Parody of a Translation from the Medea of Euripides
Err shall they not, who resolute exploreTimes gloomy backward with judicious eyes;And, scanning right the practices of yore,Shall deem our hoar progenitors unwise.
They to the dome, where smoke, with curling play,Announc'd the dinner to the regions round,Summon'd the singer blithe, and harper gay,And aided wine with dulcet-streaming sound.
The better use of notes, or sweet or shrill,By quiv'ring string or modulated wind;Trumpet or lyre--to their harsh bosoms chillAdmission ne'er had sought, or could not find.
Oh! send them to the sullen mansions dun,Her baleful eyes where sorrow rolls around;Where gloom-enamour'd mischief loves to dwell,And murder, all blood-bolter'd, schemes the wound.
When cates luxuriant pile the spacious dish,And purple nectar glads the festive hour;The guest, without a want, without a wish,Can yield no room to musick's soothing pow'r.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- explore v. t.
- To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
- judicious a.
- Of or relating to a court; judicial. [F. judicieux, fr. L. judicium judgment. See Judicial.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- hoar v. t.
- To become moldy or musty. [AS. harian to grow gray.]
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- harper n.
- A player on the harp; a minstrel. [AS. hearpere.]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- cates n.
- Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. [Cf. Acates, and see Cater, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Parody of a Translation from the Medea of Euripides is in the public domain. This text is taken from Dr. Johnson's Works: Life, Poems, and Tales, Volume 1 (The Works of Samuel Johnson in Nine Volumes, 1825), Project Gutenberg ebook #10835; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Johnson, Parody of a Translation from the Medea of Euripides, in Poems (1825), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10835, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-poems/parody-of-a-translation-from-the-medea-of-euripides.html, id L27157.
Form and metre
Parody of a Translation from the Medea of Euripides is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABAB exploreA · eyesB · yoreA · unwiseB
- 2 ABAB playA · roundB · gayA · soundB
- 3 ABAB shrillA · windB · chillA · findB
- 4 -A-A dun · aroundA · dwell · woundA
- 5 ABAB dishA · hourB · wishA · pow'rB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Err shall they not, who resolute explore | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Times gloomy backward with judicious eyes; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And, scanning right the practices of yore, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Shall deem our hoar progenitors unwise. | 10 | ··/·˘/˘˘˘/ |
| They to the dome, where smoke, with curling play, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Announc'd the dinner to the regions round, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Summon'd the singer blithe, and harper gay, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| And aided wine with dulcet-streaming sound. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| The better use of notes, or sweet or shrill, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| By quiv'ring string or modulated wind; | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘· |
| Trumpet or lyre--to their harsh bosoms chill | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Admission ne'er had sought, or could not find. | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Oh! send them to the sullen mansions dun, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Her baleful eyes where sorrow rolls around; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Where gloom-enamour'd mischief loves to dwell, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And murder, all blood-bolter'd, schemes the wound. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| When cates luxuriant pile the spacious dish, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And purple nectar glads the festive hour; | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| The guest, without a want, without a wish, | 10 | ·········· |
| Can yield no room to musick's soothing pow'r. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
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.