Fourth Stasimon
CHORUS.I have sojourned in the Muse's land,Have wandered with the wandering star,Seeking for strength, and in my handHeld all philosophies that are;Yet nothing could I hear nor seeStronger than That Which Needs Must Be.No Orphic rune, no Thracian scroll,Hath magic to avert the morrow;No healing all those medicines braveApollo to the Asclepiad gave;Pale herbs of comfort in the bowlOf man's wide sorrow.She hath no temple, she alone,Nor image where a man may kneel;No blood upon her altar-stoneCrying shall make her hear nor feel.I know thy greatness; come not greatBeyond my dreams, O Power of Fate!Aye, Zeus himself shall not uncloseHis purpose save by thy decerning.The chain of iron, the Scythian sword,It yields and shivers at thy word;Thy heart is as the rock, and knowsNo ruth, nor turning.
(They turn to ADMETUS.)
Her hand hath caught thee; yea, the keepingOf iron fingers grips thee round.Be still. Be still. Thy noise of weepingShall raise no lost one from the ground.Nay, even the Sons of God are partedAt last from joy, and pine in death....Oh, dear on earth when all did love her,Oh, dearer lost beyond recover:Of women all the bravest-heartedHath pressed thy lips and breathed thy breath.
Let not the earth that lies upon herBe deemed a grave-mound of the dead.Let honour, as the Gods have honour,Be hers, till men shall bow the head,And strangers, climbing from the cityHer slanting path, shall muse and say:"This woman died to save her lover,And liveth blest, the stars above her:Hail, Holy One, and grant thy pity!"So pass the wondering words away.
Words in this poem
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- orphic a.
- Pertaining to Orpheus; Orphean; as, Orphic hymns.
- rune n.
- A letter, or character, belonging to the written language of the ancient Norsemen, or Scandinavians; in a wider sense, applied to the letters of the ancient nations of Northern Europe in general. [AS. run a rune, a secret, a mystery; akin to Icel. run, OHG. & Goth. runa a secret, secret colloquy, G. & Dan. rune rune, and probably to Gr. 'ereyna^n to searc]
- thracian a.
- Of or pertaining to Thrace, or its people.
- asclepiad n.
- A choriambic verse, first used by the Greek poet Asclepias, consisting of four feet, viz., a spondee, two choriambi, and an iambus.
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- 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,]
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fourth Stasimon is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Alcestis of Euripides, translated into English rhyming verse by Gilbert Murray, Project Gutenberg ebook #10523, the Gilbert Murray 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: Euripides, Fourth Stasimon, in Alcestis (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10523, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/euripides-alcestis/fourth-stasimon.html, id L28808.
Form and metre
Fourth Stasimon is 46 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 -ABABCCDEFFDEGHGHIIJK--JK chorus · landA · starB · handA · areB · seeC · beC · scrollD · morrowE · braveF · gaveF · bowlD · sorrowE · aloneG · kneelH · stoneG · feelH · greatI · fateI · uncloseJ · decerningK · sword · word · knowsJ · turningK
- 3 ABABCD--CD keepingA · roundB · weepingA · groundB · partedC · deathD · her · recover · heartedC · breathD
- 4 AB-BCD-ACD herA · deadB · honour · headB · cityC · sayD · lover · herA · pityC · awayD
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| CHORUS. | 2 | /˘ |
| I have sojourned in the Muse's land, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Have wandered with the wandering star, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Seeking for strength, and in my hand | 8 | /˘······ |
| Held all philosophies that are; | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Yet nothing could I hear nor see | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Stronger than That Which Needs Must Be. | 8 | /˘······ |
| No Orphic rune, no Thracian scroll, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Hath magic to avert the morrow; | 9 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| No healing all those medicines brave | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Apollo to the Asclepiad gave; | 10 | ˘/˘··˘/˘˘· |
| Pale herbs of comfort in the bowl | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of man's wide sorrow. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| She hath no temple, she alone, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Nor image where a man may kneel; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No blood upon her altar-stone | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Crying shall make her hear nor feel. | 8 | /˘······ |
| I know thy greatness; come not great | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beyond my dreams, O Power of Fate! | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Aye, Zeus himself shall not unclose | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| His purpose save by thy decerning. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| The chain of iron, the Scythian sword, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| It yields and shivers at thy word; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy heart is as the rock, and knows | 8 | ········ |
| No ruth, nor turning. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| (They turn to ADMETUS.) | 6 | ······ |
| Her hand hath caught thee; yea, the keeping | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Of iron fingers grips thee round. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Be still. Be still. Thy noise of weeping | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Shall raise no lost one from the ground. | 8 | ········ |
| Nay, even the Sons of God are parted | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| At last from joy, and pine in death.... | 8 | ········ |
| Oh, dear on earth when all did love her, | 9 | ········· |
| Oh, dearer lost beyond recover: | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Of women all the bravest-hearted | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Hath pressed thy lips and breathed thy breath. | 8 | ········ |
| Let not the earth that lies upon her | 9 | ········· |
| Be deemed a grave-mound of the dead. | 8 | ········ |
| Let honour, as the Gods have honour, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Be hers, till men shall bow the head, | 8 | ········ |
| And strangers, climbing from the city | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Her slanting path, shall muse and say: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "This woman died to save her lover, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And liveth blest, the stars above her: | 9 | ········· |
| Hail, Holy One, and grant thy pity!" | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| So pass the wondering words away. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
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