First Stasimon
(The two Old Men go off towards the Mountain.)
CHORUS. Some Maidens.Thou Immaculate on high;Thou Recording Purity;Thou that stoopest, Golden Wing,Earthward, manward, pitying,Hearest thou this angry King?Hearest thou the rage and scorn'Gainst the Lord of Many Voices,Him of mortal mother born,Him in whom man's heart rejoices,Girt with garlands and with glee,First in Heaven's sovranty?For his kingdom, it is there,In the dancing and the prayer,In the music and the laughter,In the vanishing of care,And of all before and after;In the Gods' high banquet, whenGleams the grape-blood, flashed to heaven;Yea, and in the feasts of menComes his crowned slumber; thenPain is dead and hate forgiven!
Others.Loose thy lips from out the rein;Lift thy wisdom to disdain;Whatso law thou canst not see,Scorning; so the end shall beUttermost calamity!'Tis the life of quiet breath,'Tis the simple and the true,Storm nor earthquake shattereth,Nor shall aught the house undoWhere they dwell. For, far away,Hidden from the eyes of day,Watchers are there in the skies,That can see man's life, and prizeDeeds well done by things of clay.But the world's Wise are not wise,Claiming more than mortal may.Life is such a little thing;Lo, their present is departed,And the dreams to which they clingCome not. Mad imaginingTheirs, I ween, and empty-hearted!
Divers Maidens.Where is the Home for me?O Cyprus, set in the sea,Aphrodite's home In the soft sea-foam,Would I could wend to thee;Where the wings of the Loves are furled,And faint the heart of the world.
Aye, unto Paphos' isle,Where the rainless meadows smileWith riches rolled From the hundred-foldMouths of the far-off Nile,Streaming beneath the wavesTo the roots of the seaward caves.
But a better land is thereWhere Olympus cleaves the air,The high still dell Where the Muses dwell,Fairest of all things fair!O there is Grace, and there is the Heart's Desire.And peace to adore thee, thou Spirit of Guiding Fire!
A God of Heaven is he,And born in majesty;Yet hath he mirth In the joy of the Earth,And he loveth constantlyHer who brings increase,The Feeder of Children, Peace.
No grudge hath he of the great;No scorn of the mean estate;But to all that liveth His wine he giveth,Griefless, immaculate;Only on them that spurnJoy, may his anger burn.
Love thou the Day and the Night;Be glad of the Dark and the Light;And avert thine eyes From the lore of the wise,That have honour in proud men's sight.The simple nameless herd of HumanityHath deeds and faith that are truth enough for me!
Words in this poem 26
- immaculate a.
- Without stain or blemish; spotless; undefiled; clear; pure. [L. immaculatus; pref. im- not + maculatus, p. p. of maculare to spot, stane, fr. macula spot. See Mail armor.]
- earthward adv.
- Toward the earth; -- opposed to heavenward or skyward.
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- whatso pron.
- Whatsoever; whosoever; whatever; anything that.
- 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,]
- uttermost a.
- Extreme; utmost; being; in the farthest, greatest, or highest degree; as, the uttermost extent or end. [From Utter, a.; cf. Utmost, and Outermost.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- 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.]
- cyprus n.
- A thin, transparent stuff, the same as, or corresponding to, crape. It was either white or black, the latter being most common, and used for mourning. [OE. cipres, cypirs; perh. so named as being first manufactured in Cyprus. Cf. Cipers.]
- wend n.
- A large extent of ground; a perambulation; a circuit.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- rainless a.
- Destitute of rain; as, a rainless region.
- streaming a.
- Sending forth streams.
- seaward a.
- Directed or situated toward the sea. Donne.
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- feeder n.
- One who, or that which, gives food or supplies nourishment; steward.
- griefless a.
- Without grief. Huloet.
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- 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.]
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
First Stasimon is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Bacchae of Euripides, translated into English verse by Gilbert Murray, Project Gutenberg ebook #35173, 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, First Stasimon, in The Bacchae (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #35173, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/euripides-bacchae/first-stasimon.html, id L28766.
Form and metre
First Stasimon is 82 lines in 9 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in trochaic 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.
- 2 ---AAABCBCDDEEFEFGGGGG maidens · high · purity · wingA · pityingA · kingA · scornB · voicesC · bornB · rejoicesC · gleeD · sovrantyD · thereE · prayerE · laughterF · careE · afterF · whenG · heavenG · menG · thenG · forgivenG
- 3 -AABB-CDCDEEFFEFEGHGGH others · reinA · disdainA · seeB · beB · calamity · breathC · trueD · shatterethC · undoD · awayE · dayE · skiesF · prizeF · clayE · wiseF · mayE · thingG · departedH · clingG · imaginingG · heartedH
- 4 -AA-ABB maidens · meA · seaA · foam · theeA · furledB · worldB
- 5 AA-ABB isleA · smileA · fold · nileA · wavesB · cavesB
- 6 AA-ABB thereA · airA · dwell · fairA · desireB · fireB
- 7 ----AA he · majesty · earth · constantly · increaseA · peaceA
- 8 AA--BB greatA · estateA · giveth · immaculate · spurnB · burnB
- 9 AA-A-- nightA · lightA · wise · sightA · humanity · me
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| (The two Old Men go off towards the Mountain.) | 10 | ········/˘ |
| CHORUS. Some Maidens. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Thou Immaculate on high; | 7 | ·˘/˘˘·· |
| Thou Recording Purity; | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Thou that stoopest, Golden Wing, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Earthward, manward, pitying, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Hearest thou this angry King? | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Hearest thou the rage and scorn | 7 | /˘····· |
| 'Gainst the Lord of Many Voices, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Him of mortal mother born, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Him in whom man's heart rejoices, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Girt with garlands and with glee, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| First in Heaven's sovranty? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For his kingdom, it is there, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In the dancing and the prayer, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In the music and the laughter, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| In the vanishing of care, | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| And of all before and after; | 8 | ········ |
| In the Gods' high banquet, when | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Gleams the grape-blood, flashed to heaven; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Yea, and in the feasts of men | 7 | ······· |
| Comes his crowned slumber; then | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Pain is dead and hate forgiven! | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Others. | 2 | /˘ |
| Loose thy lips from out the rein; | 7 | ······· |
| Lift thy wisdom to disdain; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Whatso law thou canst not see, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Scorning; so the end shall be | 7 | /˘····· |
| Uttermost calamity! | 7 | /˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| 'Tis the life of quiet breath, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| 'Tis the simple and the true, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Storm nor earthquake shattereth, | 7 | ··/·/˘˘ |
| Nor shall aught the house undo | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Where they dwell. For, far away, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Hidden from the eyes of day, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Watchers are there in the skies, | 7 | /˘····· |
| That can see man's life, and prize | 7 | ······· |
| Deeds well done by things of clay. | 7 | ······· |
| But the world's Wise are not wise, | 7 | ······· |
| Claiming more than mortal may. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Life is such a little thing; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lo, their present is departed, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| And the dreams to which they cling | 7 | ······· |
| Come not. Mad imagining | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Theirs, I ween, and empty-hearted! | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Divers Maidens. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Where is the Home for me? | 6 | ······ |
| O Cyprus, set in the sea, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Aphrodite's home In the soft sea-foam, | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| Would I could wend to thee; | 6 | ······ |
| Where the wings of the Loves are furled, | 8 | ········ |
| And faint the heart of the world. | 7 | ······· |
| Aye, unto Paphos' isle, | 6 | ······ |
| Where the rainless meadows smile | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| With riches rolled From the hundred-fold | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Mouths of the far-off Nile, | 6 | ······ |
| Streaming beneath the waves | 6 | /˘···· |
| To the roots of the seaward caves. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But a better land is there | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where Olympus cleaves the air, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| The high still dell Where the Muses dwell, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Fairest of all things fair! | 6 | /˘···· |
| O there is Grace, and there is the Heart's Desire. | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| And peace to adore thee, thou Spirit of Guiding Fire! | 12 | ···˘/··/·/˘/ |
| A God of Heaven is he, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And born in majesty; | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Yet hath he mirth In the joy of the Earth, | 10 | ·········· |
| And he loveth constantly | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Her who brings increase, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| The Feeder of Children, Peace. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| No grudge hath he of the great; | 7 | ······· |
| No scorn of the mean estate; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| But to all that liveth His wine he giveth, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Griefless, immaculate; | 6 | /˘˘/˘˘ |
| Only on them that spurn | 6 | /˘···· |
| Joy, may his anger burn. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Love thou the Day and the Night; | 7 | ······· |
| Be glad of the Dark and the Light; | 8 | ········ |
| And avert thine eyes From the lore of the wise, | 11 | ·˘/········ |
| That have honour in proud men's sight. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| The simple nameless herd of Humanity | 10 | ·/˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| Hath deeds and faith that are truth enough for me! | 11 | ·······˘/·· |
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.