Act the Second: Scene IV
ASTOLFO. Thousand tunes be blest the day,Prince, that gives thee to our sight,Sun of Poland, whose glad lightMakes this whole horizon gay,As when from the rosy fountainsOf the dawn the stream-rays run,Since thou issuest like the sunFrom the bosom of the mountains!And though late do not deferWith thy sovran light to shine;Round thy brow the laurel twine --Deathless crown.
SIGISMUND. God guard thee, sir.
ASTOLFO. In not knowing me I o'erlook,But alone for this defect,This response that lacks respect,And due honour. Muscovy's DukeAm I, and your cousin born,Thus my equal I regard thee.
SIGISMUND. Did there, when I said "God guard thee,"Lie concealed some latent scorn? --Then if so, now having gotThy big name, and seeing thee vexed,When thou com'st to see me nextI will say God guard thee not.
SECOND SERVANT [to ASTOLFO]. Think, your Highness, if he errsThus, his mountain birth's at fault,Every word is an assault.Duke Astolfo, sir, prefers . . . .
SIGISMUND. Tut! his talk became a bore,Nay his act was worse than that,He presumed to wear his hat.
SECOND SERVANT. As grandee.
SIGISMUND. But I am more.
SECOND SERVANT. Nevertheless respect should beMuch more marked betwixt ye twoThan 'twixt others.
SIGISMUND. And pray whoAsked your meddling thus with me?
Words in this poem
- sovran a.
- A variant of Sovereign.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- highness n.
- The state of being high; elevation; loftiness. [AS. heáhnes.]
- grandee n.
- A man of elevated rank or station; a nobleman. In Spain, a nobleman of the first rank, who may be covered in the king's presence. [Sp. grande. See Grand.]
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Second: Scene IV 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 Second: Scene IV, in Life Is a Dream (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6363, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-life-is-a-dream/act-the-second-scene-iv.html, id L26569.
Form and metre
Act the Second: Scene IV is 39 lines in 10 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.
- 1 ABBACDDCEFF- dayA · sightB · lightB · gayA · fountainsC · runD · sunD · mountainsC · deferE · shineF · twineF · crown
- 2 E sirE
- 3 ----G- o'erlook · defect · respect · duke · bornG · thee
- 4 -GHIIH thee · scornG · gotH · vexedI · nextI · notH
- 5 -JJ- errs · faultJ · assaultJ · prefers
- 6 KLL boreK · thatL · hatL
- 7 M grandeeM
- 8 K moreK
- 9 MN- beM · twoN · others
- 10 NM whoN · meM
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ASTOLFO. Thousand tunes be blest the day, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Prince, that gives thee to our sight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sun of Poland, whose glad light | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Makes this whole horizon gay, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| As when from the rosy fountains | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Of the dawn the stream-rays run, | 7 | ······· |
| Since thou issuest like the sun | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| From the bosom of the mountains! | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And though late do not defer | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| With thy sovran light to shine; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Round thy brow the laurel twine -- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Deathless crown. | 3 | /˘· |
| SIGISMUND. God guard thee, sir. | 7 | ······· |
| ASTOLFO. In not knowing me I o'erlook, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| But alone for this defect, | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| This response that lacks respect, | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| And due honour. Muscovy's Duke | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Am I, and your cousin born, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thus my equal I regard thee. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| SIGISMUND. Did there, when I said "God guard thee," | 11 | ··········· |
| Lie concealed some latent scorn? -- | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘· |
| Then if so, now having got | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thy big name, and seeing thee vexed, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| When thou com'st to see me next | 7 | ······· |
| I will say God guard thee not. | 7 | ······· |
| SECOND SERVANT [to ASTOLFO]. Think, your Highness, if he errs | 15 | /˘/˘······/˘··· |
| Thus, his mountain birth's at fault, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Every word is an assault. | 8 | /˘˘···˘/ |
| Duke Astolfo, sir, prefers . . . . | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| SIGISMUND. Tut! his talk became a bore, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Nay his act was worse than that, | 7 | ······· |
| He presumed to wear his hat. | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| SECOND SERVANT. As grandee. | 7 | /˘/˘·˘/ |
| SIGISMUND. But I am more. | 7 | ······· |
| SECOND SERVANT. Nevertheless respect should be | 11 | /˘/˘·˘/˘/·· |
| Much more marked betwixt ye two | 8 | ···˘˘/·· |
| Than 'twixt others. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| SIGISMUND. And pray who | 6 | ······ |
| Asked your meddling thus with me? | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.