No More Learning

--Hæmon, you I sent;
Where is that Phorbas?

_Hæm. _ Here, my royal lord.

_OEdip. _ Speak first, Ægeon, say, is this the man?

_Æge. _ My lord, it is; Though time has ploughed that face
With many furrows since I saw it first,
Yet I'm too well acquainted with the ground,
Quite to forget it.

_OEdip. _ Peace; stand back a while. --
Come hither, friend; I hear thy name is Phorbas.
Why dost thou turn thy face? I charge thee answer
To what I shall enquire: Wert thou not once
The servant to king Laius here in Thebes?

_Phor. _ I was, great sir, his true and faithful servant;
Born and bred up in court, no foreign slave.

_OEdip. _ What office hadst thou? what was thy employment?

_Phor. _ He made me lord of all his rural pleasures;
For much he loved them: oft I entertained him
With sporting swains, o'er whom I had command.

_OEdip. _ Where was thy residence? to what part of the country
Didst thou most frequently resort?

_Phor. _ To mount Cithæron, and the pleasant vallies
Which all about lie shadowing its large feet.

_OEdip. _ Come forth, Ægeon. --Ha! why start'st thou, Phorbas?
Forward, I say, and face to face confront him:
Look wistly on him,--through him, if thou canst!
And tell me on thy life, say, dost thou know him?
Didst thou e'er see him? e'er converse with him
Near mount Cithæron?

_Phor. _ Who, my lord, this man?

_OEdip. _ This man, this old, this venerable man:
Speak, did'st thou ever meet him there?

_Phor. _ Where, sacred sir?

_OEdip. _ Near mount Cithæron; answer to the purpose,
'Tis a king speaks; and royal minutes are
Of much more worth than thousand vulgar years:
Did'st thou e'er see this man near mount Cithæron?

_Phor. _ Most sure, my lord, I have seen lines like those
His visage bears; but know not where, nor when.

_Æge. _ Is't possible you should forget your ancient friend?
There are, perhaps,
Particulars, which may excite your dead remembrance.
Have you forgot I took an infant from you,
Doomed to be murdered in that gloomy vale?
The swaddling-bands were purple, wrought with gold.
Have you forgot, too, how you wept, and begged
That I should breed him up, and ask no more?

_Phor. _ Whate'er I begged, thou, like a dotard, speak'st
More than is requisite; and what of this?
Why is it mentioned now? And why, O why
Dost thou betray the secrets of thy friend?

_Æge. _ Be not too rash. That infant grew at last
A king; and here the happy monarch stands.

_Phor. _ Ha! whither would'st thou? O what hast thou uttered!
For what thou hast said, death strike thee dumb for ever!

_OEdip. _ Forbear to curse the innocent; and be
Accurst thyself, thou shifting traitor, villain,
Damned hypocrite, equivocating slave!

_Phor. _ O heavens! wherein, my lord, have I offended?

_OEdip. _ Why speak you not according to my charge?
Bring forth the rack: since mildness cannot win you,
Torments shall force.

_Phor. _ Hold, hold, O dreadful sir!
You will not rack an innocent old man?

_OEdip. _ Speak then.

_Phor. _ Alas! What would you have me say?

_OEdip. _ Did this old man take from your arms an infant?

_Phor. _ He did: And, Oh! I wish to all the gods,
Phorbas had perished in that very moment.

_OEdip. _ Moment! Thou shalt be hours, days, years, a dying. --
Here, bind his hands; he dallies with my fury:
But I shall find a way--

_Phor. _ My lord, I said
I gave the infant to him.

_OEdip. _ Was he thy own, or given thee by another?

_Phor. _ He was not mine, but given me by another.

_OEdip. _ Whence? and from whom? what city? of what house?

_Phor. _ O, royal sir, I bow me to the ground;
Would I could sink beneath it! by the gods,
I do conjure you to inquire no more.

_OEdip. _ Furies and hell! Hæmon, bring forth the rack,
Fetch hither cords, and knives, and sulphurous flames:
He shall be bound and gashed, his skin flead off,
And burnt alive.

_Phor. _ O spare my age.

_OEdip. _ Rise then, and speak.

_Phor. _ Dread sir, I will.

_OEdip. _ Who gave that infant to thee?

_Phor. _ One of king Laius' family.

_OEdip. _ O, you immortal gods! --But say, who was't?
Which of the family of Laius gave it?
A servant, or one of the royal blood?

_Phor. _ O wretched state! I die, unless I speak;
And if I speak, most certain death attends me!

_OEdip. _ Thou shalt not die. Speak, then, who was it? speak,
While I have sense to understand the horror;
For I grow cold.

_Phor. _ The queen Jocasta told me,
It was her son by Laius.

_OEdip. _ O you gods! --But did she give it thee?

_Phor. _ My lord, she did.

_OEdip. _ Wherefore? for what? --O break not yet, my heart;
Though my eyes burst, no matter:--wilt thou tell me,
Or must I ask for ever? for what end,
Why gave she thee her child?

_Phor. _ To murder it.

_OEdip. _ O more than savage! murder her own bowels,
Without a cause!

_Phor. _ There was a dreadful one,
Which had foretold, that most unhappy son
Should kill his father, and enjoy his mother.

_OEdip. _ But one thing more.
Jocasta told me, thou wert by the chariot
When the old king was slain: Speak, I conjure thee,
For I shall never ask thee aught again,--
What was the number of the assassinates?

_Phor. _ The dreadful deed was acted but by one;
And sure that one had much of your resemblance.

_OEdip. _ 'Tis well! I thank you, gods! 'tis wondrous well!
Daggers, and poison! O there is no need
For my dispatch: And you, you merciless powers,
Hoard up your thunder-stones; keep, keep your bolts,
For crimes of little note. [_Falls. _

_Adr. _ Help, Hæmon, help, and bow him gently forward;
Chafe, chafe his temples: How the mighty spirits,
Half-strangled with the damp his sorrows raised,
Struggle for vent! But see, he breathes again,
And vigorous nature breaks through opposition. --
How fares my royal friend?

_OEdip. _ The worse for you.
O barbarous men, and oh the hated light,
Why did you force me back, to curse the day;
To curse my friends; to blast with this dark breath
The yet untainted earth and circling air?
To raise new plagues, and call new vengeance down,
Why did you tempt the gods, and dare to touch me?
Methinks there's not a hand that grasps this hell,
But should run up like flax all blazing fire.
Stand from this spot, I wish you as my friends,
And come not near me, lest the gaping earth
Swallow you too. --Lo, I am gone already.
[_Draws, and claps his Sword to his
Breast, which_ ADRASTUS _strikes
away with his Foot. _

_Adr. _ You shall no more be trusted with your life:--
Creon, Alcander, Hæmon, help to hold him.

_OEdip. _ Cruel Adrastus! wilt thou, Hæmon, too?
Are these the obligations of my friends?
O worse than worst of my most barbarous foes!
Dear, dear Adrastus, look with half an eye
On my unheard of woes, and judge thyself,
If it be fit that such a wretch should live!
O, by these melting eyes, unused to weep,
With all the low submissions of a slave,
I do conjure thee, give my horrors way!
Talk not of life, for that will make me rave:
As well thou may'st advise a tortured wretch,
All mangled o'er from head to foot with wounds,
And his bones broke, to wait a better day.

_Adr. _ My lord, you ask me things impossible;
And I with justice should be thought your foe,
To leave you in this tempest of your soul.

_Tir. _ Though banished Thebes, in Corinth you may reign;
The infernal powers themselves exact no more:
Calm then your rage, and once more seek the gods.

_OEdip. _ I'll have no more to do with gods, nor men;
Hence, from my arms, avaunt. Enjoy thy mother!
What, violate, with bestial appetite,
The sacred veils that wrapt thee yet unborn!
This is not to be borne! Hence; off, I say!
For they, who let my vengeance, make themselves
Accomplices in my most horrid guilt.

_Adr. _ Let it be so; we'll fence heav'n's fury from you,
And suffer all together. This, perhaps,
When ruin comes, may help to break your fall.

_OEdip. _ O that, as oft I have at Athens seen
The stage arise, and the big clouds descend;
So now, in very deed I might behold
The pond'rous earth, and all yon marble roof
Meet, like the hand of Jove, and crush mankind!
For all the elements, and all the powers
Celestial, nay, terrestrial, and infernal,
Conspire the wreck of out-cast OEdipus!
Fall darkness then, and everlasting night
Shadow the globe; may the sun never dawn;
The silver moon be blotted from her orb;
And for an universal rout of nature
Through all the inmost chambers of the sky,
May there not be a glimpse, one starry spark,
But gods meet gods, and jostle in the dark;
That jars may rise, and wrath divine be hurled,
Which may to atoms shake the solid world! [_Exeunt. _


ACT V. --SCENE I.

_Enter_ CREON, ALCANDER, _and_ PYRACMON.

_Creon. _ Thebes is at length my own; and all my wishes,
Which sure were great as royalty e'er formed,
Fortune and my auspicious stars have crowned.
O diadem, thou centre of ambition,
Where all its different lines are reconciled,
As if thou wert the burning glass of glory!

_Pyr. _ Might I be counsellor, I would intreat you
To cool a little, sir; find out Eurydice;
And, with the resolution of a man
Marked out for greatness, give the fatal choice
Of death or marriage.

_Alc. _ Survey cursed OEdipus,
As one who, though unfortunate, beloved,
Thought innocent, and therefore much lamented
By all the Thebans: you must mark him dead,
Since nothing but his death, not banishment,
Can give assurance to your doubtful reign.

_Cre. _ Well have you done, to snatch me from the storm
Of racking transport, where the little streams
Of love, revenge, and all the under passions,
As waters are by sucking whirlpools drawn,
Were quite devoured in the vast gulph of empire.
Therefore, Pyracmon, as you boldly urged,
Eurydice shall die, or be my bride.
Alcander, summon to their master's aid
My menial servants, and all those whom change
Of state, and hope of the new monarch's favour,
Can win to take our part: Away. --What now? [_Exit_ ALCANDER.

_Enter_ HÆMON.

When Hæmon weeps, without the help of ghosts
I may foretel there is a fatal cause.

_Hæm. _ Is't possible you should be ignorant
Of what has happened to the desperate king?

_Cre. _ I know no more but that he was conducted
Into his closet, where I saw him fling
His trembling body on the royal bed;
All left him there, at his desire, alone;
But sure no ill, unless he died with grief,
Could happen, for you bore his sword away.

_Hæm. _ I did; and, having locked the door, I stood;
And through a chink I found, not only heard,
But saw him, when he thought no eye beheld him.
At first, deep sighs heaved from his woful heart
Murmurs, and groans that shook the outward rooms.
And art thou still alive, O wretch! he cried;
Then groaned again, as if his sorrowful soul
Had cracked the strings of life, and burst away.

_Cre. _ I weep to hear; how then should I have grieved,
Had I beheld this wondrous heap of sorrow!
But, to the fatal period.

_Hæm. _ Thrice he struck,
With all his force, his hollow groaning breast,
And thus, with outcries, to himself complained:--
But thou canst weep then, and thou think'st 'tis well,
These bubbles of the shallowest emptiest sorrow,
Which children vent for toys, and women rain
For any trifle their fond hearts are set on;
Yet these thou think'st are ample satisfaction
For bloodiest murder, and for burning lust:
No, parricide! if thou must weep, weep blood;
Weep eyes, instead of tears:--O, by the gods!
'Tis greatly thought, he cried, and fits my woes.
Which said, he smiled revengefully, and leapt
Upon the floor; thence gazing at the skies,
His eye-balls fiery red, and glowing vengeance,--
Gods I accuse you not, though I no more
Will view your heaven, till, with more durable glasses,
The mighty soul's immortal perspectives,
I find your dazzling beings: Take, he cried,
Take, eyes, your last, your fatal farewel-view.
Then with a groan, that seemed the call of death,
With horrid force lifting his impious hands,
He snatched, he tore, from forth their bloody orbs,
The balls of sight, and dashed them on the ground.

_Cre. _ A master-piece of horror; new and dreadful!

_Hæm. _ I ran to succour him; but, oh! too late;
For he had plucked the remnant strings away.
What then remains, but that I find Tiresias,
Who, with his wisdom, may allay those furies,
That haunt his gloomy soul? [_Exit. _

_Cre. _ Heaven will reward
Thy care, most honest, faithful,--foolish Hæmon!
But see, Alcander enters, well attended.

_Enter_ ALCANDER, _attended. _

I see thou hast been diligent.

_Alc. _ Nothing these,
For number, to the crowds that soon will follow;
Be resolute,
And call your utmost fury to revenge.

_Cre. _ Ha! thou hast given
The alarm to cruelty; and never may
These eyes be closed, till they behold Adrastus
Stretched at the feet of false Eurydice.
But see, they are here! retire a while, and mark.

_Enter_ ADRASTUS, _and_ EURYDICE, _attended. _

_Adr. _ Alas, Eurydice, what fond rash man,
What inconsiderate and ambitious fool,
That shall hereafter read the fate of OEdipus,
Will dare, with his frail hand, to grasp a sceptre?

_Eur. _ 'Tis true, a crown seems dreadful, and I wish
That you and I, more lowly placed, might pass
Our softer hours in humble cells away:
Not but I love you to that infinite height,
I could (O wondrous proof of fiercest love! )
Be greatly wretched in a court with you.

_Adr. _ Take then this most loved innocence away;
Fly from tumultuous Thebes, from blood and murder,
Fly from the author of all villainies,
Rapes, death, and treason, from that fury Creon:
Vouchsafe that I, o'er-joyed, may bear you hence,
And at your feet present the crown of Argos.
[CREON _and attendants come up to him. _

_Cre. _ I have o'er-heard thy black design, Adrastus,
And therefore, as a traitor to this state,
Death ought to be thy lot: Let it suffice
That Thebes surveys thee as a prince; abuse not
Her proffered mercy, but retire betimes,
Lest she repent, and hasten on thy doom.

_Adr. _ Think not, most abject, most abhorred of men,
Adrastus will vouchsafe to answer thee;--
Thebans to you I justify my love:
I have addrest my prayer to this fair princess;
But, if I ever meant a violence,
Or thought to ravish, as that traitor did,
What humblest adorations could not win,
Brand me, you gods, blot me with foul dishonour,
And let men curse me by the name of Creon!

_Eur. _ Hear me, O Thebans, if you dread the wrath
Of her whom fate ordained to be your queen;
Hear me, and dare not, as you prize your lives,
To take the part of that rebellious traitor.
By the decree of royal OEdipus,
By queen Jocasta's order, by what's more,
My own dear vows of everlasting love,
I here resign, to prince Adrastus' arms,
All that the world can make me mistress of.

_Cre. _ O perjured woman!
Draw all; and when I give the word, fall on. --
Traitor, resign the princess, or this moment
Expect, with all those most unfortunate wretches,
Upon this spot straight to be hewn in pieces.

_Adr. _ No, villain, no;
With twice those odds of men,
I doubt not in this cause to vanquish thee. --
Captain remember to your care I give
My love; ten thousand, thousand times more clear,
Than life or liberty.

_Cre. _ Fall on, Alcander. --
Pyracmon you and I must wheel about
For nobler game, the princess.

_Adr. _ Ah, traitor, dost thou shun me?
Follow, follow,
My brave companions! see, the cowards fly!
[_Exeunt fighting:_ CREON'S _Party
beaten off by_ ADRASTUS.

_Enter_ OEDIPUS.

_OEdip. _ O, 'tis too little this; thy loss of sight,
What has it done? I shall be gazed at now
The more; be pointed at, There goes the monster!
Nor have I hid my horrors from myself;
For, though corporeal light be lost for ever,
The bright reflecting soul, through glaring optics,
Presents in larger size her black ideas,
Doubling the bloody prospect of my crimes;
Holds fancy down, and makes her act again,
With wife and mother:--Tortures, hell and furies!
Ha! now the baleful offspring's brought to light!
In horrid form, they rank themselves before me;--
What shall I call this medley of creation?
Here one, with all the obedience of a son,
Borrowing Jocasta's look, kneels at my feet,
And calls me father; there, a sturdy boy,
Resembling Laius just as when I killed him,
Bears up, and with his cold hand grasping mine,
Cries out, how fares my brother OEdipus?
What, sons and brothers! Sisters and daughters too!
Fly all, begone, fly from my whirling brain!
Hence, incest, murder! hence, you ghastly figures!
O Gods! Gods, answer; is there any mean?
Let me go mad, or die.

_Enter_ JOCASTA.

_Joc. _ Where, where is this most wretched of mankind,
This stately image of imperial sorrow,
Whose story told, whose very name but mentioned,
Would cool the rage of fevers, and unlock
The hand of lust from the pale virgin's hair,
And throw the ravisher before her feet?

_OEdip. _ By all my fears, I think Jocasta's voice! --
Hence fly; begone! O thou far worse than worst
Of damning charmers! O abhorred, loathed creature!
Fly, by the gods, or by the fiends, I charge thee,
Far as the East, West, North, or South of heaven,
But think not thou shalt ever enter there;
The golden gates are barred with adamant,
'Gainst thee, and me; and the celestial guards,
Still as we rise, will dash our spirits down.

_Joc. _ O wretched pair! O greatly wretched we!
Two worlds of woe!

_OEdip. _ Art thou not gone then? ha!
How darest thou stand the fury of the gods?
Or comest thou in the grave to reap new pleasures?

_Joc. _ Talk on, till thou mak'st mad my rolling brain;
Groan still more death; and may those dismal sources
Still bubble on, and pour forth blood and tears.
Methinks, at such a meeting, heaven stands still;
The sea, nor ebbs, nor flows; this mole-hill earth
Is heaved no more; the busy emmets cease:
Yet hear me on--

_OEdip. _ Speak, then, and blast my soul.

_Joc. _ O, my loved lord, though I resolve a ruin,
To match my crimes; by all my miseries,
'Tis horror, worse than thousand thousand deaths,
To send me hence without a kind farewell.

_OEdip. _ Gods, how she shakes me! --stay thee, O Jocasta!
Speak something ere thou goest for ever from me!

_Joc. _ 'Tis woman's weakness, that I would be pitied;
Pardon me then, O greatest, though most wretched.
Of all thy kind! My soul is on the brink,
And sees the boiling furnace just beneath:
Do not thou push me off, and I will go,
With such a willingness, as if that heaven
With all its glory glowed for my reception.

_OEdip. _ O, in my heart I feel the pangs of nature;
It works with kindness o'er: give, give me way!
I feel a melting here, a tenderness,
Too mighty for the anger of the gods!
Direct me to thy knees: yet, oh forbear,
Lest the dead embers should revive.
Stand off, and at just distance
Let me groan my horrors! --here
On the earth, here blow my utmost gale;
Here sob my sorrows, till I burst with sighing;
Here gasp and languish out my wounded soul.

_Joc. _ In spite of all those crimes the cruel gods
Can charge me with, I know my innocence;
Know yours. 'Tis fate alone that makes us wretched,
For you are still my husband.

_OEdip. _ Swear I am,
And I'll believe thee; steal into thy arms,
Renew endearments, think them no pollutions,
But chaste as spirits' joys. Gently I'll come,
Thus weeping blind, like dewy night, upon thee,
And fold thee softly in my arms to slumber.
[_The Ghost of_ LAIUS _ascends by
degrees, pointing at_ JOCASTA.

_Joc. _ Begone, my lord! Alas, what are we doing?
Fly from my arms! Whirlwinds, seas, continents,
And worlds, divide us! O, thrice happy thou,
Who hast no use of eyes; for here's a sight
Would turn the melting face of mercy's self
To a wild fury.

_OEdip. _ Ha! what seest thou there?

_Joc. _ The spirit of my husband! O, the gods!
How wan he looks!

_OEdip. _ Thou ravest; thy husband's here.

_Joc. _ There, there he mounts
In circling fire among the blushing clouds!
And see, he waves Jocasta from the world!

_Ghost. _ Jocasta, OEdipus. [_Vanish with thunder. _

_OEdip. _ What wouldst thou have?
Thou knowest I cannot come to thee, detained
In darkness here, and kept from means of death.
I've heard a spirit's force is wonderful;
At whose approach, when starting from his dungeon,
The earth does shake, and the old ocean groans,
Rocks are removed, and towers are thundered down;
And walls of brass, and gates of adamant
Are passable as air, and fleet like winds.

_Joc. _ Was that a raven's croak, or my son's voice?
No matter which; I'll to the grave and hide me.
Earth open, or I'll tear thy bowels up.
Hark! he goes on, and blabs the deed of incest.

_OEdip. _ Strike then, imperial ghost; dash all at once
This house of clay into a thousand pieces;
That my poor lingering soul may take her flight
To your immortal dwellings.

_Joc. _ Haste thee, then,
Or I shall be before thee. See,--thou canst not see!
Then I will tell thee that my wings are on.
I'll mount, I'll fly, and with a port divine
Glide all along the gaudy milky soil,
To find my Laius out; ask every god
In his bright palace, if he knows my Laius,
My murdered Laius!

_OEdip. _ Ha! how's this, Jocasta?
Nay, if thy brain be sick, then thou art happy.
_Joc. _ Ha! will you not? shall I not find him out?
Will you not show him? are my tears despised?
Why, then I'll thunder, yes, I will be mad,
And fright you with my cries. Yes, cruel gods,
Though vultures, eagles, dragons tear my heart,
I'll snatch celestial flames, fire all your dwellings,
Melt down your golden roofs, and make your doors
Of crystal fly from off their diamond hinges;
Drive you all out from your ambrosial hives,
To swarm like bees about the field of heaven.
This will I do, unless you show me Laius,
My dear, my murdered lord. O Laius! Laius! Laius! [_Exit_ JOCASTA.

_OEdip. _ Excellent grief! why, this is as it should be!