Act the Second: Scene VIII
CLARIN. Oh! are you sir, alive?
MOSCON. My friend, do youSpeak civilly for once as something new?That he's alive requires no demonstration.
CLARIN. I struck this lofty note of admiration,Thou noble lackey, to express my wonder,How from this storm of lightning, rain, and thunder,Without a miracle he could survive.
MOSCON. Will you stop wondering, now you see him alive?
CYPRIAN. These are my servants, sir.--What brings you here?
MOSCON. Your spleen once more to stir.
DEMON. They have a pleasant humour.
CYPRIAN. Foolish pair,Their weary wit is oft too hard to bear.
MOSCON. This man, sir, waiting here,Who is he?
CYPRIAN. He's my guest, so do not fear.
CLARIN. Wherefore have guests at such a time as this?
CYPRIAN [to The Demon]. Your worth is lost on ignorance such as his.
MOSCON. My master's right. Are you, forsooth, his heir?
CLARIN. No; but our new friend there,Looks like a guest, unless I deceive me, whoWill honour our poor house a year or two.
MOSCON. Why?
CLARIN. When a guest soon means to go away,Well, he'll not make much smoke in the house, we say.But this....
MOSCON. Speak out.
CLARIN. Will make, I do not joke..
MOSCON. What?
CLARIN. In the house a deuced deal of smoke.
CYPRIAN. In order to repairThe danger done by the rude sea and air,Come thou with me.
DEMON. [Aside.] I'm thine, while thou hast breath.
CYPRIAN. I go to prepare thy rest.
DEMON [aside]. And I thy death:--An entrance having gainedWithin his breast, and thus my end obtained;My rage insatiate now without controlSeeks by another way to win Justina's soul.
CLARIN. Guess, if you can, what I am thinking about.
MOSCON. What is it?
CLARIN. That a new volcano has burst outIn the late storm, there's such a sulphur smell.
MOSCON. It came from the guest, as my good nose could tell.
CLARIN. He uses bad pastilles, then; but I canInfer the cause.
MOSCON. What is it?
CLARIN. The poor gentlemanHas a slight rash on his skin, a ticklish glow,And uses sulphur ointment.
MOSCON. Gad! 'tis so.
Words in this poem
- admiration n.
- Wonder; astonishment. [F., fr. L. admiratio. See Admire.]
- lackey n.
- An attending male servant; a footman; a servile follower. [F. laquais; cf. Sp. & Pg. lacayo; of uncertain origin; perh. of German origin, and akin to E.lick, v.]
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- 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.]
- deuced a.
- Devilish; excessive; extreme. [Low] -- Deu"ced*ly, adv.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- insatiate a.
- Insatiable; as, insatiate thirst. [L. insatiatus.]
- infer v. t.
- To bring on; to induce; to occasion. Harvey. [L. inferre to bring into, bring forward, occasion, infer; pref. in- in + ferre to carry, bring: cf. F. inférer. See 1 st Bear.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Second: Scene VIII 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 VIII, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-second-scene-viii.html, id L26621.
Form and metre
Act the Second: Scene VIII is 54 lines in 32 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in trochaic tetrameter.
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 AAB youA · newA · demonstrationB
- 3 BCCD admirationB · wonderC · thunderC · surviveD
- 4 D aliveD
- 5 E- sirE · here
- 6 E stirE
- 8 FF pairF · bearF
- 9 G- hereG · he
- 10 G fearG
- 13 F heirF
- 14 FHH thereF · whoH · twoH
- 16 II- awayI · sayI · this
- 18 J jokeJ
- 20 J smokeJ
- 21 KK- repairK · airK · me
- 22 L breathL
- 24 LMMNN deathL · gainedM · obtainedM · controlN · soulN
- 25 O aboutO
- 27 OP outO · smellP
- 28 P tellP
- 31 -Q- gentleman · glowQ · ointment
- 32 Q soQ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CLARIN. Oh! are you sir, alive? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| MOSCON. My friend, do you | 6 | ······ |
| Speak civilly for once as something new? | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| That he's alive requires no demonstration. | 11 | ··˘/˘/··˘/˘ |
| CLARIN. I struck this lofty note of admiration, | 13 | ·····/˘···˘/˘ |
| Thou noble lackey, to express my wonder, | 11 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| How from this storm of lightning, rain, and thunder, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Without a miracle he could survive. | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| MOSCON. Will you stop wondering, now you see him alive? | 13 | ·····/˘····˘/ |
| CYPRIAN. These are my servants, sir.-- | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| What brings you here? | 4 | ···· |
| MOSCON. Your spleen once more to stir. | 8 | ········ |
| DEMON. They have a pleasant humour. | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. Foolish pair, | 6 | /˘˘/˘· |
| Their weary wit is oft too hard to bear. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| MOSCON. This man, sir, waiting here, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who is he? | 3 | ··· |
| CYPRIAN. He's my guest, so do not fear. | 9 | /˘······· |
| CLARIN. Wherefore have guests at such a time as this? | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| CYPRIAN [to The Demon]. Your worth is lost on ignorance such as his. | 16 | /˘··/˘·····/˘··· |
| MOSCON. My master's right. Are you, forsooth, his heir? | 12 | ···/˘···˘/·· |
| CLARIN. No; but our new friend there, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Looks like a guest, unless I deceive me, who | 11 | ·······˘/·· |
| Will honour our poor house a year or two. | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| MOSCON. Why? | 3 | ··· |
| CLARIN. When a guest soon means to go away, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Well, he'll not make much smoke in the house, we say. | 11 | ··········· |
| But this.... | 2 | ·· |
| MOSCON. Speak out. | 4 | ···· |
| CLARIN. Will make, I do not joke.. | 8 | ········ |
| MOSCON. What? | 3 | ··· |
| CLARIN. In the house a deuced deal of smoke. | 10 | ·········· |
| CYPRIAN. In order to repair | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| The danger done by the rude sea and air, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Come thou with me. | 4 | ···· |
| DEMON. [Aside.] I'm thine, while thou hast breath. | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| CYPRIAN. I go to prepare thy rest. | 9 | /˘···˘/·· |
| DEMON [aside]. And I thy death:-- | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| An entrance having gained | 7 | ·/˘/˘·˘ |
| Within his breast, and thus my end obtained; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| My rage insatiate now without control | 11 | ··˘/˘˘···˘/ |
| Seeks by another way to win Justina's soul. | 12 | ··˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| CLARIN. Guess, if you can, what I am thinking about. | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| MOSCON. What is it? | 5 | ····· |
| CLARIN. That a new volcano has burst out | 11 | ·····˘/˘··· |
| In the late storm, there's such a sulphur smell. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| MOSCON. It came from the guest, as my good nose could tell. | 13 | ············· |
| CLARIN. He uses bad pastilles, then; but I can | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Infer the cause. | 4 | ˘/·· |
| MOSCON. What is it? | 5 | ····· |
| CLARIN. The poor gentleman | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Has a slight rash on his skin, a ticklish glow, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| And uses sulphur ointment. | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| MOSCON. Gad! 'tis so. | 5 | ····· |
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