Fourth Stasimon
CHORUS. Some Maidens.O hounds raging and blind,Up by the mountain road,Sprites of the maddened mind,To the wild Maids of God;Fill with your rage their eyes,Rage at the rage unblest,Watching in woman's guise,The spy upon God's Possessed.
A Bacchanal.Who shall be first, to markEyes in the rock that spy,Eyes in the pine-tree dark--Is it his mother?--and cry:"Lo, what is this that comes,Haunting, troubling still,Even in our heights, our homes,The wild Maids of the Hill?What flesh bare this child?Never on woman's breastChangeling so evil smiled;Man is he not, but Beast!Lion-shape of the wild,Gorgon-breed of the waste!"
All the Chorus.Hither, for doom and deed!Hither with lifted sword,Justice, Wrath of the Lord,Come in our visible need!Smite till the throat shall bleed,Smite till the heart shall bleed,Him the tyrannous, lawless, Godless, Echion's earth-born seed!
Other Maidens.Tyrannously hath he trod;Marched him, in Law's despite,Against thy Light, O God,Yea, and thy Mother's Light;Girded him, falsely bold,Blinded in craft, to quellAnd by man's violence holdThings unconquerable.
A Bacchanal.A strait pitiless mindIs death unto godliness;And to feel in human kindLife, and a pain the less.Knowledge, we are not foes!I seek thee diligently;But the world with a great wind blows,Shining, and not from thee;Blowing to beautiful things,On, amid dark and light,Till Life, through the trammellingsOf Laws that are not the Right,Breaks, clean and pure, and singsGlorying to God in the height!
All the Chorus.Hither for doom and deed!Hither with lifted sword,Justice, Wrath of the Lord,Come in our visible need!Smite till the throat shall bleed,Smite till the heart shall bleed,Him the tyrannous, lawless, Godless, Echion's earth-born seed!
LEADER.Appear, appear, whatso thy shape or nameO Mountain Bull, Snake of the Hundred Heads,Lion of Burning Flame!O God, Beast, Mystery, come! Thy mystic maidsAre hunted!--Blast their hunter with thy breath,Cast o'er his head thy snare;And laugh aloud and drag him to his death,Who stalks thy herded madness in its lair!
Words in this poem
- unblest a.
- Not blest; excluded from benediction; hence, accursed; wretched. [Pref. un- not + blessed, blest.]
- bacchanal a.
- Relating to Bacchus or his festival. [L. Bacchanalis. See Bacchanalia.]
- 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,]
- changeling n.
- One who, or that which, is left or taken in the place of another, as a child exchanged by fairies. [Change + -ling.]
- tyrannous a.
- Tyrannical; arbitrary; unjustly severe; despotic. Sir P.
- godless a.
- Having, or acknowledging, no God; without reverence for God; impious; wicked.
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
- unconquerable a.
- Not conquerable; indomitable.
- godliness n.
- Careful observance of, or conformity to, the laws of God; the state or quality of being godly; piety. [From Godly.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- whatso pron.
- Whatsoever; whosoever; whatever; anything that.
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
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 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, Fourth Stasimon, in The Bacchae (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #35173, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/euripides-bacchae/fourth-stasimon.html, id L28772.
Form and metre
Fourth Stasimon is 73 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in iambic 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 -A-A-BCBC maidens · blindA · road · mindA · god · eyesB · unblestC · guiseB · possessedC
- 2 -ABAB-C-CD-D-D- bacchanal · markA · spyB · darkA · cryB · comes · stillC · homes · hillC · childD · breast · smiledD · beast · wildD · waste
- 3 -ABBAAAA chorus · deedA · swordB · lordB · needA · bleedA · bleedA · seedA
- 4 -ABABC-C- maidens · trodA · despiteB · godA · lightB · boldC · quell · holdC · unconquerable
- 5 -ABABC-C-DEDEDE bacchanal · mindA · godlinessB · kindA · lessB · foesC · diligently · blowsC · thee · thingsD · lightE · trammellingsD · rightE · singsD · heightE
- 6 -ABBAAAA chorus · deedA · swordB · lordB · needA · bleedA · bleedA · seedA
- 7 -A-A-BCBC leader · nameA · heads · flameA · maids · breathB · snareC · deathB · lairC
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| CHORUS. Some Maidens. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| O hounds raging and blind, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Up by the mountain road, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sprites of the maddened mind, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To the wild Maids of God; | 6 | ······ |
| Fill with your rage their eyes, | 6 | ······ |
| Rage at the rage unblest, | 6 | ······ |
| Watching in woman's guise, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| The spy upon God's Possessed. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| A Bacchanal. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Who shall be first, to mark | 6 | ······ |
| Eyes in the rock that spy, | 6 | ······ |
| Eyes in the pine-tree dark-- | 6 | ······ |
| Is it his mother?--and cry: | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| "Lo, what is this that comes, | 6 | ······ |
| Haunting, troubling still, | 6 | /˘/˘˘· |
| Even in our heights, our homes, | 6 | /·/·/· |
| The wild Maids of the Hill? | 6 | ······ |
| What flesh bare this child? | 5 | ····· |
| Never on woman's breast | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Changeling so evil smiled; | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Man is he not, but Beast! | 6 | ······ |
| Lion-shape of the wild, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Gorgon-breed of the waste!" | 6 | /˘···· |
| All the Chorus. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Hither, for doom and deed! | 6 | /˘···· |
| Hither with lifted sword, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Justice, Wrath of the Lord, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Come in our visible need! | 6 | ··//˘· |
| Smite till the throat shall bleed, | 6 | ······ |
| Smite till the heart shall bleed, | 6 | ······ |
| Him the tyrannous, lawless, Godless, Echion's earth-born seed! | 14 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘····· |
| Other Maidens. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Tyrannously hath he trod; | 7 | ······· |
| Marched him, in Law's despite, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Against thy Light, O God, | 6 | ······ |
| Yea, and thy Mother's Light; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Girded him, falsely bold, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Blinded in craft, to quell | 6 | /˘···· |
| And by man's violence hold | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Things unconquerable. | 6 | ·˘/˘˘˘ |
| A Bacchanal. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| A strait pitiless mind | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Is death unto godliness; | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| And to feel in human kind | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Life, and a pain the less. | 6 | ······ |
| Knowledge, we are not foes! | 6 | /˘···· |
| I seek thee diligently; | 7 | ···/˘˘˘ |
| But the world with a great wind blows, | 8 | ········ |
| Shining, and not from thee; | 6 | /˘···· |
| Blowing to beautiful things, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| On, amid dark and light, | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| Till Life, through the trammellings | 7 | ······· |
| Of Laws that are not the Right, | 7 | ······· |
| Breaks, clean and pure, and sings | 6 | ······ |
| Glorying to God in the height! | 7 | /˘····· |
| All the Chorus. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Hither for doom and deed! | 6 | /˘···· |
| Hither with lifted sword, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Justice, Wrath of the Lord, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Come in our visible need! | 6 | ··//˘· |
| Smite till the throat shall bleed, | 6 | ······ |
| Smite till the heart shall bleed, | 6 | ······ |
| Him the tyrannous, lawless, Godless, Echion's earth-born seed! | 14 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘····· |
| LEADER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Appear, appear, whatso thy shape or name | 10 | ˘/˘//˘···· |
| O Mountain Bull, Snake of the Hundred Heads, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Lion of Burning Flame! | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| O God, Beast, Mystery, come! Thy mystic maids | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Are hunted!--Blast their hunter with thy breath, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Cast o'er his head thy snare; | 6 | ······ |
| And laugh aloud and drag him to his death, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Who stalks thy herded madness in its lair! | 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.