The Cyclops. A Satyric Drama Translated From The Greek Of Euripides Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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SILENUSA
ULYSSESA
CHORUS OF SATYRSA
THE CYCLOPSA
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SILENUSA
O Bacchus what a world of toil both nowB
And ere these limbs were overworn with ageC
Have I endured for thee First when thou fled'stD
The mountain nymphs who nursed thee driven afarE
By the strange madness Juno sent upon theeF
Then in the battle of the Sons of EarthG
When I stood foot by foot close to thy sideH
No unpropitious fellow combatantI
And driving through his shield my winged spearJ
Slew vast Enceladus Consider nowB
Is it a dream of which I speak to theeF
By Jove it is not for you have the trophiesA
And now I suffer more than all beforeK
For when I heard that Juno had devisedL
A tedious voyage for you I put to seaF
With all my children quaint in search of youM
And I myself stood on the beaked prowB
And fixed the naked mast and all my boysA
Leaning upon their oars with splash and strainN
Made white with foam the green and purple seaF
And so we sought you king We were sailingO
Near Malea when an eastern wind aroseA
And drove us to this waste Aetnean rockP
The one eyed children of the Ocean GodQ
The man destroying Cyclopses inhabitR
On this wild shore their solitary cavesA
And one of these named Polypheme has caught usA
To be his slaves and so for all delightS
Of Bacchic sports sweet dance and melodyF
We keep this lawless giant's wandering flocksA
My sons indeed on far declivitiesA
Young things themselves tend on the youngling sheepT
But I remain to fill the water casksA
Or sweeping the hard floor or ministeringO
Some impious and abominable mealU
To the fell Cyclops I am wearied of itV
And now I must scrape up the littered floorK
With this great iron rake so to receiveW
My absent master and his evening sheepT
In a cave neat and clean Even now I seeA
My children tending the flocks hitherwardV
Ha what is this are your Sicinnian measuresA
Even now the same as when with dance and songX
You brought young Bacchus to Althaea's hallsA
-
NOTEV
waste B wild 'cf where waste is cancelled for wild'V
LocockX
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CHORUS OF SATYRSA
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STROPHEW
Where has he of race divineY
Wandered in the winding rocksA
Here the air is calm and fineY
For the father of the flocksA
Here the grass is soft and sweetV
And the river eddies meetV
In the trough beside the caveW
Bright as in their fountain waveW
Neither here nor on the dewV
Of the lawny uplands feedingX
Oh you come a stone at youV
Will I throw to mend your breedingX
Get along you horned thingX
Wild seditious ramblingX
-
EPODEV
An Iacchic melodyV
To the golden AphroditeV
Will I lift as erst did IZ
Seeking her and her delightV
With the Maenads whose white feetV
To the music glance and fleetV
Bacchus O beloved whereA2
Shaking wide thy yellow hairA2
Wanderest thou alone afarE
To the one eyed Cyclops weV
Who by right thy servants areE
Minister in miseryV
In these wretched goat skins cladV
Far from thy delights and theeV
-
SILENUSA
Be silent sons command the slaves to driveW
The gathered flocks into the rock roofed caveW
-
CHORUSA
Go But what needs this serious haste O fatherB2
-
SILENUSA
I see a Grecian vessel on the coastV
And thence the rowers with some generalC2
Approaching to this cave About their necksA
Hang empty vessels as they wanted foodV
And water flasks Oh miserable strangersA
Whence come they that they know not what and whoV
My master is approaching in ill hourB2
The inhospitable roof of PolyphemeD2
And the Cyclopian jaw bone man destroyingX
Be silent Satyrs while I ask and hearE2
Whence coming they arrive the Aetnean hillF2
-
ULYSSESA
Friends can you show me some clear water springX
The remedy of our thirst Will any oneG2
Furnish with food seamen in want of itV
Ha what is this We seem to be arrivedV
At the blithe court of Bacchus I observeW
This sportive band of Satyrs near the cavesA
First let me greet the elder HailH2
-
SILENUSA
Hail thouB
O Stranger tell thy country and thy raceA
-
ULYSSESA
The Ithacan Ulysses and the kingX
Of CephaloniaG2
-
SILENUSA
Oh I know the manG2
Wordy and shrewd the son of SisyphusA
-
ULYSSESA
I am the same but do not rail upon meD2
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SILENUSA
Whence sailing do you come to SicilyD2
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ULYSSESA
From Ilion and from the Trojan toilsA
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SILENUSA
How touched you not at your paternal shoreK
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ULYSSESA
The strength of tempests bore me here by forceA
-
SILENUSA
The self same accident occurred to meD2
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ULYSSESA
Were you then driven here by stress of weatherB2
-
SILENUSA
Following the Pirates who had kidnapped BacchusA
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ULYSSESA
What land is this and who inhabit itV
-
SILENUSA
Aetna the loftiest peak in SicilyD2
-
ULYSSESA
And are there walls and tower surrounded townsA
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SILENUSA
There are not These lone rocks are bare of menG2
-
ULYSSESA
And who possess the land the race of beastsA
-
SILENUSA
Cyclops who live in caverns not in housesA
-
ULYSSESA
Obeying whom Or is the state popularB2
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SILENUSA
Shepherds no one obeys any in aughtV
-
ULYSSESA
How live they do they sow the corn of CeresA
-
SILENUSA
On milk and cheese and on the flesh of sheepT
-
ULYSSESA
Have they the Bromian drink from the vine's streamD2
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SILENUSA
Ah no they live in an ungracious landV
-
ULYSSESA
And are they just to strangers hospitableC2
-
SILENUSA
They think the sweetest thing a stranger bringsA
Is his own fleshI2
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ULYSSESA
What do they eat man's fleshI2
-
SILENUSA
No one comes here who is not eaten upJ2
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ULYSSESA
The Cyclops now where is he Not at homeD2
-
SILENUSA
Absent on Aetna hunting with his dogsA
-
ULYSSESA
Know'st thou what thou must do to aid us henceA
-
SILENUSA
I know not we will help you all we canG2
-
ULYSSESA
Provide us food of which we are in wantV
-
SILENUSA
Here is not anything as I said but meatV
-
ULYSSESA
But meat is a sweet remedy for hungerB2
-
SILENUSA
Cow's milk there is and store of curdled cheeseA
-
ULYSSESA
Bring out I would see all before I bargainG2
-
SILENUSA
But how much gold will you engage to giveW
-
ULYSSESA
I bring no gold but Bacchic juiceA
-
SILENUSA
Oh joyK2
Tis long since these dry lips were wet with wineG2
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ULYSSESA
Maron the son of the God gave it meD2
-
SILENUSA
Whom I have nursed a baby in my armsA
-
ULYSSESA
The son of Bacchus for your clearer knowledgeL2
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SILENUSA
Have you it now or is it in the shipM2
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ULYSSESA
Old man this skin contains it which you seeA
-
SILENUSA
Why this would hardly be a mouthful for meA
-
ULYSSESA
Nay twice as much as you can draw from thenceA
-
SILENUSA
You speak of a fair fountain sweet to meA
-
ULYSSESA
Would you first taste of the unmingled wineG2
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SILENUSA
'Tis just tasting invites the purchaserB2
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ULYSSESA
Here is the cup together with the skinG2
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SILENUSA
Pour that the draught may fillip my remembranceA
-
ULYSSESA
SeeA
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SILENUSA
Papaiapax what a sweet smell it hasA
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ULYSSESA
You see it thenG2
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SILENUSA
By Jove no but I smell itV
-
ULYSSESA
Taste that you may not praise it in words onlyA
-
SILENUSA
Babai Great Bacchus calls me forth to danceA
Joy joyK2
-
ULYSSESA
Did it flow sweetly down your throatV
-
SILENUSA
So that it tingled to my very nailsA
-
ULYSSESA
And in addition I will give you goldV
-
SILENUSA
Let gold alone only unlock the caskX
-
ULYSSESA
Bring out some cheeses now or a young goatV
-
SILENUSA
That will I do despising any masterB2
Yes let me drink one cup and I will giveW
All that the Cyclops feed upon their mountainsA
-
-
-
CHORUSA
Ye have taken Troy and laid your hands on HelenG2
-
ULYSSESA
And utterly destroyed the race of PriamD2
-
-
-
SILENUSA
The wanton wretch she was bewitched to seeA
The many coloured anklets and the chainG2
Of woven gold which girt the neck of ParisA
And so she left that good man MenelausA
There should be no more women in the worldV
But such as are reserved for me aloneG2
See here are sheep and here are goats UlyssesA
Here are unsparing cheeses of pressed milkX
Take them depart with what good speed ye mayD2
First leaving my reward the Bacchic dewV
Of joy inspiring grapesA
-
ULYSSESA
Ah me AlasA
What shall we do the Cyclops is at handV
Old man we perish whither can we flyZ
-
SILENUSA
Hide yourselves quick within that hollow rockX
-
ULYSSESA
'Twere perilous to fly into the netV
-
SILENUSA
The cavern has recesses numberlessA
Hide yourselves quickX
-
ULYSSESA
That will I never doV
The mighty Troy would be indeed disgracedV
If I should fly one man How many timesA
Have I withstood with shield immovableC2
Ten thousand Phrygians if I needs must dieZ
Yet will I die with glory if I liveW
The praise which I have gained will yet remainG2
-
SILENUSA
What ho assistance comrades haste assistanceA
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THE CYCLOPS SILENUS ULYSSES CHORUSA
-
CYCLOPSA
What is this tumult Bacchus is not hereE2
Nor tympanies nor brazen castanetsA
How are my young lambs in the cavern MilkingX
Their dams or playing by their sides And isA
The new cheese pressed into the bulrush basketsA
Speak I'll beat some of you till you rain tearsA
Look up not downwards when I speak to youV
-
SILENUSA
See I now gape at Jupiter himselfW
I stare upon Orion and the starsA
-
CYCLOPSA
Well is the dinner fitly cooked and laidV
-
SILENUSA
All ready if your throat is ready tooV
-
CYCLOPSA
Are the bowls full of milk besidesA
-
SILENUSA
O'er brimmingX
So you may drink a tunful if you willF2
-
CYCLOPSA
Is it ewe's milk or cow's milk or both mixedV
-
SILENUSA
Both either only pray don't swallow meA
-
CYCLOPSA
By no meansA
-
What is this crowd I see beside the stallsA
Outlaws or thieves for near my cavern homeD2
I see my young lambs coupled two by twoV
With willow bands mixed with my cheeses lieZ
Their implements and this old fellow hereE2
Has his bald head broken with stripesA
-
SILENUSA
Ah meA
I have been beaten till I burn with feverB2
-
CYCLOPSA
By whom Who laid his fist upon your headV
-
SILENUSA
Those men because I would not suffer themD2
To steal your goodsA
-
CYCLOPSA
Did not the rascals knowG2
I am a God sprung from the race of HeavenG2
-
SILENUSA
I told them so but they bore off your thingsA
And ate the cheese in spite of all I saidV
And carried out the lambs and said moreoverB2
They'd pin you down with a three cubit collarB2
And pull your vitals out through your one eyeZ
Furrow your back with stripes then binding youV
Throw you as ballast into the ship's holdV
And then deliver you a slave to moveW
Enormous rocks or found a vestibuleN2
-
NOTEV
Furrow B Torture evidently misread for FurrowG2
-
CYCLOPSA
In truth Nay haste and place in order quicklyA
The cooking knives and heap upon the hearthO2
And kindle it a great faggot of woodV
As soon as they are slaughtered they shall fillF2
My belly broiling warm from the live coalsA
Or boiled and seethed within the bubbling caldronG2
I am quite sick of the wild mountain gameD2
Of stags and lions I have gorged enoughW
And I grow hungry for the flesh of menG2
-
SILENUSA
Nay master something new is very pleasantV
After one thing forever and of lateV
Very few strangers have approached our caveW
-
ULYSSESA
Hear Cyclops a plain tale on the other sideV
We wanting to buy food came from our shipM2
Into the neighbourhood of your cave and hereE2
This old Silenus gave us in exchangeP2
These lambs for wine the which he took and drankX
And all by mutual compact without forceA
There is no word of truth in what he saysA
For slyly he was selling all your storeK
-
SILENUSA
I May you perish wretchI2
-
ULYSSESA
If I speak falseA
-
SILENUSA
Cyclops I swear by Neptune who begot theeA
By mighty Triton and by Nereus oldV
Calypso and the glaucous Ocean NymphsA
The sacred waves and all the race of fishesA
Be these the witnesses my dear sweet masterB2
My darling little Cyclops that I neverB2
Gave any of your stores to these false strangersA
If I speak false may those whom most I loveW
My children perish wretchedlyA
-
CHORUSA
There stopQ2
I saw him giving these things to the strangersA
If I speak false then may my father perishI2
But do not thou wrong hospitalityA
-
CYCLOPSA
You lie I swear that he is juster farE
Than Rhadamanthus I trust more in himD2
But let me ask whence have ye sailed O strangersA
Who are you And what city nourished yeA
-
ULYSSESA
Our race is Ithacan having destroyedV
The town of Troy the tempests of the seaA
Have driven us on thy land O PolyphemeD2
-
CYCLOPSA
What have ye shared in the unenvied spoilR2
Of the false Helen near Scamander's streamD2
-
ULYSSESA
The same having endured a woful toilR2
-
CYCLOPSA
Oh basest expedition sailed ye notV
From Greece to Phrygia for one woman's sakeX
-
ULYSSESA
'Twas the Gods' work no mortal was in faultV
But O great Offspring of the Ocean KingX
We pray thee and admonish thee with freedomD2
That thou dost spare thy friends who visit theeA
And place no impious food within thy jawsA
For in the depths of Greece we have uprearedV
Temples to thy great Father which are allS2
His homes The sacred bay of TaenarusA
Remains inviolate and each dim recessA
Scooped high on the Malean promontoryE
And aery Sunium's silver veined cragX
Which divine Pallas keeps unprofaned everE
The Gerastian asylums and whate'erE
Within wide Greece our enterprise has keptV
From Phrygian contumely and in whichI2
You have a common care for you inhabitV
The skirts of Grecian land under the rootsA
Of Aetna and its crags spotted with fireE
Turn then to converse under human lawsA
Receive us shipwrecked suppliants and provideV
Food clothes and fire and hospitable giftsA
Nor fixing upon oxen piercing spitsA
Our limbs so fill your belly and your jawsA
Priam's wide land has widowed Greece enoughW
And weapon winged murder leaped togetherE
Enough of dead and wives are husbandlessA
And ancient women and gray fathers wailH2
Their childless age if you should roast the restV
And 'tis a bitter feast that you prepareE
Where then would any turn Yet be persuadedV
Forgo the lust of your jaw bone preferE
Pious humanity to wicked willF2
Many have bought too dear their evil joysA
-
SILENUSA
Let me advise you do not spare a morselC2
Of all his flesh If you should eat his tongueX
You would become most eloquent O CyclopsA
-
CYCLOPSA
Wealth my good fellow is the wise man's GodV
All other things are a pretence and boastV
What are my father's ocean promontoriesA
The sacred rocks whereon he dwells to meA
Stranger I laugh to scorn Jove's thunderboltV
I know not that his strength is more than mineG2
As to the rest I care not When he poursA
Rain from above I have a close pavilionG2
Under this rock in which I lie supineG2
Feasting on a roast calf or some wild beastV
And drinking pans of milk and gloriouslyA
Emulating the thunder of high HeavenG2
And when the Thracian wind pours down the snowG2
I wrap my body in the skins of beastsA
Kindle a fire and bid the snow whirl onG2
The earth by force whether it will or noG2
Bringing forth grass fattens my flocks and herdsA
Which to what other God but to myselfW
And this great belly first of deitiesA
Should I be bound to sacrifice I well knowG2
The wise man's only Jupiter is thisA
To eat and drink during his little dayV
And give himself no care And as for thoseA
Who complicate with laws the life of manG2
I freely give them tears for their rewardV
I will not cheat my soul of its delightV
Or hesitate in dining upon youV
And that I may be quit of all demandsA
These are my hospitable gifts fierce fireE
And yon ancestral caldron which o'er bubblingX
Shall finely cook your miserable fleshI2
Creep inG2
-
-
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ULYSSESA
Ai ai I have escaped the Trojan toilsA
I have escaped the sea and now I fallS2
Under the cruel grasp of one impious manG2
O Pallas Mistress Goddess sprung from JoveW
Now now assist me Mightier toils than TroyE
Are these I totter on the chasms of perilC2
And thou who inhabitest the thronesA
Of the bright stars look hospitable JoveW
Upon this outrage of thy deityA
Otherwise be considered as no GodV
-
CHORUS ALONEG2
For your gaping gulf and your gullet wideV
The ravin is ready on every sideV
The limbs of the strangers are cooked and doneG2
There is boiled meat and roast meat and meat from the coalT2
You may chop it and tear it and gnash it for funG2
An hairy goat's skin contains the wholeT2
Let me but escape and ferry me o'erE
The stream of your wrath to a safer shoreE
The Cyclops Aetnean is cruel and boldV
He murders the strangersA
That sit on his hearthO2
And dreads no avengersA
To rise from the earthG
He roasts the men before they are coldV
He snatches them broiling from the coalT2
And from the caldron pulls them wholeT2
And minces their flesh and gnaws their boneG2
With his cursed teeth till all be goneG2
Farewell foul pavilionG2
Farewell rites of dreadV
The Cyclops vermilionG2
With slaughter uncloyingX
Now feasts on the deadV
In the flesh of strangers joyingX
-
NOTEV
ravin Rossetti spelt ravine in B editionsA
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ULYSSESA
O Jupiter I saw within the caveW
Horrible things deeds to be feigned in wordsA
But not to be believed as being doneG2
-
NOTEV
not to be believed B not believedV
-
CHORUSA
What sawest thou the impious PolyphemeA
Feasting upon your loved companions nowG2
-
ULYSSESA
Selecting two the plumpest of the crowdV
He grasped them in his handsA
-
CHORUSA
Unhappy manG2
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-
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ULYSSESA
Soon as we came into this craggy placeA
Kindling a fire he cast on the broad hearthO2
The knotty limbs of an enormous oakX
Three waggon loads at least and then he strewedV
Upon the ground beside the red firelightV
His couch of pine leaves and he milked the cowsA
And pouring forth the white milk filled a bowlT2
Three cubits wide and four in depth as muchI2
As would contain ten amphorae and bound itV
With ivy wreaths then placed upon the fireE
A brazen pot to boil and made red hotV
The points of spits not sharpened with the sickleC2
But with a fruit tree bough and with the jawsA
Of axes for Aetnean slaughteringsA
And when this God abandoned Cook of HellU2
Had made all ready he seized two of usA
And killed them in a kind of measured mannerE
For he flung one against the brazen rivetsA
Of the huge caldron and seized the otherE
By the foot's tendon and knocked out his brainsA
Upon the sharp edge of the craggy stoneG2
Then peeled his flesh with a great cooking knifeW
And put him down to roast The other's limbsA
He chopped into the caldron to be boiledV
And I with the tears raining from my eyesA
Stood near the Cyclops ministering to himA
The rest in the recesses of the caveW
Clung to the rock like bats bloodless with fearE
When he was filled with my companions' fleshI2
He threw himself upon the ground and sentV
A loathsome exhalation from his mawA
Then a divine thought came to me I filledV
The cup of Maron and I offered himA
To taste and said 'Child of the Ocean GodV
Behold what drink the vines of Greece produceA
The exultation and the joy of Bacchus '-
He satiated with his unnatural foodV
Received it and at one draught drank it offW
And taking my hand praised me 'Thou hast givenG2
A sweet draught after a sweet meal dear guest '-
And I perceiving that it pleased him filledV
Another cup well knowing that the wineG2
Would wound him soon and take a sure revengeV2
And the charm fascinated him and IZ
Plied him cup after cup until the drinkX
Had warmed his entrails and he sang aloudV
In concert with my wailing fellow seamenG2
A hideous discord and the cavern rungX
I have stolen out so that if you willF2
You may achieve my safety and your ownG2
But say do you desire or not to flyZ
This uncompanionable man and dwellU2
As was your wont among the Grecian NymphsA
Within the fanes of your beloved GodV
Your father there within agrees to itV
But he is weak and overcome with wineG2
And caught as if with bird lime by the cupJ2
He claps his wings and crows in doting joyE
You who are young escape with me and findV
Bacchus your ancient friend unsuited heA
To this rude CyclopsA
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NOTESA
ten cj Swinburne four four cancelled for ten possibly BA
I confess I do not understand this SHELLEY'S NOTEV
take grant as alternative BA
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CHORUSA
Oh my dearest friendV
That I could see that day and leave for everE
The impious CyclopsA
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ULYSSESA
Listen then what a punishment I haveW
For this fell monster how secure a flightV
From your hard servitudeV
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CHORUSA
O sweeter farE
Than is the music of an Asian lyreE
Would be the news of Polypheme destroyedV
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ULYSSESA
Delighted with the Bacchic drink he goesA
To call his brother Cyclops who inhabitV
A village upon Aetna not far offW
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CHORUSA
I understand catching him when aloneG2
You think by some measure to dispatch himA
Or thrust him from the precipiceA
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NOTEV
by some measure with some measures BA
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ULYSSESA
Oh noG2
Nothing of that kind my device is subtleC2
-
CHORUSA
How then I heard of old that thou wert wiseA
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ULYSSESA
I will dissuade him from this plan by sayingX
It were unwise to give the CyclopsesA
This precious drink which if enjoyed aloneG2
Would make life sweeter for a longer timeA
When vanquished by the Bacchic power he sleepsA
There is a trunk of olive wood withinG2
Whose point having made sharp with this good swordV
I will conceal in fire and when I seeA
It is alight will fix it burning yetV
Within the socket of the Cyclops' eyeZ
And melt it out with fire as when a manG2
Turns by its handle a great auger roundV
Fitting the framework of a ship with beamsA
So will I in the Cyclops' fiery eyeZ
Turn round the brand and dry the pupil upJ2
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CHORUSA
Joy I am mad with joy at your deviceA
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ULYSSESA
And then with you my friends and the old manG2
We'll load the hollow depth of our black shipM2
And row with double strokes from this dread shoreE
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CHORUSA
May I as in libations to a GodV
Share in the blinding him with the red brandV
I would have some communion in his deathW2
-
ULYSSESA
Doubtless the brand is a great brand to holdV
-
CHORUSA
Oh I would lift an hundred waggon loadsA
If like a wasp's nest I could scoop the eye outV
Of the detested CyclopsA
-
ULYSSESA
Silence nowG2
Ye know the close device and when I callS2
Look ye obey the masters of the craftV
I will not save myself and leave behindV
My comrades in the cave I might escapeX2
Having got clear from that obscure recessA
But 'twere unjust to leave in jeopardyA
The dear companions who sailed here with meA
-
CHORUSA
Come who is first that with his handV
Will urge down the burning brandV
Through the lids and quench and pierceA
The Cyclops' eye so fiery fierceA
-
SEMICHORUS SONG WITHING2
Listen listen he is comingX
A most hideous discord hummingX
Drunken museless awkward yellingX
Far along his rocky dwellingX
Let us with some comic spellU2
Teach the yet unteachableU2
By all means he must be blindedV
If my counsel be but mindedV
-
SEMICHORUSA
Happy thou made odorousA
With the dew which sweet grapes weepT
To the village hastening thusA
Seek the vines that soothe to sleepT
Having first embraced thy friendV
Thou in luxury without endV
With the strings of yellow hairE
Of thy voluptuous leman fairE
Shalt sit playing on a bedV
Speak what door is openedV
-
NOTESA
thou cj Swinburne Rossetti thoseA
'the word is doubtful in B ' LocockX
Thou B ThereE
-
CYCLOPSA
Ha ha ha I'm full of wineG2
Heavy with the joy divineG2
With the young feast oversatedV
Like a merchant's vessel freightedV
To the water's edge my cropQ2
Is laden to the gullet's topQ2
The fresh meadow grass of springX
Tempts me forth thus wanderingX
To my brothers on the mountainsA
Who shall share the wine's sweet fountainsA
Bring the cask O stranger bringX
-
NOTEV
merchant's merchant BA
-
CHORUSA
One with eyes the fairestV
Cometh from his dwellingX
Some one loves thee rarestV
Bright beyond my tellingX
In thy grace thou shinestV
Like some nymph divinestV
In her caverns dewyV
All delights pursue theeV
Soon pied flowers sweet breathingX
Shall thy head be wreathingX
-
ULYSSESA
Listen O Cyclops for I am well skilledV
In Bacchus whom I gave thee of to drinkX
-
CYCLOPSA
What sort of God is Bacchus then accountedV
-
ULYSSESA
The greatest among men for joy of lifeW
-
CYCLOPSA
I gulped him down with very great delightV
-
ULYSSESA
This is a God who never injures menG2
-
CYCLOPSA
How does the God like living in a skinG2
-
ULYSSESA
He is content wherever he is putV
-
CYCLOPSA
Gods should not have their body in a skinG2
-
ULYSSESA
If he gives joy what is his skin to youV
-
CYCLOPSA
I hate the skin but love the wine withinG2
-
ULYSSESA
Stay here now drink and make your spirit gladV
-
NOTEV
Stay here now drink B stay here now drinkX
-
CYCLOPSA
Should I not share this liquor with my brothersA
-
ULYSSESA
Keep it yourself and be more honoured soA
-
CYCLOPSA
I were more useful giving to my friendsA
-
ULYSSESA
But village mirth breeds contests broils and blowsA
-
CYCLOPSA
When I am drunk none shall lay hands on meV
-
ULYSSESA
A drunken man is better within doorsA
-
CYCLOPSA
He is a fool who drinking loves not mirthG
-
ULYSSESA
But he is wise who drunk remains at homeA
-
CYCLOPSA
What shall I do Silenus Shall I stayV
-
SILENUSA
Stay for what need have you of pot companionsA
-
CYCLOPSA
Indeed this place is closely carpetedV
With flowers and grassA
-
SILENUSA
And in the sun warm noonG2
'Tis sweet to drink Lie down beside me nowG2
Placing your mighty sides upon the groundV
-
CYCLOPSA
What do you put the cup behind me forE
-
SILENUSA
That no one here may touch itV
-
CYCLOPSA
Thievish OneG2
You want to drink here place it in the midstV
And thou O stranger tell how art thou calledV
-
ULYSSESA
My name is Nobody What favour nowG2
Shall I receive to praise you at your handsA
-
CYCLOPSA
I'll feast on you the last of your companionsA
-
ULYSSESA
You grant your guest a fair reward O CyclopsA
-
CYCLOPSA
Ha what is this Stealing the wine you rogueX
-
SILENUSA
It was this stranger kissing me becauseA
I looked so beautifulU2
-
CYCLOPSA
You shall repentV
For kissing the coy wine that loves you notV
-
SILENUSA
By Jupiter you said that I am fairE
-
CYCLOPSA
Pour out and only give me the cup fullU2
-
SILENUSA
How is it mixed let me observeW
-
CYCLOPSA
Curse youV
Give it me soA
-
SILENUSA
Not till I see you wearE
That coronal and taste the cup to youV
-
CYCLOPSA
Thou wily traitorE
-
SILENUSA
But the wine is sweetV
Ay you will roar if you are caught in drinkingX
-
CYCLOPSA
See now my lip is clean and all my beardV
-
SILENUSA
Now put your elbow right and drink againG2
As you see me drinkX
-
CYCLOPSA
How nowG2
-
SILENUSA
Ye Gods what a delicious gulpY2
-
CYCLOPSA
Guest take it you pour out the wine for meV
-
ULYSSESA
The wine is well accustomed to my handV
-
CYCLOPSA
Pour out the wineG2
-
ULYSSESA
I pour only be silentV
-
CYCLOPSA
Silence is a hard task to him who drinksA
-
ULYSSESA
Take it and drink it off leave not a dregX
Oh that the drinker died with his own draughtV
-
CYCLOPSA
Papai the vine must be a sapient plantV
-
ULYSSESA
If you drink much after a mighty feastV
Moistening your thirsty maw you will sleep wellU2
If you leave aught Bacchus will dry you upJ2
-
CYCLOPSA
Ho ho I can scarce rise What pure delightV
The heavens and earth appear to whirl aboutV
Confusedly I see the throne of JoveW
And the clear congregation of the GodsA
Now if the Graces tempted me to kissA
I would not for the loveliest of them allU2
I would not leave this GanymedeV
-
SILENUSA
PolyphemeV
I am the Ganymede of JupiterE
-
CYCLOPSA
By Jove you are I bore you off from DardanusA
-
-
-
ULYSSES AND THE CHORUSA
-
ULYSSESA
Come boys of Bacchus children of high raceA
This man within is folded up in sleepT
And soon will vomit flesh from his fell mawV
The brand under the shed thrusts out its smokeX
No preparation needs but to burn outV
The monster's eye but bear yourselves like menG2
-
CHORUSA
We will have courage like the adamant rockX
All things are ready for you here go inG2
Before our father shall perceive the noiseA
-
ULYSSESA
Vulcan Aetnean king burn out with fireE
The shining eye of this thy neighbouring monsterE
And thou O Sleep nursling of gloomy NightV
Descend unmixed on this God hated beastV
And suffer not Ulysses and his comradesA
Returning from their famous Trojan toilsA
To perish by this man who cares not eitherE
For God or mortal or I needs must thinkX
That Chance is a supreme divinityV
And things divine are subject to her powerE
-
NOTEV
God hated God hating as an alternative BV
-
CHORUSA
Soon a crab the throat will seizeA
Of him who feeds upon his guestV
Fire will burn his lamp like eyesA
In revenge of such a feastV
A great oak stump now is lyingX
In the ashes yet undyingX
Come Maron comeV
Raging let him fix the doomV
Let him tear the eyelid upJ2
Of the Cyclops that his cupJ2
May be evilU2
Oh I long to dance and revelU2
With sweet Bromian long desiredV
In loved ivy wreaths attiredV
Leaving this abandoned homeV
Will the moment ever comeV
-
ULYSSESA
Be silent ye wild things Nay hold your peaceA
And keep your lips quite close dare not to breatheZ2
Or spit or e'en wink lest ye wake the monsterE
Until his eye be tortured out with fireE
-
CHORUSA
Nay we are silent and we chaw the airE
-
ULYSSESA
Come now and lend a hand to the great stakeX
Within it is delightfully red hotV
-
CHORUSA
You then command who first should seize the stakeX
To burn the Cyclops' eye that all may shareE
In the great enterpriseA
-
SEMICHORUSA
We are too farE
We cannot at this distance from the doorE
Thrust fire into his eyeZ
-
SEMICHORUSA
And we just nowG2
Have become lame cannot move hand or footV
-
CHORUSA
The same thing has occurred to us our anklesA
Are sprained with standing here I know not howG2
-
ULYSSESA
What sprained with standing stillU2
-
CHORUSA
And there is dustV
Or ashes in our eyes I know not whenceA
-
ULYSSESA
Cowardly dogs ye will not aid me thenG2
-
CHORUSA
With pitying my own back and my back boneG2
And with not wishing all my teeth knocked outV
This cowardice comes of itself but stayV
I know a famous Orphic incantationG2
To make the brand stick of its own accordV
Into the skull of this one eyed son of EarthG
-
ULYSSESA
Of old I knew ye thus by nature nowG2
I know ye better I will use the aidV
Of my own comrades Yet though weak of handV
Speak cheerfully that so ye may awakenG2
The courage of my friends with your blithe wordsA
-
CHORUSA
This I will do with peril of my lifeW
And blind you with my exhortations CyclopsA
Hasten and thrustV
And parch up to dustV
The eye of the beastV
Who feeds on his guestV
Burn and blindV
The Aetnean hindV
Scoop and drawV
But beware lest he clawV
Your limbs near his mawV
-
CYCLOPSA
Ah me my eyesight is parched up to cindersA
-
CHORUSA
What a sweet paean sing me that againG2
-
CYCLOPSA
Ah me indeed what woe has fallen upon meV
But wretched nothings think ye not to fleeV
Out of this rock I standing at the outletV
Will bar the way and catch you as you passA
-
CHORUSA
What are you roaring out CyclopsA
-
CYCLOPSA
I perishI2
-
CHORUSA
For you are wickedV
-
CYCLOPSA
And besides miserableU2
-
CHORUSA
What did you fall into the fire when drunkX
-
CYCLOPSA
'Twas Nobody destroyed meV
-
CHORUSA
Why then no oneG2
Can be to blameV
-
CYCLOPSA
I say 'twas NobodyV
Who blinded meV
-
CHORUSA
Why then you are not blindV
-
CYCLOPSA
I wish you were as blind as I amV
-
CHORUSA
NayV
It cannot be that no one made you blindV
-
CYCLOPSA
You jeer me where I ask is NobodyV
-
CHORUSA
Nowhere O CyclopsA
-
CYCLOPSA
It was that stranger ruined me the wretchI2
First gave me wine and then burned out my eyeZ
For wine is strong and hard to struggle withA3
Have they escaped or are they yet withinG2
-
CHORUSA
They stand under the darkness of the rockX
And cling to itV
-
CYCLOPSA
At my right hand or leftV
-
CHORUSA
Close on your rightV
-
CYCLOPSA
WhereE
-
CHORUSA
Near the rock itselfW
You have themV
-
CYCLOPSA
Oh misfortune on misfortuneG2
I've cracked my skullU2
-
CHORUSA
Now they escape you thereE
-
NOTEV
So B Now they escape you thereE
-
CYCLOPSA
Not there although you say soA
-
CHORUSA
Not on that sideV
-
CYCLOPSA
Where thenG2
-
CHORUSA
They creep about you on your leftV
-
CYCLOPSA
Ah I am mocked They jeer me in my illsA
-
CHORUSA
Not there he is a little there beyond youV
-
CYCLOPSA
Detested wretch where are youV
-
ULYSSESA
Far from youV
I keep with care this body of UlyssesA
-
CYCLOPSA
What do you say You proffer a new nameV
-
ULYSSESA
My father named me so and I have takenG2
A full revenge for your unnatural feastV
I should have done ill to have burned down TroyE
And not revenged the murder of my comradesA
-
CYCLOPSA
Ai ai the ancient oracle is accomplishedV
It said that I should have my eyesight blindedV
By your coming from Troy yet it foretoldV
That you should pay the penalty for thisA
By wandering long over the homeless seaV
-
ULYSSESA
I bid thee weep consider what I sayV
I go towards the shore to drive my shipM2
To mine own land o'er the Sicilian waveW
-
CYCLOPSA
Not so if whelming you with this huge stoneG2
I can crush you and all your men togetherE
I will descend upon the shore though blindV
Groping my way adown the steep ravineG2
-
CHORUSA
And we the shipmates of Ulysses nowG2
Will serve our Bacchus all our happy livesA

Percy Bysshe Shelley



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