University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE FIFTH.

Creon, Argia, Guards.
Cre.
Argia, listen to me. Grief sincere,
Love of thy husband, and fond piety,
Conducted thee to Thebes, where thou alone
Hadst never dared to brave my prohibition.

Ar.
Thou art mistaken; I alone ...

Cre.
Well ... well ...
Thou hadst defied it then, impell'd by pity;
Not from contempt, and as in proud defiance
Of my authority; not to excite
Clamorous disturbances: I can discern
Pity and love from factious disobedience,
Cloaking its close designs with better motives.
I am not cruel as thou mayest account me;
And, as a proof of this, accept thy freedom.
The shades of night protected thy approach;
When the sun sets the shades of night once more
Shall reconduct thee to thy sire in Argos.

Ar.
Eternal farewell I have bidden to Argos:
The last remains of murdered Polinices
Are laid in Thebes; in Thebes, or dead or living,
I therefore will remain.

Cre.
Dost thou not wish
To see once more thy child, thy sire, thy country?

Ar.
I never can desert the sacred ashes
Of my beloved spouse.

Cre.
In this, thy wish
I likewise will indulge: thou cam'st by stealth
His ashes to obtain; openly keep them,
And bear the precious burthen back to Argos.
Depart; and there erect, among thy kindred,
A tomb expressive of thy deep regret,
To thy beloved spouse.

Ar.
And is it true?
Whence can such clemency arise? And how
Canst thou so differ from thy former self,
And be sincere?

Cre.
Erewhile inflamed with rage
Thou sawest me; but rage in me is transient;
Reason and time abate it.

Ar.
May kind Heaven
Grant thee a reign both long and prosperous!
Thou then art won to clemency? What joy
Thy people and thy son will thence derive!
Thou hast at last felt pity for our fate;
Thou also ceasest, with the name of guilt,
To stigmatise compassion in ourselves;
And the offence to which thou forced'st us
Thou pardonest in us ...

Cre.
I pardon thee.

Ar.
Is not Antigone then safe?

Cre.
I do not
Confound thy fault with her's.

Ar.
What do I hear?
She groans in fetters yet? ...

Cre.
Question no farther ...
Prepare for thy departure.

Ar.
Shall I go,
And leave in peril my beloved sister?
Vainly thou hopest it. Thy pardon pleased me
Because I thought she bore in it a part;
But she is fetter'd yet? Fierce punishments
Perhaps yet await her? I will then be fetter'd;
And I will suffer punishments more fierce ...

Cre.
In Thebes, I will; not others; to that will
Of mine all yield. Thou hast infringed my law;
And yet I pardon thee: thou wouldst construct
Thy husband's funeral pile; this thou hast done:
Bear back his ashes to thy native Argos;
I yield those ashes to thee. What more wouldst thou?
What more darest thou to ask? Dost thou expect
That I should be accountable to thee? ...

Ar.
At least permit me to obtain the favour
Of seeing her once more.

Cre.
Thou would'st, perchance,
Gain from her intercourse a hardihood
Which, in thyself, thou feel'st not? When light thickens
I shall expect thee to depart from Thebes:
If thou wilt not go of thine own accord,
By force thou goest hence.

Ar.
Than any death
Thy pardon is more cruel: death, which to all
Thou givest, why to me alone deny it?
'Tis not that thou art withheld by any fear
Of spilling blood. I am less innocent
Than is Antigone, why should not I
Incur an equal portion of thy fury? ...

Cre.
Deem it or clemency or punishment
Thy going hence; it gives me little pain;
Provided that clear quittance is obtained.—
Guards, to your keeping I entrust her person:
At night-fall to the Omolæan gate
Descend, and bear her to the Argive boundaries:
If she refuse to go, drag her by force.
In the meantime replace her in the prison.

Ar.
Hear me ... have pity ...

Cre.
Hence: depart.