Act the Third: Scene XIII
BASILIUS. Hapless king! disastrous reign!Outraged father! guilty son!
CLOTALDO. See thy vanquished forces runIn a panic o'er the plain!
ASTOLFO. And the rebel conqueror's stay,Proud, defiant.
BASILIUS. 'Tis decreedThose are loyal who succeed,Rebels those who lose the day.Let us then, Clotaldo, flee,Since the victory he hath won,From a proud and cruel son.
CLARIN. Heaven protect me!
ASTOLFO. Who can beThis last victim of the fight,Who is struck down in the retreat,Falls here bleeding at our feet?
CLARIN. I am an unlucky wight,Who to shun Death's fearful faceFound the thing I would forget:Flying from him, him I've met.For there is no secret placeHid from death; and therefore IThis conclusion hold as clear,He 'scapes best who goes more near,He dies first who first doth fly.Then return, return and beIn the bloody conflict lost;Where the battle rages most,There is more securityThan in hills how desolate,Since no safety can there be'Gainst the force of destiny,And the inclemency of fate;Therefore 'tis in vain thou flyestFrom the death thou draw'st more nigh,Oh, take heed for thou must dieIf it is God's will thou diest!
BASILIUS. Oh, take heed for thou must dieIf it is God's will thou diest!--With what eloquence, O heaven!Does this body that here lieth,Through the red mouth of a woundTo profoundest thoughts entice usFrom our ignorance and our error!The red current as it glidethIs a bloody tongue that teachesAll man's diligence is idle,When against a greater power,And a higher cause it striveth.Thus with me, 'gainst strife and murderWhen I thought I had provided,I but brought upon my countryAll the ills I would have hindered.
CLOTALDO. Though, my lord, fate knoweth wellEvery path, and quickly findethWhom it seeks; yet still it strikes me'Tis not christian-like to say'Gainst its rage that nought suffices.That is wrong, a prudent manEven o'er fate victorious rises;And if thou art not preservedFrom the ills that have surprised thee,From worse ills thyself preserve.
ASTOLFO. Sire, Clotaldo doth address theeAs a cautious, prudent man,Whose experience time hath ripened.I as a bold youth would speak:Yonder, having lost its rider,I behold a noble steedWandering reinless and unbridled,Mount and fly with him while IGuard the open path behind thee.
BASILIUS. If it is God's will I die,Or if Death for me here liethAs in ambush, face to faceI will meet it and defy it.
Words in this poem
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- disastrous a.
- Full of unpropitious stellar influences; unpropitious; ill-boding. [Cf. F. désastreux. See Disaster.]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- defiant a.
- Full of defiance; bold; insolent; as, a defiant spirit or act. [Cf. F. défiant, p. pr. of défier. See Defy.]
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- inclemency n.
- The state or quality of being inclement; want of clemency; want of mildness of temper; unmercifulness; severity. [L. inclementia: cf. F. inclémence.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- reinless a.
- Not having, or not governed by, reins; hence, not checked or restrained.
- unbridled a.
- Loosed from the bridle, or as from the bridle; hence, unrestrained; licentious; violent; as, unbridled passions. [Pref. un- not + bridled.]
- defy v. t.
- To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce. [F. défier, OF. deffier, desfier, LL. disfidare to disown faith or fidelity, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the vassal and his lord; hence, to ch]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Third: Scene XIII 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 XIII, 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-xiii.html, id L26596.
Form and metre
Act the Third: Scene XIII is 77 lines in 11 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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.
- 4 AA--BB decreedA · succeedA · day · flee · wonB · sonB
- 6 --AA be · fight · retreatA · feetA
- 7 -ABBACDDCE---FE-F-CC- wight · faceA · forgetB · metB · placeA · iC · clearD · nearD · flyC · beE · lost · most · security · desolateF · beE · destiny · fateF · flyest · nighC · dieC · diest
- 8 ---A---A-------- die · diest · heaven · liethA · wound · us · error · glidethA · teaches · idle · power · striveth · murder · provided · country · hindered
- 9 --A-----A- well · findeth · meA · say · suffices · man · rises · preserved · theeA · preserve
- 10 A------AA theeA · man · ripened · speak · rider · steed · unbridled · iA · theeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BASILIUS. Hapless king! disastrous reign! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Outraged father! guilty son! | 8 | /·˘/˘/˘· |
| CLOTALDO. See thy vanquished forces run | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| In a panic o'er the plain! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| ASTOLFO. And the rebel conqueror's stay, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Proud, defiant. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| BASILIUS. 'Tis decreed | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Those are loyal who succeed, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Rebels those who lose the day. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Let us then, Clotaldo, flee, | 7 | ······· |
| Since the victory he hath won, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| From a proud and cruel son. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| CLARIN. Heaven protect me! | 7 | ··/˘˘/· |
| ASTOLFO. Who can be | 6 | ······ |
| This last victim of the fight, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who is struck down in the retreat, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Falls here bleeding at our feet? | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| CLARIN. I am an unlucky wight, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| Who to shun Death's fearful face | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Found the thing I would forget: | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Flying from him, him I've met. | 7 | /˘····· |
| For there is no secret place | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hid from death; and therefore I | 7 | ······· |
| This conclusion hold as clear, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| He 'scapes best who goes more near, | 7 | ······· |
| He dies first who first doth fly. | 7 | ······· |
| Then return, return and be | 7 | ·˘/˘/·· |
| In the bloody conflict lost; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Where the battle rages most, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| There is more security | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Than in hills how desolate, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Since no safety can there be | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'Gainst the force of destiny, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| And the inclemency of fate; | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Therefore 'tis in vain thou flyest | 7 | ······· |
| From the death thou draw'st more nigh, | 7 | ······· |
| Oh, take heed for thou must die | 7 | ······· |
| If it is God's will thou diest! | 7 | ······· |
| BASILIUS. Oh, take heed for thou must die | 10 | ·········· |
| If it is God's will thou diest!-- | 7 | ······· |
| With what eloquence, O heaven! | 8 | ··/˘˘·/˘ |
| Does this body that here lieth, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Through the red mouth of a wound | 7 | ······· |
| To profoundest thoughts entice us | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/· |
| From our ignorance and our error! | 9 | ·//˘˘·//˘ |
| The red current as it glideth | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Is a bloody tongue that teaches | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| All man's diligence is idle, | 8 | ··/˘˘·/˘ |
| When against a greater power, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And a higher cause it striveth. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Thus with me, 'gainst strife and murder | 8 | ······/˘ |
| When I thought I had provided, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| I but brought upon my country | 8 | ······/˘ |
| All the ills I would have hindered. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| CLOTALDO. Though, my lord, fate knoweth well | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Every path, and quickly findeth | 9 | /˘˘··/˘/˘ |
| Whom it seeks; yet still it strikes me | 8 | ········ |
| 'Tis not christian-like to say | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'Gainst its rage that nought suffices. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| That is wrong, a prudent man | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Even o'er fate victorious rises; | 9 | /··˘/˘˘/˘ |
| And if thou art not preserved | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| From the ills that have surprised thee, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| From worse ills thyself preserve. | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| ASTOLFO. Sire, Clotaldo doth address thee | 11 | ···/····˘/· |
| As a cautious, prudent man, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Whose experience time hath ripened. | 9 | ·˘/˘˘··/˘ |
| I as a bold youth would speak: | 7 | ······· |
| Yonder, having lost its rider, | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| I behold a noble steed | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Wandering reinless and unbridled, | 9 | /˘˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Mount and fly with him while I | 7 | ······· |
| Guard the open path behind thee. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| BASILIUS. If it is God's will I die, | 10 | ·········· |
| Or if Death for me here lieth | 7 | ······· |
| As in ambush, face to face | 7 | ··/···· |
| I will meet it and defy it. | 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.