Parodos
(THANATOS goes into the house. Presently, as the day grows lighter, the CHORUS enters: it consists of Citizens of Pherae, who speak severally.)
CHORUS. LEADER.Quiet, quiet, above, beneath!
SECOND ELDER.The house of Admetus holds its breath.
THIRD ELDER.And never a King's friend near,To tell us either of tears to shedFor Pelias' daughter, crowned and dead;Or joy, that her eyes are clear.Bravest, truest of wives is sheThat I have seen or the world shall see.
DIVERS CITIZENS conversing.--Hear ye no sob, or noise of handsBeating the breast? No mourners' criesFor one they cannot save?--Nothing: and at the door there standsNo handmaid.--Help, O Paian; rise,O star beyond the wave!
--Dead, and this quiet? No, it cannot be.--Dead, dead!--Not gone to burial secretly!
--Why? I still fear: what makes your speech so brave?--Admetus cast that dear wife to the graveAlone, with none to see?
--I see no bowl of clear spring water.It ever stands before the dreadDoor where a dead man rests.--No lock of shorn hair! Every daughterOf woman shears it for the dead.No sound of bruisèd breasts!
--Yet 'tis this very day ...--This very day?--The Queen should pass and lie beneath the clay.--It hurts my life, my heart!--All honest heartsMust sorrow for a brightness that departs,A good life worn away.
LEADER.To wander o'er leagues of land,To search over wastes of sea,Where the Prophets of Lycia stand,Or where Ammon's daughters threeMake runes in the rainless sand,For magic to make her free--Ah, vain! for the end is here;Sudden it comes and sheer.What lamb on the altar-strandStricken shall comfort me?
SECOND ELDER.Only, only one, I know:Apollo's son was he,Who healed men long ago.Were he but on earth to see,She would rise from the dark belowAnd the gates of eternity.For men whom the Gods had slainHe pitied and raised again;Till God's fire laid him low,And now, what help have we?
OTHERS.All's done that can be. Every vowFull paid; and every altar's browFull crowned with spice of sacrifice.No help remains nor respite now.
Words in this poem
- presently adv.
- At present; at this time; now.
- 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,]
- divers a.
- Different in kind or species; diverse. [F. divers, L. diversus turned in different directions, different, p. p. of divertere. See Divert, and cf. Diverse.]
- handmaid n.
- A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.
- burial n.
- A grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [OE. buriel, buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury, and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.]
- rainless a.
- Destitute of rain; as, a rainless region.
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Parodos 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, Parodos, in Alcestis (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10523, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/euripides-alcestis/parodos.html, id L28799.
Form and metre
Parodos is 62 lines in 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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.
- 4 -ABBACC elder · nearA · shedB · deadB · clearA · sheC · seeC
- 5 -ABCABC conversing · handsA · criesB · saveC · standsA · riseB · waveC
- 7 AA- braveA · graveA · see
- 8 ABCABC waterA · dreadB · restsC · daughterA · deadB · breastsC
- 9 AABBA dayA · clayA · heartsB · departsB · awayA
- 10 -ABABABCCAB leader · landA · seaB · standA · threeB · sandA · freeB · hereC · sheerC · strandA · meB
- 11 -ABABA-CCAB elder · knowA · heB · agoA · seeB · belowA · eternity · slainC · againC · lowA · weB
- 12 -AA-A others · vowA · browA · sacrifice · nowA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| (THANATOS goes into the house. Presently, as the day grows lighter, the CHORUS enters: it consists of Citizens of Pherae, who speak severally.) | 32 | ········/˘····/·/˘/˘·˘/·/˘····/˘ |
| CHORUS. LEADER. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Quiet, quiet, above, beneath! | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| SECOND ELDER. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| The house of Admetus holds its breath. | 9 | ········· |
| THIRD ELDER. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| And never a King's friend near, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| To tell us either of tears to shed | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| For Pelias' daughter, crowned and dead; | 9 | ···/˘·˘·· |
| Or joy, that her eyes are clear. | 7 | ······· |
| Bravest, truest of wives is she | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| That I have seen or the world shall see. | 9 | ········· |
| DIVERS CITIZENS conversing. | 8 | /˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| --Hear ye no sob, or noise of hands | 8 | ········ |
| Beating the breast? No mourners' cries | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| For one they cannot save? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| --Nothing: and at the door there stands | 8 | /˘······ |
| No handmaid.--Help, O Paian; rise, | 7 | ······· |
| O star beyond the wave! | 6 | ······ |
| --Dead, and this quiet? No, it cannot be. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| --Dead, dead!--Not gone to burial secretly! | 11 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘ |
| --Why? I still fear: what makes your speech so brave? | 10 | ·········· |
| --Admetus cast that dear wife to the grave | 10 | ·········· |
| Alone, with none to see? | 6 | ˘/···· |
| --I see no bowl of clear spring water. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| It ever stands before the dread | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Door where a dead man rests. | 6 | ······ |
| --No lock of shorn hair! Every daughter | 10 | ·····/˘˘/˘ |
| Of woman shears it for the dead. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No sound of bruisèd breasts! | 5 | ····· |
| --Yet 'tis this very day ...--This very day? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| --The Queen should pass and lie beneath the clay. | 10 | ·········· |
| --It hurts my life, my heart!--All honest hearts | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Must sorrow for a brightness that departs, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| A good life worn away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| LEADER. | 2 | /˘ |
| To wander o'er leagues of land, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| To search over wastes of sea, | 7 | ······· |
| Where the Prophets of Lycia stand, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Or where Ammon's daughters three | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Make runes in the rainless sand, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| For magic to make her free-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Ah, vain! for the end is here; | 7 | ······· |
| Sudden it comes and sheer. | 6 | /˘···· |
| What lamb on the altar-strand | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Stricken shall comfort me? | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| SECOND ELDER. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Only, only one, I know: | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Apollo's son was he, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Who healed men long ago. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Were he but on earth to see, | 7 | ······· |
| She would rise from the dark below | 8 | ········ |
| And the gates of eternity. | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| For men whom the Gods had slain | 7 | ······· |
| He pitied and raised again; | 7 | ·/···˘/ |
| Till God's fire laid him low, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And now, what help have we? | 6 | ······ |
| OTHERS. | 2 | /˘ |
| All's done that can be. Every vow | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Full paid; and every altar's brow | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| Full crowned with spice of sacrifice. | 9 | ··˘···/˘· |
| No help remains nor respite now. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
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.