Fragment Of A Greek Tragedy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDECFG HIJKLGMANFOPQRSTUVWX Y Z A2B2C2GCA2D2ZE2F2G2D E2H2I2A2J2K2 Z A2E2E2L2M2SA2E2L2E2E 2H2E2H2L2H2L2N2 L2 L2O2E2E2E2L2P2E2E2L2 L2L2L2L2 Q2A2E2R2FL2L2E2L2S2T 2L2CHORUS O suitably attired in leather boots | A |
Head of a traveller wherefore seeking whom | B |
Whence by what way how purposed art thou come | C |
To this well nightingaled vicinity | D |
My object in inquiring is to know | E |
But if you happen to be deaf and dumb | C |
And do not understand a word I say | F |
Then wave your hand to signify as much | G |
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ALCMAEON I journeyed hither a Boetian road | H |
CHORUS Sailing on horseback or with feet for oars | I |
ALCMAEON Plying with speed my partnership of legs | J |
CHORUS Beneath a shining or a rainy Zeus | K |
ALCMAEON Mud's sister not himself adorns my shoes | L |
CHORUS To learn your name would not displease me much | G |
ALCMAEON Not all that men desire do they obtain | M |
CHORUS Might I then hear at what thy presence shoots | A |
ALCMAEON A shepherd's questioned mouth informed me that | N |
CHORUS What for I know not yet what you will say | F |
ALCMAEON Nor will you ever if you interrupt | O |
CHORUS Proceed and I will hold my speechless tongue | P |
ALCMAEON This house was Eriphyle's no one else's | Q |
CHORUS Nor did he shame his throat with shameful lies | R |
ALCMAEON May I then enter passing through the door | S |
CHORUS Go chase into the house a lucky foot | T |
And O my son be on the one hand good | U |
And do not on the other hand be bad | V |
For that is much the safest plan | W |
ALCMAEON I go into the house with heels and speed | X |
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CHORUS | Y |
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Strophe | Z |
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In speculation | A2 |
I would not willingly acquire a name | B2 |
For ill digested thought | C2 |
But after pondering much | G |
To this conclusion I at last have come | C |
LIFE IS UNCERTAIN | A2 |
This truth I have written deep | D2 |
In my reflective midriff | Z |
On tablets not of wax | E2 |
Nor with a pen did I inscribe it there | F2 |
For many reasons LIFE I say IS NOT | G2 |
A STRANGER TO UNCERTAINTY | D |
Not from the flight of omen yelling fowls | E2 |
This fact did I discover | H2 |
Nor did the Delphine tripod bark it out | I2 |
Nor yet Dodona | A2 |
Its native ingunuity sufficed | J2 |
My self taught diaphragm | K2 |
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Antistrophe | Z |
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Why should I mention | A2 |
The Inachean daughter loved of Zeus | E2 |
Her whom of old the gods | E2 |
More provident than kind | L2 |
Provided with four hoofs two horns one tail | M2 |
A gift not asked for | S |
And sent her forth to learn | A2 |
The unfamiliar science | E2 |
Of how to chew the cud | L2 |
She therefore all about the Argive fields | E2 |
Went cropping pale green grass and nettle tops | E2 |
Nor did they disagree with her | H2 |
But yet howe'er nutritious such repasts | E2 |
I do not hanker after | H2 |
Never may Cypris for her seat select | L2 |
My dappled liver | H2 |
Why should I mention Io Why indeed | L2 |
I have no notion why | N2 |
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Epode | L2 |
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But now does my boding heart | L2 |
Unhired unaccompanied sing | O2 |
A strain not meet for the dance | E2 |
Yes even the palace appears | E2 |
To my yoke of circular eyes | E2 |
The right nor omit I the left | L2 |
Like a slaughterhouse so to speak | P2 |
Garnished with woolly deaths | E2 |
And many sphipwrecks of cows | E2 |
I therefore in a Cissian strain lament | L2 |
And to the rapid | L2 |
Loud linen tattering thumps upon my chest | L2 |
Resounds in concert | L2 |
The battering of my unlucky head | L2 |
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ERIPHYLE within O I am smitten with a hatchet's jaw | Q2 |
And that in deed and not in word alone | A2 |
CHORUS I thought I heard a sound within the house | E2 |
Unlike the voice of one that jumps for joy | R2 |
ERIPHYLE He splits my skull not in a friendly way | F |
Once more he purposes to kill me dead | L2 |
CHORUS I would not be reputed rash but yet | L2 |
I doubt if all be gay within the house | E2 |
ERIPHYLE O O another stroke that makes the third | L2 |
He stabs me to the heart against my wish | S2 |
CHORUS If that be so thy state of health is poor | T2 |
But thine arithmetic is quite correct | L2 |
Alfred Edward Housman
(1)
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