Act the First: Scene XIV
CYPRIAN. Gentlemen, I pray you let meInterpose in this your quarrel,Since by accident I am present.
FLORUS. You cannot oblige me moreThan by letting the fight be ended.
CYPRIAN. Florus?
FLORUS. Yes, for sword in hand,I my name deny not everTo who asks.
CYPRIAN. I'm at your side,Death to him who would offend you.
LELIUS. You produce in me less fear,Both of you thus joined together,Than did he alone.
CYPRIAN. What! Lelius?
LELIUS. Yes.
CYPRIAN. I am preventedNow from standing at your side,Since between you I present me.How is this? In one day twiceHave I your disputes to settle!--
LELIUS. Then this time will be the last,For we've settled them already;Since in knowing who is heWho Justina's heart possesses,Now no more my hope remaineth,Even the thought of it hath left me.If you have not to JustinaSpoken yet, do not address her;This I ask you in the nameOf my wrongs and my resentments,Having seen her secret favoursFlorus' happier fate deserveth.From this balcony I saw him,From my lost delight descending;And my heart is not so baseAs to meanly love, in presenceOf such jealousies so well proved,Of disillusions, ah! so certain.
FLORUS. Stay.
Words in this poem
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
- oblige v. t.
- To attach, as by a bond. [OF. obligier, F.obliger, L. obligare; ob (see Ob-) + ligare to bind. See Ligament, and cf. Obligate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the First: Scene XIV 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 XIV, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-first-scene-xiv.html, id L26611.
Form and metre
Act the First: Scene XIV is 40 lines in 11 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 AA--- preventedA · sideA · me · twice · settle
- 10 --A--A------------ last · already · heA · possesses · remaineth · meA · justina · her · name · resentments · favours · deserveth · him · descending · base · presence · proved · certain
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. Gentlemen, I pray you let me | 9 | /˘/˘····· |
| Interpose in this your quarrel, | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| Since by accident I am present. | 9 | ··/˘˘··˘/ |
| FLORUS. You cannot oblige me more | 9 | ···˘/˘/·· |
| Than by letting the fight be ended. | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. Florus? | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| FLORUS. Yes, for sword in hand, | 7 | ······· |
| I my name deny not ever | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| To who asks. | 3 | ··· |
| CYPRIAN. I'm at your side, | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Death to him who would offend you. | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| LELIUS. You produce in me less fear, | 9 | ···˘/···· |
| Both of you thus joined together, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Than did he alone. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| CYPRIAN. What! Lelius? | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| LELIUS. Yes. | 3 | ··· |
| CYPRIAN. I am prevented | 8 | /˘˘··˘/˘ |
| Now from standing at your side, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Since between you I present me. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| How is this? In one day twice | 7 | ······· |
| Have I your disputes to settle!-- | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| LELIUS. Then this time will be the last, | 9 | ········· |
| For we've settled them already; | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Since in knowing who is he | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who Justina's heart possesses, | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Now no more my hope remaineth, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Even the thought of it hath left me. | 8 | /······· |
| If you have not to Justina | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Spoken yet, do not address her; | 8 | /˘···˘/· |
| This I ask you in the name | 7 | ······· |
| Of my wrongs and my resentments, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Having seen her secret favours | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Florus' happier fate deserveth. | 9 | ··/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| From this balcony I saw him, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| From my lost delight descending; | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| And my heart is not so base | 7 | ······· |
| As to meanly love, in presence | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Of such jealousies so well proved, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Of disillusions, ah! so certain. | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| FLORUS. Stay. | 3 | ··· |
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