Drupad's Speech
Fair Panchala's ancient monarch rose his secret thoughts to tell,From his lips the words of wisdom with a graceful accent fell:
"Much I fear thou speakest truly, hard is Kuru's stubborn race,Vain the hope, the effort futile, to beseech Duryodhan's grace!
Dhrita-rashtra pleadeth vainly, feeble is his fitful star,Ancient Bhishma, righteous Drona, cannot stop this fatal war,
Archer Karna thirsts for battle, moved by jealousy and pride,Deep Sakuni, false and wily, still supports Duryodhan's side!
Vain is Valadeva's counsel, vainly shall our envoy plead,Half his empire proud Duryodhan yields not in his boundless greed,
In his pride he deems our mildness faint and feeble-hearted fear,And our suit will fan his glory and his arrogance will cheer!
Therefore let our many heralds travel near and travel far,Seek alliance of all monarchs in the great impending war,
Unto brave and noble chieftains, unto nations east and west,North and south to warlike races speed our message and request!
Meanwhile peace and offered friendship we before Duryodhan place,And my priest will seek Hastina, strive to win Duryodhan's grace,
If he renders Indra-prastha, peace will crown the happy land,Or our troops will shake the empire from the east to western strand!"
Vainly were Panchala's Brahmans sent with messages of peace,Vainly urged Hastina's elders that the fatal feud should cease,
Proud Duryodhan to his kinsmen would not yield their proper share,Pandu's sons would not surrender, for they had the will to dare!
Fatal war and dire destruction did the mighty gods ordain,Till the kings and armed nations strewed the red and reeking plain!
Krishna in his righteous effort sought for wisdom from above,Strove to stop the war of nations and to end the feud in love!
And to far Hastina's palace Krishna went to sue for peace,Raised his voice against the slaughter, begged that strife and feudshould cease!
Words in this poem
- futile a.
- Talkative; loquacious; tattling. [L. futilis that easily pours out, that easily lets loose, vain, worthless, from the root of fundere to pour out: cf. F. futile. See Fuse, v. t.]
- fitful a.
- Full of fits; irregularly variable; impulsive and unstable. [From 7th Fit.]
- 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,]
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Drupad's Speech is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Mahabharata (condensed), Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, the Romesh Chunder Dutt 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: Vyasa, Drupad's Speech, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/drupad-s-speech.html, id L15799.
Form and metre
Drupad's Speech is 31 lines in 15 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 77% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 14.6 syllables.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic octameter.
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 AA tellA · fellA
- 2 AA raceA · graceA
- 4 AA prideA · sideA
- 5 AA pleadA · greedA
- 6 AA fearA · cheerA
- 8 AA westA · requestA
- 9 AA placeA · graceA
- 10 AA landA · strandA
- 11 AA peaceA · ceaseA
- 12 AA shareA · dareA
- 13 AA ordainA · plainA
- 14 AA aboveA · loveA
- 15 A-A peaceA · feud · ceaseA
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 trochaic octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Fair Panchala's ancient monarch rose his secret thoughts to tell, | 15 | ····/˘/···/˘··· |
| From his lips the words of wisdom with a graceful accent fell: | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/·· |
| "Much I fear thou speakest truly, hard is Kuru's stubborn race, | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Vain the hope, the effort futile, to beseech Duryodhan's grace! | 15 | ····/˘/˘·˘/···· |
| Dhrita-rashtra pleadeth vainly, feeble is his fitful star, | 15 | ····/˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Ancient Bhishma, righteous Drona, cannot stop this fatal war, | 15 | /˘··/˘··/˘··/˘· |
| Archer Karna thirsts for battle, moved by jealousy and pride, | 15 | /˘····/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Deep Sakuni, false and wily, still supports Duryodhan's side! | 15 | ······/˘·˘/···· |
| Vain is Valadeva's counsel, vainly shall our envoy plead, | 15 | ······/˘/˘·//˘· |
| Half his empire proud Duryodhan yields not in his boundless greed, | 15 | ··/˘········/˘· |
| In his pride he deems our mildness faint and feeble-hearted fear, | 15 | ·····//˘··/˘/˘· |
| And our suit will fan his glory and his arrogance will cheer! | 15 | ·/····/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Therefore let our many heralds travel near and travel far, | 15 | ···//˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Seek alliance of all monarchs in the great impending war, | 15 | ·˘/˘··/····˘/˘· |
| Unto brave and noble chieftains, unto nations east and west, | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| North and south to warlike races speed our message and request! | 15 | ····/·/˘·//˘·˘/ |
| Meanwhile peace and offered friendship we before Duryodhan place, | 15 | /···/˘/˘······· |
| And my priest will seek Hastina, strive to win Duryodhan's grace, | 15 | ··············· |
| If he renders Indra-prastha, peace will crown the happy land, | 15 | ··/˘········/˘· |
| Or our troops will shake the empire from the east to western strand!" | 15 | ·/····/˘····/˘· |
| Vainly were Panchala's Brahmans sent with messages of peace, | 15 | /˘········/˘˘·· |
| Vainly urged Hastina's elders that the fatal feud should cease, | 15 | /˘····/˘··/˘··· |
| Proud Duryodhan to his kinsmen would not yield their proper share, | 15 | ············/˘· |
| Pandu's sons would not surrender, for they had the will to dare! | 15 | ·····˘/˘······· |
| Fatal war and dire destruction did the mighty gods ordain, | 15 | /˘···˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Till the kings and armed nations strewed the red and reeking plain! | 15 | ·····˘/˘····/˘· |
| Krishna in his righteous effort sought for wisdom from above, | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Strove to stop the war of nations and to end the feud in love! | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| And to far Hastina's palace Krishna went to sue for peace, | 15 | ······/˘/˘····· |
| Raised his voice against the slaughter, begged that strife and feud | 15 | ·˘·····/˘·˘···· |
| should cease! | 2 | ·· |
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