The Seven Plays in English Verse Part 69

Yet by Heaven's law I am freed:--I wist not whom I slew.

CH. Enough. For lo! where Aegeus' princely son, Theseus, comes. .h.i.ther, 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 circ.u.mstance 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 n.o.ble 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 a.s.surance of the whole.

THE. You sum up your pet.i.tion 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 hara.s.sed 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 G.o.ds 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 G.o.d-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.