The powers who hold by might the sway.

Thou hast withstood authority,
A self-willed rebel, thou must die.

ANTIGONE
Unwept, unwed, unfriended, hence I go,

No longer may I see the day's bright eye;
Not one friend left to share my bitter woe,

And o'er my ashes heave one passing sigh.
CREON

If wail and lamentation aught availed
To stave off death, I trow they'd never end.

Away with her, and having walled her up
In a rock-vaulted tomb, as I ordained,

Leave her alone at liberty to die,
Or, if she choose, to live in solitude,

The tomb her dwelling. We in either case
Are guiltless as concerns this maiden's blood,

Only on earth no lodging shall she find.
ANTIGONE

O grave, O bridal bower, O prison house
Hewn from the rock, my everlasting home,

Whither I go to join the mighty host
Of kinsfolk, Persephassa's guests long dead,

The last of all, of all more miserable,
I pass, my destined span of years cut short.

And yet good hope is mine that I shall find
A welcome from my sire, a welcome too,

From thee, my mother, and my brother dear;
From with these hands, I laved and decked your limbs

In death, and poured libations on your grave.
And last, my Polyneices, unto thee

I paid due rites, and this my recompense!
Yet am I justified in wisdom's eyes.

For even had it been some child of mine,
Or husband mouldering in death's decay,

I had not wrought this deed despite the State.
What is the law I call in aid? 'Tis thus

I argue. Had it been a husband dead
I might have wed another, and have borne

Another child, to take the dead child's place.
But, now my sire and mother both are dead,

No second brother can be born for me.
Thus by the law of conscience I was led

To honor thee, dear brother, and was judged
By Creon guilty of a heinous crime.

And now he drags me like a criminal,
A bride unwed, amerced of marriage-song

And marriage-bed and joys of motherhood,
By friends deserted to a living grave.

What ordinance of heaven have I transgressed?
Hereafter can I look to any god

For succor, call on any man for help?
Alas, my piety is impious deemed.

Well, if such justice is approved of heaven,
I shall be taught by suffering my sin;

But if the sin is theirs, O may they suffer
No worse ills than the wrongs they do to me.

CHORUS
The same ungovernable will

Drives like a gale the maiden still.
CREON

Therefore, my guards who let her stay
Shall smart full sore for their delay.

ANTIGONE
Ah, woe is me! This word I hear

Brings death most near.
CHORUS

I have no comfort. What he saith,
Portends no other thing than death.

ANTIGONE
My fatherland, city of Thebes divine,

Ye gods of Thebes whencesprang my line,
Look, puissant lords of Thebes, on me;

The last of all your royal house ye see.
Martyred by men of sin, undone.

Such meed my piety hath won.
[Exit ANTIGONE]

CHORUS
(Str. 1)

Like to thee that maiden bright,
Danae, in her brass-bound tower,

Once exchanged the glad sunlight
For a cell, her bridal bower.

And yet she sprang of royal line,
My child, like thine,

And nursed the seed
By her conceived

Of Zeus descending in a golden shower.
Strange are the ways of Fate, her power

Nor wealth, nor arms withstand, nor tower;
Nor brass-prowed ships, that breast the sea

From Fate can flee.
(Ant. 1)

Thus Dryas' child, the rash Edonian King,
For words of high disdain

Did Bacchus to a rocky dungeon bring,
To cool the madness of a fevered brain.

His frenzy passed,
He learnt at last

'Twas madness gibes against a god to fling.
For once he fain had quenched the Maenad's fire;

And of the tuneful Nine provoked the ire.
(Str. 2)

By the Iron Rocks that guard the double main,
On Bosporus' lone strand,

Where stretcheth Salmydessus' plain
In the wild Thracian land,

There on his borders Ares witnessed
The vengeance by a jealous step-dame ta'en

The gore that trickled from a spindle red,
The sightless orbits of her step-sons twain.

(Ant. 2)
Wasting away they mourned their piteous doom,

The blasted issue of their mother's womb.
But she her lineage could trace

To great Erecththeus' race;
Daughter of Boreas in her sire's vast caves

Reared, where the tempest raves,
Swift as his horses o'er the hills she sped;

A child of gods; yet she, my child, like thee,
By Destiny

That knows not death nor age--she too was vanquished.
[Enter TEIRESIAS and BOY]

TEIRESIAS
Princes of Thebes, two wayfarers as one,

Having betwixt us eyes for one, we are here.
The blind man cannot move without a guide.

CREON
Why tidings, old Teiresias?

TEIRESIAS
I will tell thee;

And when thou hearest thou must heed the seer.
CREON

Thus far I ne'er have disobeyed thy rede.
TEIRESIAS

So hast thou steered the ship of State aright.
CREON

I know it, and I gladly own my debt.
TEIRESIAS

Bethink thee that thou treadest once again
The razor edge of peril.

CREON
What is this?

Thy words inspire a dread presentiment.
TEIRESIAS

The divination of my arts shall tell.
Sitting upon my throne of augury,

As is my wont, where every fowl of heaven
Find harborage, upon mine ears was borne

A jargon strange of twitterings, hoots, and screams;
So knew I that each bird at the other tare

With bloody talons, for the whirr of wings
Could signifynaught else. Perturbed in soul,

I straight essayed the sacrifice by fire
On blazing altars, but the God of Fire

Came not in flame, and from the thigh bones dripped
And sputtered in the ashes a foul ooze;

Gall-bladders cracked and spurted up: the fat
Melted and fell and left the thigh bones bare.

Such are the signs, taught by this lad, I read--
As I guide others, so the boy guides me--

The frustrate signs of oracles grown dumb.
O King, thy willfultemper ails the State,

For all our shrines and altars are profaned
By what has filled the maw of dogs and crows,

The flesh of Oedipus' unburied son.
Therefore the angry gods abominate

Our litanies and our burnt offerings;
Therefore no birds trill out a happy note,

Gorged with the carnival of human gore.
O ponder this, my son. To err is common

To all men, but the man who having erred
Hugs not his errors, but repents and seeks

The cure, is not a wastrel nor unwise.
No fool, the saw goes, like the obstinate fool.

Let death disarm thy vengeance. O forbear
To vex the dead. What glory wilt thou win

By slaying twice the slain? I mean thee well;
Counsel's most welcome if I promise gain.

CREON
Old man, ye all let fly at me your shafts

Like anchors at a target; yea, ye set
Your soothsayer on me. Peddlers are ye all

And I the merchandise ye buy and sell.
Go to, and make your profit where ye will,

Silver of Sardis change for gold of Ind;
Ye will not purchase this man's burial,

Not though the winged ministers of Zeus
Should bear him in their talons to his throne;

Not e'en in awe of prodigy so dire
Would I permit his burial, for I know

No human soilure can assail the gods;
This too I know, Teiresias, dire's the fall

Of craft and cunning when it tries to gloss
Foul treachery with fair words for filthy gain.

TEIRESIAS
Alas! doth any know and lay to heart--

CREON
Is this the prelude to some hackneyed saw?

TEIRESIAS
How far good counsel is the best of goods?

• dwelling [´dweliŋ] n.住所；寓所 (初中英语单词)
• welcome [´welkəm] a.受欢迎的；可喜的 (初中英语单词)
• wrought [rɔ:t] work 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)
• despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
• conscience [´kɔnʃəns] n.良心；道德心 (初中英语单词)
• guilty [´gilti] a.有罪的；心虚的 (初中英语单词)
• suffering [´sʌfəriŋ] n.痛苦；灾害 (初中英语单词)
• maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)
• sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)
• wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
• learnt [lə:nt] learn 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)
• jealous [´dʒeləs] a.妒忌的 (初中英语单词)
• inspire [in´spaiə] v.鼓舞；使感悟；吸入 (初中英语单词)
• bloody [´blʌdi] a.(流)血的；血腥的 (初中英语单词)
• temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)
• winged [´wiŋd] a.有翼的 (初中英语单词)
• cunning [´kʌniŋ] a.&n.狡猾(诡诈)的 (初中英语单词)
• counsel [´kaunsəl] n.商议；劝告；律师 (初中英语单词)
• lodging [´lɔdʒiŋ] n.寄宿，住宿 (高中英语单词)
• everlasting [,evə´lɑ:stiŋ] a.永久的，无尽的 (高中英语单词)
• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
• theirs [ðeəz] pron.他们的 (高中英语单词)
• dungeon [´dʌndʒən] n.地牢，土牢 (高中英语单词)
• madness [´mædnis] n.疯狂；狂热 (高中英语单词)
• vengeance [´vendʒəns] n.报复，复仇 (高中英语单词)
• tempest [´tempist] n.暴风雨 (高中英语单词)
• tidings [´taidiŋz] n.消息，音信 (高中英语单词)
• gladly [´glædli] ad.愉快地，高兴地 (高中英语单词)
• throne [θrəun] n.宝座；王位 (高中英语单词)
• signify [´signifai] vt.表示 vi.有重要性 (高中英语单词)
• naught [nɔ:t] n.无；零 (高中英语单词)
• frustrate [frʌ´streit] vt.挫败；破坏 (高中英语单词)
• ponder [´pɔndə] v.沉思；考虑；估量 (高中英语单词)
• merchandise [´mə:tʃəndaiz] n.商品 v.经商 (高中英语单词)
• assail [ə´seil] vt.猛击；困扰 (高中英语单词)
• treachery [´tretʃəri] n.背叛；背信弃义 (高中英语单词)
• lamentation [,læmen´teiʃən] n.悲痛，哀悼，痛哭 (英语四级单词)
• bridal [´braidl] a.&n.婚礼(的) (英语四级单词)
• ordinance [´ɔ:dinəns] n.法令；条令；条例 (英语四级单词)
• succor [´sʌkə] n.救援 vt.支援 (英语四级单词)
• whence [wens] ad.从何处；从那里 (英语四级单词)
• withstand [wið´stænd] vt.抵抗，经得起 (英语四级单词)
• frenzy [´frenzi] n.&vt.(使)狂乱 (英语四级单词)
• spindle [´spindl] n.纱锭；锭子；轴 (英语四级单词)
• obstinate [´ɔbstinit] a.顽固的；(病)难治的 (英语四级单词)
• disarm [dis´ɑ:m] v.解除武装；裁军 (英语四级单词)
• filthy [´filθi] a.污秽的，肮脏的 (英语四级单词)
• guiltless [´giltlis] a.无罪的；不熟悉...的 (英语六级单词)
• impious [´impiəs] a.不敬的；不孝的 (英语六级单词)
• cracked [krækt] a.有裂缝的；碎的；粗哑 (英语六级单词)
• willful [´wilfəl] a.任性的，固执的 (英语六级单词)