Act the Second: Scene I
CYPRIAN [aside]. Where, presumptuous thoughts, ah! where,Would you lead me, whither go?If for certain now you knowThat the high attempts you dareAre delusive dreams of bliss,Since you strive to scale heaven's wall,But from that proud height to fallHeadlong down a dark abyss?I Justina saw..... So nearWould to God I had not seen her,Nor in her divine demeanourAll the light of heaven's fourth sphere.Lovers twain for her contend,Both being jealous each should woo,And I, jealous of the two,Know not which doth most offend.All I know is, that suspicion,Her disdain, my own desires,Fill my heart with furious fires--Drive me, ah! to my perdition.This I know, and know no more,This I feel in all my strait;Heavens! Justina is my fate!Heavens! Justina I adore!--Moscon.
MOSCON. Sir.
CYPRIAN. Inquire, I pray,If Lysander's in.
MOSCON. I fly.
CLARIN. No, sir, no. On me rely,--Moscon can't go there to-day.
CYPRIAN. Ever wrangling in this way,How ye both my patience try!Why can he not go? Say why?
CLARIN. Because to-day is not his day.Mine it is, sir, to his sorrow.So your message I will bear.Moscon can't to-day go there;He will have his turn to-morrow.
CYPRIAN. What new madness can this beWhich your usual feud doth show?But now neither of you go,Since in all her brilliancyComes Justina.
CLARIN. From the streetTo her house she goes.
Words in this poem
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- demeanour n.
- Management; treatment; conduct. [For demeanure, fr. demean. See Demean, v. t.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- perdition n.
- Entire loss; utter destruction; ruin; esp., the utter loss of the soul, or of final happiness in a future state; future misery or eternal death. [F., fr. L. perditio, fr. perdere, perditum, to ruin, to lose; per (cf. Skr. para away) + -dere (only in comp.) to put; akin to Gr. do. See Do.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Second: Scene I 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 Second: Scene I, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-second-scene-i.html, id L26614.
Form and metre
Act the Second: Scene I is 46 lines in 9 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 ABBACDDCE--EFGGFHIIHJKKJ- whereA · goB · knowB · dareA · blissC · wallD · fallD · abyssC · nearE · her · demeanour · sphereE · contendF · wooG · twoG · offendF · suspicionH · desiresI · firesI · perditionH · moreJ · straitK · fateK · adoreJ · moscon
- 6 -AA way · tryA · whyA
- 7 -ABBA day · sorrowA · bearB · thereB · morrowA
- 8 -AA-- be · showA · goA · brilliancy · justina
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 [aside]. Where, presumptuous thoughts, ah! where, | 11 | /˘˘/·˘/˘··· |
| Would you lead me, whither go? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| If for certain now you know | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| That the high attempts you dare | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Are delusive dreams of bliss, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Since you strive to scale heaven's wall, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But from that proud height to fall | 7 | ······· |
| Headlong down a dark abyss? | 7 | /····˘/ |
| I Justina saw..... So near | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Would to God I had not seen her, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor in her divine demeanour | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| All the light of heaven's fourth sphere. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Lovers twain for her contend, | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Both being jealous each should woo, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And I, jealous of the two, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Know not which doth most offend. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| All I know is, that suspicion, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Her disdain, my own desires, | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| Fill my heart with furious fires-- | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Drive me, ah! to my perdition. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| This I know, and know no more, | 7 | ······· |
| This I feel in all my strait; | 7 | ······· |
| Heavens! Justina is my fate! | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| Heavens! Justina I adore!-- | 8 | /˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| Moscon. | 2 | ·· |
| MOSCON. Sir. | 3 | ··· |
| CYPRIAN. Inquire, I pray, | 7 | /˘˘˘/·· |
| If Lysander's in. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| MOSCON. I fly. | 4 | ···· |
| CLARIN. No, sir, no. On me rely,-- | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Moscon can't go there to-day. | 7 | ······· |
| CYPRIAN. Ever wrangling in this way, | 8 | /˘//˘··· |
| How ye both my patience try! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Why can he not go? Say why? | 7 | ······· |
| CLARIN. Because to-day is not his day. | 10 | ·········· |
| Mine it is, sir, to his sorrow. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| So your message I will bear. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Moscon can't to-day go there; | 7 | ······· |
| He will have his turn to-morrow. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. What new madness can this be | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| Which your usual feud doth show? | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| But now neither of you go, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Since in all her brilliancy | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Comes Justina. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| CLARIN. From the street | 5 | ····· |
| To her house she goes. | 5 | ····· |
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.