Part 24 (1/2)

OEDIPUS Is the prince coming? Will he when he comes Find me yet living and my senses clear!

ANTIGONE What solemn charge would'st thou impress on him?

OEDIPUS For all his benefits I would perform The promise made when I received them first.

CHORUS (Ant. 2) Hither haste, my son, arise, Altar leave and sacrifice, If haply to Poseidon now In the far glade thou pay'st thy vow.

For our guest to thee would bring And thy folk and offering, Thy due guerdon. Haste, O King!

[Enter THESEUS]

THESEUS Wherefore again this general din? at once My people call me and the stranger calls.

Is it a thunderbolt of Zeus or sleet Of arrowy hail? a storm so fierce as this Would warrant all surmises of mischance.

OEDIPUS Thou com'st much wished for, Prince, and sure some G.o.d Hath bid good luck attend thee on thy way.

THESEUS What, son of Laius, hath chanced of new?

OEDIPUS My life hath turned the scale. I would do all I promised thee and thine before I die.

THESEUS What sign a.s.sures thee that thine end is near?

OEDIPUS The G.o.ds themselves are heralds of my fate; Of their appointed warnings nothing fails.

THESEUS How sayest thou they signify their will?

OEDIPUS This thunder, peal on peal, this lightning hurled Flash upon flash, from the unconquered hand.

THESEUS I must believe thee, having found thee oft A prophet true; then speak what must be done.

OEDIPUS O son of Aegeus, for this state will I Unfold a treasure age cannot corrupt.

Myself anon without a guiding hand Will take thee to the spot where I must end.

This secret ne'er reveal to mortal man, Neither the spot nor whereabouts it lies, So shall it ever serve thee for defense Better than native s.h.i.+elds and near allies.

But those dread mysteries speech may not profane Thyself shalt gather coming there alone; Since not to any of thy subjects, nor To my own children, though I love them dearly, Can I reveal what thou must guard alone, And whisper to thy chosen heir alone, So to be handed down from heir to heir.

Thus shalt thou hold this land inviolate From the dread Dragon's brood. [7] The justest State By countless wanton neighbors may be wronged, For the G.o.ds, though they tarry, mark for doom The G.o.dless sinner in his mad career.

Far from thee, son of Aegeus, be such fate!

But to the spot--the G.o.d within me goads-- Let us set forth no longer hesitate.

Follow me, daughters, this way. Strange that I Whom you have led so long should lead you now.

Oh, touch me not, but let me all alone Find out the sepulcher that destiny Appoints me in this land. Hither, this way, For this way Hermes leads, the spirit guide, And Persepha.s.sa, empress of the dead.

O light, no light to me, but mine erewhile, Now the last time I feel thee palpable, For I am drawing near the final gloom Of Hades. Blessing on thee, dearest friend, On thee and on thy land and followers!

Live prosperous and in your happy state Still for your welfare think on me, the dead.

[Exit THESEUS followed by ANTIGONE and ISMENE]

CHORUS (Str.) If mortal prayers are heard in h.e.l.l, Hear, G.o.ddess dread, invisible!

Monarch of the regions drear, Aidoneus, hear, O hear!

By a gentle, tearless doom Speed this stranger to the gloom, Let him enter without pain The all-shrouding Stygian plain.

Wrongfully in life oppressed, Be he now by Justice blessed.

(Ant.) Queen infernal, and thou fell Watch-dog of the gates of h.e.l.l, Who, as legends tell, dost glare, Gnarling in thy cavernous lair At all comers, let him go Scathless to the fields below.

For thy master orders thus, The son of earth and Tartarus; In his den the monster keep, Giver of eternal sleep.

[Enter MESSENGER]

MESSENGER Friends, countrymen, my tidings are in sum That Oedipus is gone, but the event Was not so brief, nor can the tale be brief.