The Cranes Of Ibycus Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABCDEDE CCFFGHGH IIJJKLKL MMNNHBHO PPQQRSRT UUIHCECE VVHHOWOW HHXXYZCA2 B2C2AAD2BD2B E2E2F2F2G2D2G2D2 TTH2H2I2J2I2J2 K2K2RRL2IL2I M2M2VVN2O2P2O2 Q2Q2R2R2S2I2S2I2 T2T2R2R2I2I2I2I2 IIU2V2W2LW2L S2S2S2S2I2HI2H X2X2ICS2S2S2S2 S2S2S2S2HLHL CCLLS2LS2L S2S2LLS2S2S2S2 LLS2S2S2S2S2S2 Y2Y2HHI2HI2HOnce to the song and chariot fight | A |
Where all the tribes of Greece unite | A |
On Corinth's isthmus joyously | B |
The god loved Ibycus drew nigh | C |
On him Apollo had bestowed | D |
The gift of song and strains inspired | E |
So with light staff he took his road | D |
From Rhegium by the godhead fired | E |
- | |
Acrocorinth on mountain high | C |
Now burns upon the wanderer's eye | C |
And he begins with pious dread | F |
Poseidon's grove of firs to tread | F |
Naught moves around him save a swarm | G |
Of cranes who guide him on his way | H |
Who from far southern regions warm | G |
Have hither come in squadron gray | H |
- | |
Thou friendly band all hail to thee | I |
Who led'st me safely o'er the sea | I |
I deem thee as a favoring sign | J |
My destiny resembles thine | J |
Both come from a far distant coast | K |
Both pray for some kind sheltering place | L |
Propitious toward us be the host | K |
Who from the stranger wards disgrace | L |
- | |
And on he hastes in joyous wood | M |
And reaches soon the middle wood | M |
When on a narrow bridge by force | N |
Two murderers sudden bar his course | N |
He must prepare him for the fray | H |
But soon his wearied hand sinks low | B |
Inured the gentle lyre to play | H |
It ne'er has strung the deadly bow | O |
- | |
On gods and men for aid he cries | P |
No savior to his prayer replies | P |
However far his voice he sends | Q |
Naught living to his cry attends | Q |
And must I in a foreign land | R |
Unwept deserted perish here | S |
Falling beneath a murderous hand | R |
Where no avenger can appear | T |
- | |
Deep wounded down he sinks at last | U |
When lo the cranes' wings rustle past | U |
He hears though he no more can see | I |
Their voices screaming fearfully | H |
By you ye cranes that soar on high | C |
If not another voice is heard | E |
Be borne to heaven my murder cry | C |
He speaks and dies too with the word | E |
- | |
The naked corpse ere long is found | V |
And though defaced by many a wound | V |
His host in Corinth soon could tell | H |
The features that he loved so well | H |
And is it thus I find thee now | O |
Who hoped the pine's victorious crown | W |
To place upon the singer's brow | O |
Illumined by his bright renown | W |
- | |
The news is heard with grief by all | H |
Met at Poseidon's festival | H |
All Greece is conscious of the smart | X |
He leaves a void in every heart | X |
And to the Prytanis swift hie | Y |
The people and they urge him on | Z |
The dead man's manes to pacify | C |
And with the murderer's blood atone | A2 |
- | |
But where's the trace that from the throng | B2 |
The people's streaming crowds among | C2 |
Allured there by the sports so bright | A |
Can bring the villain back to light | A |
By craven robbers was he slain | D2 |
Or by some envious hidden foe | B |
That Helios only can explain | D2 |
Whose rays illume all things below | B |
- | |
Perchance with shameless step and proud | E2 |
He threads e'en now the Grecian crowd | E2 |
Whilst vengeance follows in pursuit | F2 |
Gloats over his transgression's fruit | F2 |
The very gods perchance he braves | G2 |
Upon the threshold of their fane | D2 |
Joins boldly in the human waves | G2 |
That haste yon theatre to gain | D2 |
- | |
For there the Grecian tribes appear | T |
Fast pouring in from far and near | T |
On close packed benches sit they there | H2 |
The stage the weight can scarcely bear | H2 |
Like ocean billows' hollow roar | I2 |
The teaming crowds of living man | J2 |
Toward the cerulean heavens upsoar | I2 |
In bow of ever widening span | J2 |
- | |
Who knows the nation who the name | K2 |
Of all who there together came | K2 |
From Theseus' town from Aulis' strand | R |
From Phocis from the Spartan land | R |
From Asia's distant coast they wend | L2 |
From every island of the sea | I |
And from the stage they hear ascend | L2 |
The chorus's dread melody | I |
- | |
Who sad and solemn as of old | M2 |
With footsteps measured and controlled | M2 |
Advancing from the far background | V |
Circle the theatre's wide round | V |
Thus mortal women never move | N2 |
No mortal home to them gave birth | O2 |
Their giant bodies tower above | P2 |
High o'er the puny sons of earth | O2 |
- | |
With loins in mantle black concealed | Q2 |
Within their fleshless bands they wield | Q2 |
The torch that with a dull red glows | R2 |
While in their cheek no life blood flows | R2 |
And where the hair is floating wide | S2 |
And loving round a mortal brow | I2 |
Here snakes and adders are descried | S2 |
Whose bellies swell with poison now | I2 |
- | |
And standing in a fearful ring | T2 |
The dread and solemn chant they sing | T2 |
That through the bosom thrilling goes | R2 |
And round the sinner fetters throws | R2 |
Sense robbing of heart maddening power | I2 |
The furies' strains resound through air | I2 |
The listener's marrow they devour | I2 |
The lyre can yield such numbers ne'er | I2 |
- | |
Happy the man who blemish free | I |
Preserves a soul of purity | I |
Near him we ne'er avenging come | U2 |
He freely o'er life's path may roam | V2 |
But woe to him who hid from view | W2 |
Hath done the deed of murder base | L |
Upon his heels we close pursue | W2 |
We who belong to night's dark race | L |
- | |
And if he thinks to 'scape by flight | S2 |
Winged we appear our snare of might | S2 |
Around his flying feet to cast | S2 |
So that he needs must fall at last | S2 |
Thus we pursue him tiring ne'er | I2 |
Our wrath repentance cannot quell | H |
On to the shadows and e'en there | I2 |
We leave him not in peace to dwell | H |
- | |
Thus singing they the dance resume | X2 |
And silence like that of the tomb | X2 |
O'er the whole house lies heavily | I |
As if the deity were nigh | C |
And staid and solemn as of old | S2 |
Circling the theatre's wide round | S2 |
With footsteps measured and controlled | S2 |
They vanish in the far background | S2 |
- | |
Between deceit and truth each breast | S2 |
Now doubting hangs by awe possessed | S2 |
And homage pays to that dread might | S2 |
That judges what is hid from sight | S2 |
That fathomless inscrutable | H |
The gloomy skein of fate entwines | L |
That reads the bosom's depths full well | H |
Yet flies away where sunlight shines | L |
- | |
When sudden from the tier most high | C |
A voice is heard by all to cry | C |
See there see there Timotheus | L |
Behold the cranes of Ibycus | L |
The heavens become as black as night | S2 |
And o'er the theatre they see | L |
Far over head a dusky flight | S2 |
Of cranes approaching hastily | L |
- | |
Of Ibycus That name so blest | S2 |
With new born sorrow fills each breast | S2 |
As waves on waves in ocean rise | L |
From mouth to mouth it swiftly flies | L |
Of Ibycus whom we lament | S2 |
Who fell beneath the murderer's hand | S2 |
What mean those words that from him went | S2 |
What means this cranes' advancing band | S2 |
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And louder still become the cries | L |
And soon this thought foreboding flies | L |
Through every heart with speed of light | S2 |
Observe in this the furies' might | S2 |
The poets manes are now appeased | S2 |
The murderer seeks his own arrest | S2 |
Let him who spoke the word be seized | S2 |
And him to whom it was addressed | S2 |
- | |
That word he had no sooner spoke | Y2 |
Than he its sound would fain invoke | Y2 |
In vain his mouth with terror pale | H |
Tells of his guilt the fearful tale | H |
Before the judge they drag them now | I2 |
The scene becomes the tribunal | H |
Their crimes the villains both avow | I2 |
When neath the vengeance stroke they fall | H |
Friedrich Schiller
(1)
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