[As the funeral procession advances, Antigone and Ismene are seen approaching.]
But for a task of bitter pain,
Their brothers' requiem to intone,
Antigone draws with Ismene near;
From lovely, deep-zoned breasts, I deem
Will they, in no ambiguous strain,
With fitting wail their woes deplore,
And ere their utterance reach our ear,
Us, too, it doth beseem 860
Erinys' harsh-toned hymn to sing,
And hostile pæan chant to Hades' King.
Oh most unhappy in your brothers, ye
Of all who round their garments cast the zone;
I weep, I moan,—
Here is no guile,—these wailings that I pour
Come from my very heart, unfeignedly.
Semi-chorus I. Strophe I.
Woe! Woe!
Ye frantic ones, your friends who disobeyed,
By sorrow unsubdued, unhappy twain, 870
Spear-armed your father's house who captive made.
Semi-chorus II.
Wretched in sooth, wretched their doom, both slain,
Their house o'erwhelming in their overthrow.
Semi-chorus I. Antistrophe I.
Woe! Woe!
O ye your household walls in dust who laid,
