MESSENGER:
LEADER:
MESSENGER:
(The MESSENGER goes into the palace. Enter CREON, on the spectators'
left, with attendants, carrying the shrouded body of HAEMON on
bier. The following lines between CREON and the CHORUS are
chanted responsively.)
CHORUS
CREON
CHORUS
CREON:
(Enter MESSENGER from the house.)
MESSENGER :
CREON:
MESSENGER:
CREON
CHORUS:
The doors of the palace are opened, and the corpse of EURYDICE is
disclosed.)
CREON
MESSENGER:
CREON:
MESSENGER:
CREON:
MESSENGER:
CREON
CHORUS:
CREON:
CHORUS:
CREON:
CHORUS:
CREON:
(As CREON is being conducted into the palace, the LEADER OF THE
CHORUS speaks the closing verses.)
LEADER:
I, too, am startled; yet I nourish the hope that, at these sore
tidings of her son, she cannot deign to give her sorrow public vent,
but in the privacy of the house will set her handmaids to mourn the
household grief. For she is not untaught of discretion, that she
should err.
I know not; but to me, at least, a strained silence seems to
portend peril, no less than vain abundance of lament.
Well, I will enter the house, and learn whether indeed she is
not hiding some repressed purpose in the depths of a passionate heart.
Yea, thou sayest well: excess of silence, too, may have a perilous
meaning.
Lo, yonder the king himself draws near, bearing that which tells
too clear a tale,-the work of no stranger's madness,-if we may say
it,-but of his own misdeeds.
strophe 1
Woe for the sins of a darkened soul, stubborn sins, fraught with
death! Ah, ye behold us, the sire who hath slain, the son who hath
perished! Woe is me, for the wretched blindness of my counsels!
Alas, my son, thou hast died in thy youth, by a timeless doom, woe
is me!-thy spirit hath fled,-not by thy folly, but by mine own!
strophe 2
Ah me, how all too late thou seemest to see the right!
Ah me, I have learned the bitter lesson! But then, methinks,
oh then, some god smote me from above with crushing weight, and hurled
me into ways of cruelty, woe is me,-overthrowing and trampling on my
joy! Woe, woe, for the troublous toils of men!
Sire, thou hast come, methinks, as one whose hands are not
empty, but who hath store laid up besides; thou bearest yonder
burden with thee-and thou art soon to look upon the woes within thy
house.
And what worse ill is yet to follow upon ills?
Thy queen hath died, true mother of yon corpse-ah, hapless lady by
blows newly dealt.
antistrophe 1
Oh Hades, all-receiving whom no sacrifice can appease! Hast
thou, then, no mercy for me? O thou herald of evil, bitter tidings,
what word dost thou utter? Alas, I was already as dead, and thou
hast smitten me anew! What sayest thou, my son? What is this new
message that thou bringest-woe, woe is me!-Of a wife's doom-of
slaughter headed on slaughter?
Thou canst behold: 'tis no longer hidden within.
antistrophe 2
Ah me,-yonder I behold a new, a second woe! What destiny, ah what,
can yet await me? I have but now raised my son in my arms,-and
there, again, I see a corpse before me! Alas, alas, unhappy mother!
Alas, my child!
There, at the altar, self-stabbed with a keen knife, she
suffered her darkening eyes to close, when she had wailed for the
noble fate of Megareus who died before, and then for his fate who lies
there,-and when, with her last breath, she had invoked evil fortunes
upon thee, the slayer of thy sons.
strophe 3
Woe, woe! I thrill with dread. Is there none to strike me to the
heart with two-edged sword?-O miserable that I am, and steeped in
miserable anguish!
Yea, both this son's doom, and that other's, were laid to thy
charge by her whose corpse thou seest.
And what was the manner of the violent deed by which she passed
away?
Her own hand struck her to the heart, when she had learned her
son's sorely lamented fate.
strophe 4
Ah me, this guilt can never be fixed on any other of mortal
kind, for my acquittal! I, even I, was thy slayer, wretched that I
am-I own the truth. Lead me away, O my servants, lead me hence with
all speed, whose life is but as death!
Thy counsels are good, if there can be good with ills; briefest is
best, when trouble is in our path
antistrophe 3
Oh, let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that
brings my last day,-aye, best fate of all! Oh, let it come, that I may
never look upon to-morrow's light.
These things are in the future; present tasks claim our care:
the ordering of the future rests where it should rest.
All my desires, at least, were summed in that prayer.
Pray thou no more; for mortals have no escape from destined woe.
antistrophe 4
Lead me away, I pray you; a rash, foolish man; who have slain
thee, ah my son, unwittingly, and thee, too, my wife-unhappy that I
am! I know not which way I should bend my gaze, or where I should seek
support; for all is amiss with that which is in my hands,-and
yonder, again, a crushing fate hath leapt upon my head.
Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness; and reverence towards the
gods must be inviolate. Great words of prideful men are ever
punished with great blows, and, in old age, teach the chastened to
be wise.
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERSby James Bradley, Ron Powers (Contributor). In this unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history,
James Bradley has captured the glory, the triumph, the heartbreak, and the legacy of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. Here is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America.
Papal Sins: Structures of Deceit
Papal Sins: Structures of Deceit by Garry Wills. Popes used to sin openly, and Catholics knew it, writes Pulitzer Prize-winner Wills (John Wayne's America, 1997, etc.) in his new study of contemporary Catholicism. Take Pope John XII from the tenth century. Because of family connections, he became pope as a dissolute teenager and died a few years later in a married woman's bed. But today Catholics are hung up on the idea that the Vatican can do no wrong--and that idea, says Wills, may destroy the church.
**HOT SIX**
HOT SIX by Janet Evanovich. If you have never read Janet's book series then treat yourself. Stephanie Plum is a comical rookie bountyhunter trying to earn her pay. Each book is a wonderful mystery, easy to read, enjoyable, eye-tearing laughter. We're hooked here. This is books six.
[ONE FOR THE MONEY ]
[ TWO FOR THE DOUGH]
[THREE TO GET DEADLY]
FOUR TO SCORE]
[ HIGH FIVE].
Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, America's preeminent teachers of French home cooking, have
conjoined to produce a new television series. Through each one's previous television classes,
these two have already improved the output of the American kitchen, and their new PBS series
promises to carry on this tradition. As a supplement to the television series, this volume
demonstrates the team's complementary styles.