Second Stasimon
CHORUS.Alas, the Love that falleth like a flood,Strong-winged and transitory:Why praise ye him? What beareth he of goodTo man, or glory?Yet Love there is that moves in gentleness,Heart-filling, sweetest of all powers that bless.Loose not on me, O Holder of man's heart,Thy golden quiver,Nor steep in poison of desire the dartThat heals not ever.
The pent hate of the word that cavilleth,The strife that hath no fill,Where once was fondness; and the mad heart's breathFor strange love panting still:O Cyprian, cast me not on these; but sift,Keen-eyed, of love the good and evil gift.Make Innocence my friend, God's fairest star,Yea, and abate notThe rare sweet beat of bosoms without war,That love, and hate not.
Others.Home of my heart, land of my own,Cast me not, nay, for pity,Out on my ways, helpless, alone,Where the feet fail in the mire and stone,A woman without a city.Ah, not that! Better the end:The green grave cover me rather,If a break must come in the days I know,And the skies be changed and the earth below;For the weariest road that man may wendIs forth from the home of his father.
Lo, we have seen: 'tis not a songSung, nor learned of another.For whom hast thou in thy direst wrongFor comfort? Never a city strongTo hide thee, never a brother.Ah, but the man--cursed be he,Cursed beyond recover,Who openeth, shattering, seal by seal,A friend's clean heart, then turns his heel,Deaf unto love: never in meFriend shall he know nor lover.
Words in this poem
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- fondness n.
- The quality or state of being fond; foolishness.
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
- wend n.
- A large extent of ground; a perambulation; a circuit.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- 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
Second Stasimon is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Medea of Euripides, translated into English rhyming verse by Gilbert Murray, Project Gutenberg ebook #35451, 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, Second Stasimon, in Medea (1906), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #35451, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/euripides-medea/second-stasimon.html, id L28755.
Form and metre
Second Stasimon is 44 lines in 4 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 -ABABCCD-D- chorus · floodA · transitoryB · goodA · gloryB · gentlenessC · blessC · heartD · quiver · dartD · ever
- 2 ABABCC-D-D cavillethA · fillB · breathA · stillB · siftC · giftC · star · notD · war · notD
- 3 -ABAABC-DDC- others · ownA · pityB · aloneA · stoneA · cityB · endC · rather · knowD · belowD · wendC · father
- 4 ABAABCDEECD songA · anotherB · wrongA · strongA · brotherB · heC · recoverD · sealE · heelE · meC · loverD
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 | /˘ |
| Alas, the Love that falleth like a flood, | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Strong-winged and transitory: | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| Why praise ye him? What beareth he of good | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To man, or glory? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Yet Love there is that moves in gentleness, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Heart-filling, sweetest of all powers that bless. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| Loose not on me, O Holder of man's heart, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thy golden quiver, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Nor steep in poison of desire the dart | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| That heals not ever. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The pent hate of the word that cavilleth, | 10 | ·········· |
| The strife that hath no fill, | 6 | ······ |
| Where once was fondness; and the mad heart's breath | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For strange love panting still: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O Cyprian, cast me not on these; but sift, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Keen-eyed, of love the good and evil gift. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Make Innocence my friend, God's fairest star, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Yea, and abate not | 5 | ··˘/· |
| The rare sweet beat of bosoms without war, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That love, and hate not. | 5 | ····· |
| Others. | 2 | /˘ |
| Home of my heart, land of my own, | 8 | ········ |
| Cast me not, nay, for pity, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Out on my ways, helpless, alone, | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| Where the feet fail in the mire and stone, | 9 | ········· |
| A woman without a city. | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Ah, not that! Better the end: | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| The green grave cover me rather, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| If a break must come in the days I know, | 10 | ·········· |
| And the skies be changed and the earth below; | 10 | ·········· |
| For the weariest road that man may wend | 9 | ········· |
| Is forth from the home of his father. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Lo, we have seen: 'tis not a song | 8 | ········ |
| Sung, nor learned of another. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| For whom hast thou in thy direst wrong | 9 | ······/˘· |
| For comfort? Never a city strong | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| To hide thee, never a brother. | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| Ah, but the man--cursed be he, | 7 | ······· |
| Cursed beyond recover, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Who openeth, shattering, seal by seal, | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘˘··· |
| A friend's clean heart, then turns his heel, | 8 | ········ |
| Deaf unto love: never in me | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Friend shall he know nor lover. | 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.