Page:Oedipus, King of Thebes (Murray 1911).djvu/61

vv. 761–779 To send him to the mountain heights, to be

A herdsman, far from any sight or call

Of Thebes. And there I sent him. ’Twas a thrall

Good-hearted, worthy a far greater boon.

Canst find him? I would see this herd, and soon.

’Tis easy. But what wouldst thou with the herd?

I fear mine own voice, lest it spoke a word

Too much; whereof this man must tell me true.

The man shall come.—My lord, methinks I too

Should know what fear doth work thee this despite.

Thou shalt. When I am tossed to such an height

Of dark foreboding, woman, when my mind

Faceth such straits as these, where should I find

A mightier love than thine?

My father—thus

I tell thee the whole tale—was Polybus,

In Corinth King; my mother Meropê

Of Dorian line. And I was held to be

The proudest in Corinthia, till one day

A thing befell: strange was it, but no way

Meet for such wonder and such rage as mine.

A feast it was, and some one flushed with wine