The Prayer of Orpheus
Sad monarch of the world below,Stern guardian of this drowsy shade,Through these unlovely realms I goTo seek a captive thou hast made.O'er Stygian waters have I pass'd,Contemning Jove's severe decree,And reached thy sable court at lastTo find my lost Eurydicè.
Of all the nymphs so deckt and drestLike Venus of the starry train,She was the loveliest and the best,The pride and glory of the plain.O free from thy despotic swayThis nymph of heaven-descended charms,Too soon she came this dusky way--Restore thy captive to my arms!
As by a stream's fair verdant sideIn myrtle shades she roved along,A serpent stung my blooming bride,This brightest of the female throng--The venom hastening thro' her veinsForbade the freezing blood to flow.And thus she left the Thracian plainsFor these dejected groves below.
Even thou may'st pity my sad pain,Since Love, as ancient stories say,Forced thee to leave thy native reign,And in Sicilian meadows stray:Bright Proserpine thy bosom fired,For her you sought unwelcome light,Madness and love in you conspiredTo seize her to the shades of night.
But if, averse to my request,The banished nymph, for whom I mourn,Must in Plutonian chambers rest,And never to my arms return----Take Orpheus too--his warm desireCan ne'er be quench'd by your decree:In life or death he must admire,He must adore Eurydicè!
Words in this poem
- unlovely a.
- Not lovely; not amiable; possessing qualities that excite dislike; disagreeable; displeasing; unpleasant.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- stygian a.
- Of or pertaining to the river Styx; hence, hellish; infernal.
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- thracian a.
- Of or pertaining to Thrace, or its people.
- sicilian a.
- Of or pertaining to Sicily or its inhabitants. Sicilian vespers, the great massacre of the French in Sicily, in the year 1282, on the evening of Easter Monday, at the hour of vespers.
- averse a.
- Turned away or backward. [L. aversus, p. p. of avertere. See Avert.]
- orpheus n.
- The famous mythic Thracian poet, son of the Muse Calliope, and husband of Eurydice. He is reputed to have had power to entrance beasts and inanimate objects by the music of his lyre.
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Prayer of Orpheus is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 1 (of 3), Project Gutenberg ebook #38475; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Philip Freneau, The Prayer of Orpheus, in Columbus to Ferdinand, and other poems (1786–1815), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38475, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/freneau-poems/the-prayer-of-orpheus.html, id L12711.
Form and metre
The Prayer of Orpheus is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 1 ABABC-C- belowA · shadeB · goA · madeB · pass'dC · decree · lastC · eurydicè
- 2 ABABCDCD drestA · trainB · bestA · plainB · swayC · charmsD · wayC · armsD
- 3 ABABCDCD sideA · alongB · brideA · throngB · veinsC · flowD · plainsC · belowD
- 4 ABABCDCD painA · sayB · reignA · strayB · firedC · lightD · conspiredC · nightD
- 5 A-A----- requestA · mourn · restA · return · desire · decree · admire · eurydicè
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sad monarch of the world below, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Stern guardian of this drowsy shade, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Through these unlovely realms I go | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| To seek a captive thou hast made. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O'er Stygian waters have I pass'd, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Contemning Jove's severe decree, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| And reached thy sable court at last | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To find my lost Eurydicè. | 7 | ······· |
| Of all the nymphs so deckt and drest | 8 | ········ |
| Like Venus of the starry train, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| She was the loveliest and the best, | 9 | ········· |
| The pride and glory of the plain. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O free from thy despotic sway | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| This nymph of heaven-descended charms, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Too soon she came this dusky way-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Restore thy captive to my arms! | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| As by a stream's fair verdant side | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In myrtle shades she roved along, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| A serpent stung my blooming bride, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| This brightest of the female throng-- | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| The venom hastening thro' her veins | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Forbade the freezing blood to flow. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And thus she left the Thracian plains | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For these dejected groves below. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Even thou may'st pity my sad pain, | 8 | /··/˘··· |
| Since Love, as ancient stories say, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Forced thee to leave thy native reign, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And in Sicilian meadows stray: | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| Bright Proserpine thy bosom fired, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| For her you sought unwelcome light, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Madness and love in you conspired | 9 | /˘····˘/˘ |
| To seize her to the shades of night. | 8 | ········ |
| But if, averse to my request, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| The banished nymph, for whom I mourn, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Must in Plutonian chambers rest, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| And never to my arms return---- | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Take Orpheus too--his warm desire | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Can ne'er be quench'd by your decree: | 8 | ······˘/ |
| In life or death he must admire, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He must adore Eurydicè! | 7 | ··˘/··· |
Notes from the edition 13
Fred Lewis Pattee's notes to the Poems of Philip Freneau (Project Gutenberg #38475).
- Stanza 17, line 6 Shenstone.--Ed. 1786.
- Stanza 17, line 12 Sylvan.--Ed. 1786.
- Stanza 17, line 21 Dolly.--Ed. 1786.
- Stanza 17, line 40 "But swift as changing goblets pass, They bless the virtues of the glass."--Ed. 1786.
- Stanza 32, line 4 This is a translation of the passage from Seneca used on the title page of The Rising Glory of America.
- Stanza 95, line 1 The four stanzas beginning "This world on paper idly drawn," are omitted from later editions, and the stanza beginning "But westward plac'd" is made to read: "Far to the west what lengthen'd seas! "Are no gay islands found in these, "No sylvan worlds, by Nature meant "To balance Asia's vast extent?"
- Stanza 103, line 1 In later editions the last three stanzas are omitted, and in their place is added the following, taken partly from the words of the Inchantress in the next picture: "If Neptune on my prowess smiles, And I detect his hidden isles, I hear some warning spirit say: 'No monarch will your toils repay: 'For this the ungrateful shall combine, 'And hard misfortune must be thine; 'For this the base reward remains 'Of cold neglect and galling chains! 'In a poor solitude forgot, 'Reproach and want shall be the lot 'Of him that gives new worlds to Spain 'And westward spreads her golden reign. 'On thy design what woes attend! 'The nations at the ocean's end 'No longer destined to be free 'Shall owe distress and death to thee! 'The seats of innocence and love 'Shall soon the scenes of horror prove; 'But why disturb these Indian climes, 'The pictures of more happy times! 'Has avarice, with unfeeling breast, 'Has cruelty thy soul possess'd? 'May ruin on thy boldness wait!-- 'And sorrow crown thy toils too late!'"
- Stanza 115, line 8 The six lines beginning here are omitted in the later versions.
- Stanza 136, line 5 This and the two preceding lines omitted in later versions.
- Stanza 138, line 9 "Not one is so noisy as you."--Ed. 1795.
- Stanza 152, line 19 This and preceding line omitted in later versions.
- Stanza 152, line 23 Two lines added in later editions: "Small motes I see, from ebbing rivers borne, And Neptune's waves a greener aspect wear."
- Stanza 152, line 41 "But to the depths below."--Ed. 1795.
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