Yet of a sudden's gone beyond the clouds.
Edip. Fetch it from thence; I'll have't, where-
e'er it be.
Cre. Let me entreat you, sacred sir, be calm,
And Creon shall point out the great offender.
'Tis true, respect of nature might enjoin
Me silence, at another time; but, oh,
Much more the power of my eternal love!
That, that should strike me dumb; yet Thebes, my
country-
I'll break through all, to succour thee, poor city!. O, I must speak.
Edip. Speak then, if aught thou knowest,
As much thou seem'st to know,-delay no longer.
Cre. O beauty! O illustrious, royal maid!
To whom my vows were ever paid, till now;
And with such modest, chaste, and pure affection,
The coldest nymph might read 'em without blushing;
Art thou the murdress, then, of wretched Laius?
And I, must I accuse thee! O my tears!
Why will you fall in so abhorred a cause?
But that thy beauteous, barbarous hand destroyed
Thy father, (O monstrous act !) both gods
And men at once take notice.
Eur. Traitor, go on; I scorn thy little malice; And knowing more my perfect innocence,
Than gods and men, then how much more than thee, Who art their opposite, and formed a liar,
I thus disdain thee! Thou once didst talk of love; Because I hate thy love,
Thou dost accuse me.
Adr. Villain, inglorious villain,
And traitor, doubly damned, who durst blaspheme The spotless virtue of the brightest beauty;
Thou diest: Nor shall the sacred majesty,
[Draws and wounds him.
That guards this place, preserve thee from my rage. Edip. Disarm them both!-Prince, I shall make you know,
That I can tame you twice. Guards, seize him.
Adr. Sir,
I must acknowledge, in another cause
Repentance might abash me; but I glory
In this, and smile to see the traitor's blood.
Edip. Creon, you shall be satisfied at full.
Cre. My hurt is nothing, sir; but I appeal
To wise Tiresias, if my accusation
Be not most true. The first of Laius' blood
Gave him his death. Is there a prince before her?
Then she is faultless, and I ask her pardon.
And may this blood ne'er cease to drop, O Thebes,
If pity of thy sufferings did not move me,
To shew the cure which heaven itself prescribed.
Eur. Yes, Thebans, I will die to save your lives,
More willingly than you can wish my fate;
But let this good, this wise, this holy man,
Pronounce my sentence: For to fall by him,
By the vile breath of that prodigious villain,
Would sink my soul, though I should die a martyr.
Adr. Unhand me, slaves.-O mightiest of kings,
See at your feet a prince not used to kneel;
Touch not Eurydice, by all the gods,
As you would save your Thebes, but take my life : For should she perish, heaven would heap plagues on plagues,
Rain sulphur down, hurl kindled bolts
Upon your guilty heads.
Cre. You turn to gallantry, what is but justice;
Proof will be easy made. Adrastus was
The robber, who bereft the unhappy king
Of life; because he flatly had denied
To make so poor a prince his son-in-law;
Therefore 'twere fit that both should perish.
1 Theb. Both, let both die.
All Theb. Both, both; let them die.
Edip. Hence, you wild herd! For your ringleader here,
He shall be made example. Hæmon, take him. 1 Theb. Mercy, O mercy!
Edip. Mutiny in my presence!
Hence, let me see that busy face no more.
Tir. Thebans, what madness makes you drunk with rage?
Enough of guilty death's already acted:
Fierce Creon has accused Eurydice,
With prince Adrastus; which the god reproves
By inward checks, and leaves their fates in doubt.
Edip. Therefore instruct us what remains to do,
Or suffer; for I feel a sleep like death
Upon me, and I sigh to be at rest.
Tir. Since that the powers divine refuse to clear
The mystic deed, I'll to the grove of furies;
There I can force the infernal gods to shew
Their horrid forms; each trembling ghost shall rise,
And leave their grisly king without a waiter.
For prince Adrastus and Eurydice,
My life's engaged, I'll guard them in the fane,
'Till the dark mysteries of hell are done.
Follow me, princes; Thebans, all to rest.
O, Edipus, to-morrow-but no more.
If that thy wakeful genius will permit,
Indulge thy brain this night with softer slumbers:
To-morrow, O to-morrow!- -Sleep, my son;
And in prophetic dreams thy fate be shown.
[Exeunt TIR. ADR. EUR. MAN. and Theb.
Manent EDIPUS, JOCASTA, CREON, PYRACMON, HÆMON, and ALCANDER.
Edip. To bed, my fair, my dear, my best Jocasta. After the toils of war, 'tis wondrous strange
Our loves should thus be dashed. One moment's
And I'll approach the arms of
my beloved. Joc. Consume whole years in care, so now and then I may have leave to feed my famished eyes With one short passing glance, and sigh my vows: This, and no more, my lord, is all the passion Of languishing Jocasta.
[Exit. Edip. Thou softest, sweetest of the world! good night.
Nay, she is beauteous too; yet, mighty love!
I never offered to obey thy laws,
But an unusual chillness came upon me;
An unknown hand still checked my forward joy,
Dashed me with blushes, though no light was near;
That even the act became a violation.
Pyr. He's strangely thoughtful.
Edip. Hark! who was that? Ha! Creon, didst
thou call me?
Cre. Not I, my gracious lord, nor any here.
Edip. That's strange! methought I heard a dole-
ful voice
Cry, Edipus.-The prophet bade me sleep.
He talked of dreams, and visions, and to-morrow!
I'll muse no more; come what will, or can,
My
thoughts are clearer than unclouded stars;
And with those thoughts I'll rest. Creon, good-night.
[Exit with HAM.
Cre. Sleep seal your eyes up, sir,-eternal sleep!
But if he sleep and wake again, O all
Tormenting dreams, wild horrors of the night,
And hags of fancy, wing him through the air:
From precipices hurl him headlong down,
Charybdis roar, and death be set before him!
Alc. Your curses have already taken effect,
For he looks very sad.
Cre. May he be rooted, where he stands, for ever;
His eye-balls never move, brows be unbent,
His blood, his entrails, liver, heart, and bowels,
Be blacker than the place I wish him, hell.
Pyr. No more; you tear yourself, but vex not him.
Methinks 'twere brave this night to force the temple,
While blind Tiresias conjures up the fiends,
And pass the time with nice Eurydice.
Alc. Try promises and threats, and if all fail,
Since hell's broke loose, why should not you be mad?
Ravish, and leave her dead with her Adrastus.
Cre. Were the globe mine, I'd give a province
hourly
For such another thought.-Lust and revenge!
To stab at once the only man I hate,
And to enjoy the woman whom I love!
I ask no more of my auspicious stars,
The rest as fortune please; so but this night
She play me fair, why, let her turn for ever.
Ham. My lord, the troubled king is gone to rest ;
Yet, ere he slept, commanded me to clear
The antichambers; none must dare be near him.
Cre. Hæmon, you do your duty;
[Thunder
And we obey.-The night grows yet more dreadful!
'Tis just that all retire to their devotions.
The gods are angry; but to-morrow's dawn,
If prophets do not lie, will make all clear.
As they go off, EDIPUS enters, walking asleep in
his shirt, with a dagger in his right hand, and a
taper in his left.
Edip. O, my Jocasta! 'tis for this, the wet
Starved soldier lies on the cold ground;
For this, he bears the storms
Of winter camps, and freezes in his arms;
To be thus circled, to be thus embraced.
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