The Seven Plays in English Verse Part 68

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!