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PHI
254
How full of griefs am I, how Heaven-abhorred,
When of my piteous state no faintest sound
Hath reached my home, or any Grecian land!
But they, who pitilessly cast me forth,
Keep silence and are glad, while this my plague
Blooms ever, and is strengthened more and more.
Boy, great Achilles’ offspring, in this form
Thou seest the man, of whom, methinks, erewhile
Thou hast been told, to whom the Hercúlean bow
Descended, Philoctetes, Poeas’ son;
Whom the two generals and the Ithacan king
Cast out thus shamefully forlorn, afflicted
With the fierce malady and desperate wound
Made by the cruel basilisk’s murderous tooth.
With this for company they left me, child!
Exposed upon this shore, deserted, lone.
From seaward Chrysa came they with their fleet
And touched at Lemnos. I had fallen to rest
From the long tossing, in a shadowy cave
On yonder cliff by the shore. Gladly they saw,
And left me, having set forth for my need,
Poor man, some scanty rags, and a thin store
255
Of provender. Such food be theirs, I pray!
255
Imagine, O my son, when they were gone,
255
What wakening, what arising, then was mine;
255
What weeping, what lamenting of my woe!
255
When I beheld the ships, wherewith I sailed,
255
Gone, one and all! and no man in the place,
255
None to bestead me, none to comfort me
255
In my sore sickness. And where’er I looked,
255
Nought but distress was present with me still.
255
No lack of that, for one thing!—Ah! my son,
255
Time passed, and there I found myself alone
255
Within my narrow lodging, forced to serve
255
Each pressing need. For body’s sustenance
255
This bow supplied me with sufficient store,
255
Wounding the feathered doves, and when the shaft,
255
From the tight string, had struck, myself, ay me!
255
Dragging this foot, would crawl to my swift prey.
255
Then water must be fetched, and in sharp frost
255
Wood must be found and broken,—all by me.
255
Nor would fire come unbidden, but with flint
255
From flints striking dim sparks, I hammered forth
The struggling flame that keeps the life in me.
For houseroom with the single help of fire
Gives all I need, save healing for my sore.
Now learn, my son, the nature of this isle.
No mariner puts in here willingly.
For it hath neither moorage, nor sea-port,
For traffic or kind shelter or good cheer.
Not hitherward do prudent men make voyage.
Perchance one may have touched against his will.
Many strange things may happen in long time.
These, when they come, in words have pitied me,
And given me food, or raiment, in compassion.
But none is willing, when I speak thereof,
To take me safely home. Wherefore I pine
Now this tenth year, in famine and distress,
Feeding the hunger of my ravenous plague.
Such deeds, my son, the Atridae, and the might
Of sage Odysseus, have performed on me.
Wherefore may all the Olympian gods, one day,
Plague them with stern requital for my wrong!
How full of griefs am I, how Heaven-abhorred,
When of my piteous state no faintest sound
Hath reached my home, or any Grecian land!
But they, who pitilessly cast me forth,
Keep silence and are glad, while this my plague
Blooms ever, and is strengthened more and more.
Boy, great Achilles’ offspring, in this form
Thou seest the man, of whom, methinks, erewhile
Thou hast been told, to whom the Hercúlean bow
Descended, Philoctetes, Poeas’ son;
Whom the two generals and the Ithacan king
Cast out thus shamefully forlorn, afflicted
With the fierce malady and desperate wound
Made by the cruel basilisk’s murderous tooth.
With this for company they left me, child!
Exposed upon this shore, deserted, lone.
From seaward Chrysa came they with their fleet
And touched at Lemnos. I had fallen to rest
From the long tossing, in a shadowy cave
On yonder cliff by the shore. Gladly they saw,
And left me, having set forth for my need,
Poor man, some scanty rags, and a thin store
255
Of provender. Such food be theirs, I pray!
255
Imagine, O my son, when they were gone,
255
What wakening, what arising, then was mine;
255
What weeping, what lamenting of my woe!
255
When I beheld the ships, wherewith I sailed,
255
Gone, one and all! and no man in the place,
255
None to bestead me, none to comfort me
255
In my sore sickness. And where’er I looked,
255
Nought but distress was present with me still.
255
No lack of that, for one thing!—Ah! my son,
255
Time passed, and there I found myself alone
255
Within my narrow lodging, forced to serve
255
Each pressing need. For body’s sustenance
255
This bow supplied me with sufficient store,
255
Wounding the feathered doves, and when the shaft,
255
From the tight string, had struck, myself, ay me!
255
Dragging this foot, would crawl to my swift prey.
255
Then water must be fetched, and in sharp frost
255
Wood must be found and broken,—all by me.
255
Nor would fire come unbidden, but with flint
255
From flints striking dim sparks, I hammered forth
The struggling flame that keeps the life in me.
For houseroom with the single help of fire
Gives all I need, save healing for my sore.
Now learn, my son, the nature of this isle.
No mariner puts in here willingly.
For it hath neither moorage, nor sea-port,
For traffic or kind shelter or good cheer.
Not hitherward do prudent men make voyage.
Perchance one may have touched against his will.
Many strange things may happen in long time.
These, when they come, in words have pitied me,
And given me food, or raiment, in compassion.
But none is willing, when I speak thereof,
To take me safely home. Wherefore I pine
Now this tenth year, in famine and distress,
Feeding the hunger of my ravenous plague.
Such deeds, my son, the Atridae, and the might
Of sage Odysseus, have performed on me.
Wherefore may all the Olympian gods, one day,
Plague them with stern requital for my wrong!
Philoctetes. Sophocles. Lewis Campbell (Translator). London, New York and Toronto. 1906.