Act V: Scene V
PAUL.Tyrant, why leave thy butchery half done?Come, slay thy daughter, thou hast slain thy son!For, hear!--His villainy--or worth--is mine!Why stay thy hand while I my neck incline?Thy sword in me shall find a kindred food,I too am new baptized, baptized in blood!These drops that fell from off the murderous knife,Have made the martyr's widow a true wife.I see!--I feel!--I know! My darkest nightIs o'er--to break in purest heavenly light.I too, at last, am Christ's: that word says all,Those hands were pierced for me--I hear His call:Death--lovely death--thy beckoning hand I hail!Oh, help my passage, or thy schemes may fail!Dread Decius! Fear Severus! Fear thy fall!Oh, speed me to my lord--my love--my all!My husband calls me to his happier land--See!--there Nearchus at his side doth stand!Lead me to these--the gods by thee confest,Some shrines spared Polyeucte, I will break the rest!There, there the gods thou fearest I will brave,Oh, bare thy knife!--no other gift I crave.Thou hast my master been: another LordClaims my obedience now; yes, raise thy sword!Revolt is holy when for Christ we fight,--My day has dawned, the day that knows no night!Once more I cry--'Christ only has my heart!'Thy bliss and mine secure! Let me depart!Keep thou thy kingdom! Safe its treasure hold!My kingdom there--with Christ--within the fold!
Words in this poem
- butchery n.
- The business of a butcher. [OE. bocherie shambles, fr. F. boucherie. See Butcher, n.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- 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,]
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- 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 V: Scene V 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 V: Scene V, in Polyeucte (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2543, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corneille-polyeucte/act-v-scene-v.html, id L27800.
Form and metre
Act V: Scene V is 31 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 90% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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--CCDDEEFFEEGGHHIIJJKKLLMM paul · doneA · sonA · mineB · inclineB · food · blood · knifeC · wifeC · nightD · lightD · allE · callE · hailF · failF · fallE · allE · landG · standG · confestH · restH · braveI · craveI · lordJ · swordJ · fightK · nightK · heartL · departL · holdM · foldM
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PAUL. | 1 | · |
| Tyrant, why leave thy butchery half done? | 10 | /˘···/˘˘·· |
| Come, slay thy daughter, thou hast slain thy son! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For, hear!--His villainy--or worth--is mine! | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Why stay thy hand while I my neck incline? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Thy sword in me shall find a kindred food, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I too am new baptized, baptized in blood! | 10 | ····˘/˘/·· |
| These drops that fell from off the murderous knife, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Have made the martyr's widow a true wife. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I see!--I feel!--I know! My darkest night | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Is o'er--to break in purest heavenly light. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| I too, at last, am Christ's: that word says all, | 10 | ·········· |
| Those hands were pierced for me--I hear His call: | 10 | ·········· |
| Death--lovely death--thy beckoning hand I hail! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Oh, help my passage, or thy schemes may fail! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Dread Decius! Fear Severus! Fear thy fall! | 10 | ·········· |
| Oh, speed me to my lord--my love--my all! | 10 | ·········· |
| My husband calls me to his happier land-- | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| See!--there Nearchus at his side doth stand! | 9 | ········· |
| Lead me to these--the gods by thee confest, | 10 | ·········· |
| Some shrines spared Polyeucte, I will break the rest! | 10 | ·········· |
| There, there the gods thou fearest I will brave, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Oh, bare thy knife!--no other gift I crave. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thou hast my master been: another Lord | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Claims my obedience now; yes, raise thy sword! | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Revolt is holy when for Christ we fight,-- | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| My day has dawned, the day that knows no night! | 10 | ·········· |
| Once more I cry--'Christ only has my heart!' | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thy bliss and mine secure! Let me depart! | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Keep thou thy kingdom! Safe its treasure hold! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| My kingdom there--with Christ--within the fold! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
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.