Iphigenia In Tauris. - Act The Second Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A B BCDEFBGBHIJKLKMNOPBQ BRSILTBUVWBXOY BZA2BVB2C2D2VE2VBVF2 G2VH2VG2B BVI2J2B2VK2NH2BNL2VV B BM2F2BNVH2VN2 BO2L2 BH2VH2P2B2 BBB2NVLAH2LQ2H2R2 BV BH2VF2VVLO BVVS2BB BBBVT2U2V2BNVVVBV BQ2VBVW2VVBX2VY2VBTB VN2B2L2BB BBBBBVB2Y2Y2Z2VVTA3 BBVVB BY2 BY2 BB BVBM2BB2B3Y2B2 BO BVVBBB2VBBY2 BC3B BD3E3VBG2BL2 BB2GBSOVBY2 BBXB2F3VVV BG3 BVH3VBG2B BI3 BG2BBBG2VBVBY2 BY2G2VVVOB BJ3Y2VK3G2VVVY2G2VG2 L3 A B L3Z2BBBB2 BBVBVG3VVL3BBB2 L3VY2MY2V BIBMBVL3Y2R2VBY2VVBM 3VBBVBVL3BV L3L3G2 BBBL3VVL3Y2L2Y2B L3IG2V BL3VL3G2Y2V L3V BL3V L3N3B2V BVVG2VZ2Y2N3IBVVVL3B 2VIL3BY2V L3L3 BSVVBVB2BBI L3B BY2 L3N3 BO3 L3Y2 BTBVVL3BVVB2O B2Y2 L3BY2G2BVG2BSCENE I | A |
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ORESTES PYLADES | B |
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ORESTES | B |
It is the path of death that now we tread | C |
At every step my soul grows more serene | D |
When I implor'd Apollo to remove | E |
The grisly band of Furies from my side | F |
He seem'd with hope inspiring godlike words | B |
To promise aid and safety in the fane | G |
Of his lov'd sister who o'er Tauris rules | B |
Thus the prophetic word fulfils itself | H |
That with my life shall terminate my woe | I |
How easy 'tis for me whose heart is crush'd | J |
Whose sense is deaden'd by a hand divine | K |
Thus to renounce the beauteous light of day | L |
And must the son of Atreus not entwine | K |
The wreath of conquest round his dying brow | M |
Must I as my forefathers as my sire | N |
Bleed like a victim an ignoble death | O |
So be it Better at the altar here | P |
Than in a nook obscure where kindred hands | B |
Have spread assassination's wily net | Q |
Yield me this brief repose infernal Powers | B |
Ye who like loosen'd hounds still scent the blood | R |
Which trickling from my feet betrays my path | S |
Leave me ere long I come to you below | I |
Nor you nor I should view the light of day | L |
The soft green carpet of the beauteous earth | T |
Is no arena for unhallow'd fiends | B |
Below I seek you where an equal fate | U |
Binds all in murky never ending night | V |
Thee only thee my Pylades my friend | W |
The guiltless partner of my crime and curse | B |
Thee am I loath before thy time to take | X |
To yonder cheerless shore Thy life or death | O |
Alone awakens in me hope or fear | Y |
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PYLADES | B |
Like thee Orestes I am not prepar'd | Z |
Downwards to wander to yon realm of shade | A2 |
I purpose still through the entangl'd paths | B |
Which seem as they would lead to blackest night | V |
Again to guide our upward way to life | B2 |
Of death I think not I observe and mark | C2 |
Whether the gods may not perchance present | D2 |
Means and fit moment for a joyful flight | V |
Dreaded or not the stroke of death must come | E2 |
And though the priestess stood with hand uprais'd | V |
Prepar'd to cut our consecrated locks | B |
Our safety still should be my only thought | V |
Uplift thy soul above this weak despair | F2 |
Desponding doubts but hasten on our peril | G2 |
Apollo pledg'd to us his sacred word | V |
That in his sister's' holy fane for thee | H2 |
Were comfort aid and glad return prepar'd | V |
The words of Heaven are not equivocal | G2 |
As in despair the poor oppress'd one thinks | B |
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ORESTES | B |
The mystic web of life my mother spread | V |
Around my infant head and so I grew | I2 |
An image of my sire and my mute look | J2 |
Was aye a bitter and a keen reproof | B2 |
To her and base gisthus Oh how oft | V |
When silently within our gloomy hall | K2 |
Electra sat and mus'd beside the fire | N |
Have I with anguish'd spirit climb'd her knee | H2 |
And watch'd her bitter tears with sad amaze | B |
Then would she tell me of our noble sire | N |
How much I long'd to see him be with him | L2 |
Myself at Troy one moment fondly wish'd | V |
My sire's return the next The day arrived | V |
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Transcriber's Note Original text read Egisthus | B |
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PYLADES | B |
Oh of that awful hour let fiends of hell | M2 |
Hold nightly converse Of a time more fair | F2 |
May the remembrance animate our hearts | B |
To fresh heroic deeds The gods require | N |
On this wide earth the service of the good | V |
To work their pleasure Still they count on thee | H2 |
For in thy father's train they sent thee not | V |
When he to Orcus went unwilling down | N2 |
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ORESTES | B |
Would I had seiz'd the border of his robe | O2 |
And follow'd him | L2 |
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PYLADES | B |
They kindly car'd for me | H2 |
Who here detain'd thee for if thou hadst died | V |
I know not what had then become of me | H2 |
Since I with thee and for thy sake alone | P2 |
Have from my childhood liv'd and wish to live | B2 |
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ORESTES | B |
Do not remind me of those tranquil days | B |
When me thy home a safe asylum gave | B2 |
With fond solicitude thy noble sire | N |
The half nipp'd tender flow'ret gently rear'd | V |
While thou a friend and playmate always gay | L |
Like to a light and brilliant butterfly | A |
Around a dusky flower didst around me | H2 |
Still with new life thy merry gambols play | L |
And breathe thy joyous spirit in my soul | Q2 |
Until my cares forgetting I with thee | H2 |
Was lur'd to snatch the eager joys of youth | R2 |
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PYLADES | B |
My very life began when thee I lov'd | V |
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ORESTES | B |
Say then thy woes began and thou speak'st truly | H2 |
This is the sharpest sorrow of my lot | V |
That like a plague infected wretch I bear | F2 |
Death and destruction hid within my breast | V |
That where I tread e'en on the healthiest spot | V |
Ere long the blooming faces round betray | L |
The writhing features of a ling'ring death | O |
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PYLADES | B |
Were thy breath venom I had been the first | V |
To die that death Orestes Am I not | V |
As ever full of courage and of joy | S2 |
And love and courage are the spirit's wings | B |
Wafting to noble actions | B |
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ORESTES | B |
Noble actions | B |
Time was when fancy painted such before us | B |
When oft the game pursuing on we roam'd | V |
O'er hill and valley hoping that ere long | T2 |
With club and weapon arm'd we so might track | U2 |
The robber to his den or monster huge | V2 |
And then at twilight by the glassy sea | B |
We peaceful sat reclin'd against each other | N |
The waves came dancing to our very feet | V |
And all before us lay the wide wide world | V |
Then on a sudden one would seize his sword | V |
And future deeds shone round us like the stars | B |
Which gemm'd in countless throngs the vault of night | V |
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PYLADES | B |
Endless my friend the projects which the soul | Q2 |
Burns to accomplish We would every deed | V |
At once perform as grandly as it shows | B |
After long ages when from land to land | V |
The poet's swelling song hath roll'd it on | W2 |
It sounds so lovely what our fathers did | V |
When in the silent evening shade reclin'd | V |
We drink it in with music's melting tones | B |
And what we do is as their deeds to them | X2 |
Toilsome and incomplete | V |
Thus we pursue what always flies before | Y2 |
We disregard the path in which we tread | V |
Scarce see around the footsteps of our sires | B |
Or heed the trace of their career on earth | T |
We ever hasten on to chase their shades | B |
Which godlike at a distance far remote | V |
On golden clouds reclin'd the mountains crown | N2 |
The man I prize not who esteems himself | B2 |
Just as the people's breath may chance to raise him | L2 |
But thou Orestes to the gods give thanks | B |
That they have done so much through thee already | B |
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ORESTES | B |
When they ordain a man to noble deeds | B |
To shield from dire calamity his friends | B |
Extend his empire or protect its bounds | B |
Or put to flight its ancient enemies | B |
Let him be grateful For to him a god | V |
Imparts the first the sweetest joy of life | B2 |
Me have they doom'd to be a slaughterer | Y2 |
To be an honour'd mother's murderer | Y2 |
And shamefully a deed of shame avenging | Z2 |
Me through their own decree they have o'erwhelm'd | V |
Trust me the race of Tantalus is doom'd | V |
Nor may his last descendant leave the earth | T |
Or crown'd with honour or unstain'd by crime | A3 |
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PYLADES | B |
The gods avenge not on the son the deeds | B |
Done by the father Each or good or bad | V |
Of his own actions reaps the due reward | V |
The parents' blessing not their curse descends | B |
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ORESTES | B |
Methinks their blessing did not lead us here | Y2 |
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PYLADES | B |
It was at least the mighty gods' decree | Y2 |
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ORESTES | B |
Then is it their decree which doth destroy us | B |
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PYLADES | B |
Perform what they command and wait the event | V |
Do thou Apollo's sister bear from hence | B |
That they at Delphi may united dwell | M2 |
Rever'd and honour'd by a noble race | B |
Thee for this deed the heav'nly pair will view | B2 |
With gracious eye and from the hateful grasp | B3 |
Of the infernal Powers will rescue thee | Y2 |
E'en now none dares intrude within this grove | B2 |
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ORESTES | B |
So shall I die at least a peaceful death | O |
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PYLADES | B |
Far other are my thoughts and not unskill'd | V |
Have I the future and the past combin'd | V |
In quiet meditation Long perchance | B |
Hath ripen'd in the counsel of the gods | B |
The great event Diana wish d to leave | B2 |
This savage region foul with human blood | V |
We were selected for the high emprize | B |
To us it is assign'd and strangely thus | B |
We are conducted to the threshold here | Y2 |
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ORESTES | B |
My friend with wondrous skill thou link'st thy wish | C3 |
With the predestin'd purpose of the gods | B |
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PYLADES | B |
Of what avail is prudence if it fail | D3 |
Heedful to mark the purposes of Heaven | E3 |
A noble man who much hath sinn'd some god | V |
Doth summon to a dangerous enterprize | B |
Which to achieve appears impossible | G2 |
The hero conquers and atoning serves | B |
Mortals and gods who thenceforth honour him | L2 |
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ORESTES | B |
Am I foredoom'd to action and to life | B2 |
Would that a god from my distemper'd brain | G |
Might chase this dizzy fever which impels | B |
My restless steps along a slipp'ry path | S |
Stain'd with a mother's blood to direful death | O |
And pitying dry the fountain whence the blood | V |
For ever spouting from a mother's wounds | B |
Eternally defiles me | Y2 |
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PYLADES | B |
Wait in peace | B |
Thou dost increase the evil and dost take | X |
The office of the Furies on thyself | B2 |
Let me contrive be still And when at length | F3 |
The time for action claims our powers combin'd | V |
Then will I summon thee and on we'll stride | V |
With cautious boldness to achieve the event | V |
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ORESTES | B |
I hear Ulysses speak | G3 |
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PYLADES | B |
Nay mock me not | V |
Each must select the hero after whom | H3 |
To climb the steep and difficult ascent | V |
Of high Olympus And to me it seems | B |
That him nor stratagem nor art defile | G2 |
Who consecrates himself to noble deeds | B |
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ORESTES | B |
I most esteem the brave and upright man | I3 |
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PYLADES | B |
And therefore have I not desir'd thy counsel | G2 |
One step is ta'en already from our guards | B |
I have extorted this intelligence | B |
A strange and godlike woman now restrains | B |
The execution of that bloody law | G2 |
Incense and prayer and an unsullied heart | V |
These are the gifts she offers to the gods | B |
Her fame is widely spread and it is thought | V |
That from the race of Amazon she springs | B |
And hither fled some great calamity | Y2 |
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ORESTES | B |
Her gentle sway it seems lost all its power | Y2 |
At the approach of one so criminal | G2 |
Whom the dire curse enshrouds in gloomy night | V |
Our doom to seal the pious thirst for blood | V |
Again unchains the ancient cruel rite | V |
The monarch's savage will decrees our death | O |
A woman cannot save when he condemns | B |
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PYLADES | B |
That 'tis a woman is a ground for hope | J3 |
A man the very best with cruelty | Y2 |
At length may so familiarize his mind | V |
His character through custom so transform | K3 |
That he shall come to make himself a law | G2 |
Of what at first his very soul abhorr'd | V |
But woman doth retain the stamp of mind | V |
She first assum'd On her we may depend | V |
In good or evil with more certainty | Y2 |
She comes leave us alone I dare not tell | G2 |
At once our names nor unreserv'd confide | V |
Our fortunes to her Now retire awhile | G2 |
And ere she speaks with thee we'll meet again | L3 |
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SCENE II | A |
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IPHIGENIA PYLADES | B |
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IPHIGENIA | L3 |
Whence art thou Stranger speak To me thy bearing | Z2 |
Stamps thee of Grecian not of Scythian race | B |
She unbinds his chains | B |
The freedom that I give is dangerous | B |
The gods avert the doom that threatens you | B2 |
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PYLADES | B |
Delicious music dearly welcome tones | B |
Of our own language in a foreign land | V |
With joy my captive eye once more beholds | B |
The azure mountains of my native coast | V |
Oh let this joy that I too am a Greek | G3 |
Convince thee priestess How I need thine aid | V |
A moment I forget my spirit wrapt | V |
In contemplation of so fair a vision | L3 |
If fate's dread mandate doth not seal thy lips | B |
From which of our illustrious races say | B |
Dost thou thy godlike origin derive | B2 |
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IPHIGENIA | L3 |
A priestess by the Goddess' self ordain'd | V |
And consecrated too doth speak with thee | Y2 |
Let that suffice but tell me who art thou | M |
And what unbless'd o'erruling destiny | Y2 |
Hath hither led thee with thy friend | V |
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PYLADES | B |
The woe | I |
Whose hateful presence ever dogs our steps | B |
I can with ease relate Oh would that thou | M |
Couldst with like ease divine one shed on us | B |
One ray of cheering hope We are from Crete | V |
Adrastus' sons and I the youngest born | L3 |
Named Cephalus my eldest brother he | Y2 |
Laodamus Between us two a youth | R2 |
Of savage temper grew who oft disturb'd | V |
The joy and concord of our youthful sports | B |
Long as our father led his powers at Troy | Y2 |
Passive our mother's mandate we obey'd | V |
But when enrich'd with booty he return'd | V |
And shortly after died a contest fierce | B |
For the succession and their father's wealth | M3 |
Parted the brothers I the eldest joined | V |
He slew the second and the Furies hence | B |
For kindred murder dog his restless steps | B |
But to this savage shore the Delphian god | V |
Hath sent us cheer'd by hope commanding us | B |
Within his sister's temple to await | V |
The blessed hand of aid We have been ta'en | L3 |
Brought hither and now stand for sacrifice | B |
My tale is told | V |
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IPHIGENIA | L3 |
Tell me is Troy o'erthrown | L3 |
Assure me of its fall | G2 |
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PYLADES | B |
It lies in ruins | B |
But oh ensure deliverance to us | B |
Hasten I pray the promis'd aid of heav'n | L3 |
Pity my brother say a kindly word | V |
But I implore thee spare him when thou speakest | V |
Too easily his inner mind is torn | L3 |
By joy or grief or cruel memory | Y2 |
A feverish madness oft doth seize on him | L2 |
Yielding his spirit beautiful and free | Y2 |
A prey to furies | B |
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IPHIGENIA | L3 |
Great as is thy woe | I |
Forget it I conjure thee for a while | G2 |
Till I am satisfied | V |
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PYLADES | B |
The stately town | L3 |
Which ten long years withstood the Grecian host | V |
Now lies in ruins ne'er to rise again | L3 |
Yet many a hero's grave will oft recall | G2 |
Our sad remembrance to that barbarous shore | Y2 |
There lies Achilles and his noble friend | V |
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IPHIGENIA | L3 |
And are ye godlike forms reduc'd to dust | V |
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PYLADES | B |
Nor Palamede nor Ajax ere again | L3 |
The daylight of their native land behold | V |
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IPHIGENIA | L3 |
He speaks not of my father doth not name | N3 |
Him with the fallen He may yet survive | B2 |
I may behold him still hope on my heart | V |
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PYLADES | B |
Yet happy are the thousands who receiv'd | V |
Their bitter death blow from a hostile hand | V |
For terror wild and end most tragical | G2 |
Some hostile angry deity prepar'd | V |
Instead of triumph for the home returning | Z2 |
Do human voices never reach this shore | Y2 |
Far as their sound extends they bear the fame | N3 |
Of deeds unparallel'd And is the woe | I |
Which fills Mycene's halls with ceaseless sighs | B |
To thee a secret still And know'st thou not | V |
That Clytemnestra with gisthus' aid | V |
Her royal consort artfully ensnar'd | V |
And murder'd on the day of his return | L3 |
The monarch's house thou honourest I perceive | B2 |
Thy heaving bosom vainly doth contend | V |
With tidings fraught with such unlook'd for woe | I |
Art thou the daughter of a friend or born | L3 |
Within the circuit of Mycene's walls | B |
Do not conceal it nor avenge on me | Y2 |
That here the horrid crime I first announc'd | V |
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IPHIGENIA | L3 |
Proceed and tell me how the deed was done | L3 |
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PYLADES | B |
The day of his return as from the bath | S |
Arose the monarch tranquil and refresh'd | V |
His robe demanding from his consort's hand | V |
A tangl'd garment complicate with folds | B |
She o'er his shoulders flung and noble head | V |
And when as from a net he vainly strove | B2 |
To extricate himself the traitor base | B |
gisthus smote him and envelop'd thus | B |
Great Agamemnon sought the shades below | I |
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IPHIGENIA | L3 |
And what reward receiv'd the base accomplice | B |
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PYLADES | B |
A queen and kingdom he possess'd already | Y2 |
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IPHIGENIA | L3 |
Base passion prompted then the deed of shame | N3 |
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PYLADES | B |
And feelings cherish'd long of deep revenge | O3 |
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IPHIGENIA | L3 |
How had the monarch injured Clytemnestra | Y2 |
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PYLADES | B |
By such a dreadful deed that if on earth | T |
Aught could exculpate murder it were this | B |
To Aulis he allur'd her when the fleet | V |
With unpropitious winds the goddess stay'd | V |
And there a victim at Diana's shrine | L3 |
The monarch for the welfare of the Greeks | B |
Her eldest daughter doom'd And this 'tis said | V |
Planted such deep abhorrence in her heart | V |
That to gisthus she resign'd herself | B2 |
And round her husband flung the web of death | O |
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IPHIGENIA veiling herself | B2 |
It is enough Thou wilt again behold me | Y2 |
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PYLADES alone | L3 |
The fortune of this royal house it seems | B |
Doth move her deeply Whosoe'er she be | Y2 |
She must herself have known the monarch well | G2 |
For our good fortune from a noble house | B |
She hath been sold to bondage Peace my heart | V |
And let us steer our course with prudent zeal | G2 |
Toward the star of hope which gleams upon us | B |
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
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