_Oedipus_: Then now at heaven's command shall be atoned That impious deed. Whoever of the gods Dost look with kindly eye upon our realm; And thou, whose hand doth guide the rolling sphere; And thou, O glory of the smiling sky, 250 Who in thy wandering course dost rule the stars, And with thy flying wheels dost measure out The slow procession of the centuries; Thou sister of the sun, night-wanderer, Who ever dost reflect thy brother's fires; And thou, great ruler of the boisterous winds, Who o'er the level deep dost drive thy car; 255 And thou, who dost allot the sunless homes: May he, by whose right hand king Laius fell, No peaceful home, no trusty lares find; And may no land in hospitality Receive his cheerless, exiled wanderings. O'er shameful marriage may he live to grieve, 260 And monstrous progeny. May he his sire By his own hand destroy; and may he do (What doom more dreadful can I imprecate?) The deed which by my flight I did not do. No room for pardon shall be given him; By this my regal scepter do I swear, Both by the sway which I as stranger hold, And that I left behind; by my household gods, 265 And thee, O Neptune, who with shorter waves And twofold current dost disport thyself Upon my native Corinth's double shores. And thou thyself be witness to my words, Who dost inspire the fate-revealing lips Of Cirrha's priestess: so may Polybus, 270 My royal father, spend a quiet age, And end his days in peace upon the throne; And so may Merope, my mother, know The marriage of her Polybus alone, As from my grasp no favoring power shall snatch That guilty one, who basely slew the king. But tell me, where was that foul murder done? In open fight, or was he basely snared? 275