At length the dire prediction is fulfill’d,

And Oedipus is now, tho’ innocent,

A base incestuous parricide: O virtue!

Thou fatal empty name; thou who didst guide

My hapless days, thou hadst now pow’r to stop

The current of my fate: alas! I fell

Into the snare by trying to avoid it:

Heav’n led me on to guilt, and sunk a pit

Beneath my sliding feet: I was the slave

Of some unknown, some unrelenting power,

That us’d me for it instrument of vengeance:

These are my crimes, remorseless cruel gods!

Yours was the guilt, and ye have punish’d me.

[Passage continues]

Next Page >

 < Previous Page

Return Home