Second Stasimon
CHORUS.Daughter of Pelias, fare thee well,May joy be thine in the Sunless Houses!For thine is a deed which the Dead shall tellWhere a King black-browed in the gloom carouses;And the cold grey hand at the helm and oarWhich guideth shadows from shore to shore,Shall bear this day o'er the Tears that Well,A Queen of women, a spouse of spouses.
Minstrels many shall praise thy nameWith lyre full-strung and with voices lyreless,When Mid-Moon riseth, an orbèd flame,And from dusk to dawning the dance is tireless;And Carnos cometh to Sparta's call,And Athens shineth in festival;For thy death is a song, and a fullness of fame,Till the heart of the singer is left desireless.
LEADER.Would I could reach thee, oh,Reach thee and save, my daughter,Starward from gulfs of Hell,Past gates, past tears that swell,Where the weak oar climbs thro'The night and the water!
SECOND ELDER.Belovèd and lonely one,Who feared not dying:Gone in another's steadAlone to the hungry dead:Light be the carven stoneAbove thee lying!
THIRD ELDER.Oh, he who should seek againA new bride after thee,Were loathed of thy children twain,And loathed of me.
LEADER.Word to his mother sped,Praying to her who bore him;Word to his father, old,Heavy with years and cold;"Quick, ere your son be dead!What dare ye for him?"
SECOND ELDER.Old, and they dared not; grey,And they helped him never!'Twas she, in her youth and pride,Rose up for her lord and died.Oh, love of two hearts that stayOne-knit for ever....
THIRD ELDER.'Tis rare in the world! God sendSuch bride in my house to be;She should live life to the end,Not fail through me.
Words in this poem
- sunless a.
- Destitute or deprived of the sun or its rays; shaded; shadowed.
- 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,]
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- desireless a.
- Free from desire. Donne.
- carven a.
- Wrought by carving; ornamented by carvings; carved.
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Second 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, Second Stasimon, in Alcestis (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10523, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/euripides-alcestis/second-stasimon.html, id L28803.
Form and metre
Second Stasimon is 55 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 -ABA-CCAB chorus · wellA · housesB · tellA · carouses · oarC · shoreC · wellA · spousesB
- 2 ABABCCAB nameA · lyrelessB · flameA · tirelessB · callC · festivalC · fameA · desirelessB
- 3 --ABB-A leader · oh · daughterA · hellB · swellB · thro · waterA
- 4 --ABB-A elder · one · dyingA · steadB · deadB · stone · lyingA
- 5 -ABAB elder · againA · theeB · twainA · meB
- 6 -ABCCAB leader · spedA · himB · oldC · coldC · deadA · himB
- 7 -ABCCAB elder · greyA · neverB · prideC · diedC · stayA · everB
- 8 -ABAB elder · sendA · beB · endA · meB
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| CHORUS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Daughter of Pelias, fare thee well, | 8 | /˘······ |
| May joy be thine in the Sunless Houses! | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| For thine is a deed which the Dead shall tell | 10 | ·········· |
| Where a King black-browed in the gloom carouses; | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| And the cold grey hand at the helm and oar | 10 | ·········· |
| Which guideth shadows from shore to shore, | 9 | ·/˘/····· |
| Shall bear this day o'er the Tears that Well, | 9 | ········· |
| A Queen of women, a spouse of spouses. | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Minstrels many shall praise thy name | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| With lyre full-strung and with voices lyreless, | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| When Mid-Moon riseth, an orbèd flame, | 8 | ········ |
| And from dusk to dawning the dance is tireless; | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| And Carnos cometh to Sparta's call, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| And Athens shineth in festival; | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| For thy death is a song, and a fullness of fame, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Till the heart of the singer is left desireless. | 12 | ·····/˘··˘/˘ |
| LEADER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Would I could reach thee, oh, | 6 | ······ |
| Reach thee and save, my daughter, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Starward from gulfs of Hell, | 6 | ······ |
| Past gates, past tears that swell, | 6 | ······ |
| Where the weak oar climbs thro' | 6 | ······ |
| The night and the water! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| SECOND ELDER. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Belovèd and lonely one, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who feared not dying: | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Gone in another's stead | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Alone to the hungry dead: | 7 | ˘/··/˘· |
| Light be the carven stone | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Above thee lying! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| THIRD ELDER. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Oh, he who should seek again | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| A new bride after thee, | 6 | ······ |
| Were loathed of thy children twain, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And loathed of me. | 4 | ···· |
| LEADER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Word to his mother sped, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Praying to her who bore him; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Word to his father, old, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Heavy with years and cold; | 6 | /˘···· |
| "Quick, ere your son be dead! | 6 | ······ |
| What dare ye for him?" | 5 | ····· |
| SECOND ELDER. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Old, and they dared not; grey, | 6 | ······ |
| And they helped him never! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| 'Twas she, in her youth and pride, | 7 | ······· |
| Rose up for her lord and died. | 7 | ······· |
| Oh, love of two hearts that stay | 7 | ······· |
| One-knit for ever.... | 5 | ···/˘ |
| THIRD ELDER. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| 'Tis rare in the world! God send | 7 | ······· |
| Such bride in my house to be; | 7 | ······· |
| She should live life to the end, | 7 | ······· |
| Not fail through me. | 4 | ···· |
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.