Ot--For This Crown Creon The Stern And True, Creon Mine Own Comrade, Comes Creeping In The Dark To Ban And Slay Me; Sending First This Magic-Man And Schemer, This False Beggar-Priest, Whose Eye Is Bright For Gold And Blind For Prophecy? Speak, Thou. When Hast Thou Ever Shown Thee Strong For Aid? The She-Wolf Of The Woven Song Came, And Thy Art Could Find No Word, No Breath, To Save Thy People From Her Riddling Death. 'Twas Scarce A Secret, That, For Common Men To Unravel. There Was Need Of Seer-Craft Then. And Thou Hadst None To Show. No Fowl, No Flame, No God Revealed It Thee. 'Twas I That Came, Rude Oedipus, Unlearned In Wizard'S Lore, And Read Her Secret, And She Spoke No More. Whom Now Thou Thinkest To Hunt Out, And Stand Foremost In Honour At King Creon'S Hand. I Think Ye Will Be Sorry, Thou And He That Shares Thy Sin-Hunt. Thou Dost Look To Me [Sidenote: Vv. 403-424] An Old Man; Else, I Swear This Day Should Bring On Thee The Death Thou Plottest For Thy King. Leader. Lord Oedipus, These Be But Words Of Wrath, All Thou Hast Spoke And All The Prophet Hath. Which Skills Not. We Must Join, For Ill Or Well, In Search How Best To Obey God'S Oracle. Tiresias. King Though Thou Art, Thou Needs Must Bear The Right Of Equal Answer. Even In Me Is Might For Thus Much, Seeing I Live No Thrall Of Thine, But Lord Apollo'S; Neither Do I Sign Where Creon Bids Me. I Am Blind, And Thou Hast Mocked My Blindness. Yea, I Will Speak Now. Eyes Hast Thou, But Thy Deeds Thou Canst Not See Nor Where Thou Art, Nor What Things Dwell With Thee. Whence Art Thou Born? Thou Know'St Not; And Unknown, On Quick And Dead, On All That Were Thine Own, Thou Hast Wrought Hate. For That Across Thy Path Rising, A Mother'S And A Father'S Wrath, Two-Handed, Shod With Fire, From The Haunts Of Men Shall Scourge Thee, In Thine Eyes Now Light, But Then Darkness. Aye, Shriek! What Harbour Of The Sea, What Wild Kithairon Shall Not Cry To Thee In Answer, When Thou Hear'St What Bridal Song, What Wind Among The Torches, Bore Thy Strong Sail To Its Haven, Not Of Peace But Blood. Yea, Ill Things Multitude On Multitude [Sidenote: Vv. 425-438] Thou Seest Not, Which So Soon Shall Lay Thee Low, Low As Thyself, Low As Thy Children.--Go, Heap Scorn On Creon And My Lips Withal: For This I Tell Thee, Never Was There Fall Of Pride, Nor Shall Be, Like To Thine This Day. Oedipus. To Brook Such Words From This Thing? Out, I Say! Out To Perdition! Aye, And Quick, Before ... [The Leader Restrains Him. Enough Then!--Turn And Get Thee From My Door. Tiresias. I Had Not Come Hadst Thou Not Called Me Here. Oedipus. I Knew Thee Not So Dark A Fool. I Swear 'Twere Long Before I Called Thee, Had I Known. Tiresias. Fool, Say'St Thou? Am I Truly Such An One? The Two Who Gave Thee Birth, They Held Me Wise. Oedipus. Birth?... Stop! Who Were They? Speak Thy Prophecies. Tiresias. This Day Shall Give Thee Birth And Blot Thee Out. [Sidenote: Vv. 439-455] Oedipus. Oh, Riddles Everywhere And Words Of Doubt! Tiresias. Aye. Thou Wast Their Best Reader Long Ago. Oedipus. Laugh On. I Swear Thou Still Shalt Find Me So. Tiresias. That Makes Thy Pride And Thy Calamity. Oedipus. I Have Saved This Land, And Care Not If I Die. Tiresias. Then I Will Go.--Give Me Thine Arm, My Child. Oedipus. Aye, Help Him Quick.--To See Him There Makes Wild My Heart. Once Gone, He Will Not Vex Me More. Tiresias (Turning Again As He Goes). I Fear Thee Not; Nor Will I Go Before That Word Be Spoken Which I Came To Speak. How Canst Thou Ever Touch Me?--Thou Dost Seek With Threats And Loud Proclaim The Man Whose Hand Slew La'Us. Lo, I Tell Thee, He Doth Stand Here. He Is Called A Stranger, But These Days Shall Prove Him Theban True, Nor Shall He Praise His Birthright. Blind, Who Once Had Seeing Eyes, Beggared, Who Once Had Riches, In Strange Guise, [Sidenote: Vv. 456-478] His Staff Groping Before Him, He Shall Crawl O'Er Unknown Earth, And Voices Round Him Call: "Behold The Brother-Father Of His Own Children, The Seed, The Sower And The Sown, Shame To His Mother'S Blood, And To His Sire Son, Murderer, Incest-Worker." Cool Thine Ire With Thought Of These, And If Thou Find That Aught Faileth, Then Hold My Craft A Thing Of Naught. [He Goes Out. Oedipus Returns To The Palace. Chorus. [They Sing Of The Unknown Murderer, What Man, What Man Is He Whom The Voice Of Delphi'S Cell Hath Named Of The Bloody Hand, Of The Deed No Tongue May Tell? Let Him Fly, Fly, For His Need Hath Found Him; Oh, Where Is The Speed That Flew With The Winds Of Old, The Team Of North-Wind'S Spell? For Feet There Be That Follow. Yea, Thunder-Shod And Girt With Fire He Cometh, The Child Of God; And With Him Are They That Fail Not, The Sin-Hounds Risen From Hell. For The Mountain Hath Spoken, A Voice Hath Flashed From Amid The Snows, That The Wrath Of The World Go Seek For The Man Whom No Man Knows. Is He Fled To The Wild Forest, To Caves Where The Eagles Nest? O Angry Bull Of The Rocks, Cast Out From Thy Herd-Fellows! [Sidenote: Vv. 479-512] Rage In His Heart, And Rage Across His Way, He Toileth Ever To Beat From His Ears Away The Word That Floateth About Him, Living, Where'Er He Goes. [And Of The Prophet'S Strange Accusation. Yet Strange, Passing Strange, The Wise Augur And His Lore; And My Heart It Cannot Speak; I Deny Not Nor Assent, But Float, Float In Wonder At Things After And Before; Did There Lie Between Their Houses Some Old Wrath Unspent, That Corinth Against Cadmus Should Do Murder By The Way? No Tale Thereof They Tell, Nor No Sign Thereof They Show; Who Dares To Rise For Vengeance And Cast Oedipus Away For A Dark, Dark Death Long Ago! Ah, Zeus Knows, And Apollo, What Is Dark To Mortal Eyes; They Are Gods. But A Prophet, Hath He Vision More Than Mine? Who Hath Seen? Who Can Answer? There Be Wise Men And Unwise. I Will Wait, I Will Wait, For The Proving Of The Sign. But I List Not Nor Hearken When They Speak Oedipus Ill. We Saw His Face Of Yore, When The Riddling Singer Passed; And We Knew Him That He Loved Us, And We Saw Him Great In Skill. Oh, My Heart Shall Uphold Him To The Last! [Sidenote: Vv. 513-531] Enter Creon. Creon. Good Brother Citizens, A Frantic Word I Hear Is Spoken By Our Chosen Lord Oedipus Against Me, And Here Am Come Indignant. If He Dreams, 'Mid All This Doom That Weighs Upon Us, He Hath Had From Me Or Deed Or Lightest Thought Of Injury, ... 'Fore God, I Have No Care To See The Sun Longer With Such A Groaning Name. Not One Wound Is It, But A Multitude, If Now All Thebes Must Hold Me Guilty--Aye, And Thou And All Who Loved Me--Of A Deed So Foul. Leader. If Words Were Spoken, It Was Scarce The Soul That Spoke Them: 'Twas Some Sudden Burst Of Wrath. Creon. The Charge Was Made, Then, That Tiresias Hath Made Answer False, And That I Bribed Him, I? Leader. It Was--Perchance For Jest. I Know Not Why. Creon. His Heart Beat True, His Eyes Looked Steadily And Fell Not, Laying Such A Charge On Me? Leader. I Know Not. I Have No Eyes For The Thing My Masters Do.--But See, Here Comes The King. [Sidenote: Vv. 532-550] Enter Oedipus From The Palace. Oedipus. How Now, Assassin? Walking At My Gate With Eye Undimmed, Thou Plotter Demonstrate Against This Life, And Robber Of My Crown? God Help Thee! Me! What Was It Set Me Down Thy Butt? So Dull A Brain Hast Found In Me Aforetime, Such A Faint Heart, Not To See Thy Work Betimes, Or Seeing Not To Smite? Art Thou Not Rash, This Once! It Needeth Might Of Friends, It Needeth Gold, To Make A Throne Thy Quarry; And I Fear Me Thou Hast None. Creon. One Thing Alone I Ask Thee. Let Me Speak As Thou Hast Spoken; Then, With Knowledge, Wreak Thy Judgement. I Accept It Without Fear. Oedipus. More Skill Hast Thou To Speak Than I To Hear Thee. There Is Peril Found In Thee And Hate. Creon. That One Thing Let Me Answer Ere Too Late. Oedipus. One Thing Be Sure Of, That Thy Plots Are Known. Creon. The Man Who Thinks That Bitter Pride Alone Can Guide Him, Without Thought--His Mind Is Sick. [Sidenote: Vv. 551-562] Oedipus. Who Thinks To Slay His Brother With A Trick And Suffer Not Himself, His Eyes Are Blind. Creon. Thy Words Are More Than Just. But Say What Kind Of Wrong Thou Fanciest I Have Done Thee. Speak. Oedipus. Didst Urge Me, Or Didst Urge Me Not, To Seek A Counsel From That Man Of Prophecies? Creon. So Judged I Then, Nor Now Judge Otherwise. Oedipus. [Suddenly Seeing A Mode Of Attack. How Many Years Have Passed Since La'Us ... [The Words Seem To Choke Him. Creon. Speak On. I Cannot Understand Thee Thus. Oedipus. [With An Effort. Passed In That Bloody Tempest From Men'S Sight? Creon. Long Years And Old. I Scarce Can Tell Them Right. Oedipus. At That Time Was This Seer In Thebes, Or How? [Sidenote: Vv. 563-573] Creon. He Was; Most Wise And Honoured, Even As Now. Oedipus. At That Time Did He Ever Speak My Name? Creon. No. To Mine Ear At Least It Never Came. Oedipus. Held You No Search For Those Who Slew Your King? Creon. For Sure We Did, But Found Not Anything. Oedipus. How Came The All-Knowing Seer To Leave It So? Creon. Ask Him! I Speak Not Where I Cannot Know. Oedipus. One Thing Thou Canst, With Knowledge Full, I Wot. Creon. Speak It. If True, I Will Conceal It Not. Oedipus. This: That Until He Talked With Thee, The Seer Ne'Er Spoke Of Me As La'Us' Murderer. [Sidenote: Vv. 574-589] Creon. I Know Not If He Hath So Spoken Now. I Heard Him Not.--But Let Me Ask And Thou Answer Me True, As I Have Answered Thee. Oedipus. Ask, Ask! Thou Shalt No Murder Find In Me. Creon. My Sister Is Thy Wife This Many A Day? Oedipus. That Charge It Is Not In Me To Gainsay. Creon. Thou Reignest, Giving Equal Reign To Her? Oedipus. Always To Her Desire I Minister. Creon. Were We Not All As One, She Thou And I? Oedipus. Yes, Thou False Friend! There Lies Thy Treachery. Creon. Not So! Nay, Do But Follow Me And Scan Thine Own Charge Close. Think'St Thou That Any Man Would Rather Rule And Be Afraid Than Rule And Sleep Untroubled? Nay, Where Lives The Fool-- [Sidenote: Vv. 590-613] I Know Them Not Nor Am I One Of Them-- Who Careth More To Bear A Monarch'S Name Than Do A Monarch'S Deeds? As Now I Stand All My Desire I Compass At Thy Hand. Were I The King, Full Half My Deeds Were Done To Obey The Will Of Others, Not Mine Own. Were That As Sweet, When All The Tale Were Told, As This Calm Griefless Princedom That I Hold And Silent Power? Am I So Blind Of Brain That Ease With Glory Tires Me, And I Fain Must Change Them? All Men Now Give Me God-Speed, All Smile To Greet Me. If A Man Hath Need Of Thee, 'Tis Me He Calleth To The Gate, As Knowing That On My Word Hangs The Fate Of Half He Craves. Is Life Like Mine A Thing To Cast Aside And Plot To Be A King? Doth A Sane Man Turn Villain In An Hour? For Me, I Never Lusted Thus For Power Nor Bore With Any Man Who Turned Such Lust To Doing.--But Enough. I Claim But Just Question. Go First To Pytho; Find If Well And True I Did Report God'S Oracle. Next, Seek In Thebes For Any Plots Entwined Between This Seer And Me; Which If Ye Find, Then Seize And Strike Me Dead. Myself That Day Will Sit With Thee As Judge And Bid Thee Slay! But Damn Me Not On One Man'S Guess.--'Tis All Unjust: To Call A Traitor True, To Call A True Man Traitor With No Cause Nor End! And This I Tell Thee. He Who Plucks A Friend Out From His Heart Hath Lost A Treasured Thing Dear As His Own Dear Life. But Time Shall Bring [Sidenote: Vv. 614-626] Truth Back. 'Tis Time Alone Can Make Men Know What Hearts Are True; The False One Day Can Show. Leader. To One That Fears To Fall His Words Are Wise, O King; In Thought The Swift Win Not The Prize. Oedipus. When He Is Swift Who Steals Against My Reign With Plots, Then Swift Am I To Plot Again. Wait Patient, And His Work Shall Have Prevailed Before I Move, And Mine For Ever Failed. Creon. How Then? To Banish Me Is Thy Intent? Oedipus. Death Is The Doom I Choose, Not Banishment. Creon. Wilt Never Soften, Never Trust Thy Friend? Oedipus. First I Would See How Traitors Meet Their End. Creon. I See Thou Wilt Not Think. Oedipus. I Think To Save My Life. [Sidenote: Vv. 627-633] Creon. Think, Too, Of Mine. Oedipus. Thine, Thou Born Knave! Creon. Yes.... What, If Thou Art Blind In Everything? Oedipus. The King Must Be Obeyed. Creon. Not If The King Does Evil. Oedipus. To Your King! Ho, Thebes, Mine Own! Creon. Thebes Is My Country, Not The King'S Alone. [Oedipus Has Drawn His Sword; The Chorus Show Signs Of Breaking Into Two Parties To Fight For Oedipus Or For Creon, When The Door Opens And Jocasta Appears On The Steps. Leader. Stay, Princes, Stay! See, On The Castle Stair The Queen Jocasta Standeth. Show To Her Your Strife. She Will Assuage It As Is Well. [Sidenote: Vv. 634-648] Jocasta. Vain Men, What Would Ye With This Angry Swell Of Words Heart-Blinded? Is There In Your Eyes No Pity, Thus, When All Our City Lies Bleeding, To Ply Your Privy Hates?... Alack, My Lord, Come In!--Thou, Creon, Get Thee Back To Thine Own House. And Stir Not To Such Stress Of Peril Griefs That Are But Nothingness. Creon. Sister, It Is The Pleasure Of Thy Lord, Our King, To Do Me Deadly Wrong. His Word Is Passed On Me: 'Tis Banishment Or Death. Oedipus. I Found Him ... I Deny Not What He Saith, My Queen ... With Craft And Malice Practising Against My Life. Creon. Ye Gods, If Such A Thing Hath Once Been In My Thoughts, May I No More See Any Health On Earth, But, Festered O'Er With Curses, Die!--Have Done. There Is Mine Oath. Jocasta. In God'S Name, Oedipus, Believe Him, Both For My Sake, And For These Whose Hearts Are All Thine Own, And For My Brother'S Oath Withal. [Sidenote: Vv. 649-664] Leader. [Strophe. Yield; Consent; Think! My Lord, I Conjure Thee! Oedipus. What Would Ye Have Me Do? Leader. Reject Not One Who Never Failed His Troth Of Old And Now Is Strong In His Great Oath. Oedipus. Dost Know What This Prayer Means? Leader. Yea, Verily! Oedipus. Say Then The Meaning True. Leader. I Would Not Have Thee Cast To Infamy Of Guilt, Where None Is Proved, One Who Hath Sworn And Whom Thou Once Hast Loved. Oedipus. 'Tis That Ye Seek? For Me, Then ... Understand Well ... Ye Seek Death Or Exile From The Land. Leader. No, By The God Of Gods, The All-Seeing Sun! May He Desert Me Here, And Every Friend With Him, To Death And Utterest Malison, If E'Er My Heart Could Dream Of Such An End! [Sidenote: Vv. 665-680] But It Bleedeth, It Bleedeth Sore, In A Land Half Slain, If We Join To The Griefs Of Yore Griefs Of You Twain. Oedipus. Oh, Let Him Go, Though It Be Utterly My Death, Or Flight From Thebes In Beggary. 'Tis Thy Sad Lips, Not His, That Make Me Know Pity. Him I Shall Hate, Where'Er He Go. Creon. I See Thy Mercy Moving Full Of Hate And Slow; Thy Wrath Came Swift And Desperate. Methinks, Of All The Pain That Such A Heart Spreadeth, Itself Doth Bear The Bitterest Part. Oedipus. Oh, Leave Me And Begone! Creon. I Go, Wronged Sore By Thee. These Friends Will Trust Me As Before. [Creon Goes. Oedipus Stands Apart Lost In Trouble Of Mind. Leader. [Antistrophe. Queen, Wilt Thou Lead Him To His House Again? Jocasta. I Will, When I Have Heard. [Sidenote: Vv. 681-696] Leader. There Fell Some Word, Some Blind Imagining Between Them. Things Known Foolish Yet Can Sting. Jocasta. From Both The Twain It Rose? Leader. From Both The Twain. Jocasta. Aye, And What Was The Word? Leader. Surely There Is Enough Of Evil Stirred, And Thebes Heaves On The Swell Of Storm.--Oh, Leave This Lying Where It Fell. Oedipus. So Be It, Thou Wise Counsellor! Make Slight My Wrong, And Blunt My Purpose Ere It Smite. Leader. O King, Not Once I Have Answered. Visibly Mad Were I, Lost To All Wise Usages, To Seek To Cast Thee From Us. 'Twas From Thee We Saw Of Old Blue Sky And Summer Seas, When Thebes In The Storm And Rain Reeled, Like To Die. Oh, If Thou Canst, Again Blue Sky, Blue Sky...! [Sidenote: Vv. 697-713] Jocasta. Husband, In God'S Name, Say What Hath Ensued Of Ill, That Thou Shouldst Seek So Dire A Feud. Oedipus. I Will, Wife. I Have More Regard For Thee Than These.--Thy Brother Plots To Murder Me. Jocasta. Speak On. Make All Thy Charge. Only Be Clear. Oedipus. He Says That I Am La'Us' Murderer. Jocasta. Says It Himself? Says He Hath Witnesses? Oedipus. Nay, Of Himself He Ventures Nothing. 'Tis This Priest, This Hellish Seer, Makes All The Tale. Jocasta. The Seer?--Then Tear Thy Terrors Like A Veil And Take Free Breath. A Seer? No Human Thing Born On The Earth Hath Power For Conjuring Truth From The Dark Of God. Come, I Will Tell An Old Tale. There Came Once An Oracle To La'Us: I Say Not From The God Himself, But From The Priests And Seers Who Trod His Sanctuary: If Ever Son Were Bred From Him And Me, By That Son'S Hand, It Said, [Sidenote: Vv. 714-732] La'Us Must Die. And He, The Tale Yet Stays Among Us, At The Crossing Of Three Ways Was Slain By Robbers, Strangers. And My Son-- God'S Mercy!--Scarcely The Third Day Was Gone When La'Us Took, And By Another'S Hand Out On The Desert Mountain, Where The Land Is Rock, Cast Him To Die. Through Both His Feet A Blade Of Iron They Drove. Thus Did We Cheat Apollo Of His Will. My Child Could Slay No Father, And The King Could Cast Away The Fear That Dogged Him, By His Child To Die Murdered.--Behold The Fruits Of Prophecy! Which Heed Not Thou! God Needs Not That A Seer Help Him, When He Would Make His Dark Things Clear. Oedipus. Woman, What Turmoil Hath Thy Story Wrought Within Me! What Up-Stirring Of Old Thought! Jocasta. What Thought? It Turns Thee Like A Frightened Thing. Oedipus. 'Twas At The Crossing Of Three Ways This King Was Murdered? So I Heard Or So I Thought. Jocasta. That Was The Tale. It Is Not Yet Forgot. Oedipus. The Crossing Of Three Ways! And In What Land? [Sidenote: Vv. 733-746] Jocasta. Phokis 'Tis Called. A Road On Either Hand From Delphi Comes And Daulia, In A Glen. Oedipus. How Many Years And Months Have Passed Since Then? Jocasta. 'Twas But A Little Time Before Proclaim Was Made Of Thee For King, The Tidings Came. Oedipus. My God, What Hast Thou Willed To Do With Me? Jocasta. Oedipus, Speak! What Is It Troubles Thee? Oedipus. Ask Me Not Yet. But Say, What Build, What Height Had La'Us? Rode He Full Of Youth And Might? Jocasta. Tall, With The White New Gleaming On His Brow He Walked. In Shape Just Such A Man As Thou. Oedipus. God Help Me! I Much Fear That I Have Wrought A Curse On Mine Own Head, And Knew It Not. Jocasta. How Sayst Thou? O My King, I Look On Thee And Tremble. [Sidenote: Vv. 747-760] Oedipus (To Himself). Horror, If The Blind Can See! Answer But One Thing And 'Twill All Be Clear. Jocasta. Speak. I Will Answer Though I Shake With Fear. Oedipus. Went He With Scant Array, Or A Great Band Of Arm'D Followers, Like A Lord Of Land? Jocasta. Four Men Were With Him, One A Herald; One Chariot There Was, Where La'Us Rode Alone. Oedipus. Aye Me! Tis Clear Now. Woman, Who Could Bring To Thebes The Story Of That Manslaying? Jocasta. A House-Thrall, The One Man They Failed To Slay. Oedipus. The One Man...? Is He In The House To-Day? Jocasta. Indeed No. When He Came That Day, And Found Thee On The Throne Where Once Sat La'Us Crowned, He Took My Hand And Prayed Me Earnestly [Sidenote: Vv. 761-779] To Send Him To The Mountain Heights, To Be A Herdsman, Far From Any Sight Or Call Of Thebes. And There I Sent Him. 'Twas A Thrall Good-Hearted, Worthy A Far Greater Boon. Oedipus. Canst Find Him? I Would See This Herd, And Soon. Jocasta. 'Tis Easy. But What Wouldst Thou With The Herd? Oedipus. I Fear Mine Own Voice, Lest It Spoke A Word Too Much; Whereof This Man Must Tell Me True. Jocasta. The Man Shall Come.--My Lord, Methinks I Too Should Know What Fear Doth Work Thee This Despite. Oedipus. Thou Shalt. When I Am Tossed To Such An Height Of Dark Foreboding, Woman, When My Mind Faceth Such Straits As These, Where Should I Find A Mightier Love Than Thine? My Father--Thus I Tell Thee The Whole Tale--Was Polybus, In Corinth King; My Mother Merop' Of Dorian Line. And I Was Held To Be The Proudest In Corinthia, Till One Day A Thing Befell: Strange Was It, But No Way Meet For Such Wonder And Such Rage As Mine. A Feast It Was, And Some One Flushed With Wine [Sidenote: Vv. 780-807] Cried Out At Me That I Was No True Son Of Polybus. Oh, I Was Wroth! That One Day I Kept Silence, But The Morrow Morn I Sought My Parents, Told That Tale Of Scorn And Claimed The Truth; And They Rose In Their Pride And Smote The Mocker.... Aye, They Satisfied All My Desire; Yet Still The Cavil Gnawed My Heart, And Still The Story Crept Abroad. At Last I Rose--My Father Knew Not, Nor My Mother--And Went Forth To Pytho'S Floor To Ask. And God In That For Which I Came Rejected Me, But Round Me, Like A Flame, His Voice Flashed Other Answers, Things Of Woe, Terror, And Desolation. I Must Know My Mother'S Body And Beget Thereon A Race No Mortal Eye Durst Look Upon, And Spill In Murder Mine Own Father'S Blood. I Heard, And, Hearing, Straight From Where I Stood, No Landmark But The Stars To Light My Way, Fled, Fled From The Dark South Where Corinth Lay, To Lands Far Off, Where Never I Might See My Doom Of Scorn Fulfilled. On Bitterly I Strode, And Reached The Region Where, So Saith Thy Tale, That King Of Thebes Was Struck To Death.... Wife, I Will Tell Thee True. As One In Daze I Walked, Till, At The Crossing Of Three Ways, A Herald, Like Thy Tale, And O'Er His Head A Man Behind Strong Horses Charioted Met Me. And Both Would Turn Me From The Path, He And A Thrall In Front. And I In Wrath Smote Him That Pushed Me--'Twas A Groom Who Led The Horses. Not A Word The Master Said, [Sidenote: Vv. 808-828] But Watched, And As I Passed Him On The Road Down On My Head His Iron-Branch'D Goad Stabbed. But, By Heaven, He Rued It! In A Flash I Swung My Staff And Saw The Old Man Crash Back From His Car In Blood.... Then All Of Them I Slew. Oh, If That Man'S Unspoken Name Had Aught Of La'Us In Him, In God'S Eye What Man Doth Move More Miserable Than I, More Dogged By The Hate Of Heaven! No Man, Kin Nor Stranger, Any More May Take Me In; No Man May Greet Me With A Word, But All Cast Me From Out Their Houses. And Withal 'Twas Mine Own Self That Laid Upon My Life These Curses.--And I Hold The Dead Man'S Wife In These Polluting Arms That Spilt His Soul.... Am I A Thing Born Evil? Am I Foul In Every Vein? Thebes Now Doth Banish Me, And Never In This Exile Must I See Mine Ancient Folk Of Corinth, Never Tread The Land That Bore Me; Else My Mother'S Bed Shall Be Defiled, And Polybus, My Good Father, Who Loved Me Well, Be Rolled In Blood. If One Should Dream That Such A World Began In Some Slow Devil'S Heart, That Hated Man, Who Should Deny Him?--God, As Thou Art Clean, Suffer Not This, Oh, Suffer Not This Sin To Be, That E'Er I Look On Such A Day! Out Of All Vision Of Mankind Away To Darkness Let Me Fall Ere Such A Fate Touch Me, So Unclean And So Desolate! [Sidenote: Vv. 829-850] Leader. I Tremble Too, O King; But Till Thou Hear From Him Who Saw, Oh, Let Hope Conquer Fear. Oedipus. One Shred Of Hope I Still Have, And Therefore Will Wait The Herdsman'S Coming. 'Tis No More. Jocasta. He Shall Come. But What Further Dost Thou Seek? Oedipus. This. If We Mark Him Close And Find Him Speak As Thou Hast, Then I Am Lifted From My Dread. Jocasta. What Mean'St Thou? Was There Something That I Said...? Oedipus. Thou Said'St He Spoke Of Robbers, A Great Band, That Slaughtered La'Us' Men. If Still He Stand To The Same Tale, The Guilt Comes Not My Way. One Cannot Be A Band. But If He Say One Lonely Loin-Girt Man, Then Visibly This Is God'S Finger Pointing Toward Me. Jocasta. Be Sure Of This. He Told The Story So When First He Came. All They That Heard Him Know, [Sidenote: Vv. 850-870] Not Only I. He Cannot Change Again Now. And If Change He Should, O Lord Of Men, No Change Of His Can Make The Prophecy Of La'Us' Death Fall True. He Was To Die Slain By My Son. So Loxias Spake.... My Son! He Slew No Man, That Poor Deserted One That Died.... And I Will No More Turn Mine Eyes This Way Nor That For All Their Prophecies. Oedipus. Woman, Thou Counsellest Well. Yet Let It Not Escape Thee. Send And Have The Herdsman Brought. Jocasta. That Will I.--Come. Thou Knowest I Ne'Er Would Do Nor Think Of Aught, Save Thou Wouldst Have It So. [Jocasta And Oedipus Go Together Into The Palace. Chorus. [They Pray To Be Free From Such Great Sins As They Have Just Heard Spoken Of. [Strophe. Toward God'S Great Mysteries, Oh, Let Me Move Unstain'D Till I Die In Speech Or Doing; For The Laws Thereof Are Holy, Walkers Upon Ways Above, Born In The Far Blue Sky; Their Father Is Olympus Uncreate; No Man Hath Made Nor Told Their Being; Neither Shall Oblivion Set [Sidenote: Vv. 870-893] Sleep On Their Eyes, For In Them Lives A Great Spirit And Grows Not Old. [Antistrophe. [They Wonder If These Sins Be All Due To Pride And If Creon Has Guilty Ambitions; 'Tis Pride That Breeds The Tyrant; Drunken Deep With Perilous Things Is She, Which Bring Not Peace: Up, Reeling, Steep On Steep She Climbs, Till Lo, The Rock-Edge, And The Leap To That Which Needs Must Be, The Land Where The Strong Foot Is No More Strong! Yet Is There Surely Pride That Saves A City; God Preserve It Long! I Judge Not. Only Through All Maze Of Wrong Be God, Not Man, My Guide. [Strophe. [Or If Tiresias Can Really Be A Lying Prophet With No Fear Of God; They Feel That All Faith In Oracles And The Things Of God Is Shaken. Is There A Priest Who Moves Amid The Altars Ruthless In Deed And Word, Fears Not The Presence Of His God, Nor Falters Lest Right At Last Be Heard? If Such There Be, Oh, Let Some Doom Be Given Meet For His Ill-Starred Pride, Who Will Not Gain His Gain Where Justice Is, Who Will Not Hold His Lips From Blasphemies, Who Hurls Rash Hands Amid The Things Of Heaven From Man'S Touch Sanctified. In A World Where Such Things Be, What Spirit Hath Shield Or Lance [Sidenote: Vv. 893-916] To Ward Him Secretly From The Arrow That Slays Askance? If Honour To Such Things Be, Why Should I Dance My Dance? [Antistrophe. I Go No More With Prayers And Adorations To Earth'S Deep Heart Of Stone, Nor Yet The Abantes' Floor, Nor Where The Nations Kneel At Olympia'S Throne, Till All This Dark Be Lightened, For The Finger Of Man To Touch And Know. O Thou That Rulest--If Men Rightly Call Thy Name On Earth--O Zeus, Thou Lord Of All And Strength Undying, Let Not These Things Linger Unknown, Tossed To And Fro. For Faint Is The Oracle, And They Thrust It Aside, Away; And No More Visible Apollo To Save Or Slay; And The Things Of God, They Fail As Mist On The Wind Away. [Jocasta Comes Out From The Palace Followed By Handmaids Bearing Incense And Flowers. Jocasta. Lords Of The Land, The Ways My Thought Hath Trod Lead Me In Worship To These Shrines Of God With Flowers And Incense Flame. So Dire A Storm Doth Shake The King, Sin, Dread And Every Form Of Grief The World Knows. 'Tis The Wise Man'S Way To Judge The Morrow By The Yester Day; [Sidenote: Vv. 917-933] Which He Doth Never, But Gives Eye And Ear To All Who Speak, Will They But Speak Of Fear. And Seeing No Word Of Mine Hath Power To Heal His Torment, Therefore Forth To Thee I Steal, O Slayer Of The Wolf, O Lord Of Light, Apollo: Thou Art Near Us, And Of Right Dost Hold Us Thine: To Thee In Prayer I Fall. [She Kneels At The Altar Of Apollo Lukeios. Oh, Show Us Still Some Path That Is Not All Unclean; For Now Our Captain'S Eyes Are Dim With Dread, And The Whole Ship Must Follow Him. [While She Prays A Stranger Has Entered And Begins To Accost The Chorus. Stranger. Good Masters, Is There One Of You Could Bring My Steps To The House Of Oedipus, Your King? Or, Better, To Himself If That May Be? Leader. This Is The House And He Within; And She Thou Seest, The Mother Of His Royal Seed. [Jocasta Rises, Anxious, From Her Prayer. Stranger. Being Wife To Such A Man, Happy Indeed And Ringed With Happy Faces May She Live! Jocasta. To One So Fair Of Speech May The Gods Give Like Blessing, Courteous Stranger; 'Tis Thy Due. But Say What Leads Thee Hither. Can We Do Thy Wish In Aught, Or Hast Thou News To Bring? [Sidenote: Vv. 934-947] Stranger. Good News, O Queen, For Thee And For The King. Jocasta. What Is It? And From What Prince Comest Thou? Stranger. I Come From Corinth.--And My Tale, I Trow, Will Give Thee Joy, Yet Haply Also Pain. Jocasta. What News Can Have That Twofold Power? Be Plain. Stranger. 'Tis Spoke In Corinth That The Gathering Of Folk Will Make Thy Lord Our Chosen King. Jocasta. How? Is Old Polybus In Power No More? Stranger. Death Has A Greater Power. His Reign Is O'Er. Jocasta. What Say'St Thou? Dead?... Oedipus' Father Dead? Stranger. If I Speak False, Let Me Die In His Stead. Jocasta. Ho, Maiden! To Our Master! Hie Thee Fast And Tell This Tale. [The Maiden Goes. Where Stand Ye At The Last [Sidenote: Vv. 948-961] Ye Oracles Of God? For Many A Year Oedipus Fled Before That Man, In Fear To Slay Him. And Behold We Find Him Thus Slain By A Chance Death, Not By Oedipus. [Oedipus Comes Out From The Palace. Oedipus. O Wife, O Face I Love To Look Upon, Why Call'St Thou Me From Where I Sat Alone? Jocasta. Give Ear, And Ponder From What This Man Tells How End These Proud Priests And Their Oracles. Oedipus. Whence Comes He? And What Word Hath He For Us? Jocasta. From Corinth; Bearing News That Polybus Thy Father Is No More. He Has Found His Death. Oedipus. How?--Stranger, Speak Thyself. This That She Saith ... Stranger. Is Sure. If That Is The First News Ye Crave, I Tell Thee, Polybus Lieth In His Grave. Oedipus. Not Murdered?... How? Some Passing Of Disease? Stranger. A Slight Thing Turns An Old Life To Its Peace. [Sidenote: Vv. 962-978] Oedipus. Poor Father!... 'Tis By Sickness He Is Dead? Stranger. The Growing Years Lay Heavy On His Head. Oedipus. O Wife, Why Then Should Man Fear Any More The Voice Of Pytho'S Dome, Or Cower Before These Birds That Shriek Above Us? They Foretold Me For My Father'S Murderer; And Behold, He Lies In Corinth Dead, And Here Am I And Never Touched The Sword.... Or Did He Die In Grief For Me Who Left Him? In That Way I May Have Wrought His Death.... But Come What May, He Sleepeth In His Grave And With Him All This Deadly Seercraft, Of No Worth At All. Jocasta. Dear Lord, Long Since Did I Not Show Thee Clear...? Oedipus. Indeed, Yes. I Was Warped By Mine Own Fear. Jocasta. Now Thou Wilt Cast It From Thee, And Forget. Oedipus. Forget My Mother?... It Is Not Over Yet. Jocasta. What Should Man Do With Fear, Who Hath But Chance Above Him, And No Sight Nor Governance [Sidenote: Vv. 979-993] Of Things To Be? To Live As Life May Run, No Fear, No Fret, Were Wisest 'Neath The Sun. And Thou, Fear Not Thy Mother. Prophets Deem A Deed Wrought That Is Wrought But In A Dream. And He To Whom These Things Are Nothing, Best Will Bear His Burden. Oedipus. All Thou Counsellest Were Good, Save That My Mother Liveth Still. And, Though Thy Words Be Wise, For Good Or Ill Her I Still Fear. Jocasta. Think Of Thy Father'S Tomb! Like Light Across Our Darkness It Hath Come. Oedipus. Great Light; But While She Lives I Fly From Her. Stranger. What Woman, Prince, Doth Fill Thee So With Fear? Oedipus. Merop', Friend, Who Dwelt With Polybus. Stranger. What In Queen Merop' Should Fright Thee Thus? Oedipus. A Voice Of God, Stranger, Of Dire Import. Stranger. Meet For Mine Ears? Or Of Some Secret Sort? [Sidenote: Vv. 994-1009] Oedipus. Nay, Thou Must Hear, And Corinth. Long Ago Apollo Spake A Doom, That I Should Know My Mother'S Flesh, And With Mine Own Hand Spill My Father'S Blood.--'Tis That, And Not My Will, Hath Kept Me Always Far From Corinth. So; Life Hath Dealt Kindly With Me, Yet Men Know On Earth No Comfort Like A Mother'S Face. Stranger. 'Tis That, Hath Kept Thee Exiled In This Place? Oedipus. That, And The Fear Too Of My Father'S Blood. Stranger. Then, Surely, Lord ... I Came But For Thy Good ... 'Twere Well If From That Fear I Set Thee Free. Oedipus. Ah, Couldst Thou! There Were Rich Reward For Thee. Stranger. To Say Truth, I Had Hoped To Lead Thee Home Now, And Myself To Get Some Good Therefrom. Oedipus. Nay; Where My Parents Are I Will Not Go. Stranger. My Son, 'Tis Very Clear Thou Dost Not Know What Road Thou Goest. Oedipus. How? In God'S Name, Say! How Clear? [Sidenote: Vv. 1010-1019] Stranger. 'Tis This, Keeps Thee So Long Away From Corinth? Oedipus. 'Tis The Fear Lest That Word Break One Day Upon Me True. Stranger. Fear Lest Thou Take Defilement From The Two That Gave Thee Birth? Oedipus. 'Tis That, Old Man, 'Tis That Doth Fill The Earth With Terror. Stranger. Then Thy Terror All Hath Been For Nothing. Oedipus. How? Were Not Your King And Queen My Parents? Stranger. Polybus Was Naught To Thee In Blood. Oedipus. How? He, My Father! Stranger. That Was He As Much As I, But No More. Oedipus. Thou Art Naught; 'Twas He Begot Me. [Sidenote: Vv. 1020-1028] Stranger. 'Twas Not I Begot Oedipus, Neither Was It He. Oedipus. What Wild Fancy, Then, Made