Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/122

24 To reign with fears than sleep untroubled sleep,

His power being equal? I, for one, prize less

The name of king than deeds of kingly power;

And so would all who learn in wisdom's school.

Now without fear I have what I desire,

At thy hand given. Did I rule, myself,

I might do much unwillingly. Why then

Should sovereignty exert a softer charm,

Than power and might unchequered by a care?

I am not yet so cheated by myself,

As to desire aught else but honest gain.

Now all men hail me, every one salutes,

Now they who seek thy favour court my smiles,

For on this hinge does all their fortune turn.

Why then should I leave this to hunt for that?

My mind, retaining reason, ne'er could act

The villain's part. I was not born to love

Such thoughts, nor join another in the act;

And as a proof of this, go thou thyself,

And ask at Pytho whether I brought back,

In very deed, the oracles I heard.

And if thou find me plotting with the seer,

In common concert, not by one decree,

But two, thine own and mine, put me to death.

But charge me not with crime on shadowy proof;

For neither is it just, in random thought,

The bad to count as good, nor good as bad;

For to thrust out a friend of noble heart,

Is like the parting with the life we love.

And this in time thou'lt know, for time alone

Makes manifest the righteous. Of the vile

Thou may'st detect the vileness in a day.

Chorus. To one who fears to fall, his words seem good;

Ο king, swift counsels are not always safe.