Third Stasimon
CHORUS. Some Maidens.Will they ever come to me, ever again,The long long dances,On through the dark till the dim stars wane?Shall I feel the dew on my throat, and the streamOf wind in my hair? Shall our white feet gleamIn the dim expanses?Oh, feet of a fawn to the greenwood fled,Alone in the grass and the loveliness;Leap of the hunted, no more in dread,Beyond the snares and the deadly press:Yet a voice still in the distance sounds,A voice and a fear and a haste of hounds;O wildly labouring, fiercely fleet,Onward yet by river and glen . . .Is it joy or terror, ye storm-swift feet? . . .To the dear lone lands untroubled of men,Where no voice sounds, and amid the shadowy greenThe little things of the woodland live unseen.
What else is Wisdom? What of man's endeavourOr God's high grace, so lovely and so great?To stand from fear set free, to breathe and wait;To hold a hand uplifted over Hate;And shall not Loveliness be loved for ever?
Others.O Strength of God, slow art thou and still,Yet failest never!On them that worship the Ruthless Will,On them that dream, doth His judgment wait.Dreams of the proud man, making greatAnd greater ever,Things which are not of God. In wideAnd devious coverts, hunter-wise,He coucheth Time's unhasting stride,Following, following, him whose eyesLook not to Heaven. For all is vain,The pulse of the heart, the plot of the brain,That striveth beyond the laws that live.And is thy Faith so much to give,Is it so hard a thing to see,That the Spirit of God, whate'er it be,The Law that abides and changes not, ages long,The Eternal and Nature-born--these things be strong?
What else is Wisdom? What of man's endeavourOr God's high grace so lovely and so great?To stand from fear set free, to breathe and wait;To hold a hand uplifted over Hate;And shall not Loveliness be loved for ever?
LEADER.Happy he, on the weary seaWho hath fled the tempest and won the haven.Happy whoso hath risen, free,Above his striving. For strangely gravenIs the orb of life, that one and anotherIn gold and power may outpass his brother.And men in their millions float and flowAnd seethe with a million hopes as leaven;And they win their Will, or they miss their Will,And the hopes are dead or are pined for still;But whoe'er can know,As the long days go,That To Live is happy, hath found his Heaven!
Words in this poem 15
- 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,]
- greenwood n.
- A forest as it appears is spring and summer.
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- 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]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- endeavour v. t.
- To exert physical or intellectual strength for the attainment of; to use efforts to effect; to strive to achieve or reach; to try; to attempt. [OE. endevor; pref. en- + dever, devoir, duty, F. devoir: cf. F. se mettre en devoir de faire quelque chose to try to do a thing, to go about it. See Devoir, Deb]
- ruthless a.
- Having no ruth; cruel; pitiless.
- devious a.
- Out of a straight line; winding; varying from directness; as, a devious path or way. [L. devius; de + via way. See Viaduct.]
- stride v. t.
- To walk with long steps, especially in a measured or pompous manner. [AS. stridan to stride, to strive; akin to LG. striden, OFries. strida to strive, D. strijden to strive, to contend, G. streiten, OHG. stritan; of uncertain orig]
- whoso pron.
- Whosoever. Piers Plowman.
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- graven p. p.
- Carved. Graven image, an idol; an object of worship carved from wood, stone, etc.
- outpass v. t.
- To pass beyond; to exceed in progress. [Cf. Outpace.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Third 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, Third Stasimon, in The Bacchae (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #35173, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/euripides-bacchae/third-stasimon.html, id L28770.
Form and metre
Third Stasimon is 62 lines in 5 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABBBA, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 -ABACCBDEDEFFGAGAHH maidens · againA · dancesB · waneA · streamC · gleamC · expansesB · fledD · lovelinessE · dreadD · pressE · soundsF · houndsF · fleetG · glenA · feetG · menA · greenH · unseenH
- 2 ABBBA endeavourA · greatB · waitB · hateB · everA
- 3 -ABACCBDEDEFFGGHHII others · stillA · neverB · willA · waitC · greatC · everB · wideD · wiseE · strideD · eyesE · vainF · brainF · liveG · giveG · seeH · beH · longI · strongI
- 4 ABBBA endeavourA · greatB · waitB · hateB · everA
- 5 -ABABCCDEFFDDE leader · seaA · havenB · freeA · gravenB · anotherC · brotherC · flowD · leavenE · willF · stillF · knowD · goD · heavenE
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| CHORUS. Some Maidens. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Will they ever come to me, ever again, | 10 | ··/···/˘˘/ |
| The long long dances, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| On through the dark till the dim stars wane? | 9 | ········· |
| Shall I feel the dew on my throat, and the stream | 11 | ··········· |
| Of wind in my hair? Shall our white feet gleam | 10 | ······/··· |
| In the dim expanses? | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Oh, feet of a fawn to the greenwood fled, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Alone in the grass and the loveliness; | 10 | ˘/·····/˘˘ |
| Leap of the hunted, no more in dread, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Beyond the snares and the deadly press: | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Yet a voice still in the distance sounds, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| A voice and a fear and a haste of hounds; | 10 | ·········· |
| O wildly labouring, fiercely fleet, | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Onward yet by river and glen . . . | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| Is it joy or terror, ye storm-swift feet? . . . | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| To the dear lone lands untroubled of men, | 10 | ·····˘/˘·· |
| Where no voice sounds, and amid the shadowy green | 11 | ·····˘/·/˘· |
| The little things of the woodland live unseen. | 11 | ·/˘···/˘·˘/ |
| What else is Wisdom? What of man's endeavour | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Or God's high grace, so lovely and so great? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To stand from fear set free, to breathe and wait; | 10 | ·········· |
| To hold a hand uplifted over Hate; | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| And shall not Loveliness be loved for ever? | 11 | ···/˘˘···/˘ |
| Others. | 2 | /˘ |
| O Strength of God, slow art thou and still, | 9 | ········· |
| Yet failest never! | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| On them that worship the Ruthless Will, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| On them that dream, doth His judgment wait. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Dreams of the proud man, making great | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And greater ever, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Things which are not of God. In wide | 8 | ········ |
| And devious coverts, hunter-wise, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| He coucheth Time's unhasting stride, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Following, following, him whose eyes | 9 | /˘˘/˘˘··· |
| Look not to Heaven. For all is vain, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| The pulse of the heart, the plot of the brain, | 10 | ·········· |
| That striveth beyond the laws that live. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And is thy Faith so much to give, | 8 | ········ |
| Is it so hard a thing to see, | 8 | ········ |
| That the Spirit of God, whate'er it be, | 10 | ··/··˘˘/·· |
| The Law that abides and changes not, ages long, | 12 | ···˘/·/˘·/˘· |
| The Eternal and Nature-born--these things be strong? | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘····· |
| What else is Wisdom? What of man's endeavour | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Or God's high grace so lovely and so great? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To stand from fear set free, to breathe and wait; | 10 | ·········· |
| To hold a hand uplifted over Hate; | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| And shall not Loveliness be loved for ever? | 11 | ···/˘˘···/˘ |
| LEADER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Happy he, on the weary sea | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Who hath fled the tempest and won the haven. | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| Happy whoso hath risen, free, | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| Above his striving. For strangely graven | 10 | ···/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Is the orb of life, that one and another | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| In gold and power may outpass his brother. | 11 | ···/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| And men in their millions float and flow | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And seethe with a million hopes as leaven; | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| And they win their Will, or they miss their Will, | 10 | ·········· |
| And the hopes are dead or are pined for still; | 10 | ·········· |
| But whoe'er can know, | 4 | ···· |
| As the long days go, | 5 | ····· |
| That To Live is happy, hath found his Heaven! | 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.