The Seven Plays in English Verse Part 63

PHI. Do not care!

NEO. Ah! but should they spoil my country!

PHI. I to s.h.i.+eld thee will be there.

NEO. How to s.h.i.+eld me, how to aid me?

PHI. With the shafts of Heracles I will scare them.

NEO. Give thy blessing to this isle, and come in peace.

HERACLES _appears from above._

HERACLES. First, son of Poeas, wait till thou hast heard The voice of Heracles, and weighed his word.

Him thou beholdest from the Heavenly seat Come down, for thee leaving the blest retreat, To tell thee all high Zeus intends, and stay Thy purpose in the journey of to-day.

Then hear me, first how after my long toils By strange adventure I have found and won Immortal glory, which thine eyes perceive; And the like lot, I tell thee, shall be thine, After these pains to rise to glorious fame.

Sailing with this thy comrade to Troy-town, First thou shalt heal thee from thy grievous sore, And then, being singled forth from all the host As n.o.blest, thou shalt conquer with that bow Paris, prime author of these years of harm, And capture Troy, and bear back to thy hall The choicest guerdon, for thy valour's meed, To Oeta's vale and thine own father's home.

But every prize thou tak'st be sure thou bear Unto my pyre, in memory of my bow.

This word, Achilles' offspring, is for thee No less. For, as thou could'st not without him, So, without thee, he cannot conquer Troy.

Then, like twin lions hunting the same hill, Guard thou him, and he thee! and I will send Asclepius Troyward to relieve thy pain.

For Ilion now a second time must fall Before the Herculean bow. But, take good heed, Midst all your spoil to hold the G.o.ds in awe.

For our great Father counteth piety Far above all. This follows men in death, And fails them not when they resign their breath.

PHI. Thou whom I have longed to see, Thy dear voice is law to me.

NEO. I obey with gladdened heart.

HER. Lose no time: at once depart!

Bright occasion and fair wind Urge your vessel from behind.

PHI. Come, let me bless the region ere I go.

Poor house, sad comrade of my watch, farewell!

Ye nymphs of meadows where soft waters flow Thou ocean headland, pealing thy deep knell, Where oft within my cavern as I lay My hair was moist with das.h.i.+ng south-wind's spray, And ofttimes came from Hermes' foreland high Sad replication of my storm-vext cry; Ye fountains and thou Lycian water sweet,-- I never thought to leave you, yet my feet Are turning from your paths,--we part for aye.

Farewell! and waft me kindly on my way, O Lemnian earth enclosed by circling seas, To sail, where mighty Fate my course decrees, And friendly voices point me, and the will Of that heroic power, who doth this act fulfil.

CH. Come now all in one strong band; Then, ere loosing from the land, Pray we to the nymphs of sea Kind protectresses to be, Till we touch the Trojan strand.

OEDIPUS AT COLONOS

THE PERSONS

OEDIPUS, _old and blind._ ANTIGONE, _his daughter, a young girl._ ISMENE, _his daughter, a young girl._ CHORUS _of Village Guardians._ _An Athenian._ THESEUS, _King of Athens._ CREON, _Envoy from Thebes._ POLYNICES, _the elder son of Oedipus._ _Messenger._

SCENE. Colonos.

Oedipus had remained at Thebes for some time after his fall. But he was afterwards banished by the command of Creon, with the consent of his own sons. Their intention at first was to lay no claim to the throne. But by-and-by ambition prevailed with Eteocles, the younger- born, and he persuaded Creon and the citizens to banish his elder brother. Polynices took refuge at Argos, where he married the daughter of Adrastus, and levied an army of auxiliaries to support his pretensions to the throne of Thebes. Before going into exile Oedipus had cursed his sons.

Antigone after a while fled forth to join her father and support him in his wanderings. Ismene also once brought him secret intelligence.

Years have now elapsed, and the Delphian oracle proclaims that if Oedipus dies in a foreign land the enemies of Thebes shall overcome her.

In ignorance of this fact, Oedipus, now aged as well as blind, and led by his daughter Antigone, appears before the grove of the Eumenides, at Colonos, in the neighbourhood of Athens. He has felt an inward intimation, which is strengthened by some words of the oracle received by him long since at Delphi, that his involuntary crimes have been atoned for, and that the Avenging Deities will now receive him kindly and make his cause their own.

After some natural hesitation on the part of the village-councillors of Colonos, Oedipus is received with princely magnanimity by Theseus, who takes him under the protection of Athens, and defends him against the machinations of Creon.

Thus the blessing of the G.o.ds, which Oedipus carried with him, is secured to Athens, and denied to Thebes. The craft of Creon and the prayers of Polynices alike prove unavailing. Then the man of many sorrows, whose essential n.o.bleness has survived them all, pa.s.ses away mysteriously from the sight of men.

The scene is laid at Colonos, a suburb of Athens much frequented by the upper cla.s.ses, especially the Knights (see Thuc. viii. 67); and before the sacred grove of the Eumenides, or Gentle G.o.ddesses, a euphemistic t.i.tle for the Erinyes, or G.o.ddesses of Vengeance.

OEDIPUS AT COLONOS

OEDIPUS. ANTIGONE.

OEDIPUS. Antigone, child of the old blind sire, What land is here, what people? Who to-day Shall dole to Oedipus, the wandering exile, Their meagre gifts? Little I ask, and less Receive with full contentment; for my woes, And the long years ripening the n.o.ble mind, Have schooled me to endure.--But, O my child, If thou espiest where we may sit, though near Some holy precinct, stay me and set me there, Till we may learn where we are come. 'Tis ours To hear the will of strangers and to obey.

ANTIGONE. Woe-wearied father, yonder city's wall That s.h.i.+elds her, looks far distant; but this ground Is surely sacred, thickly planted over With olive, bay and vine, within whose bowers Thick-fluttering song-birds make sweet melody.

Here then repose thee on this unhewn stone.

Thou hast travelled far to-day for one so old.

OED. Seat me, my child, and be the blind man's guard.

ANT. Long time hath well instructed me in that.

OED. Now, canst thou tell me where we have set our feet?

ANT. Athens I know, but not the nearer ground.

OED. Ay, every man that met us in the way Named Athens.

ANT. Shall I go, then, and find out The name of the spot?

OED. Yes, if 'tis habitable.

ANT. It is inhabited. Yet I need not go.