Third Stasimon
CHORUS.The sons of Erechtheus, the olden,Whom high gods planted of yoreIn an old land of heaven upholden,A proud land untrodden of war:They are hungered, and, lo, their desireWith wisdom is fed as with meat:In their skies is a shining of fire,A joy in the fall of their feet:And thither, with manifold dowers,From the North, from the hills, from the morn,The Muses did gather their powers,That a child of the Nine should be born;And Harmony, sown as the flowers,Grew gold in the acres of corn.
And Cephisus, the fair-flowing river--The Cyprian dipping her handHath drawn of his dew, and the shiverOf her touch is as joy in the land.For her breathing in fragrance is written,And in music her path as she goes,And the cloud of her hair, it is littenWith stars of the wind-woven rose.So fareth she ever and ever,And forth of her bosom is blown,As dews on the winds of the river,An hunger of passions unknown.Strong Loves of all godlike endeavour,Whom Wisdom shall throne on her throne.
Some Women.But Cephisus the fair-flowing,Will he bear thee on his shore?Shall the land that succours all, succour thee,Who art foul among thy kind,With the tears of children blind?Dost thou see the red gash growing,Thine own burden dost thou see?Every side, Every way,Lo, we kneel to thee and pray:By thy knees, by thy soul, O woman wild!One at least thou canst not slay,Not thy child!
Others.Hast thou ice that thou shalt bind itTo thy breast, and make thee deadTo thy children, to thine own spirit's pain?When the hand knows what it dares,When thine eyes look into theirs,Shalt thou keep by tears unblindedThy dividing of the slain?These be deeds Not for thee:These be things that cannot be!Thy babes--though thine hardihood be fell,When they cling about thy knee,'Twill be well!
Words in this poem
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- hungered a.
- Hungry; pinched for food.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
- 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,]
- succour v. t.
- tiono run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want, or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; to relieve; as, to succor a besieged city. [OE. socouren, OF. sucurre, soucourre, secorre, F. secourir, L. succurrere, succursum, to run under, run to the aid of, help, succor; sub under + currere to run.]
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- hardihood n.
- Boldness, united with firmness and constancy of mind; bravery; intrepidity; also, audaciousness; impudence. [Hardy + -hood.]
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 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, Third Stasimon, in Medea (1906), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #35451, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/euripides-medea/third-stasimon.html, id L28757.
Form and metre
Third Stasimon is 55 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 -ABABCDCD-EFEFE chorus · oldenA · yoreB · upholdenA · warB · desireC · meatD · fireC · feetD · dowers · mornE · powersF · bornE · flowersF · cornE
- 2 ABABCDCDEFAFEF riverA · handB · shiverA · landB · writtenC · goesD · littenC · roseD · everE · blownF · riverA · unknownF · endeavourE · throneF
- 3 -A-BCCABDDEDE women · flowingA · shore · theeB · kindC · blindC · growingA · seeB · wayD · prayD · wildE · slayD · childE
- 4 ---ABB-ACCDCD others · it · dead · painA · daresB · theirsB · unblinded · slainA · theeC · beC · fellD · kneeC · wellD
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| CHORUS. | 2 | /˘ |
| The sons of Erechtheus, the olden, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Whom high gods planted of yore | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| In an old land of heaven upholden, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A proud land untrodden of war: | 8 | ········ |
| They are hungered, and, lo, their desire | 10 | ··/˘···˘/˘ |
| With wisdom is fed as with meat: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In their skies is a shining of fire, | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| A joy in the fall of their feet: | 8 | ········ |
| And thither, with manifold dowers, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| From the North, from the hills, from the morn, | 9 | ········· |
| The Muses did gather their powers, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| That a child of the Nine should be born; | 9 | ········· |
| And Harmony, sown as the flowers, | 9 | ·/˘˘···/˘ |
| Grew gold in the acres of corn. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And Cephisus, the fair-flowing river-- | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| The Cyprian dipping her hand | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| Hath drawn of his dew, and the shiver | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Of her touch is as joy in the land. | 9 | ········· |
| For her breathing in fragrance is written, | 10 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| And in music her path as she goes, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And the cloud of her hair, it is litten | 10 | ········/˘ |
| With stars of the wind-woven rose. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So fareth she ever and ever, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| And forth of her bosom is blown, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| As dews on the winds of the river, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| An hunger of passions unknown. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Strong Loves of all godlike endeavour, | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Whom Wisdom shall throne on her throne. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Some Women. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| But Cephisus the fair-flowing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Will he bear thee on his shore? | 7 | ······· |
| Shall the land that succours all, succour thee, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Who art foul among thy kind, | 7 | ······· |
| With the tears of children blind? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Dost thou see the red gash growing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Thine own burden dost thou see? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Every side, Every way, | 8 | /˘˘·/˘˘· |
| Lo, we kneel to thee and pray: | 7 | ······· |
| By thy knees, by thy soul, O woman wild! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| One at least thou canst not slay, | 7 | ······· |
| Not thy child! | 3 | ··· |
| Others. | 2 | /˘ |
| Hast thou ice that thou shalt bind it | 8 | ········ |
| To thy breast, and make thee dead | 7 | ······· |
| To thy children, to thine own spirit's pain? | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| When the hand knows what it dares, | 7 | ······· |
| When thine eyes look into theirs, | 7 | ······· |
| Shalt thou keep by tears unblinded | 8 | ········ |
| Thy dividing of the slain? | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| These be deeds Not for thee: | 6 | ······ |
| These be things that cannot be! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thy babes--though thine hardihood be fell, | 9 | ····/˘˘·· |
| When they cling about thy knee, | 7 | ······· |
| 'Twill be well! | 3 | ··· |
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