Olimpio: Now
BEATRICE:I ask if all is over?
OLIMPIO:We dare not kill an old and sleeping man;His thin gray hair, his stern and reverend brow,His veined hands crossed on his heaving breast,And the calm innocent sleep in which he lay,Quelled me. Indeed, indeed, I cannot do it.
MARZIO:But I was bolder; for I chid Olimpio,And bade him bear his wrongs to his own graveAnd leave me the reward. And now my knifeTouched the loose wrinkled throat, when the old manStirred in his sleep, and said, 'God! hear, O, hear,A father's curse! What, art Thou not our Father?'And then he laughed. I knew it was the ghostOf my dead father speaking through his lips,And could not kill him.
BEATRICE:Miserable slaves!Where, if ye dare not kill a sleeping man,Found ye the boldness to return to meWith such a deed undone? Base palterers!Cowards and traitors! Why, the very conscienceWhich ye would sell for gold and for revengeIs an equivocation: it sleeps overA thousand daily acts disgracing men;And when a deed where mercy insults Heaven...Why do I talk?Hadst thou a tongue to say,'She murdered her own father!'--I must do it!But never dream ye shall outlive him long!
OLIMPIO:Stop, for God's sake!
MARZIO:I will go back and kill him.
OLIMPIO:Give me the weapon, we must do thy will.
BEATRICE:Take it! Depart! Return!How pale thou art!We do but that which 'twere a deadly crimeTo leave undone.
LUCRETIA:Would it were done!
BEATRICE:Even whilstThat doubt is passing through your mind, the worldIs conscious of a change. Darkness and HellHave swallowed up the vapour they sent forthTo blacken the sweet light of life. My breathComes, methinks, lighter, and the jellied bloodRuns freely through my veins. Hark!He is...
Words in this poem
- reverend a.
- Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. [F. révérend, L. reverendus, fr. revereri. See Revere.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- 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,]
- outlive v. t.
- To live beyond, or longer than; to survive.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- vapour n.
- Any substance in the gaseous, or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a liquid or solid. [OE. vapour, OF. vapour, vapor, vapeur, F. vapeur, L. vapor; probably for cvapor, and akin to Gr. kvepti to breathe, smell, Russ. kopote fine soot. Cf. Vapid.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- jellied a.
- Brought to the state or consistence of jelly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Olimpio: Now 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: Now, in Alastor, and Other Poems (1813–1820), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4797, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-poems/olimpio-now.html, id L00247.
Form and metre
Olimpio: Now is 54 lines in 10 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 85%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 8 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, 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.
- 3 AA-------- marzioA · olimpioA · grave · knife · man · hear · father · ghost · lips · him
- 4 --------AA---- beatrice · slaves · man · me · palterers · conscience · revenge · over · menA · heavenA · talk · say · it · long
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BEATRICE: | 3 | /˘˘ |
| I ask if all is over? | 7 | ······· |
| OLIMPIO: | 3 | ··· |
| We dare not kill an old and sleeping man; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| His thin gray hair, his stern and reverend brow, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| His veined hands crossed on his heaving breast, | 10 | ··˘····/˘· |
| And the calm innocent sleep in which he lay, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Quelled me. Indeed, indeed, I cannot do it. | 11 | ··˘/˘/·/˘·· |
| MARZIO: | 2 | ·· |
| But I was bolder; for I chid Olimpio, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| And bade him bear his wrongs to his own grave | 10 | ·········· |
| And leave me the reward. And now my knife | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Touched the loose wrinkled throat, when the old man | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Stirred in his sleep, and said, 'God! hear, O, hear, | 10 | ·········· |
| A father's curse! What, art Thou not our Father?' | 11 | ·/˘·····//˘ |
| And then he laughed. I knew it was the ghost | 10 | ·········· |
| Of my dead father speaking through his lips, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And could not kill him. | 5 | ····· |
| BEATRICE: | 3 | /˘˘ |
| Miserable slaves! | 5 | /˘˘˘· |
| Where, if ye dare not kill a sleeping man, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Found ye the boldness to return to me | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| With such a deed undone? Base palterers! | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Cowards and traitors! Why, the very conscience | 11 | /˘·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Which ye would sell for gold and for revenge | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Is an equivocation: it sleeps over | 10 | ··˘˘˘/˘··· |
| A thousand daily acts disgracing men; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And when a deed where mercy insults Heaven... | 11 | ·····/˘/·/˘ |
| Why do I talk? | 4 | ···· |
| Hadst thou a tongue to say, | 6 | ······ |
| 'She murdered her own father!'--I must do it! | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| But never dream ye shall outlive him long! | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| OLIMPIO: | 3 | ··· |
| Stop, for God's sake! | 4 | ···· |
| MARZIO: | 2 | ·· |
| I will go back and kill him. | 7 | ······· |
| OLIMPIO: | 3 | ··· |
| Give me the weapon, we must do thy will. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| BEATRICE: | 3 | /˘˘ |
| Take it! Depart! Return! | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| How pale thou art! | 4 | ···· |
| We do but that which 'twere a deadly crime | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To leave undone. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| LUCRETIA: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Would it were done! | 4 | ···· |
| BEATRICE: | 3 | /˘˘ |
| Even whilst | 3 | /˘· |
| That doubt is passing through your mind, the world | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Is conscious of a change. Darkness and Hell | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| Have swallowed up the vapour they sent forth | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| To blacken the sweet light of life. My breath | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Comes, methinks, lighter, and the jellied blood | 10 | ·˘//˘··/˘· |
| Runs freely through my veins. Hark! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| He is... | 2 | ·· |
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.