see. Hast thou had dealings with him? + +THEB. SH. I cannot bring him all at once to mind. + +COR. SH. No marvel, good my lord. But I will soon +Wake to clear knowledge his oblivious sense. +For sure I am he can recall the time, +When he with his two flocks, and I with one +Beside him, grazed Cithaeron's pasture wide +Good six months' space of three successive years, +From spring to rising of Arcturus; then +For the bleak winter season, I drove mine +To their own folds, he his to Laius' stalls. +Do I talk idly, or is this the truth? + +THEB. SH. The time is far remote. But all is true. + +COR. SH. Well, dost remember having given me then +A child, that I might nurture him for mine? + +THEB. SH. What means thy question? Let me know thy drift. + +COR. SH. Friend, yonder stands the infant whom we knew. + +THEB. SH. Confusion seize thee, and thy evil tongue! + +OED. Check not his speech, I pray thee, for thy words +Call more than his for chastisement, old sir. + +THEB. SH. O my dread lord, therein do I offend? + +OED. Thou wilt not answer him about the child? + +THEB. SH. He knows not what he speaks. His end is vain. + +OED. So! Thou'lt not tell to please us, but the lash +Will make thee tell. + +THEB. SH. By all that's merciful, +Scourge not this aged frame! + +OED. Pinion him straight! + +THEB. SH. Unhappy! wherefore? what is't you would know? + +OED. Gave you this man the child of whom he asks you? + +THEB. SH. I gave it him. Would I had died that hour! + +OED. Speak rightly, or your wish will soon come true. + +THEB. SH. My ruin comes the sooner, if I speak. + +OED. This man will balk us with his baffling prate. + +THEB. SH. Not so. I said long since, 'I gave the child.' + +OED. Whence? Was't your own, or from another's hand? + +THEB. SH. 'Twas not mine own; another gave it me. + +OED. What Theban gave it, from what home in Thebes? + +THEB. SH. O, I implore thee, master, ask no more! + +OED. You perish, if I have to ask again. + +THEB. SH. The child was of the stock of Laius. + +OED. Slave-born, or rightly of the royal line? + +THEB. SH. Ah me! Now comes the horror to my tongue! + +OED. And to mine ear. But thou shalt tell it me! + +THEB. SH. He was given out for Laius' son: but she, +Thy queen, within the palace, best can tell. + +OED. How? Did she give it thee? + +THEB. SH. My lord, she did. + +OED. With what commission? + +THEB. SH. I was to destroy him. + +OED. And could a mother's heart be steeled to this? + +THEB. SH. With fear of evil prophecies. + +OED. What were they? + +THEB. SH. 'Twas said the child should be his father's death. + +OED. What then possessed thee to give up the child +To this old man? + +THEB. SH. Pity, my sovereign lord! +Supposing he would take him far away +Unto the land whence he was come. But he +Preserved him to great sorrow. For if thou +Art he this man hath said, be well assured +Thou bear'st a heavy doom. + +OED. O horrible! +Horrible! All fulfilled, as sunlight clear! +Oh may I nevermore behold the day, +Since proved accursed in my parentage, +In those I live with, and in him I slew! [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS. + O mortal tribes of men, I 1 + How near to nothingness +I count you while your lives remain! +What man that lives hath more of happiness +Than to seem blest, and, seeming, fade in night? +O Oedipus, in this thine hour of gloom, +Musing on thee and thy relentless doom, +I call none happy who beholds the light. + + Thou through surpassing skill I 2 + Didst rise to wealth and power, +When thou the monstrous riddling maid didst kill, +And stoodst forth to my country as a tower +To guard from myriad deaths this glorious town; +Whence thou wert called my king, of faultless fame, +In all the world a far-resounded name, +Unparagoned in honour and renown. + +But now to hear of thee, who more distressed? II 1 + Who more acquainted with fierce misery, +Assaulted by disasters manifest, + Than thou in this thy day of agony? +Most noble, most renowned!--Yet one same room + Heard thy first cry, and in thy prime of power, +Received thee, harbouring both bride and groom, + And bore it silently till this dread hour. +How could that furrowing of thy father's field +Year after year continue unrevealed? + +Time hath detected thine unwitting deed, II 2 + Time, who discovers all with eyes of fire, +Accusing thee of living without heed + In hideous wedlock husband, son, and sire. +Ah would that we, thou child of Laius born, + Ah would that we had never seen thee nigh! +E'er since we knew thee who thou art, we mourn + Exceedingly with cries that rend the sky. +For, to tell truth, thou didst restore our life +And gavest our soul sweet respite after strife. + +_Enter_ Messenger. + +MESS. O ye who in this land have ever held +Chief honour, what an object of dire woe +Awaits your eyes, your ears! What piercing grief +Your hearts must suffer, if as kinsmen should +Ye still regard the house of Laius! +Not Phasis, nor the Danube's rolling flood, +Can ever wash away the stain and purge +This mansion of the horror that it hides. +--And more it soon shall give to light, not now +Unconsciously enacted. Of all ill, +Self-chosen sorrows are the worst to bear. + +CH. What hast thou new to add? the weight of grief +From that we know burdens the heart enough. + +MESS. Soon spoken and soon heard is the chief sum. +Jocasta's royal head is sunk in death. + +CH. The hapless queen! What was the fatal cause? + +MESS. Her own determination. You are spared +The worst affliction, not being there to see. +Yet to the height of my poor memory's power +The wretched lady's passion you shall hear. +When she had passed in her hot mood within +The vestibule, straight to the bridal room +She rushes, tearing with both hands her hair. +Then having entered, shutting fast the door, +She called aloud on Laius, long dead, +With anguished memory of that birth of old +Whereby the father fell, leaving his queen +To breed a dreadful brood for his own son. +And loudly o'er the bed she wailed, where she, +In twofold wedlock, hapless, had brought forth +Husband from husband, children from a child. +We could not know the moment of her death, +Which followed soon, for Oedipus with cries +Broke in, and would not let us see her end, +But held our eyes as he careered the hall, +Demanding arms, and where to find his wife,-- +No, not his wife, but fatal mother-croft, +Cropped doubly with himself and his own seed. +And in his rage some god directed him +To find her:--'twas no man of us at hand. +Then with a fearful shout, as following +His leader, he assailed the folding-doors; +And battering inward from the mortised bolts +The bending boards, he burst into the room: +Where high suspended we beheld the queen, +In twisted cordage resolutely swung. +He all at once on seeing her, wretched king! +Undid the pendent noose, and on the ground +Lay the ill-starred queen. Oh, then 'twas terrible +To see what followed--for he tore away +The tiring-pins wherewith she was arrayed, +And, lifting, smote his eyeballs to the root, +Saying, Nevermore should they behold the evil +His life inherited from that past time, +But all in dark henceforth should look upon +Features far better not beheld, and fail +To recognize the souls he had longed to know. +Thus crying aloud, not once but oftentimes +He drave the points into his eyes; and soon +The bleeding pupils moistened all his beard, +Nor stinted the dark flood, but all at once +The ruddy hail poured down in plenteous shower. +Thus from two springs, from man and wife together, +Rose the joint evil that is now o'erflowing. +And the old happiness in that past day +Was truly happy, but the present hour +Hath pain, crime, ruin:--whatsoe'er of ill +Mankind have named, not one is absent here. + +CH. And finds the sufferer now some pause of woe? + +MESS. He bids make wide the portal and display +To all the men of Thebes the man who slew +His father, who unto his mother did +What I dare not repeat, and fain would fling +His body from the land, nor calmly bide +The shock of his own curse on his own hall. +Meanwhile he needs some comfort and some guide, +For such a load of misery who can bear? +Thyself shalt judge: for, lo, the palace-gates +Unfold, and presently thine eyes will see +A hateful sight, yet one thou needs must pity. + +_Enter_ OEDIPUS, _blind and unattended._ + +LEADER OF CH. O horror of the world! +Too great for mortal eye! +More terrible than all I have known of ill! +What fury of wild thought +Came o'er thee? Who in heaven +Hath leapt against thy hapless life +With boundings out of measure fierce and huge? +Ah! wretched one, I cannot look on thee: +No, though I long to search, to ask, to learn. +Thine aspect is too horrible.--I cannot! + +OED. Me miserable! Whither am I borne? +Into what region are these wavering sounds +Wafted on aimless wings? O ruthless Fate! +To what a height thy fury hath soared! + +CH. Too far +For human sense to follow, or human thought +To endure the horror. + +OED. O dark cloud, descending I 1 +Unutterably on me! invincible, +Abhorred, borne onward by too sure a wind. +Woe, woe! +Woe! Yet again I voice it, with such pangs +Both from these piercing wounds I am assailed +And from within through memory of my grief. + +CH. Nay, 'tis no marvel if thy matchless woe +Redouble thine affliction and thy moan! + +OED. Ah! Friend, thou art still constant! Thou remainest I 2 +To tend me and to care for the blind man. +Alas! +I know thee well, nor fail I to perceive, +Dark though I be, thy kind familiar voice. + +CH. How dreadful is thy deed! How couldst thou bear +Thus to put out thine eyes? What Power impelled thee? + +OED. Apollo, dear my friends, Apollo brought to pass II 1 +In dreadful wise, this my calamitous woe. +But I,--no being else,--I with this hand destroyed them. + [_Pointing to his eyes_ +For why should I have sight, +To whom nought now gave pleasure through the eye? + +CH. There speak'st thou truly. + +OED. What could I see, whom hear +With gladness, whom delight in any more? +Lead me away out of the land with speed! +Be rid of the destroyer, the accursed, +Whom most of all the world the Gods abhor. + +CH. O miserable in thy calamity +And not less miserable in thy despair, +Would thou wert still in ignorance of thy birth! + +OED. My curse on him who from the cruel bond II 2 +That held my feet in that high pasture-land +Freed me, and rescued me from murder there, +And saved my life! Vain kindness! Then to have died +Had spared this agony to me and mine. + +CH. Ay, would it had been so! + +OED. Then had I ne'er +Been proved a parricide, ne'er borne the shame +Of marriage bonds incestuous! But now +I am God abandoned, Son of the unholy, +Rival of him who gave me being. Ah woe! +What sorrow beyond sorrows hath chief place? +That sorrow Oedipus must bear! + +LEADER OF CH. I know not how to call thee wise in this: +Thou wert better dead than to be blind and live. + +OED. That this last act hath not been for the best +Instruct me not, nor counsel me again. +How, if I kept my sight, could I have looked +In Hades on my father's countenance, +Or mine all hapless mother, when, toward both, +I have done deeds no death can e'er atone? +Ah! but my children were a sight of joy,-- +Offspring of such a marriage! were they so? +Never, to eyes of mine! nor town, nor tower, +Nor holy shrines o' the gods, which I myself, +Dowered with the fairest life of Theban men, +Have forfeited, alas, by mine own law, +Declaring men should drive from every door +One marked by Heaven as impious and impure, +Nay worse, of Laius born! And was I then, +By mine own edict branded thus, to look +On Theban faces with unaltered eye? +Nay verily, but had there been a way +To stop the hearing fountain through the ear, +I had not faltered, but had closed and barred +Each gate of this poor body, deaf and blind! +So thought might sweetly dwell at rest from ill +Cithaeron! Why didst thou receive me? Why +Not slay me then and there? So had I not +Told to the world the horror of my birth. +O foster home of Corinth and her king, +How bright the life ye cherished, filming o'er +What foulness far beneath! For I am vile, +And vile were both my parents. So 'tis proved +O cross road in the covert of the glen, +O thicket in the gorge where three ways met, +Bedewed by these my hands with mine own blood +From whence I sprang--have ye forgotten me? +Or doth some memory haunt you of the deeds +I did before you, and went on to do +Worse horrors here? O marriage twice accurst! +That gave me being, and then again sent forth +Fresh saplings springing from the selfsame seed, +To amaze men's eyes and minds with dire confusion +Of father, brother, son, bride, mother, wife, +Murder of parents, and all shames that are! +Silence alone befits such deeds. Then, pray you, +Hide me immediately away from men! +Kill me outright, or fling me far to sea, +Where never ye may look upon me more. +Come, lend your hand unto my misery! +Comply, and fear not, for my load of woe +Is incommunicable to all but me. + +CH. With timely presence to fulfil thy need +With act and counsel, Creon comes, who now +Is regent o'er this people in thy room. + +OED. Alas, what shall I say to him? What plea +For my defence will hold? My evil part +Toward him in all the past is clearly proved. + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CR. I come not, Oedipus, to mock thy woes, +Nor to reproach thee for thine evils past. +But ye, (_to_ Chorus) if all respect of mortal eye +Be dead, let awe of the universal flame +Of life's great nourisher, our lord the Sun, +Forbid your holding thus unveiled to view +This huge abomination, which nor Earth +Nor sacred Element, nor light of Heaven +Can once endure. Convey him in with speed. +Religion bids that kindred eyes and ears +Alone should witness kindred crime and woe. + +OED. By Heaven, since thou hast reft away my fear, +So nobly meeting my unworthiness, +I pray thee, hear me for thine own behoof. + +CR. What boon dost thou desire so earnestly? + +OED. Fling me with speediest swiftness from the land, +Where nevermore I may converse with men. + +CR. Doubt not I would have done it, but the God +Must be inquired of, ere we act herein. + +OED. His sacred utterance was express and clear, +The parricide, the unholy, should be slain. + +CR. Ay, so 'twas spoken: but, in such a time, +We needs must be advised more perfectly. + +OED. Will ye then ask him for a wretch like me? + +CR. Yea. For even thou methinks wilt now believe. + +OED. Not only so. But I will charge thee too, +With urgent exhortation, to perform +The funeral rite for her who lies within-- +She is thy kinswoman--howe'er thou wilt. +But never let this city of my sires +Claim me for living habitant! There, there +Leave me to range the mountain, where my nurse, +Cithaeron, echoeth with my name,--Cithaeron, +Which both my parents destined for my tomb. +So my true murderers will be my death. +Yet one thing I can tell. Mine end will come +Not by disease nor ordinary chance +I had not lived when at the point to die, +But for some terrible doom. Then let my fate +Run out its full career. But for my children +Thou, Creon, shalt provide. As for my sons, +I pray thee burden not thyself with them. +They ne'er will lack subsistence--they are men. +But my poor maidens, hapless and forlorn, +Who never had a meal apart from mine, +But ever shared my table, yea, for them +Take heedful care, and grant me, though but once. +Yea, I beseech thee, with these hands to feel, +Thou noble heart! the forms I love so well, +And weep with them our common misery. +Oh, if my arms were round them, I might seem +To have them as of old when I could see-- +What! Am I fooled once more, or do I hear +My dear ones weeping! And hath Creon sent, +Pitying my sorrows, mine own children to me +Whom most I love? Can this be truth I utter? + +CR. Yea, I have done it. For I knew the joy +Thou ever hadst in this, thy comfort now. + +OED. Fair be thy fortune, and, for this last deed, +Heaven guide thee on a better course than mine. +Where are ye, O my children? Come, draw near +To these my hands of brother blood with you, +Hands that have made so piteous to your sight +The darkened gaze of his once brilliant eyes, +Who all in blindness, with no thought of ill, +Became your father at that fount of life, +Where he himself took being! Oh! for you +I weep, not seeing you, when I but think +Of all the bitter passages of fate +That must attend you amongst men. For where +Can ye find fellowship, what civic throng +Shall ye resort unto, what festival, +From whence, instead of sight or sound enjoyed, +Ye will not come in tears unto your home? +And when ye reach the marriageable bloom, +My daughters, who will be the man to cast +His lot with yours, receiving for his own +All those reproaches which have marred the name +Of both my parents and your name no less? +What evil is not here? Your father slew +His father, and then eared the mother field +Where he himself was sown, and got you from +The source of his own birth. Such taunts will fly. +And who will marry you? No man, my daughters; +But ye must wither childless and unwed. +Son of Menoeceus, who alone art left +As father to these maidens, for the pair +That gave them birth are utterly undone, +Suffer them not, being your kinswomen, +To wander desolate and poor, nor make +Their lot perforce the counterpart of mine. +But look on them with pity, left in youth +Forlorn of all protection save from thee. +Noble one, seal this promise with thy hand! +--For you, my children, were ye of an age +To ponder speech, I would have counselled you +Full carefully. Now I would have you pray +To dwell where 'tis convenient, that your life +May find more blessing than your father knew. + +CR. Thou hast had enough of weeping. Close thee in thy chamber walls. + +OED. I must yield, though sore against me. + +CR. Yea, for strong occasion calls. + +OED. Know'st thou on what terms I yield it? + +CR. Tell me, let us hear and know. + +OED. That ye send from the country. + +CR. God alone can let thee go. + +OED. But the Gods long since abhor me. + +CR. Thou wilt sooner gain that boon. + +OED. Then consent. + +CR. 'Tis not my wont to venture promises too soon. + +OED. Lead me now within the palace. + +CR. Come, but leave thy children. + +OED. Nay! +Tear not these from my embraces! + +CR. Hope not for perpetual sway: +Since the power thou once obtainedst ruling with unquestioned might +Ebbing from thy life hath vanished ere the falling of the night. + +LEADER OF CHORUS. +Dwellers in our native Thebe, fix on Oedipus your eyes. +Who resolved the dark enigma, noblest champion and most wise. +Like a star his envied fortune mounted beaming[6] far and wide: +Now he sinks in seas of anguish, whelmed beneath a raging tide. +Therefore, with the old-world sages, waiting for that final day, +I will call no mortal happy, while he holds his house of clay, +Till without one pang of sorrow, all his hours have passed away. + + * * * * * + + + + + ELECTRA + + + THE PERSONS + +An Old Man, _formerly one of the retainers of Agamemnon._ +ORESTES, _son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra_. +ELECTRA, _sister of Orestes_. +CHORUS _of Argive Women_. +CHRYSOTHEMIS, _sister of Orestes and Electra_. +CLYTEMNESTRA. +AEGISTHUS. + +PYLADES _appears with_ ORESTES, _but does not speak_. + + +SCENE. Mycenae: before the palace of the Pelopidae. + + + + +Agamemnon on his return from Troy, had been murdered by his wife +Clytemnestra and her paramour Aegisthus, who had usurped the Mycenean +throne. Orestes, then a child, had been rescued by his sister Electra, +and sent into Phocis with the one servant who remained faithful to his +old master. The son of Agamemnon now returns, being of a full age, +accompanied by this same attendant and his friend Pylades, with whom +he has already concerted a plan for taking vengeance on his father's +murderers, in obedience to the command of Apollo. + +Orestes had been received in Phocis by Strophius, his father's friend. +Another Phocian prince, named Phanoteus, was a friend of Aegisthus. + + + + + ELECTRA + + +ORESTES _and the_ Old Man--PYLADES _is present._ + +OLD MAN. Son of the king who led the Achaean host +Erewhile beleaguering Troy, 'tis thine to day +To see around thee what through many a year +Thy forward spirit hath sighed for. Argolis +Lies here before us, hallowed as the scene +Of Io's wildering pain: yonder, the mart +Named from the wolf slaying God[1], and there, to our left, +Hera's famed temple. For we reach the bourn +Of far renowned Mycenae, rich in gold +And Pelops' fatal roofs before us rise, +Haunted with many horrors, whence my hand, +Thy murdered sire then lying in his gore, +Received thee from thy sister, and removed +Where I have kept thee safe and nourished thee +To this bright manhood thou dost bear, to be +The avenger of thy father's bloody death. +Wherefore, Orestes, and thou, Pylades, +Dearest of friends, though from a foreign soil, +Prepare your enterprise with speed. Dark night +Is vanished with her stars, and day's bright orb +Hath waked the birds of morn into full song. +Now, then, ere foot of man go forth, ye two +Knit counsels. 'Tis no time for shy delay: +The very moment for your act is come. + +OR. Kind faithful friend, how well thou mak'st appear +Thy constancy in service to our house! +As some good steed, aged, but nobly bred, +Slacks not his spirit in the day of war, +But points his ears to the fray, even so dost thou +Press on and urge thy master in the van. +Hear, then, our purpose, and if aught thy mind, +Keenly attent, discerns of weak or crude +In this I now set forth, admonish me. + I, when I visited the Pythian shrine +Oracular, that I might learn whereby +To punish home the murderers of my sire, +Had word from Phoebus which you straight shall hear: +'No shielded host, but thine own craft, O King! +The righteous death-blow to thine arm shall bring.' +Then, since the will of Heaven is so revealed, +Go thou within, when Opportunity +Shall marshal thee the way, and gathering all +Their business, bring us certain cognizance. +Age and long absence are a safe disguise; +They never will suspect thee who thou art. +And let thy tale be that another land, +Phocis, hath sent thee forth, and Phanoteus, +Than whom they have no mightier help in war. +Then, prefaced with an oath, declare thy news, +Orestes' death by dire mischance, down-rolled +From wheel-borne chariot in the Pythian course. +So let the fable be devised; while we, +As Phoebus ordered, with luxuriant locks +Shorn from our brows, and fair libations, crown +My father's sepulchre, and thence return +Bearing aloft the shapely vase of bronze +That's hidden hard by in brushwood, as thou knowest, +And bring them welcome tidings, that my form +Is fallen ere now to ashes in the fire. +How should this pain me, in pretence being dead, +Really to save myself and win renown? +No saying bodes men ill, that brings them gain. +Oft have I known the wise, dying in word, +Return with glorious salutation home. +So lightened by this rumour shall mine eye +Blaze yet like bale-star on mine enemies. +O native earth! and Gods that hold the land, +Accept me here, and prosper this my way! +Thou, too, paternal hearth! To thee I come, +Justly to cleanse thee by behest from heaven. +Send me not bootless, Gods, but let me found +A wealthy line of fair posterity! +I have spoken. To thy charge! and with good heed +Perform it. We go forth. The Occasion calls, +Great taskmaster of enterprise to men. + +ELECTRA (_within_). Woe for my hapless lot! + +OLD M. Hark! from the doors, my son, methought there came +A moaning cry, as of some maid within. + +OR. Can it be poor Electra? Shall we stay, +And list again the lamentable sound? + +OLD M. Not so. Before all else begin the attempt +To execute Apollo's sovereign will, +Pouring libation to thy sire: this makes +Victory ours, and our success assured. [_Exeunt_ + +_Enter_ ELECTRA. + +MONODY. + +EL. O purest light! +And air by earth alone +Measured and limitable, how oft have ye +Heard many a piercing moan, +Many a blow full on my bleeding breast, +When gloomy night +Hath slackened pace and yielded to the day! +And through the hours of rest, +Ah! well 'tis known +To my sad pillow in yon house of woe, +What vigil of scant joyance keeping, +Whiles all within are sleeping, +For my dear father without stint I groan, +Whom not in bloody fray +The War-god in the stranger-land +Received with hospitable hand, +But she that is my mother, and her groom, +As woodmen fell the oak, +Cleft through the skull with murdering stroke. +And o'er this gloom +No ray of pity, save from only me, +Goes forth on thee, +My father, who didst die +A cruel death of piteous agony. +But ne'er will I +Cease from my crying and sad mourning lay, +While I behold the sky, +Glancing with myriad fires, or this fair day. +But, like some brood-bereaved nightingale, +With far-heard wail, +Here at my father's door my voice shall sound. +O home beneath the ground! +Hades unseen, and dread Persephone, +And darkling Hermes, and the Curse revered, +And ye, Erinyes, of mortals feared, +Daughters of Heaven, that ever see +Who die unjustly, who are wronged i' the bed +Of those they wed, +Avenge our father's murder on his foe! +Aid us, and send my brother to my side; +Alone I cannot longer bide +The oppressive strain of strength-o'ermastering woe. + +CHORUS (_entering_). + O sad Electra, child I 1 +Of a lost mother, why still flow +Unceasingly with lamentation wild +For him who through her treachery beguiled, +Inveigled by a wife's deceit, +Fallen at the foul adulterer's feet, +Most impiously was quelled long years ago? +Perish the cause! if I may lawfully pray so. + +EL. O daughters of a noble line, +Ye come to soothe me from my troublous woe. + I see, I know: +Your love is not unrecognized of mine. +But yet I will not seem as I forgot, +Or cease to mourn my hapless father's lot. + Oh, of all love +That ever may you move, +This only boon I crave-- +Leave me to rave! + +CH. Lament, nor praying breath I 2 +Will raise thy sire, our honoured chief, +From that dim multitudinous gulf of death. +Beyond the mark, due grief that measureth, +Still pining with excess of pain +Thou urgest lamentation vain, +That from thy woes can bring thee no relief. +Why hast thou set thy heart on unavailing grief? + +EL. Senseless were he who lost from thought +A noble father, lamentably slain! + I love thy strain, +Bewildered mourner, bird divinely taught, +For 'Itys,' 'Itys,' ever heard to pine. +O Niobe, I hold thee all divine, + Of sorrows queen, +Who with all tearful mien +Insepulchred in stone +Aye makest moan. + +CH. Not unto thee alone hath sorrow come, II 1 +Daughter, that thou shouldst carry grief so far +Beyond those dwellers in the palace-home + Who of thy kindred are +And own one source with thee. + What life hath she, +Chrysothemis, and Iphianassa bright, + And he whose light +Is hidden afar from taste of horrid doom, +Youthful Orestes, who shall come +To fair Mycenae's glorious town, +Welcomed as worthy of his sire's renown, +Sped by great Zeus with kindly thought, +And to this land with happiest omen brought? + +EL. Awaiting him I endlessly endure; +Unwed and childless still I go, + With tears in constant flow, +Girt round with misery that finds no cure. +But he forgets his wrong and all my teaching. +What message have I sent beseeching, +But baffled flies back idly home? +Ever he longs, he saith, but, longing, will not come. + +CH. Take heart, dear child! still mighty in the sky II 2 +Is Zeus who ruleth all things and surveys. +Commit to him thy grief that surgeth high, + And walk in safer ways, +Let not hate vex thee sore, + Nor yet ignore +The cause of hate and sorrow in thy breast. + Time bringeth rest: +All is made easy through his power divine. +The heir of Agamemnon's line +Who dwells by Crisa's pastoral strand +Shall yet return unto his native land; +And he shall yet regard his own +Who reigns beneath upon his Stygian throne. + +EL. Meanwhile my life falls from me in despair +Years pass and patience nought avails: + My heart within me fails: +Orphaned I pine without protecting care; +And like a sojourner all unregarded +At slave-like labour unrewarded +I toil within my father's hall +Thus meanly attired, and starved, a table-serving thrall. + +CH. Sad was thy greeting when he reached the strand, III 1 +Piteous thy crying where thy father lay + On that fell day +When the bronze edge with dire effect was driven. + By craft 'twas planned, +By frenzied lust the blow was given: +Mother and father of a monstrous birth, +Whether a God there wrought or mortal of the Earth. + +EL. O day beyond all days that yet have rolled +Most hateful in thy course of light! + O horror of that night! +O hideous feast, abhorr'd, not to be told! +How could I bear it, when my father's eye +Saw death advancing from the ruthless pair, +Conjoint in cruel villany, +By whom my life was plunged in black despair? +Oh, to the workers of such deeds as these + May great Olympus' Lord +Return of evil still afford, +Nor let them wear the gloss of sovran ease! + +CH. Take thought to keep thy crying within bound. III 2 +Doth not thy sense enlighten thee to see + How recklessly +Even now thou winnest undeserved woe? + Still art thou found +To make thy misery overflow +Through self-bred gloomy strife. But not for long +Shall one alone prevail who strives against the strong. + +EL. 'Twas dire oppression taught me my complaint +I know my rage a quenchless fire: + But nought, however dire, +Shall visit this my frenzy with restraint, +Or check my lamentation while I live. +Dear friends, kind women of true Argive breed, +Say, who can timely counsel give +Or word of comfort suited to my need? +Beyond all cure shall this my cause be known. + No counsels more! Ah leave, +Vain comforters, and let me grieve +With ceaseless pain, unmeasured in my moan. + +CH. With kind intent IV +Full tenderly my words are meant; +Like a true mother pressing heart to heart, +I pray thee, do not aggravate thy smart. + +EL. But have my miseries a measure? Tell. + Can it be well +To pour forgetfulness upon the dead? + Hath mortal head +Conceived a wickedness so bold? +O never may such brightness shine for me, + Nor let me peaceful be +With aught of good my life may still enfold, +If from wide echoing of my father's name +The wings of keen lament I must withhold. + Sure holy shame +And pious care would vanish among men, +If he, mere earth and nothingness, must lie +In darkness, and his foes shall not again +Render him blood for blood in amplest penalty. + +LEADER OF CH. Less from our own desires, my child, we came, +Than for thy sake. But, if we speak amiss, +Take thine own course. We still will side with thee. + +EL. Full well I feel that too impatiently +I seem to multiply the sounds of woe. +Yet suffer me, dear women! Mighty force +Compels me. Who that had a noble heart +And saw her father's cause, as I have done, +By day and night more outraged, could refrain? +Are my woes lessening? Are they not in bloom?-- +My mother full of hate and hateful proved, +Whilst I in my own home must dwell with these, +My father's murderers, and by them be ruled, +Dependent on their bounty even for bread. +And then what days suppose you I must pass, +When I behold Aegisthus on the throne +That was my father's; when I see him wear +Such robes, and pour libations by the hearth +Where he destroyed him; lastly, when I see +Their crowning insolence,--our regicide +Laid in my father's chamber beside her, +My mother--if she still must bear the name +When resting in those arms? Her shame is dead. +She harbours with blood-guiltiness, and fears +No vengeance, but, as laughing at the wrong, +She watches for the hour wherein with guile +She killed our sire, and orders dance and mirth +That day o' the month, and joyful sacrifice +Of thanksgiving. But I within the house +Beholding, weep and pine, and mourn that feast +Of infamy, called by my father's name, +All to myself; for not even grief may flow +As largely as my spirit would desire. +That so-called princess of a noble race +O'ercrows my wailing with loud obloquy: +'Hilding! are you alone in grief? Are none +Mourning for loss of fathers but yourself? +'Fore the blest Gods! ill may you thrive, and ne'er +Find cure of sorrow from the powers below!' +So she insults: unless she hear one say +'Orestes will arrive': then standing close, +She shouts like one possessed into mine ear, +'These are your doings, this your work, I trow. +You stole Orestes from my gripe, and placed +His life with fosterers; but you shall pay +Full penalty.' So harsh is her exclaim. +And he at hand, the husband she extols, +Hounds on the cry, that prince of cowardice, +From head to foot one mass of pestilent harm. +Tongue-doughty champion of this women's-war. +I, for Orestes ever languishing +To end this, am undone. For evermore +Intending, still delaying, he wears out +All hope, both here and yonder. How, then, friends, +Can I be moderate, or feel the touch +Of holy resignation? Evil fruit +Cannot but follow on a life of ill. + +CH. Say, is Aegisthus near while thus you speak? +Or hath he left the palace? We would know. + +EL. Most surely. Never think, if he were by, +I could stray out of door. He is abroad. + +CH. Then with less fear I may converse with thee. + +EL. Ask what you will, for he is nowhere near. + +CH. First of thy brother I beseech thee tell, +How deem'st thou? Will he come, or still delay? + +EL. His promise comes, but still performance sleeps. + +CH. Well may he pause who plans a dreadful deed. + +EL. I paused not in his rescue from the sword. + +CH. Fear not. He will bestead you. He is true. + +EL. But for that faith my life had soon gone by. + +CH. No more! I see approaching from the house +Thy sister by both parents of thy blood, +Chrysothemis; in her hand an offering, +Such as old custom yields to those below. + +_Enter_ CHRYSOTHEMIS. + +CHRYSOTHEMIS. What converse keeps thee now beyond the gates, +Dear sister? why this talk in the open day? +Wilt thou not learn after so long to cease +From vain indulgence of a bootless rage? +I know in my own breast that I am pained +By what thou griev'st at, and if I had power, +My censure of their deeds would soon be known. +But in misfortune I have chosen to sail +With lowered canvas, rather than provoke +With puny strokes invulnerable foes. +I would thou didst the like: though I must own +The right is on thy side, and not on mine. +But if I mean to dwell at liberty, +I must obey in all the stronger will. + +EL. 'Tis strange and pitiful, thy father's child +Can leave him in oblivion and subserve +The mother. All thy schooling of me springs +From her suggestion, not of thine own wit. +Sure, either thou art senseless, or thy sense +Deserts thy friends. Treason or dulness then? +Choose!--You declared but now, if you had strength, +You would display your hatred of this pair. +Yet, when I plan full vengeance for my sire, +You aid me not, but turn me from the attempt. +What's this but adding cowardice to evil? +For tell me, or be patient till I show, +What should I gain by ceasing this my moan? +I live to vex them:--though my life be poor, +Yet that suffices, for I honour him, +My father,--if affection touch the dead. +You say you hate them, but belie your word, +Consorting with our father's murderers. +I then, were all the gifts in which you glory +Laid at my feet, will never more obey +This tyrant power. I leave you your rich board +And life of luxury. Ne'er be it mine[2] to feed +On dainties that would poison my heart's peace! +I care not for such honour as thou hast. +Nor wouldst thou care if thou wert wise. But now, +Having the noblest of all men for sire, +Be called thy mother's offspring; so shall most +Discern thine infamy and traitorous mind +To thy dead father and thy dearest kin. + +CH. No anger, we entreat. Both have said well, +If each would learn of other, and so do. + +CHR. For my part, women, use hath seasoned me +To her discourse. Nor had I spoken of this, +Had I not heard a horror coming on +That will restrain her from her endless moan. + +EL. Come speak it forth, this terror! I will yield, +If thou canst tell me worse than I endure. + +CHR. I'll tell thee all I know. If thou persist +In these thy wailings, they will send thee far +From thine own land, and close thee from the day, +Where in a rock-hewn chamber thou may'st chant +Thine evil orisons in darkness drear. +Think of it, while there 's leisure to reflect; +Or if thou suffer, henceforth blame me not. + +EL. And have they so determined on my life? + +CHR. 'Tis certain; when Aegisthus comes again. + +EL. If that be all, let him return with speed! + +CHR. Unhappy! why this curse upon thyself? + +EL. If this be their intent, why, let him come! + +CHR. To work such harm on thee! What thought is this! + +EL. Far from mine eye to banish all your brood. + +CHR. Art not more tender of the life thou hast? + +EL. Fair, to a marvel, is my life, I trow! + +CHR. It would be, couldst thou be advised for good. + +EL. Never advise me to forsake my kin. + +CHR. I do not: only to give place to power. + +EL. Thine be such flattery. 'Tis not my way. + +CHR. Sure, to be wrecked by rashness is not well. + +EL. Let me be wrecked in 'venging my own sire. + +CHR. I trust his pardon for my helplessness. + +EL. Such talk hath commendation from the vile. + +CHR. Wilt thou not listen? Wilt thou ne'er be ruled? + +EL. No; not by thee! Let me not sink so low. + +CHR. Then I will hie me on mine errand straight. + +EL. Stay; whither art bound? For whom to spend those gifts? + +CHR. Sent by my mother to my father's tomb +To pour libations to him. + +EL. How? To him? +Most hostile to her of all souls that are? + +CHR. Who perished by her hand--so thou wouldst say. + +EL. What friend hath moved her? Who hath cared for this? + +CHR. Methinks 'twas some dread vision, seen by night. + +EL. Gods of my father, O be with me now! + +CHR. What? art thou hopeful from the fear I spake of? + +EL. Tell me the dream, and I will answer thee. + +CHR. I know but little of it. + +EL. Speak but that. +A little word hath ofttimes been the cause +Of ruin or salvation unto men. + +CHR. 'Tis said she saw our father's spirit come +Once more to visit the abodes of light; +Then take and firmly plant upon the hearth +The sceptre which he bore of old, and now +Aegisthus bears: and out of this upsprang +A burgeoned shoot, that shadowed all the ground +Of loved Mycenae. So I heard the tale +Told by a maid who listened when the Queen +Made known her vision to the God of Day. +But more than this I know not, save that I +Am sent by her through terror of the dream. +And I beseech thee by the Gods we serve +To take my counsel and not rashly fall. +If thou repel me now, the time may come +When suffering shall have brought thee to my side. + +EL. Now, dear Chrysothemis, of what thou bearest +Let nothing touch his tomb. 'Tis impious +And criminal to offer to thy sire +Rites and libations from a hateful wife. +Then cast them to the winds, or deep in dust +Conceal them, where no particle may reach +His resting-place: but lie in store for her +When she goes underground. Sure, were she not +Most hardened of all women that have been, +She ne'er had sent those loveless offerings +To grace the sepulchre of him she slew. +For think how likely is the buried king +To take such present kindly from her hand, +Who slew him like an alien enemy, +Dishonoured even in death, and mangled him, +And wiped the death-stain with his flowing locks-- +Sinful purgation! Think you that you bear +In those cold gifts atonement for her guilt? +It is not possible. Wherefore let be. +But take a ringlet from thy comely head, +And this from mine, that lingers on my brow[3] +Longing to shade his tomb. Ah, give it to him, +All I can give, and this my maiden-zone, +Not daintily adorned, as once erewhile. +Then, humbly kneeling, pray that from the ground +He would arise to help us 'gainst his foes, +And grant his son Orestes with high hand +Strongly to trample on his enemies; +That in our time to come from ampler stores +We may endow him, than are ours to-day. +I cannot but imagine that his will +Hath part in visiting her sleep with fears. +But howsoe'er, I pray thee, sister mine, +Do me this service, and thyself, and him, +Dearest of all the world to me and thee, +The father of us both, who rests below. + +CH. She counsels piously; and thou, dear maid, +If thou art wise, wilt do her bidding here. + +CHR. Yea, when a thing is right, it is not well +Idly to wrangle, but to act with speed. +Only, dear friends, in this mine enterprise, +Let me have silence from your lips, I pray; +For should my mother know of it, sharp pain +Will follow yet my bold adventurous feat. [_Exit_ CHRYSOTHEMIS + +CHORUS. + An erring seer am I, I 1 + Of sense and wisdom lorn, + If this prophetic Power of right, + O'ertaking the offender, come not nigh + Ere many an hour be born. + Yon vision of the night, + That lately breathed into my listening ear, + Hath freed me, O my daughter, from all fear. + Sweet was that bodement. He doth not forget, + The Achaean lord that gave thee being, nor yet + The bronzen-griding axe, edged like a spear, + Hungry and keen, though dark with stains of time, + That in the hour of hideous crime + Quelled him with cruel butchery: + That, too, remembers, and shall testify. + + From ambush deep and dread I 2 + With power of many a hand + And many hastening feet shall spring + The Fury of the adamantine tread, + Visiting Argive land + Swift recompense to bring + For eager dalliance of a blood-stained pair + Unhallowed, foul, forbidden. No omen fair,-- + Their impious course hath fixed this in my soul,-- + Nought but black portents full of blame shall roll + Before their eyes that wrought or aided there. + Small force of divination would there seem + In prophecy or solemn dream, + Should not this vision of the night + Reach harbour in reality aright. + + O chariot-course of Pelops, full of toil[4]! II + How wearisome and sore + Hath been thine issue to our native soil!-- + Since, from the golden oar + Hurled to the deep afar, + Myrtilus sank and slept, + Cruelly plucked from that fell chariot-floor, + This house unceasingly hath kept + Crime and misfortune mounting evermore. + +_Enter_ CLYTEMNESTRA. + +CLYTEMNESTRA. Again you are let loose and range at will. +Ay, for Aegisthus is not here, who barred +Your rashness from defaming your own kin +Beyond the gates. But now he's gone from home, +You heed not me: though you have noised abroad +That I am bold in crime, and domineer +Outrageously, oppressing thee and thine. +I am no oppressor, but I speak thee ill, +For thou art ever speaking ill of me-- +Still holding forth thy father's death, that I +Have done it. So I did: I know it well: +That I deny not; for not I alone +But Justice slew him; and if you had sense, +To side with Justice ought to be your part. +For who but he of all the Greeks, your sire, +For whom you whine and cry, who else but he +Took heart to sacrifice unto the Gods +Thy sister?--having less of pain, I trow, +In getting her, than I, that bore her, knew! +Come, let me question thee! On whose behalf +Slew he my child? Was 't for the Argive host? +What right had they to traffic in my flesh?-- +Menelaues was his brother. Wilt thou say +He slew my daughter for his brother's sake? +How then should he escape me? Had not he, +Menelaues, children twain, begotten of her +Whom to reclaim that army sailed to Troy? +Was Death then so enamoured of my seed, +That he must feast thereon and let theirs live? +Or was the God-abandoned father's heart +Tender toward them and cruel to my child? +Doth this not argue an insensate sire? +I think so, though your wisdom may demur. +And could my lost one speak, she would confirm it. +For my part, I can dwell on what I have done +Without regret. You, if you think me wrong, +Bring reasons forth and blame me to my face! + +EL. Thou canst not say this time that I began +And brought this on me by some taunting word. +But, so you'd suffer me, I would declare +The right both for my sister and my sire. + +CLY. Thou hast my sufferance. Nor would hearing vex, +If ever thus you tuned your speech to me. + +EL. Then I will speak. You say you slew him. Where +Could there be found confession more depraved, +Even though the cause were righteous? But I'll prove +No rightful vengeance drew thee to the deed, +But the vile bands of him you dwell with now. +Or ask the huntress Artemis, what sin +She punished, when she tied up all the winds +Round Aulis.--I will tell thee, for her voice +Thou ne'er may'st hear! 'Tis rumoured that my sire, +Sporting within the goddess' holy ground, +His foot disturbed a dappled hart, whose death +Drew from his lips some rash and boastful word. +Wherefore Latona's daughter in fell wrath +Stayed the army, that in quittance for the deer +My sire should slay at the altar his own child. +So came her sacrifice. The Achaean fleet +Had else no hope of being launched to Troy +Nor to their homes. Wherefore, with much constraint +And painful urging of his backward will, +Hardly he yielded;--not for his brother's sake. +But grant thy speech were sooth, and all were done +In aid of Menelaues; for this cause +Hadst thou the right to slay him? What high law +Ordaining? Look to it, in establishing +Such precedent thou dost not lay in store +Repentance for thyself. For if by right +One die for one, thou first wilt be destroyed +If Justice find thee.--But again observe +The hollowness of thy pretended plea. +Tell me, I pray, what cause thou dost uphold +In doing now the basest deed of all, +Chambered with the blood-guilty, with whose aid +Thou slewest our father in that day. For him +You now bear children--ousting from their right +The stainless offspring of a holy sire. +How should this plead for pardon? Wilt thou say +Thus thou dost 'venge thy daughter's injury? +O shameful plea? Where is the thought of honour, +If foes are married for a daughter's sake?-- +Enough. No words can move thee. Thy rash tongue +With checkless clamour cries that we revile +Our mother. Nay, no mother, but the chief +Of tyrants to us! For my life is full +Of weariness and misery from thee +And from thy paramour. While he abroad, +Orestes, our one brother, who escaped +Hardly from thy attempt, unhappy boy! +Wears out his life, victim of cross mischance. +Oft hast thou taunted me with fostering him +To be thy punisher. And this, be sure, +Had I but strength, I had done. Now for this word, +Proclaim me what thou wilt,--evil in soul, +Or loud in cursing, or devoid of shame: +For if I am infected with such guilt, +Methinks my nature is not fallen from thine. + +CH. (_looking at_ CLYTEMNESTRA). +I see her fuming with fresh wrath: the thought +Of justice enters not her bosom now. + +CLY. What thought of justice should be mine for her, +Who at her age can so insult a mother? +Will shame withhold her from the wildest deed? + +EL. Not unashamed, assure thee, I stand here, +Little as thou mayest deem it. Well I feel +My acts untimely and my words unmeet. +But your hostility and treatment force me +Against my disposition to this course. +Harsh ways are taught by harshness. + +CLY. Brazen thing! +Too true it is that words and deeds of mine +Are evermore informing thy harsh tongue. + +EL. The shame is yours, because the deeds are yours. +My words are but their issue and effect. + +CLY. By sovereign Artemis, whom still I serve, +You'll rue this boldness when Aegisthus comes. + +EL. See now, your anger bears you off, and ne'er +Will let you listen, though you gave me leave. + +CLY. Must I not even sacrifice in peace +From your harsh clamour, when you've had your say? + +EL. I have done. I check thee not. Go, sacrifice! +Accuse not me of hindering piety. + +CLY. (_to an attendant_). +Then lift for me those fruitful offerings, +While to Apollo, before whom we stand, +I raise my supplication for release +From doubts and fears that shake my bosom now. +And, O defender of our house! attend +My secret utterance. No friendly ear +Is that which hearkens for my voice. My thought +Must not be blazoned with her standing by, +Lest through her envious and wide-babbling tongue +She fill the city full of wild surmise. +List, then, as I shall speak: and grant the dreams +Whose two-fold apparition I to-night +Have seen, if good their bodement, be fulfilled: +If hostile, turn their influence on my foes. +And yield not them their wish that would by guile +Thrust me from this high fortune, but vouchsafe +That ever thus exempt from harms I rule +The Atridae's home and kingdom, in full life, +Partaking with the friends I live with now +All fair prosperity, and with my children, +Save those who hate and vex me bitterly. +Lykeian Phoebus, favourably hear +My prayer, and grant to all of us our need! +More is there, which, though I be silent here, +A God should understand. No secret thing +Is hidden from the all-seeing sons of Heaven. + +_Enter the_ Old Man. + +OLD M. Kind dames and damsels, may I clearly know +If these be King Aegisthus' palace-halls? + +CH. They are, sir; you yourself have guessed aright. + +OLD M. May I guess further that in yonder dame +I see his queen? She looks right royally. + +CH. 'Tis she,--no other,--whom your eyes behold. + +OLD M. Princess, all hail! To thee and to thy spouse +I come with words of gladness from a friend. + +CLY. That auspice I accept. But I would first +Learn from thee who of men hath sent thee forth? + +OLD M. Phanoteus the Phocian, with a charge of weight. + +CLY. Declare it, stranger. Coming from a friend, +Thou bring'st us friendly tidings, I feel sure. + +OLD M. Orestes' death. Ye have the sum in brief. + +EL. Ah me! undone! This day hath ruined me. + +CLY. What? Let me hear again. Regard her not. + +OLD M. Again I say it, Orestes is no more. + +EL. Undone! undone! Farewell to life and hope! + +CLY. (_to_ ELECTRA). +See thou to thine own case! (_To_ Old Man) Now, stranger, tell me +In true discourse the manner of his death. + +OLD M. For that I am here, and I will tell the whole. +He, entering on the great arena famed +As Hellas' pride, to win a Delphian prize, +On hearing the loud summons of the man +Calling the foot-race, which hath trial first, +Came forward, a bright form, admired by all. +And when his prowess in the course fulfilled +The promise of his form, he issued forth +Dowered with the splendid meed of victory.-- +To tell a few out of the many feats +Of such a hero were beyond my power. +Know then, in brief, that of the prizes set +For every customary course proclaimed +By order of the judges, the whole sum +Victoriously he gathered, happy deemed +By all; declared an Argive, and his name +Orestes, son of him who levied once +The mighty armament of Greeks for Troy. +So fared he then: but when a God inclines +To hinder happiness, not even the strong +Are scatheless. So, another day, when came +At sunrise the swift race of charioteers, +He entered there with many a rival car:-- +One from Achaia, one from Sparta, two +Libyan commanders of the chariot-yoke; +And he among them fifth, with steeds of price +From Thessaly;--the sixth Aetolia sent +With chestnut mares; the seventh a Magnete man; +The eighth with milk-white colts from Oeta's vale; +The ninth from god-built Athens; and the tenth +Boeotia gave to make the number full. +Then stood they where the judges of the course +Had posted them by lot, each with his team; +And sprang forth at the brazen trumpet's blare. +Shouting together to their steeds, they shook +The reins, and all the course was filled with noise +Of rattling chariots, and the dust arose +To heaven. Now all in a confused throng +Spared not the goad, each eager to outgo +The crowded axles and the snorting steeds; +For close about his nimbly circling wheels +And stooping sides fell flakes of panted foam. +Orestes, ever nearest at the turn, +With whirling axle seemed to graze the stone, +And loosing with free rein the right-hand steed +That pulled the side-rope[5], held the near one in. + So for a time all chariots upright moved, +But soon the Oetaean's hard-mouthed horses broke +From all control, and wheeling as they passed +From the sixth circuit to begin the seventh, +Smote front to front against the Barcan car. +And when that one disaster had befallen, +Each dashed against his neighbour and was thrown, +Till the whole plain was strewn with chariot-wreck. +Then the Athenian, skilled to ply the rein, +Drew on one side, and heaving to, let pass +The rider-crested surge that rolled i' the midst. +Meanwhile Orestes, trusting to the end, +Was driving hindmost with tight rein; but now, +Seeing him left the sole competitor, +Hurling fierce clamour through his steeds, pursued: +So drave they yoke by yoke--now this, now that +Pulling ahead with car and team. Orestes, +Ill-fated one, each previous course had driven +Safely without a check, but after this, +In letting loose again the left-hand rein[6], +He struck the edge of the stone before he knew, +Shattering the axle's end, and tumbled prone, +Caught in the reins[7], that dragged him with sharp thongs. +Then as he fell to the earth the horses swerved, +And roamed the field. The people when they saw +Him fallen from out the car, lamented loud +For the fair youth, who had achieved before them +Such glorious feats, and now had found such woe,-- +Dashed on the ground, then tossed with legs aloft +Against the sky,--until the charioteers, +Hardly restraining the impetuous team, +Released him, covered so with blood that none,-- +No friend who saw--had known his hapless form. +Which then we duly burned upon the pyre. +And straightway men appointed to the task +From all the Phocians bear his mighty frame-- +Poor ashes! narrowed in a brazen urn,-- +That he may find in his own fatherland +His share of sepulture.--Such our report, +Painful to hear, but unto us, who saw, +The mightiest horror that e'er met mine eye. + +CH. Alas! the stock of our old masters, then, +Is utterly uprooted and destroyed. + +CLY. O heavens! what shall I say? That this is well? +Or terrible, but gainful? Hard my lot, +To save my life through my calamity! + +OLD M. Lady, why hath my speech disheartened thee? + +CLY. To be a mother hath a marvellous power: +No injury can make one hate one's child. + +OLD M. Then it should seem our coming was in vain. + +CLY. In vain? Nay, verily; thou, that hast brought +Clear evidences of his fate, who, sprung +Prom my life's essence, severed from my breast +And nurture, was estranged in banishment, +And never saw me from the day he went +Out from this land, but for his father's blood +Threatened me still with accusation dire; +That sleep nor soothed at night nor sweetly stole +My senses from the day, but, all my time, +Each instant led me on the way to death!-- +But this day's chance hath freed me from all fear +Of him, and of this maid: who being at home +Troubled me more, and with unmeasured thirst +Kept draining my life-blood; but now her threats +Will leave us quiet days, methinks, and peace +Unbroken.--How then shouldst thou come in vain? + +EL. O misery! 'Tis time to wail thy fate, +Orestes, when, in thy calamity, +Thy mother thus insults thee. Is it well? + +CLY. 'Tis well that he is gone, not that you live. + +EL. Hear, 'venging spirits of the lately dead! + +CLY. The avenging spirits have heard and answered well. + +EL. Insult us now, for thou art fortunate! + +CLY. You and Orestes are to quench my pride. + +EL. Our pride is quenched. No hope of quenching thee! + +CLY. A world of good is in thy coming, stranger, +Since thou hast silenced this all-clamorous tongue. + +OLD M. Then I may go my way, seeing all is well. + +CLY. Nay, go not yet! That would disgrace alike +Me and the friend who sent you to our land. +But come thou in, and leave her out of door +To wail her own and loved ones' overthrow. + [_Exeunt_ CLYTEMNESTRA _and_ Old Man + +EL. Think you the wretch in heartfelt agony +Weeps inconsolably her perished son? +She left us with a laugh! O misery! +How thou hast ruined me, dear brother mine, +By dying! Thou hast torn from out my heart +The only hope I cherished yet, that thou +Living wouldst come hereafter to avenge +Thy father's woes and mine. Where must I go? +Since I am left of thee and of my sire +Bereaved and lonely, and once more must be +The drudge and menial of my bitterest foes, +My father's murderers. Say, is it well? +Nay, nevermore will I consort with these, +But sinking here before the palace gate, +Thus, friendless, I will wither out my life. +Hereat if any in the house be vexed, +Let them destroy me; for to take my life +Were kindness, and to live is only pain: +Life hath not kindled my desires with joy. + +CH. 1. O ever-blazing sun! I 1 + O lightning of the eternal Sire! + Can ye behold this done + And tamely hide your all-avenging fire? + +EL. Ah me! + +CH. 2. My daughter, why these tears? + +EL. Woe! + +CH. 3. Weep not, calm thy fears. + +EL. You kill me. + +CH. 4. How? + +EL. To breathe + A hope for one beneath + So clearly sunk in death, + 'Tis to afflict me more + Already pining sore. + +CH. 5. One in a woman's toils I 2 +Was tangled[8], buried by her glittering coils, +Who now beneath-- + +EL. Ah woe! + +CH. 6. Rules with a spirit unimpaired and strong. + +EL. O dreadful! + +CH. 7. Dreadful was the wrong. + +EL. But she was quelled. + +CH. 8. Ay. + +EL. True! +That faithful mourner knew +A brother's aid. But I +Have no man now. The one +I had, is gone, is gone. +Rapt into nothingness. + +CH. 9. Thou art wrung with sore distress. II 1 + +EL. I know it. Too well I know, +Taught by a life of woe, +Where horror dwells without relief. + +CH. 10. Our eyes have seen thy grief. + +EL. Then comfort not again-- + +CH. 11. Whither now turns thy strain? + +EL. One utterly bereft, +Seeing no hope is left, +Of help from hands owning the same great sire. + +CH. 12. 'Tis nature's debt. II 2 + +EL. To expire + On sharp-cut dragging thongs, + 'Midst wildly trampling throngs + Of swiftly racing hoofs, like him, + Poor hapless one? + +CH. 13. Vast, dim, + And boundless was the harm. + +EL. Yea, severed from mine arm, + By strangers kept-- + +CH. 14. O pain! + +EL. Hidden he must remain, + Of me unsepulchred, unmourned, unwept. + +_Enter_ CHRYSOTHEMIS. + +CHR. Driven by delight, dear sister, I am come, +Reckless of dignity, with headlong speed. +For news I bear of joy and sweet relief +From ills that drew from thee thy ceaseless moan. + +EL. Whence couldst thou hear of succour for my woes, +That close in darkness without hope of dawn? + +CHR. Here is Orestes, learn it from my mouth, +As certainly as you now look on me. + +EL. What? Art thou mad, unhappy one, to laugh +Over thine own calamity and mine? + +CHR. No, by our father's hearth, I say not this +In mockery. I tell you he is come. + +EL. Me miserable! Who hath given thine ear +The word that so hath wrought on thy belief? + +CHR. Myself am the eyewitness, no one else +Gained my belief, but proofs I clearly saw. + +EL. What sign hath so engrossed thine eye, poor girl? +What sight hath fired thee with this quenchless glow? + +CHR. But list to me, I pray thee, that henceforth +Thou mayest account me clear eyed, or a fool! + +EL. By all means, if it pleasure thee, say on. + +CHR. Well, I will tell thee all I saw:--I came +Unto the ancient tomb that holds our sire; +And from the topmost mound I marked a stream +Of milk fresh-flowing, and his resting place +Ringed round with garlands of all flowers that blow. +I marvelled at the sight, and peered about, +Lest some one might be nearer than we knew. +But finding all was quiet in the spot, +I ventured closer to the tomb, and there, +Hard by the limit, I beheld a curl +Of hair new shorn, with all the gloss of youth +And straight it struck my heart, as with a sense +Of something seen, ah me! long, long ago, +And told me that my sight encountered here +The token of Orestes, dearest soul +Then, clasping it, I did not cry aloud, +But straight mine eyes were filled with tears of joy. +And now as much as then I feel assured +He and none else bestowed this ornament. +To whom beyond thyself and me belongs +Such consecration? And I know this well, +I did it not,--nor thou. Impossible! +Thou canst not worship even the blessed Gods +Forth of this roof, unpunished. And, most sure, +Our mother is not minded so to act, +Nor, had she done it, could we fail to know. +This offering comes then of Orestes' hand. +Take courage, dear one. Not one fate pursues +One house perpetually, but changeth still. +Ours was a sullen Genius, but perchance +This day begins the assurance of much good. + +EL. Oh how I pity thine infatuate mind! + +CHR. Why? Dost thou find no comfort in my news? + +EL. You know not where you roam. Far wide! far wide! + +CHR. Not know? when I have seen it with mine eyes? + +EL. Dear, he is dead. Look not to him, poor girl! +Salvation comes to thee no more from him. + +CHR. Oh me, unfortunate! Who told thee this? + +EL. He who stood by and saw his life destroyed. + +CHR. Amazement seizes me. Where is that man? + +EL. Right welcome to the mother there within. + +CHR. Me miserable! Who then can have decked +With all those ceremonies our father's tomb? + +EL. I cannot but suppose some hand hath brought +These gifts in memory of Orestes dead. + +CHR. O cruel fate! While I in ecstasy +Sped with such news, all ignorant, it seems, +Of our dire fortune; and, arriving, find +Fresh sorrows added to the former woe. + +EL. It is so, sister; yet if thou wilt list +To me, thou mayest disperse this heaviness. + +CHR. What? Shall I raise the dead again to life? + +EL. I did not mean so. I am not so fond. + +CHR. What bid you then that I have power to do? + +EL. To endure courageously what I enjoin. + +CHR. So it make profit, I will not refuse. + +EL. Remember, without toil no plan may thrive! + +CHR. I know it, and will aid thee to my power. + +EL. Then hearken my resolve. Thou seest now, +We have no friendly succour in the world; +But death has taken all, and we are left +Two only. I, so long as I could hear +My brother lived and flourished, still had hope +He would arise to wreak his father's blood. +But now that he is gone, to thee I turn, +To help thy sister boldly to destroy +The guilty author of our father's death, +Aegisthus.--Wherefore hide it from thee now? +--Yea, sister! Till what term wilt thou remain +Inactive? To what end? What hope is yet +Left standing? Surely thou hast cause to grieve, +Bobbed of thy father's opulent heritage, +And feeling bitterly the creeping years +That find thee still a virgin and unwed. +Nay, nor imagine thou shalt ever know +That blessing. Not so careless of his life +Is King Aegisthus, as to risk the birth +Of sons from us, to his most certain fall. +But if thou wilt but follow my resolve, +First thou shalt win renown of piety +From our dead father, and our brother too, +Who rest beneath the ground, and shalt be free +For evermore in station as in birth, +And nobly matched in marriage, for the good +Draw gazers to them still. Then seest thou not +What meed of honour, if thou dost my will, +Thou shalt apportion to thyself and me? +For who, beholding us, what citizen, +What foreigner, will not extend the hand +Of admiration, and exclaim, 'See, friends, +These scions of one stock, these noble twain, +These that have saved their father's house from woe, +Who once when foes were mighty, set their life +Upon a cast, and stood forth to avenge +The stain of blood! Who will not love the pair +And do them reverence? Who will not give +Honour at festivals, and in the throng +Of popular resort, to these in chief, +For their high courage and their bold emprise?' +Such fame will follow us in all the world. +Living or dying, still to be renowned. +Ah, then, comply, dear sister; give thy sire +This toil--this labour to thy brother give; +End these my sufferings, end thine own regret: +The well-born cannot bear to live in shame. + +CH. In such affairs, for those who speak and hear +Wise thoughtfulness is still the best ally. + +CHR. True, noble women, and before she spake +Sound thought should have prevented the rash talk +That now hath proved her reckless. What wild aim +Beckons thee forth in arming this design +Whereto thou wouldst demand my ministry? +Dost not perceive, thou art not man but woman, +Of strength inferior to thine enemies,-- +Their Genius daily prospering more and more, +Whilst ours is dwindling into nothingness? +Who then that plots against a life so strong +Shall quit him of the danger without harm? +Take heed we do not add to our distress +Should some one hear of this our colloquy. +Small help and poor advantage 'twere for us +To win brief praise and then inglorious die. +Nay, death is not so hateful as when one +Desiring death is balked of that desire. +And I beseech thee, ere in utter ruin +We perish and make desolate our race, +Refrain thy rage. And I will guard for thee +In silence these thy words unrealized; +If thou wilt learn this wisdom from long time, +Having no strength, to bend before the strong. + +CH. Comply. Than prudence and a heedful mind, +No fairer treasure can be found for men. + +EL. Thy words have not surprised me. Well I knew +The good I offered would come back with scorn. +I, all alone and with a single hand, +Must do this. For it shall not rest undone. + +CHR. Would thou hadst been thus minded when our sire +Lay dying! In one act thou hadst compassed all. + +EL. My spirit was the same: my mind was less. + +CHR. Be such the life-long temper of thy mind! + +EL. Thine admonition augurs little aid. + +CHR. Yea. For the attempt would bring me certain bane. + +EL. I envy thee thy prudence, hate thy fear. + +CHR. Even when thou speak'st me fair, I will endure it. + +EL. Take heart. That never will be thine from me. + +CHR. Long time remains to settle that account. + +EL. I find no profit in thee. Go thy way. + +CHR. Profit there is, hadst thou a mind to learn. + +EL. Go to thy mother and declare all this! + +CHR. I am not so in hatred of thy life. + +EL. Yet know the shame thou wouldst prepare for me. + +CHR. No, no! Not shame, but care for thine estate. + +EL. Must I still follow as thou thinkest good? + +CHR. When thou hast wisdom, thou shalt be the guide. + +EL. 'Tis hard when error wears the garb of sense. + +CHR. Right. That is the misfortune of your case. + +EL. Why? Feel you not the justice of my speech? + +CHR. Justice may chance to bring me injury. + +EL. I care not, I, to live by such a rule. + +CHR. Well, if you do it, you will find me wise. + +EL. Well, I will do it, nought dismayed by thee. + +CHR. Speak you plain sooth? and will you not be counselled? + +EL. No, for bad counsel is of all most hateful. + +CHR. You take the sense of nothing that I say. + +EL. Long since, not newly, my resolve is firm. + +CHR. Then I will go. Thy heart will ne'er be brought +To praise my words, nor I thine action here. + +EL. Then go within! I will not follow thee, +Though thou desire it vehemently. None +Would be so fond to hunt on a cold trail. + +CHR. If this seem wisdom to thee, then be wise +Thy way: but in the hour of misery, +When it hath caught thee, thou wilt praise my words. + [_Exit_ CHRYSOTHEMIS + +CHORUS. + Wise are the birds of air I 1 + That with true filial care + For those provide convenient food + Who gave them birth, who wrought their good. + Why will not men the like perfection prove? + Else, by the fires above, + And heavenly Rectitude, + Fierce recompense they shall not long elude. + O darkling rumour, world-o'er-wandering voice + That piercest to the shades beneath the ground, + To dead Atrides waft a sound + Of sad reproach, not bidding him rejoice. + + Stained is the ancestral hall, I 2 + Broken the battle-call, + That heretofore his children twain + In loving concord did sustain. + Alone, deserted, vexed, Electra sails, + Storm-tossed with rugged gales, + Lamenting evermore + Like piteous Philomel, and pining sore + For her lost father;--might she but bring down + That two-fold Fury, caring not for death, + But ready to resign her breath, + What maid so worthy of a sire's renown? + + None who inherit from a noble race, II 1 + Complying with things base + Will let their ancient glory be defiled. + So 'twas thy choice, dear child, + Through homeless misery[9] to win a two-fold prize, + Purging the sin and shame[10] + That cloud the Argive name, + So to be called most noble and most wise. + + May'st thou surpass thy foes in wealth and power II 2 + As o'er thee now they tower! + Since I have found thee, not in bright estate, + Nor blessed by wayward fate, + But through thy loyalty to Heaven's eternal cause + Wearing the stainless crown + Of perfectest renown, + And richly dowered by the mightiest laws. + +_Enter_ ORESTES _and_ PYLADES, _with the urn_. + +OR. Say, dames and damsels, have we heard aright, +And speed we to the goal of our desire? + +CH. And what desire or quest hath brought thee hither? + +OR. I seek Aegisthus' dwelling all this while. + +CH. Welcome. The tongue that told thee hath no blame. + +OR. Which of you all will signify within +Our joint arrival,--not unwelcome here. + +CH. This maiden, if the nearest should report. + +OR. Mistress, wilt thou go yonder and make known, +That certain Phocians on Aegisthus wait? + +EL. Oh! can it be that you are come to bring +Clear proofs of the sad rumour we have heard? + +OR. I know not what ye have heard. Old Strophius +Charged me with tidings of Orestes' fate. + +EL. What, stranger? How this terror steals on me! + +OR. Bearing scant remnants of his body dead +In this small vase thou seest, we bring them home. + +EL. O sorrow! thou art here: I see full well +That burden of my heart in present view. + +OR. If thou hast tears for aught Orestes suffered, +Know that he lies within this vessel's room. + +EL. Ah, sir! by all in Heaven, if yonder urn +Hide him, ah! give it once into my hand, +That o'er that dust I may lament and mourn +Myself and mine own house and all our woe! + +OR. Bring it and give her, whosoe'er she be. +For not an enemy--this petition shows it-- +But of his friends or kindred, is this maid. + [_The urn is given into_ ELECTRA'S _hands_ + +EL. O monument of him whom o'er all else +I loved! sole relic of Orestes' life, +How cold in this thy welcome is the hope +Wherein I decked thee as I sent thee forth! +Then bright was thy departure, whom I now +Bear lightly, a mere nothing, in my hands. +Would I had gone from life, ere I dispatched +Thee from my arms that saved thee to a land +Of strangers, stealing thee from death! For then +Thou hadst been quiet on that far off day, +And had thy portion in our father's tomb +Now thou hast perished in the stranger land +Far from thy sister, lorn and comfortless +And I, O wretchedness! neither have bathed +And laid thee forth, nor from the blazing fire +Collected the sad burden, as was meet +But thou, when foreign hands have tended thee +Com'st a small handful in a narrow shell +Woe for the constant care I spent on thee +Of old all vainly, with sweet toil! For never +Wast thou thy mother's darling, nay, but mine, +And I of all the household most thy nurse, +While 'sister, sister,' was thy voice to me +But now all this is vanished in one day, +Dying in thy death. Thou hast carried all away +As with a whirlwind, and art gone. No more +My father lives, thyself art lost in death, +I am dead, who lived in thee. Our enemies +Laugh loudly, and she maddens in her joy, +Our mother most unmotherly, of whom +Thy secret missives ofttimes told me, thou +Wouldst be the punisher. But that fair hope +The hapless Genius of thy lot and mine +Hath reft away, and gives thee thus to me,-- +For thy loved form thy dust and fruitless shade +O bitterness! O piteous sight! Woe! woe! +Oh! sent on thy dire journey, dearest one, +How thou hast ruined me! Thou hast indeed, +Dear brother! Then receive me to thyself, +Hide me in this thy covering, there to dwell, +Me who am nothing, with thy nothingness, +For ever! Yea, when thou wert here above, +I ever shared with thee in all, and now +I would not have thee shut me from thy tomb. +Oh! let me die and follow thee! the dead, +My mind assures me now, have no more pain. + +CH. Electra, think! Thou hadst a mortal sire, +And mortal was thy brother. Grieve not far. + +OR. O me! What shall I speak, or which way turn +The desperate word? I cannot hold my tongue. + +EL. What pain o'ercomes thee? Wherefore speak'st thou so? + +OR. Can this be famed Electra I behold? + +EL. No other. In sad case, as you may see + +OR. Ah! deep indeed was this calamity! + +EL. Is't possible that thou shouldst grieve for me? + +OR. O ruined form! abandoned to disgrace! + +EL. 'Tis me you mean, stranger, I feel it now. + +OR. Woe 's me! Untrimmed for bridal, hapless maid! + +EL. Why this fixed gaze, O stranger! that deep groan? + +OR. How all unknowing was I of mine ill! + +EL. What thing hath passed to make it known to thee? + +OR. The sight of thee attired with boundless woe. + +EL. And yet thine eye sees little of my pain. + +OR. Can aught be still more hateful to be seen? + +EL. I have my dwelling with the murderers-- + +OR. Of whom? What evil would thy words disclose? + +EL. Of him who gave me birth. I am their slave. + +OR. Whose power compels thee to this sufferance? + +EL. One called my mother, most unmotherly. + +OR. How? by main force, or by degrading shames? + +EL. By force and shames, and every kind of evil. + +OR. And is there none to succour or prevent? + +EL. None. Him I had, you give me here in dust. + +OR. How mine eye pities thee this while, poor maid! + +EL. Know now, none ever pitied me but you. + +OR. None ever came whose heart like sorrow wrung. + +EL. Is't possible we have some kinsman here? + +OR. I will tell it, if these women here be friendly. + +EL. They are. They may be trusted. Only speak. + +OR. Let go yon vase, that thou may'st learn the whole. + +EL. Nay, by the Gods! be not so cruel, sir! + +OR. Obey me and thou shalt not come to harm. + +EL. Ah, never rob me of what most I love! + +OR. You must not hold it. + +EL. O me miserable +For thee, Orestes, if I lose thy tomb! + +OR. Speak no rash word. Thou hast no right to mourn. + +EL. No right to mourn my brother who is gone? + +OR. Such utterance belongs not to thy tongue, + +EL. Oh, am I thus dishonoured of the dead? + +OR. Far from dishonour. But this ne'er was thine. + +EL. Is't not Orestes' body that I bear? + +OR. Nay, but the idle dressing of a tale. + +EL. And where is his poor body's resting-place? + +OR. Nowhere. Seek not the living with the dead, + +EL. My son, what saidst thou? + +OR. Nought but what is true. + +EL. Doth he yet live? + +OR. If I have life in me. + +EL. Art thou Orestes? + +OR. Let my signet here, +That was our father's, tell thine eyes, I am. + +EL. O day of days! + +OR. Time hath no happier hour. + +EL. Is it thy voice? + +OR. Hearken not otherwhere. + +EL. Have my arms caught thee? + +OR. Hold me so for aye! + +EL. O dearest women, Argives of my home! +Ye see Orestes, dead in craft, but now +By that same craft delivered and preserved. + +CH. We see, dear daughter, and the gladsome tear +Steals from our eye to greet the bright event. + +EL. Offspring of him I loved beyond all telling! I 1 +Ah! thou art come,--hast found me, eye to eye +Behold'st the face thou didst desire to see. + +OR. True, I am here; but bide in silence still. + +EL. Wherefore? + +OR. Hush! speak not loud, lest one within should hearken. + +EL. By ever-virgin Artemis, ne'er will I +Think worthy of my fear +This useless mass of woman-cowardice +Burdening the house within, +Not peering out of door. + +OR. Yet know that women too have might in war. +Of that methinks thou hast feeling evidence. + +EL. Ah me! thou hast unveiled +And thrust before my gaze +That burning load of my distress +No time will soothe, no remedy will heal. + +OR. I know that too. But when we are face to face +With the evildoers,--then let remembrance work. + +EL. All times alike are fit with instant pain I 2 +Justly to mind me of that dreadful day; +Even now but hardly hath my tongue been free. + +OR. Yes, that is it. Therefore preserve this boon. + +EL. Whereby? + +OR. Put limits to unseasonable talk. + +EL. Ah! brother, who, when thou art come, +Could find it meet to exchange +Language for silence, as thou bidst me do? +Since beyond hope or thought +Was this thy sight to me. + +OR. God gave me to your sight when so he willed. + +EL. O heaven of grace beyond +The joy I knew but now! +If God hath brought thee to our roof, +A miracle of bounty then is here. + +OR. I hate to curb the gladness of thy spirit, +But yet I fear this ecstasy of joy. + +EL. Oh! after all these years, II +Now thou at length hast sped +Thy dearest advent on the wished-for way, +Do not, in all this woe +Thou seest surrounding me-- + +OR. What means this prayer? + +EL. Forbid me not my joy, +Nor make me lose the brightness of thy face! + +OR. Deep were my wrath at him who should attempt it. + +EL. Is my prayer heard? + +OR. Why doubt it? + +EL. Friends, I learned +A tale beyond my thought; and hearing I restrained +My passion, voiceless in my misery, +Uttering no cry. But now +I have thee safe; now, dearest, thou art come, +With thy blest countenance, which I +Can ne'er forget, even at the worst of woe. + +OR. A truce now to unnecessary words. +My mother's vileness and Aegisthus' waste, +Draining and squandering with spendthrift hand +Our patrimony, tell me not anew. +Such talk might stifle opportunity. +But teach me, as befits the present need, +What place may serve by lurking vigilance +Or sudden apparition to o'erwhelm +Our foes in the adventure of to-day. +And, when we pass within, take heedful care +Bright looks betray thee not unto our mother. +But groan as for the dire calamity +Vainly reported:--Let's achieve success, +Then with free hearts we may rejoice and laugh. + +EL. Dear brother, wheresoe'er thy pleasure leads, +My will shall follow, since the joys I know, +Not from myself I took them, but from thee. +And ne'er would I consent thy slightest grief +Should win for me great gain. Ill should I then +Serve the divinity of this high hour! +Thou knowest how matters in the palace stand. +Thou hast surely heard, Aegisthus is from home, +And she, our mother, is within. Nor fear +She should behold me with a smiling face. +Mine ancient hate of her hath sunk too deep. +And from the time I saw thee, tears of joy +Will cease not. Wherefore should I stint their flow? +I, who in this thy coming have beheld +Thee dead and living? Strangely hast thou wrought +On me;--that should my father come alive, +I would not think the sight were miracle, +But sober truth. Since such thy presence, then, +Lead as thy spirit prompts. For I alone +Of two things surely had achieved one, +Noble deliverance or a noble death. + +OR. Be silent; for I hear within the house +A footstep coming forth. + +EL. (_loudly_). + Strangers, go in! +For none within the palace will reject +Your burden, nor be gladdened by the event. + +_Enter the_ Old Man. + +OLD M. O lost in folly and bereft of soul! +Is't that your care for life hath ebbed away, +Or were you born without intelligence, +When fallen, not near, but in the midst of ill, +And that the greatest, ye perceive it not? +Had I not watched the doors this while, your deeds +Had gone within the palace ere yourselves. +But, as things are, my care hath fenced you round. +Now, then, have done with long-protracted talk, +And this insatiable outburst of joy, +And enter, for in such attempts as these +Delay is harmful: and 'tis more than time. + +OR. But how shall I find matters there within? + +OLD M. Well. You are shielded by their ignorance. + +OR. That means you have delivered me as dead. + +OLD M. Alone of dead men thou art here above. + +OR. Doth this delight them, or how went the talk? + +OLD M. I will report, when all is done. Meanwhile, +Know, all is well with them, even what is evil. + +EL. Who is this, brother? I beseech thee, tell. + +OR. Dost not perceive? + +EL. I cannot even imagine. + +OR. Know'st not into whose hands thou gav'st me once? + +EL. Whose hands? How say you? + +OR. His, who through thy care +Conveyed me secretly to Phocis' plain. + +EL. What! is this he, whom I, of all the band, +Found singly faithful in our father's death? + +OR. He is that man. No more! + +EL. O gladsome day! +Dear only saviour of our father's house, +How earnest thou hither? Art thou he indeed, +That didst preserve Orestes and myself +From many sorrows? O dear hands, kind feet, +Swift in our service,--how couldst thou so long +Be near, nor show one gleam, but didst destroy +My heart with words, hiding the loveliest deeds? +Father!--in thee methinks I see my father. +O welcome! thou of all the world to me +Most hated and most loved in one short hour. + +OLD M. Enough, dear maiden! Many nights and days +Are circling hitherward, that shall reveal +In clear recountment all that came between. + But to you two that stand beside I tell, +Now is your moment, with the Queen alone, +And none of men within; but if you pause, +Know that with others of profounder skill +You'll have to strive, more than your present foes. + +OR. Then, Pylades, we need no more to dwell +On words, but enter on this act with speed, +First worshipping the holy shrines o' the Gods +That were my father's, harboured at the gate. + [_They pass within_. ELECTRA _remains in + an attitude of prayer_ + +EL. O King Apollo! hear them graciously, +And hear me too, that with incessant hand +Honoured thee richly from my former store! +And now, fierce slayer, I importune thee, +And woo thee with such gifts as I can give, +Be kindly aidant to this enterprise, +And make the world take note, what meed of bane +Heaven still bestows on man's iniquity. [ELECTRA _goes within_ + +CH. Lo, where the War-god moves 1 + With soft, sure footstep, on to his design, + Breathing hot slaughter of an evil feud! + Even now the inevitable hounds that track + Dark deeds of hideous crime + Are gone beneath the covert of the domes. + Not long in wavering suspense shall hang + The dreaming presage of my wistful soul. + + For lo! within is led 2 + With crafty tread the avenger of the shades, + Even to his father's throne of ancient power, + And in his hand the bright new-sharpened death! + And Hermes, Maia's son, + Is leading him, and hath concealed the guile + Even to the fatal end in clouds of night. + His time of weary waiting all is o'er. + +_Re-enter_ ELECTRA. + +EL. O dearest women! they are even now +About it. Only bide in silence still. + +CH. What is the present scene? + +EL. She decks the vase +For burial, and they both are standing by. + +CH. And wherefore hast thou darted forth? + +EL. To watch +Aegisthus' coming, that he enter not +At unawares. + +CLY. (_within_). + Ah! ah! Woe for the house, +Desert of friends, and filled with hands of death! + +EL. A cry within! Did ye not hear it, friends? + +CH. Would I had not! I heard, and shivered through. + +CLY. (_within_). Oh me! Alas, Aegisthus! where art thou? + +EL. Hark! yet again that sound! + +CLY. (_within_). O son, have pity! +Pity the womb that bare thee. + +EL. Thou hadst none +For him, nor for his father, in that day. + +HALF-CH. Poor city! hapless race! 1 +Thy destiny to-day +Wears thee away, away. +What morn shall see thy face? + +CLY. (_within_). +Oh, I am smitten! + +EL. Give a second stroke, +If thou hast power. + +CLY. (_within_). + Oh me! again, again! + +EL. Would thou wert shrieking for Aegisthus too! + +CH. The curse hath found, and they in earth who lie +Are living powers to-day. +Long dead, they drain away +The streaming blood of those who made them die. + +_Enter_ ORESTES _and_ PYLADES. + +Behold, they come, they come! +His red hand dripping as he moves +With drops of sacrifice the War-god loves. +My 'wildered heart is dumb. + +EL. How is it with you, brother? + +OR. If Apollo +Spake rightfully, the state within is well. + +EL. Wretched one, is she dead? + +OR. No more have fear +Thou shalt be slighted by thy mother's will. + +CH. Cease, for I see Aegisthus near in view. + +EL. In, in again, boys! + +OR. Where do ye behold +The tyrant? + +EL. To our hand from yonder gate +He comes with beaming look. + +HALF-CH. Haste, with what speed ye may, 2 +Stand on the doorway stone, +That, having thus much done, +Ye may do all to-day. + +OR. Fear not: we will perform it. + +EL. Speed ye now: +Follow your thought. + +OR. We are already there. + +EL. Leave matters here to me. All shall go well. + [_Exit_ ORESTES _with_ PYLADES + +CH. Few words, as if in gentleness, 'twere good +To utter in his ear, +That, eager and unware, +One step may launch him on the field of blood. + +_Enter_ AEGISTHUS. + +AEGISTHUS. Which of you know where are the Phocian men +Who brought the news I hear, Orestes' life +Hath suffered shipwreck in a chariot-race? +You, you I question, you in former time +So fearless! You methinks most feelingly +Can tell us, for it touches you most near. + +EL. I know: assure thee. Else had I not heard +The dearest of all fortunes to my heart. + +AEG. Where are the strangers then? Enlighten me. + +EL. Yonder. Their hostess entertained them well. + +AEG. And did they certainly report him dead? + +EL. Not only so. They showed him to our sight. + +AEG. May this clear evidence be mine to see? + +EL. I envy not the sight that waits you there. + +AEG. Against their wont thy words have given me joy. + +EL. Much joy be thine, if this be joy to thee! + +AEG. Silence, I say! Wide let the gates be flung! +For all the Myceneans to behold +And all in Argolis, that if but one +Hath heretofore been buoyed on empty hopes +Fixed in Orestes, seeing him now dead, +He may accept my manage, and not wait +For our stern chastisement to teach him sense. + +EL. My lesson is already learnt: at length +I am schooled to labour with the stronger will. + [_The body of_ CLYTEMNESTRA _is disclosed + under a veil:_ ORESTES _standing by_ + +AEG. Zeus! Divine envy surely hath laid low +The form I here behold. But if the truth +Provoke Heaven's wrath, be it unexpressed.--Unveil! +Off with all hindrance, that mine eye may see, +And I may mourn my kinsman as I should. + +OR. Thyself put forth thy hand. Not mine but thine +To look and speak with kindness to this corse. + +AEG. I will, for thou advisest well; but thou, +Call Clytemnestra, if she be within. [AEGISTHUS _lifts the shroud_ + +OR. She is beside thee, gaze not otherwhere. + +AEG. What do I see! oh! + +OR. Why so strange? Whom fear you? + +AEG. Who are the men into whose midmost toils +All hapless I am fallen? + +OR. Ha! knowest thou not +Thou hast been taking living men for dead?[11] + +AEG. I understand that saying. Woe is me! +I know, Orestes' voice addresseth me. + +OR. A prophet! How wert thou so long deceived? + +AEG. Undone, undone! Yet let me speak one word. + +EL. Brother, by Heaven, no more! Let him not speak. +When death is certain, what do men in woe +Gain from a little time? Kill him at once! +And, killed, expose him to such burial +From dogs and vultures, as beseemeth such, +Far from our view. Nought less will solace me +For the remembrance of a life of pain. + +OR. Go in and tarry not. No contest this +Of verbal question, but of life or death. + +AEG. Why drive you me within? If this you do +Be noble, why must darkness hide the deed? +Why not destroy me out of hand? + +OR. Command not! +Enter, and in the place where ye cut down +My father, thou shalt yield thy life to me. + +AEG. Is there no help but this abode must see +The past and future ills of Pelops' race? + +OR. Thine anyhow. That I can prophesy +With perfect inspiration to thine ear. + +AEG. The skill you boast belonged not to your sire. + +OR. You question and delay. Go in! + +AEG. Lead on. + +OR. Nay, go thou first. + +AEG. That I may not escape thee? + +OR. No, that thou may'st not have thy wish in death. +I may not stint one drop of bitterness. +And would this doom were given without reprieve, +If any try to act beyond the law, +To kill them. Then the wicked would be few. + +LEADER OF CH. O seed of Atreus! how triumphantly +Through grief and hardness thou hast freedom found, +With full achievement in this onset crowned! + + * * * * * + + + + + THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS + + + THE PERSONS + +DEANIRA, _wife of Heracles._ +_An_ Attendant. +HYLLUS, _son of Heracles and Deanira_. +CHORUS _of Trachinian Maidens_. +_A_ Messenger. +LICHAS, _the Herald_. +_A_ Nurse. +_An_ Old Man. +HERACLES. +IOLE, _who does not speak_. + + +SCENE. Before the temporary abode of Heracles in Trachis. + + + + +This tragedy is named from the Chorus. From the subject it might have +been called 'Deanira or the Death of Heracles'. + +The Centaur Nessus, in dying by the arrow of Heracles, which had been +dipped in the venom of the Hydra, persuaded the bride Deanira, whose +beauty was the cause of his death, to keep some of the blood from the +wound as a love-charm for her husband. Many years afterwards, when +Heracles was returning from his last exploit of sacking Oechalia, in +Euboea, he sent before him, by his herald Lichas, Iole, the king's +daughter, whom he had espoused. Deanira, when she had discovered this, +commissioned Lichas when he returned to present his master with a +robe, which she had anointed with the charm,--hoping by this means to +regain her lord's affection. But the poison of the Hydra did its work, +and Heracles died in agony, Deanira having already killed herself on +ascertaining what she had done. The action takes place in Trachis, +near the Mahae Gulf, where Heracles and Deanira, by permission of +Ceyx, the king of the country, have been living in exile. At the close +of the drama, Heracles, while yet alive, is carried towards his pyre +on Mount Oeta. + + + + + THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS + + +DEANIRA. Men say,--'twas old experience gave the word, +--'No lot of mortal, ere he die, can once +Be known for good or evil.' But I know, +Before I come to the dark dwelling-place, +Mine is a lot, adverse and hard and sore. +Who yet at Pleuron, in my father's home, +Of all Aetolian women had most cause +To fear my bridal. For a river-god, +Swift Acheloues, was my suitor there +And sought me from my father in three forms; +Now in his own bull-likeness, now a serpent +Of coiling sheen, and now with manlike build +But bovine front, while from the shadowy beard +Sprang fountain-waters in perpetual spray. +Looking for such a husband, I, poor girl! +Still prayed that Death might find me, ere I knew +That nuptial.--Later, to my glad relief, +Zeus' and Alcmena's glorious offspring came, +And closed with him in conflict, and released +My heart from torment. How the fight was won +I could not tell. If any were who saw +Unshaken of dread foreboding, such may speak. +But I sate quailing with an anguished fear, +Lest beauty might procure me nought but pain, +Till He that rules the issue of all strife, +Gave fortunate end--if fortunate! For since, +Assigned by that day's conquest, I have known +The couch of Heracles, my life is spent +In one continual terror for his fate. +Night brings him, and, ere morning, some fresh toil +Drives him afar. And I have borne him seed; +Which he, like some strange husbandman that farms +A distant field, finds but at sowing time +And once in harvest. Such a weary life +Still tossed him to and fro,--no sooner home +But forth again, serving I know not whom. + And when his glorious head had risen beyond +These labours, came the strongest of my fear. +For since he quelled the might of Iphitus, +We here in Trachis dwell, far from our home, +Dependent on a stranger, but where he +Is gone, none knoweth. Only this I know, +His going pierced my heart with pangs for him, +And now I am all but sure he bears some woe. +These fifteen months he hath sent me not one word. +And I have cause for fear. Ere he set forth +He left a scroll with me, whose dark intent +I oft pray Heaven may bring no sorrow down. + +ATTENDANT. Queen Deanira, many a time ere now +Have I beheld thee with all tearful moan +Bewailing the departure of thy lord. +But, if it be permitted that a slave +Should tender counsel to the free, my voice +May venture this:--Of thy strong band of sons +Why is not one commissioned to explore +For Heracles? and why not Hyllus first, +Whom most it would beseem to show regard +For tidings of his father's happiness? +Ah! here I see him bounding home, with feet +Apt for employment! If you count me wise, +He and my words attend upon your will. + +_Enter_ HYLLUS. + +DE. Dear child, dear boy! even from the lowliest head +Wise counsel may come forth. This woman here, +Though a bond-maiden, hath a free-born tongue. + +HYL. What word is spoken, mother? May I know? + +DE. That, with thy father lost to us so long, +'Tis shame thou dost not learn his dwelling-place. + +HYL. Yea, I have learnt, if one may trust report. + +DE. Where art thou told his seat is fixed, my son? + +HYL. 'Tis said that through the length of this past year +He wrought as bondman to a Lydian girl. + +DE. Hath he borne that? Then nothing can be strange! + +HYL. Well, that is over, I am told. He is free. + +DE. Where is he rumoured, then, alive or dead? + +HYL. In rich Euboea, besieging, as they tell, +The town of Eurytus, or offering siege. + +DE. Child, hast thou heard what holy oracles +He left with me, touching that very land? + +HYL. What were they, mother, for I never knew? + +DE. That either he must end his being there, +Or, this one feat performed, his following time +Should grace his life with fair prosperity. +Wilt thou not then, my child, when he is held +In such a crisis of uncertain peril, +Run to his aid?--since we must perish with him, +Or owe our lasting safety to his life. + +HYL. I will go, mother. Had I heard this voice +Of prophecy, long since I had been there. +Fear is unwonted for our father's lot. +But now I know, my strength shall all be spent +To learn the course of these affairs in full. + +DE. Go then, my son. Though late, to learn and do +What wisdom bids, hath certainty of gain. + [_Exit_ HYLLUS. DEANIRA _withdraws_ + +CHORUS (_entering and turning towards the East_). + Born of the starry night in her undoing, I 1 + Lulled in her bosom at thy parting glow, + O Sun! I bid thee show, + What journey is Alcmena's child pursuing? + What region holds him now, + 'Mong winding channels of the deep, + Or Asian plains, or rugged Western steep? + Declare it, thou + Peerless in vision of thy flashing ray + That lightens on the world with each new day. + Sad Deanira, bride of battle-wooing[1], I 2 + Ne'er lets her tearful eyelids close in rest, + But in love-longing breast, + Like some lorn bird its desolation rueing, + Of her great husband's way + Still mindful, worn with harrowing fear + Lest some new danger for him should be near, + By night and day + Pines on her widowed couch of ceaseless thought, + With dread of evil destiny distraught: [_Enter_ DEANIRA. + + For many as are billows of the South II 1 + Blowing unweariedly, or Northern gale, + One going and another coming on + Incessantly, baffling the gazer's eye, + Such Cretan ocean of unending toil + Cradles our Cadmus-born, and swells his fame. + But still some power doth his foot recall + From stumbling down to Hades' darkling hall. + + Wherefore, in censure of thy mood, I bring II 2 + Glad, though opposing, counsel. Let not hope + Grow weary. Never hath a painless life + Been cast on mortals by the power supreme + Of the All-disposer, Cronos' son. But joy + And sorrow visit in perpetual round + All mortals, even as circleth still on high + The constellation of the Northern sky. + + What lasteth in the world? Not starry night, III + Nor wealth, nor tribulation; but is gone + All suddenly, while to another soul + The joy or the privation passeth on. + These hopes I bid thee also, O my Queen! + Hold fast continually, for who hath seen + Zeus so forgetful of his own? + How can his providence forsake his son? + +DE. I see you have been told of my distress, +And that hath brought you. But my inward woe, +Be it evermore unknown to you, as now! +Such the fair garden of untrammeled ease +Where the young life grows safely. No fierce heat, +No rain, no wind disturbs it, but unharmed +It rises amid airs of peace and joy, +Till maiden turn to matron, and the night +Inherit her dark share of anxious thought, +Haunted with fears for husband or for child. +Then, imaged through her own calamity, +Some one may guess the burden of my life. + Full many have been the sorrows I have wept, +But one above the rest I tell to-day. +When my great husband parted last from home, +He left within the house an ancient scroll +Inscribed with characters of mystic note, +Which Heracles had never heretofore, +In former labours, cared to let me see,-- +As bound for bright achievement, not for death. +But now, as though his life had end, he told +What marriage-portion I must keep, what shares +He left his sons out of their father's ground: +And set a time, when fifteen moons were spent, +Counted from his departure, that even then +Or he must die, or if that date were out +And he had run beyond it, he should live +Thenceforth a painless and untroubled life. +Such by Heaven's fiat was the promised end +Of Heracles' long labours, as he said; +So once the ancient oak-tree had proclaimed +In high Dodona through the sacred Doves. +Of which prediction on this present hour +In destined order of accomplishment +The veritable issue doth depend. +And I, dear friends, while taking rest, will oft +Start from sweet slumbers with a sudden fear, +Scared by the thought, my life may be bereft +Of the best husband in the world of men. + +CH. Hush! For I see approaching one in haste, +Garlanded, as if laden with good news. + +_Enter_ Messenger. + +MESSENGER. Queen Deanira, mine shall be the tongue +To free thee first from fear. Alcmena's child +Is living, be assured, and triumphing, +And bringing to our Gods the fruits of war. + +DE. What mean'st thou, aged sir, by what thou sayest? + +MESS. That soon thy husband, envied all around, +Will come, distinguished with victorious might. + +DE. What citizen or stranger told thee this? + +MESS. Your herald Lichas, where the oxen graze +The summer meadow, cries this to a crowd. +I, hearing, flew off hither, that being first +To bring thee word thereof, I might be sure +To win reward and gratitude from thee. + +DE. And how is he not here, if all be well? + +MESS. Crossed by no light impediment, my Queen. +For all the Maliac people, gathering round, +Throng him with question, that he cannot move. +But he must still the travail of each soul, +And none will be dismissed unsatisfied. +Such willing audience he unwillingly +Harangues, but soon himself will come in sight. + +DE. O Zeus! who rulest Oeta's virgin wold, +At last, though late, thou hast vouchsafed us joy. +Lift up your voices, O my women! ye +Within the halls, and ye beyond the gate! +For now we reap the gladness of a ray, +That dawns unhoped for in this rumour's sound. + +CHORUS +With a shout by the hearth let the palace roof ring + From those that are dreaming of bridal, and ye, +Young men, let your voices in harmony sing + To the God of the quiver, the Lord of the free! +And the Paean withal from the maiden band +To Artemis, huntress of many a land, + Let it rise o'er the glad roof tree, +To Phoebus' own sister, with fire in each hand, + And the Nymphs that her co-mates be! +My spirit soars. O sovereign of my soul! +I will accept the thrilling flute's control. [_They dance_ + The ivy-crowned thyrsus, see! + With Bacchic fire is kindling me, + And turns my emulous tread + Where'er the mazy dance may lead. +Euoi! Euoi! +O Paean! send us joy. +See, dearest Queen, behold! +Before thy gaze the event will now unfold. + +DE. Think not mine eye hath kept such careless guard, +Dear maids, that I could miss this moving train. +Herald, I bid thee hail, although so late +Appearing, if thou bringest health with thee! + +_Enter_ LICHAS, _with_ Captive Women. + +LICHAS. A happy welcome on a happy way, +As prosperous our achievement. Meet it is +Good words should greet bright actions, mistress mine! + +DE. Kind friend, first tell me what I first would know-- +Shall I receive my Heracles alive? + +LICH. I left him certainly alive and strong: +Blooming in health, not with disease oppressed. + +DE. In Greece, or in some barbarous country? Tell! + +LICH. Euboea's island hath a promontory, +Where to Cenaean Zeus he consecrates +Rich altars and the tribute of the ground. + +DE. Moved by an oracle, or from some vow? + +LICH. So vowed he when he conquered with the spear +The country of these women whom you see. + +DE. And who, by Heaven, are they? Who was their sire? +Their case is piteous, or eludes my thought. + +LICH. He took them for the service of the Gods +And his own house, when high Oechalia fell. + +DE. Was't then before that city he was kept +Those endless ages of uncounted time? + +LICH. Not so. The greater while he was detained +Among the Lydians, sold, as he declares, +To bondage. Nor be jealous of the word, +Since Heaven, my Queen, was author of the deed. +Enthralled so to Asian Omphale, +He, as himself avers, fulfilled his year. +The felt reproach whereof so chafed his soul, +He bound fierce curses on himself and sware +That,--children, wife and all,--he yet would bring +In captive chains the mover of this harm. +Nor did this perish like an idle word, +But, when the stain was off him, straight he drew +Allied battalions to assault the town +Of Eurytus, whom, sole of earthly powers, +He had noted as the source of his annoy, +Because, having received him in his hall +A guest of ancient days, he burst on him +With outrage of loud voice and villanous mind, +Saying, 'with his hand upon the unerring bow, +Oechalia's princes could o'ershoot his skill; +And born to bondage, he must quail beneath +His overlord'; lastly, to crown this cry, +When at a banquet he was filled with wine, +He flung him out of door. Whereat being wroth, +When Iphitus to the Tirynthian height +Followed the track where his brood-mares had strayed, +He, while the thought and eye of the man by chance +Were sundered, threw him from the tower-crowned cliff. +In anger for which deed the Olympian King, +Father of Gods and men, delivered him +To be a bond-slave, nor could brook the offence, +That of all lives he vanquished, this alone +Should have been ta'en by guile. For had he wrought +In open quittance of outrageous wrong, +Even Zeus had granted that his cause was just. +The braggart hath no favour even in Heaven. +Whence they, o'erweening with their evil tongue, +Are now all dwellers in the house of death, +Their ancient city a captive;--but these women +Whom thou beholdest, from their blest estate +Brought suddenly to taste of piteous woe, +Come to thy care. This task thy wedded lord +Ordained, and I, his faithful minister, +Seek to perform. But, for his noble self, +When with pure hands he hath done sacrifice +To his Great Father for the victory given, +Look for his coming, lady. This last word +Of all my happy speech is far most sweet. + +CH. Now surety of delight is thine, my Queen, +Part by report and part before thine eye. + +DE. Yea, now I learn this triumph of my lord, +Joy reigns without a rival in my breast. +This needs must run with that in fellowship. +Yet wise consideration even of good +Is flecked with fear of what reverse may come. +And I, dear friends, when I behold these maids, +Am visited with sadness deep and strange. +Poor friendless beings, in a foreign land +Wandering forlorn in homeless orphanhood! +Erewhile, free daughters of a freeborn race, +Now, snared in strong captivity for life. +O Zeus of battles, breaker of the war, +Ne'er may I see thee[2] turn against my seed +So cruelly; or, if thou meanest so, +Let me be spared that sorrow by my death! +Such fear in me the sight of these hath wrought. +Who art thou, of all damsels most distressed? +Single or child-bearing? Thy looks would say, +A maid, of no mean lineage. Lichas, tell, +Who is the stranger-nymph? Who gave her birth? +Who was her sire? Mine eye hath pitied her +O'er all, as she o'er all hath sense of woe. + +LICH. What know I? Why should'st thou demand? Perchance +Not lowest in the list of souls there born. + +DE. How if a princess, offspring of their King? + +LICH. I cannot tell. I did not question far. + +DE. Have none of her companions breathed her name? + +LICH. I brought them silently. I did not hear. + +DE. Yet speak it to us of thyself, poor maid! +'Tis sorrow not to know thee who thou art. + +LICH. She'll ne'er untie her tongue, if she maintain +An even tenor, since nor more nor less +Would she disclose; but, poor unfortunate! +With agonizing sobs and tears she mourns +This crushing sorrow, from the day she left +Her wind-swept home. Her case is cruel, sure,-- +And claims a privilege from all who feel. + +DE. Well, let her go, and pass beneath the roof +In peace, as she desires; nor let fresh pain +From me be added to her previous woe. +She hath enough already. Come, away! +Let's all within at once, that thou mayest speed +Thy journey, and I may order all things here. + [_Exit_ LICHAS, _with_ Captives, _into the house_. + DEANIRA _is about to follow them_ + +_Re-enter_ Messenger. + +MESS. Pause first there on the threshold, till you learn +(Apart from those) who 'tis you take within, +And more besides that you yet know not of, +Which deeply imports your knowing. Of all this +I throughly am informed. + +DE. What cause hast thou +Thus to arrest my going? + +MESS. Stand, and hear. +Not idle was my former speech, nor this. + +DE. Say, must we call them back in presence here, +Or would'st thou tell thy news to these and me? + +MESS. To thee and these I may, but let those be. + +DE. Well, they are gone. Let words declare thy drift. + +MESS. That man, in all that he hath lately said, +Hath sinned against the truth: or now he's false, +Or else unfaithful in his first report. + +DE. What? Tell me thy full meaning clearly forth. +That thou hast uttered is all mystery. + +MESS. I heard this herald say, while many thronged +To hearken, that this maiden was the cause, +Why lofty-towered Oechalia and her lord +Fell before Heracles, whom Love alone +Of heavenly powers had warmed to this emprise, +And not the Lydian thraldom or the tasks +Of rigorous Omphale, nor that wild fate +Of rock-thrown Iphitus. Now he thrusts aside +The Love-god, contradicting his first tale. + When he that was her sire could not be brought +To yield the maid for Heracles to hold +In love unrecognized, he framed erelong +A feud about some trifle, and set forth +In arms against this damsel's fatherland +(Where Eurytus, the herald said, was king) +And slew the chief her father; yea, and sacked +Their city. Now returning, as you see, +He sends her hither to his halls, no slave, +Nor unregarded, lady,--dream not so! +Since all his heart is kindled with desire. +I, O my Queen! thought meet to show thee all +The tale I chanced to gather from his mouth, +Which many heard as well as I, i' the midst +Of Trachis' market-place, and can confirm +My witness. I am pained if my plain speech +Sound harshly, but the honest truth I tell. + +DE. Ah me! Where am I? Whither am I fallen? +What hidden woe have I unwarily +Taken beneath my roof? O misery! +Was she unknown, as he that brought her sware? + +MESS. Nay, most distinguished both in birth and mien; +Called in her day of freedom Iole, +Eurytus' daughter,--of whose parentage, +Forsooth as ignorant, he ne'er would speak. + +CH. I curse not all the wicked, but the man +Whose secret practices deform his life. + +DE. Say, maidens, how must I proceed? The words +Now spoken have bewildered all my mind. + +CH. Go in and question Lichas, who perchance +Will tell the truth if you but tax him home. + +DE. I will; you counsel reasonably. + +MESS. And I, +Shall I bide here till thou com'st forth? Or how? + +DE. Remain. For see, without my sending for him, +He issueth from the palace of himself. + +_Enter_ LICHAS. + +LICH. What message must I carry to my lord? +Tell me, my Queen. I am going, as thou seest. + +DE. So slow in coming, and so quickly flown, +Ere one have time to talk with thee anew! + +LICH. What wouldst thou ask me? I am bent to hear. + +DE. And art thou bent on truth in the reply? + +LICH. By Heaven! in all that I have knowledge of. + +DE. Then tell me, who is she thou brought'st with thee? + +LICH. An islander. I cannot trace her stock. + +MESS. Look hither, man. Who is't to whom thou speakest? + +LICH. Why such a question? What is thine intent? + +MESS. Nay, start not, but make answer if thou knowest. + +LICH. To Deanira, Oeneus' queenly child, +Heracles' wife,--if these mine eyes be true,-- +My mistress. + +MESS. Ay, that is the very word +I longed to hear thee speak. Thy mistress, sayest? + +LICH. To whom I am bound. + +MESS. Hold there! What punishment +Wilt thou accept, if thou art found to be +Faithless to her? + +LICH. I faithless! What dark speech +Hast thou contrived? + +MESS. Not I at all. 'Tis thou +Dost wrap thy thoughts i' the dark. + +LICH. Well, I will go. +'Tis folly to have heard thee for so long. + +MESS. You go not till you answer one word more. + +LICH. One, or a thousand! You'll not stint, I see. + +MESS. Thou knowest the captive maid thou leddest home? + +LICH. I do. But wherefore ask? + +MESS. Did you not say +That she, on whom you look with ignorant eye, +Was Iole, the daughter of the King, +Committed to your charge? + +LICH. Where? Among whom? +What witness of such words will bear thee out? + +MESS. Many and sound. A goodly company +In Trachis' market-place heard thee speak this. + +LICH. Ay. +I said 'twas rumoured. But I could not give +My vague impression for advised report. + +MESS. Impression, quotha! Did you not on oath +Proclaim your captive for your master's bride? + +LICH. My master's bride! Dear lady, by the Gods, +Who is the stranger? for I know him not. + +MESS. One who was present where he heard thee tell, +How that whole city was subdued and taken, +Not for the bondage to the Lydian girl, +But through the longing passion for this maid. + +LICH. Dear lady, let the fellow be removed. +To prate with madmen is mere foolishness. + +DE. Nay, I entreat thee by His name, whose fire +Lightens down Oeta's topmost glen, be not +A niggard of the truth. Thou tell'st thy tale +To no weak woman, but to one who knows +Mankind are never constant to one joy. +Whoso would buffet Love, aspires in vain. +For Love leads even Immortals at his will, +And me. Then how not others, like to me? +'Twere madness, sure, in me to blame my lord +When this hath caught him, or the woman there, +His innocent accomplice in a thing, +No shame to either, and no harm to me. +It is not so. But if from him thou learnest +The lore of falsehood, it were best unlearnt; +Or if the instruction comes of thine own thought, +Such would-be kindness doth not prove thee kind. +Then tell me all the truth. To one free-born +The name of liar is a hateful lot. +And thou canst not be hid. Thy news was heard +By many, who will tell me. If thou fearest, +Thou hast no cause--for doubtfulness is pain, +But to know all, what harm? His loves ere now +Were they not manifold? And none hath borne +Reproach or evil word from me. She shall not, +Though his new passion were as strong as death; +Since most mine eye hath pitied her, because +Her beauty was the ruin of her life, +And all unweeting, she her own bright land, +Poor hapless one! hath ravaged and enslaved.-- +Let that be as it must. But for thy part, +Though false to others, be still true to me. + +CH. 'Tis fairly said. Comply. Thou ne'er wilt blame +Her faithfulness, and thou wilt earn our loves. + +LICH. Yea, dear my Queen, now I have seen thee hold +Thy mortal wishes within mortal bound +So meekly, I will freely tell thee all. +It is as he avers. This maiden's love, +Piercing through Heracles, was the sole cause, +Why her Oechalia, land of plenteous woe, +Was made the conquest of his spear. And he-- +For I dare so far clear him--never bade +Concealment or denial. But myself, +Fearing the word might wound thy queenly heart, +Sinned, if thou count such tenderness a sin. +But now that all is known, for both your sakes, +His, and thine own no less, look favouringly +Upon the woman, and confirm the word +Thou here hast spoken in regard to her:-- +For he, whose might is in all else supreme, +Is wholly overmastered by her love. + +DE. Yea, so my mind is bent. I will do so. +I will not, in a bootless strife 'gainst Heaven, +Augment my misery with self-sought ill. +Come, go we in, that thou may'st bear from me +Such message as is meet, and also carry +Gifts, such as are befitting to return +For gifts new-given. Thou ought'st not to depart +Unladen, having brought so much with thee. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS. + Victorious in her might, I 1 + The Queen of soft delight + Still ranges onward with triumphant sway. + What she from Kronos' son + And strong Poseidon won, + And Pluto, King of Night, I durst not say. + But who, to earn this bride, + Came forth in sinewy pride + To strive, or e'er the nuptial might be known + With fearless heart I tell + What heroes wrestled well, + With showering blows, and dust in clouds upthrown. + + One was a river bold, I 2 + Horn-crowned, with tramp fourfold, + Bull Acheloues, Acarnania's Fear; + And one from Bacchus' town, + Own son of Zeus, came down, + With brandished mace, bent bow, and barbed spear. + Who then in battle brunt, + Together, front to front, + Hurled, eager both to win the beauteous prize; + And Cypris 'mid the fray + Alone, that dreadful day, + Sate umpire, holding promise in her eyes. + + Then clashed the fist, then clanged the bow; II + Then horns gave crashing blow for blow, + Whilst, as they clung, + The twining hip throw both essay + And hurtling foreheads' fearful play, + And groans from each were wrung. + + But the tender fair one far away + Sate watching with an eye of piteous cheer + (A mother's heart will heed the thing I say,) + Till won by him who freed her from her fear. + Sudden she leaves her mother's gentle side, + Borne through the waste, our hero's tender bride. + +_Enter_ DEANIRA. + +DE. Dear friends, while yonder herald in the house +Holds converse with the captives ere he go, +I have stol'n forth to you, partly to tell +The craft my hand hath compassed, and in part, +To crave your pity for my wretchedness. +For I have taken to my hearth a maid,-- +And yet, methinks, no maiden any more, +Like some fond shipmaster, taking on board +A cargo fraught with treason to my heart. +And now we two are closed in one embrace +Beneath one coverlet. Such generous meed +For faith in guarding home this dreary while +Hath the kind Heracles our trusty spouse, +Sent in return! Yet, oft as he hath caught +This same distemperature, I know not how +To harbour indignation against him. +But who that is a woman could endure +To dwell with her, both married to one man? +One bloom is still advancing, one doth fade. +The budding flower is cropped, the full-blown head +Is left to wither, while love passeth by +Unheeding. Wherefore I am sore afraid +He will be called my husband, but her mate, +For she is younger. Yet no prudent wife +Would take this angerly, as I have said. +But, dear ones, I will tell you of a way, +Whereof I have bethought me, to prevent +This heart-break. I had hidden of long time +In a bronze urn the ancient Centaur's gift, +Which I, when a mere girl, culled from the wound +Of hairy-breasted Nessus in his death. +He o'er Evenus' rolling depths, for hire, +Ferried wayfarers on his arm, not plying +Or rowing-boat, or canvas-winged bark. +Who, when with Heracles, a new-made bride, +I followed by my father's sending forth, +Shouldering me too, in the mid-stream, annoyed +With wanton touch. And I cried out; and he, +Zeus' son, turned suddenly, and from his bow +Sent a wing'd shaft, that whizzed into his chest +To the lungs. Then the weird Thing, with dying voice +Spake to me:--'Child of aged Oeneues, +Since thou wert my last burden, thou shalt win +Some profit from mine act, if thou wilt do +What now I bid thee. With a careful hand +Collect and bear away the clotted gore +That clogs my wound, e'en where the monster snake +Had dyed the arrow with dark tinct of gall; +And thou shalt have this as a charm of soul +For Heracles, that never through the eye +Shall he receive another love than thine.' +Whereof bethinking me, for since his death +I kept it in a closet locked with care, +I have applied it to this robe, with such +Addition as his living voice ordained.-- +The thing is done. No criminal attempts +Could e'er be mine. Far be they from my thought, +As I abhor the woman who conceives them! +But if by any means through gentle spells +And bonds on Heracles' affection, we +May triumph o'er this maiden in his heart, +My scheme is perfected. Unless you deem +Mine action wild. If so, I will desist. + +CH. If any ground of confidence approve +Thine act, we cannot check thy counsel here. + +DE. My confidence is grounded on belief, +Though unconfirmed as yet by actual proof. + +CH. Well, do it and try. Assurance cannot come +Till action bring experience after it. + +DE. The truth will soon be known. The man e'en now +Is coming forth, and quickly will be there. +Screen ye but well my counsel. Doubtful deeds, +Wrapt close, will not deliver us to shame. + +_Enter_ LICHAS. + +LICH. Daughter of Oeneus, tell me thy commands. +Already time rebukes our tardiness. + +DE. Even that hath been my care, Lichas, while thou +Wert talking to the stranger-maids within, +That thou shouldst take for me this finewoven web, +A present from these fingers to my lord. +And when thou giv'st it, say that none of men +Must wear it on his shoulders before him; +And neither light of sun may look upon it, +Nor holy temple-court, nor household flame, +Till he in open station 'fore the Gods +Display it on a day when bulls are slaughtered. +So once I vowed, that should I ever see +Or hear his safe return, I would enfold +His glorious person in this robe, and show +To all the Gods in doing sacrifice +Him a fresh worshipper in fresh array.-- +The truth hereof he will with ease descry +Betokened on this treasure-guarding seal.-- +Now go, and be advised, of this in chief, +To act within thine office; then of this, +To bear thee so, that from his thanks and mine +Meeting in one, a twofold grace may spring. + +LICH. If this my Hermes-craft be firm and sure, +Then never will I fail thee, O my Queen! +But I will show the casket as it is +To whom I bear it, and in faithfulness +Add all the words thou sendest in fit place. + +DE. Go, then, at once. Thou hast full cognizance +How things within the palace are preserved? + +LICH. I know, and will declare. There is no flaw. + +DE. Methinks thou knowest too, for thou hast seen, +My kind reception of the stranger-maid? + +LICH. I saw, and was amazed with heart-struck joy. + +DE. What more is there to tell?--Too rash, I fear, +Were thy report of longing on my part, +Till we can learn if we be longed for there. [_Exeunt severally_ + +CHORUS. + O ye that haunt the strand I 1 + Where ships in quiet land +Near Oeta's height and the warm rock-drawn well, +And ye round Melis' inland gulf who dwell, +Worshipping her who wields the golden wand,-- +(There Hellas' wisest meet in council strong): + Soon shall the flute arise + With sound of glad surprise, +Thrilling your sense with no unwelcome song, +But tones that to the harp of Heavenly Muse belong. + + Zeus' and Alcmena's son,-- I 2 + All deeds of glory done,-- +Speeds now triumphant to his home, whom we +Twelve weary months of blind expectancy +Lost in vast distance, from our country gone. +While, sadly languishing, his loving wife, + Still flowing down with tears, + Pined with unnumbered fears. +But Ares, lately stung to furious strife, +Frees him for ever[3] from the toilsome life. + + O let him come to-day! II + Ne'er may his vessel stay, +But glide with feathery sweep of many an oar, +Till from his altar by yon island shore +Even to our town he wind his prosperous way, + In mien returning mild, + And inly reconciled, +With that anointing in his heart ingrained, +Which the dark Centaur's wizard lips ordained. + +_Enter_ DEANIRA. + +DE. O how I fear, my friends, lest all too far +I have ventured in my action of to-day! + +CH. What ails thee, Deanira, Oeneus' child? + +DE. I know not, but am haunted by a dread, +Lest quickly I be found to have performed +A mighty mischief, through bright hopes betrayed. + +CH. Thou dost not mean thy gift to Heracles? + +DE. Indeed I do. Now I perceive how fond +Is eagerness, where actions are obscure. + +CH. Tell, if it may be told, thy cause of fear. + +DE. A thing is come to pass, which should I tell, +Will strike you with strange wonder when you learn. +For, O my friends, the stuff wherewith I dressed +That robe, a flock of soft and milkwhite wool, +Is shrivelled out of sight, not gnawn by tooth +Of any creature here, but, self-consumed, +Frittered and wasting on the courtyard-stones. + To let you know the circumstance at full, +I will speak on. Of all the Centaur-Thing, +When labouring in his side with the fell point +O' the shaft, enjoined me, I had nothing lost, +But his vaticination in my heart +Remained indelible, as though engraved +With pen of iron upon brass. 'Twas thus:-- +I was to keep this unguent closely hid +In dark recesses, where no heat of fire +Or warming ray might reach it, till with fresh +Anointing I addressed it to an end. +So I had done. And now this was to do, +Within my chamber covertly I spread +The ointment with piece of wool, a tuft +Pulled from a home-bred sheep; and, as ye saw, +I folded up my gift and packed it close +In hollow casket from the glaring sun. +But, entering in, a fact encounters me +Past human wit to fathom with surmise. +For, as it happened, I had tossed aside +The bit of wool I worked with, carelessly, +Into the open daylight, 'mid the blaze +Of Helios' beam. And, as it kindled warm, +It fell away to nothing, crumbled small, +Like dust in severing wood by sawyers strewn. +So, on the point of vanishing, it lay. +But, from the place where it had lain, brake forth +A frothy scum in clots of seething foam, +Like the rich draught in purple vintage poured +From Bacchus' vine upon the thirsty ground. +And I, unhappy, know not toward what thought +To turn me, but I see mine act is dire. +For wherefore should the Centaur, for what end, +Show kindness to the cause for whom he died? +That cannot be. But seeking to destroy +His slayer, he cajoled me. This I learn +Too late, by sad experience, for no good. +And, if I err not now, my hapless fate +Is all alone to be his murderess. +For, well I know, the shaft that made the wound +Gave pain to Cheiron, who was more than man; +And wheresoe'er it falls, it ravageth +All the wild creatures of the world. And now +This gory venom blackly spreading bane +From Nessus' angry wound, must it not cause +The death of Heracles? I think it must. + Yet my resolve is firm, if aught harm him, +My death shall follow in the self-same hour. +She cannot bear to live in evil fame, +Who cares to have a nature pure from ill. + +CH. Horrid mischance must needs occasion fear. +But Hope is not condemned before the event. + +DE. In ill-advised proceeding not even Hope +Remains to minister a cheerful mind. + +CH. Yet to have erred unwittingly abates +The fire of wrath; and thou art in this case. + +DE. So speaks not he who hath a share of sin, +But who is clear of all offence at home. + +CH. 'Twere well to say no more, unless thou hast aught +To impart to thine own son: for he is here, +Who went erewhile to find his father forth. + +HYLLUS _(re-entering)_. +O mother, mother! +I would to heaven one of three things were true: +Either that thou wert dead, or, living, wert +No mother to me, or hadst gained a mind +Furnished with better thoughts than thou hast now! + +DE. My son! what canst thou so mislike in me? + +HYL. I tell thee thou this day hast been the death +Of him that was thy husband and my sire. + +DE. What word hath passed thy lips? my child, my child! + +HYL. A word that must be verified. For who +Can make the accomplished fact as things undone? + +DE. Alas, my son! what saidst thou? Who hath told +That I have wrought a deed so full of woe? + +HYL. 'Twas I myself that saw with these mine eyes +My father's heavy state:--no hearsay word. + +DE. And where didst thou come near him and stand by? + +HYL. Art thou to hear it? On, then, with my tale! +When after sacking Eurytus' great city +He marched in triumph with first-fruits of war,-- +There is a headland, last of long Euboea, +Surf-beat Cenaeum,--where to his father Zeus +He dedicates high altars and a grove. +There first I saw him, gladdened from desire. +And when he now addressed him to the work +Of various sacrifice, the herald Lichas +Arrived from home, bearing thy fatal gift, +The deadly robe: wherewith invested straight, +As thou hadst given charge, he sacrificed +The firstlings of the spoil, twelve bulls entire, +Each after each. But the full count he brought +Was a clear hundred of all kinds of head. + Then the all-hapless one commenced his prayer +In solemn gladness for the bright array. +But presently, when from the holy things, +And from the richness of the oak-tree core, +There issued flame mingled with blood, a sweat +Rose on his flesh, and close to every limb +Clung, like stone-drapery from the craftsman's hand, +The garment, glued unto his side. Then came +The tearing pangs within his bones, and then +The poison feasted like the venomed tooth +Of murderous basilisk.--When this began, +He shouted on poor Lichas, none to blame +For thy sole crime, 'What guile is here, thou knave? +What was thy fraud in fetching me this robe?' +He, all-unknowing, in an evil hour +Declared his message, that the gift was thine. +Whereat the hero, while the shooting spasm +Had fastened on the lungs, seized him by the foot +Where the ankle turns i' the socket, and, with a thought, +Hurl'd on a surf-vex'd reef that showed i' the sea: +And rained the grey pulp from the hair, the brain +Being scattered with the blood. Then the great throng +Saddened their festival with piteous wail +For one in death and one in agony. +And none had courage to approach my sire,-- +Convulsed upon the ground, then tossed i' the air +With horrid yells and crying, till the cliffs +Echoed round, the mountain-promontories +Of Locris, and Euboea's rugged shore. +Wearied at length with flinging on the earth, +And shrieking oft with lamentable cry, +Cursing the fatal marriage with thyself +The all-wretched, and the bond to Oeneus' house, +That prize that was the poisoner of his peace, +He lifted a wild glance above the smoke +That hung around, and 'midst the crowd of men +Saw me in tears, and looked on me and said, +'O son, come near; fly not from my distress, +Though thou shouldst be consumed in my death, +But lift and bear me forth; and, if thou mayest, +Set me where no one of mankind shall see me. +But if thy heart withhold thee, yet convey me +Out of this land as quickly as ye may. +Let me not die where I am now.' We then, +Thus urgently commanded, laid him down +Within our bark, and hardly to this shore +Rowed him convulsed and roaring.--Presently, +He will appear, alive or lately dead. + Such, mother, is the crime thou hast devised +And done against our sire, wherefore let Right +And Vengeance punish thee!--May I pray so? +I may: for thou absolv'st me by thy deed, +Thou that hast slain the noblest of the Earth, +Thy spouse, whose like thou ne'er wilt see again. [_Exit_ DEANIRA. + +CH. Why steal'st thou forth in silence? Know'st thou not +Thy silence argues thine accuser's plea? + +HYL. Let her go off. Would that a sudden flood +Might sweep her far and swiftly from mine eye! +Why fondle vainly the fair-sounding name +Of mother, when her acts are all unmotherly? +Let her begone for me: and may she find +Such joy as she hath rendered to my sire! [_Exit_ HYLLUS + +CHORUS. + See where falls the doom, of old I 1 + By the unerring Voice foretold,-- + 'When twelve troublous years have rolled, + Then shall end your long desire: + Toil on toil no more shall tire + The offspring of the Eternal Sire.' + Lo! the destined Hour is come! + Lo! it hath brought its burden home. + For when the eyes have looked their last + How should sore labour vex again? + How, when the powers of will and thought are past, + Should life be any more enthralled to pain? + + And if Nessus' withering shroud, I 2 + Wrought by destiny and craft, + Steep him in a poisonous cloud. + Steaming from the venomed shaft, + Which to Death in hideous lair + The many-wreathed Hydra bare, + How shall he another day + Feel the glad warmth of Helios' ray?-- + Enfolded by the Monster-Thing + Of Lerna, while the cruel sting + Of the shagg'd Centaur's murderous-guileful tongue + Breaks forth withal to do him painful wrong. + + And she, poor innocent, who saw II 1 + Checkless advancing to the gate + A mighty harm unto her state,-- + This rash young bridal without fear of law,-- + Gave not her will to aught that caused this woe, + But since it came through that strange mind's conceiving,-- + That ruined her in meeting,--deeply grieving, + She mourns with dewy tears in tenderest flow. + The approaching hour appeareth great with woe: + Some guile-born misery doth Fate foreshow. + + The springs of sorrow are unbound, II 2 + And such an agony disclose, + As never from the hands of foes + To afflict the life of Heracles was found. + O dark with battle-stains, world-champion spear, + That from Oechalia's highland leddest then + This bride that followed swiftly in thy train, + How fatally overshadowing was thy fear! + But these wild sorrows all too clearly come + From Love's dread minister[4], disguised and dumb. + +CH. 1. + Am I a fool, or do I truly hear + Lament new-rising from our master's home? + Tell! + +CH. 2. + Clearly from within a wailing voice + Peals piteously. The house hath some fresh woe. + +CH. 3. + Mark! + How strangely, with what cloud upon her brow, + Yon aged matron with her tidings moves! + +_Enter_ Nurse. + +NURSE. Ah! mighty, O my daughters! was the grief +Sprung from the gift to Heracles conveyed! + +LEADER OF CH. What new thing is befallen? Why speak'st thou so? + +NUR. Our Queen hath found her latest journey's end. +Even now she is gone, without the help of feet. + +CH. Not dead? + +NUR. You know the whole. + +CH. Dead! hapless Queen! + +NUR. The truth hath twice been told. + +CH. O tell us how! +What was her death, poor victim of dire woe? + +NUR. Most ruthless was the deed. + +CH. Say, woman, say! +What was the sudden end? + +NUR. Herself she slew. + +CH. What rage, what madness, clutched +The mischief-working brand? +How could her single thought +Contrive the accomplishment of death on death? + +NUR. Chill iron stopped the sources of her breath. + +CH. And thou, poor helpless crone, didst see this done? + +NUR. Yea, I stood near and saw. + +CH. How was it? Tell! + +NUR. With her own hand this violence was given. + +CH. What do I hear? + +NUR. The certainty of truth. + +CH. A child is come, +From this new bridal that hath rushed within, +A fresh-born Fury of woe! + +NUR. Too true. But hadst thou been at hand to see +Her action, pity would have wrung thy soul. + +CH. Could this be ventured by a woman's hand? + +NUR. Ay, and in dreadful wise, as thou shalt hear. +When all alone she had gone within the gate, +And passing through the court beheld her boy +Spreading the couch that should receive his sire, +Ere he returned to meet him,--out of sight +She hid herself, and fell at the altar's foot, +And loudly cried that she was left forlorn; +And, taking in her touch each household thing +That formerly she used, poor lady, wept +O'er all; and then went ranging through the rooms, +Where, if there caught her eye the well-loved form +Of any of her household, she would gaze +And weep aloud, accusing her own fate +And her abandoned lot, childless henceforth! +When this was ended, suddenly I see her +Fly to the hero's room of genial rest. +With unsuspected gaze o'ershadowed near, +I watched, and saw her casting on the bed +The finest sheets of all. When that was done, +She leapt upon the couch where they had lain +And sat there in the midst. And the hot flood +Burst from her eyes before she spake:--'Farewell, +My bridal bed, for never more shalt thou +Give me the comfort I have known thee give.' +Then with tight fingers she undid her robe, +Where the brooch lay before the breast, and bared +All her left arm and side. I, with what speed +Strength ministered, ran forth to tell her son +The act she was preparing. But meanwhile, +Ere we could come again, the fatal blow +Fell, and we saw the wound. And he, her boy, +Seeing, wept aloud. For now the hapless youth +Knew that himself had done this in his wrath, +Told all too late i' the house, how she had wrought +Most innocently, from the Centaur's wit. +So now the unhappy one, with passionate words +And cries and wild embracings of the dead, +Groaned forth that he had slain her with false breath +Of evil accusation, and was left +Orphaned of both, his mother and his sire. + Such is the state within. What fool is he +That counts one day, or two, or more to come? +To-morrow is not, till the present day +In fair prosperity have passed away. [_Exit_ + +CHORUS. + Which shall come first in my wail, I 1 + Which shall be last to prevail, + Is a doubt that will never be done. + + Trouble at home may be seen, I 2 + Trouble is looked for with teen; + And to have and to look for are one. + + Would some fair wind II 1 + But waft me forth to roam + Far from the native region of my home, + Ere death me find, oppressed with wild affright + Even at the sudden sight + Of him, the valiant son of Zeus most High! + Before the house, they tell, he fareth nigh, + A wonder beyond thought, + With torment unapproachable distraught. + + Hark! ... II 2 + The cause then of my cry + Was coming all too nigh: + (Doth the clear nightingale lament for nought?) + Some step of stranger folk is this way brought. + As for a friend they love + Heavy and slow with noiseless feet they move. + Which way? which way? Ah me! behold him come. + His pallid lips are dumb. + Dead, or at rest in sleep? What shall I say? + [HERACLES _is brought in on a litter, accompanied + by_ HYLLUS _and an_ Old Man + +HYL. Oh, woe is me! + My father, piteous woe for thee! + Oh, whither shall I turn my thought! Ah me! + +OLD M. Hush! speak not, O my child, + Lest torment fierce and wild + Rekindle in thy father's rugged breast, + And break this rest + Where now his life is held at point to fall. + With firm lips clenched refrain thy voice through all. + +HYL. Yet tell me, doth he live, + Old sir? + +OLD M. Wake not the slumberer, + Nor kindle and revive + The terrible recurrent power of pain, + My son! + +HYL. My foolish words are done, + But my full heart sinks 'neath the heavy strain. + +HERACLES. O Father, who are these? + What countrymen? Where am I? What far land + Holds me in pain that ceaseth not? Ah me! + Again that pest is rending me. Pain, pain! + +OLD M. Now thou may'st know + 'Twas better to have lurked in silent shade + And not thus widely throw + The slumber from his eyelids and his head. + +HYL. I could not brook + All speechless on his misery to look. + +MONODY. + +HER. O altar on the Euboean strand, + High-heaped with offerings from my hand, + What meed for lavish gifts bestowed + From thy new sanctuary hath flowed! + Father of Gods! thy cruel power + Hath foiled me with an evil blight. + Ah! would mine eyes had closed in night + Ere madness in a fatal hour + Had burst upon them with a blaze, + No help or soothing once allays! + + What hand to heal, what voice to charm, + Can e'er dispel this hideous harm? + Whose skill save thine, + Monarch Divine? + Mine eyes, if such I saw, + Would hail him from afar with trembling awe. + Ah! ah! + O vex me not, touch me not, leave me to rest, + To sleep my last sleep on Earth's gentle breast. + You touch me, you press me, you turn me again, + You break me, you kill me! O pain! O pain! + You have kindled the pang that had slumbered still. + It comes, it hath seized me with tyrannous will! + + Where are ye, men, whom over Hellas wide + This arm hath freed, and o'er the ocean-tide, + And through rough brakes, from every monstrous thing? + Yet now in mine affliction none will bring + A sword to aid, a fire to quell this fire, + O most unrighteous! nor to my desire + Will come and quench the hateful life I hold + With mortal stroke! Ah! is there none so bold? + +OLD M. Son of our hero, this hath mounted past + My feeble force to cope with. Take him thou! + Fresher thine eye and more the hope thou hast + Than mine to save him. + +HYL. I support him now + Thus with mine arm: but neither fleshly vest + Nor inmost spirit can I lull to rest + From torture. None may dream + To wield this power, save he, the King supreme. + +HER. Son! + Where art thou to lift me and hold me aright? + It tears me, it kills me, it rushes in might, + This cruel, devouring, unconquered pain + Shoots forth to consume me. Again! again! + O Fate! O Athena!--O son, at my word + Have pity and slay me with merciful sword! + + Pity thy father, boy; with sharp relief + Smite on my breast, and heal the wrathful grief + Wherewith thy mother, God-abandoned wife, + Hath wrought this ruin on her husband's life. + O may I see her falling, even so + As she hath thrown me, to like depth of woe! + Sweet Hades, with swift death, + Brother of Zeus, release my suffering breath! + +CH. Horror hath caught me as I hear this, woe, +Racking our mighty one with mightier pain. + +HER. Many hot toils and hard beyond report, +With sturdy thews and sinews I have borne, +But no such labour hath the Thunderer's wife +Or sour Eurystheus ever given, as this, +Which Oeneus' daughter of the treacherous eye +Hath fastened on my back, this amply-woven +Net of the Furies, that is breaking me. +For, glued unto my side, it hath devoured +My flesh to the bone, and lodging in the lungs +It drains the vital channels, and hath drunk +The fresh life-blood, and ruins all my frame, +Foiled in the tangle of a viewless bond. +Yet me nor War-host, nor Earth's giant brood, +Nor Centaur's monstrous violence could subdue, +Nor Hellas, nor the Stranger, nor all lands +Where I have gone, cleansing the world from harms. +But a soft woman without manhood's strain +Alone and weaponless hath conquered me. +Son, let me know thee mine true-born, nor rate +Thy mother's claim beyond thy sire's, but bring +Thyself from out the chambers to my hand +Her body that hath borne thee, that my heart +May be assured, if lesser than my pain +It will distress thee to behold her limbs +With righteous torment agonized and torn. +Nay, shrink not, son, but pity me, whom all +May pity--me, who, like a tender girl, +Am heard to weep aloud! This none could say +He knew in me of old; for, murmuring not, +I went with evil fortune, silent still. +Now, such a foe hath found the woman in me! + Ay, but come near; stand by me, and behold +What cause I have for crying. Look but here! +Here is the mystery unveiled. O see! +Ye people, gaze on this poor quivering flesh, +Look with compassion on my misery! +Ah me! +Ah! ah! Again! +Even now the hot convulsion of disease +Shoots through my side, and will not let me rest +From this fierce exercise of wearing woe. +Take me, O King of Night! +O sudden thunderstroke. +Smite me! O sire, transfix me with the dart +Of thy swift lightning! Yet again that fang +Is tearing; it hath blossomed forth anew, +It soars up to the height! + + O breast and back, +O shrivelling arms and hands, ye are the same +That crushed the dweller of the Nemean wild, +The lion unapproachable and rude, +The oxherd's plague, and Hydra of the lake +Of Lerna, and the twi-form prancing throng +Of Centaurs,--insolent, unsociable, +Lawless, ungovernable:--the tusked pest +Of Erymanthine glades; then underground +Pluto's three-headed cur--a perilous fear, +Born from the monster-worm; and, on the verge +Of Earth, the dragon, guarding fruits of gold. +These toils and others countless I have tried, +And none hath triumphed o'er me. But to-day, +Jointless and riven to tatters, I am wrecked +Thus utterly by imperceptible woe; +I, proudly named Alcmena's child, and His +Who reigns in highest heaven, the King supreme! + Ay, but even yet, I tell ye, even from here, +Where I am nothingness and cannot move, +She who hath done this deed shall feel my power. +Let her come near, that, mastered by my might, +She may have this to tell the world, that, dying, +As living, I gave punishment to wrong. + +CH. O Hellas, how I grieve for thy distress! +How thou wilt mourn in losing him we see! + +HYL. My father, since thy silence gives me leave, +Still hear me patiently, though in thy pain! +For my request is just. Lend me thy mind +Less wrathfully distempered than 'tis now; +Else thou canst never know, where thou art keen +With vain resentment and with vain desire + +HER. Speak what thou wilt and cease, for I in pain +Catch not the sense of thy mysterious talk + +HYL. I come to tell thee of my mother's case, +And her involuntary unconscious fault. + +HER. Base villain! hast thou breathed thy mother's name, +Thy father's murderess, in my hearing too! + +HYL. Her state requires not silence, but full speech. + +HER. Her faults in former time might well be told. + +HYL. So might her fault to day, couldst thou but know. + +HER. Speak, but beware base words disgrace thee not. + +HYL. List! She is dead even now with new-given wound. + +HER. By whom? Thy words flash wonder through my woe. + +HYL. Her own hand slaughtered her, no foreign stroke. + +HER. Wretch! to have reft this office from my hands. + +HYL. Even your rash spirit were softened, if you knew. + +HER. This bodes some knavery. But declare thy thought! + +HYL. She erred with good intent. The whole is said. + +HER. Good, O thou villain, to destroy thy sire! + +HYL. When she perceived that marriage in her home, +She erred, supposing to enchain thy love. + +HER. Hath Trachis a magician of such might? + +HYL. Long since the Centaur Nessus moved her mind +To work this charm for heightening thy desire. + +HER. O horror, thou art here! I am no more. +My day is darkened, boy! Undone, undone! +I see our plight too plainly. woe is me! +Come, O my son! --thou hast no more a father,-- +Call to me all the brethren of thy blood, +And poor Alcmena, wedded all in vain +Unto the Highest, that ye may hear me tell +With my last breath what prophecies I know. + +HYL. Thy mother is not here, but by the shore +Of Tiryns hath obtained a dwelling-place; +And of thy sons, some she hath with her there, +And some inhabit Thebe's citadel. +But we who are with thee, sire, if there be aught +That may by us be done, will hear, and do. + +HER. Then hearken thou unto this task, and show +If worthily thou art reputed mine. +Now is time to prove thee. My great father +Forewarned me long ago that I should die +By none who lived and breathed, but from the will +Of one now dwelling in the house of death. +And so this Centaur, as the voice Divine +Then prophesied, in death hath slain me living. +And in agreement with that ancient word +I now interpret newer oracles +Which I wrote down on going within the grove +Of the hill-roving and earth-couching Selli,-- +Dictated to me by the mystic tongue +Innumerous, of my Father's sacred tree; +Declaring that my ever instant toils +Should in the time that new hath being and life +End and release me. And I look'd for joy. +But the true meaning plainly was my death.-- +No labour is appointed for the dead.-- +Then, since all argues one event, my son, +Once more thou must befriend me, and not wait +For my voice goading thee, but of thyself +Submit and second my resolve, and know +Filial obedience for thy noblest rule. + +HYL. I will obey thee, father, though my heart +Sinks heavily in approaching such a theme. + +HER. Before aught else, lay thy right hand in mine. + +HYL. Why so intent on this assurance, sire? + +HER. Give it at once and be not froward, boy. + +HYL. There is my hand: I will gainsay thee nought. + +HER. Swear by the head of him who gave me life. + +HYL. Tell me the oath, and I will utter it. + +HER. Swear thou wilt do the thing I bid thee do. + +HYL. I swear, and make Zeus witness of my troth. + +HER. But if you swerve, pray that the curse may come. + +HYL. It will not come for swerving:--but I pray. + +HER. Now, dost thou know on Oeta's topmost height +The crag of Zeus? + +HYL. I know it, and full oft +Have stood there sacrificing. + +HER. Then even there, +With thine own hand uplifting this my body, +Taking what friends thou wilt, and having lopped +Much wood from the deep-rooted oak and rough +Wild olive, lay me on the gathered pile, +And burn all with the touch of pine-wood flame. +Let not a tear of mourning dim thine eye; +But silent, with dry gaze, if thou art mine, +Perform it. Else my curse awaits thee still +To weigh thee down when I am lost in night. + +HYL. How cruel, O my father, is thy tongue! + +HER. 'Tis peremptory. Else, if thou refuse, +Be called another's and be no more mine. + +HYL. Alas that thou shouldst challenge me to this, +To be thy murderer, guilty of thy blood! + +HER. Not I, in sooth: but healer of my pain, +And sole preserver from a life of woe. + +HYL. How can it heal to burn thee on the pyre? + +HER. If this act frighten thee, perform the rest. + +HYL. Mine arms shall not refuse to carry thee. + +HER. And wilt thou gather the appointed wood? + +HYL. So my hand fire it not. In all but this, +Not scanting labour, I will do my part. + +HER. Enough. 'Tis well. And having thus much given +Add one small kindness to a list so full. + +HYL. How great soe'er it were, it should be done. + +HER. The maid of Eurytus thou knowest, I ween. + +HYL. Of Iole thou speak'st, or I mistake. + +HER. Of her. This then is all I urge, my son. +When I am dead, if thou wouldst show thy duty, +Think of thine oath to me, and, on my word, +Make her thy wife: nor let another man +Take her, but only thou; since she hath lain +So near this heart. Obey me, O my boy! +And be thyself the maker of this bond. +To spurn at trifles after great things given, +Were to confound the meed already won. + +HYL. Oh, anger is not right, when men are ill! +But who could bear to see thee in this mind? + +HER. You murmur, as you meant to disobey. + +HYL. How can I do it, when my mother's death +And thy sad state sprang solely from this girl? +Who, not possessed with furies, could choose this? +Far better, father, for me too to die, +Than to live still with my worst enemy. + +HER. This youth withdraws his reverence in my death. +But, if thou yield'st not to thy father's best, +The curse from Heaven shall dog thy footsteps still. + +HYL. Ah! thou wilt tell me that thy pain is come. + +HER. Yea, for thou wak'st the torment that had slept. + +HYL. Ay me! how cross and doubtful is my way! + +HER. Because you will reject your father's word. + +HYL. Must I be taught impiety from thee? + +HER. It is not impious to content my heart. + +HYL. Then you require this with an absolute will? + +HER. And bid Heaven witness to my strong command. + +HYL. Then I will do it, for the act is thine. +I will not cast it off. Obeying thee, +My sire, the Gods will ne'er reprove my deed. + +HER. Thou endest fairly. Now, then, O my son, +Add the performance swiftly, that, before +Some spasm or furious onset of my pain +Have seized me, ye may place me on the pyre. +Come, loiter not, but lift me. Now my end +Is near, the last cessation of my woe. + +HYL. Since thy command is urgent, O my sire! +We tarry not, but bear thee to the pyre. + +HER. Stubborn heart, ere yet again + Wakes the fierce rebound of pain, + While the evil holds aloof, + Thou, with bit of diamond proof, + Curb thy cry, with forced will + Seeming to do gladly still! + +HYL. Lift him, men, and hate not me + For the evil deeds ye see, + Since the Heavens' relentless sway + Recks not of the righteous way. + He who gave life and doth claim + From his seed a Father's name + Can behold this hour of blame. + Though the future none can tell, + Yet the present is not well: + Sore for him who bears the blow, + Sad for us who feel his woe, + Shameful to the Gods, we trow. + +CH. Maidens from the palace-hall, + Come ye forth, too, at our call! + Mighty deaths beyond belief, + Many an unknown form of grief, + Ye have seen to-day; and nought + But the power of Zeus hath wrought. + + * * * * * + + + + + PHILOCTETES + + + THE PERSONS + +ODYSSEUS. +NEOPTOLEMUS. +CHORUS _of Mariners_. +PHILOCTETES. +Messenger, _disguised as a Merchantman_. +HERACLES, _appearing from the sky_. + + +SCENE. A desert shore of the Island of Lemnos. + + + + +It was fated that Troy should be taken by Neoptolemus, the son of +Achilles, assisted by the bow of Heracles in the hands of Philoctetes. + +Now Philoctetes had been rejected by the army because of a trouble in +his foot, which made his presence with them insufferable; and had been +cast away by Odysseus on the island of Lemnos. + +But when the decree of fate was revealed by prophecy, Odysseus +undertook to bring Philoctetes back, and took with him Neoptolemus, +whose ambition could only be gratified through the return of +Philoctetes with the bow. + +Philoctetes was resolutely set against returning, and at the opening +of the drama Neoptolemus is persuaded by Odysseus to take him with +guile. + +But when Philoctetes appears, the youth's ingenuous nature is so +wrought upon through pity and remorse, that his sympathy and native +truthfulness at length overcome his ambition. + +When the inward sacrifice is complete, Heracles appears from heaven, +and by a few words changes the mind of Philoctetes, so that all ends +well. + + + + + PHILOCTETES + + +ODYSSEUS. NEOPTOLEMUS. + +ODYSSEUS. This coast of sea-girt Lemnos, where we stand, +Is uninhabited, untrodden of men. +And here, O noble son of noblest sire, +Achilles-born Neoptolemus, I erewhile,-- +Ordered by those who had command,--cast forth +Trachinian Philoctetes, Poeas' son, +His foot dark-dripping with a rankling wound; +When with wild cries, that frighted holy rest, +Filling the camp, he troubled every rite, +That none might handle sacrifice, or pour +Wine-offering, but his noise disturbed our peace. + But why these words? No moment this for talk, +Lest he discern my coming, and I lose +The scheme, wherewith I think to catch him soon. +Now most behoves thy service, to explore +This headland for a cave with double mouth, +Whose twofold aperture, on wintry days, +Gives choice of sunshine, and in summer noons +The breeze wafts slumber through the airy cell. +Then, something lower down, upon the left, +Unless 'tis dried, thine eye may note a spring. +Go near now silently, and make me know +If still he persevere, and hold this spot, +Or have roamed elsewhere, that informed of this +I may proceed with what remains to say, +And we may act in concert. + +NEOPTOLEMUS. Lord Odysseus, +Thy foremost errand will not task me far. +Methinks I see the cave whereof thou speakest. + +OD. Where? let me see it. Above there, or below? + +NEO. Yonder, above. And yet I hear no tread. + [NEOPTOLEMUS _climbs up to the cave_ + +OD. Look if he be not lodged in slumber there. + +NEO. I find no inmate, but an empty room. + +OD. What? no provision for a dwelling-place? + +NEO. A bed of leaves for some one harbouring here. + +OD. Nought else beneath the roof? Is all forlorn? + +NEO. A cup of wood, some untaught craftsman's skill, +And, close at hand, these embers of a fire. + +OD. That store is his. I read the token clear. + +NEO. Oh! and these festering rags give evidence, +Steeped as with dressing some malignant sore. + +OD. The man inhabits here: I know it now. +And sure he's not far off. How can he range, +Whose limb drags heavy with an ancient harm? +But he's gone, either to bring forage home, +Or where he hath found some plant of healing power. +Send therefore thine attendant to look forth, +Lest unawares he find me. All our host +Were not so fair a prize for him as I. + +NEO. My man is going, and shall watch the path. +What more dost thou require of me? Speak on. + +OD. Son of Achilles, know that thou art come +To serve us nobly, not with strength alone, +But, faithful to thy mission, if so be, +To do things strange, unwonted to thine ear. + +NEO. What dost thou bid me? + +OD. 'Tis thy duty now +To entrap the mind of Poeas' son with words. +When he shall ask thee, who and whence thou art, +Declare thy name and father. 'Tis not that +I charge thee to conceal. But for thy voyage, +'Tis homeward, leaving the Achaean host, +With perfect hatred hating them, because +They who had drawn thee with strong prayers from home, +Their hope for taking Troy, allowed thee not +Thy just demand to have thy father's arms, +But, e'er thy coming, wrongly gave them o'er +Unto Odysseus: and thereon launch forth +With boundless execration against me. +That will not pain me, but if thou reject +This counsel, thou wilt trouble all our host, +Since, if his bow shall not be ta'en, thy life +Will ne'er be crowned through Troy's discomfiture. + Now let me show, why thine approach to him +Is safe and trustful as mine cannot be +Thou didst sail forth, not to redeem thine oath, +Nor by constraint, nor with the foremost band. +All which reproaches I must bear: and he, +But seeing me, while master of his bow, +Will slay me, and my ruin will be thine. +This point then craves our cunning, to acquire +By subtle means the irresistible bow-- +Thy nature was not framed, I know it well, +For speaking falsehood, or contriving harm. +Yet, since the prize of victory is so dear, +Endure it--We'll be just another day +But now, for one brief hour, devote thyself +To serve me without shame, and then for aye +Hereafter be the pearl of righteousness. + +NEO. The thing that, being named, revolts mine ear, +Son of Laertes, I abhor to do +'Tis not my nature, no, nor, as they tell, +My father's, to work aught by craft and guile. +I'll undertake to bring him in by force, +Not by deceit. For, sure, with his one foot, +He cannot be a match for all our crew +Being sent, my lord, to serve thee, I am loth +To seem rebellious. But I rather choose +To offend with honour, than to win by wrong. + +OD. Son of a valiant sire, I, too, in youth, +Had once a slow tongue and an active hand. +But since I have proved the world, I clearly see +Words and not deeds give mastery over men. + +NEO. What then is thy command? To lie? No more? + +OD. To entangle Philoctetes with deceit. + +NEO. Why through deceit? May not persuasion fetch him? + +OD. Never. And force as certainly will fail. + +NEO. What lends him such assurance of defence? + +OD. Arrows, the unerring harbingers of Death. + +NEO. Then to go near him is a perilous thing. + +OD. Unless with subtlety, as I have said. + +NEO. And is not lying shameful to thy soul? + +OD. Not if by lying I can save my soul. + +NEO. How must one look in speaking such a word? + +OD. Where gain invites, this shrinking is not good. + +NEO. What gain I through his coming back to Troy? + +OD. His arms alone have power to take Troy-town. + +NEO. Then am not I the spoiler, as ye said? + +OD. Thou without them, they without thee, are powerless. + +NEO. If it be so, they must be sought and won. + +OD. Yea, for in this two prizes will be thine. + +NEO. What? When I learn them, I will not refuse. + +OD. Wisdom and valour joined in one good name. + +NEO. Shame, to the winds! Come, I will do this thing. + +OD. Say, dost thou bear my bidding full in mind? + +NEO. Doubt not, since once for all I have embraced it. + +OD. Thou, then, await him here. I will retire, +For fear my hated presence should be known, +And take back our attendant to the ship. +And then once more, should ye appear to waste +The time unduly, I will send again +This same man hither in disguise, transformed +To the strange semblance of a merchantman; +From dark suggestion of whose crafty tongue, +Thou, O my son, shalt gather timely counsel. + Now to my ship. This charge I leave to thee. +May secret Hermes guide us to our end, +And civic Pallas, named of victory, +The sure protectress of my devious way. + +CHORUS (_entering_). + Strange in the stranger land, I 1 + What shall I speak? What hide + From a heart suspicious of ill? + Tell me, O master mine! + Wise above all is the man, + Peerless in searching thought, + Who with the Zeus-given wand + Wieldeth a Heaven-sent power. + This unto thee, dear son, + Fraught with ancestral might, + This to thy life hath come. + Wherefore I bid thee declare, + What must I do for thy need? + +NEO. Even now methinks thou longest to espy +Near ocean's marge the place where he doth lie. +Gaze without fear. But when the traveller stern, +Who from this roof is parted, shall return, +Advancing still as I the signal give, +To serve each moment's mission thou shalt strive. + +CH. That, O my son, from of old I 2 + Hath been my care, to take note + What by thy beck'ning is told; + Still thy success to promote. + But for our errand to-day + Behoves thee, master, to say + Where is the hearth of his home; + Or where even now doth he roam? + O tell me, lest all unaware + He spring like a wolf from his lair + And I by surprise should be ta'en, + Where doth he move or remain, + Here lodging, or wandering away? + +NEO. Thou seest yon double doorway of his cell, +Poor habitation of the rock. + +CH. 2. But tell +Where is the pain-worn wight himself abroad? + +NEO. To me 'tis clear, that, in his quest for food, +Here, not far off, he trails yon furrowed path. +For, so 'tis told, this mode the sufferer hath +Of sustenance, oh hardness! bringing low +Wild creatures with wing'd arrows from his bow; +Nor findeth healer for his troublous woe. + +CH. I feel his misery. II 1 + With no companion eye, + Far from all human care, + He pines with fell disease; + Each want he hourly sees + Awakening new despair. + How can he bear it still? + O cruel Heavens! O pain + Of that afflicted mortal train + Whose life sharp sorrows fill! + + Born in a princely hall, II 2 + Highest, perchance, of all, + Now lies he comfortless + Alone in deep distress, + 'Mongst rough and dappled brutes, + With pangs and hunger worn; + While from far distance shoots, + On airy pinion borne, + The unbridled Echo, still replying + To his most bitter crying. + +NEO. At nought of this I marvel--for if I +Judge rightly, there assailed him from on high +That former plague through Chrysa's cruel sting[1]: +And if to-day he suffer anything +With none to soothe, it must be from the will +Of some great God, so caring to fulfil +The word of prophecy, lest he should bend +On Troy the shaft no mortal may forfend, +Before the arrival of Troy's destined hour, +When she must fall, o'er-mastered by their power. + +CH. 1. Hush, my son! III 1 + +NEO. Why so? + +CH. 1. A sound +Gendered of some mortal woe, +Started from the neighbouring ground. +Here, or there? Ah! now I know. +Hark! 'tis the voice of one in pain, +Travelling hardly, the deep strain +Of human anguish, all too clear, +That smites my heart, that wounds mine ear. + +CH. 2. From far it peals. But thou, my son! III 2 + +NEO. What? + +CH. 2. Think again. He moveth nigh: +He holds the region: not with tone +Of piping shepherd's rural minstrelsy, +But belloweth his far cry, +Stumbling perchance with mortal pain, + Or else in wild amaze, + As he our ship surveys +Unwonted on the inhospitable main. + +_Enter_ PHILOCTETES. + +PHILOCTETES. Ho! +What men are ye that to this desert shore, +Harbourless, uninhabited, are come +On shipboard? Of what country or what race +Shall I pronounce ye? For your outward garb +Is Grecian, ever dearest to this heart +That hungers now to hear your voices' tune. +Ah! do not fear me, do not shrink away +From my wild looks: but, pitying one so poor, +Forlorn and desolate in nameless woe, +Speak, if with friendly purpose ye are come. +Oh answer! 'Tis not meet that I should lose +This kindness from your lips, or ye from mine. + +NEO. Then know this first, O stranger, as thou wouldest, +That we are Greeks. + +PHI. O dear, dear name! Ah me! +In all these years, once, only once, I hear it! +My son, what fairest gale hath wafted thee? +What need hath brought thee to the shore? What mission? +Declare all this, that I may know thee well. + +NEO. The sea-girt Scyros is my native home. +Thitherward I make voyage:--Achilles' son, +Named Neoptolemus.--I have told thee all. + +PHI. Dear is that shore to me, dear is thy father +O ancient Lycomedes' foster-child, +Whence cam'st thou hither? How didst thou set forth? + +NEO. From Troy we made our course in sailing hither. + +PHI. How? Sure thou wast not with us, when at first +We launched our vessels on the Troyward way? + +NEO. Hadst thou a share in that adventurous toil? + +PHI. And know'st thou not whom thou behold'st in me, +Young boy? + +NEO. How should I know him whom I ne'er +Set eye on? + +PHI. Hast not even heard my name, +Nor echoing rumour of my ruinous woe? + +NEO. Nay, I know nought of all thy questioning. + +PHI. How full of griefs am I, how Heaven-abhorred, +When of my piteous state no faintest sound +Hath reached my home, or any Grecian land! +But they, who pitilessly cast me forth, +Keep silence and are glad, while this my plague +Blooms ever, and is strengthened more and more. +Boy, great Achilles' offspring, in this form +Thou seest the man, of whom, methinks, erewhile +Thou hast been told, to whom the Herculean bow +Descended, Philoctetes, Poeas' son; +Whom the two generals and the Ithacan king +Cast out thus shamefully forlorn, afflicted +With the fierce malady and desperate wound +Made by the cruel basilisk's murderous tooth. +With this for company they left me, child! +Exposed upon this shore, deserted, lone. + From seaward Chrysa came they with their fleet +And touched at Lemnos. I had fallen to rest +From the long tossing, in a shadowy cave +On yonder cliff by the shore. Gladly they saw, +And left me, having set forth for my need, +Poor man, some scanty rags, and a thin store +Of provender. Such food be theirs, I pray! +Imagine, O my son, when they were gone, +What wakening, what arising, then was mine; +What weeping, what lamenting of my woe! +When I beheld the ships, wherewith I sailed, +Gone, one and all! and no man in the place, +None to bestead me, none to comfort me +In my sore sickness. And where'er I looked, +Nought but distress was present with me still. +No lack of that, for one thing!--Ah! my son, +Time passed, and there I found myself alone +Within my narrow lodging, forced to serve +Each pressing need. For body's sustenance +This bow supplied me with sufficient store, +Wounding the feathered doves, and when the shaft, +From the tight string, had struck, myself, ay me! +Dragging this foot, would crawl to my swift prey. +Then water must be fetched, and in sharp frost +Wood must be found and broken,--all by me. +Nor would fire come unbidden, but with flint +From flints striking dim sparks, I hammered forth +The struggling flame that keeps the life in me. +For houseroom with the single help of fire +Gives all I need, save healing for my sore. + Now learn, my son, the nature of this isle. +No mariner puts in here willingly. +For it hath neither moorage, nor sea-port, +For traffic or kind shelter or good cheer. +Not hitherward do prudent men make voyage. +Perchance one may have touched against his will. +Many strange things may happen in long time. +These, when they come, in words have pitied me, +And given me food, or raiment, in compassion. +But none is willing, when I speak thereof, +To take me safely home. Wherefore I pine +Now this tenth year, in famine and distress, +Feeding the hunger of my ravenous plague. + Such deeds, my son, the Atridae, and the might +Of sage Odysseus, have performed on me. +Wherefore may all the Olympian gods, one day, +Plague them with stern requital for my wrong! + +CH. Methinks my feeling for thee, Poeas' child, +Is like that of thy former visitants. + +NEO. I, too, a witness to confirm his words, +Know them for verities, since I have found +The Atridae and Odysseus evil men. + +PHI. Art thou, too, wroth with the all-pestilent sons +Of Atreus? Have they given thee cause to grieve? + +NEO. Would that my hand might ease the wrath I feel! +Then Sparta and Mycenae should be ware +That Scyros too breeds valiant sons for war. + +PHI. Brave youth! I love thee. Tell me the great cause +Why thou inveighest against them with such heat? + +NEO. O son of Poeas, hardly shall I tell +What outrage I endured when I had come; +Yet I will speak it. When the fate of death +O'ertook Achilles-- + +PHI. Out, alas! no more! +Hold, till thou first hast made me clearly know, +Is Peleus' offspring dead? + +NEO. Alas! he is, +Slain by no mortal, felled by Phoebus' shaft: +So men reported-- + +PHI. Well, right princely was he! +And princely is he who slew him. Shall I mourn +Him first, or wait till I have heard thy tale? + +NEO. Methinks thou hast thyself enough to mourn, +Without the burden of another's woe. + +PHI. Well spoken. Then renew thine own complaint, +And tell once more wherein they insulted thee. + +NEO. There came to fetch me, in a gallant ship, +Odysseus and the fosterer of my sire[2], +Saying, whether soothly, or in idle show, +That, since my father perished, it was known +None else but I should take Troy's citadel. +Such words from them, my friend, thou may'st believe, +Held me not long from making voyage with speed, +Chiefly through longing for my father's corse, +To see him yet unburied,--for I ne'er +Had seen him[3]. Then, besides, 'twas a fair cause, +If, by my going, I should vanquish Troy. +One day I had sailed, and on the second came +To sad Sigeum with wind-favoured speed, +When straightway all the host, surrounding me +As I set foot on shore, saluted me, +And swore the dead Achilles was in life, +Their eyes being witness, when they looked on me. +He lay there in his shroud: but I, unhappy, +Soon ending lamentation for the dead, +Went near to those Atridae, as to friends, +To obtain my father's armour and all else +That had been his. And then,--alas the while, +That men should be so hard!--they spake this word: +'Seed of Achilles, thou may'st freely take +All else thy father owned, but for those arms, +Another wields them now, Laertes' son.' +Tears rushed into mine eyes, and in hot wrath +I straightway rose, and bitterly outspake: +'O miscreant! What? And have ye dared to give +Mine arms to some man else, unknown to me?' +Then said Odysseus, for he chanced to be near, +'Yea, child, and justly have they given me these. +I saved them and their master in the field.' +Then in fierce anger all at once I launched +All terms of execration at his head, +Bating no word, being maddened by the thought +That I should lose this heirloom,--and to him! +He, at this pass, though not of wrathful mood, +Stung by such utterance, made rejoinder thus: +'Thou wast not with us here, but wrongfully +Didst bide afar. And, since thou mak'st so bold, +I tell thee, never shalt thou, as thou sayest, +Sail with these arms to Scyros.'--Thus reviled, +With such an evil echo in mine ear, +I voyage homeward, robbed of mine own right +By that vile offset of an evil tree[4]. +Yet less I blame him than the men in power. +For every multitude, be it army or state, +Takes tone from those who rule it, and all taint +Of disobedience from bad counsel springs. +I have spoken. May the Atridae's enemy +Be dear to Heaven, as he is loved by me! + +CH. Mother of mightiest Zeus, 1 + Feeder of all that live, + Who from thy mountainous breast + Rivers of gold dost give! + To thee, O Earth, I cried that shameful day, + When insolence from Atreus' sons went forth + Full on our lord: when they bestowed away + His father's arms to crown Odysseus' worth; + Thou, whom bull-slaughtering lions yoked bear, + O mighty mother, hear! + +PHI. Your coming is commended by a grief +That makes you kindly welcome. For I feel +A chord that vibrates to your voice, and tells, +Thus have Odysseus and the Atridae wrought. +Full well I know, Odysseus' poisoned tongue +Shrinks from no mischief nor no guileful word +That leads to bad achievement in the end. +This moves not my main marvel, but if one +Saw this and bore it,--Aias of the shield. + +NEO. Ah, friend, he was no more. Had he but lived, +This robbery had ne'er been wrought on me. + +PHI. What? Is he too departed? + +NEO. He is dead. +The light no more beholds him. + +PHI. Oh! alas! +But Tydeus' offspring, and the rascal birth +Laertes bought of Sisyphus, they live: +I know it. For their death were to be wished. + +NEO. Yea, be assured, they live and flourish high +Exalted in the host of Argive men. + +PHI. And Nestor, my old friend, good aged man, +Is he yet living? Oft he would prevent +Their evils, by the wisdom of his thought. + +NEO. He too is now in trouble, having lost +Antilochus, the comfort of his age. + +PHI. There, there! In one brief word thou hast revealed +The mournful case of twain, whom I would last +Have chosen to hear of as undone. Ah me! +Where must one look? when these are dead, and he, +Odysseus, lives,--and in a time like this, +That craves their presence, and his death for theirs. + +NEO. He wrestles cleverly; but, O my friend, +Even ablest wits are ofttimes snared at last. + +PHI. Tell me, I pray, what was become of him, +Patroclus, whom thy father loved so well? + +NEO. He, too, was gone. I'll teach thee in a word +One truth for all. War doth not willingly +Snatch off the wicked, but still takes the good. + +PHI. True! and to prove thy saying, I will inquire +The fate of a poor dastard, of mean worth, +But ever shrewd and nimble with his tongue. + +NEO. Whom but Odysseus canst thou mean by this? + +PHI. I meant not him. But there was one Thersites, +Who ne'er made conscience to stint speech, where all +Cried 'Silence!' Is he living, dost thou know? + +NEO. I saw him not, but knew he was alive. + +PHI. He must be: for no evil yet was crushed. +The Heavens will ever shield it. 'Tis their sport +To turn back all things rancorous and malign +From going down to the grave, and send instead +The good and true. Oh, how shall we commend +Such dealings, how defend them? When I praise +Things god-like, I find evil in the Gods. + +NEO. I, O thou child of a Trachinian sire, +Henceforth will take good care, from far away +To look on Troy and Atreus' children twain. +Yea, where the trickster lords it o'er the just, +And goodness languishes and rascals rule, +--Such courses I will nevermore endure. +But rock-bound Scyros henceforth shall suffice +To yield me full contentment in my home. +Now, to my vessel! And thou, Poeas' child, +Farewell, right heartily farewell! May Heaven +Grant thy desire, and rid thee of thy plague! +Let us be going, that when God shall give +Fair voyage, that moment we may launch away. + +PHI. My son, are ye now setting forth? + +NEO. Our time +Bids us go near and look to sail erelong. + +PHI. Now, by thy father, by thy mother,--nay, +By all thy love e'er cherished in thy home, +Suppliant I beg thee, leave me not thus lone, +Forlorn in all my misery which thou seest, +In all thou hast heard of here surrounding me! +Stow me with other freightage. Full of care, +I know, and burdensome the charge may prove. +Yet venture! Surely to the noble mind +All shame is hateful and all kindness blest. +And shame would be thy meed, didst thou fail here +But, doing this, thou shalt have glorious fame, +When I return alive to Oeta's vale. +Come, 'tis the labour not of one whole day. +So thou durst take me, fling me where thou wilt +O' the ship, in hold, prow, stern, or wheresoe'er +I least may trouble those on board with me. +Ah! by great Zeus, the suppliant's friend, comply, +My son, be softened! See, where I am fall'n +Thus on my knees before thee, though so weak, +Crippled and powerless. Ah! forsake me not +Thus far from human footstep. Take me, take me! +If only to thy home, or to the town +Of old Chalcodon[5] in Euboea.--From thence +I have not far to Oeta, and the ridge +Of Trachis, and Spercheius' lordly flood. +So thou shalt bless my father with my sight. +And yet long since I fear he may be gone. +For oft I sent him suppliant prayers by men +Who touched this isle, entreating him to fetch +And bear me safely home with his own crew. +But either he is dead, or else, methinks, +It well may be, my messengers made light +Of my concerns, and hastened onward home. +But now in thee I find both messenger +And convoy, thou wilt pity me and save. +For, well thou knowest, danger never sleeps, +And fear of dark reverse is always nigh. +Mortals, when free, should look where mischief lurks, +And in their happiest hour consider well +Their life, lest ruin unsuspected come. + +CH. Pity him, O my king! 2 + Many a crushing woe + He telleth, such as I pray + None of my friends may know. + And if, dear master, thou mislikest sore + Yon cruel-hearted lordly pair, I would, + Turning their plan of evil to his good, + On swift ship bear him to his native shore, + Meeting his heart's desire; and free thy path + From fear of heavenly wrath. + +NEO. Thou mak'st small scruple here; but be advised: +Lest, when this plague on board shall weary thee, +Thy voice should alter from this liberal tone. + +CH. No, truly! Fear not thou shalt ever have +Just cause to utter such reproach on me. + +NEO. Then sure 'twere shame, should I more backward prove +Than thou, to labour for the stranger's need. +Come, if thou wilt, let us make voyage, and he, +Let him set forth with speed. Our ship shall take him. +He shall not be refused. Only may Heaven +Lead safely hence and to our destined port! + +PHI. O morning full of brightness! Kindest friend, +Sweet mariners, how can I make you feel, +In act, how dearly from my heart I love you! +Ye have won my soul. Let us be gone, my son,-- +First having said farewell to this poor cave, +My homeless dwelling-place, that thou may'st know, +How barely I have lived, how firm my heart! +Methinks another could not have endured +The very sight of what I bore. But I +Through strong necessity have conquered pain. + +CH. Stay: let us understand. There come two men +A stranger, with a shipmate of thy crew. +When ye have heard them, ye may then go in. + +_Enter_ Messenger, _disguised as a merchantman_. + +MERCHANTMAN. Son of Achilles, my companion here, +Who with two more remained to guard thy ship, +Agreed to help me find thee where thou wert, +Since unexpectedly, through fortune's will, +I meet thee, mooring by the self-same shore. +For like a merchantman, with no great sail, +Making my course from Ilion to my home, +Grape-clustered Peparethos, when I heard +The mariners declare that one and all +Were of thy crew, I would not launch again, +Without a word, till we had told our news.-- +Methinks thou knowest nought of thine own case, +What new devices of the Argive chiefs +Surround thee; nor devices only now, +But active deeds, no longer unperformed. + +NEO. Well, stranger, for the kindness thou hast shown,-- +Else were I base,--my heart must thank thee still. +But tell me what thou meanest, that I may learn +What new-laid plot thou bring'st me from the camp. + +MER. Old Phoenix, Acamas and Demophon +Are gone in thy pursuit with ships and men. + +NEO. To bring me back with reasons or perforce? + +MER. I know not. What I heard, I am here to tell. + +NEO. How? And is this in act? Are they set forth +To please the Atridae, Phoenix and the rest? + +MER. The thing is not to do, but doing now. + +NEO. What kept Odysseus back, if this be so, +From going himself? Had he some cause for fear? + +MER. He and the son of Tydeus, when our ship +Hoist sail, were gone to fetch another man. + +NEO. For whom could he himself be sailing forth? + +MER. For some one,--but first tell me, whispering low +Whate'er thou speakest,--who is this I see? + +NEO. (_speaking aloud_). +This, sir, is Philoctetes the renowned. + +MER. (_aside to_ NEOPTOLEMUS). +Without more question, snatch thyself away +And sail forth from this land. + +PHI. What saith he, boy? +Through what dark traffic is the mariner +Betraying me with whispering in thine ear? + +NEO. I have not caught it, but whate'er he speaks +He must speak openly to us and thee. + +MER. Seed of Achilles, let me not offend +The army by my words! Full many a boon, +Being poor, I reap from them for service done. + +NEO. The Atridae are my foes; the man you see +Is my fast friend, because he hates them sore. +Then, if you come in kindness, you must hide +Nothing from him or me of all thou hast heard. + +MER. Look what thou doest, my son! + +NEO. I mark it well. + +MER. Thou shalt be answerable. + +NEO. Content: but speak. + +MER. Then hear me. These two men whom I have named, +Diomedes and Odysseus, are set forth +Engaged on oath to bring this man by force +If reasons fail. The Achaeans every one +Have heard this plainly from Odysseus' mouth. +He was the louder and more confident. + +NEO. Say, for what cause, after so long a time, +Can Atreus' sons have turned their thoughts on him, +Whom long they had cast forth? What passing touch +Of conscience moved them, or what stroke from Heaven, +Whose wrath requites all wicked deeds of men? + +MER. Methinks thou hast not heard what I will now +Unfold to thee. There was a princely seer, +A son of Priam, Helenus by name, +Whom he for whom no word is bad enough, +Crafty Odysseus, sallying forth alone +One night, had taken, and in bonds displayed +'Fore all the Achaeans, a right noble prey. +He, 'mid his other prophecies, foretold +No Grecian force should sack Troy's citadel, +Till with fair reasons they had brought this man +From Lemnos isle, his lonely dwelling-place. + When thus the prophet spake, Laertes' son +Straight undertook to fetch this man, and show him +To all the camp:--he hoped, with fair consent: +But else, perforce.--And, if he failed in this, +Whoever would might smite him on the head. + My tale is told, dear youth. I counsel speed +To thee and to the friend for whom thou carest. + +PHI. Ah me, unhappy! has that rascal knave +Sworn to fetch me with reasons to their camp? +As likely might his reasons bring me back, +Like his begetter, from the house of death. + +MER. You talk of what I know not. I will go +Shipward. May God be with you for all good. [_Exit_ + +PHI. Is not this terrible, Laertes' son +Should ever think to bring me with soft words +And show me from his deck to all their host? +No! Sooner will I listen to the tongue +Of the curs'd basilisk that thus hath maim'd me. + Ay, but he'll venture anything in word +Or deed. And now I know he will be here. +Come, O my son, let us be gone, while seas +And winds divide us from Odysseus' ship. +Let us depart. Sure timely haste brings rest +And quiet slumber when the toil is done. + +NEO. Shall we not sail when this south-western wind +Hath fallen, that now is adverse to our course? + +PHI. All winds are fair to him who flies from woe. + +NEO. Nay, but this head-wind hinders them no less. + +PHI. No head-wind hinders pirates on their way, +When violence and rapine lead them on. + +NEO. Well, then, let us be going, if you will; +When you have taken from within the cave +What most you need and value. + +PHI. Though my all +Be little, there is that I may not lose. + +NEO. What can there be that we have not on board? + +PHI. A leaf I have found, wherewith I still the rage +Of my sore plague, and lull it quite to rest. + +NEO. Well, bring it forth.--What? Is there something more? + +PHI. If any of these arrows here are fallen, +I would not leave them for a casual prey. + +NEO. How? Do I see thee with the marvellous bow? + +PHI. Here in my hand. The world hath only one. + +NEO. And may one touch and handle it, and gaze +With reverence, as on a thing from Heaven? + +PHI. Thou mayest, my son. This and whate'er of mine +May stead thee, 'tis thy privilege to enjoy. + +NEO. In very truth I long for it, but so, +That longing waits on leave. Am I permitted? + +PHI. Thou art, my son,--and well thou speakest,--thou art. +Thou, that hast given me light and life, the joy +Of seeing Mount Oeta and my father's home, +With all I love there, and his aged head,-- +Thou that hast raised me far above my foes +Who triumphed! Thou may'st take it in thine hand, +And,--when thou hast given it back to me,--may'st vaunt +Alone of mortals for thine excellence +To have held this in thy touch. I, too, at first, +Received it as a boon for kindness done. + +NEO. Well, go within. + +PHI. Nay, I must take thee too. +My sickness craves thee for its comforter. + [PHILOCTETES _and_ NEOPTOLEMUS _go into + the cave_ + +CHORUS. + In fable I have heard, I 1 + Though sight hath ne'er confirmed the word, + How he who attempted once the couch supreme, + To a whirling wheel by Zeus the all-ruler bound, + Tied head and heel, careering ever round, + Atones his impious unsubstantial dream. + Of no man else, through eye or ear, + Have I discerned a fate more full of fear + Than yonder sufferer's of the cureless wound: + Who did no violence, defrauded none:-- + A just man, had he dwelt among the just + Unworthily behold him thrust + Alone to hear the billows roar + That break around a rugged shore! +How could he live, whose life was thus consumed with moan? + + Where neighbour there was none: I 2 + No arm to stay him wandering lone, + Unevenly, with stumbling steps and sore; + No friend in need, no kind inhabitant, + To minister to his importunate want, + No heart whereto his pangs he might deplore. + None who, whene'er the gory flow + Was rushing hot, might healing herbs bestow, + Or cull from teeming Earth some genial plant + To allay the anguish of malignant pain + And soothe the sharpness of his poignant woe. + Like infant whom the nurse lets go, + With tottering movement here and there, + He crawled for comfort, whensoe'er +His soul-devouring plague relaxed its cruel strain. + + Not fed with foison of all-teeming Earth II 1 + Whence we sustain us, ever-toiling men, + But only now and then +With winged things, by his wing'd shafts brought low, + He stayed his hunger from his bow. + Poor soul, that never through ten years of dearth + Had pleasure from the fruitage of the vine, + But seeking to some standing pool, + Nor clear nor cool, +Foul water heaved to head for lack of heartening wine. + + But now, consorted with the hero's child, II 2 + He winneth greatness and a joyful change; + Over the water wild +Borne by a friendly bark beneath the range + Of Oeta, where Spercheius fills + Wide channels winding among lovely hills + Haunted of Melian nymphs, till he espies + The roof-tree of his father's hall, + And high o'er all +Shines the bronze shield of him, whose home is in the skies[6]. + [NEOPTOLEMUS _comes out of the cave, followed + by_ PHILOCTETES _in pain_ + +NEO. Prithee, come on! Why dost thou stand aghast, +Voiceless, and thus astonied in thine air? + +PHI. Oh! oh! + +NEO. What? + +PHI. Nothing. Come my son, fear nought. + +NEO. Is pain upon thee? Hath thy trouble come? + +PHI. No pain, no pain! 'Tis past; I am easy now. +Ye heavenly powers! + +NEO. Why dost thou groan aloud, +And cry to Heaven? + +PHI. To come and save. Kind Heaven! +Oh, oh! + +NEO. What is 't? Why silent? Wilt not speak? +I see thy misery. + +PHI. Oh! I am lost, my son! +I cannot hide it from you. Oh! it shoots, +It pierces. Oh unhappy! Oh! my woe! +I am lost, my son, I am devoured. Oh me! +Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Pain! pain! Oh pain! oh pain! +Child, if a sword be to thine hand, smite hard, +Shear off my foot! heed not my life! Quick, come! + +NEO. What hath so suddenly arisen, that thus +Thou mak'st ado and groanest o'er thyself? + +PHI. Thou knowest. + +NEO. What know I? + +PHI. O! thou knowest, my son! + +NEO. I know not. + +PHI. How? Not know? Ah me! Pain, pain! + +NEO. Thy plague is a sore burden, heavy and sore. + +PHI. Sore? 'Tis unutterable. Have pity on me! + +NEO. What shall I do? + +PHI. Do not in fear forsake me. +This wandering evil comes in force again, +Hungry as ere it fed. + +NEO. O hapless one! +Thrice hapless in thy manifold distress! +What wilt thou? Shall I raise thee on mine arm? + +PHI. Nay, but receiving from my hand the bow, +As late thou didst desire me, keep it safe +And guard it, till the fury of my pain +Pass over me and cease. For when 'tis spent, +Slumber will seize me, else it ne'er would end. +I must sleep undisturbed. But if meanwhile +They come,--by Heaven I charge thee, in no wise, +Willingly nor perforce, let them have this! +Else thou wilt be the slayer of us both; +Of me thy suppliant, and of thyself. + +NEO. Fear not my care. No hand shall hold these arms +But thine and mine. Give, and Heaven bless the deed! + +PHI. I give them; there, my son! But look to Heaven +And pray no envy smite thee, nor such bane +In having them, as fell on me and him +Who bore them formerly. + +NEO. O grant it, Gods! +And grant us fair and happy voyage, where'er +Our course is shaped and righteous Heaven shall guide. + +PHI. Ah! but I fear, my son, thy prayer is vain: +For welling yet again from depths within, +This gory ooze is dripping. It will come! +I know it will. O, foot, torn helpless thing, +What wilt thou do to me? Ah! ah! It comes, +It is at hand. 'Tis here! Woe's me, undone! +I have shown you all. Stay near me. Go not far: +Ah! ah! +O island king, I would this agony +Might cleave thy bosom through and through! Woe, woe! +Woe! Ah! ye two commanders of the host, +Agamemnon, Menelaues, O that ye, +Another ten years' durance in my room +Might nurse this malady! O Death, Death, Death! +I call thee daily--wilt thou never come? +Will it not be?--My son, thou noble boy, +If thou art noble, take and burn me there +Aloft in yon all-worshipped Lemnian fire! +Yea, when the bow thou keep'st was my reward, +I did like service for the child of Heaven. +How now, my son? +What say'st? Art silent? Where--where art thou, boy? + +NEO. My heart is full, and groaning o'er thy woes. + +PHI. Nay, yet have comfort. This affliction oft +Goes no less swiftly than it came. I pray thee, +Stand fast and leave me not alone! + +NEO. Fear nought. +We will not stir. + +PHI. Wilt thou remain? + +NEO. Be sure of it. + +PHI. I'll not degrade thee with an oath, my son. + +NEO. Rest satisfied. I may not go without thee. + +PHI. Thy hand, to pledge me that! + +NEO. There, I will stay. + +PHI. Now, now, aloft! + +NEO. Where mean'st thou? + +PHI. Yonder aloft! + +NEO. Whither? Thou rav'st. Why starest thou at the sky? + +PHI. Now, let me go. + +NEO. Where? + +PHI. Let me go, I say! + +NEO. I will not. + +PHI. You will kill me. Let me go! + +NEO. Well, thou know'st best I hold thee not. + +PHI. O Earth, +I die. receive me to thy breast! This pain +Subdues me utterly, I cannot stand. + +NEO. Methinks he will be fast in slumber soon +That head sinks backward, and a clammy sweat +Bathes all his limbs, while from his foot hath burst +A vein, dark bleeding. Let us leave him, friends, +In quietness, till he hath fallen to sleep. + +CHORUS + Lord of the happiest life, I + Sleep, thou that know'st not strife, + That know'st not grief, + Still wafting sure relief, + Come, saviour now! + Thy healing balm is spread + Over this pain worn head, +Quench not the beam that gives calm to his brow. + + Look, O my lord, to thy path, + Either to go or to stay + How is my thought to proceed? + What is our cause for delay? + Look! Opportunity's power, + Fitting the task to the hour, + Giveth the race to the swift. + +NEO. He hears not. But I see that to have ta'en +His bow without him were a bootless gain +He must sail with us. So the god hath said +Heaven hath decreed this garland for his head: +And to have failed with falsehood were a meed +Of shameful soilure for a shameless deed. + +CH. God shall determine the end-- II + But for thine answer, friend, + Waft soft words low! + All sick men's sleep, we know, + Hath open eye; + Their quickly ruffling mind + Quivers in lightest wind, +Sleepless in slumber new danger to spy. + + Think, O my lord, of thy path, + Secretly look forth afar, + What wilt thou do for thy need? + How with the wise wilt thou care? + If toward the nameless thy heart + Chooseth this merciful part, + Huge are the dangers that drift. + +The wind is fair, my son, the wind is fair, +The man is dark and helpless, stretched in night. +(O kind, warm sleep that calmest human care!) +Powerless of hand and foot and ear and sight, +Blind, as one lying in the house of death. +(Think well if here thou utterest timely breath.) +This, O my son, is all my thought can find, +Best are the toils that without frightening bind. + +NEO. Hush! One word more were madness. He revives. +His eye hath motion. He uplifts his head. + +PHI. Fair daylight following sleep, and ye, dear friends, +Faithful beyond all hope in tending me! +I never could have dreamed that thou, dear youth, +Couldst thus have borne my sufferings and stood near +So full of pity to relieve my pain. +Not so the worthy generals of the host;-- +This princely patience was not theirs to show. +Only thy noble nature, nobly sprung, +Made light of all the trouble, though oppressed +With fetid odours and unceasing cries. +And now, since this my plague would seem to yield +Some pause and brief forgetfulness of pain, +With thine own hand, my son, upraise me here, +And set me on my feet, that, when my strength +After exhaustion shall return again, +We may move shoreward and launch forth with speed. + +NEO. I feel unhoped-for gladness when I see +Thy painless gaze, and hear thy living breath, +For thine appearance and surroundings both +Were deathlike. But arise! Or, if thou wilt, +These men shall raise thee. For they will not shrink +From toil which thou and I at once enjoin. + +PHI. Right, right, my son! But lift me thine own self, +As I am sure thou meanest. Let these be, +Lest they be burdened with the noisome smell +Before the time. Enough for them to bear +The trouble on board. + +NEO. I will; stand up, endure! + +PHI. Fear not. Old habit will enable me. + +NEO. O me! +What shall I do? Now 'tis my turn to exclaim! + +PHI. What canst thou mean? What change is here, my son? + +NEO. I know not how to shift the troublous word. +'Tis hopeless. + +PHI. What is hopeless? Speak not so, +Dear child! + +NEO. But so my wretched lot hath fallen. + +PHI. Ah! Can it be, the offence of my disease +Hath moved thee not to take me now on board? + +NEO. All is offence to one who hath forced himself +From the true bent to an unbecoming deed. + +PHI. Nought misbecoming to thyself or sire +Doest thou or speak'st, befriending a good man. + +NEO. My baseness will appear. That wrings my soul. + +PHI. Not in thy deeds. But for thy words, I fear me! + +NEO. O Heaven! Must double vileness then be mine +Both shameful silence and most shameful speech? + +PHI. Or my discernment is at fault, or thou +Mean'st to betray me and make voyage without me. + +NEO. Nay, not without thee, there is my distress! +Lest I convey thee to thy bitter grief. + +PHI. How? How, dear youth? I do not understand. + +NEO. Here I unveil it. Thou art to sail to Troy, +To join the chieftains and the Achaean host. + +PHI. What do I hear? Ah! + +NEO. Grieve not till you learn. + +PHI. Learn what? What wilt thou make of me? What mean'st thou? + +NEO. First to release thee from this plague, and then +With thee to go and take the realm of Troy. + +PHI. And is this thine intent? + +NEO. 'Tis so ordained +Unchangeably. Be not dismayed! 'Tis so. + +PHI. Me miserable! I am betrayed, undone! +What guile is here? My bow! give back my bow! + +NEO. I may not. Interest, and duty too, +Force me to obey commandment. + +PHI. O thou fire, +Thou terror of the world! Dark instrument +Of ever-hateful guile!--What hast thou done? +How thou hast cheated me! Art not ashamed +To look on him that sued to thee for shelter? +O heart of stone, thou hast stolen my life away +With yonder bow!--Ah, yet I beg of thee, +Give it me back, my son, I entreat thee, give! +By all thy father worshipped, rob me not +Of life!--Ah me! Now he will speak no more, +But turns away, obdurate to retain it. +O ye, my comrades in this wilderness, +Rude creatures of the rocks, O promontories, +Creeks, precipices of the hills, to you +And your familiar presence I complain +Of this foul trespass of Achilles' son. +Sworn to convey me home, to Troy he bears me. +And under pledge of his right hand hath ta'en +And holds from me perforce my wondrous bow, +The sacred gift of Zeus-born Heracles, +Thinking to wave it midst the Achaean host +Triumphantly for his. In conquering me +He vaunts as of some valorous feat, and knows not +He is spoiling a mere corse, an empty dream, +The shadow of a vapour. In my strength +He ne'er had vanquished me. Even as I am, +He could not, but by guile. Now, all forlorn, +I am abused, deceived. What must I do? +Nay, give it me. Nay, yet be thy true self! +Thou art silent. I am lost. O misery! +Rude face of rock, back I return to thee +And thy twin gateway, robbed of arms and food, +To wither in thy cave companionless:-- +No more with these mine arrows to destroy +Or flying bird or mountain-roving beast. +But, all unhappy! I myself must be +The feast of those on whom I fed, the chase +Of that I hunted, and shall dearly pay +In bloody quittance for their death, through one +Who seemed all ignorant of sinful guile. +Perish,--not till I am certain if thy heart +Will change once more,--if not, my curse on thee! + +CH. What shall we do, my lord? We wait thy word +Or to sail now, or yield to his desire. + +NEO. My heart is pressed with a strange pity for him, +Not now beginning, but long since begun. + +PHI. Ay, pity me, my son! by all above, +Make not thy name a scorn by wronging me! + +NEO. O! I am troubled sore. What must I do? +Would I had never left mine island home! + +PHI. Thou art not base, but seemest to have learnt +Some baseness from base men. Now, as 'tis meet, +Be better guided--leave me mine arms, and go. + +NEO. (_to Chorus_). +What shall we do? + +_Enter_ ODYSSEUS. + +ODYSSEUS. What art thou doing, knave? +Give me that bow, and haste thee back again. + +PHI. Alas! What do I hear? Odysseus' voice? + +OD. Be sure of that, Odysseus, whom thou seest. + +PHI. Oh, I am bought and sold, undone! 'Twas he +That kidnapped me, and robbed me of my bow. + +OD. Yea. I deny it not. Be sure, 'twas I. + +PHI. Give back, my son, the bow; release it! + +OD. That, +Though he desire it, he shall never do. +Thou too shalt march along, or these shall force thee. + +PHI. They force me! O thou boldest of bad men! +They force me? + +OD. If thou com'st not willingly. + +PHI. O Lemnian earth and thou almighty flame, +Hephaestos' workmanship, shall this be borne, +That he by force must drag me from your care? + +OD. 'Tis Zeus, I tell thee, monarch of this isle, +Who thus hath willed. I am his minister. + +PHI. Wretch, what vile words thy wit hath power to say! +The gods are liars when invoked by thee. + +OD. Nay, 'tis their truth compels thee to this voyage. + +PHI. I will not have it so. + +OD. I will. Thou shalt. + +PHI. Woe for my wretchedness! My father, then, +Begat no freeman, but a slave in me. + +OD. Nay, but the peer of noblest men, with whom +Thou art to take and ravage Troy with might. + +PHI. Never,--though I must suffer direst woe,-- +While this steep Lemnian ground is mine to tread! + +OD. What now is thine intent? + +PHI. Down from the crag +This head shall plunge and stain the crag beneath. + +OD. (_to the Attendants_.) +Ay, seize and bind him. Baffle him in this. + +PHI. Poor hands, for lack of your beloved string, +Caught by this craven! O corrupted soul! +How thou hast undermined me, having taken +To screen thy quest this youth to me unknown, +Far worthier of my friendship than of thine, +Who knew no better than to obey command. +Even now 'tis manifest he burns within +With pain for his own error and my wrong. +But, though unwilling and mapt for ill, +Thy crafty, mean, and cranny spying soul +Too well hath lessoned him in sinful lore. +Now thou hast bound me, O thou wretch, and thinkest +To take me from this coast, where thou didst cast me +Outlawed and desolate, a corpse 'mongst men. + Oh! +I curse thee now, as ofttimes in the past: +But since Heaven yields me nought but bitterness, +Thou livest and art blithe, while 'tis my pain +To live on in my misery, laughed to scorn +By thee and Atreus' sons, those generals twain +Whom thou art serving in this chase. But thou +With strong compulsion and deceit was driven +Troyward, whilst I, poor victim, of free will +Took my seven ships and sailed there, yet was thrown +Far from all honour,--as thou sayest, by them, +But, as they turn the tale, by thee.--And now +Why fetch me hence and take me? To what end? +I am nothing, dead to you this many a year. +How, O thou Heaven-abhorred! am I not now +Lame and of evil smell? how shall ye vaunt +Before the gods drink-offering or the fat +Of victims, if I sail among your crew? +For this, as ye professed, was the chief cause +Why ye disowned me. Perish!--So ye shall, +For the wrong done me, if the Heavens be just. +And that they are, I know. Else had ye ne'er +Sailed on this errand for an outcast wretch, +Had they not pricked your heart with thoughts of me. +Oh, if ye pity me, chastising powers, +And thou, the Genius of my land, revenge, +Revenge this crime on all their heads at once! +My life is pitiable; but if I saw +Their ruin, I would think me well and strong. + +CH. How full of bitterness is his resolve, +Wrathfully spoken with unbending will! + +OD. I might speak long in answer, did the time +Give scope, but now one thing is mine to say. +I am known to vary with the varying need; +And when 'tis tried, who can be just and good, +My peer will not be found for piety. +But though on all occasions covetous +Of victory, this once I yield to thee, +And willingly. Unhand him there. Let go! +Leave him to stay. What further use of thee, +When we have ta'en these arms? Have we not Teucer, +Skilled in this mystery? Yea, I may boast +Myself thine equal both in strength and aim +To wield them. Fare thee well, then! Thou art free +To roam thy barren isle. We need thee not. +Let us be going! And perchance thy gift +May bring thy destined glory to my brow. + +PHI. What shall I do? Alas, shalt thou be seen +Graced with mine arms amongst Achaean men? + +OD. No more! I am going. + +PHI. O Achilles' child! +Wilt thou, too, vanish? Must I lose thy voice? + +OD. Come on, and look not, noble though thou be, +Lest thou undo our fortune. + +PHI. Mariners, +Must ye, too, leave me thus disconsolate? +Will ye not pity me? + +CH. Our captain's here. +Whate'er he saith to thee, that we too speak. + +NEO. My chief will call me weakling, soft of heart; +But go not yet, since our friend bids you stay. +Till we have prayed, and all be ready on board. +Meanwhile, perchance, he may conceive some thought +That favours our design. We two will start; +And ye, be swift to speed forth at our call. [_Exit_ + +MONODY. + +PHI. O cavern of the hollow rock, I 1 +Frosty and stifling in the seasons' change! +How I seem fated never more to range +From thy sad covert, that hath felt the shock +Of pain on pain, steeped with my wretchedness. +Now thou wilt be my comforter in death! +Grief haunted harbour, choked with my distress! +Tell me, what hope is mine of daily food, +Who will be careful for my good? +I fail. Ye cowering creatures of the sky, + Oh, as ye fly, +Snatch me, borne upward on the blast's sharp breath! + +CH. 1. Thou child of misery! + No mightier power hath this decreed, + But thine own will and deed + Hath bound thee thus in grief, +Since, when kind Heaven had sent relief +And shown the path of wisdom firm and sure, +Thou still hast chosen this evil to endure. + +PHI. O hapless life, sore bruised with pain! I 2 +No more with living mortal may I dwell, +But ever pining in this desert cell +With lonely grief, all famished must remain +And perish; for what food is mine to share, +When this strong arm no longer wields my bow, +Whose fleet shafts flew to smite the birds of air +I was o'erthrown by words, words dark and blind, +Low-creeping from a traitorous mind! +O might I see him, whose unrighteous thought + This ruin wrought, +Plagued for no less a period with like woe! + +CH. 2. Not by our craft thou art caught, +But Destiny divine hath wrought + The net that holds thee bound. + Aim not at us the sound +Of thy dread curse with dire disaster fraught. +On others let that light! 'Tis our true care +Thou should'st not scorn our love in thy despair. + +PHI. Now, seated by the shore II 1 + Of heaving ocean hoar, + He mocks me, waving high + The sole support of my precarious being, + The bow which none e'er held but I. +O treasure of my heart, torn from this hand, +That loved thy touch,--if thou canst understand, +How sad must be thy look in seeing +Thy master destined now no more, +Like Heracles of yore, +To wield thee with an archer's might! +But in the grasp of an all-scheming wight, +O bitter change! thou art plied; +And swaying ever by his side, +Shalt view his life of dark malignity, +Teeming with guileful shames, like those he wrought on me. + +CH. 3. Nobly to speak for the right + Is manly and strong; + But not with an envious blight + To envenom the tongue; + He to serve all his friends of the fleet, + One obeying a many-voiced word, + Through the minist'ring craft of our lord + Hath but done what was meet. + +PHI. Come, legions of the wild, II 2 + Of aspect fierce or mild, + Fowl from the fields of air, + And beasts that roam with bright untroubled gaze, + No longer bounding from my lair + Fly mine approach! Now freely without fear + Ye may surround my covert and come near, + Treading the savage rock-strewn ways. + The might I had is no more mine, + Stolen with those arms divine. + This fort hath no man to defend. + Come satisfy your vengeful jaws, and rend + These quivering tainted limbs! + Already hovering death bedims + My fainting sense. Who thus can live on air, + Tasting no gift of earth that breathing mortals share? + +CH. 4. Ah! do not shrink from thy friend, + If love thou reverest, + But know 'tis for thee to forfend + The fate which thou fearest. + The lot thou hast here to deplore, + Is sad evermore to maintain, + And hardship in sickness is sore, + But sorest in pain. + +PHI. Kindest of all that e'er before III +Have trod this shore, +Again thou mind'st me of mine ancient woe! +Why wilt thou ruin me? What wouldst thou do? + +CH. 5. How mean'st thou? + +PHI. If to Troy, of me abhorred +Thou e'er hast hoped to lead me with thy lord. + +CH. 6. So I judge best. + +PHI. Begone at once, begone! + +CH. 7. Sweet is that word, and swiftly shall be done! +Let us be gone, each to his place on board. + [The Chorus _make as if they were going_ + +PHI. Nay, by dear Zeus, to whom all suppliants moan +Leave me not yet! + +CH. 8. Keep measure in thy word. + +PHI. Stay, by Heaven, stay! + +CH. 9. What wilt thou say? + +PHI. O misery! O cruel power +That rul'st this hour! +I am destroyed. Ah me! +O poor torn limb, what shall I do with thee +Through all my days to be? +Ah, strangers, come, return, return! + +CH. 10. What new command are we to learn +Crossing thy former mind? + +PHI. Ah! yet be kind. +Reprove not him, whose tongue, with grief distraught, +Obeys not, in dark storms, the helm of thought! + +CH. 11. Come, poor friend, the way we call. + +PHI. Never, learn it once for all! +Not though he, whom Heaven obeys, +Blast me with fierce lightning's blaze! +Perish Troy, and all your host, +That have chosen, to their cost, +To despise and cast me forth, +Since my wound obscured my worth! +Ah, but, strangers, if your sense +Hath o'er-mastered this offence, +Yield but one thing to my prayer! + +CH. 12. What wouldst thou have? + +PHI. Some weapon bare, +Axe or sword or sharpened dart, +Bring it to content my heart. + +CH. 13. What is thy new intent? + +PHI. To sever point by point +This body, joint from joint. +On bloody death my mind is bent. + +CH. 14. Wherefore? + +PHI. To see my father's face. + +CH. 15. Where upon earth? + +PHI. He hath no place +Where sun doth shine, but in the halls of night. +O native country, land of my delight, +Would I were blest one moment with thy sight! +Why did I leave thy sacred dew +And loose my vessels from thy shore, +To join the hateful Danaaen crew +And lend them succour? Oh, I am no more! + +LEADER OF CH. +Long since thou hadst seen me nearing yonder ship, +Had I not spied Odysseus and the son +Of great Achilles hastening to our side. + +OD. Wilt thou not tell me why thou art hurrying +This backward journey with reverted speed? + +NEO. To undo what I have wrongly done to-day. + +OD. Thy words appal me. What is wrongly done? + +NEO. When in obeying thee and all the host-- + +OD. Thou didst what deed that misbecame thy life? + +NEO. I conquered with base stratagem and fraud-- + +OD. Whom? What new plan is rising in thy mind? + +NEO. Not new. But to the child of Poeas here-- + +OD. What wilt thou do? I quake with strange alarm. + +NEO. From whom I took these weapons, back again---- + +OD. O Heaven! thou wilt not give them! Mean'st thou this? + +NEO. Yea, for I have them through base sinful means. + +OD. I pray thee, speak'st thou thus to anger me? + +NEO. If the truth anger thee, the truth is said. + +OD. Achilles' son! What word is fallen from thee? + +NEO. Must the same syllables be thrice thrown forth? + +OD. Once was too much. Would they had ne'er been said! + +NEO. Enough. Thou hast heard my purpose clearly told. + +OD. I know what power shall thwart thee in the deed. + +NEO. Whose will shall hinder me? + +OD. The Achaean host +And I among them. + +NEO. Thou'rt sharp-witted, sure! +But little wit or wisdom show'st thou here. + +OD. Neither thy words nor thy design is wise. + +NEO. But if 'tis righteous, that is better far. + +OD. How righteous, to release what thou hast ta'en +By my device? + +NEO. I sinned a shameful sin, +And I will do mine utmost to retrieve it. + +OD. How? Fear'st thou not the Achaeans in this act? + +NEO. In doing right I fear not them nor thee. + +OD. I call thy power in question. + +NEO. Then I'll fight, +Not with Troy's legions, but with thee. + +OD. Come on! +Let fortune arbitrate. + +NEO. Thou seest my hand +Feeling the hilt. + +OD. And me thou soon shalt see +Doing the like and dallying not!--And yet +I will not touch thee, but will go and tell +The army, that shall wreak this on thy head. [_Exit_ + +NEO. Thou show'st discretion: which if thou preserve, +Thou may'st maintain a path exempt from pain. +Ho! son of Poeas, Philoctetes, come +And leave thy habitation in the rock. + +PHI. What noise again is troubling my poor cave? +Why do ye summon me? What crave ye, sirs? +Ha! 'tis some knavery. Are ye come to add +Some monster evil to my mountainous woe? + +NEO. Fear not, but hearken to what now I speak. + +PHI. I needs must fear thee, whose fair words erewhile +Brought me to bitter fortune. + +NEO. May not men +Repent and change? + +PHI. Such wast thou in thy talk, +When thou didst rob me of my bow,--so bright +Without, so black within. + +NEO. Ah, but not now, +Assure thee! Only let me hear thy will, +Is 't constant to remain here and endure, +Or to make voyage with us? + +PHI. Stop, speak no more! +Idle and vain will all thine utterance be. + +NEO. Thou art so resolved? + +PHI. More firmly than I say. + +NEO. I would I might have brought thee to my mind, +But since my words are out of tune, I have done. + +PHI. Thou wert best. No word of thine can touch my soul +Or win me to thy love, who by deceit +Hast reft my life away. And then thou com'st +To school me,--of noblest father, basest son! +Perish, the Atridae first of all, and then +Laertes' child, and thou! + +NEO. Curse me no more, +But take this hallowed weapon from my hand. + +PHI. What words are these? Am I again deceived? + +NEO. No, by the holiest name of Zeus on high! + +PHI. O voice of gladness, if thy speech be true! + +NEO. The deed shall prove it. Only reach thy hand, +And be again sole master of thy bow. [ODYSSEUS _appears_ + +OD. But I make protest, in the sight of Heaven, +For Atreus' sons, and all the Achaean host. + +PHI. Dear son, whose voice disturbs us? Do I hear +Odysseus? + +OD. Ay, and thou behold'st him nigh, +And he shall force thee to the Trojan plain, +Howe'er Achilles' offspring make or mar. + +PHI. This shaft shall bear thee sorrow for that boast. + +NEO. Let it not fly, by Heaven! + +PHI. Dear child, let go +Mine arm! + +NEO. I will not. [_Exit_ ODYSSEUS + +PHI. Ah! Why hast thou robbed +My bow of bringing down mine enemy? + +NEO. This were ignoble both for thee and me. + +PHI. One thing is manifest, the first o' the host +Lying forerunners of the Achaean band, +Are brave with words, but cowards with the steel. + +NEO. Well, now the bow is thine. Thou hast no cause +For blame or anger any more 'gainst me. + +PHI. None. Thou hast proved thy birthright, dearest boy. +Not from the loins of Sisyphus thou earnest, +But from Achilles, who in life was held +Noblest of men alive, and now o' the dead. + +NEO. It gladdens me that thou shouldst speak in praise +Both of my sire and me. But hear me tell +The boon for which I sue thee.--Mortal men +Must bear such evils as high Heaven ordains; +But those afflicted by self-chosen ills, +Like thine to-day, receive not from just men +Or kind indulgence or compassionate thought. +And thou art restive grown, and wilt not hearken, +But though one counsel thee with kind'st intent, +Wilt take him for a dark malignant foe. +Yet, calling Zeus to witness for my soul, +Once more I will speak. Know this, and mark it well: +Thou bear'st this sickness by a heavenly doom, +Through coming near to Chrysa's sentinel, +The lurking snake, that guards the sky-roofed fold[7]. +And from this plague thou ne'er shall find reprieve +While the same Sun god rears him from the east +And droops to west again, till thou be come +Of thine own willing mind to Troia's plain, +Where our physicians, sons of Phoebus' child[8], +Shall soothe thee from thy sore, and thou with me +And with this bow shalt take Troy's citadel. +How do I know this? I will tell thee straight +We have a Trojan captive, Helenus, +Both prince and prophet, who hath clearly told +This must be so, yea, and ere harvest time +This year, great Troy must fall, else if his words +Be falsified, who will may slay the seer. +Now, since thou know'st of this, yield thy consent; +For glorious is the gain, being singled forth +From all the Greeks as noblest, first to come +To healing hands, and then to win renown +Unrivalled, vanquishing all tearful Troy. + +PHI. Oh how I hate my life! Why must it keep +This breathing form from sinking to the shades? +How can I prove a rebel to his mind +Who thus exhorts me with affectionate heart? +And yet, oh misery! must I give way? +Then how could I endure the light of heaven? +With whom could I exchange a word? Ay me! +Eyes that have seen each act of my sad life, +How could ye bear it, to behold the sons +Of Atreus, my destroyers, comrades now +And friends! Laertes' wicked son, my friend! +And less I feel the grief of former wrong +Than shudder with expectance of fresh harm +They yet may work on me. For when the mind +Hath once been mother of an evil brood, +It nurses nought but evils. Yea, at thee +I marvel. Thou should'st ne'er return to Troy, +Nor suffer me to go, when thou remember'st +What insult they have done thee, ravishing +Thy father's rights from thee. And wilt thou then +Sail to befriend them, pressing me in aid? +Nay, do not, son; but, even as thou hast sworn, +Convey me home, and thou, in Scyros dwelling, +Leave to their evil doom those evil men. +So thou shalt win a twofold gratitude +From me and from my father, and not seem, +Helping vile men, to be as vile as they. + +NEO. 'Tis fairly spoken. Yet I would that thou +Relying on my word and on Heaven's aid, +Would'st voyage forth from Lemnos with thy friend. + +PHI. Mean'st thou to Troy, and to the hateful sons +Of Atreus, me, with this distressful limb? + +NEO. Nay, but to those that will relieve the pain +Of thy torn foot and heal thee of thy plague. + +PHI. Thy words are horrible. What mean'st thou, boy? + +NEO. The act I deem the noblest for us both. + +PHI. Wilt thou speak so? Where is thy fear of Heaven? + +NEO. Why should I fear, when I see certain gain? + +PHI. Gain for the sons of Atreus, or for me? + +NEO. Methinks a friend should give thee friendly counsel. + +PHI. Friendly, to hand me over to my foes? + +NEO. Ah, be not hardened in thy misery! + +PHI. I know thou wilt ruin me by what thou speakest. + +NEO. Not I. The case is dark to thee, I see. + +PHI. I know the Atreidae cast me on this rock. + +NEO. But how, if they should save thee afterward? + +PHI. They ne'er shall make me see Troy with my will. + +NEO. Hard is my fortune, then, if by no sleight +Of reasoning I can draw thee to my mind. +For me, 'twere easiest to end speech, that thou +Might'st live on as thou livest in hopeless pain. + +PHI. Then leave me to my fate!--But thou hast touched +My right hand with thine own, and given consent +To bear me to my home. Do this, dear son! +And do not linger to take thought of Troy. +Enough that name hath echoed in my groans. + +NEO. If thou wilt, let us be going. + +PHI. Nobly hast thou said the word. + +NEO. Lean thy steps on mine. + +PHI. As firmly as my foot will strength afford. + +NEO. Ah! but how shall I escape Achaean anger? + +PHI. Do not care! + +NEO. Ah! but should they spoil my country! + +PHI. I to shield thee will be there. + +NEO. How to shield me, how to aid me? + +PHI. With the shafts of Heracles +I will scare them. + +NEO. Give thy blessing to this isle, and come in peace. + +HERACLES _appears from above._ + +HERACLES. First, son of Poeas, wait till thou hast heard +The voice of Heracles, and weighed his word. +Him thou beholdest from the Heavenly seat +Come down, for thee leaving the blest retreat, +To tell thee all high Zeus intends, and stay +Thy purpose in the journey of to-day. + Then hear me, first how after my long toils +By strange adventure I have found and won +Immortal glory, which thine eyes perceive; +And the like lot, I tell thee, shall be thine, +After these pains to rise to glorious fame. +Sailing with this thy comrade to Troy-town, +First thou shalt heal thee from thy grievous sore, +And then, being singled forth from all the host +As noblest, thou shalt conquer with that bow +Paris, prime author of these years of harm, +And capture Troy, and bear back to thy hall +The choicest guerdon, for thy valour's meed, +To Oeta's vale and thine own father's home. +But every prize thou tak'st be sure thou bear +Unto my pyre, in memory of my bow. + This word, Achilles' offspring, is for thee +No less. For, as thou could'st not without him, +So, without thee, he cannot conquer Troy. +Then, like twin lions hunting the same hill, +Guard thou him, and he thee! and I will send +Asclepius Troyward to relieve thy pain. +For Ilion now a second time must fall +Before the Herculean bow. But, take good heed, +Midst all your spoil to hold the gods in awe. +For our great Father counteth piety +Far above all. This follows men in death, +And fails them not when they resign their breath. + +PHI. Thou whom I have longed to see, + Thy dear voice is law to me. + +NEO. I obey with gladdened heart. + +HER. Lose no time: at once depart! + Bright occasion and fair wind + Urge your vessel from behind. + +PHI. Come, let me bless the region ere I go. + Poor house, sad comrade of my watch, farewell! + Ye nymphs of meadows where soft waters flow + Thou ocean headland, pealing thy deep knell, + Where oft within my cavern as I lay + My hair was moist with dashing south-wind's spray, + And ofttimes came from Hermes' foreland high + Sad replication of my storm-vext cry; + Ye fountains and thou Lycian water sweet,-- + I never thought to leave you, yet my feet + Are turning from your paths,--we part for aye. + Farewell! and waft me kindly on my way, + O Lemnian earth enclosed by circling seas, + To sail, where mighty Fate my course decrees, + And friendly voices point me, and the will + Of that heroic power, who doth this act fulfil. + +CH. Come now all in one strong band; + Then, ere loosing from the land, + Pray we to the nymphs of sea + Kind protectresses to be, + Till we touch the Trojan strand. + + * * * * * + + + + + OEDIPUS AT COLONOS + + + THE PERSONS + +OEDIPUS, _old and blind._ +ANTIGONE, _his daughter, a young girl._ +ISMENE, _his daughter, a young girl._ +CHORUS _of Village Guardians._ +_An Athenian._ +THESEUS, _King of Athens._ +CREON, _Envoy from Thebes._ +POLYNICES, _the elder son of Oedipus._ +_Messenger._ + + +SCENE. Colonos. + + + + +Oedipus had remained at Thebes for some time after his fall. But he +was afterwards banished by the command of Creon, with the consent of +his own sons. Their intention at first was to lay no claim to the +throne. But by-and-by ambition prevailed with Eteocles, the younger- +born, and he persuaded Creon and the citizens to banish his elder +brother. Polynices took refuge at Argos, where he married the daughter +of Adrastus, and levied an army of auxiliaries to support his +pretensions to the throne of Thebes. Before going into exile Oedipus +had cursed his sons. + +Antigone after a while fled forth to join her father and support him +in his wanderings. Ismene also once brought him secret intelligence. + +Years have now elapsed, and the Delphian oracle proclaims that if +Oedipus dies in a foreign land the enemies of Thebes shall overcome +her. + +In ignorance of this fact, Oedipus, now aged as well as blind, and led +by his daughter Antigone, appears before the grove of the Eumenides, +at Colonos, in the neighbourhood of Athens. He has felt an inward +intimation, which is strengthened by some words of the oracle received +by him long since at Delphi, that his involuntary crimes have been +atoned for, and that the Avenging Deities will now receive him kindly +and make his cause their own. + +After some natural hesitation on the part of the village-councillors +of Colonos, Oedipus is received with princely magnanimity by Theseus, +who takes him under the protection of Athens, and defends him against +the machinations of Creon. + +Thus the blessing of the Gods, which Oedipus carried with him, is +secured to Athens, and denied to Thebes. The craft of Creon and the +prayers of Polynices alike prove unavailing. Then the man of many +sorrows, whose essential nobleness has survived them all, passes away +mysteriously from the sight of men. + +The scene is laid at Colonos, a suburb of Athens much frequented by +the upper classes, especially the Knights (see Thuc. viii. 67); and +before the sacred grove of the Eumenides, or Gentle Goddesses, a +euphemistic title for the Erinyes, or Goddesses of Vengeance. + + + + + OEDIPUS AT COLONOS + + +OEDIPUS. ANTIGONE. + +OEDIPUS. Antigone, child of the old blind sire, +What land is here, what people? Who to-day +Shall dole to Oedipus, the wandering exile, +Their meagre gifts? Little I ask, and less +Receive with full contentment; for my woes, +And the long years ripening the noble mind, +Have schooled me to endure.--But, O my child, +If thou espiest where we may sit, though near +Some holy precinct, stay me and set me there, +Till we may learn where we are come. 'Tis ours +To hear the will of strangers and to obey. + +ANTIGONE. Woe-wearied father, yonder city's wall +That shields her, looks far distant; but this ground +Is surely sacred, thickly planted over +With olive, bay and vine, within whose bowers +Thick-fluttering song-birds make sweet melody. +Here then repose thee on this unhewn stone. +Thou hast travelled far to-day for one so old. + +OED. Seat me, my child, and be the blind man's guard. + +ANT. Long time hath well instructed me in that. + +OED. Now, canst thou tell me where we have set our feet? + +ANT. Athens I know, but not the nearer ground. + +OED. Ay, every man that met us in the way +Named Athens. + +ANT. Shall I go, then, and find out +The name of the spot? + +OED. Yes, if 'tis habitable. + +ANT. It is inhabited. Yet I need not go. +I see a man even now approaching here. + +OED. How? Makes he towards us? Is he drawing nigh? + +ANT. He is close beside us. Whatsoe'er thou findest +Good to be spoken, say it. The man is here. + +_Enter an_ Athenian. + +OED. O stranger, learning from this maid, who sees +Both for herself and me, that thou art come +With timely light to clear our troubled thought-- + +ATHENIAN. Ere thou ask more, come forth from where thou sittest! +Ye trench on soil forbidden human tread. + +OED. What soil? And to what Power thus consecrate? + +ATH. None may go near, nor dwell there. 'Tis possessed +By the dread sisters, children of Earth and Night. + +OED. What holy name will please them, if I pray? + +ATH. 'All seeing Gentle Powers' the dwellers here +Would call them. But each land hath its own rule. + +OED. And gently may they look on him who now +Implores them, and will never leave this grove! + +ATH. What saying is this? + +OED. The watchword of my doom. + +ATH. Yet dare I not remove thee, till the town +Have heard my purpose and confirm the deed. + +OED. By Heaven, I pray thee, stranger, scorn me not, +Poor wanderer that I am, but answer me. + +ATH. Make clear thy drift. Thou'lt get no scorn from me. + +OED. Then, pray thee, tell me how ye name the place +Where now I sit. + +ATH. The region all around +Is sacred. For 'tis guarded and possessed +By dread Poseidon, and the Titan mind +That brought us fire--Prometheus. But that floor +Whereon thy feet are resting, hath been called +The brazen threshold of our land, the stay +Of glorious Athens, and the neighbouring fields +Are fain to honour for their patron-god +Thee, O Colonos, first of Knights, whose name [_Pointing to a statue_ +They bear in brotherhood and own for theirs. +Such, friend, believe me, is this place, not praised +In story, but of many a heart beloved. + +OED. Then is the land inhabited of men? + +ATH. By men, who name them from Colonos there. + +OED. Have they a lord, or sways the people's voice? + +ATH. Lord Theseus, child of Aegeus, our late king. + +OED. Will some one of your people bring him hither? + +ATH. Wherefore? What urgent cause requires his presence? + +OED. He shall gain mightily by granting little. + +ATH. Who can gain profit from the blind? + +OED. The words +These lips shall utter, shall be full of sight. + +ATH. Well, thou look'st nobly, but for thy hard fate. +This course is safe. Thus do. Stay where I found thee, +Till I go tell the neighbour townsmen here +Not of the city, but Colonos. They +Shall judge for thee to abide or to depart. [_Exit_ + +OED. Tell me, my daughter, is the man away? + +ANT. He is gone, father. I alone am near. +Speak what thou wilt in peace and quietness. + +OED. Dread Forms of holy Fear, since in this land +Your sanctuary first gave my limbs repose, +Be not obdurate to my prayer, nor spurn +The voice of Phoebus, who that fateful day, +When he proclaimed my host of ills to come, +Told me of rest after a weary time, +Where else but here? 'When I should reach my bourne, +And find repose and refuge with the Powers +Of reverend name, my troubled life should end +With blessing to the men who sheltered me, +And curses on their race who banished me +and sent me wandering forth.' Whereof he vouched me +Sure token, or by earthquake, or by fire +From heaven, or thundrous voices. And I know +Some aery message from your shrine hath drawn me +With winged whisper to this grove. Not else +Had ye first met me coming, nor had I +Sate on your dread unchiselled seat of stone, +With dry cold lips greeting your sober shrine. +Then give Apollo's word due course, and give +Completion to my life, if in your sight +These toils and sorrows past the human bound +Seem not too little. Kindly, gentle powers, +Offspring of primal darkness, hear my prayer! +Hear it, Athenai, of all cities queen, +Great Pallas' foster-city! Look with ruth +On this poor shadow of great Oedipus, +This fading semblance of his kingly form. + +ANT. Be silent now. There comes an aged band +With jealous looks to know thine errand here. + +OED. I will be silent, and thine arm shall guide +My footstep under covert of the grove +Out of the path, till I make sure what words +These men will utter. Warily to observe +Is the prime secret of the prudent mind. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS (_entering_). + Keep watch! Who is it? Look! 1 +Where is he? Vanished! Gone! Oh where? + Most uncontrolled of men! + Look well, inquire him out, + Search keenly in every nook! + --Some wanderer is the aged wight, + A wanderer surely, not a native here. + Else never had he gone within + The untrodden grove +Of these--unmarried, unapproachable in might, + --Whose name we dare not breathe, + But pass their shrine + Without a look, without a word, +Uttering the unheard voice of reverential thought. + But now, one comes, they tell, devoid of awe, + Whom, peering all around this grove + I find not, where he abideth. + +OED. (_behind_). +Behold me! For I 'see by sound,' +As mortals say. + +CH. Oh, Oh! +With horror I see him, with horror hear him speak. + +OED. Pray you, regard me not as a transgressor! + +CH. Defend us, Zeus! Who is that aged wight? + +OED. Not one of happiest fate, +Or enviable, O guardians of this land! +'Tis manifest; else had I not come hither +Led by another's eyes, not moored my bark +On such a slender stay. + +CH. Alas! And are thine eyes 2 +Sightless? O full of misery, + As thou look'st full of years! + But not, if I prevail, + Shalt thou bring down this curse. + Thou art trespassing. Yet keep thy foot + From stumbling in that verdant, voiceless dell, + Where running water as it fills + The hallowed bowl, +Mingles with draughts[1] of honey. Stranger, hapless one! + Avoid that with all care. + Away! Remove! + Distance impedes the sound. Dost hear, +Woe-burdened wanderer? If aught thou carest to bring + Before our council, leave forbidden ground, + And there, where all have liberty, + Speak,--but till then, avaunt thee! + +OED. Daughter, what must I think, or do? + +ANT. My sire! +We must conform us to the people's will, +Yielding ere they compel. + +OED. Give me thy hand. + +ANT. Thou hast it. + +OED. --Strangers, let me not +Be wronged, when I have trusted you +And come from where I stood! + +CH. Assure thee, from this seat +No man shall drag thee off against thy will. + +OED. Farther? + +CH. Advance thy foot. + +OED. Yet more? + +CH. Assist him onward +Maiden, thou hast thy sight. + +ANT. Come, follow, this way follow with thy darkened steps, +Father, the way I am leading thee. + +CH. Content thee, sojourning in a strange land, +O man of woe! +To eschew whate'er the city holds in hate, +And honour what she loves! + +OED. Then do thou lead me, child, +Where with our feet secure from sin +We may be suffered both to speak and hear. +Let us not war against necessity. + +CH. There! From that bench of rock +Go not again astray. + +OED. Even here? + +CH. Enough, I tell thee. + +OED. May I sit? + +CH. Ay, crouch thee low adown +Crooking thy limbs, upon the stone. + +ANT. Father, this task is mine-- +Sink gently down into thy resting-place, + +OED. Woe is me! + +ANT. Supporting on this loving hand +Thy reverend aged form. + +OED. Woe, for my cruel fate! [OEDIPUS _is seated_ + +CH. Now thou unbendest from thy stubborn ways, +O man of woe! +Declare, what mortal wight thou art, +That, marked by troublous fortune, here art led. +What native country, shall we learn, is thine? + +OED. O strangers, I have none! +But do not-- + +CH. What dost thou forbid, old sir? + +OED. Do not, oh, do not ask me who I am, +Nor probe me with more question. + +CH. What dost thou mean? + +OED. My birth is dreadful. + +CH. Tell it forth. + +OED. What should I utter, O my child? Woe is me! + +CH. Thy seed, thy father's name, stranger, pronounce! + +OED. Alas! What must I do? My child! + +ANT. Since no resource avails thee, speak! + +OED. I will. I cannot hide it further. + +CH. Ye are long about it. Haste thee! + +OED. Know ye of one +Begotten of Laius? + +CH. Horror! Horror! Oh! + +OED. Derived from Labdacus? + +CH. O Heaven! + +OED. Fate-wearied Oedipus? + +CH. Art thou he? + +OED. Fear not my words. + +CH. Oh! Oh! + +OED. Unhappy me! + +CH. Oh! + +OED. Daughter, what is coming? + +CH. Away! Go forth. Leave ye the land. Begone! + +OED. And where, then, is the promise thou hast given? + +CH. No doom retributive attends the deed +That wreaks prevenient wrong. +Deceit, matched with deceit, makes recompense +Of evil, not of kindness. Get thee forth! +Desert that seat again, and from this land +Unmooring speed thee away, lest on our state +Thou bring some further bale! + +MONODY. + +ANT. O strangers, full of reverent care! +Since ye cannot endure my father here, +Aged and blind, +Because ye have heard a rumour of the deeds +He did unknowingly,--yet, we entreat you. +Strangers, have pity on me, the hapless girl, +Who pray for mine own sire and for none else, +--Pray, looking in your eyes with eyes not blind. +As if a daughter had appeared to you. +Pleading for mercy to the unfortunate. +We are in your hands as in the hand of God, +Helpless. O then accord the unhoped for boon! +By what is dear to thee, thy veriest own, +I pray thee,--chattel or child, or holier name! +Search through the world, thou wilt not find the man +Who could resist the leading of a God. + +CH. Daughter of Oedipus, be well assured +We view with pity both thy case and his, +But fear of Heavenly wrath confines our speech +To that we have already said to you. + +OED. What profit lives in fame and fair renown +By unsubstantial rumour idly spread? +When Athens is extolled with peerless praise +For reverence, and for mercy!--She alone +The sufferer's shield, the exile's comforter! +What have I reaped hereof? Ye have raised me up +From yonder seat, and now would drive me forth +Fearing a name! For there is nought in me +Or deeds of mine to make you fear. My life +Hath more of wrong endured than of wrong done, +Were it but lawful to disclose to you +Wherefore ye dread me,--not my sin but theirs, +My mother's and my sire's. I know your thought. +Yet never can ye fasten guilt on me, +Who, though I had acted with the clear'st intent, +Were guiltless, for my deed requited wrong. +But as it was, all blindly I went forth +On that dire road, while they who planned my death +Planned it with perfect knowledge. Therefore, sirs, +By Heaven I pray you, as ye have bid me rise, +Protect your suppliant without fail; and do not +In jealous reverence for the blessed Gods +Rob them of truest reverence, but know this:-- +God looks upon the righteousness of men +And their unrighteousness, nor ever yet +Hath one escaped who wrought iniquity. +Take part, then, with the Gods, nor overcloud +The golden fame of Athens with dark deeds; +But as ye have pledged your faith to shelter me, +Defend me and rescue, not rejecting me +Through mere abhorrence of my ruined face. +For on a holy mission am I come, +Sent with rich blessings for your neighbours here. +And when the head and sovereign of your folk +Is present, ye shall learn the truth at full. +Till then, be gracious to me, and not perverse. + +CH. Thy meaning needs must strike our hearts with awe, +Old wanderer! so weighty are the words +That body it forth. Therefore we are content +The Lord of Athens shall decide this case. + +OED. And where is he who rules this country, sirs? + +CH. He keeps his father's citadel. But one +Is gone to fetch him, he who brought us hither. + +OED. Think you he will consider the blind man, +And come in person here to visit him? + +CH. Be sure he will,--when he hath heard thy name. + +OED. And who will carry that? + +CH. 'Tis a long road; +But rumour from the lips of wayfarers +Flies far and wide, so that he needs must hear; +And hearing, never doubt but he will come. +So noised in every land hath been thy name, +Old sovereign,--were he sunk in drowsiness, +That sound would bring him swiftly to thy side. + +OED. Well, may he come to bless his city and me! +When hath not goodness blessed the giver of good? + +ANT. O Heavens! What shall I say, what think, my father? + +OED. Daughter Antigone, what is it? + +ANT. I see +A woman coming toward us, mounted well +On a fair Sicilian palfrey, and her face +With brow-defending hood of Thessaly +Is shadowed from the sun. What must I think? +Is it she or no? Can the eye so far deceive? +It is. 'Tis not. Unhappy that I am, +I know not.--Yes, 'tis she. For drawing near +She greets me with bright glances, and declares +Beyond a doubt, Ismene's self is here. + +OED. What say'st thou, daughter? + +ANT. That I see thy child, +My sister. Soon her voice will make thee sure. + +_Enter_ ISMENE. + +ISMENE. Father and sister!--names for ever dear! +Hard hath it been to find you, yea, and hard +I feel it now to look on you for grief. + +OED. Child, art thou here? + +ISM. Father! O sight of pain! + +OED. Offspring and sister! + +ISM. Woe for thy dark fate! + +OED. Hast thou come, daughter? + +ISM. On a troublous way. + +OED. Touch me, my child! + +ISM. I give a hand to both. + +OED. To her and me? + +ISM. Three linked in one sad knot. + +OED. Child, wherefore art thou come? + +ISM. In care for thee. + +OED. Because you missed me? + +ISM. Ay, and to bring thee tidings, +With the only slave whom I could trust. + +OED. And they, +Thy brethren, what of them? Were they not there +To take this journey for their father's good? + +ISM. Ask not of them. Dire deeds are theirs to day. + +OED. How in all points their life obeys the law +Of Egypt, where the men keep house and weave +Sitting within doors, while the wives abroad +Provide with ceaseless toil the means of life. +So in your case, my daughters, they who should +Have ta'en this burden on them, bide at home +Like maidens, while ye take their place, and lighten +My miseries by your toil. Antigone, +E'er since her childhood ended, and her frame +Was firmly knit, with ceaseless ministry +Still tends upon the old man's wandering, +Oft in the forest ranging up and down +Fasting and barefoot through the burning heat +Or pelting rain, nor thinks, unhappy maid, +Of home or comfort, so her father's need +Be satisfied. And thou, that camest before, +Eluding the Cadmeans, and didst tell me +What words Apollo had pronounced on me. +And when they banished me, stood'st firm to shield me, +What news, Ismene, bring'st thou to thy sire +To day? What mission sped thee forth? I know +Thou com'st not idly, but with fears for me. + +ISM. Father, I will not say what I endured +In searching out the place that sheltered thee. +To tell it o'er would but renew the pain. +But of the danger now encompassing +Thine ill starred sons,--of that I came to speak. +At first they strove with Creon and declared +The throne should be left vacant and the town +Freed from pollution,--paying deep regard +In their debate to the dark heritage +Of ruin that o'ershadowed all thy race. +Far different is the strife which holds them now, +Since some great Power, joined to their sinful mind, +Incites them both to seize on sovereign sway. +Eteocles, in pride of younger years, +Robbed elder Polynices of his right, +Dethroned and banished him. To Argos then +Goes exiled Polynices, and obtains +Through intermarriage a strong favouring league, +Whose word is, 'Either Argos vanquishes +The seed of Cadmus or exalts their fame' +This, father, is no tissue of empty talk, +But dreadful truth, nor can I tell where Heaven +Is to reveal his mercy to thy woe. + +OED. And hadst thou ever hoped the Gods would care +For mine affliction, and restore my life? + +ISM. I hope it now since this last oracle. + +OED. What oracle hath been declared, my child? + +ISM. That they shall seek thee forth, alive or dead, +To bring salvation to the Theban race. + +OED. Who can win safety through such help as mine? + +ISM. 'Tis said their victory depends on thee. + +OED. When shrunk to nothing, am I indeed a man? + +ISM. Yea, for the Gods uphold thee, who then destroyed. + +OED. Poor work, to uphold in age who falls when young! + +ISM. Know howsoe'er that Creon will be here +For this same end, ere many an hour be spent. + +OED. For what end, daughter? Tell me in plain speech. + +ISM. To set thee near their land, that thou may'st be +Beyond their borders, but within their power. + +OED. What good am I, thus lying at their gate? + +ISM. Thine inauspicious burial brings them woe. + +OED. There needs no oracle to tell one that. + +ISM. And therefore they would place thee near their land, +Where thou may'st have no power upon thyself. + +OED. Say then, shall Theban dust o'ershadow me? + +ISM. The blood of kindred cleaving to thy hand, +Father, forbids thee. + +OED. Never, then, henceforth, +Shall they lay hold on me! + +ISM. If that be true, +The brood of Cadmus shall have bale. + +OED. What cause +Having appeared, will bring this doom to pass? + +ISM. Thy wrath, when they are marshalled at thy tomb. + +OED. From whom hast thou heard this? + +ISM. Sworn messengers +Brought such report from Delphi's holy shrine. + +OED. Hath Phoebus so pronounced my destiny? + +ISM. So they declare who brought the answer back. + +OED. Did my sons hear? + +ISM. They know it, both of them. + +OED. Villains, who, being informed of such a word, +Turned not their thoughts toward me, but rather chose +Ambition and a throne! + +ISM. It wounds mine ear +To hear it spoken, but the news I bring +Is to that stern effect. + +OED. Then I pray Heaven +The fury of their fate-appointed strife +May ne'er be quenched, but that the end may come +According to my wish upon them twain +To this contention and arbitrament +Of battle which they now assay and lift +The threatening spear! So neither he who wields +The sceptred power should keep possession still, +Nor should his brother out of banishment +Ever return:--who, when their sire--when I +Was shamefully thrust from my native land, +Checked not my fall nor saved me, but, for them, +I was driven homeless and proclaimed an exile. +Ye will tell me 'twas in reason that the State +Granted this boon to my express desire. +Nay; for in those first hours of agony, +When my heart raged, and it seemed sweetest to me +To die the death, and to be stoned with stones, +No help appeared to yield me that relief. +But after lapse of days, when all my pain +Was softened, and I felt that my hot spirit +Had run to fierce excess of bitterness +In wreaking mine offence--then, then the State +Drove me for ever from the land, and they, +Their father's sons, who might have saved their father, +Cared not to help him, but betrayed by them, +For lack of one light word, I wandered forth +To homeless banishment and beggary. +But these weak maidens to their nature's power +Have striven to furnish me with means to live +And dwell securely, girded round with love. +My sons have chosen before their father's life +A lordly throne and sceptred sovereignty. +But never shall they win me to their aid, +Nor shall the Theban throne for which they strive +Bring them desired content. That well I know, +Comparing with my daughter's prophecies +Those ancient oracles which Phoebus once +Spake in mine ear. Then let them send to seek me +Creon, or who is strongest in their State. +For if ye, strangers, will but add your might +To the protection of these awful Powers, +The guardians of your soil, to shelter me, +Ye shall acquire for this your State a saviour +Mighty to save, and ye shall vex my foes. + +CH. Thou art worthy of all compassion, Oedipus, +Thyself and these thy daughters. Now, moreover +Since thou proclaim'st thyself our country's saviour +I would advise thee for the best. + +OED. Kind sir, +Be my good guide. I will do all thou biddest. + +CH. Propitiate then these holy powers, whose grove +Received thee when first treading this their ground. + +OED. What are the appointed forms? Advise me, sirs. + +CH. First see to it that from some perennial fount +Clean hands provide a pure drink-offering. + +OED. And when I have gotten this unpolluted draught? + +CH. You will find bowls, formed by a skilful hand, +Whose brims and handles you must duly wreathe. + +OED. With leaves or flocks of wool, or in what way? + +CH. With tender wool ta'en from a young ewe-lamb. + +OED. Well, and what follows to complete the rite? + +CH. Next, make libation toward the earliest dawn. + +OED. Mean'st thou from those same urns whereof thou speakest? + +CH. From those three vessels pour three several streams, +Filling the last to the brim. + +OED. With what contents +Must this be filled? Instruct me. + +CH. Not with wine, +But water and the treasure of the bee. + +OED. And when leaf-shadowed Earth has drunk of this, +What follows? + +CH. Thou shalt lay upon her then +From both thy hands a row of olive-twigs-- +Counting thrice nine in all--and add this prayer-- + +OED. That is the chief thing,--that I long to hear. + +CH. As we have named them Gentle, so may they +From gentle hearts accord their suppliant aid;-- +Be this thy prayer, or whoso prays for thee, +Spoken not aloud, but so that none may hear; +And in departing, turn not. This being done, +I can stand by thee without dread. But else, +I needs must fear concerning thee. + +OED. My daughters, +Have ye both heard our friends who inhabit here? + +ANT. Yea, father; and we wait for thy command. + +OED. I cannot go. Two losses hinder me, +Two evils, want of strength and want of sight. +Let one of you go and perform this service. +One soul, methinks, in paying such a debt +May quit a million, if the heart be pure. +Haste, then, to do it. Only leave me not +Untended. For I cannot move alone +Nor without some one to support me and guide. + +ISM. I will be ministrant. But let me know +Where I must find the place of offering. + +CH. Beyond this grove. And, stranger maid, if aught +Seem wanting, there is one at hand to show it. + +ISM. Then to my task. Meantime, Antigone, +Watch by our sire. We must not make account +Of labour that supplies a parent's need. [_Exit_ + +CH. Thy long since slumbering woe I would not wake again, I 1 +But yet I long to learn. + +OED. What hidden lore? + +CH. The pain +That sprang against thy life with spirit-mastering force. + +OED. Ah, sirs, as ye are kind, re-open not that source +Of unavoided shame. + +CH. Friend, we would hear the tale +Told truly, whose wide voice doth hourly more prevail. + +OED. Misery! + +CH. Be not loth! + +OED. O bitterness! + +CH. Consent. +For all thou didst require we gave to thy content. + +OED. Oh, strangers, I have borne an all-too-willing brand, I 2 +Yet not of mine own choice. + +CH. Whence? We would understand. + +OED. Nought knowing of the curse she fastened on my head +Thebe in evil bands bound me. + +CH. Thy mother's bed, +Say, didst thou fill? mine ear still echoes to the noise. + +OED. 'Tis death to me to hear, but, these, mine only joys, +Friends, are my curse. + +CH. O Heaven! + +OED. The travail of one womb +Hath gendered all you see, one mother, one dark doom. + +CH. How? Are they both thy race, and-- II 1 + +OED. Sister branches too, +Nursed at the self-same place with him from whom they grew. + +CH. O horror! + +OED. Ay, not one, ten thousand charged me then! + +CH. O sorrow! + +OED. Never done, an ever-sounding strain. + +CH. O crime! + +OED. By me ne'er wrought. + +CH. But how? + +OED. The guerdon fell. +Would I had earned it not from those I served too well. + +CH. But, hapless, didst thou slay-- II 2 + +OED. What seek ye more to know? + +CH. Thy father? + +OED. O dismay! Ye wound me, blow on blow. + +CH. Thy hand destroyed him. + +OED. Yes. Yet lacks there not herein +A plea for my redress. + +CH. How canst thou clear that sin? + +OED. I'll tell thee. For the deed, 'twas proved mine,--Oh 'tis true! +Yet by Heaven's law I am freed:--I wist not whom I slew. + +CH. Enough. For lo! where Aegeus' princely son, +Theseus, comes hither, summoned at thy word. + +_Enter_ THESEUS. + +THESEUS. From many voices in the former time +Telling thy cruel tale of sight destroyed +I have known thee, son of Laius, and to-day +I know thee anew, in learning thou art here. +Thy raiment, and the sad change in thy face, +Proclaim thee who thou art, and pitying thee, +Dark-fated Oedipus, I fain would hear +What prayer or supplication thou preferrest +To me and to my city, thou and this +Poor maid who moves beside thee. Full of dread +Must be that fortune thou canst name, which I +Would shrink from, since I know of mine own youth, +How in strange lands a stranger as thou art +I bore the brunt of perilous circumstance +Beyond all others; nor shall any man, +Like thee an alien from his native home, +Find me to turn my face from succouring him. +I am a man and know it. To-morrow's good +Is no more mine than thine or any man's. + +OED. Thy noble spirit, Theseus, in few words +Hath made my task of utterance brief indeed. +Thou hast told aright my name and parentage +And native city. Nought remains for me +But to make known mine errand, and our talk +Is ended. + +THE. Tell me plainly thy desire. + +OED. I come to offer thee this woe-worn frame, +As a free boon,--not goodly in outward view. +A better gift than beauty is that I bring. + +THE. What boon dost thou profess to have brought with thee? + +OED. Thou shalt know by and by,--not yet awhile. + +THE. When comes the revelation of thine aid? + +OED. When I am dead, and thou hast buried me. + +THE. Thou cravest the last kindness. What's between +Thou dost forget or else neglect. + +OED. Herein +One word conveys the assurance of the whole. + +THE. You sum up your petition in brief form. + +OED. Look to it. Great issues hang upon this hour. + +THE. Mean'st thou in this the fortune of thy sons +Or mine? + +OED. I mean the force of their behest +Compelling my removal hence to Thebes. + +THE. So thy consent were sought, 'twere fair to yield. + +OED. Once I was ready enough. They would not then. + +THE. Wrath is not wisdom in misfortune, man! + +OED. Nay, chide not till thou knowest. + +THE. Inform me, then! +I must not speak without just grounds. + +OED. O Theseus, +I am cruelly harassed with wrong heaped on wrong. + +THE. Mean'st thou that prime misfortune of thy birth? + +OED. No. That hath long been rumoured through the world. + +THE. What, then, can be thy grief? If more than that, +'Tis more than human. + +OED. Here is my distress:-- +I am made an outcast from my native land +By mine own offspring. And return is barred +For ever to the man who slew his sire. + +THE. How then should they require thee to go near, +And yet dwell separate? + +OED. The voice of Heaven +Will drive them to it. + +THE. As fearing what reverse +Prophetically told? + +OED. Destined defeat +By Athens in the Athenian land. + +THE. What source +Of bitterness 'twixt us and Thebes can rise? + +OED. Dear son of Aegeus, to the Gods alone +Comes never Age nor Death. All else i' the world +Time, the all subduer, merges in oblivion. +Earth and men's bodies weaken, fail, and perish. +Faith withers, breach of faith springs up and glows +And neither men nor cities that are friends +Breathe the same spirit with continuing breath. +Love shall be turned to hate, and hate to love +With many hereafter, as with some to-day. +And though, this hour, between great Thebes and thee +No cloud be in the heaven, yet moving Time +Enfolds a countless brood of days to come, +Wherein for a light cause they shall destroy +Your now harmonious league with severing war, +Even where my slumbering form, buried in death, +Coldly shall drink the life blood of my foes, +If Zeus be Zeus, and his son Phoebus true. +I would not speak aloud of mysteries. +Then let me leave where I began. Preserve +Thine own good faith, and thou shalt never say, +Unless Heaven's promise fail me, that for nought +Athens took Oedipus to dwell with her. + +CH. My lord, long since the stranger hath professed +Like augury of blessings to our land. + +THE. And who would dare reject his proffered good? +Whose bond with us of warrior amity +Hath ne'er been sundered,--and to day he comes +A God-sent suppliant, whose sacred hand +Is rich with gifts for Athens and for me. +In reverent heed whereof I ne'er will scorn +The boon he brings, but plant him in our land. +And if it please our friend to linger here, +Ye shall protect him:--if to go with me +Best likes thee, Oedipus,--ponder, and use +Thy preference. For my course shall join with thine. + +OED. Ye Heavens, reward such excellence! + +THE. How, then? +Is it thy choice now to go home with me? + +OED. Yea, were it lawful. But in this same spot-- + +THE. What wouldst thou do? I'll not withstand thy will. + +OED. I must have victory o'er my banishers. + +THE. Thy dwelling with us, then, is our great gain? + +OED. Yes, if thou fail me not, but keep thy word. + +THE. Nay, fear not me! I will aye be true to thee. + +OED. I will not bind thee, like a knave, with oaths. + +THE. Oaths were no stronger than my simple word. + +OED. What will ye do, then? + +THE. What is that thou fearest? + +OED. They will come hither. + +THE. Thy guards will see to that. + +OED. Beware, lest, if you leave me-- + +THE. Tell not me, +I know my part. + +OED. Terror will have me speak. + +THE. Terror and I are strangers. + +OED. But their threats! +Thou canst not know-- + +THE. I know that none shall force +Thee from this ground against thy will. Full oft +Have threatening words in wrath been voluble, +Yet, when the mind regained her place again, +The threatened evil vanished. So to-day +Bold words of boastful meaning have proclaimed +Thy forcible abduction by thy kin. +Yet shall they find (I know it) the voyage from Thebes, +On such a quest, long and scarce navigable. +Whate'er my thought, if Phoebus sent thee forth, +I would bid thee have no fear. And howsoe'er, +My name will shield thee from all injury. + +CHORUS. +Friend! in our land of conquering steeds thou art come I 1 +To this Heaven-fostered haunt, Earth's fairest home, +Gleaming Colonos, where the nightingale +In cool green covert warbleth ever clear, +True to the clustering ivy and the dear + Divine, impenetrable shade, +From wildered boughs and myriad fruitage made, +Sunless at noon, stormless in every gale. +Wood-roving Bacchus there, with mazy round, +And his nymph nurses range the unoffended ground. + +And nourished day by day with heavenly dew I 2 +Bright flowers their never-failing bloom renew, +From eldest time Deo and Cora's crown +Full-flowered narcissus, and the golden beam +Of crocus, while Cephisus' gentle stream + In runnels fed by sleepless springs +Over the land's broad bosom daily brings +His pregnant waters, never dwindling down. +The quiring Muses love to seek the spot +And Aphrodite's golden car forsakes it not. + +Here too a plant, nobler than e'er was known II 1 +On Asian soil, grander than yet hath grown +In Pelops' mighty Dorian isle, unsown, + Free, self-create, the conquering foeman's fear, +The kind oil-olive, silvery-green, +Chief nourisher of childish life, is seen +To burgeon best in this our mother-land. +No warrior, young, nor aged in command, + Shall ravage this, or scathe it with the spear; + For guardian Zeus' unslumbering eye + Beholds it everlastingly, +And Athens' grey-eyed Queen, dwelling for ever near. + +Yet one more praise mightier than all I tell II 2 +O'er this my home, that Ocean loves her well, + And coursers love her, children of the wave +To grace these roadways Prince Poseidon first +Framed for the horse, that else had burst +From man's control, the spirit taming bit +And the trim bark, rowed by strong arms, doth flit + O'er briny seas with glancing motion brave + Lord of the deep! by that thy glorious gift +Thou hast established our fair town +For ever in supreme renown-- +The Sea nymphs' plashing throng glide not more smoothly swift. + +ANT. O land exalted thus in blessing and praise, +Now is thy time to prove these brave words true. + +OED. What hath befallen, my daughter? + +ANT. Here at hand, +Not unaccompanied, is Creon, father. + +OED. Dear aged friends, be it yours now to provide +My safety and the goal of my desire! + +CH. It shall be so. Fear nought. I am old and weak, +But Athens in her might is ever young. + +_Enter_ CREON. + +CREON. Noble inhabiters of Attic ground +I see as 'twere conceived within your eyes +At mine approach some new engendered fear +Nay, shrink not, nor let fall one fretful word. +I bring no menace with me, for mine age +Is feeble, and the state whereto I come +Is mighty,--none in Hellas mightier,-- +That know I well. But I am sent to bring +By fair persuasion to our Theban plain +The reverend form of him now present here. +Nor came this mission from one single will, +But the commands of all my citizens +Are on me, seeing that it becomes my birth +To mourn his sorrows most of all the state +Thou, then, poor sufferer, lend thine ear to me +And come. All Cadmus' people rightfully +Invite thee with one voice unto thy home, +I before all,--since I were worst of men, +Were I not pained at thy misfortunes, sir, +--To see thee wandering in the stranger's land +Aged and miserable, unhoused, unfed, +Singly attended by this girl, whose fall +To such a depth of undeserved woe +I could not have imagined! Hapless maid! +Evermore caring for thy poor blind head, +Roving in beggary, so young, with no man +To marry her,--a mark for all mischance. +O misery, what deep reproach I have laid +On thee and me and our whole ill-starred race! +But who can hide evil that courts the day? +Thou, therefore, Oedipus, without constraint, +(By all the Gods of Cadmus' race I pray thee) +Remove this horror from the sight of men +By coming to the ancestral city and home +Of thy great sires,--bidding a kind farewell +To worthiest Athens, as is meet. But Thebes, +Thy native land, yet more deserves thy love. + +OED. Thou unabashed in knavery, who canst frame +For every cause the semblance of a plea +Pranked up with righteous seeming, why again +Would'st thou contrive my ruin, and attempt +To catch me where I most were grieved being caught? +Beforetime, when my self-procured woes +Were plaguing me, and I would fain have rushed +To instant banishment, thou wouldst not then +Grant this indulgence to my keen desire. +But when I had fed my passion to the full, +And all my pleasure was to live at home, +Then 'twas thy cue to expel and banish me, +Nor was this name of kindred then so dear. +Now once again, when thou behold'st this city +And people joined in friendly bands with me, +Thou wouldst drag me from my promised resting-place, +Hiding hard policy with courtly show. +Strange kindness, to love men against their will! +Suppose, when thou wert eager in some suit, +No grace were granted thee, but all denied, +And when thy soul was sated, then the boon +Were offered, when such grace were graceless now; +--Poor satisfaction then were thine, I ween! +Even such a gift thou profferest me to-day, +Kind in pretence, but really full of evil. +These men shall hear me tell thy wickedness. +Thou comest to take me, not unto my home, +But to dwell outlawed at your gate, that so +Your Thebe may come off untouched of harm +From her encounter with Athenian men. +Ye shall not have me thus. But you shall have +My vengeful spirit ever in your land +Abiding for destruction,--and my sons +Shall have this portion in their father's ground, +To die thereon. Know I not things in Thebes +Better than thou? Yea, for 'tis mine to hear +Safer intelligencers,--Zeus himself, +And Phoebus, high interpreter of Heaven. +Thou bring'st a tongue suborned with false pretence, +Sharpened with insolence;--but in shrewd speech +Thou shalt find less of profit than of bane. +This thou wilt ne'er believe. Therefore begone! +Let me live here. For even such life as mine +Were not amiss, might I but have my will. + +CR. Which of us twain, believ'st thou, in this talk +Hath more profoundly sinned against thy peace? + +OED. If thou prevail'st with these men present here +Even as with me, I shall be well content. + +CR. Unhappy man, will not even Time bring forth +One spark of wisdom to redeem thine age? + +OED. Thou art a clever talker. But I know +No just man who in every cause abounds +With eloquent speech. + +CR. 'Tis not to abound in speech, +When one speaks fitting words in season. + +OED. Oh! +As if thy words were few and seasonable! + +CR. Not in the dotard's judgement. + +OED. Get thee gone! +I speak their mind as well--and dog not me +Beleaguering mine appointed dwelling-place! + +CR. These men shall witness--for thy word is naught; +And for thy spiteful answer to thy friends, +If once I seize thee-- + +OED. Who shall seize on me +Without the will of my protectors here? + +CR. Well, short of that, thou shalt have pain, I trow. + +OED. What hast thou done, that thou canst threaten thus? + +CR. One of thy daughters I have sent in charge. +This other, I myself will quickly take. + +OED. Oh, cruel! + +CR. Soon thou'lt have more cause to cry. + +OED. Hast thou my child? + +CR. I will have both ere long. + +OED. Dear friends, what will ye do? Will ye forsake me? +Will you not drive the offender from your land? + +CH. Stranger, depart at once! Thou hast done wrong, +And wrong art doing. + +CR. (_to attendants_). + Now then, lead her away +By force, if she refuse to go with you. + +ANT. Ah me! unhappy! Whither shall I flee? +What aid of God or mortal can I find? + +CH. What dost thou, stranger? + +CR. I will lay no hand +On him, but on my kinswoman. + +OED. Alas! +Lords of Colonos, will ye suffer it? + +CH. Thou art transgressing, stranger. + +CR. Nay, I stand +Within my right. + +CH. How so? + +CR. I take mine own. + +OED. Athens to aid! + +CH. Stranger, forbear! What dost thou? +Let go, or thou shalt try thy strength with us. + +CR. Unhand me! + +CH. Not while this intent is thine. + +CR. If you harm me, you will have war with Thebes. + +OED. Did I not tell you this would come? + +CH. Release +The maid with speed. + +CR. Command where you have power. + +CH. Leave hold, I say! + +CR. Away with her, say I! + +CH. Come hither, neighbours, come! +My city suffers violence. Wrongful men +Are hurting her with force. Come hither to me! + +ANT. Unhappy, I am dragged away,--O strangers! + +OED. Where art thou, O my child? + +ANT. I go away +Against my will. + +OED. Reach forth thy hands, my daughter! + +ANT. I cannot. + +CR. Off with her! + +OED. Alas, undone! [_Exit_ ANTIGONE, _guarded_ + +CR. Thou shalt not have these staves henceforth to prop +Thy roaming to and fro. Take thine own way! +Since thou hast chosen to thwart thy nearest kin,-- +Beneath whose orders, though a royal man, +I act herein,--and thine own native land. +The time will surely come when thou shalt find +That in this deed and all that thou hast done +In opposition to their friendly will, +Thou hast counselled foolishly against thy peace, +Yielding to anger, thy perpetual bane. [_Going_ + +CH. Stranger, stand where thou art! + +CR. Hands off, I say! + +CH. Thou shalt not go, till thou restore the maids. + +CR. Soon, then, my city shall retain from you +A weightier cause of war. I will lay hands +Not on the maidens only. + +CH. What wilt thou do? + +CR. Oedipus I will seize and bear away. + +CH. Great Heaven forfend! + +CR. It shall be done forthwith, +Unless the ruler of this land prevent me. + +OED. O shameless utterance! Wilt thou lay thy hold +On me? + +CR. Be silent! Speak no more! + +OED. No more? +May these dread Goddesses not close my lips +To this one prayer of evil against thee, +Thou villain, who, when I have lost mine eyes, +Bereavest me of all that I had left +To make my darkness light! Therefore I pray, +For this thy wrongful act, may He in heaven +Whose eye sees all things, Helios, give to thee +Slowly to wither in an age like mine! + +CR. Men of this land, bear witness to his rage! + +OED. They see us both, and are aware that I +Repay thee but with words for deeds of wrong. + +CR. No longer will I curb my wrath. Though lonely +And cumbered by mine age, I will bear off +This man! + +OED. Me miserable! + +CH. How bold thou art, +If standing here thou think'st to do this thing! + +CR. I do. + +CH. Then Athens is to me no city. + +CR. Slight men prevail o'er strength in a just cause. + +OED. Hear ye his words? + +CH. He shall not make them good. +Be witness, Zeus! + +CR. Zeus knows more things than thou. + +OED. Is not this violence? + +CR. Violence you must bear. + +CH. Come, chieftain of our land! +Come hither with all speed. They pass the bound. + +_Enter_ THESEUS. + +THE. Wherefore that shouting? Daunted by what fear +Stayed ye me sacrificing to the God[2] +Who guards this deme Colonos? Let me know +What cause so hastened my reluctant foot. + +OED. Dear friend (I know thy voice addressing us), +One here hath lately done me cruel wrong. + +THE. Who is the wrong-doer, say, and what the deed? + +OED. This Creon, whom thou seest, hath torn away +Two children that were all in all to me. + +THE. Can this be possible? + +OED. Thou hear'st the truth. + +THE. Then one of you run to the altar-foot +Hard by, and haste the people from the rite, +Horsemen and footmen at the height of speed +To race unto the parting of the roads +Where travellers from both gorges wont to meet. +Lest there the maidens pass beyond our reach +And I be worsted by this stranger's might +And let him laugh at me. Be swift! Away! +--For him, were I as wroth as he deserves, +He should not go unpunished from my hand. +But now he shall be ruled by the same law +He thought to enforce. Thou goest not from this ground +Till thou hast set these maids in presence here; +Since by thine act thou hast disgraced both me +And thine own lineage and thy native land, +Who with unlicensed inroad hast assailed +An ancient city, that hath still observed +Justice and equity, and apart from law +Ratifies nothing; and, being here, hast cast +Authority to the winds, and made thine own +Whate'er thou wouldst, bearing it off perforce,-- +Deeming of me forsooth as nothing worth, +And of my city as one enslaved to foes +Or void of manhood. Not of Thebe's will +Come such wild courses. It is not her way +To foster men in sin, nor would she praise +Thy doing, if she knew that thou hast robbed +Me and the gods, dragging poor suppliant wights +From their last refuge at thy will--I would not, +Had I perchance set foot within thy land, +Even were my cause most righteous, have presumed, +Without consent of him who bore chief sway, +To seize on any man, but would have known +How men should act who tread on foreign soil. +Thou bring'st disgrace on thine own mother state +All undeservedly, and the lapse of years +Hath left thee aged, but not wise--Again +I bid those maids now to be brought with speed, +Unless thou would'st be made a sojourner +In Athens by compulsion. This I speak +Not with my lips alone, but from my will. + +CH. Stranger, dost thou perceive? Thy parentage +Is owned as noble, but thine evil deeds +Are blazoned visibly. + +CR. Great Aegeus' son! +Not as misprising this thy city's strength +In arms, or wisdom in debate, I dared +This capture, but in simple confidence +Thy citizens would not so envy me +My blood relations, as to harbour them +Against my will,--nor welcome to their hearths +A man incestuous and a parricide, +The proved defiler of his mother's bed +Such was the mount of Ares that I knew, +Seat of high wisdom, planted in their soil, +That suffers no such lawless runaways +To haunt within the borders of your realm. +Relying on that I laid my hands upon +This quarry, nor had done so, were it not +That bitterly he cursed myself and mine. +That moved me to requital, since even Age +Still bears resentment, till the power of death +Frees men from anger, as from all annoy. +Being sovereign here thou wilt do thy pleasure. I, +Though I have justice on my side, am weak +Through being alone. Yet if you meddle with me, +Old as I am, you'll find me dangerous. + +OED. O boldness void of shame! Whom dost thou think +Thy obloquy most harms, this aged head +Or thine, who hast thus let pass thy lips the crimes +I have borne unwittingly. So Heaven was pleased +To wreak some old offence upon our race. +Since in myself you will find no stain of sin +For which such ruinous error 'gainst myself +And mine own house might be the recompense. +Tell me, I pray thee, if a word from Heaven +Came to my father through the oracle +That he should die by his son's hand,--what right +Hast thou to fasten that reproach on me, +The child not yet begotten of my sire, +An unborn nothing, unconceived? Or if, +Born as I was to misery, I encountered +And killed my father in an angry fray, +Nought knowing of what I did or whom I slew, +What reason is't to blame the unwitting deed? +And, oh, thou wretch! art not ashamed to force me +To speak that of my mother, thine own sister, +Which I will speak, for I will not keep silence, +Since thou hast been thus impious with thy tongue. +She was my mother, oh, the bitter word! +Though neither knew it, and having borne me, she +Became the mother of children to her son, +An infamous birth! Yet this I know, thy crime +Of speech against us both is voluntary. +But all involuntary was my deed +In marriage and is this mine utterance now. +No,--that shall not be called a bosom-sin, +Nor shall my name be sullied with the deed, +Thy tongue would brand on me, against my sire. +For answer me one question. If to-day, +Here, now, one struck at thee a murderous stroke,-- +At thee, the righteous person,--wouldst thou ask +If such assailant were thy sire, or strike +Forthwith? Methinks, as one who cares to live, +You would strike before you questioned of the right, +Or reasoned of his kindred whom you slew. +Such was the net that snared me: such the woes +Heaven drew me to fulfil. My father's spirit, +Came he to life, would not gainsay my word. +But thou, to whom, beneath the garb of right, +No matter is too dreadful or too deep +For words, so rail'st on me, in such a presence. +Well thou dost flatter the great name of Theseus, +And Athens in her glory stablished here, +But midst thy fulsome praises thou forgettest +How of all lands that yield the immortal Gods +Just homage of true piety, this land +Is foremost. Yet from hence thou would'st beguile +Me, the aged suppliant. Nay, from hence thou would'st drag +Myself with violence, and hast reft away +My children. Wherefore I conjure these powers, +With solemn invocation and appeal, +To come and take my part, that thou may'st know +What men they are who guard this hallowed realm. + +CH. My lord, the stranger deserves well. His fate +Is grievous, but the more demands our aid. + +THE. Enough of words. The captors and their prey +Are hasting;--we, they have wronged, are standing still. + +CR. I am powerless here. What dost thou bid me do? + +THE. Lead us the way they are gone. I too must be +Thine escort, that if hereabout thou hast +Our maidens, thou mayest show them to my sight. +But if men flee and bear them, we may spare +Superfluous labour. Others hotly urge +That business, whom those robbers shall not boast +Before their Gods to have 'scaped out of this land. +Come, be our guide! Thou hast and hast not. Fortune +Hath seized thee seizing on thy prey. So quickly +Passes the gain that's got by wrongful guile. +Nay, thou shalt have no helper. Well I wot +Thou flew'st not to this pitch of truculent pride +Alone, or unsupported by intrigue; +But thy bold act hath some confederate here. +This I must look into, nor let great Athens +Prove herself weaker than one single man. +Hast caught my drift? Or is my voice as vain +Now, as you thought it when you planned this thing? + +CR. I will gainsay nought of what thou utterest here. +But once in Thebes, I too shall know my course. + +THE. Threaten, but go! Thou, Oedipus, remain +In quietness and perfect trust that I, +If death do not prevent me, will not rest +Till I restore thy children to thy hand. + +CHORUS. + Soon shall the wheeling foes I 1 +Clash with the din of brazen-throated War. + Would I were there to see them close, +Be the onset near or far! +Whether at Daphne's gorge to Phoebus dear, + Or by the torch-lit shore +Where kind maternal powers for evermore +Guard golden mysteries of holy fear + To nourish mortal souls +Whose voice the seal of silent awe controls +Imprinted by the Eumolpid minister. + There, on that sacred way, + Shall the divinest head +Of royal Theseus, rouser of the fray, +And those free maids, in their two squadrons led, + Meet in the valorous fight + That conquers for the right. + + Else, by the snow-capped rock, I 2 +Passing to westward, they are drawing nigh +The tract beyond the pasture high + Where Oea feeds her flock. +The riders ride, the rattling chariots flee + At racing speed.--'Tis done! +He shall be vanquished. Our land's chivalry + Are valiant, valiant every warrior son + Of Theseus.--On they run? +Frontlet and bridle glancing to the light, +Forward each steed is straining to the fight, + Forward each eye and hand + Of all that mounted band, +Athena's knighthood, champions of her name +And his who doth the mighty waters tame, + Rhea's son that from of old + Doth the Earth with seas enfold. + +Strive they? Or is the battle still to be? II 1 + An eager thought in me +Is pleading, 'Soon must they restore +The enduring maid, whose kinsmen vex her sore!' +To-day shall Zeus perform his will. +The noble cause wins my prophetic skill. +Oh! had I wings, and like a storm-swift dove +Poised on some aery cloud might there descry + The conflict from above, +Scouring the region with mine eye! + +Sovran of Heaven, all-seeing Zeus, afford II 2 + Unto this nation's lord +Puissance to crown the fair emprise, +Thou, and all-knowing Pallas, thy dread child! +Apollo, huntsman of the wild, +--Thou and thy sister, who doth still pursue +Swift many-spotted stags,--arise, arise, +With love we pray you, be our champions true! + Yea, both together come +To aid our people and our home! + +LEADER OF CH. +Ah! wanderer friend, thou wilt not have to accuse +Thy seer of falsehood. I behold the maids +This way once more in safe protection brought. + +OED. Where? Is it true? How say you? + +ANT. Father, father! +Oh that some God would give thee once to see +The man whose royal virtue brings us hither! + +OED. My daughters, are ye there? + +ANT. Saved by the arm +Of Theseus and his most dear ministers. + +OED. Come near me, child, and let your father feel +The treasure he had feared for ever gone. + +ANT. Not hard the boon which the heart longs to give. + +OED. Where are ye, where? + +ANT. Together we draw near. + +OED. Loved saplings of a solitary tree! + +ANT. A father's heart hides all. + +OED. Staves of mine age! + +ANT. Forlorn supporters of an ill-starred life! + +OED. I have all I love; nor would the stroke of death +Be wholly bitter, with you standing by. +Press close to either side of me, my children; +Grow to your sire, and ye shall give me rest +From mine else lonely, hapless, wandering life. +And tell your tale as briefly as ye may, +Since at your age short speaking is enough. + +ANT. Here is our saviour. He shall tell thee all, +And shorten labour both for us and thee. + +OED. Think it not strange, dear friend, that I prolong +The unhoped-for greeting with my children here. +Full well I know, the joy I find in them +Springs from thee only, and from none beside. +Thou, thou alone hast saved them. May the Gods +Fulfil my prayer for thee and for thy land! +Since only in Athens, only here i' the world, +Have I found pious thought and righteous care, +And truth in word and deed. From a full heart +And thankful mind I thus requite thy love, +Knowing all I have is due to none but thee. +Extend to me, I pray thee, thy right hand, +O King, that I may feel thee, and may kiss, +If that be lawful, thy dear head! And yet +What am I asking? How can one like me +Desire of thee to touch an outlawed man, +On whose dark life all stains of sin and woe +Are fixed indelibly? I will not dare-- +No, nor allow thee!--None but only they +Who have experience of such woes as mine +May share their wretchedness. Thou, where thou art +Receive my salutation, and henceforth +Continue in thy promised care of me +As true as to this moment thou hast proved. + +THE. I marvel not at all if mere delight +In these thy daughters lengthened thy discourse, +Or led thee to address them before me. +That gives me not the shadow of annoy. +Nor am I careful to adorn my life +With words of praise, but with the light of deeds. +And thou hast proof of this. For I have failed +In nought of all I promised, aged King! +Here stand I with thy children in full life +Unharmed in aught the foe had threatened them. +And now why vaunt the deeds that won the day, +When these dear maids will tell them in thine ear? +But let me crave thy counsel on a thing +That crossed me as I came. Small though it seem +When told, 'tis worthy of some wonder, too. +Be it small or great, men should not let things pass. + +OED. What is it, O son of Aegeus? Let me hear, +I am wholly ignorant herein. + +THE. We are told +One, not thy townsman, but of kin to thee, +Hath come in unawares, and now is found +Kneeling at great Poseidon's altar, where +I sacrificed, what time ye called me hither. + +OED. What countryman, and wherefore suppliant there? + +THE. One thing alone I know. He craves of thee +Some speech, they say, that will not hold thee long. + +OED. His kneeling there imports no trivial suit. + +THE. All he desires, they tell me, is to come, +Have speech with thee, and go unharmed away. + +OED. Who can he be that kneels for such a boon? + +THE. Think, if at Argos thou a kinsman hast +Who might desire to obtain so much of thee. + +OED. Dear friend! Hold there! No more! + +THE. What troubles thee? + +OED. Ask it not of me! + +THE. What? Speak plainly forth. + +OED. Thy words have shown me who the stranger is. + +THE. And who is he that I should say him nay? + +OED. My son, O King,--hateful to me, whose tongue +Least of the world I could endure to hear. + +THE. What pain is there in hearing? Canst thou not +Hear, and refuse to do what thou mislikest? + +OED. My Lord, I have come to loathe his very voice. +I pray thee, urge me not to yield in this. + +THE. Think that the God must be considered too, +The right of suppliants may compel thy care. + +ANT. Father, give ear, though I be young that speak. +Yield to the scruple of the King, who claims +This reverence for his people's God, and yield +To us who beg our brother may come near. +Take heart! He will not force thee from thy will. +What harm can come of hearkening? Wisdom's ways +Reveal themselves through words. He is thy son. +Whence, were his heartless conduct against thee +Beyond redemption impious, O my sire, +Thy vengeance still would be unnatural. +Oh let him!--Others have had evil sons +And passionate anger, but the warning voice +Of friends hath charmed their mood. Then do not thou +Look narrowly upon thy present griefs, +But on those ancient wrongs thou didst endure +From father and from mother. Thence thou wilt learn +That evil passion ever ends in woe. +Thy sightless eyes are no light argument +To warn thee through the feeling of thy loss. +Relent and hear us! 'Tis a mere disgrace +To beg so long for a just boon. The King +Is kind to thee. Be generous in return. + +OED. Child, your dear pleading to your hard request +Hath won me. Let this be as ye desire. +Only, my lord, if he is to come near, +Let no man's power molest my liberty. + +THE. I need no repetition, aged friend, +Of that request. Vaunt will I not, but thou +Be sure, if Heaven protect me, thou art free. + +CHORUS. + Who, loving life, hath sought I 1 + To outlive the appointed span, + Shall be arraigned before my thought + For an infatuate man. + Since the added years entail + Much that is bitter,--joy + Flies out of ken, desire doth fail, + The longed-for moments cloy. + But when the troublous life, + Be it less or more, is past, + With power to end the strife + Comes rescuing Death at last. +Lo! the dark bridegroom waits! No festal choir +Shall grace his destined hour, no dance, no lyre! + + Far best were ne'er to be, I 2 + But, having seen the day, + Next best by far for each to flee + As swiftly as each may, + Yonder from whence he came: + For once let Youth be there + With her light fooleries, who shall name + The unnumbered brood of Care? + No trial spared, no fall! + Feuds, battles, murders, rage, + Envy, and last of all, + Despised, dim, friendless age! +Ay, there all evils, crowded in one room, +Each at his worst of ill, augment the gloom. + +Such lot is mine, and round this man of woe, II + --As some grey headland of a northward shore +Bears buffets of all-wintry winds that blow,-- + New storms of Fate are bursting evermore + In thundrous billows, borne + Some from the waning light, +Some through mid-noon, some from the rising morn, + Some from the realm of Night. + +ANT. Ah! Who comes here? Sure 'tis the Argive man +Approaching hitherward, weeping amain. +And, father, it is he! + +OED. Whom dost thou mean? + +ANT. The same our thoughts have dwelt on all this while, +Polynices. He is here. + +POLYNICES. What shall I do? +I stand in doubt which first I should lament, +My own misfortune or my father's woe, +Whom here I find an outcast in his age +With you, my sisters, in the stranger land, +Clothed in such raiment, whose inveterate filth +Horridly clings, wasting his reverend form, +While the grey locks over the eye-reft brow +Wave all unkempt upon the ruffling breeze. +And likewise miserable appears the store +He bears to nourish that time-wasted frame. +Wretch that I am! Too late I learn the truth, +And here give witness to mine own disgrace, +Which is as deep as thy distress. Myself +Declare it. Ask not others of my guilt. +But seeing that Zeus on his almighty throne +Keeps Mercy in all he doth to counsel him, +Thou, too, my father, let her plead with thee! +The evil that is done may yet be healed; +It cannot be augmented. Art thou silent? +O turn not from me, father! Speak but once! +Wilt thou not answer, but with shame dismiss me +Voiceless, nor make known wherefore thou art wroth? +O ye his daughters, one with me in blood, +Say, will not ye endeavour to unlock +The stern lips of our unrelenting sire? +Let him not thus reject in silent scorn +Without response the suppliant of Heaven! + +ANT. Thyself, unhappy one, say why thou camest. +Speech ofttimes, as it flows, touching some root +Of pity or joy, or even of hate, hath stirred +The dumb to utterance. + +POL. I will tell my need:-- +First claiming for protector the dread God +From whose high altar he who rules this land +Hath brought me under safe-guard of his power, +Scatheless to speak and hear and go my way. +His word, I am well assured, will be made good, +Strangers, by you, and by my sisters twain, +And by our sire.--Now let me name mine errand. +I am banished, father, from our native land, +Because, being elder-born, I claimed to sit +Upon thy sovereign throne. For this offence +Eteocles, thy younger son, exiled me, +Not having won the advantage in debate +Or trial of manhood, but through guileful art +Gaining the people's will. Whereof I deem +Thy Fury the chief author; and thereto +Prophetic voices also testify. +For when I had come to Dorian Argolis, +I raised, through marriage with Adrastus' child, +An army bound in friendly league with me, +Led by the men who in the Apian land +Hold first pre-eminence and honour in war, +With whose aid levying all that mighty host +Of seven battalions, I have deeply sworn +Either to die, or drive from Theban ground +Those who such wrongs have wrought. So far, so well. +But why come hither? Father, to crave thine aid +With earnest supplication for myself +And for my firm allies, who at this hour, +Seven leaders of seven bands embattled there, +Encompass Thebe's plain. Amphiaraus, +Foremost in augury, foremost in war, +First wields his warlike spear. Next, Oeneus' son, +Aetolian Tydeus; then Eteoclus +Of Argive lineage; fourth, Hippomedon, +Sent by his father Talaues, and the fifth +Is Capancus, who brags he will destroy +Thebe with desolating fire. The sixth, +Parthonopaeus, from the Arcadian glen +Comes bravely down, swift Atalanta's child, +Named from his mother's lingering maidenhood +Ere she conceived him. And the seventh am I, +Thy son, or if not thine, but the dire birth +Of evil Destiny, yet named thy son, +Who lead this dauntless host from Argolis +Against the Theban land. Now one and all +We pray thee on our knees, conjuring thee +As thou dost love these maids and thine own life, +My father, to forgive me, ere I go +To be revenged upon my brother there +Who drave me forth and robbed me of my throne. +If aught in prophecy deserves belief, +'Tis certain, whom thou favourest, those shall win. +Now by the wells whereof our fathers drank +And by the Gods they worshipped, hear our prayer, +Grant this petition: since alike in woe, +Alike in poverty and banishment, +Partakers of one destiny, thou and I +Cringe to the stranger for a dwelling place. +Whilst he at home, the tyrant, woe is me, +Laughs at us both in soft luxurious pride. +Whose might, so thou wilt favour my design, +I will lightly scatter in one little hour; +And plant thee in thy Theban palace home +Near to myself, hurling the usurper forth. +All this with thy consent I shall achieve, +But without thee, I forfeit life and all. + +CH. For his sake who hath brought him, Oedipus, +Say what is meet, and let him go in peace. + +OED. Ay, were it not the lord of all this land +Theseus, that brought him to me and desired +He might hear words from me,--never again +Had these tones fallen upon his ear. But now +That boon is granted him: he shall obtain, +Ere he depart, such utterance of my tongue, +As ne'er shall give him joy,--ne'er comfort thee, +Villain, who when possessed of the chief power +Which now thy brother holds o'er Theban land, +Didst banish me, thy father, who stand here, +To live in exile, clothed with such attire, +That moves thy tears now that thine own estate +Is fallen into like depth of struggling woe. +But tears are bootless. Howsoe'er I live, +I must endure, and hold thee still my murderer. +'Tis thou hast girt me round with misery, +'Tis thou didst drive me forth, and driven by thee +I beg my bread, a wandering sojourner. +Yea, had these daughters not been born to me +To tend me, I were dead, for all thou hast done. +They have rescued, they have nursed me. They are men, +Not women, in the strength of ministry. +Ye are another's, not my sons--For this +The eye of Destiny pursues thee still +Eager to light on thee with instant doom +If once that army move toward the town +Of ancient Thebes,--the _town_, no dearer name, +'City' or 'Country' shall beseem thy lip +Till ye both fall, stained with fraternal gore +Long since I launched that curse against you twain +Which here again I summon to mine aid, +That ye may learn what duty children owe +To a parent, nor account it a light thing +That ye were cruel sons to your blind sire. +These maidens did not so. Wherefore my curse +Prevails against thy prayer for Thebe's throne, +If ancient Zeus, the eternal lawgiver, +Have primal Justice for his counsellor. +Begone, renounced and fatherless for me, +And take with thee, vilest of villanous men, +This imprecation:--Vain be thine attempt +In levying war against thy father's race, +Frustrate be thy return to Argos' vale: +Die foully by a fratricidal hand +And foully slay him who hath banished thee! +Further, I bid the horror breathing gloom +Tartarean, of the vault that holds my sire, +To banish thee from that last home: I invoke +The Spirits who haunt this ground, and the fierce God +Who hath filled you both with this unnatural hate.-- +Go now with all this in thine ears, and tell +The people of Cadmus and thy firm allies +In whom thou trustest, what inheritance +Oedipus hath divided to his sons. + +CH. 'Tis pity for thee, prince, to have come at all; +And now we bid thee go the way thou camest. + +POL. Alas! Vain enterprise, and hope undone! +Oh, my poor comrades! To what fatal end +I led you forth from Argos, woe is me! +I may not tell it you,--no, nor return. +In silence I must go to meet my doom. +Daughters of this inexorable sire, +Since now ye have heard his cruel curse on me, +Ah! in Heaven's name, my sisters, do not you +Treat me despitefully, but if, one day, +Our father's execration is fulfilled +And ye shall be restored to Theban ground, +Grace me with funeral honours and a tomb! +So shall this ample praise which ye receive +For filial ministration, in that day +Be more than doubled through your care for me. + +ANT. Brother, I beg thee, listen to my prayer! + +POL. Dearest Antigone, speak what thou wilt. + +ANT. Turn back thy host to Argos with all speed, +And ruin not thyself and Thebe too. + +POL. Impossible. If once I shrink for fear, +No longer may I lead them to the war. + +ANT. But why renew thy rage? What benefit +Comes to thee from o'erturning thine own land? + +POL. 'Tis shameful to remain in banishment, +And let my brother mock my right of birth. + +ANT. Then seest thou not how true unto their aim +Our father's prophecies of mutual death +Against you both are sped? + +POL. He speaks his wish. +'Tis not for me to yield. + +ANT. O me, unhappy! +But who that hears the deep oracular sound +Of his dark words, will dare to follow thee? + +POL. They will not hear of danger from my mouth. +Wise generals tell of vantage, not of bale. + +ANT. Art thou then so resolved, O brother mine? + +POL. I am. Retard me not! I must attend +To my dark enterprise, blasted and foiled +Beforehand by my father's angry curse. +But as for you, Heaven prosper all your way, +If ye will show this kindness in my death, +For nevermore in life shall ye befriend me! +Nay, cling to me no longer. Fare ye well. +Ye will behold my living form no more. + +ANT. O misery! + +POL. Bewail me not. + +ANT. And who +That saw thee hurrying forth to certain death +Would not bewail thee, brother? + +POL. If Fate wills, +Why, I must die. + +ANT. Nay, but be ruled by me. + +POL. Give me not craven counsel. + +ANT. Woe is me, +To lose thee! + +POL. Heaven hath power to guide the event +Or thus or otherwise. Howe'er it prove, +I pray that ye may ne'er encounter ill. +All men may know, ye merit nought but good. + [_Exit. The sky is overcast--a storm is threatened_ + +CHORUS. +New trouble, strange trouble, deep laden with doom, I 1 +From the sight-bereft stranger seems dimly to loom! + Or peers Fate through the gloom? +She will move toward her mark or through shining or shade; +Since no purpose of Gods ever idly was made. +Time sees the fulfilment, who lifteth to-day +What was lowly, and trampleth the lofty to clay. + Thunder! Heavens! what a sound! + +OED. My children! Would but some one in the place +Haste hither Theseus, noblest among men! + +ANT. Wherefore, my father? What is thy desire? + +OED. These winged thunders of the Highest will soon +Bear me away to the Unseen. Send quickly! + +CHORUS. +Again, yonder crash through the fire-startled air I 2 +Wing'd from Zeus, rushes down, till my thin locks of hair, + Stiff with fear, upward stare. +My soul shrinks and cowers, for yon gleam from on high +Darts again! Ne'er in vain hath it leapt from the sky, +But flies forth amain to what task Zeus hath given. +I fear the unknown fatal edict of Heaven! + Lightning glares all around! + +OED. My daughters, the divinely promised end +Here unavoidably descends on me. + +ANT. How dost thou know it? By what certain sign? + +OED. I know it perfectly. Let some one go +With speed to bring the lord of Athens hither. + +CHORUS. +Great Heaven, how above me, beside me, around, II 1 + Peals redoubled the soul-thrilling sound! +O our God, to this land, to our mother, if aught +Thou wouldst send with some darkness of destiny fraught, +Smile gently once more! With the good let me bear + What of fortune soe'er,-- +Taste no cup, touch no food, the doomed sinner may share. + Zeus, to thee, Lord, I cry! + +OED. Is the King coming? Will he find me alive, +My daughters, and with reason undisturbed? + +ANT. Say wherefore dost thou crave with such desire +The clearness of an undistracted mind? + +OED. I would fully render from a grateful soul +The boon I promised, when I gained my suit. + +CHORUS (_looking towards Athens_). +Come, my chief! come with speed! Or, if haply at hand, II 2 + On the height where the curved altars stand, +Thou art hallowing with oxen in sacrifice slain +Yonder shrine of Poseidon, dread lord of the main, +Hie thee hither! Be swift! The blind stranger intends + To thee, to thy friends, +To thy city, for burdens imposed, just amends. + Haste thee, King! Hear our cry! + +_Enter_ THESEUS. + +THE. Why sounds again from hence your joint appeal, +Wherein the stranger's voice is loudly heard? +Is it some lightning-bolt new-fallen from Zeus, +Or cloud-born hail that is come rattling down? +From Heavens so black with storm nought can surprise. + +OED. Prince, thou art come to my desire. Some God +Hath happily directed this thy way. + +THE. What is befallen? Son of Laius, tell! + +OED. My path slopes downward, and before my death +I would confirm to Athens and to thee +My promised boon. + +THE. What sign dost thou perceive +That proves thine end so near? + +OED. The Gods themselves +With herald voices are proclaiming it, +Nought failing of the fore-appointed signs. + +THE. What are these tokens, aged monarch, say? + +OED. The loud continual thunder, and the darts +That flash in volleys from the unconquered hand. + +THE. I may not doubt thee; for thy speech, I feel, +Hath ample witness of prophetic power. +What must I do? + +OED. I will instruct thee now, +Aegeus' great son! in rites that shall remain +An ageless treasure to thy countrymen. +I will presently, with no man guiding me, +Conduct thee to the spot, where I must die. +This is thy secret, not to be revealed +To any one of men, or where 'tis hid +Or whereabout it lies. So through all time +This neighbouring[3] mound shall yield thee mightier aid +Than many a shield and help of alien spears. +More shalt thou learn, too sacred to divulge, +When yonder thou art come thyself alone. +Since to none other of these citizens +Nor even unto the children of my love +May I disclose it. 'Tis for thee to keep +Inviolate while thou livest, and when thy days +Have ending, breathe it to the foremost man +Alone, and he in turn unto the next +Successively. So shalt thou ever hold +Athens unravaged by the dragon brood[4]. +Cities are numberless, and any one +May lightly insult even those who dwell secure. +For the eye of Heaven though late yet surely sees +When, casting off respect, men turn to crime. +Erechtheus' heir! let that be far from thee! +A warning needless to a man so wise! +Now go we--for this leading of the God +Is urgent--to the place, nor loiter more. +This way, my children! follow me! For I +Am now your guide, as ye were mine. Come on! +Nay, touch me not, but leave me of myself +To find the holy sepulchre, wherein +This form must rest beneath Athenian soil. +Come this way! Come! This way are leading me +Guide Hermes and the Queen of realms below. +O Light, all dark to me! In former time +Bright seemed thy shining! Now thy latest ray +Sheds vital influence o'er this frame. I go +To hide the close of my disastrous life +With Hades. Kind Athenian friend, farewell! +May'st thou, thy followers, and this glorious land +Be happy, and in your endless happiness +Remember him who blessed you in his death. [_Exeunt_ + +CHORUS. +Prince of the Powers Unseen, 1 + Durst we with prayers adore +Thee and thy viewless Queen, + Your aid, Aidoneus, would our lips implore! +By no harsh-sounding doom + Let him we love descend, + With calm and cloudless end, + In deep Plutonian dwelling evermore +To abide among the people of the tomb! +Long worn with many an undeserved woe, +Just Gods will give thee glory there below. + +Dread Forms, who haunt this floor, 2 + And thou, the Unconquered Beast, + That hugely liest at rest +By the dim shining adamantine door, +--Still from thy cavernous lair + Gnarling, so legends tell, + A tameless guard of Hell,-- +Mayest thou this once thy vigilance forbear, +And leave large room for him now entering there. +Hear us, great Son of Darkness and the Deep; +On thee we call, God of the dreamless sleep! + +_Enter_ Messenger. + +MESS. Athenian citizens, my briefest tale +Were to say singly, Oedipus is gone; +But to describe the scene enacted yonder +Craves no brief speech, nor was the action brief. + +CH. Then he is gone! Poor man! + +MESS. Know it once for all, +He hath left eternally the light of day. + +CH. Poor soul! What? Ended he with peace divine? + +MESS. Ay, there is the main marvel. How he moved +From hence, thou knowest, for thou too wert here, +And saw'st that of his friends none guided him, +But he they loved was leader to them all. +Now, when he came to the steep pavement, rooted +With adamant foundation deep in Earth, +On one of many paths he took his stand +Near the stone basin, where Peirithoues +And Theseus graved their everlasting league. +There, opposite the mass of Laurian ore, +Turned from the hollow pear-tree and the tomb +Of marble, he sate down, and straight undid +His travel-soiled attire, then called aloud +On both his children, and bade some one fetch +Pure water from a running stream. And they, +Hasting together to the neighbouring hill +Of green Demeter, goddess of the Spring, +Brought back their sire's commission speedily, +And bathed, and clothed him with the sacred robe. +When he was satisfied, and nothing now +Remained undone of all he bade them do, +The God of darkness thundered, and the maids +Stood horror-stricken on hearing; then together +Fell at their father's knees and wept and wailed +Loudly and long with beating of the breast. +He, when that sound of sorrow pierced his ear, +Caressed them in his arms and said:--'My daughters, +From this day forth you have no more a father. +All that was mine is ended, and no longer +Shall ye continue your hard ministry +Of labour for my life.--And yet, though hard, +Not unendurable, since all the toil +Was rendered light through love, which ye can never +Receive on earth so richly, as from him +Bereaved of whom ye now shall live forlorn.' +Such was the talk, mingled with sobs and crying, +As each clung fast to each. But when they came +To an end of weeping and those sounds were stilled, +First all was silent; then a sudden voice +Hurried him onward, making each man's hair +Bristle on end with force of instant fear. +Now here, now there, not once but oftentimes, +A God called loudly, 'Oedipus, Oedipus! +Why thus delay our going? This long while +We are stayed for and thou tarriest. Come away!' +He, when he knew the summons of the God, +Gave word for royal Theseus to go near; +And when he came, said: 'Friend for ever kind, +Reach thy right hand, I pray thee (that first pledge) +To these my children:--daughters, yours to him!-- +And give thy sacred word that thou wilt never +Betray these willingly: but still perform +All that thou mayest with true thought for their good.' +He, with grand calmness like his noble self, +Promised on oath to keep this friendly bond. +And when he had done so, Oedipus forthwith +Stroking his children with his helpless hands +Spake thus:--'My daughters, you must steel your hearts +To noble firmness, and depart from hence, +Nor ask to see or hear forbidden things. +Go, go at once! Theseus alone must stay +Sole rightful witness of these mysteries.' +Those accents were the last we all might hear. +Then, following the two maids, with checkless tears +And groans we took our way. But by and by, +At distance looking round, we saw,--not him, +Who was not there,--but Theseus all alone +Holding his hand before his eyes, as if +Some apparition unendurable +Had dazed his vision. In a little while, +We marked him making reverence in one prayer +To the Earth, and to the home of Gods on high. +But by what fate He perished, mortal man, +Save Theseus, none can say. No lightning-flash +From heaven, no tempest rising from the deep, +Caused his departure in that hour, but either +Some messenger from heaven, or, from beneath, +The lower part of Earth, where comes no pain, +Opening kindly to receive him in. +Not to be mourned, nor with a tearful end +Of sickness was he taken from the Earth, +But wondrously, beyond recorded fate. +If any deem my words unwise, I care not +In that man's judgement to be counted wise. + +CH. Where are those maidens and their escort? Say. + +MESS. They are not far off, but here. The voice of weeping +Betokens all too plainly their approach. + +ANT. Alas! +How manifold, the inheritance of woe +Drawn from the troubled fountain of our birth! +Indelible, ineradicable grief! +For him erewhile +We had labour infinite and unrelieved, +And now in his last hour we have to tell +Of sights and sorrows beyond thought. + +CH. How then? + +ANT. Friends, ye might understand. + +CH. Speak. Is he gone? + +ANT. Gone! Even as heart could wish, had wishes power. +How else, when neither war, nor the wide sea +Encountered him, but viewless realms enwrapt him, +Wafted away to some mysterious doom? +Whence on our hearts a horror of night is fallen. +Woe 's me! For whither wandering shall we find +Hard livelihood, by land or over sea? + +ISM. I know not. Let dark Hades take me off +To lie in death with mine age honoured sire! +Death were far better than my life to be. + +CH. Noblest of maidens, ye must learn to bear +Meekly the sending of the Gods. Be not +On fire with grief. Your state is well assured. + +ANT. If to be thus is well, then may one long +For evil to return. Things nowise dear +Were dear to me, whiles I had him to embrace. +O father! loved one! that art wearing now +The eternal robe of darkness underground, +Old as thou wert, think not this maid and I +Will cease from loving thee! + +CH. He met his doom. + +ANT. He met the doom he longed for. + +CH. How was that? + +ANT. In the strange land where he desired to die +He died. He rests in shadow undisturbed; +Nor hath he left a tearless funeral. +For these mine eyes, father, unceasingly +Mourn thee with weeping, nor can I subdue +This ever-mounting sorrow for thy loss. +Ah me! Would thou hadst not desired to die +Here among strangers, but alone with thee +There, in the desert, I had seen thee die! + +ISM. Unhappy me! What destiny, dear girl, +Awaits us both, bereaved and fatherless? + +CH. His end was fortunate. He rests in peace. +Dear maidens, then desist from your complaint. +Sorrow is swift to overtake us all. + +ANT. Thither again, dear girl, let us go speedily! + +ISM. Say, for what end? + +ANT. Desire possesses me-- + +ISM. Whereof? + +ANT. To see the darksome dwelling-place-- + +ISM. Of whom? + +ANT. Woe is me! Of him, our sire! + +ISM. But how +Can this be lawful? Seest thou not? + +ANT. How say'st thou? +Why this remonstrance? + +ISM. Seest thou not, again, +He hath no grave and no man buried him. + +ANT. Take me but where he lies. Then slay me there. + +ISM. Ah! woe is me, doubly unfortunate, +Forlorn and destitute, whither henceforth +For wretched comfort must we go? + +CH. Fear nought, +Dear maidens! + +ISM. Where shall we find refuge? + +CH. Here, +Long since, your refuge is secure. + +ANT. How so? + +CH. No harm shall touch you. + +ANT. I know that. + +CH. What then +Further engrosseth thee? + +ANT. How to get home +I know not. + +CH. Seek not for it. + +ANT. Weariness +O'erweighs me. + +CH. Hath it not before oppressed thee? + +ANT. Before, it vexed me; now it overwhelms. + +CH. A mighty sea of misery is your lot. + +ANT. Woe is me! O Zeus! And whither must we go? +Unto what doom doth my Fate drive me now? + +CH. Children, lament no longer. 'Tis not well +To mourn 'mongst those with whom the honoured dead +Hath left the heirloom of his benison. + +_Enter_ THESEUS. + +ANT. Theseus, behold us falling at thy feet. + +THE. What boon, my children, are ye bent to obtain? + +ANT. Our eyes would see our father's burial-place. + +THE. 'Tis not permitted to go near that spot. + +ANT. O Athens' sovereign lord, what hast thou said? + +THE. Dear children, 'twas your father's spoken will +That no man should approach his resting-place, +Nor human voice should ever violate +The mystery of the tomb wherein he lies. +He promised, if I truly kept this word, +My land would evermore be free from harm. +The power which no man may transgress and live, +The oath of Zeus, bore witness to our troth. + +ANT. His wishes are enough. Then, pray thee, send +An escort to convey us to our home, +Primeval Thebes, if so we may prevent +The death that menaces our brethren there. + +THE. That will I; and in all that I may do +To prosper you and solace him beneath,-- +Who even now passes to eternity,-- +I must not falter. Come, lament no more. +His destiny hath found a perfect end. + + * * * * * + + + + + NOTES + + + SOME PROPER NAMES + +AIDONEUS, Hades or Pluto. +ARES, The War-God, a destructive Power. +DEO, Demeter. +ERINYES, the Furies. +HELIOS, The Sun-God. +RHEA, the Mother of the Gods. +THEBE, the town of Thebes personified. + + + ANTIGONE. + +1 P. 6, l. 126. _The serpent._ The dragon, the emblem of Thebes. + +2 l. 130. _Idly caparisoned._ Reading [Greek: huperopliais]. + +3 P. 7, l. 140. _Self-harnessed helper._ An allusion to the [Greek: + seiraphoros], or side trace-horse, in a chariot-race. + +4 P. 13, l. 342. _Children of the steed._ Mules are so-called by + Homer. + +5 P. 30, l. 955. _Dryas' hasty son._ Lycurgus. See Homer, _Iliad_, vi. + +6 l. 971. _Phineus' two sons._ Idothea, the second wife of Phineus, + persecuted his two sons by Cleopatra, a daughter of Boreas, whom he + had repudiated and immured. The Argonauts saw them in the condition + here described. + +7 P. 34, l. 1120. _The all-gathering bosom wide._ The plain of + Eleusis, where mysteries were held in honour of Deo or Demeter. + +8 P. 39, l. 1301. Reading [Greek: *oxuthekto ... peri*xiphei]. + +9 l. 1303. _The glorious bed of buried Megareus._ Megareus, son of + Creon and Eurydice, sacrificed himself for Thebes by falling into a + deep cave called the Dragon's Lair. + + + AIAS. + +1 P. 48, l. 172. _Her blood-stained temple._ In some of her temples + Artemis was worshipped with sacrifices of bulls, and, according to + an old tradition, also with human sacrifices. + +2 P. 49. l. 190. _The brood of Sisyphus._ Amongst his enemies, + Odysseus was reputed to be the offspring of Sisyphus and not of + Laertes. + +3 P. 59, l. 574. _Named of the shield._ Eurysakes means Broadshield. + +4 P. 71, l. 1011. _Who smiles no more._ Compare a fragment of the + _Teucer_ of Sophocles (519, Nauck), + + 'How vain then, O my son, + How vain was my delight in thy proud fame, + While I supposed thee living! The fell Fury + From her dark shroud beguiled me with sweet lies.' + + + KING OEDIPUS. + +1 P. 86, l. 36. _That stern songstress._ The Sphinx. See also + 'minstrel hound.' + +2 P. 96, l. 402. _Will hunt | Pollution forth._ The party cry of + 'driving out the pollution' was raised against the Alcmaeonidae and + other families in Athens, who were supposed to lie under a + traditional curse. + +3 P. 99. l. 525. _Who durst declare it._ [Greek: Tou pros d' + ephanthe]. Though the emphatic order of words is unusual, this seems + more forcible than the var. [Greek: toupos d' ephanthe]. + +4 P. 102, l. 625. [CR. _You'll ne'er relent nor listen to my plea._] A + line has here been lost in the original. + +5 P. 113, l. 1025. _Your purchase or your child?_ Oedipus is not to be + supposed to have weighed the import of the Corinthian shepherd's + words, 'Nor I nor he,' &c., _supra_. + +6 P. 128. l. 1526. _His envied fortune mounted beaming._ Reading + [Greek: en zelo politon] (with 2 MSS) and [Greek: epiphlegon] from + my conjecture. + + + ELECTRA. + +1 P. 131, l. 6. _The wolf-slaying God._ Apollo Lyceius, from _Lycos_, + a wolf. + +2 P. 140, l. 363. _Ne'er be it mine,_ &c. Reading [Greek: toume me + *lupoun monon | boskema]. + +3 P. 143, l. 451. _That lingers on my brow._ A somewhat forced + interpretation of [Greek: tende lipare tricha]. Possibly [Greek: + tend' alamprunton tricha]: 'And this--unkempt and poor--yet give it + to him.' + +4 P. 144, l. 504. _Chariot course of Pelops, full of toil._ Pelops won + his bride Hippodameia by bribing Myrtilus, his charioteer; whom, in + order to conceal his fault, he flung into the sea. + +5 P. 150, l. 722. _That pulled the side-rope._ See on Ant., p. 7, l. + 140. + +6 l. 151. _In letting loose again the left-hand rein._ The near + horse (see above) knows his business, and, when the slackening of + the rein shows that the goal is cleared, makes eagerly for the + direct downward course. But if he is let go an instant too soon, he + brings the car into contact with the stone. + +7 l. 746. _Caught in the reins._ In an ancient chariot-race, the + reins were often passed round the body of the charioteer, so as to + give more purchase. See this described in the _Hippolytus_ of + Euripides. + +8 P. 154, l. 837. _One in a woman's toils | was tangled._ Amphiaraus, + betrayed by Eriphyle for a necklace. + +9 P. 160, l. 1085. _Through homeless misery._ I read [Greek: aion' + aoikon] for [Greek: aiona koinon] of the MSS. + +10 l. 1086. _Purging the sin and shame._ I read [Greek: kathagnisasa] + for the impossible [Greek: kathoplisasa]. + +11 P. 172, l. 1478. _Thou hast been taking,_ &c. Otherwise, reading + with the MSS [Greek: zon tois thanousin ounek' antaudas isa], _At + point to die, thou art talking with the dead._ + + + TRACHINIAN MAIDENS. + +1 P. 180, l. 104. _Bride of battle-wooing._ 'Deanira' signifies 'Cause + of strife to heroes.' + +2 P. 185, l. 303. _Ne'er may I see thee._ The Spartan captives from + Pylos had lately been at Athens, and some of them were reputed + descendants of Hyllus, the son of Deanira. + +3 P. 195, l. 654. _Frees him for ever._ His last contest brings his + final deliverance. + +4 P. 201, l. 860. _From Love's dread minister,_ i.e. from Aphrodite, + working through the concealed and silent Iole. + + + PHILOCTETES. + +1 P. 222, l. 194. _Through Chrysa's cruel sting._ Chrysa was an island + near the Troad, sacred to a goddess of the name. Her precinct was + guarded by a serpent, whose bite, from which Philoctetes suffered, + was incurable. See below p. 254, l. 1327. + +2 P. 226, l. 344. _The fosterer of my sire._ Phoenix, the tutor of + Achilles. + +3 P. 227, l. 351. _For I ne'er | Had seen him._ The legend which makes + Achilles go to Troy from Scyros is probably ignored. + +4 l. 384. _Vile offset of an evil tree._ Alluding to the supposed + birth of Odysseus. See on Ai., l. 190, p. 60 [sic. should be p. 49]. + +5 P. 230, l. 489. _Of old Chalcodon._ One of the former generation, a + friend and neighbour of Poeas the father of Philoctetes. + +6 P. 237, l. 729. _Of him, whose home is in the skies._ Heracles, + imagined as transfigured on Mount Oeta. + +7 P. 254, l. 1328. _The sky-roofed fold._ The open precinct that was + sacred to the goddess, merely surrounded by a wall. See above, note + on p. 222, l. 194. + +8 P. 255, l. 1333. _Phoebus' child._ Asclepius. + + + OEDIPUS AT COLONOS. + +1 P. 265, l. 158. _Mingles with draughts,_ &c. Where libations are + mixed of water and honey. + +2 P. 288, l. 888. _The God._ Poseidon. See above, p. 282 [sic. should + be p. 262], l. 55. + +3 P. 306, l. 1525. _neighbouring._ [Greek: geitonon] (the participle). + +4 l. 1534. _The dragon-brood._ The Cadmeian race at Thebes, sprung + from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus. + + +N.B.--For other questionable points the student is referred to the +small edition of _Sophocles_, by Campbell and Abbott (2 vols., +Clarendon Press, 1900). + + +Oxford: HORACE HART, Printer to the University. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Seven Plays in English Verse, by Sophocles + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN PLAYS IN ENGLISH VERSE *** + +***** This file should be named 14484.txt or 14484.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/4/8/14484/ + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Fred Robinson and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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