Third Stasimon
CHORUS.Could I take me to some cavern for mine hiding,In the hill-tops where the Sun scarce hath trod;Or a cloud make the home of mine abiding,As a bird among the bird-droves of God!Could I wing me to my rest amid the roarOf the deep Adriatic on the shore,Where the waters of Eridanus are clear,And Phaëthon's sad sisters by his graveWeep into the river, and each tearGleams, a drop of amber, in the wave.
To the strand of the Daughters of the Sunset,The Apple-tree, the singing and the gold;Where the mariner must stay him from his onset,And the red wave is tranquil as of old;Yea, beyond that Pillar of the EndThat Atlas guardeth, would I wend;Where a voice of living waters never ceasethIn God's quiet garden by the sea,And Earth, the ancient life-giver, increasethJoy among the meadows, like a tree.
O shallop of Crete, whose milk-white wingThrough the swell and the storm-beating,Bore us thy Prince's daughter,Was it well she came from a joyous homeTo a far King's bridal across the foam?What joy hath her bridal brought her?Sure some spell upon either handFlew with thee from the Cretan strand,Seeking Athena's tower divine;And there, where Munychus fronts the brine,Crept by the shore-flung cables' line,The curse from the Cretan water!
And for that dark spell that about her clings,Sick desires of forbidden thingsThe soul of her rend and sever;The bitter tide of calamityHath risen above her lips; and she,Where bends she her last endeavour?She will hie her alone to her bridal room,And a rope swing slow in the rafters' gloom;And a fair white neck shall creep to the noose,A-shudder with dread, yet firm to chooseThe one strait way for fame, and loseThe Love and the pain for ever.
Words in this poem
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- 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]
- adriatic a.
- Of or pertaining to a sea so named, the northwestern part of which is known as the Gulf of Venice. [L. Adriaticus, Hadriaticus, fr. Adria or Hadria, a town of the Veneti.]
- eridanus n.
- A long, winding constellation extending southward from Taurus and containing the bright star Achernar.
- wend n.
- A large extent of ground; a perambulation; a circuit.
- cretan a.
- Pertaining to Crete, or Candia.
- 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]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Third Stasimon 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, Third Stasimon, in Hippolytus (1902), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8418, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/euripides-hippolytus/third-stasimon.html, id L28792.
Form and metre
Third Stasimon is 45 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
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 -ABABCCDEDE chorus · hidingA · trodB · abidingA · godB · roarC · shoreC · clearD · graveE · tearD · waveE
- 2 ABABCCDEDE sunsetA · goldB · onsetA · oldB · endC · wendC · ceasethD · seaE · increasethD · treeE
- 3 AABCC-DDEEEB wingA · beatingA · daughterB · homeC · foamC · her · handD · strandD · divineE · brineE · lineE · waterB
- 4 AAB--BCC-DDB clingsA · thingsA · severB · calamity · she · endeavourB · roomC · gloomC · noose · chooseD · loseD · everB
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. | 2 | /˘ |
| Could I take me to some cavern for mine hiding, | 12 | ······/˘··/˘ |
| In the hill-tops where the Sun scarce hath trod; | 10 | ·········· |
| Or a cloud make the home of mine abiding, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| As a bird among the bird-droves of God! | 10 | ·········· |
| Could I wing me to my rest amid the roar | 11 | ·······˘/·· |
| Of the deep Adriatic on the shore, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Where the waters of Eridanus are clear, | 11 | ··/˘·˘/˘˘·· |
| And Phaëthon's sad sisters by his grave | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Weep into the river, and each tear | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Gleams, a drop of amber, in the wave. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| To the strand of the Daughters of the Sunset, | 11 | ·····/˘··/· |
| The Apple-tree, the singing and the gold; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Where the mariner must stay him from his onset, | 11 | ··/˘·····/· |
| And the red wave is tranquil as of old; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Yea, beyond that Pillar of the End | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| That Atlas guardeth, would I wend; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Where a voice of living waters never ceaseth | 11 | ····/˘/˘//˘ |
| In God's quiet garden by the sea, | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| And Earth, the ancient life-giver, increaseth | 11 | ···/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| Joy among the meadows, like a tree. | 9 | ····/···· |
| O shallop of Crete, whose milk-white wing | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Through the swell and the storm-beating, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Bore us thy Prince's daughter, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Was it well she came from a joyous home | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To a far King's bridal across the foam? | 10 | ····/˘˘/·· |
| What joy hath her bridal brought her? | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Sure some spell upon either hand | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Flew with thee from the Cretan strand, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Seeking Athena's tower divine; | 9 | /˘˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| And there, where Munychus fronts the brine, | 9 | ········· |
| Crept by the shore-flung cables' line, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The curse from the Cretan water! | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And for that dark spell that about her clings, | 10 | ·········· |
| Sick desires of forbidden things | 9 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| The soul of her rend and sever; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The bitter tide of calamity | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘˘ |
| Hath risen above her lips; and she, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Where bends she her last endeavour? | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| She will hie her alone to her bridal room, | 11 | ····˘/··/˘· |
| And a rope swing slow in the rafters' gloom; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And a fair white neck shall creep to the noose, | 10 | ·········· |
| A-shudder with dread, yet firm to choose | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| The one strait way for fame, and lose | 8 | ········ |
| The Love and the pain for ever. | 8 | ······/˘ |
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.