ブランクヴァース
次に挙げるのは、イダ王女が登場のアリア『Oh, goddess wise』を歌った後の台詞である。
Women of Adamant, fair neophytes-
Who thirst for such instruction as we give,
Attend, while I unfold a parable.
The elephant is mightier than Man,
Yet Man subdues him. Why? The elephant
Is elephantine everywhere but here (tapping her forehead)
And Man, whose brain is to the elephant's
As Woman's brain to Man's - (that's rule of three),-
Conquers the foolish giant of the woods,
As Woman, in her turn, shall conquer Man.
In Mathematics, Woman leads the way:
The narrow-minded pedant still believes
That two and two make four! Why, we can prove,
We women-household drudges as we are-
That two and two make five-or three-or seven;