Specimens of the Poets and Poetry of Greece and Rome

Ed. Almighty Jove! to what hast thou re- That I, in wedlock to my mother bound,
served me?
Should bring to light a race accursed of men,
Joc. My Edipus, what means this wild dis- And in a father's blood my hands imbrue.

may?

Ed. Oh, ask not, ask not, tell me of this Laius. What was his aspect, what his age, O speak! Joc. His port was lofty, the first snows of age Had tinged his locks; his form resembled thine. Ed. Wretch that I am, on mine own head, it

seems

Have I called down this dread destroying curse. Joc. How say'st thou, king! I tremble to behold thee.

Ed. I fear the prophet saw, alas! too clearly. One question more, and all will be disclosed. Joc. I tremble-but will truly tell thee all. Ed. Went the king private, or with many guards

Encompassed, as became his regal sway?
Joc. His followers were but five-a herald one;
Sole rode the monarch in a single car.

Ed. Alas! Alas! 'tis all too evident;
But, lady, who this sad narration brought?
Joc. A slave, the sole survivor of the train.
Ed. Is he now present in the palace?
Joc.
No.
Returning thence, when he beheld thee crowned
Monarch in Thebes, and Laius now no more,
Clasping my hand, with suppliant prayers he
craved

Some rural charge to tend our herds afar, Where never more might he behold the city. Such charge I gave assenting; though a slave, He well deserved a richer recompense.

Ed. How can we bid his instant presence hither?

Joc. Soon shall he come. Yet wherefore seek'st

thou this?

Ed. I tremble, lady, for myself, and much Hath now been said to wake my wish to see him. Joc. He will arrive ere long. Meanwhile, O king,

I, too, am worthy to partake thy cares.
Ed. I will not this deny thee, to such height
Of expectation raised; to whom more dear
Could I confide my fortunes, than to thee?
My sire was Polybus, fair Corinth's lord,
My mother Merope, of Doric race;
I, too, was counted noblest of the State,

Hearing these bodings dire, I bade farewell
To the loved realm of Corinth, by the stars
My wandering course directing far away,
That never, never might I see the shame
Of those dread oracles fulfilled in me.
I passed those very regions in my course
Where fell the murdered monarch. To thee,
lady,

I will reveal the truth. As I pursued
My onward journey, nigh the triple path
A herald there encountered me, with one
Borne, as thou said'st in single car sublime.
The leader then, and that old chieftain too,
With violent impulse thrust me from the path;
I struck the rude aggressor in mine anger,
But the old man observing, when I passed
Beside his chariot, with his double goad
Smote on my brow. Unequal was the meed
My hand returned. I raised my vengeful staff,
And straight he rolled expiring from the car.
I slew the whole. But, if this stranger prove
The murdered Laius, who of all mankind
Exists more deeply wretched than myself.
Oh! who more hateful to th' avenging gods?
Nor citizen, nor stranger to my need
Henceforth may grant the refuge of a home;
And I, howe'er unconscious, on myself
Invoked the withering curse. I, by whose hand
His blood was shed, pollute his nuptial couch-
Am I not all abandoned, all defiled?
If I must fly, and, flying, ne'er behold
My best-loved friends, or tread my natal earth,
Or else am doom'd, in most unnatural ties,
To wed my mother, and my father slay,
Good Polybus, who gave me life and nurture,
Would he not rightly judge who deemed these

woes

The work of some inexorable god?
Never, O never, ye most Holy Powers,
May I behold that day. Oh, may I sink
To death's more friendly darkness, ere my life
Be marked and sullied by a stain so foul.

Ch. Thy words, O king! are fearful; yet retain Thy hope, till from this herdsman thou hast

heard.

Ed. I but await his presence, for in him

Till chanced a strange event that claimed my Concentrates all the hope that now is left me.

wonder,

Though scarce deserving of the care it caused.
One at a banquet, in a drunken mood,
Reviled me, as not sprung from Polybus.
Oppressed with weighty thoughts, throughout the

day

I scarce could curb my wrath, and on the next,
From both my parents warmly asked the truth.
They heard my tale, incensed with deepest rage
Against th' inebriate babbler. Though with them
I was delighted, yet th' opprobious taunt
Burnt in my breast, and rankled in my soul.
Unknown to both, I hastened to the shrine
Of Delphi; Phœbus, reckless of my prayer,
Dismissed me thence dishonoured; but denounced

Joc. When he arrives, what is thy purpose

next?

Ed. I will inform thee; if his tale agree With thine in all things, I escape the crime. Joc. What of such moment did my words

imply?

Ed. Thou said'st, the man ascribed the death
of Laius

To banded ruffians; if he still adhere
To this report, I am at once absolved;-
The deed of numbers is no deed of one:
If he but name a single murderer,
'Tis but too plain the deadly act was mine.
Joc. But this, be well convinced, he then
affirmed,

A long, long train of dark and fearful sorrows;-Nor can he now retract his former tale

SOPHOCLES.

[Exit EDIPUS.

Joc. Princes of Thebes, we deemed it meet to
seek

The temples of the gods, and in our hands
These votive wreaths, this odorous incense bear.
The soul of Edipus on a wild sea

Of anxious care is tossed ;-nor, as becomes
The prudent, weighs by former oracles
This late response, but lends a willing ear
Since my voice
To all who speak of terrors.
Avails no more, Lycæan king, to thee
I fly, for thou art nearest to our need,
And come in prayer, a suppliant to thy shrine,
That thou mayst grant us thine auspicious aid;
Since all now tremble, when we thus behold
Our very pilot shuddering and appalled.

Enter CORINTHIAN.

Joc. Haste, haste, attendant, and convey with
speed

These tidings to your lord.

Vain oracles!

Where are your bodings now? My Edipus,
Fearing to slay this man, forsook his country;
Now Fate, and not his hand, had laid him low.
Enter EDIPUS.

Ed. Why, my beloved Jocasta, hast thou sent
Hear this man-
To bid my presence hither?
Joc.
Attend his tidings, and observe the end
Of these most true and reverend oracles.
Ed. Who is this stranger-with what message
charged?

Joc. He is from Corinth, thence despatched to
tell thee

That Polybus, thy father, is no more.

Ed. What sayest thou, stranger? Be thyself the speaker.

Cor. Then, in plain terms, the king is dead and gone.

Ed. Died he by treason, or the chance of sick-
ness?

Cor. Slight ills dismiss the aged to their rest.
Ed. Then by disease, it seems, the monarch

died.

Cor. And bowed beneath a withering weight of years.

Ed. Ha! is it thus? Then, lady, who would
heed

The Pythian shrine oracular, or birds
Clanging in air, by whose vain auspices

Cor. Can ye inform me, strangers, where your I was fore-doomed the murderer of my father?

Attend thee, stranger,-thy kind greeting claims
But say,
This due return of courtesy.
Whence cam'st thou to our Thebes, and what
thy tidings?

Cor. Joy to thine house, O lady! and thy lord.
Joc. What joy?-and from what region art
thou come?

Cor. From Corinth. At my words thou wilt
rejoice:

In the still silence of the tomb he sleeps.
While I am here-the fatal sword untouched
Unless he languished for his absent child,
And I was thus the author of his doom.
Now in the grave he lies, and with him rest
Those vain predictions, worthy of our scorn.
Joc. Did I not tell thee this before?
Ed.

But terror urged me onward.

Thou didst,

Banish now

Should I not fear
The dark pollution of my mother's bed?
Joc. Oh why should mortals fear, when for-
tune's sway

Rules all, and wariest foresight nought avails?
Best to live on unheeding, as thou may'st.
And dread not thou thy mother's lawless
couch;

Oft is the soul dismayed by hideous dreams Why should'st thou not-yet fond regrets will Of guilt like this, but life's rough path is found

rise.

Joc. What dost thou mean, and whence this
two-fold influence?

Smoothest to him, who spurns such wild illusions. Ed. I should admit the justice of thy plea, Save that my mother lives; while she survive, Coc. The assembled States of Isthmus, rumour Though thou speak'st well, I cannot choose but

tells,

Will choose thy lord to mount the vacant throne.
Joc. How vacant? Reigns not Polybus in
Corinth?

Cor. No more!-His only kingdom is the tomb.
Joc. Mean'st thou, old man, that Polybus is

dead?

Cor. May I, too, perish if my words be false.

Cor. Then wherefore, since thy welfare I re- Nor find me as by chance?

Another herdsman gave thee.
Ed.

Canst thou inform me this?
Cor.

A slave of Laius.
d.
Ruled o'er this land?
Cor.

No; to my hand

Who was he? He was, I believe,

What! of him who erst

Hails thee her monarch, I might win thy favour.
Ed. Ne'er will I seek the authors of my birth.
Cor. 'Tis plain, my son, thou know'st not what
thou doest!
The same;-this man to him
Ed. How! how! old man, by heaven, unfold Discharged an herdsman's office.
thy meaning.
Ed.
Lives he yet
Cor. If this preclude thee from returning That I may see him?

home

Ed. I fear lest Phœbus saw, alas! too clearly!
Cor. If thou dost dread pollution from thy

parents

Cor.
Ye, his countrymen,
Are best prepared this question to resolve.
Ed. Is there of you who now attend our
presence,

Ed. That restless dread for ever haunts my One who would know the herdsman he describes,
soul.
Familiar erst or here, or in the field?

Cor. Know, then, thy terrors all are causeless Speak-for the time demands a prompt disclosure.

here.

Nor to him or me

Ch. He is, I deem, no other than the man Whom thou before didst summon from the fields. This none can know more than the Queen.

Ed. Think'st thou, O Queen, the man whose

presence late

We bade, is he of whom this stranger speaks?
Joc. Who-spake of whom?-Regard him not,

nor dwell,

With vain remembrance, on unmeaning words!
Ed. Nay, heaven forfend, when traces of my

birth

Then wherefore did he grant Are thus unfolding, I should cease to follow.
Joc. Nay, by the gods I charge thee! search
no more,

Ed.
With such fond love
How could he cherish thus an alien child?
Cor. His former childless state to this impelled

him.

If life be precious still. Be it enough
That I am most afflicted.

Cheer thee, lady,

Ed. Though my descent were proved e'en trebly servile,

Ed. Gav'st thou a purchased slave, or thy No stain of infamy would light on thee.

own child?

Cor. I found thee in Citharon's shadowy glades.

Ed. Why didst thou traverse those remoter vales?

Cor. It was my charge to tend the mountain herds.

Ed. Wert thou an herdsman, and engaged for hire?

Cor. I was, my son, but thy preserver too.

Joc. Ah yield, I do conjure thee-seek no more.
Ed. I will not yield, till all be clearly known.
Joc. 'Tis for thy peace I warn thee-yet be wise.
Ed. That very wisdom wounds my peace
most deeply.

Joc. Unhappy-never may'st thou know thy
birth.

Ed. Will none conduct this shepherd to our

presence?

Leave her to triumph in her lordly race.

SOPHOCLES.

Joc. Woe! woe! unhappy! henceforth by that He to the stalls of Laius led his charge.

Alone for ever.

[Exit JOCASTA. Ch. Whither, my good lord, Hath the queen parted, urged by wild dismay? I fear, I fear, lest this portentous silence Be but the prelude to impending woe.

Ed. Let the storm burst, I reck not. I will on To trace my birth, though it be most obscure. Pride swells her thus, for in a woman's breast Pride reigns despotic, and she thinks foul scorn Of my ignoble birth. I deem myself

The child of Fortune, in whose favouring smile I shall not be dishonoured. She alone

Hath been my fostering parent; from low state My kindred months have raised me into great

Dost thou e'er remember there To have beheld this man?

Herd.

What task performing—
But which man meanest thou?

I mean this man
Ed.
Here present;-hadst thou converse with him
there?

Herd. Not such, that I can instantly retrace it.
Cor. No marvel this, O king! But I will soon
Revive events forgotten, for I know
He cannot but recal what time he fed
Two flocks, I one, in green Citharon's vales.
Three months we thus consorted, from the spring
Till cold Arcturus brings the wintry blast.

To mine own stalls I then drove back my herds,

Say, are my words unwarranted by fact?

Herd. Thy tale is true, though told of times

long passed.

Cor. Then answer, dost thou recollect the babe Thou gav'st me there, as mine own child to cherish?

Herd. What would'st thou? Whither do thy

questions tend?

Cor. This is that child, my friend, who stands before thee.

Herd. A curse light on thee! wilt thou not be silent?

Ed. Reprove him not, old man, for thine own words,

Far more than his, demand a stern reprover. Herd. In what do I offend thee, my good lord? Ed. In that thou speak'st not plainly of the child

Of whom he ask thee.

Herd.

But he speaks in darkness,

Mere empty babblingEd.

If thou wilt not answer

To mild persuasion, force shall soon compel thee. Herd. Oh! for the love of heaven, respect mine

age.

Ed. Here, quickly seize him! Bind the fellow's hands.

Herd. Alas! what is my crime? what wouldst thou learn?

Ed. Didst thou commit to him the child he spake of?

Herd. I did:-0, had that moment been my last!

Ed. This shall be, if thou wilt not speak the truth.

Herd. And if I speak it, I am trebly lost. Ed. This man, it seems, still struggles to elude us.

Herd. No, I confessed long since I gave the child.

Ed. And whence received? thine own, or from another?

Herd. No, not mine own; I from another's hand

Bare him.

Ed. And from what Theban, from what roof? Herd. O, by the gods! my lord, inquire no further.

Ed. If I repeat th' inquiry, thou art lost.
Herd. The palace of King Laius gave him birth.
Ed. Sprung from a slave, or of the royal stock?
Herd. Ah! how I shrink to breathe the fatal
truth!

Ed. And I to hear it; yet it must be heard.
Herd. The child was called the son of Laius;
here

Thy royal consort can inform thee better.
Ed. Didst thou from her receive him?
Yea, O king!-
Herd.

Ed. And for what purpose?
Herd.

Herd. That he should prove the murderer of that an uninterrupted course of prosperity will his parents. befall Athens, as long as his burial place remains Ed. Why, then, to this old man thy charge unknown to all but the reigning monarch of the country. Then taking leave of his daughters,

consign?

Herd. From pity, O my lord, I deemed that he and being left alone with Theseus, he calmly To his own land would bear the child afar.

resigns himself to his fate.

EDIPUS, ANTIGONE.

Ed. Say, daughter of a blind and aged sire,
Antigone, what region have we reached,
Or whose the city? Who will here extend
A scanty pittance for the passing day
To the poor wandering Edipus, who asks
But for a little, and, receiving less
Ev'n than that little, counts the boon enough.
For, stern afflictions, long-protracted years,
And fortitude of soul, have taught me patience.
But now, my child, if haply thon espy
A resting-place, be it near the common way,

Or by some consecrated grove, there seat me,

And ask what land we are come to? Strangers
here,

We seek the natives of the State, to learn,
And what we hear, perform.
Ant.

O, Edipus,
My much afflicted father, if mine eyes
Deceive me not, some city's shining towers
Rise in far prospect; but the spot we tread
Is holy, for thick groves of laurel, vine,
And olive, bloom around, while, all within,
Wing'd nightingales make sweetest melody.
on this rude
Rest now thy faltering limbs

Ant. That mournful office time too well hath taught me.

Ed. Canst thou then tell me on what place we stand?

Ant. The land is that of Athens; but the spot I know not.

I'll go ask what place it is;

But no; I need not quit thee; for even now
A stranger comes this way; he will inform us.
Enter an ATHENIAN.

Ed. Stranger, apprized by her, whose sight
alone
Guides both herself and me, that thou art here,
Arrived in welcome moment to unfold
What much we long to know.-

Ath.
Ere thou dost urge
Inquiry further, quit that sacred seat;
No foot of man may tread this hallowed soil.
Ed. What is the place? devoted to what

power?

FROM EDIPUS AT COLONOS. THIS Tragedy is a continuation of the history of Edipus, who, condemned to perpetual banishment from Thebes, arrives with his daughter Antigone, at Colonos, in the neighbourhood of Athens, where he solicits and obtains the protection of King Theseus. In the meantime, Creon having learned from the oracle, that prosperity awaits the country which should possess the bones of Edipus, endeavours to remove him from Colonos, but is prevented from effecting his purpose by Theseus. At this juncture Polynices arrives with the design of reconciling his father to his intended invasion of Thebes, but the exiled monarch utters bitterest imprecations on his impious purpose, and prophesies the horrid fate that Ath. We call them in this land th' Eumenides, awaits him. After this, finding his end fast ap- The all-beholding Powers; in other lands, proaching, he sends for Theseus and informs him | By various lofty titles men adore them.

Ath. From mortal touch and mortal dwelling
pure

Is that mysterious grove, the awful powers,
Daughters of Earth and Darkness, dwell within.
Ed. By what most holy name should I invoke
them?

« Anterior Continuar »

Libros