Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Thebes' hubristic king was Oedipus Rex
He ruled over the land and his royal subjects
The prophecy about him was very complex
He had sight but didn't see its awful effects
Despite this, he had his subjects' respect
Although the proud Oedipus had physical sight,
he could not see that the prophecy was right
He couldn't see that Apollo, the god of light
had correctly predicted that Oedipus would fight
his birth father Laius, who he did terribly smite
The sightless king slept soundly with his soul mate
and mother, Jocasta, as the prophecy did state
He did believe that Apollo's prediction was innate
in his birth, but he thought he could change his own fate
His prophecy would occur, he just had to wait
Jocasta told her husband who really did commit
the horrible act of killing Laius: they were bandits
Now that Oedipus knew the true culprits,
Jocasta thought he would stop listening and quit,
but Oedipus thought, from more information, he would benefit
He was like a young schoolboy, ready to learn
He wanted to see; it was what he yearned
for. Jocasta thought he was being very stubborn,
asking all his questions. She became very concerned,
and into the royal palace she did return
The messenger told Oedipus that he had saved
Oedipus from Mt. Kithairon. His feet had been staved
into the mountain itself. The mountain had enslaved
the young Oedipus, his fate engraved
into his life. The messenger had morally behaved
Convincing the shepherd to talk was pretty hard,
but when he started talking, Oedipus did not disregard
the shepherd's own words. His ears were on guard
The shepherd, instead of leaving Oedipus, a broken glass shard
at the mountain, gave him to the messenger, leaving him scarred
Oedipus, now in the palace, saw to his demise
his wife/mother Jocasta, hanging from the skies
Oedipus was so upset he stabbed himself in the eyes
with Jocasta's gold brooches. He now realized
that he couldn't actually see, but he became more wise
The universal truth expressed via the motif
about sight and not seeing is a well-known belief
Being able to see mentally and spiritually is chief
and only having physical sight causes grief
Those who see the abstract have a sense of relief
Being able to see physically is not the same kind
of wording as seeing and noticing with the mind
Observing mentally is how a smart person's defined
The motif in Oedipus Rex helps us to remind
ourselves that we should not, like Oedipus, be blind