Act the Second: Scene XVI
CLOTALDO. Leave him here on the ground,Where his day,-- its pride being o'er,--Finds its end too.
A SERVANT. As beforeWith the chain his feet are bound.
CLARIN. Never from that sleep profoundWake, O Sigismund, or rise,To behold with wondering eyesAll thy glorious life o'erthrown,Like a shadow that hath flown,Like a bright brief flame that dies!
CLOTALDO. One who can so wisely makeSuch reflections on this caseShould have ample time and space,Even for the Solon's sake,To discuss it; him you'll takeTo this cell here, and keep bound.
CLARIN. But why me?
CLOTALDO. Because 'tis foundSafe, when clarions secrets know,Clarions to lock up, that soThey may not have power to sound.
CLARIN. Did I, since you treat me thus,Try to kill my father? No.Did I from the window throwThat unlucky Icarus?Is my drink somniferous?Do I dream? Then why be pent?
CLOTALDO. 'Tis a clarion's punishment.
CLARIN. Then a horn of low degree,Yea, a cornet I will be,A safe, silent instrument.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- discuss v. t.
- To break to pieces; to shatter. Sir T. Browne. [L. discussus, p. p. of discutere to strike asunder (hence came the sense to separate mentally, distinguish); dis- + quatere to shake, strike. See Quash.]
- somniferous a.
- Causing or inducing sleep; soporific; dormitive; as, a somniferous potion. Walton. [L. somnifer; somnus sleep + ferre to bring.]
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Second: Scene XVI 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 XVI, 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-xvi.html, id L26581.
Form and metre
Act the Second: Scene XVI is 32 lines in 9 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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 -AABBA profound · riseA · eyesA · o'erthrownB · flownB · diesA
- 4 ABBAA- makeA · caseB · spaceB · sakeA · takeA · bound
- 6 ABBA foundA · knowB · soB · soundA
- 7 ABBA-- thusA · noB · throwB · icarusA · somniferous · pent
- 9 AA- degreeA · beA · instrument
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. Leave him here on the ground, | 9 | ········· |
| Where his day,-- its pride being o'er,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Finds its end too. | 4 | ···· |
| A SERVANT. As before | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| With the chain his feet are bound. | 7 | ······· |
| CLARIN. Never from that sleep profound | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| Wake, O Sigismund, or rise, | 7 | ······· |
| To behold with wondering eyes | 8 | ·˘/·/˘˘· |
| All thy glorious life o'erthrown, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Like a shadow that hath flown, | 7 | ··/···· |
| Like a bright brief flame that dies! | 7 | ······· |
| CLOTALDO. One who can so wisely make | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Such reflections on this case | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Should have ample time and space, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Even for the Solon's sake, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| To discuss it; him you'll take | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| To this cell here, and keep bound. | 7 | ······· |
| CLARIN. But why me? | 5 | ····· |
| CLOTALDO. Because 'tis found | 7 | ······· |
| Safe, when clarions secrets know, | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| Clarions to lock up, that so | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| They may not have power to sound. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| CLARIN. Did I, since you treat me thus, | 9 | ········· |
| Try to kill my father? No. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Did I from the window throw | 7 | ····/˘· |
| That unlucky Icarus? | 7 | ·˘/˘/·˘ |
| Is my drink somniferous? | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Do I dream? Then why be pent? | 7 | ······· |
| CLOTALDO. 'Tis a clarion's punishment. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| CLARIN. Then a horn of low degree, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Yea, a cornet I will be, | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| A safe, silent instrument. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
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