Act the Third: Scene IV
CLOTALDO. Ha! what tumult, Heavens! has risen?
SIGISMUND. Well, Clotaldo.
CLOTALDO. Sire . . . . On meWill his wrath now fall.
CLARIN [aside]. He'll fling himHeadlong down the steep, I'll bet.
CLOTALDO. At your royal feet submittedI know how to die.
SIGISMUND. My father,Rise, I pray, from that position,Since to you, my guide and polestar,Are my future acts committed;All my past life owes you muchFor your careful supervision.Come, embrace me.
CLOTALDO. What do you say?
SIGISMUND. That I dream, and that my wishesAre to do what's right, since weEven in dreams should do what's fitting.
CLOTALDO. Then, my prince, if you adoptActing rightly as your symbol,You will pardon me for asking,So to act, that you permit me.No advice and no assistanceCan I give against my king.Better that my lord should kill meAt his feet here.
SIGISMUND. Oh, ungrateful!Villain! wretch! [Aside.] But Heavens! 'tis fitterI restrain myself, not knowingBut all this may be a vision.--The fidelity I envyMust be honoured and admitted.Go and serve your lord, the king.Where the battle rages thickestWe shall meet. -- To arms, my friends!
CLOTALDO. Thanks, most generous of princes.
SIGISMUND. Fortune, we go forth to reign;Wake me not if this is vision,Let me sleep not if 'tis true.But whichever of them is it,To act right is what imports me.If 'tis true, because it is so;If 'tis not, that when I wakenFriends may welcome and forgive me.
Words in this poem
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- polestar n.
- Polaris, or the north star. See North star, under North.
- rightly adv.
- Straightly; directly; in front. [AS. richtlice.]
- ungrateful a.
- Not grateful; not thankful for favors; making no returns, or making ill return for kindness, attention, etc.; ingrateful. South.
- fitter n.
- A little piece; a flitter; a flinder.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- whichever pron.
- Whether one or another; whether one or the other; which; that one (of two or more) which; as, whichever road you take, it will lead you to town.
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Third: 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 Third: 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-third-scene-iv.html, id L26587.
Form and metre
Act the Third: Scene IV is 45 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 --AB-AB- adopt · symbol · askingA · meB · assistance · kingA · meB · here
- 10 --A---A-- ungrateful · fitter · knowingA · vision · envy · admitted · kingA · thickest · friends
- 12 AA--B--B reignA · visionA · true · it · meB · so · waken · meB
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. Ha! what tumult, Heavens! has risen? | 12 | ·····/˘/˘·/˘ |
| SIGISMUND. Well, Clotaldo. | 7 | ······· |
| CLOTALDO. Sire . . . . On me | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Will his wrath now fall. | 5 | ····· |
| CLARIN [aside]. He'll fling him | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Headlong down the steep, I'll bet. | 7 | /······ |
| CLOTALDO. At your royal feet submitted | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| I know how to die. | 5 | ····· |
| SIGISMUND. My father, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Rise, I pray, from that position, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Since to you, my guide and polestar, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Are my future acts committed; | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| All my past life owes you much | 7 | ······· |
| For your careful supervision. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Come, embrace me. | 4 | ·˘/· |
| CLOTALDO. What do you say? | 7 | ······· |
| SIGISMUND. That I dream, and that my wishes | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Are to do what's right, since we | 7 | ······· |
| Even in dreams should do what's fitting. | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| CLOTALDO. Then, my prince, if you adopt | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Acting rightly as your symbol, | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| You will pardon me for asking, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| So to act, that you permit me. | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| No advice and no assistance | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| Can I give against my king. | 7 | ······· |
| Better that my lord should kill me | 8 | /˘······ |
| At his feet here. | 4 | ···· |
| SIGISMUND. Oh, ungrateful! | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Villain! wretch! [Aside.] But Heavens! 'tis fitter | 11 | /˘·˘/·/˘·/˘ |
| I restrain myself, not knowing | 8 | ·˘/·/·/˘ |
| But all this may be a vision.-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The fidelity I envy | 8 | ·˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| Must be honoured and admitted. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Go and serve your lord, the king. | 7 | ······· |
| Where the battle rages thickest | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| We shall meet. -- To arms, my friends! | 7 | ······· |
| CLOTALDO. Thanks, most generous of princes. | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| SIGISMUND. Fortune, we go forth to reign; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Wake me not if this is vision, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Let me sleep not if 'tis true. | 7 | ······· |
| But whichever of them is it, | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| To act right is what imports me. | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| If 'tis true, because it is so; | 8 | ········ |
| If 'tis not, that when I waken | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Friends may welcome and forgive me. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
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