Full of resource against all that comes to him

Is Man. Against Death alone

He is left with no defence.

But painful sickness he can cure

By his own skill.

Antistrophe 2

Surpassing belief, the device and

Cunning that Man has attained,

And it bringeth him now to evil, now to good.

If he observe Law, and tread

The righteous path God ordained,

Honoured is he; dishonoured, the man whose reckless heart

Shall make him join hands with sin:

May I not think like him,

Nor may such an impious man

Dwell in my house.

[Enter GUARD, with ANTIGONE.]

CHORUS. What evil spirit is abroad? I know

Her well: Antigone. But how can I

Believe it? Why, O you unlucky daughter

Of an unlucky father, what is this?

Can it be you, so mad and so defiant,

So disobedient to a King’s decree?

GUARD. Here is the one who did the deed, this girl;

We caught her burying him.—But where is Creon?

CHORUS. He comes, just as you need him, from the palace.

[Enter CREON, attended.]

CREON. How? What occasion makes my coming timely?

GUARD. Sir, against nothing should a man take oath,

For second thoughts belie him. Under your threats

That lashed me like a hailstorm, I’d have said

I would not quickly have come here again;

But joy that comes beyond our dearest hope

Surpasses all in magnitude. So I

Return, though I had sworn I never would,

Bringing this girl detected in the act

Of honouring the body. This time no lot

Was cast; the windfall is my very own.

And so, my lord, do as you please: take her

Yourself, examine her, cross-question her.

I claim the right of free and final quittance.

CREON. Why do you bring this girl? Where was she taken?

GUARD. In burying the body. That is all.

CREON. You know what you are saying? Do you mean it?

GUARD. I saw her giving burial to the corpse

You had forbidden. Is that plain and clear?

CREON. How did you see and take her so red-handed?

GUARD. It was like this. When we had reached the place,

Those dreadful threats of yours upon our heads,

We swept aside each grain of dust that hid

The clammy body, leaving it quite bare,

And sat down on a hill, to the windward side

That so we might avoid the smell of it.

We kept sharp look-out; each man roundly cursed

His neighbour, if he should neglect his duty.

So the time passed, until the blazing sun

Reached his mid-course and burned us with his heat.

Then, suddenly, a whirlwind came from heaven

And raised a storm of dust, which blotted out

The earth and sky; the air was filled with sand

And bore this visitation as we could.

At last it ended; then we saw the girl.

She raised a bitter cry, as will a bird

Returning to its nest and finding it

Despoiled, a cradle empty of its young.