Act I: Scene II
(Enter Pauline and Stratonice)
POLY.I needs must go, Pauline! My love, good-bye!I go but to return--for thine am I!
PAUL.Oh, why this haste to leave a loving wife?Doth honour call?--or fear'st thou for thy life?
POLY.For more, a thousandfold!
PAUL.Great Gods above!
POLY.Thou hast my heart! Let this content thy love!
PAUL.You love and yet you leave me. What am I?Not mine to solve the dreary mystery!
POLY.I love thee more than self--than life--than fameBut----
PAUL.There is something that thou dar'st not name.Oh, on my knees I supplicate, I pray,Remove my darkness!--turn my night to day!
POLY.Oh, dreams are naught!
PAUL.Yet, when they tell of thee,I needs must listen, for I love! Ah, me!
POLY.Take courage, dear one, 'tis but for an hour,Thy love must draw me back, for love hath powerO'er all in earth and heaven. My soul's delight,I can no more! My only safety--flight!
(Exeunt Polyeucte and Nearchus.)
Words in this poem
- pauline a.
- Of or pertaining to the apostle Paul, or his writings; resembling, or conforming to, the writings of Paul; as, the Pauline epistles; Pauline doctrine. [L. Paulinus, fr. Paulus Paul.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- thousandfold a.
- Multiplied by a thousand.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- exeunt
- They go out, or retire from the scene; as, exeunt all except Hamlet. See 1st Exit. [L., 3d pers. pl. pres. of exire to go out.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act I: Scene II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Polyeucte, Project Gutenberg ebook #2543, the Thomas Constable translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Pierre Corneille, Act I: Scene II, in Polyeucte (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2543, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corneille-polyeucte/act-i-scene-ii.html, id L27776.
Form and metre
Act I: Scene II is 34 lines in 13 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 -AA poly · byeA · iA
- 3 -AA paul · wifeA · lifeA
- 9 --AA paul · name · prayA · dayA
- 11 -AA paul · theeA · meA
- 12 -AABB poly · hourA · powerA · delightB · flightB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| (Enter Pauline and Stratonice) | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| POLY. | 2 | /˘ |
| I needs must go, Pauline! My love, good-bye! | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| I go but to return--for thine am I! | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Oh, why this haste to leave a loving wife? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Doth honour call?--or fear'st thou for thy life? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| POLY. | 2 | /˘ |
| For more, a thousandfold! | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Great Gods above! | 4 | ···· |
| POLY. | 2 | /˘ |
| Thou hast my heart! Let this content thy love! | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| You love and yet you leave me. What am I? | 10 | ·········· |
| Not mine to solve the dreary mystery! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| POLY. | 2 | /˘ |
| I love thee more than self--than life--than fame | 10 | ·········· |
| But---- | 1 | · |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| There is something that thou dar'st not name. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Oh, on my knees I supplicate, I pray, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Remove my darkness!--turn my night to day! | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| POLY. | 2 | /˘ |
| Oh, dreams are naught! | 4 | ···· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Yet, when they tell of thee, | 6 | ······ |
| I needs must listen, for I love! Ah, me! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| POLY. | 2 | /˘ |
| Take courage, dear one, 'tis but for an hour, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Thy love must draw me back, for love hath power | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| O'er all in earth and heaven. My soul's delight, | 10 | ·····/··˘/ |
| I can no more! My only safety--flight! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| (Exeunt Polyeucte and Nearchus.) | 8 | /˘˘····· |
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