SENIOR TRANSLATIONS.
123
LITERARY.
SENIOR TRANSLATIONS.
From Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles.
O tribes of mortal men,
Your lives are spent in vain!
Who seemeth more to have
Than Gods are wont to give.
To him Fair Fortune's day
Dawns bright, then fades away.
O soul-tossed Oedipus!
While I recall thy fate
And lessons taught to men,
None do I gratulate.
From Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles.
O races of mortals, in vain is your strife;
I count you as naught in the works of life.
For what man wins glory and thinks himself great,
Who does not soon fall by some fatal mistake?
Yon wretched patient seems greatly distressed,
Oh! no one of mortals I deem to be blessed.
It was Apollo, my friends, I say,
Who hath my destruction accomplished this day.
No murderer had any part in this crime,
But I myself did it, while maddened in mind.
And since my sad fortunes to me have been told,
Pray, what could be pleasing for me to behold?
O aged Theban fathers, this man you behold. Did by his wisdom the riddle unfold. By him in no way were your riches e'er sought. But see to what ruin his life has been brought! Let no one too quickly deem any man blessed. Until without sorrow he goes to his rest.
From the Medea of Euripides.
The sacred streams flow back to their source.
And justice again has been reversed.
The wily deceits of men show forth,
No longer does faith in Gods exist.
Report to my sex shall give renown:
Yea, honor shall come to woman-kind,
Nor shall ill will her freedom bind.