OEDIPUS AT COLONUS
Enter the blind Oedipus led by his daughter, Antigone.
Oedipus
Child of an old blind sire, Antigone,
What region, say, whose city have we reached?
Who will provide to-day with scanted dole
This wanderer? ’Tis little that he craves,
And less obtains—that less enough for me;
For I am taught by suffering to endure,
And the long years that have grown old with me,
And last not least, by true nobility.
My daughter, if thou seest a resting place
On common ground or by some sacred grove,
Stay me and set me down. Let us discover
Where we have come, for strangers must inquire
Of denizens, and do as they are bid.
Antigone
Long-suffering father, Oedipus, the towers
That fence the city still, methinks, are far;
But where we stand is surely holy ground;
A wilderness of laurel, olive, vine;
Within a feathered flock of nightingales
Are warbling. On this native seat of rock
Rest' for an old man thou hast travelled far.
Oedipus
Guide these dark steps and seat me there secure.
