Alas, for their quarrel,
The brothers that were!
The brothers that were!
Aeschylus
ANTIGONE, ISMENE, _and_ CHORUS
(_Processional Chant_)
Thou wert smitten, in smiting,
Thou didst slay, and wert slain--
By the spear of each other
Ye lie on the plain,
And ruthless the deed that ye wrought was,
and ruthless the death of the twain!
Take voice, O my sorrow!
Flow tear upon tear--
Lay the slain by the slayer,
Made one on the bier!
Our soul in distraction is lost,
and we mourn o'er the prey of the spear!
Ah, woe for your ending,
Unbrotherly wrought!
And woe for the issue,
The fray that ye fought,
The doom of a mutual slaughter
whereby to the grave ye are brought!
Ah, twofold the sorrow--
The heard and the seen!
And double the tide
Of our tears and our teen,
As we stand by our brothers in death
and wail for the love that has been!
O grievous the fate
That attends upon wrong!
Stern ghost of our sire,
Thy vengeance is long!
Dark Fury of hell and of death, the hands of thy
kingdom are strong!
O dark were the sorrows
That exile hath known!
He slew, but returned not
Alive to his own!
He struck down a brother, but fell, in the moment of
triumph hewn down!
O lineage accurst,
O doom and despair!
Alas, for their quarrel,
The brothers that were!
And woe! for their pitiful end, who once were our
love and our care!
O grievous the fate
That attends upon wrong!
Stern ghost of our sire,
Thy vengeance is long!
Dark Fury of hell and of death, the hands of thy
kingdom are strong!
By proof have ye learnt it!
At once and as one,
O brothers beloved,
To death ye were done!
Ye came to the strife of the sword, and behold! ye
are both overthrown!
O grievous the tale is,
And grievous their fall,
To the house, to the land,
And to me above all!
Ah God! for the curse that hath come, the sin and
the ruin withal!
O children distraught,
Who in madness have died!
Shall ye rest with old kings
In the place of their pride?
Alas for the wrath of your sire if he findeth you laid
by his side!
