Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/265

Rh Creon. Wise seer art thou, yet given o'ermuch to wrong.

Teir. Thou [sic]'lt stir me to speak out my soul's dread secrets.

Creon. Out with them; only speak them not for gain.

Teir. So is [sic]'t, I trow, in all that touches thee.

Creon. Know that thou shalt not bargain with my will.

Teir. Know, then, and know it well, that thou shalt see

Not many winding circuits of the sun,

Before thou giv'st as quittance for the dead,

A corpse by thee begotten; for that thou

Hast to the ground cast one that walked on earth,

And foully placed within a sepulchre

A living soul; and now thou keep'st from them,

The Gods below, the corpse of one unblest,

Unwept, unhallowed, and in these things thou

Can'st claim no part, nor yet the Gods above;

But they by thee are outraged; and they wait,

The sure though slow avengers of the grave,

The dread Erinnyes of the mighty Gods,

For thee in these same evils to be snared.

Search well if I say this as one who sells

His soul for money. Yet a little while,

And in thy house the wail of men and women

Shall make it plain. And every city stirs

Itself in arms against thee, owning those

Whose limbs the dogs have buried, or fierce wolves,

Or wingèd birds have brought the accursèd taint

To region consecrate. Doom like to this,

Sure darting as an arrow to its mark,

I launch at thee, (for thou dost vex me sore,)

An archer aiming at the very heart,

And thou shalt not escape its fiery sting.

And now, Ο boy, lead thou me home again,

That he may vent his spleen on younger men,