Chamberlain
While he was resting on its height,Which palace peacocks in their flightCan hardly reach, he seemed to beSnatched up--by what, we could not see.
The moral stumblings of mine own,The daily slips, are scarcely known;Who then that rules a kingdom, canGuide every deed of every man?
Writhe, while I drink the red blood flowing clearAnd kill you, as a tiger kills a deer;Let King Dushyanta grasp his bow; but howCan all his kingly valour save you now?
King (angrily). He scorns me, too! In one moment, miserable demon,you shall die. (Stringing his bow.) Where is the stairway,Parvatayana?
My arrow, flying when the bow is bent,Shall slay the wretch and spare the innocent;When milk is mixed with water in a cup,Swans leave the water, and the milk drink up.
Seek foes among the evil powers alone;For them your bow should bend;Not cruel shafts, but glances soft and kindShould fall upon a friend.
Matali. There is a host of demons who call themselvesInvincible--the brood of Kalanemi.
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,]
- stairway n.
- A flight of stairs or steps; a staircase.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chamberlain is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shakuntala and Other Works, Project Gutenberg ebook #16659, the Arthur W. Ryder 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: Kalidasa, Chamberlain, in Shakuntala and Other Works (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16659, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kalidasa-shakuntala/chamberlain.html, id L15643.
Form and metre
Chamberlain is 25 lines in 7 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 4 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABB heightA · flightA · beB · seeB
- 2 AABB ownA · knownA · canB · manB
- 3 AABB clearA · deerA · howB · nowB
- 5 AABB bentA · innocentA · cupB · upB
- 6 -A-A alone · bendA · kind · friendA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| While he was resting on its height, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which palace peacocks in their flight | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Can hardly reach, he seemed to be | 9 | ·/˘···˘·· |
| Snatched up--by what, we could not see. | 9 | ·˘······· |
| The moral stumblings of mine own, | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘··· |
| The daily slips, are scarcely known; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who then that rules a kingdom, can | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Guide every deed of every man? | 10 | ·/˘˘··/˘˘· |
| Writhe, while I drink the red blood flowing clear | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And kill you, as a tiger kills a deer; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Let King Dushyanta grasp his bow; but how | 10 | ·········· |
| Can all his kingly valour save you now? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| King (angrily). He scorns me, too! In one moment, miserable demon, | 15 | ·/˘······/˘/˘/˘ |
| you shall die. (Stringing his bow.) Where is the stairway, | 12 | ···/˘·····/· |
| Parvatayana? | 4 | ···· |
| My arrow, flying when the bow is bent, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Shall slay the wretch and spare the innocent; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| When milk is mixed with water in a cup, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Swans leave the water, and the milk drink up. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Seek foes among the evil powers alone; | 10 | ·····//˘˘/ |
| For them your bow should bend; | 6 | ······ |
| Not cruel shafts, but glances soft and kind | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Should fall upon a friend. | 6 | ······ |
| Matali. There is a host of demons who call themselves | 14 | ········/˘··˘/ |
| Invincible--the brood of Kalanemi. | 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.