Act the First: Scene XIII
LELIUS. Sir, whoeverYou may be, it doth import meTo know who you are directly;So at every risk I come here,On this resolute quest determined.Say who are you.
FLORUS. If the accidentOf my having been the observerOf your secret love, compels youTo this valorous aggression,More than it can you concernMe to know, it doth concern meTo know you; for to be curiousIs far less than to be jealous.Yes, by Heaven! for who is masterOf the house have I to learn here,Who it is at such an hour,By this balcony ascending,Gaineth that which I lose weepingAt these gratings.
LELIUS. This excelleth,Good, in faith, is it thus to dimThe clear light of my resentment,By attributing to meThat which solely your offence is!--Who you are I have to know,Death to give to him who has left meDead with jealousy here, by comingFrom this balcony.
FLORUS. How excessiveHow superfluous is this caution,Proving what it would dissemble!
LELIUS. Vainly would the tongue untangleThat which the keen sword can betterThus cut through.
FLORUS. With it I answer.
LELIUS. In this way I'll know for certainWho is the admitted loverOf Justina.
FLORUS. My intentionIs the same. I'll die or know you.
Words in this poem
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
- valorous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting valor; brave; courageous; valiant; intrepid. [Cf. F. valeureux, LL. valorosus.]
- aggression n.
- The first attack, or act of hostility; the first act of injury, or first act leading to a war or a controversy; unprovoked attack; assault; as, a war of aggression.
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
- dissemble v. t.
- To hide under a false semblance or seeming; to feign (something) not to be what it really is; to put an untrue appearance upon; to disguise; to mask. [OF. dissembler to be dissimilar; pref. dis- (L. dis-) + F. sembler to seem, L. simulare to simulate; cf. L. dissimulare to dissemble. See Simulate, and cf. Diss]
- untangle v. t.
- To loose from tangles or intricacy; to disentangle; to resolve; as, to untangle thread. [1st pref. un- + tangle.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the First: Scene XIII 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 XIII, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-first-scene-xiii.html, id L26610.
Form and metre
Act the First: Scene XIII is 41 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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.
- 2 ---AA--------- accident · observer · you · aggressionA · concernA · me · curious · jealous · master · here · hour · ascending · weeping · gratings
- 3 ---A--A-- excelleth · dim · resentment · meA · is · know · meA · coming · balcony
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LELIUS. Sir, whoever | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| You may be, it doth import me | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| To know who you are directly; | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| So at every risk I come here, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| On this resolute quest determined. | 9 | ··/˘··˘/˘ |
| Say who are you. | 4 | ···· |
| FLORUS. If the accident | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Of my having been the observer | 9 | ··/˘··˘/˘ |
| Of your secret love, compels you | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| To this valorous aggression, | 8 | ··/˘˘˘/˘ |
| More than it can you concern | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Me to know, it doth concern me | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| To know you; for to be curious | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Is far less than to be jealous. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Yes, by Heaven! for who is master | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Of the house have I to learn here, | 8 | ········ |
| Who it is at such an hour, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| By this balcony ascending, | 8 | ··/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Gaineth that which I lose weeping | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| At these gratings. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| LELIUS. This excelleth, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Good, in faith, is it thus to dim | 8 | ········ |
| The clear light of my resentment, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| By attributing to me | 7 | ·˘/˘˘·· |
| That which solely your offence is!-- | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| Who you are I have to know, | 7 | ······· |
| Death to give to him who has left me | 9 | ········· |
| Dead with jealousy here, by coming | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| From this balcony. | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| FLORUS. How excessive | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| How superfluous is this caution, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Proving what it would dissemble! | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| LELIUS. Vainly would the tongue untangle | 10 | ··/˘···˘/˘ |
| That which the keen sword can better | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Thus cut through. | 3 | ··· |
| FLORUS. With it I answer. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| LELIUS. In this way I'll know for certain | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Who is the admitted lover | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Of Justina. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| FLORUS. My intention | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Is the same. I'll die or know 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.