Antigone. O grave, my bridal-chamber, prison-home
Eternal in the rocky cavern, where
I go to meet my own, the many whom
In death Persephone among the dead
Hath lodged; and last and by the cruellest fate
Of all, I now pass down to her, before
I reach my term of life. Yet when I come,
I entertain the hope that I may win
From thee a loving welcome, father, one
From thee, my mother, and no less from thee
My own dear brother, since this hand it was
That washed and dressed you for the tomb and poured
The last libations at your grave; and now,
Dear Polyneices, this is my reward
For tending thus thy corpse—for what transgression?
What law of heaven have I broken? Why
Should I, unhappy woman, raise my eye
To Heaven any more? What god invoke
To succor me?—when I have earned the name
Of irreligion for my piety.
Well, if such acts in Heaven find approval,
Then, when I meet my doom, I ’ll recognize
The fact that I have sinned; but if they sin
Who judge, may they ne’er suffer—hear my prayer—
More pain than they unjustly make me bear.
Ch. Leader. The same fierce gusts of passion blow
And make this maiden’s soul to glow.
Creon re-enters from palace C.
Creon. Her guards then shall have cause to wail,
If they to do my bidding fail.
Antigone. Ah me! That dread command comes near
To death! To death!
Creon. With no hope can I give thee cheer,
For unto death, indeed, thou ’rt near.
Antigone. O city of my fathers, Thebes,
