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CHARACTERS

 

ANTIGONE:                                          Daughter of Oedipus and Sister of

                                                             Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene

ISMENE:                                              Daughter of Oedipus and Sister of

                                                             Polynices, Eteocles, and Antigone

CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS

CREON:                                                King of Thebes

A Watchman

HAEMON:                                             Son of Creon, betrothed to Antigone

TIRESIAS:                                            The blind Prophet

A Messenger

EURYDICE:                                          The Wife of Creon

2nd Messenger

 

 

SCENE.

 

Before the Cadmean Palace at Thebes.

 

 

Polynices, son and heir to the unfortunate Oedipus, having been supplanted by his younger brother Eteocles, brought an army of Argives against his native city, Thebes. The army was defeated, and the two brothers slew each other in single combat. On this Creon, the brother-in-law of Oedipus, succeeding to the chief power, forbade the burial of Polynices. But Antigone, sister of the dead, placing the dues of affection and piety before her obligation to the magistrate, disobeyed the edict at the sacrifice of her life. Creon carried out his will, but lost his son Haemon and his wife Eurydice, and received their curses on his head. His other son, Megareus, had previously been devoted as a victim to the good of the state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANTIGONE

 

 

(ANTIGONE and ISMENE)

 

ANTIGONE

Own sister of my blood, one life with me,

Ismenè, have the tidings caught thine ear?

Say, hath not Heaven decreed to execute

On thee and me, while yet we are alive,

All the evil Oedipus bequeathed? All horror,

All pain, all outrage, falls on us! And now

The General's proclamation of today --

Hast thou not heard? -- Art thou so slow to hear

When harm from foes threatens the souls we love?

 

ISMENE

No word of those we love, Antigone,

Painful or glad, hath reached me, since we two

Were utterly deprived of our two brothers,

Cut off with mutual stroke, both in one day.

And since the Argive host this now-past night

Is vanished, I know nought beside to make me

Nearer to happiness or more in woe.

 

ANTIGONE

I knew it well, and therefore led thee forth

The palace gate, that thou alone mightst hear.

 

ISMENE

Speak on! Thy troubled look bodes some dark news.

 

ANTIGONE

Why, hath not Creon, in the burial-rite,

Of our two brethren honored one, and wrought

On one foul wrong? Eteocles, they tell,

With lawful consecration he lays out,

And after covers him in earth, adorned

With amplest honors in the world below.

But Polynices, miserably slain,

They say 'tis publicly proclaimed that none

Must cover in a grave, nor mourn for him;

But leave him tombless and unwept, a store

Of sweet provision for the carrion fowl

That eye him greedily. Such righteous law

Good Creon hath pronounced for thy behoof --

Ay, and for mine! I am not left out! -- And now

He moves this way to promulgate his will

To such as have not heard, nor lightly holds

The thing he bids, but, whoso disobeys,

The citizens shall stone him to the death.

This is the matter, and thou wilt quickly show

If thou art noble, or fallen below thy birth.

 

ISMENE

Unhappy one! But what can I herein

Avail to do or undo?

 

ANTIGONE

Wilt thou share

The danger and the labor? Make thy choice.

 

ISMENE

Of what wild enterprise? What canst thou mean?

 

ANTIGONE

Wilt thou join hand with mine to lift the dead?

 

ISMENE

To bury him, when all have been forbidden?

Is that thy thought?

 

ANTIGONE

To bury my own brother

And thine, even though thou wilt not do thy part.

I will not be a traitress to my kin.

 

ISMENE

Fool-hardy girl! Against the word of Creon?

 

ANTIGONE

He hath no right to bar me from mine own.

 

ISMENE

Ah, sister, think but how our father fell,

Hated of all and lost to fair renown,

Through self-detected crimes -- with his own hand,

Self-wreaking, how he dashed out both his eyes:

Then how the mother-wife, sad two-fold name!

With twisted halter bruised her life away,

Last, how in one dire moment our two brothers

With internecine conflict at a blow

Wrought out by fratricide their mutual doom.

Now, left alone, O think how beyond all

Most piteously we twain shall be destroyed,

If in defiance of authority

We traverse the commandment of the King!

We needs must bear in mind we are but women,

Never created to contend with men;

Nay more, made victims of resistless power,

To obey behests more harsh than this to-day.

I, then, imploring those beneath to grant

Indulgence, seeing I am enforced in this,

Will yield submission to the powers that rule,

Small wisdom were it to overpass the bound.

 

ANTIGONE

I will not urge you! No! Nor if now you list

To help me, will your help afford me joy.

Be what you choose to be! This single hand

Shall bury our lost brother. Glorious

For me to take this labor and to die!

Dear to him will my soul be as we rest

In death, when I have dared this holy crime.

My time for pleasing men will soon be over;

Not so my duty toward the Dead! My home

Yonder will have no end. You, if you will,

May pour contempt on laws revered on High.

 

ISMENE

Not from irreverence. But I have no strength

To strive against the citizens' resolve.

 

ANTIGONE

Thou, make excuses! I will go my way

To raise a burial-mound to my dear brother.

 

ISMENE

Oh, hapless maiden, how I fear for thee!

 

ANTIGONE

Waste not your fears on me! Guide your own fortune.

 

ISMENE

Ah! yet divulge thine enterprise to none,

But keep the secret close, and so will I.

 

ANTIGONE

O Heavens! Nay, tell! I hate your silence worse;

I had rather you proclaimed it to the world.

 

ISMENE

You are ardent in a chilling enterprise.

 

ANTIGONE

I know that I please those whom I would please.

 

ISMENE

Yes, if you thrive; but your desire is bootless.

 

ANTIGONE

Well, when I fail I shall be stopt, I believe!

 

ISMENE

One should not start upon a hopeless quest.

 

ANTIGONE

Speak in that vein if you would earn my hate

And aye be hated of our lost one. Peace!

Leave my unwisdom to endure this peril;

Fate cannot rob me of a noble death.

 

ISMENE

Go, if you must--Not to be checked in folly,

But sure unparalleled in faithful love!                     

 

(Exit ISMENE and ANTIGONE)

 

CHORUS (Entering)

  Beam of the mounting Sun!                              

  O brightest, fairest ray

  Seven-gated Thebe yet hath seen!

  Over the vale where Dirce's fountains run

  At length thou appearedst, eye of golden Day,

  And with incitement of thy radiance keen

        Spurredst to faster flight

  The man of Argos hurrying from the fight.

  Armed at all points the warrior came,

  But driven before thy rising flame

  He rode, reverting his pale shield,

  Headlong from yonder battlefield.

 

(Half of the Chorus)

  In snow-white panoply, on eagle wing,          

  He rose, dire ruin on our land to bring,

        Roused by the fierce debate

        Of Polynices' hate,

  Shrilling sharp menace from his breast,

  Sheathed all in steel from crown to heel,

  With many a plumed crest.

 

  Then stooped above the domes,                                   

  With lust of carnage fired,

  And opening teeth of serried spears

  Yawned wide around the gates that guard our homes;

  But went, or e'er his hungry jaws had tired

  On Theban flesh, -- or e'er the Fire-god fierce

        Seizing our sacred town

  Besmirched and rent her battlemented crown.

  Such noise of battle as he fled

  About his back the War-god spread;

  So writhed to hard-fought victory

  The serpent struggling to be free.

 

(Half the Chorus)

 High Zeus beheld their stream that proudly rolled

  Idly caparisoned with clanking gold:

        Zeus hates the boastful tongue:

        He with hurled fire down flung

  One who in haste had mounted high,

  And that same hour from topmost tower

        Upraised the exulting cry.

 

  Swung rudely to the hard repellent earth                       

  Amidst his furious mirth

  He fell, who then with flaring brand

        Held in his fiery hand

  Came breathing madness at the gate

        In eager blasts of hate.

  And doubtful swayed the varying fight

  Through the turmoil of the night,

  As turning now on these and now on those

  Ares hurtled 'midst our foes,

  Self-harnessed helper on our right.

 

(Half of the Chorus) 

Seven matched with seven, at each gate one,         

  Their captains, when the day was done,

  Left for our Zeus who turned the scale,

  The brazen tribute in full tale: --

  All save the horror-burdened pair,

        Dire children of despair,

  Who from one sire, one mother, drawing breath,

  Each with conquering lance in rest

  Against a true born brother's breast,

        Found equal lots in death.

 

  But with blithe greeting to glad Thebe came                   

  She of the glorious name,

  Victory, -- smiling on our chariot throng

        With eyes that waken song

  Then let those battle memories cease,

        Silenced by thoughts of peace.

  With holy dances of delight

  Lasting through the livelong night

  Visit we every shrine, in solemn round,

  Led by him who shakes the ground,

  Our Bacchus, Thebe's child of light.

 

LEADER OF CHORUS

  But look! Where Creon in his new-made power,

  Moved by the fortune of the recent hour,

  Comes with fresh counsel. What intelligence

  Intends he for our private conference,

  That he hath sent his herald to us all,

  Gathering the elders with a general call?

 

(Enter CREON)

 

CREON

My friends, the noble vessel of our State,

After sore shaking her, the Gods have sped

On a smooth course once more. I have called you hither,

By special messengers selecting you

From all the city, first, because I knew you

Aye loyal to the throne of Laius;

Then, both while Oedipus gave prosperous days,

And since his fall, I still beheld you firm

In sound allegiance to the royal issue.

Now since the pair have perished in an hour,

Twinned in misfortune, by a mutual stroke

Staining our land with fratricidal blood,

All rule and potency of sovereign sway,

In virtue of next kin to the deceased,

Devolves on me. But hard it is to learn

The mind of any mortal or the heart,

Till he be tried in chief authority.

Power shows the man. For he who when supreme

Withholds his hand or voice from the best cause,

Being thwarted by some fear, that man to me

Appears, and ever hath appeared, most vile.

He too hath no high place in mine esteem,

Who sets his friend before his fatherland.

Let Zeus whose eye sees all eternally

Be here my witness. I will ne'er keep silence

When danger looms upon my citizens

Who looked for safety, nor make him my friend

Who doth not love my country. For I know

Our country carries us, and whilst her helm

Is held aright we gain good friends and true.

  Following such courses 'tis my steadfast will

To foster Thebe's greatness, and therewith

In brotherly accord is my decree

Touching the sons of Oedipus. The man --

Eteocles I mean--who died for Thebes

Fighting with eminent prowess on her side,

Shall be entombed with every sacred rite

That follows to the grave the lordliest dead.

But for his brother, who, a banished man,

Returned to devastate and burn with fire

The land of his nativity, the shrines

Of his ancestral gods, to feed him fat

With Theban carnage, and make captive all

That should escape the sword -- for Polynices,

This law hath been proclaimed concerning him:

He shall have no lament, no funeral,

But he unburied, for the carrion fowl

And dogs to eat his corpse, a sight of shame.

  Such are the motions of this mind and will.

Never from me shall villains reap renown

Before the just. But whoso loves the State,

I will exalt him both in life and death.

 

CHORUS

Son of Menoeceus, we have heard thy mind

Toward him who loves, and him who hates our city.

And sure, 'tis thine to enforce what law thou wilt

Both on the dead and all of us who live.

 

CREON

Then be ye watchful to maintain my word.

 

CHORUS

Young strength for such a burden were more meet.

 

CREON

Already there be watchers of the dead.

 

CHORUS

What charge then wouldst thou further lay on us?

 

CREON

Not to give place to those that disobey.

 

CHORUS

Who is so fond, to be in love with death?

 

CREON

Such, truly, is the meed. But hope of gain

Full oft ere now hath been the ruin of men.

 

WATCHMAN (entering)

My lord, I am out of breath, but not with speed.

I will not say my foot was fleet. My thoughts

Cried halt unto me ever as I came

And wheeled me to return. My mind discoursed

Most volubly within my breast, and said --

Fond wretch! Why go where thou wilt find thy bane?

Unhappy wight! Say, wilt thou bide aloof?

Then if the king shall hear this from another,

How shalt thou 'scape for 't? Winding thus about

I hasted, but I could not speed, and so

Made a long journey of a little way.

At last 'yes' carried it, that I should come

To thee; and tell thee I must needs; and shall,

Though it be nothing that I have to tell.

For I came hither, holding fast by this --

Nought that is not my fate can happen to me.

 

CREON

Speak forth thy cause of fear. What is the matter?

 

WATCHMAN

First of mine own part in the business. For

I did it not, nor saw the man who did,

And 'twere not right that I should come to harm.

 

CREON

You fence your ground, and keep well out of danger;

I see you have some strange thing to declare.

 

WATCHMAN

A man will shrink who carries words of fear.

 

CREON

Let us have done with you. Tell your tale, and go.

 

WATCHMAN

Well, here it is. The corpse hath burial

From someone who is stolen away and gone,

But first hath strown dry dust upon the skin,

And added what religious rites require.

 

CREON

Ha!

What man hath been so daring in revolt?

 

WATCHMAN

I cannot tell. There was no mark to show --

No dint of spade, or mattock-loosened sod, --

Only the hard-bare ground, untilled and trackless.

Whoever he was, the doer left no trace.

And, when the scout of our first daylight watch

Showed us the thing, we marveled in dismay.

The Prince was out of sight; not in a grave,

But a thin dust was o'er him, as if thrown

By one who shunned the dead man's curse. No sign

Appeared of any hound or beast o' the field

Having come near, or pulled at the dead body.

Then rose high words among us sentinels

With bickering noise accusing each his mate,

And it seemed like to come to blows, with none

To hinder. For the hand that thus had wrought

Was any of ours, and none; the guilty man

Escaped all knowledge. And we were prepared

To lift hot iron with our bare palms; to walk

Through fire, and swear by all the Gods at once

That we were guiltless, ay, and ignorant

Of who had plotted or performed this thing.

  When further search seemed bootless, at the last

One spake, whose words bowed all our heads to the earth

With fear. We knew not what to answer him,

Nor how to do it and prosper. He advised

So grave a matter must not be concealed,

But instantly reported to the King.

  Well, this prevailed, and the lot fell on me,

Unlucky man! to be the ministrant

Of this fair service. So I am present here,

Against my will and yours, I am sure of that.

None love the bringer of unwelcome news.

 

CHORUS

My lord, a thought keeps whispering in my breast,

Some Power divine hath interposed in this.

 

CREON

Cease, ere thou quite enrage me, and appear

Foolish as thou art old. Talk not to me

Of Gods who have taken thought for this dead man!

Say, was it for his benefits to them

They hid his corpse, and honored him so highly,

Who came to set on fire their pillared shrines,

With all the riches of their offerings,

And to make nothing of their land and laws?

Or, hast thou seen them honoring villainy?

That cannot be. Long time the cause of this

Hath come to me in secret murmurings

From malcontents of Thebes, who under yoke

Turned restive, and would not accept my sway.

Well know I, these have bribed the watchmen here

To do this for some fee. For naught hath grown

Current among mankind so mischievous

As money. This brings cities to their fall:

This drives men homeless, and moves honest minds

To base contrivings. This hath taught mankind

The use of wickedness, and how to give

An impious turn to every kind of act.

But whosoever hath done this for reward

Hath found his way at length to punishment.

If Zeus have still my worship, be assured

Of that which here on oath I say to thee --

Unless ye find the man who made this grave

And bring him bodily before mine eye,

Death shall not be enough, till ye have hung

Alive for an example of your guilt,

That henceforth in your rapine ye may know

Whence gain is to be gotten, and may learn

Pelf from all quarters is not to be loved.

For in base getting, 'tis a common proof,

More find disaster than deliverance.

 

WATCHMAN

Am I to speak? or must I turn and go?

 

CREON

What? Know you not your speech offends even now?

 

WATCHMAN

Doth the mind smart withal, or only the ear?

 

CREON

Art thou to probe the seat of mine annoy?

 

WATCHMAN

If I offend, 'tis in your ear alone,

The malefactor wounds ye to the soul.

 

CREON

Out on thee! Thou art nothing but a tongue.

 

WATCHMAN

Then was I ne'er the doer of this deed.

 

CREON

Yea, verily: self-hired to crime for gold.

 

WATCHMAN

Pity so clear a mind should clearly err!

 

CREON

Gloze now on clearness! But unless ye bring

The burier, without glozing ye shall tell,

Craven advantage clearly worketh bane.

 

WATCHMAN

By all means let the man be found; one thing

I know right well: -- caught or not caught, howe'er

Fate rules his fortune, me you ne'er will see

Standing in presence here. Even now I owe

Deep thanks to Heaven for mine escape, so far

Beyond my hope and highest expectancy.

 

(Exits severally)          

 

 

CHORUS

Many a wonder lives and moves, but the wonder of all is man, 

That courseth over the grey ocean, carried of Southern gale,

Faring amidst high-swelling seas that rudely surge around,

And Earth, supreme of mighty Gods, eldest, imperishable,

Eternal, he with patient furrow wears and wears away

      As year by year the plough-shares turn and turn, --

Subduing her unwearied strength with children of the steed.

 

And wound in woven coils of nets he seizeth for his prey          

The aery tribe of birds and wilding armies of the chase,

And sea-born millions of the deep -- man is so crafty-wise.

And now with engine of his wit he tameth to his will

The mountain-ranging beast whose lair is in the country wild;

      And now his yoke hath passed upon the mane

Of horse with proudly crested neck and tireless mountain bull.

 

Wise utterance and wind-swift thought, and city-molding mind,  

And shelter from the clear-eyed power of biting frost,

He hath taught him, and to shun the sharp, roof-penetrating rain, --

Full of resource, without device he meets no coming time;

      From Death alone he shall not find reprieve;

No league may gain him that relief; but even for fell disease,

That long hath baffled wisest leech, he hath contrived a cure.

 

Inventive beyond wildest hope, endowed with boundless skill,   

One while he moves toward evil, and one while toward good,

According as he loves his land and fears the Gods above.

Weaving the laws into his life and steadfast oath of Heaven,

      High in the State he moves but outcast he,

Who hugs dishonor to his heart and follows paths of crime

Ne'er may he come beneath my roof, nor think like thoughts with me.

 

LEADER OF CHORUS

    What portent from the Gods is here?

    My mind is mazed with doubt and fear.

    How can I gainsay what I see?

    I know the girl Antigone,

    O hapless child of hapless sire!

    Didst thou, then, recklessly aspire

    To brave kings' laws, and now art brought

    In madness of transgression caught?

 

(Enter Watchman, bringing in ANTIGONE)

 

 

WATCHMAN

Here is the doer of the deed--this maid

We found her burying him. Where is the King?

 

CHORUS

Look, he comes forth again to meet thy call.

 

(Enter CREON)

 

CREON

What call so nearly times with mine approach?

 

WATCHMAN

My lord, no mortal should deny on oath,

Judgement is still belied by after thought

When quailing 'neath the tempest of your threats,

Methought no force would drive me to this place

But joy unlooked for and surpassing hope

Is out of bound the best of all delight,

And so I am here again, -- though I had sworn

I ne'er would come, -- and in my charge this maid,

Caught in the act of caring for the dead

Here was no lot throwing, this hap was mine

Without dispute. And now, my sovereign lord,

According to thy pleasure, thine own self

Examine and convict her. For my part

I have good right to be away and free

From the bad business I am come upon.

 

CREON

This maiden!

How came she in thy charge? Where didst thou find her?

 

WATCHMAN

Burying the prince. One word hath told thee all.

 

CREON

Hast thou thy wits, and knowest thou what thou sayest?

 

WATCHMAN

I saw her burying him whom you forbade

To bury. Is that, now, clearly spoken, or no?

 

CREON

And how was she detected, caught, and taken?

 

WATCHMAN

It fell in this wise. We were come to the spot,

Bearing the dreadful burden of thy threats;

And first with care we swept the dust away

From round the corpse, and laid the dank limbs bare:

Then sate below the hill-top, out o' the wind,

Where no bad odor from the dead might strike us,

Stirring each other on with interchange

Of loud revilings on the negligent

In 'tendance on this duty. So we stayed

Till in mid heaven the sun's resplendent orb

Stood high, and the heat strengthened. Suddenly,

The Storm-god raised a whirlwind from the ground,

Vexing heaven's concave, and filled all the plain,

Rending the locks of all the orchard groves,

Till the great sky was choked withal. We closed

Our lips and eyes, and bore the God-sent evil.

When after a long while this ceased, the maid

Was seen, and wailed in high and bitter key,

Like some despairing bird that hath espied

Her nest all desolate, the nestlings gone.

So, when she saw the body bare, she mourned

Loudly, and cursed the authors of this deed.

Then nimbly with her hands she brought dry dust,

And holding high a shapely brazen cruse,

Poured three libations, honoring the dead.

We, when we saw, ran in, and straightway seized

Our quarry, naught dismayed, and charged her with

The former crime and this. And she denied

Nothing; -- to my delight, and to my grief.

One's self to escape disaster is great joy;

Yet to have drawn a friend into distress

Is painful. But mine own security

To me is of more value than aught else.

 

CREON

Thou, with thine eyes down-fastened to the earth!

Dost thou confess to have done this, or deny it?

 

ANTIGONE

I deny nothing. I avow the deed.

 

CREON (to Watchman)

Thou may'st betake thyself whither thou wilt,

Acquitted of the grievous charge, and free.

 

CREON (to ANTIGONE)

And thou, -- no prating talk, but briefly tell,

Knew'st thou our edict that forbade this thing?

 

ANTIGONE

I could not fail to know. You made it plain.

 

CREON

How durst thou then transgress the published law?

 

ANTIGONE

I heard it not from Heaven, nor came it forth

From Justice, where she reigns with Gods below.

They too have published to mankind a law.

Nor thought I thy commandment of such might

That one who is mortal thus could overbear

The infallible, unwritten laws of Heaven.

Not now or yesterday they have their being,

But everlastingly, and none can tell

The hour that saw their birth. I would not, I,

For any terror of a man's resolve,

Incur the God-inflicted penalty

Of doing them wrong. That death would come, I knew

Without thine edict; -- if before the time,

I count it gain. Who does not gain by death,

That lives, as I do, amid boundless woe?

Slight is the sorrow of such doom to me.

But had I suffered my own mother's child,

Fallen in blood, to be without a grave,

That were indeed a sorrow. This is none.

And if thou deem'st me foolish for my deed,

I am foolish in the judgement of a fool.

 

CHORUS

Fierce shows the maiden's vein from her fierce sire;

Calamity doth not subdue her will.

 

CREON

Ay, but the stubborn spirit first doth fall.

Oft ye shall see the strongest bar of steel,

That fire hath hardened to extremity,

Shattered to pieces. A small bit controls

The fiery steed. Pride may not be endured

In one whose life is subject to command.

This maiden hath been conversant with crime

Since first she trampled on the public law;

And now she adds to crime this insolence,

To laugh at her offence, and glory in it.

Truly, if she that hath usurped this power

Shall rest unpunished, she then is a man,

And I am none. Be she my sister's child,

Or of yet nearer blood to me than all

That take protection from my hearth, the pair

Shall not escape the worst of deaths. For know,

I count the younger of the twain no less

Copartner in this plotted funeral:

And now I bid you call her. Late I saw her

Within the house, beyond herself, and frantic.

-- Full oft when one is darkly scheming wrong,

The disturbed spirit hath betrayed itself

Before the act it hides. -- But not less hateful

Seems it to me, when one that hath been caught

In wickedness would give it a brave show.

 

ANTIGONE

Wouldst thou aught more of me than merely death?

 

CREON

No more. 'Tis all I claim. Death closes all.

 

ANTIGONE

Why then delay? No talk of thine can charm me,

Forbid it Heaven! And my discourse no less

Must evermore sound noisome to thine ear.

Yet where could I have found a fairer fame

Than giving burial to my own true brother?

All here would tell thee they approve my deed,

Were they not tongue-tied to authority.

But kingship hath much profit; this in chief,

That it may do and say whate'er it will.

 

CREON

No Theban sees the matter with thine eye.

 

ANTIGONE

They see, but curb their voices to thy sway

 

CREON

And art thou not ashamed, acting alone?

 

ANTIGONE

A sister's piety hath no touch of shame.

 

CREON

Was not Eteocles thy brother too?

 

ANTIGONE

My own true brother from both parents' blood.

 

CREON

This duty was impiety to him.

 

ANTIGONE

He that is dead will not confirm that word.

 

CREON

If you impart his honors to the vile.

 

ANTIGONE

It was his brother, not a slave, who fell.

 

CREON

But laying waste the land for which he fought.

 

ANTIGONE

Death knows no difference, but demands his due.

 

CREON

Yet not equality 'twixt good and bad.

 

ANTIGONE

Both may be equal yonder; who can tell?

 

CREON

An enemy is hated even in death.

 

ANTIGONE

Love, and not hatred, is the part for me.

 

CREON

Down then to death! and, if you must, there love

The dead. No woman rules me while I live.

 

CHORUS

Now comes Ismene forth. Ah, see,

From clouds above her brow

The sister-loving tear

Is falling wet on her fair cheek,

Distaining all her passion crimsoned face!

 

(Enter ISMENE)

 

CREON

And thou, that like a serpent coiled i' the house

Hast secretly been draining my life-blood, --

Little aware that I was cherishing

Two curses and subverters of my throne, --

Tell us, wilt thou avouch thy share in this

Entombment, or forswear all knowledge of it?

 

ISMENE

If her voice go therewith, I did the deed,

And bear my part and burden of the blame.

 

ANTIGONE

Nay, justice will not suffer that. You would not,

And I refused to make you mine ally.

 

ISMENE

But now in thy misfortune I would fain

Embark with thee in thy calamity.

 

ANTIGONE

Who did the deed, the powers beneath can tell.

I care not for lip-kindness from my kin.

 

ISMENE

Ah! scorn me not so far as to forbid me

To die with thee, and honor our lost brother.

 

ANTIGONE

Die not with me, nor make your own a deed

you never touched! My dying is enough.

 

ISMENE

What joy have I in life when thou art gone?

 

ANTIGONE

Ask Creon there. He hath your care and duty.

 

ISMENE

What can it profit thee to vex me so?

 

 

ANTIGONE

My heart is pained, though my lip laughs at thee.

 

ISMENE

What can I do for thee now, even now?

 

ANTIGONE

Save your own life. I grudge not your escape.

 

ISMENE

Alas! And must I be debarred thy fate?

 

ANTIGONE

Life was the choice you made. Mine was to die.

 

ISMENE

I warned thee ----

 

ANTIGONE

Yes, your prudence is admired

On earth. My wisdom is approved below.

 

ISMENE

Yet truly we are both alike in fault.

 

ANTIGONE

Fear not; you live. My life hath long been given

To death, to be of service to the dead.

 

CREON

Of these two girls, the one hath lost her wits:

The other hath had none since she was born.

 

ISMENE

My lord, in misery, the mind one hath

Is wont to be dislodged, and will not stay.

 

CREON

You have taken leave of yours at any rate,

When you cast in your portion with the vile.

 

ISMENE

What can life profit me without my sister?

 

CREON

Say not 'my sister'; she is nothing now.

 

ISMENE

What? Wilt thou kill thy son's espousal too?

 

CREON

He may find other fields to plough upon.

 

ISMENE

Not so as love was plighted 'twixt them twain.

 

CREON

I hate a wicked consort for my son.

 

ANTIGONE

O dearest Haemon! How thy father wrongs thee!

 

CREON

Thou and thy marriage are a torment to me.

 

CHORUS

And wilt thou sever her from thine own son?

 

CREON

'Tis death must come between him and his joy,

 

CHORUS

All doubt is then resolved: the maid must die,

 

CREON

I am resolved; and so, 'twould seem, are you.

In with her, slaves! No more delay! Henceforth

These maids must have but woman's liberty

And be mewed up; for even the bold will fly

When they see Death nearing the house of life.

 

(ANTIGONE and ISMENE are led into the palace)

 

CHORUS

Blest is the life that never tasted woe.                         

      When once the blow

Hath fallen upon a house with Heaven-sent doom,

Trouble descends in ever-widening gloom

Through all the number of the tribe to flow;

      As when the briny surge

      That Thrace-born tempests urge

(The big wave ever gathering more and more)

Runs o'er the darkness of the deep,

      And with far-searching sweep

Uprolls the storm-heap'd tangle on the shore,

While cliff to beaten cliff resounds with sullen roar.

 

The stock of Cadmus from old time, I know,                       

      Hath woe on woe,

Age following age, the living on the dead,

Fresh sorrow falling on each new-ris'n head,

None freed by God from ruthless overthrow.

      E'en now a smiling light

      Was spreading to our sight

O'er one last fiber of a blasted tree, --

When, lo! the dust of cruel death,

      Tribute of Gods beneath,

And wildering thoughts, and fate-born ecstasy,

Quench the brief gleam in dark Nonentity.

 

What froward will of man, O Zeus! Can check thy might?          

Not all-enfeebling sleep, nor tireless months divine,

Can touch thee, who through ageless time

Rulest mightily Olympus' dazzling height.

This was in the beginning, and shall be

      Now and eternally,

Not here or there, but everywhere,

A law of misery that shall not spare.

 

For Hope, that wandereth wide, comforting many a head,          

Entangleth many more with glamour of desire:

Unknowing they have trod the fire.

Wise was the famous word of one who said,

'Evil oft seemeth goodness to the mind

      An angry God doth blind.'

Few are the days that such as he

May live untroubled of calamity.

 

LEADER OF CHORUS

Lo, Haemon, thy last offspring, now is come,

Lamenting haply for the maiden's doom,

Say, is he mourning o'er her young life lost,

Fiercely indignant for his bridal crossed?

 

(Enter HAEMON)

 

CREON

We shall know soon, better than seers could teach us.

Can it be so, my son, that thou art brought

By mad distemperature against thy sire,

On hearing of the irrevocable doom

Passed on thy promised bride? Or is thy love

Thy father's, be his actions what they may?

 

HAEMON

I am thine, father, and will follow still

Thy good directions; nor would I prefer

The fairest bride to thy wise government.

 

CREON

That, O my son! should be thy constant mind,

In all to bend thee to thy father's will.

Therefore men pray to have around their hearths

Obedient offspring, to requite their foes

With harm, and honor whom their father loves;

But he whose issue proves unprofitable,

Begets what else but sorrow to himself

And store of laughter to his enemies?

Make not, my son, a shipwreck of thy wit

For a woman. Thine own heart may teach thee this; --

There's but cold comfort in a wicked wife

Yoked to the home inseparably. What wound

Can be more deadly than a harmful friend?

Then spurn her like an enemy, and send her

To wed some shadow in the world below!

For since of all the city I have found

Her only recusant, caught in the act,

I will not break my word before the State.

I will take her life. At this let her invoke

The god of kindred blood! For if at home

I foster rebels, how much more abroad?

Whoso is just in ruling his own house,

Lives rightly in the commonwealth no less:

But he that wantonly defies the law,

Or thinks to dictate to authority,

Shall have no praise from me. What power soe'er

The city hath ordained, must be obeyed

In little things and great things, right or wrong.

The man who so obeys, I have good hope

Will govern and be governed as he ought,

And in the storm of battle at my side

Will stand a faithful and a trusty comrade.

But what more fatal than the lapse of rule?

This ruins cities, this lays houses waste,

This joins with the assault of war to break

Full numbered armies into hopeless rout;

And in the unbroken host 'tis naught but rule

That keeps those many bodies from defeat,

I must be zealous to defend the law,

And not go down before a woman's will.

Else, if I fall, 'twere best a man should strike me;

Lest one should say, 'a woman worsted him.'

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