Dramatis Personae
BENHADAD: King of Damascus.REZON: High Priest of the House of Rimmon.SABALLIDIN: A Noble.IZDUBHAR } Courtiers.SHUMAKIM: The King's Fool.ELISHA: Prophet of Israel.NAAMAN: Captain of the Armies of Damascus.RUAHMAH: A Captive Maid of Israel.TSARPI: Wife to Naaman.NUBTA } Attendants of Tsarpi.
KHAMMA:There's no one here; the garden is asleep.
NUBTA:The flowers are nodding, all the birds abed,--Nothing awake except the watchful stars!
KHAMMA:The stars are sentinels discreet and mute:How many things they know and never tell!
TSARPI:Unlike the stars, how many things you tellAnd do not know! When comes your master home?
NUBTA:Lady, his armour-bearer brought us word,--At moonset, not before.
TSARPI:He haunts the campAnd leaves me much alone; yet I can passThe time of absence not unhappily,If I but know the time of his return.An hour of moonlight yet! Khamma, my mirror!These curls are ill arranged, this veil too low,--So,--that is better, careless maids! Withdraw,--But bring me word if Naaman appears!
KHAMMA:Mistress, have no concern; for when we hearThe clatter of his horse along the street,We'll run this way and lead your dancers downWith song and laughter,--you shall know in time.
TSARPI:My guest is late; but he will surely come!The man who burns to drain the cup of love,The priest whose greed of glory never fails,Both, both have need of me, and he will come.And I,--what do I need? Why everythingThat helps my beauty to a higher throne;All that a priest can promise, all a manCan give, and all a god bestow, I need:This may a woman win, and this will I.
He stands behind TSARPI and listens, smiling,to her last words. Then he drops his mantle ofleopard-skin, and lifts his high priest's rod of
Words in this poem
- abed adv.
- In bed, or on the bed. [Pref. a- in, on + bed.]
- discreet a.
- Possessed of discernment, especially in avoiding error or evil, and in the adaptation of means to ends; prudent; sagacious; judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious. [F. discret, L. discretus separated (whence the meaning reserved, prudent), p. p. of discernere. See Discern, and cf. Discrete.]
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- moonset n.
- The descent of the moon below the horizon; also, the time when the moon sets.
- clatter v. i.
- To make a rattling sound by striking hard bodies together; to make a succession of abrupt, rattling sounds. [AS. cla a rattle, akin to D. klateren to rattle. Cf. Clack.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dramatis Personae is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Van Dyke, Dramatis Personae, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/dramatis-personae.html, id L22984.
Form and metre
Dramatis Personae is 51 lines in 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 A-B-BCAC-- damascusA · rimmon · nobleB · courtiers · foolB · israelC · damascusA · israelC · naaman · tsarpi
- 9 -A--A----- tsarpi · comeA · love · fails · comeA · everything · throne · man · need · i
- 10 -AA smiling · ofA · ofA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BENHADAD: King of Damascus. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| REZON: High Priest of the House of Rimmon. | 10 | ·········· |
| SABALLIDIN: A Noble. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| IZDUBHAR } Courtiers. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| SHUMAKIM: The King's Fool. | 6 | ······ |
| ELISHA: Prophet of Israel. | 9 | /˘˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| NAAMAN: Captain of the Armies of Damascus. | 12 | ··/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| RUAHMAH: A Captive Maid of Israel. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| TSARPI: Wife to Naaman. | 6 | ······ |
| NUBTA } Attendants of Tsarpi. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| KHAMMA: | 2 | ·· |
| There's no one here; the garden is asleep. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| NUBTA: | 2 | ·· |
| The flowers are nodding, all the birds abed,-- | 10 | ·/·/˘···˘/ |
| Nothing awake except the watchful stars! | 10 | /˘˘/···/˘· |
| KHAMMA: | 2 | ·· |
| The stars are sentinels discreet and mute: | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| How many things they know and never tell! | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| TSARPI: | 2 | ·· |
| Unlike the stars, how many things you tell | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| And do not know! When comes your master home? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| NUBTA: | 2 | ·· |
| Lady, his armour-bearer brought us word,-- | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| At moonset, not before. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| TSARPI: | 2 | ·· |
| He haunts the camp | 4 | ···· |
| And leaves me much alone; yet I can pass | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| The time of absence not unhappily, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| If I but know the time of his return. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| An hour of moonlight yet! Khamma, my mirror! | 11 | ·/·/·····/˘ |
| These curls are ill arranged, this veil too low,-- | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| So,--that is better, careless maids! Withdraw,-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| But bring me word if Naaman appears! | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| KHAMMA: | 2 | ·· |
| Mistress, have no concern; for when we hear | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| The clatter of his horse along the street, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| We'll run this way and lead your dancers down | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With song and laughter,--you shall know in time. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| TSARPI: | 2 | ·· |
| My guest is late; but he will surely come! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The man who burns to drain the cup of love, | 10 | ·········· |
| The priest whose greed of glory never fails, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Both, both have need of me, and he will come. | 10 | ·········· |
| And I,--what do I need? Why everything | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That helps my beauty to a higher throne; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| All that a priest can promise, all a man | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Can give, and all a god bestow, I need: | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| This may a woman win, and this will I. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| He stands behind TSARPI and listens, smiling, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| to her last words. Then he drops his mantle of | 11 | ········/˘· |
| leopard-skin, and lifts his high priest's rod of | 10 | /˘········ |
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