Olimpio: Dead!
MARZIO:We strangled him that there might be no blood;And then we threw his heavy corpse i' the gardenUnder the balcony; 'twill seem it fell.
Here, take this gold, and hasten to your homes.And, Marzio, because thou wast only awedBy that which made me tremble, wear thou this!It was the mantle which my grandfatherWore in his high prosperity, and menEnvied his state: so may they envy thine.Thou wert a weapon in the hand of GodTo a just use. Live long and thrive! And, mark,If thou hast crimes, repent: this deed is none.
LUCRETIA:Hark, 'tis the castle horn: my God! it soundsLike the last trump.
BEATRICE:Some tedious guest is coming.
LUCRETIA:The drawbridge is let down; there is a trampOf horses in the court; fly, hide yourselves!
BEATRICE:Let us retire to counterfeit deep rest;I scarcely need to counterfeit it now:The spirit which doth reign within these limbsSeems strangely undisturbed. I could even sleepFearless and calm: all ill is surely past.
SAVELLA:Lady, my duty to his HolinessBe my excuse that thus unseasonablyI break upon your rest. I must speak withCount Cenci; doth he sleep?
I think he sleeps;Yet, wake him not, I pray, spare me awhile,He is a wicked and a wrathful man;Should he be roused out of his sleep to-night,Which is, I know, a hell of angry dreams,It were not well; indeed it were not well.Wait till day break...Oh, I am deadly sick!
SAVELLA:I grieve thus to distress you, but the CountMust answer charges of the gravest import,And suddenly; such my commission is.
I dare not rouse him: I know none who dare...'Twere perilous;...you might as safely wakenA serpent; or a corpse in which some fiendWere laid to sleep.
SAVELLA:Lady, my moments hereAre counted. I must rouse him from his sleep,Since none else dare.
O, terror! O, despair!Bernardo, conduct you the Lord Legate toYour father's chamber.
BEATRICE:'Tis a messengerCome to arrest the culprit who now standsBefore the throne of unappealable God.Both Earth and Heaven, consenting arbiters,Acquit our deed.
LUCRETIA:Oh, agony of fear!Would that he yet might live! Even now I heardThe Legate's followers whisper as they passedThey had a warrant for his instant death.All was prepared by unforbidden meansWhich we must pay so dearly, having done.Even now they search the tower, and find the body;Now they suspect the truth; now they consultBefore they come to tax us with the fact;O, horrible, 'tis all discovered!
BEATRICE:Mother,What is done wisely, is done well. Be boldAs thou art just. 'Tis like a truant childTo fear that others know what thou hast done,Even from thine own strong consciousness, and thusWrite on unsteady eyes and altered cheeksAll thou wouldst hide. Be faithful to thyself,And fear no other witness but thy fear.For if, as cannot be, some circumstanceShould rise in accusation, we can blindSuspicion with such cheap astonishment,Or overbear it with such guiltless pride,As murderers cannot feign. The deed is done,And what may follow now regards not me.I am as universal as the light;Free as the earth-surrounding air; as firmAs the world's centre. Consequence, to me,Is as the wind which strikes the solid rock,But shakes it not.
Words in this poem 16
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- wrathful a.
- Full of wrath; very angry; greatly incensed; ireful; passionate; as, a wrathful man.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
- culprit n.
- One accused of, or ar An author is in the condition of a culprit; the public are his judges. Prior. [Prob. corrupted for culpate, fr. Law Latin culpatus the accused, p. p. of L. culpare to blame. See Culpable.]
- unappealable a.
- Not appealable; that can not be carried to a higher tribunal by appeal; as, an unappealable suit or action.
- consult n.
- The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation; also, the result of consulation; determination; decision.
- astonishment n.
- The condition of one who is stunned. Hence: Numbness; loss of sensation; stupor; loss of sense. [Cf. OF. est, F. étonnement.]
- overbear v. t.
- To bear down or carry down, as by excess of weight, power, force, etc.; to overcome; to suppress.
- guiltless a.
- Free from guilt; innocent.
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Olimpio: Dead! is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #4797; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Olimpio: Dead!, in Alastor, and Other Poems (1813–1820), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4797, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-poems/olimpio-dead.html, id L00248.
Form and metre
Olimpio: Dead! is 92 lines in 15 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 21 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
- 11 -A-A savella · hereA · sleep · dareA
- 15 ----A--------AB--B-- beatrice · mother · bold · child · doneA · thus · cheeks · thyself · fear · circumstance · blind · astonishment · pride · doneA · meB · light · firm · meB · rock · not
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MARZIO: | 2 | ·· |
| We strangled him that there might be no blood; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And then we threw his heavy corpse i' the garden | 12 | ·····/˘···/˘ |
| Under the balcony; 'twill seem it fell. | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Here, take this gold, and hasten to your homes. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And, Marzio, because thou wast only awed | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| By that which made me tremble, wear thou this! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| It was the mantle which my grandfather | 10 | ···/˘··/·˘ |
| Wore in his high prosperity, and men | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Envied his state: so may they envy thine. | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Thou wert a weapon in the hand of God | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To a just use. Live long and thrive! And, mark, | 10 | ·········· |
| If thou hast crimes, repent: this deed is none. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| LUCRETIA: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Hark, 'tis the castle horn: my God! it sounds | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Like the last trump. | 4 | ···· |
| BEATRICE: | 3 | /˘˘ |
| Some tedious guest is coming. | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| LUCRETIA: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| The drawbridge is let down; there is a tramp | 10 | ·/········ |
| Of horses in the court; fly, hide yourselves! | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| BEATRICE: | 3 | /˘˘ |
| Let us retire to counterfeit deep rest; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| I scarcely need to counterfeit it now: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The spirit which doth reign within these limbs | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Seems strangely undisturbed. I could even sleep | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··/· |
| Fearless and calm: all ill is surely past. | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| SAVELLA: | 3 | ··· |
| Lady, my duty to his Holiness | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Be my excuse that thus unseasonably | 11 | ··˘/··˘/˘˘˘ |
| I break upon your rest. I must speak with | 10 | ·········· |
| Count Cenci; doth he sleep? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I think he sleeps; | 4 | ···· |
| Yet, wake him not, I pray, spare me awhile, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| He is a wicked and a wrathful man; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Should he be roused out of his sleep to-night, | 10 | ·········· |
| Which is, I know, a hell of angry dreams, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| It were not well; indeed it were not well. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Wait till day break... | 4 | ···· |
| Oh, I am deadly sick! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| SAVELLA: | 3 | ··· |
| I grieve thus to distress you, but the Count | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Must answer charges of the gravest import, | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And suddenly; such my commission is. | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| I dare not rouse him: I know none who dare... | 10 | ·········· |
| 'Twere perilous;...you might as safely waken | 11 | ·/˘˘···/˘/˘ |
| A serpent; or a corpse in which some fiend | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Were laid to sleep. | 4 | ···· |
| SAVELLA: | 3 | ··· |
| Lady, my moments here | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Are counted. I must rouse him from his sleep, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Since none else dare. | 4 | ···· |
| O, terror! O, despair! | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Bernardo, conduct you the Lord Legate to | 11 | ˘/˘/˘···/˘· |
| Your father's chamber. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| BEATRICE: | 3 | /˘˘ |
| 'Tis a messenger | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Come to arrest the culprit who now stands | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Before the throne of unappealable God. | 11 | ··········· |
| Both Earth and Heaven, consenting arbiters, | 11 | ···/˘˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Acquit our deed. | 5 | ˘//˘· |
| LUCRETIA: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Oh, agony of fear! | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Would that he yet might live! Even now I heard | 10 | ······/··· |
| The Legate's followers whisper as they passed | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| They had a warrant for his instant death. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| All was prepared by unforbidden means | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Which we must pay so dearly, having done. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Even now they search the tower, and find the body; | 11 | /····/···/˘ |
| Now they suspect the truth; now they consult | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Before they come to tax us with the fact; | 10 | ·········· |
| O, horrible, 'tis all discovered! | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘˘ |
| BEATRICE: | 3 | /˘˘ |
| Mother, | 2 | /˘ |
| What is done wisely, is done well. Be bold | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As thou art just. 'Tis like a truant child | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To fear that others know what thou hast done, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Even from thine own strong consciousness, and thus | 10 | /····/˘˘·· |
| Write on unsteady eyes and altered cheeks | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| All thou wouldst hide. Be faithful to thyself, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And fear no other witness but thy fear. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| For if, as cannot be, some circumstance | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Should rise in accusation, we can blind | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Suspicion with such cheap astonishment, | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| Or overbear it with such guiltless pride, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As murderers cannot feign. The deed is done, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And what may follow now regards not me. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| I am as universal as the light; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Free as the earth-surrounding air; as firm | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| As the world's centre. Consequence, to me, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Is as the wind which strikes the solid rock, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But shakes it not. | 4 | ···· |
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