The Seven Plays in English Verse Part 31

OED. Then had I ne'er Been proved a parricide, ne'er borne the shame Of marriage bonds incestuous! But now I am G.o.d 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 G.o.ds, 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 n.o.bly 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 G.o.d 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 n.o.ble 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 pa.s.sages of fate That must attend you amongst men. For where Can ye find fellows.h.i.+p, 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.

n.o.ble 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. G.o.d alone can let thee go.

OED. But the G.o.ds 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.