Act the First: Scene III
CLOTALDO [within]. Warders of this tower,Who, or sleeping or faint-hearted,Give an entrance to two personsWho herein have burst a passage . . . .
ROSAURA. New confusion now I suffer.
SIGISMUND. 'Tis Clotaldo, who here guards me;Are not yet my miseries ended?
CLOTALDO [within]. Hasten hither, quick! be active!And before they can defend them,Kill them on the spot, or capture!
CLARIN. Watchguards of this tower,Who politely let us pass here,Since you have the choice of killingOr of capturing, choose the latter.
CLOTALDO [aside to the Soldiers]. Keep your faces all well covered,For it is a vital matterThat we should be known by no one,While I question these two stragglers.
CLARIN. Are there masqueraders here?
CLOTALDO. Ye who in your ignorant rashnessHave passed through the bounds and limitsOf this interdicted valley,'Gainst the edict of the King,Who has publicly commandedNone should dare descry the wonderThat among these rocks is guarded,Yield at once your arms and lives,Or this pistol, this cold aspicFormed of steel, the penetratingPoison of two balls will scatter,The report and fire of whichWill the air astound and startle.
SIGISMUND. Ere you wound them, ere you hurt them,Will my life, O tyrant master,Be the miserable victimOf these wretched chains that clasp me;Since in them, I vow to God,I will tear myself to fragmentsWith my hands, and with my teeth,In these rocks here, in these caverns,Ere I yield to their misfortunes,Or lament their sad disaster.
CLOTALDO. If you know that your misfortunes,Sigismund, are unexampled,Since before being born you diedBy Heaven's mystical enactment;If you know these fetters areOf your furies oft so rampantBut the bridle that detains them,But the circle that contracts them.Why these idle boasts? The doorOf this narrow prison fasten;Leave him there secured.
SIGISMUND. Ah, heavens,It is wise of you to snatch meThus from freedom! since my rage'Gainst you had become Titanic,Since to break the glass and crystalGold-gates of the sun, my angerOn the firm-fixed rocks' foundationsWould have mountains piled of marble.
CLOTALDO. 'Tis that you should not so pile themThat perhaps these ills have happened,
Words in this poem
- politely adv.
- In a polished manner; so as to be smooth or glossy.
- rashness n.
- The quality of state of being rash.
- descry
- , Discovery or view, as of an army seen at a distance.
- aspic n.
- The venomous asp. [Chiefly poetic] Shak. [F. See Asp.]
- astound a.
- Stunned; astounded; astonished. [OE. astouned, astound, astoned, p. p. of astone. See Astone.]
- disaster n.
- An unpropitious or baleful aspect of a planet or star; malevolent influence of a heavenly body; hence, an ill portent. [F. désastre; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + astre star, fr. L. astrum; a word of astrological origin. See Aster, Astral, Star.]
- unexampled a.
- Having no example or similar case; being without precedent; unprecedented; unparalleled.
- piled a.
- Having a pile or point; pointed. [From 2d Pile.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the First: Scene III is in the public domain. This text is taken from Life Is a Dream, Project Gutenberg ebook #6363, the Denis Florence MacCarthy translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Act the First: Scene III, in Life Is a Dream (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6363, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-life-is-a-dream/act-the-first-scene-iii.html, id L26560.
Form and metre
Act the First: Scene III is 63 lines in 12 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 9 ABA------B themA · masterB · victimA · me · god · fragments · teeth · caverns · misfortunes · disasterB
- 10 ------AA--- misfortunes · unexampled · died · enactment · are · rampant · themA · themA · door · fasten · secured
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| CLOTALDO [within]. Warders of this tower, | 10 | ·····/˘··/ |
| Who, or sleeping or faint-hearted, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Give an entrance to two persons | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Who herein have burst a passage . . . . | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| ROSAURA. New confusion now I suffer. | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| SIGISMUND. 'Tis Clotaldo, who here guards me; | 11 | ··········· |
| Are not yet my miseries ended? | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| CLOTALDO [within]. Hasten hither, quick! be active! | 13 | ·····/˘/˘··/˘ |
| And before they can defend them, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Kill them on the spot, or capture! | 8 | ······/˘ |
| CLARIN. Watchguards of this tower, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Who politely let us pass here, | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| Since you have the choice of killing | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Or of capturing, choose the latter. | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| CLOTALDO [aside to the Soldiers]. Keep your faces all well covered, | 17 | ···˘/··/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| For it is a vital matter | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| That we should be known by no one, | 8 | ········ |
| While I question these two stragglers. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| CLARIN. Are there masqueraders here? | 9 | ········· |
| CLOTALDO. Ye who in your ignorant rashness | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Have passed through the bounds and limits | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Of this interdicted valley, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| 'Gainst the edict of the King, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who has publicly commanded | 8 | ··/˘˘˘/˘ |
| None should dare descry the wonder | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| That among these rocks is guarded, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Yield at once your arms and lives, | 7 | ······· |
| Or this pistol, this cold aspic | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Formed of steel, the penetrating | 8 | ····/˘·˘ |
| Poison of two balls will scatter, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| The report and fire of which | 8 | ·˘/·/˘·· |
| Will the air astound and startle. | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| SIGISMUND. Ere you wound them, ere you hurt them, | 11 | ··········· |
| Will my life, O tyrant master, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Be the miserable victim | 8 | ··/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Of these wretched chains that clasp me; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Since in them, I vow to God, | 7 | ······· |
| I will tear myself to fragments | 8 | ····/·/˘ |
| With my hands, and with my teeth, | 7 | ······· |
| In these rocks here, in these caverns, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Ere I yield to their misfortunes, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Or lament their sad disaster. | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| CLOTALDO. If you know that your misfortunes, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Sigismund, are unexampled, | 8 | ·······˘ |
| Since before being born you died | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| By Heaven's mystical enactment; | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| If you know these fetters are | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of your furies oft so rampant | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| But the bridle that detains them, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| But the circle that contracts them. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| Why these idle boasts? The door | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Of this narrow prison fasten; | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Leave him there secured. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| SIGISMUND. Ah, heavens, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| It is wise of you to snatch me | 8 | ········ |
| Thus from freedom! since my rage | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'Gainst you had become Titanic, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Since to break the glass and crystal | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Gold-gates of the sun, my anger | 8 | ······/˘ |
| On the firm-fixed rocks' foundations | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Would have mountains piled of marble. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| CLOTALDO. 'Tis that you should not so pile them | 11 | ··········· |
| That perhaps these ills have happened, | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
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