Act III: Scene III
(Enter Felix.)
FELIX.O insolence undreamed!--Before my very eyes!--Before the people's gaze! It is too much!--he dies!
PAUL.O father!--on my knees!(Kneels.)Unsay that word!
FELIX.Nearchus' doom I speak,--not his, thy lord.Though all unworthy he to be my son,Yet still he bears the name that he hath won;Nor crime of his nor wrath of mine shall ever moveThy father's heart to hate the man thou crown'st with love!
PAUL.Ne'er vainly have I sued for pity from my sire!
FELIX.And yet meet food were he for righteous ire!To recount an act so fell my feeble words too weak,But thou has heard the tale my lips refuse to speakFrom her, thy maiden; she hath told thee all.
PAUL.Nearchus goaded--planned--and he shall fall!
FELIX.So taught by torture of his vilest friend,Shall Polyeucte mark of guilt the certain end,When of the frenzied race he sees the goal,The dread of torture shall subdue his soul!Who mocked the thought of death, when death he views,Will choose an easier mate--and rightly choose.That shadowy guest, that doth his soul entice,Once master, glues all ardour into ice,And that proud heart, which never meekness knew,When face to face with Death--will learn to sue!
PAUL.What! Thinkest thou his soul can ever blench?
FELIX.Death's mighty flood must every furnace quench!
PAUL.It might! It may!--I know such things can be!A Polyeucte changed--debased--forsworn I see!O, changeful Fortune! changeless Polyeucte move,And grant a boon denied by father's love!
FELIX.My love too plain--myself too weakly kind,Let him repent and he shall pardon find;Nearchus' sin is his,--and yet the graceHe shall not win, thy Polyeucte may embrace!My duty--to a father's love betrayedHath of thy sire a fond accomplice made;A healing balm I bring for all thy fears,I look for thanks, and lo--thou giv'st me tears!
PAUL.I give no thanks--no cause for thanks I find;I know the Christian temper--know their mind,They can blaspheme, but ah, they cannot lie!They know not how to yield--but they can die!
FELIX.As bird in hand, he holds his pardon still.
PAUL.The bird escapes, when 'tis the owner's will.
FELIX.He death escapes--if so he do elect.
PAUL.He death embraces--as doth all his sect.Is't thus a father pleads for his own son?
FELIX.Who wills his death is by himself undone.
PAUL.He cannot see!
FELIX.Because he chooses night.Who loves the darkness hateth still the light.
PAUL.O, by the Gods--
FELIX.Nay, daughter, save thy breath;Spurned--outraged--'tis the Gods demand his death.
PAUL.They hear our prayers--
FELIX.Nay, then let Polyeucte pray!
PAUL.Since Decius gives thee power,--that word unsay!
FELIX.He gives me power, Pauline, to do his willAgainst his foes--'gainst all who work him ill.
PAUL.Is Polyeucte his foe?
FELIX.All Christians rebels are.
PAUL.Thy son shall plead more loud than policy or war.For mine is thine; O father, save thine own--
FELIX.The son who is a traitor I disown!For treason is a crime without redress,'Gainst which all else sinks into nothingness.
PAUL.Too great thy rigour!
FELIX.Yet more great his guilt.
PAUL.Too true my dream! Must his dear blood be spilt?With Polyeucte, I too--thy child--shall fall!
FELIX.The Gods--the Emperor--rule over all.
PAUL.O hear our dying supplication--hear!
FELIX.Not Jove alone, but Decius I fear:--But why anticipate a doom so sad?Shall this--his blindness--make thy Polyeucte mad?Fresh Christian zeal remains not always new,The sight of death compels a saner view.
PAUL.O, if thou lov'st him still, all hope forsake!In one day can he two conversions make?Not this the Christians' mould: they never change;His heart is fixed--past power of man to estrange.This is no poison quaffed all unawares,What martyrs do and dare--that Polyeucte dares;He saw the lure by which he was enticed,He thinks the universe well lost for Christ.I know the breed; I know their courage high,They love the cross,--so, for the cross, they die.We see two stakes of wood, the felon's shame,They see a halo round one matchless Name.To powers of earth, and hell, and torture blind,In death, for Him they love, they rapture find.They joy in agony,--our gain their loss,To die for Christ they count the world but dross:Our rack their crown, our pain their highest pleasure,And in the world's contempt they find their treasure.Their cherished heritage is--martyrdom!
FELIX.Let then this heir into his kingdom come! No more!--
PAUL.O father!
Words in this poem 20
- insolence n.
- The quality of being unusual or novel. [F. insolence, L. insolentia. See Insolent.]
- undreamed a.
- Not dreamed, or dreamed of; not thof.
- unsay v. t.
- To recant or recall, as what has been said; to refract; to take back again; to make as if not said. [1st pref. un- + say.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- rightly adv.
- Straightly; directly; in front. [AS. richtlice.]
- ardour n.
- Heat, in a literal sense; as, the ardor of the sun's rays. [L. ardor, fr. ardere to burn: cf. OF. ardor, ardur, F. ardeur.]
- meekness n.
- The quality or state of being meek.
- blench v. t.
- To baffle; to disconcert; to turn away; -- also, to obstruct; to hinder.
- changeful a.
- Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain.
- changeless a.
- That can not be changed; constant; as, a changeless purpose.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
- blaspheme v. t.
- To speak of, or address, with impious irreverence; to revile impiously (anything sacred); as, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. [OE. blasfem, L. blasphemare, fr. Gr. : cf. F. blasphémer. See Blame, v.]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- 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.]
- rigour n.
- Rigidity; stiffness. [L. See Rigor., below.]
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- heritage a.
- That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act III: 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 III: Scene III, in Polyeucte (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2543, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corneille-polyeucte/act-iii-scene-iii.html, id L27787.
Form and metre
Act III: Scene III is 139 lines in 39 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 felix · eyesA · diesA
- 4 --AABB felix · lord · sonA · wonA · moveB · loveB
- 6 --AA- felix · ire · weakA · speakA · all
- 7 AA paulA · fallA
- 8 -AABBCCDDEE felix · friendA · endA · goalB · soulB · viewsC · chooseC · enticeD · iceD · knewE · sueE
- 11 -AABB paul · beA · seeA · moveB · loveB
- 12 -AABBCCDD felix · kindA · findA · graceB · embraceB · betrayedC · madeC · fearsD · tearsD
- 13 -AABB paul · findA · mindA · lieB · dieB
- 20 -AA felix · nightA · lightA
- 22 -AA felix · breathA · deathA
- 26 -AA felix · willA · illA
- 30 --AA felix · disown · redressA · nothingnessA
- 33 A-A paulA · spilt · fallA
- 36 --AABB felix · fear · sadA · madA · newB · viewB
- 37 -AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII- paul · forsakeA · makeA · changeB · estrangeB · unawaresC · daresC · enticedD · christD · highE · dieE · shameF · nameF · blindG · findG · lossH · drossH · pleasureI · treasureI · martyrdom
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 Felix.) | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| O insolence undreamed!--Before my very eyes!-- | 11 | ·/˘˘/···/˘· |
| Before the people's gaze! It is too much!--he dies! | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| O father!--on my knees! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| (Kneels.) | 1 | · |
| Unsay that word! | 4 | ···· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| Nearchus' doom I speak,--not his, thy lord. | 9 | ········· |
| Though all unworthy he to be my son, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Yet still he bears the name that he hath won; | 10 | ·········· |
| Nor crime of his nor wrath of mine shall ever move | 11 | ·········/· |
| Thy father's heart to hate the man thou crown'st with love! | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Ne'er vainly have I sued for pity from my sire! | 12 | ·/˘····/˘··/ |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| And yet meet food were he for righteous ire! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To recount an act so fell my feeble words too weak, | 13 | ·˘/·····/˘··· |
| But thou has heard the tale my lips refuse to speak | 12 | ········˘/·· |
| From her, thy maiden; she hath told thee all. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Nearchus goaded--planned--and he shall fall! | 10 | ··/˘·˘···· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| So taught by torture of his vilest friend, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Shall Polyeucte mark of guilt the certain end, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When of the frenzied race he sees the goal, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The dread of torture shall subdue his soul! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Who mocked the thought of death, when death he views, | 10 | ·········· |
| Will choose an easier mate--and rightly choose. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That shadowy guest, that doth his soul entice, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Once master, glues all ardour into ice, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And that proud heart, which never meekness knew, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| When face to face with Death--will learn to sue! | 10 | ·········· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| What! Thinkest thou his soul can ever blench? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| Death's mighty flood must every furnace quench! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| It might! It may!--I know such things can be! | 10 | ·········· |
| A Polyeucte changed--debased--forsworn I see! | 10 | ····˘/·/·· |
| O, changeful Fortune! changeless Polyeucte move, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And grant a boon denied by father's love! | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| My love too plain--myself too weakly kind, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| Let him repent and he shall pardon find; | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Nearchus' sin is his,--and yet the grace | 9 | ········· |
| He shall not win, thy Polyeucte may embrace! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| My duty--to a father's love betrayed | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Hath of thy sire a fond accomplice made; | 10 | ···/··˘/˘· |
| A healing balm I bring for all thy fears, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I look for thanks, and lo--thou giv'st me tears! | 10 | ·········· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| I give no thanks--no cause for thanks I find; | 10 | ·········· |
| I know the Christian temper--know their mind, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| They can blaspheme, but ah, they cannot lie! | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| They know not how to yield--but they can die! | 10 | ·········· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| As bird in hand, he holds his pardon still. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| The bird escapes, when 'tis the owner's will. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| He death escapes--if so he do elect. | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| He death embraces--as doth all his sect. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Is't thus a father pleads for his own son? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| Who wills his death is by himself undone. | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| He cannot see! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| Because he chooses night. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who loves the darkness hateth still the light. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| O, by the Gods-- | 4 | ···· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| Nay, daughter, save thy breath; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Spurned--outraged--'tis the Gods demand his death. | 10 | ·/····˘/·· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| They hear our prayers-- | 5 | ··/˘· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| Nay, then let Polyeucte pray! | 6 | ······ |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Since Decius gives thee power,--that word unsay! | 10 | ·····/···· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| He gives me power, Pauline, to do his will | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Against his foes--'gainst all who work him ill. | 10 | ·········· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Is Polyeucte his foe? | 5 | ····· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| All Christians rebels are. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Thy son shall plead more loud than policy or war. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| For mine is thine; O father, save thine own-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| The son who is a traitor I disown! | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| For treason is a crime without redress, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| 'Gainst which all else sinks into nothingness. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Too great thy rigour! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| Yet more great his guilt. | 5 | ····· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Too true my dream! Must his dear blood be spilt? | 10 | ·········· |
| With Polyeucte, I too--thy child--shall fall! | 9 | ········· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| The Gods--the Emperor--rule over all. | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| O hear our dying supplication--hear! | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| Not Jove alone, but Decius I fear:-- | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| But why anticipate a doom so sad? | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Shall this--his blindness--make thy Polyeucte mad? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Fresh Christian zeal remains not always new, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/·· |
| The sight of death compels a saner view. | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| O, if thou lov'st him still, all hope forsake! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| In one day can he two conversions make? | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Not this the Christians' mould: they never change; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| His heart is fixed--past power of man to estrange. | 11 | ·····/···˘/ |
| This is no poison quaffed all unawares, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| What martyrs do and dare--that Polyeucte dares; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| He saw the lure by which he was enticed, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| He thinks the universe well lost for Christ. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I know the breed; I know their courage high, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They love the cross,--so, for the cross, they die. | 10 | ·········· |
| We see two stakes of wood, the felon's shame, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They see a halo round one matchless Name. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To powers of earth, and hell, and torture blind, | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| In death, for Him they love, they rapture find. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They joy in agony,--our gain their loss, | 10 | ···/˘˘/··· |
| To die for Christ they count the world but dross: | 10 | ·········· |
| Our rack their crown, our pain their highest pleasure, | 11 | /···/··/˘/˘ |
| And in the world's contempt they find their treasure. | 11 | ····˘/···/˘ |
| Their cherished heritage is--martyrdom! | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| FELIX. | 2 | /˘ |
| Let then this heir into his kingdom come! No more!-- | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| O father! | 3 | ·/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.