Act the Second: Scene VII
ROSAURA [aside.] To wait upon Estrella I come here,And lest I meet Astolfo tremble with much fear;Clotaldo's wishes areThe Duke should know me not, and from afarSee me, if see he must.My honour is at stake, he says; my trustIs in Clotaldo's truth.He will protect my honour and my youth.
CLARIN [to SIGISMUND]. Of all this palace here can boast,All that you yet have seen, say which has pleased you most?
SIGISMUND. Nothing surprised me, nothing scared,Because for everything I was prepared;But if I felt for aught, or more or lessOf admiration, 'twas the lovelinessOf woman; I have readSomewhere in books on which my spirit fed,That which caused God the greatest care to plan,Because in him a little world he formed, was man;But this were truer said, unless I err,Of woman, for a little heaven he made in her;She who in beauty from her birthSurpasses man as heaven surpasseth earth;Nay, more, the one I see.
ROSAURA [aside]. The Prince is here; I must this instant flee.
SIGISMUND. Hear, woman! stay;Nor wed the western with the orient ray,Flying with rapid tread;For joined the orient rose and western red,The light and the cold gloom,The day will sink untimely to its tomb.But who is this I see?
ROSAURA [aside]. I doubt and yet believe that it is he.
SIGISMUND [aside]. This beauty I have seenSome other time.
ROSAURA [aside]. This proud, majestic mien,This form I once saw boundWithin a narrow cell.
SIGISMUND [aside]. My life I have found.--Woman, the sweetest nameThat man can breathe, or flattering language frame,Who art thou? for beforeI see thee, I believe and I adore;Faith makes my love sublime,Persuading me we've met some other time.Fair woman, speak; my will must be obeyed.
ROSAURA. In bright Estrella's train a hapless maid.--
SIGISMUND. The sun, say rather, of that star whose flame,However bright its blazeIs but the pale reflection of thy rays.In the fair land of flowers,The realm of sweets that lies in odorous bowers,The goddess rose I have seenBy right divine of beauty reign as queen.I have seen where brightest shineGems, the assembled glories of the mine,The brilliant throng elect the diamond kingFor the superior splendour it doth fling.Amid the halls of light,Where the unresting star-crowds meet at night,I have seen fair Hesper riseAnd take the foremost place of all the skies.And in that higher zoneWhere the sun calls the planets round his throne,I have seen, with sovereign sway,That he presides the oracle of the day.How, then, 'mid flowers of earth or stars of air,'Mid stones or suns, if that which is most fairThe preference gains, canst thouBefore a lesser beauty bend and bow,When thine own charms composeSomething more bright than sun, stone, star, or rose?
Words in this poem
- 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]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- 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.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- admiration n.
- Wonder; astonishment. [F., fr. L. admiratio. See Admire.]
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- hesper n.
- The evening; Hesperus. [See Hesperian.]
- oracle v. i.
- To utter oracles.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Second: Scene VII 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 VII, 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-vii.html, id L26572.
Form and metre
Act the Second: Scene VII is 71 lines in 11 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in trochaic tetrameter.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, 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 AABBCCDD hereA · fearA · areB · afarB · mustC · trustC · truthD · youthD
- 2 EE boastE · mostE
- 3 FF--GGHH--IIJ scaredF · preparedF · less · loveliness · readG · fedG · planH · manH · err · her · birthI · earthI · seeJ
- 4 J fleeJ
- 5 KKLLMMN stayK · rayK · treadL · redL · gloomM · tombM · seeN
- 6 N heN
- 7 O- seenO · time
- 8 OP- mienO · boundP · cell
- 9 PQQRRSST foundP · nameQ · frameQ · beforeR · adoreR · sublimeS · timeS · obeyedT
- 10 T maidT
- 11 -UUVVWWXXYYZZaabbccddeeff flame · blazeU · raysU · flowersV · bowersV · seenW · queenW · shineX · mineX · kingY · flingY · lightZ · nightZ · risea · skiesa · zoneb · throneb · swayc · dayc · aird · faird · thoue · bowe · composef · rosef
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ROSAURA [aside.] To wait upon Estrella I come here, | 15 | ···˘/·····/˘··· |
| And lest I meet Astolfo tremble with much fear; | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| Clotaldo's wishes are | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The Duke should know me not, and from afar | 10 | ········˘/ |
| See me, if see he must. | 6 | ······ |
| My honour is at stake, he says; my trust | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Is in Clotaldo's truth. | 6 | ······ |
| He will protect my honour and my youth. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| CLARIN [to SIGISMUND]. Of all this palace here can boast, | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| All that you yet have seen, say which has pleased you most? | 12 | ············ |
| SIGISMUND. Nothing surprised me, nothing scared, | 11 | ···/˘˘/·/˘· |
| Because for everything I was prepared; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| But if I felt for aught, or more or less | 10 | ·········· |
| Of admiration, 'twas the loveliness | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Of woman; I have read | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Somewhere in books on which my spirit fed, | 9 | /······/· |
| That which caused God the greatest care to plan, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Because in him a little world he formed, was man; | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| But this were truer said, unless I err, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of woman, for a little heaven he made in her; | 12 | ·/˘··/˘/···· |
| She who in beauty from her birth | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Surpasses man as heaven surpasseth earth; | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Nay, more, the one I see. | 6 | ······ |
| ROSAURA [aside]. The Prince is here; I must this instant flee. | 15 | ···˘/·······/˘· |
| SIGISMUND. Hear, woman! stay; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Nor wed the western with the orient ray, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| Flying with rapid tread; | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| For joined the orient rose and western red, | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| The light and the cold gloom, | 6 | ······ |
| The day will sink untimely to its tomb. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| But who is this I see? | 6 | ······ |
| ROSAURA [aside]. I doubt and yet believe that it is he. | 15 | ···˘/····˘/···· |
| SIGISMUND [aside]. This beauty I have seen | 11 | ···˘/·/˘··· |
| Some other time. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| ROSAURA [aside]. This proud, majestic mien, | 11 | ···˘/··˘/˘· |
| This form I once saw bound | 6 | ······ |
| Within a narrow cell. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| SIGISMUND [aside]. My life I have found.-- | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Woman, the sweetest name | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| That man can breathe, or flattering language frame, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Who art thou? for before | 6 | ······ |
| I see thee, I believe and I adore; | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Faith makes my love sublime, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Persuading me we've met some other time. | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Fair woman, speak; my will must be obeyed. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| ROSAURA. In bright Estrella's train a hapless maid.-- | 13 | ······/˘··/˘· |
| SIGISMUND. The sun, say rather, of that star whose flame, | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| However bright its blaze | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Is but the pale reflection of thy rays. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| In the fair land of flowers, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The realm of sweets that lies in odorous bowers, | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| The goddess rose I have seen | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| By right divine of beauty reign as queen. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| I have seen where brightest shine | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Gems, the assembled glories of the mine, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| The brilliant throng elect the diamond king | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| For the superior splendour it doth fling. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Amid the halls of light, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Where the unresting star-crowds meet at night, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| I have seen fair Hesper rise | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And take the foremost place of all the skies. | 10 | ···/······ |
| And in that higher zone | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Where the sun calls the planets round his throne, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I have seen, with sovereign sway, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| That he presides the oracle of the day. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| How, then, 'mid flowers of earth or stars of air, | 10 | ···/······ |
| 'Mid stones or suns, if that which is most fair | 10 | ·········· |
| The preference gains, canst thou | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Before a lesser beauty bend and bow, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| When thine own charms compose | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Something more bright than sun, stone, star, or rose? | 10 | /˘········ |
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