COR. SH. If my first duty be to make this clear,
Know beyond doubt that he is dead and gone.
OED. By illness coming o’er him, or by guile?
[page 112][961-996] COR. SH. Light pressure lays to rest the timeworn frame.
OED. He was subdued by sickness then, poor soul!
COR. SH. By sickness and the burden of his years.
OED. Ah! my Jocasta, who again will heed
The Pythian hearth oracular, and birds
Screaming in air, blind guides! that would have made
My father’s death my deed; but he is gone,
Hidden underneath the ground, while I stand hero
Harmless and weaponless:—unless, perchance,
My absence killed him,—so he may have died
Through me. But be that as it may, the grave
That covers Polybus, hath silenced, too,
One voice of prophecy, worth nothing now.
JO. Did I not tell thee so, long since?
OED. Thou didst.
But I was drawn to error by my fear.
JO. Now cast it altogether out of mind.
OED. Must I not fear my mother’s marriage-bed?