Act II: Scene III
STRAT.Yes, it is hard--most sad--behold my tears!But now, at least, there is no cause for fears:Thy dream is but a dream--is naught, is vain;Severus pardons. Gone that cause for pain!
PAUL.Oh, if from pity start thy easy tear,Add not that other woe--forgotten fear!Ah! let me breathe, some respite give from trouble,Those fears, half-dead, thou dost revive, redouble!
STRAT.What dost thou dread?
PAUL.Heaven--hell--earth--empty air!All, all is food for dread to my despair,As thou unveil'st, begirt in lurid light,The pallid ghost that slew me in the night!
STRAT.Severus he by name, yet noble in his heart!
PAUL.Ah, Polyeucte bathed in blood! Depart! depart!
STRAT.For Polyeucte's welfare did Severus pray!
PAUL.Yes, yes, his heart is great; be that my stay!Yet, tho' his truth, his faith, well-proved be,Most baleful is his presence here to me;Yea, tho' he would all ill for me undoYet he hath power, he loves--he came to woo.
Words in this poem
- redouble v. t.
- To double again or repeatedly; to increase by continued or repeated additions; to augment greatly; to multiply. [Pref. re- + double: cf. F. redoubler. Cf. Reduplicate.]
- begirt v. t.
- To encompass; to begird.
- lurid a.
- Pale yellow; ghastly pale; wan; gloomy; dismal. [L. luridus.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act II: Scene III 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 II: Scene III, in Polyeucte (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2543, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corneille-polyeucte/act-ii-scene-iii.html, id L27781.
Form and metre
Act II: Scene III is 29 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 55% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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.
- 1 -AABB strat · tearsA · fearsA · vainB · painB
- 2 ABBAA paulA · tearB · fearB · troubleA · redoubleA
- 4 -AABB paul · airA · despairA · lightB · nightB
- 8 --AABB paul · stay · beA · meA · undoB · wooB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| STRAT. | 1 | · |
| Yes, it is hard--most sad--behold my tears! | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| But now, at least, there is no cause for fears: | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy dream is but a dream--is naught, is vain; | 10 | ·········· |
| Severus pardons. Gone that cause for pain! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Oh, if from pity start thy easy tear, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Add not that other woe--forgotten fear! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Ah! let me breathe, some respite give from trouble, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Those fears, half-dead, thou dost revive, redouble! | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| STRAT. | 1 | · |
| What dost thou dread? | 4 | ···· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Heaven--hell--earth--empty air! | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| All, all is food for dread to my despair, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| As thou unveil'st, begirt in lurid light, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| The pallid ghost that slew me in the night! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| STRAT. | 1 | · |
| Severus he by name, yet noble in his heart! | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Ah, Polyeucte bathed in blood! Depart! depart! | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| STRAT. | 1 | · |
| For Polyeucte's welfare did Severus pray! | 10 | ···/······ |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Yes, yes, his heart is great; be that my stay! | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet, tho' his truth, his faith, well-proved be, | 9 | ········· |
| Most baleful is his presence here to me; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Yea, tho' he would all ill for me undo | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Yet he hath power, he loves--he came to woo. | 10 | ···/······ |
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