Or, by the blood which trembles through the heart Of her, whom more than life I know thou lovest, I'll bury to the haft, in her fair breast,

This instrument of my revenge.

Adr. Stay thee, damned wretch; hold, stop thy bloody hand!

Cre. Give order, then, that on this instant, now, This moment, all thy soldiers straight disband. Adr. Away, my friends, since fate has so allotted; Begone, and leave me to the villain's mercy.

Eur. Ah, my Adrastus! call them, call them back! Stand there; come back! O, cruel barbarous men! Could you then leave your lord, your prince, your king, After so bravely having fought his cause, To perish by the hand of this base villain? Why rather rush you not at once together All to his ruin? drag him through the streets, Hang his contagious quarters on the gates; Nor let my death affright you.

Cre. Die first thyself, then.

Adr. O, I charge thee hold!

Hence from my presence, all; he's not my friend That disobeys.-See, art thou now appeased?

[Exeunt Attendants. Or is there aught else yet remains to do,

That can atone thee? slake thy thirst of blood With mine; but save, O save that innocent wretch! Cre. Forego thy sword, and yield thyself my prisoner.

Eur. Yet, while there's any dawn of hope to save Thy precious life, my dear Adrastus,

Whate'er thou dost, deliver not thy sword;
With that thou may'st get off, tho' odds oppose thee.
For me, O fear not; no, he dares not touch me;
His horrid love will spare me. Keep thy sword;
Lest I be ravished after thou art slain.

Adr. Instruct me, gods, what shall Adrastus do?

Cre. Do what thou wilt, when she is dead; my soldiers

With numbers will o'erpower thee. Is't thy wish Eurydice should fall before thee?

Adr. Traitor, no;

Better that thou, and I, and all mankind,
Should be no more.

Cre. Then cast thy sword away,

And yield thee to my mercy, or I strike.

Adr. Hold thy raised arm; give me a moment's pause.

My father, when he blest me, gave me this:
My son, said he, let this be thy last refuge;
If thou forego'st it, misery attends thee.-
Yet love now charms it from me; which in all
The hazards of my life I never lost.
"Tis thine, my faithful sword; my only trust;
Though my heart tells me that the gift is fatal.

[Gives it. Cre. Fatal! yes, foolish love-sick prince, it shall: Thy arrogance, thy scorn, my wound's remembrance, Turn all at once the fatal point upon thee.Pyracmon, to the palace; dispatch

The king; hang Hæmon up, for he is loyal,
And will oppose me.-Come, sir, are you ready?
Adr. Yes, villain, for whatever thou canst dare.
Eur. Hold, Creon, or through me, through me
you wound.

Adr. Off, madam, or we perish both; behold
I'm not unarmed, my poniard's in my hand;
Therefore, away.

Eur. I'll guard your life with mine.

Cre. Die both, then; there is now no time for

dallying.

Adrastus!

[Kils EURYDICE.

Eur. Ah, prince, farewell! farewell, my dear

[Dies.

Adr. Unheard-of monster! Down, to thy primitive flame. Cre. Help, soldiers, help; Revenge me.

eldest-born of hell!
[Stabs CREON.

Adr. More; yet more; a thousand wounds! I'll stamp thee still, thus, to the gaping furies.

[ADRASTUS falls, killed by the soldiers.

Enter HAMON, Guards, with ALCANDER and Pr-
RACMON bound; the Assassins are driven off.

O Hæmon, I am slain; nor need I name
The inhuman author of all villainies;
There he lies gasping.

Cre. If I must plunge in flames,

Burn first my arm; base instrument, unfit
To act the dictates of my daring mind
Burn, burn for ever, O weak substitute
Of that, the god, ambition.

[Dies.

Adr. She's gone;-O deadly marksman, in the heart! Yet in the pangs of death she grasps my hand; Her lips too tremble, as if she would speak Her last farewell.-O, Edipus, thy fall Is great; and nobly now thou goest attended! They talk of heroes, and celestial beauties, And wondrous pleasures in the other world; Let me but find her there, I ask no more.

[Dies.

Enter a Captain to HÆMON; with TERESIAS and ΜΑΝΤΟ.

Cap. O, sir, the queen Jocasta, swift and wild, As a robbed tygress bounding o'er the woods, Has acted murders that amaze mankind; In twisted gold I saw her daughters hang On the bed-royal, and her little sons

Stabbed through the breasts upon the bloody pillows. Ham. Relentless heavens! is then the fate of Laius Never to be atoned? How sacred ought

Kings' lives be held, when but the death of one
Demands an empire's blood for expiation!
But see the furious mad Jocasta's here.

Scene draws, and discovers JOCASTA held by her wo-
men, and stabbed in many places of her Bosom, her
Hair dishevelled, her Children slain upon the Bed.
Was ever yet a sight of so much horror
And pity brought to view!

Joc. Ah, cruel women!

Will you not let me take my last farewell
Of those dear babes? O let me run, and seal
My melting soul upon their bubbling wounds!
I'll print upon their coral mouths such kisses,
As shall recal their wandering spirits home.
Let me go, let me go, or I will tear you piece-meal.
Help, Hæmon, help;

Help, Edipus; help, Gods; Jocasta dies.

Enter EDIPUS above.

Edip. I've found a window, and I thank the gods 'Tis quite unbarred; sure, by the distant noise, The height will fit my fatal purpose well.

Joc. What hoa, my Edipus! see where he stands! His groping ghost is lodged upon a tower,

Nor can it find the road. Mount, mount, my soul; I'll wrap thy shivering spirit in lambent flames; and so we'll sail.—

But see! we're landed on the happy coast;
And all the golden strands are covered o'er
With glorious gods, that come to try our cause.
Jove, Jove, whose majesty now sinks me down,
He, who himself burns in unlawful fires,
Shall judge, and shall acquit us. O, 'tis done;
'Tis fixt by fate, upon record divine;
And Edipus shall now be ever mine.

[Dies

Oedip. Speak, Hæmon; what has fate been doing

there?

What dreadful deed has mad Jocasta done?

Ham. The queen herself, and all. offspring,

Are by her fury slain.

Oedip. By all my woes,

your wretched

She has outdone me in revenge and murder,
And I should envy her the sad applause:

But oh, my children! oh, what have they done?
This was not like the mercy of the heavens,
To set her madness on such cruelty:
This stirs me more than all my sufferings,
And with my last breath I must call you tyrants.
Ham. What mean you, sir?

Oedip. Jocasta! lo, I come.

O Laius, Labdacus, and all you spirits
Of the Cadmean race, prepare to meet me,
All weeping ranged along the gloomy shore;
Extend your arms to embrace me, for I come.
May all the gods, too, from their battlements,
Behold and wonder at a mortal's daring;

And, when I knock the goal of dreadful death,
Shout and applaud me with a clap of thunder.
Once more, thus winged by horrid fate, I come,
Swift as a falling meteor; lo, I fly,

And thus go downwards to the darker sky.

[Thunder. He flings himself from the Window: The Thebans gather about his Body.

Ham. O prophet, Edipus is now no more! O cursed effect of the most deep despair!

Tir. Cease your complaints, and bear his body hence; The dreadful sight will daunt the drooping Thebans, Whom heaven decrees to raise with peace and glory. Yet, by these terrible examples warned,

The sacred Fury thus alarms the world :

Let none, though ne'er so virtuous, great, and high, Be judged entirely blest before they die. [Exeunt.