22.03.2013 Views

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Oedipus Trilogy, by Sophocles ...

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Oedipus Trilogy, by Sophocles ...

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Oedipus Trilogy, by Sophocles ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Surely, if good and evil fare alive.<br />

ANTIGONE<br />

<strong>The</strong> slain man was no villain but a brother.<br />

CREON<br />

<strong>The</strong> patriot perished <strong>by</strong> the outlaw's brand.<br />

ANTIGONE<br />

Nathless the realms below these rites require.<br />

CREON<br />

Not that the base should fare as do the brave.<br />

ANTIGONE<br />

Who knows if this world's crimes are virtues there?<br />

CREON<br />

Not even death can make a foe a friend.<br />

ANTIGONE<br />

My nature is for mutual love, not hate.<br />

CREON<br />

Die then, and love the dead if thou must;<br />

No woman shall be the master while I live.<br />

[Enter ISMENE]<br />

CHORUS<br />

Lo from out the palace gate,<br />

Weeping o'er her sister's fate,<br />

Comes Ismene; see her brow,<br />

Once serene, beclouded now,<br />

See her beauteous face o'erspread<br />

With a flush <strong>of</strong> angry red.<br />

CREON<br />

Woman, who like a viper unperceived<br />

Didst harbor in my house and drain my blood,<br />

Two plagues I nurtured blindly, so it proved,<br />

To sap my throne. Say, didst thou too abet<br />

This crime, or dost abjure all privity?<br />

ISMENE<br />

I did the deed, if she will have it so,<br />

And with my sister claim to share the guilt.<br />

ANTIGONE<br />

That were unjust. Thou would'st not act with me<br />

At first, and I refused thy partnership.<br />

ISMENE<br />

But now thy bark is stranded, I am bold<br />

To claim my share as partner in the loss.<br />

ANTIGONE<br />

Who did the deed the under-world knows well:

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!