OEDIPUS.
I cannot go, disabled as I am
Doubly, by lack of strength and lack of sight;
But one of you may do it in my stead;
For one, I trow, may pay the sacrifice
Of thousands, if his heart be leal and true.
So to your work with speed, but leave me not
Untended; for this frame is all too week
To move without the help of guiding hand.
ISMENE.
Then I will go perform these rites, but where
To find the spot, this have I yet to learn.
CHORUS.
Beyond this grove; if thou hast need of aught,
The guardian of the close will lend his aid.
ISMENE.
I go, and thou, Antigone, meanwhile
Must guard our father. In a parent’s cause
Toil, if there be toil, is of no account.
[Exit ISMENE]
CHORUS.
(Str. 1)
Ill it is, stranger, to awake
Pain that long since has ceased to ache,
And yet I fain would hear—
OEDIPUS.
What thing?
CHORUS.
Thy tale of cruel suffering
For which no cure was found,
The fate that held thee bound.
OEDIPUS.
O bid me not (as guest I claim
This grace) expose my shame.
CHORUS.
The tale is bruited far and near,
And echoes still from ear to ear.
The truth, I fain would hear.
OEDIPUS.
Ah me!