Parodos
(The Orchestra is empty for a moment, then there enter from right and left several Trosenian women young and old. Their number eventually amounts to fifteen.)
CHORUS.There riseth a rock-born river,Of Ocean's tribe, men say;The crags of it gleam and quiver,And pitchers dip in the spray:A woman was there with raiment whiteTo bathe and spread in the warm sunlight,And she told a tale to me there by the riverThe tale of the Queen and her evil day:
How, ailing beyond allayment,Within she hath bowed her head,And with shadow of silken raimentThe bright brown hair bespread.For three long days she hath lain forlorn,Her lips untainted of flesh or corn,For that secret sorrow beyond allaymentThat steers to the far sad shore of the dead.
Some Women.Is this some Spirit, O child of man?Doth Hecat hold thee perchance, or Pan?Doth she of the Mountains work her ban,Or the dread Corybantes bind thee?
Others.Nay, is it sin that upon thee lies,Sin of forgotten sacrifice,In thine own Dictynna's sea-wild eyes?Who in Limna here can find thee;For the Deep's dry floor is her easy way,And she moves in the salt wet whirl of the spray.
Other Women.Or doth the Lord of Erechtheus' race,Thy Theseus, watch for a fairer face,For secret arms in a silent place,Far from thy love or chiding?
Others.Or hath there landed, amid the loudHum of Piraeus' sailor-crowd,Some Cretan venturer, weary-browed,Who bears to the Queen some tiding;Some far home-grief, that hath bowed her low,And chained her soul to a bed of woe?
An Older Woman.Nay--know yet not?--this burden hath alway lainOn the devious being of woman; yea, burdens twain,The burden of Wild Will and the burden of Pain.Through my heart once that wind of terror sped;But I, in fear confessèd,Cried from the dark to Her in heavenly bliss,The Helper of Pain, the Bow-Maid Artemis:Whose feet I praise for ever, where they treadFar off among the blessèd!
THE LEADER.But see, the Queen's grey nurse at the door,Sad-eyed and sterner, methinks, than of yoreWith the Queen. Doth she lead her hitherTo the wind and sun?--Ah, fain would I knowWhat strange betiding hath blanched that browAnd made that young life wither.
Words in this poem
- eventually adv.
- In an eventual manner; finally; ultimately.
- allayment n.
- An allaying; that which allays; mitigation.
- bespread v. t.
- To spread or cover over.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- 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]
- cretan a.
- Pertaining to Crete, or Candia.
- venturer n.
- One who ventures, or puts to hazard; an adventurer. Beau. & Fl.
- devious a.
- Out of a straight line; winding; varying from directness; as, a devious path or way. [L. devius; de + via way. See Viaduct.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- sterner n.
- A director. Dr. R. Clerke. [See 3d Stern.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Parodos is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hippolytus of Euripides, translated into English rhyming verse by Gilbert Murray (Harvard Classics reprint), Project Gutenberg ebook #8418, 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 Hippolytus (1902), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8418, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/euripides-hippolytus/parodos.html, id L28786.
Form and metre
Parodos is 59 lines in 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
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.
- 2 -ABABCCAB chorus · riverA · sayB · quiverA · sprayB · whiteC · sunlightC · riverA · dayB
- 3 ABABCCAB allaymentA · headB · raimentA · bespreadB · forlornC · cornC · allaymentA · deadB
- 4 AAAA- womenA · manA · panA · banA · thee
- 5 AA-A-BB othersA · liesA · sacrifice · eyesA · thee · wayB · sprayB
- 6 -AAA- women · raceA · faceA · placeA · chiding
- 7 -AAA-BB others · loudA · crowdA · browedA · tiding · lowB · woeB
- 8 AAAABC--BC womanA · lainA · twainA · painA · spedB · confessèdC · bliss · artemis · treadB · blessèdC
- 9 -AAB--B leader · doorA · yoreA · hitherB · know · brow · witherB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| (The Orchestra is empty for a moment, then there enter from right and left several Trosenian women young and old. Their number eventually amounts to fifteen.) | 39 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘··/˘····/˘···/˘····/˘˘/˘˘/·˘/ |
| CHORUS. | 2 | /˘ |
| There riseth a rock-born river, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Of Ocean's tribe, men say; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The crags of it gleam and quiver, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And pitchers dip in the spray: | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| A woman was there with raiment white | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| To bathe and spread in the warm sunlight, | 9 | ·······/· |
| And she told a tale to me there by the river | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| The tale of the Queen and her evil day: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| How, ailing beyond allayment, | 8 | ·/˘··˘/˘ |
| Within she hath bowed her head, | 7 | ······· |
| And with shadow of silken raiment | 9 | ··/··/˘/˘ |
| The bright brown hair bespread. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| For three long days she hath lain forlorn, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Her lips untainted of flesh or corn, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| For that secret sorrow beyond allayment | 11 | ··/˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| That steers to the far sad shore of the dead. | 10 | ·········· |
| Some Women. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Is this some Spirit, O child of man? | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Doth Hecat hold thee perchance, or Pan? | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| Doth she of the Mountains work her ban, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Or the dread Corybantes bind thee? | 8 | ········ |
| Others. | 2 | /˘ |
| Nay, is it sin that upon thee lies, | 9 | ········· |
| Sin of forgotten sacrifice, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| In thine own Dictynna's sea-wild eyes? | 9 | ········· |
| Who in Limna here can find thee; | 8 | ········ |
| For the Deep's dry floor is her easy way, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And she moves in the salt wet whirl of the spray. | 11 | ··········· |
| Other Women. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Or doth the Lord of Erechtheus' race, | 9 | ········· |
| Thy Theseus, watch for a fairer face, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| For secret arms in a silent place, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Far from thy love or chiding? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Others. | 2 | /˘ |
| Or hath there landed, amid the loud | 9 | ···/˘˘/·· |
| Hum of Piraeus' sailor-crowd, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Some Cretan venturer, weary-browed, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘·˘ |
| Who bears to the Queen some tiding; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Some far home-grief, that hath bowed her low, | 10 | ·······˘·· |
| And chained her soul to a bed of woe? | 10 | ··˘······· |
| An Older Woman. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Nay--know yet not?--this burden hath alway lain | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| On the devious being of woman; yea, burdens twain, | 12 | ··/˘/·/˘·/˘· |
| The burden of Wild Will and the burden of Pain. | 12 | ·/˘·····/˘·· |
| Through my heart once that wind of terror sped; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But I, in fear confessèd, | 6 | ······ |
| Cried from the dark to Her in heavenly bliss, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The Helper of Pain, the Bow-Maid Artemis: | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Whose feet I praise for ever, where they tread | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Far off among the blessèd! | 6 | ······ |
| THE LEADER. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| But see, the Queen's grey nurse at the door, | 9 | ········· |
| Sad-eyed and sterner, methinks, than of yore | 10 | ···/˘˘/··· |
| With the Queen. Doth she lead her hither | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| To the wind and sun?--Ah, fain would I know | 10 | ·········· |
| What strange betiding hath blanched that brow | 10 | ··˘/˘··˘·· |
| And made that young life wither. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.