Act the Second: Scene XIV
ESTRELLA. Prince! Astrea! What is this?
ASTOLFO [aside] Heavens! Estrella!
ROSAURA [aside]. Love befriend me;Give me wit enough my portraitTo regain: -- If thou would'st learn thenWhat the matter is, my lady,I will tell thee.
ASTOLFO [aside to ROSAURA.] Would'st o'erwhelm me?
ROSAURA. You commanded me to wait hereFor the Prince, and representingYou, to get from him a portrait.I remained alone, expecting,And, as often by one thoughtIs some other thought suggested,Seeing that you spoke of portraits,I, reminded thus, rememberedThat I had one of myselfIn my sleeve: I wished to inspect it,For a person quite aloneEven by trifles is diverted.From my hand I let it fallOn the ground; the Prince, who enteredWith the other lady's portrait,Raised up mine, but so rebelliousWas he to what you had asked himThat, instead of his presentingOne, he wished to keep the other.Since he mine will not surrenderTo my prayers and my entreaties:Angry at this ill-timed jestingI endeavoured to regain it,That which in his hand is held thereIs my portrait, if you see it;You can judge of the resemblance.
ESTRELLA. Duke, at once, give up the portrait.
ASTOLFO. Princess . . . .
ESTRELLA. Well, the tints were blendedBy no cruel hand, methinks.
ROSAURA. Is it like me?
ESTRELLA. Like! 'Tis perfect.
ROSAURA. Now demand from him the other.
ESTRELLA. Take your own, and leave our presence.
ROSAURA [aside]. I have got my portrait back;Come what may I am contented.
Words in this poem
- befriend v. t.
- To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- rebellious a.
- Engaged in rebellion; disposed to rebel of the nature of rebels or of rebellion; resisting government or lawful authority by force.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- 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]
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Second: Scene XIV 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 XIV, 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-xiv.html, id L26579.
Form and metre
Act the Second: Scene XIV is 44 lines in 13 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.
- 3 A---A meA · portrait · then · lady · theeA
- 5 -AB-B----C----B--A----C-C- here · representingA · portraitB · expecting · thoughtB · suggested · portraits · remembered · myself · itC · alone · diverted · fall · entered · portraitB · rebellious · him · presentingA · other · surrender · entreaties · jesting · itC · there · itC · resemblance
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ESTRELLA. Prince! Astrea! What is this? | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| ASTOLFO [aside] Heavens! Estrella! | 10 | ···˘//˘·/˘ |
| ROSAURA [aside]. Love befriend me; | 9 | ···˘/·˘/· |
| Give me wit enough my portrait | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| To regain: -- If thou would'st learn then | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| What the matter is, my lady, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| I will tell thee. | 4 | ···· |
| ASTOLFO [aside to ROSAURA.] Would'st o'erwhelm me? | 13 | ···˘/········ |
| ROSAURA. You commanded me to wait here | 11 | ····˘/˘···· |
| For the Prince, and representing | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| You, to get from him a portrait. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| I remained alone, expecting, | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| And, as often by one thought | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Is some other thought suggested, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Seeing that you spoke of portraits, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| I, reminded thus, remembered | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| That I had one of myself | 7 | ······/ |
| In my sleeve: I wished to inspect it, | 9 | ······˘/· |
| For a person quite alone | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Even by trifles is diverted. | 9 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘ |
| From my hand I let it fall | 7 | ······· |
| On the ground; the Prince, who entered | 8 | ······/˘ |
| With the other lady's portrait, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Raised up mine, but so rebellious | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Was he to what you had asked him | 8 | ········ |
| That, instead of his presenting | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| One, he wished to keep the other. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Since he mine will not surrender | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| To my prayers and my entreaties: | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Angry at this ill-timed jesting | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| I endeavoured to regain it, | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/· |
| That which in his hand is held there | 8 | ········ |
| Is my portrait, if you see it; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| You can judge of the resemblance. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| ESTRELLA. Duke, at once, give up the portrait. | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| ASTOLFO. Princess . . . . | 5 | ···/˘ |
| ESTRELLA. Well, the tints were blended | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| By no cruel hand, methinks. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| ROSAURA. Is it like me? | 7 | ······· |
| ESTRELLA. Like! 'Tis perfect. | 7 | ·/˘··/· |
| ROSAURA. Now demand from him the other. | 11 | ····˘/···/˘ |
| ESTRELLA. Take your own, and leave our presence. | 11 | ·/˘·····//˘ |
| ROSAURA [aside]. I have got my portrait back; | 12 | ···˘/····/˘· |
| Come what may I am contented. | 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.