Page:Sophocles (Storr 1919) v2.djvu/245

 That she will see my face lit up with smiles;

My hatred of her is too deep engrained.

Moreover, since thy coming I have wept,

Wept for pure joy and still must weep to see

The dead alive, on one day dead and living.

It works me strangely; if my sire appeared

In bodily presence, I should now believe it

No mocking phantom but his living self.

Thus far no common fate hath guided thee;

So lead me as thou wilt, for left alone

I had myself achieved of two things one,

A noble living or a noble death.

Hush, hush! I hear a stir within the house

As if one issued forth.

Pass in, good sirs,

Ye are sure of welcome; they within will not

Reject your gift, though bitter it may prove.

Enter.

Fools! madmen! are ye weary of your lives,

Or are your natural wits too dull to see

That ye are standing, not upon the brink,

But in the midst of mortal jeopardy?

Nay, had I not kept watch this weary while,

Here at the door, your plot had slipped inside

Ere ye yourselves had entered. As it is,

My watchfulness has fended this mishap.

Now that your wordy eloquence has an end,

And your insatiate cries of joy, go in. 233