SOPHOCLES
vv. 649–664
Leader.
[Strophe.
Yield; consent; think! My Lord, I conjure thee!
Oedipus.
What would ye have me do?
Leader.
Reject not one who never failed his troth
Of old and now is strong in his great oath.
Oedipus.
Dost know what this prayer means?
Leader.
Yea, verily!
Oedipus.
Say then the meaning true.
Leader.
I would not have thee cast to infamy
Of guilt, where none is proved,
One who hath sworn and whom thou once hast loved.
Oedipus.
’Tis that ye seek? For me, then . . . understand
Well . . . ye seek death or exile from the land.
Leader.
No, by the God of Gods, the all-seeing Sun!
May he desert me here, and every friend
With him, to death and utterest malison,
If e’er my heart could dream of such an end!
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