Act the First: Scene IX
CYPRIAN. A wish to serve youIs the sole cause of my presence.For on seeing the officialsIssuing from your house, the friendshipWhich I owe unto LysanderMade me bold herein to enter;But to know ([Aside.] Disturbed, bewilderedAm I.) if by chance ([Aside.] What gelidFrost is freezing up my veins!)I in any way could help you.([Aside.] Ah, how badly have I spoken!--Fire not frost my blood possesses!)
JUSTINA. May heaven guard you many years,Since in his more grave concernments,Thus you honour my dear fatherWith your favours.
CYPRIAN. I shall everBe most gratified to serve you.([Aside.] What disturbs me, what unnerves me?)
JUSTINA. He is not just now at home.
CYPRIAN. Thus then, lady, I can betterTell you what is the true causeThat doth bring me here at present;For the cause that you have heardIs not that which wholly led meHere to see you.
JUSTINA. Then, what is it?
CYPRIAN. This, which craves your brief attention.--Fair Justina, beauty's shrine,To whose human lovelinessNature, with a fond excess,Adds such marks of the divine,'Tis your rest that doth inclineHither my desire to-day:But see what the tyrant swayOf despotic fate can do,--While I bring your rest to you,You from me take mine away.Lelius, of his passion proud,(Never less was love to blame!)Florus, burning with love's flame,(Ne'er could flame be more allowed!)Each of them by vows they vowedSought to kill his friend for you:I for you disturbed the two,(Woe is me!) but see the end;While from death I saved my friend,You my own death give in lieu.Lest the scandal-monger's humShould be buzzed about your name,Here to speak with you I came,(Would that I had never come!)That your choice might strike it dumb,Being the umpire in the cause,Being the judge in love's sweet laws;--But behold what I endure,While I their sick hearts may cure,Jealousy mine own heart gnaws.Lady, I proposed to beTheir bold spokesman here, that youMight decide betwixt the twoWhich you would select (ah, me!)That I might (oh, misery!)Ask you of your father: vainThis pretence. No more I'll feign:--For you see while I am speakingAbout them, my heart is seekingBut a vent for its own pain.
JUSTINA. Half in wonder and dismayAt the vile address you make me,Reason, speech, alike forsake me,And I know not what to say.Never in the slightest wayHave your clients had from meEncouragement for this embassy--Florus never--Lelius no:--Of the scorn that I can showLet then this a warning be.
CYPRIAN. If I, knowing that you lovedSome one else, would dare to seekYour regard, my love were weak,And could justly be reproved.But here seeing you stand unmoved,Like a rock mid raging seas,No extraneous miseriesMake me say I love you now.'Tis not for my friends I bow,So your warning hear with ease.--To Lelius what shall I say?
JUSTINA. That heWell may trust the boding fearsOf his love of many years.
CYPRIAN. To Florus?
JUSTINA. Not my face to see.
CYPRIAN. And to myself?
JUSTINA. Your love should beNot so bold.
CYPRIAN. Though a god should woo?
JUSTINA. Will a god do more for youThan for those I have denied?
CYPRIAN. Yes.
JUSTINA. Well then, I have repliedTo Lelius, Florus, and to you.
Words in this poem
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
- gelid a.
- Cold; very cold; frozen. [L. gelidus, fr. gelun frost, cold. See Cold, and cf. Congeal, Gelatin, Jelly.]
- 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.]
- 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,]
- gratified a.
- Pleased; indulged according to desire.
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- scandal n.
- Offense caused or experienced; reproach or reprobation called forth by what is regarded as wrong, criminal, heinous, or flagrant: opprobrium or disgrace. [F. scandale, fr. L. scandalum, Gr. scandle, OF. escandle. See Slander.]
- spokesman n.
- One who speaks for another. [Speak, spoke + man.]
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
- pretence n.
- The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. [LL. praetensus, for L. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. See Pretend, and cf. Tension.]
- unmoved a.
- Not moved; fixed; firm; unshaken; calm; apathetic.
- boding a.
- Foreshowing; presaging; ominous.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the First: Scene IX is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Wonder-Working Magician, Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, 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 First: Scene IX, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-first-scene-ix.html, id L26606.
Form and metre
Act the First: Scene IX is 103 lines in 18 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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.
- 1 A--------A-- youA · presence · officials · friendship · lysander · enter · bewildered · gelid · veins · youA · spoken · possesses
- 7 AABBAACCDDCEFFEEGGHHGIJJII-KLLKMNNM-OOPPO attentionA · shrineA · lovelinessB · excessB · divineA · inclineA · dayC · swayC · doD · youD · awayC · proudE · blameF · flameF · allowedE · vowedE · youG · twoG · endH · friendH · lieuG · humI · nameJ · cameJ · comeI · dumbI · cause · lawsK · endureL · cureL · gnawsK · beM · youN · twoN · meM · misery · vainO · feignO · speakingP · seekingP · painO
- 8 ABBAAB-CCB dismayA · meB · meB · sayA · wayA · meB · embassy · noC · showC · beB
- 9 -AABBCCDDC- loved · seekA · weakA · reprovedB · unmovedB · seasC · miseriesC · nowD · bowD · easeC · say
- 10 -AA he · fearsA · yearsA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CYPRIAN. A wish to serve you | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Is the sole cause of my presence. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For on seeing the officials | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Issuing from your house, the friendship | 9 | /˘˘····/˘ |
| Which I owe unto Lysander | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Made me bold herein to enter; | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| But to know ([Aside.] Disturbed, bewildered | 10 | ···˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Am I.) if by chance ([Aside.] What gelid | 10 | ·····˘/·/˘ |
| Frost is freezing up my veins!) | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I in any way could help you. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| ([Aside.] Ah, how badly have I spoken!-- | 10 | ˘/··/˘··/˘ |
| Fire not frost my blood possesses!) | 9 | /˘····˘/˘ |
| JUSTINA. May heaven guard you many years, | 9 | ˘/˘·/··/· |
| Since in his more grave concernments, | 8 | ········ |
| Thus you honour my dear father | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| With your favours. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. I shall ever | 7 | /˘˘··/˘ |
| Be most gratified to serve you. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| ([Aside.] What disturbs me, what unnerves me?) | 10 | ˘/·˘/··˘/· |
| JUSTINA. He is not just now at home. | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| CYPRIAN. Thus then, lady, I can better | 10 | /˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Tell you what is the true cause | 7 | ······· |
| That doth bring me here at present; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For the cause that you have heard | 7 | ······· |
| Is not that which wholly led me | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Here to see you. | 4 | ···· |
| JUSTINA. Then, what is it? | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| CYPRIAN. This, which craves your brief attention.-- | 10 | /˘·····˘/˘ |
| Fair Justina, beauty's shrine, | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| To whose human loveliness | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Nature, with a fond excess, | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Adds such marks of the divine, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| 'Tis your rest that doth incline | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Hither my desire to-day: | 8 | /˘·˘/˘·· |
| But see what the tyrant sway | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of despotic fate can do,-- | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| While I bring your rest to you, | 7 | ······· |
| You from me take mine away. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Lelius, of his passion proud, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| (Never less was love to blame!) | 7 | /˘····· |
| Florus, burning with love's flame, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| (Ne'er could flame be more allowed!) | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Each of them by vows they vowed | 8 | ·······˘ |
| Sought to kill his friend for you: | 7 | ······· |
| I for you disturbed the two, | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| (Woe is me!) but see the end; | 7 | ······· |
| While from death I saved my friend, | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| You my own death give in lieu. | 7 | ······· |
| Lest the scandal-monger's hum | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Should be buzzed about your name, | 8 | ···˘···· |
| Here to speak with you I came, | 7 | ······· |
| (Would that I had never come!) | 7 | ····/˘· |
| That your choice might strike it dumb, | 7 | ······· |
| Being the umpire in the cause, | 8 | /·/·˘··· |
| Being the judge in love's sweet laws;-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| But behold what I endure, | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| While I their sick hearts may cure, | 7 | ······· |
| Jealousy mine own heart gnaws. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Lady, I proposed to be | 8 | /˘·˘/˘·· |
| Their bold spokesman here, that you | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Might decide betwixt the two | 7 | ·˘/˘/·· |
| Which you would select (ah, me!) | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| That I might (oh, misery!) | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Ask you of your father: vain | 7 | ····/˘· |
| This pretence. No more I'll feign:-- | 7 | ······· |
| For you see while I am speaking | 8 | ······/˘ |
| About them, my heart is seeking | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But a vent for its own pain. | 7 | ······· |
| JUSTINA. Half in wonder and dismay | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| At the vile address you make me, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Reason, speech, alike forsake me, | 8 | /˘·˘/˘/· |
| And I know not what to say. | 7 | ······· |
| Never in the slightest way | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Have your clients had from me | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Encouragement for this embassy-- | 9 | ˘/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| Florus never--Lelius no:-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Of the scorn that I can show | 7 | ······· |
| Let then this a warning be. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| CYPRIAN. If I, knowing that you loved | 8 | /˘··/··· |
| Some one else, would dare to seek | 7 | ······· |
| Your regard, my love were weak, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| And could justly be reproved. | 8 | ··/˘···˘ |
| But here seeing you stand unmoved, | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| Like a rock mid raging seas, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| No extraneous miseries | 8 | ·˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Make me say I love you now. | 7 | ······· |
| 'Tis not for my friends I bow, | 7 | ······· |
| So your warning hear with ease.-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To Lelius what shall I say? | 7 | ······· |
| JUSTINA. That he | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| Well may trust the boding fears | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of his love of many years. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| CYPRIAN. To Florus? | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| JUSTINA. Not my face to see. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| CYPRIAN. And to myself? | 7 | /˘˘···/ |
| JUSTINA. Your love should be | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| Not so bold. | 3 | ··· |
| CYPRIAN. Though a god should woo? | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| JUSTINA. Will a god do more for you | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Than for those I have denied? | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| CYPRIAN. Yes. | 4 | /˘˘· |
| JUSTINA. Well then, I have replied | 9 | ˘/˘····˘/ |
| To Lelius, Florus, and to you. | 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.