Act the Second: Scene XI
DEMON [aside]. For the deep design I handle,For my double plot I comeRaging to this simple home,Now to work the greatest scandalEver seen. Here, brooding o'er him,This wild lover mad with ire,I will fan his jealous fire,I will place myself before him,Catch his eye, and then as fleeing,In invisible gloom array me.his cloak, and re-enters the inner apartment.
JUSTINA. Man, do you come here to slay me?
LELIUS. No, to die.
JUSTINA. What object seeingParalyses thus your senses?
LELIUS. What I see is your untruth.Tell me now, the wish, forsooth,Has invented my offences.From that very chamber thereCame a man, I turned my head,When he saw my face he fledBack into the room.
JUSTINA. The airMust this phantasy display--This illusion.
LELIUS. Oh, that sight!
JUSTINA. Is it not enough by night,Lelius, but in open dayThus fictitious forms to see?
LELIUS. Phantom shape or real lover,Now the truth I will discover.
JUSTINA. I no hindrance offer thee,For my innocence, a way,At the cost of this permission,Thus finds out the night's submissionTo correct by the light of day.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- untruth n.
- The quality of being untrue; contrariety to truth; want of veracity; also, treachery; faithlessness; disloyalty.
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- discover v. i.
- To discover or show one's self.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Second: Scene XI 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 XI, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-second-scene-xi.html, id L26624.
Form and metre
Act the Second: Scene XI is 36 lines in 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
See other poems in iambic 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----B-- handleA · come · home · scandalA · him · ire · fire · him · fleeingB · me · apartment
- 4 B- seeingB · senses
- 5 CC-DEE- untruthC · forsoothC · offences · thereD · headE · fledE · room
- 6 DF- airD · displayF · illusion
- 7 G sightG
- 8 GFH nightG · dayF · seeH
- 9 II loverI · discoverI
- 10 HFJJF theeH · wayF · permissionJ · submissionJ · dayF
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| DEMON [aside]. For the deep design I handle, | 12 | /˘˘/···˘/·/˘ |
| For my double plot I come | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Raging to this simple home, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Now to work the greatest scandal | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Ever seen. Here, brooding o'er him, | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| This wild lover mad with ire, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I will fan his jealous fire, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| I will place myself before him, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Catch his eye, and then as fleeing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In invisible gloom array me. | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/· |
| his cloak, and re-enters the inner apartment. | 12 | ····/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| JUSTINA. Man, do you come here to slay me? | 11 | ˘/˘········ |
| LELIUS. No, to die. | 5 | ····· |
| JUSTINA. What object seeing | 8 | ˘/˘·˘//˘ |
| Paralyses thus your senses? | 8 | /˘·˘··/˘ |
| LELIUS. What I see is your untruth. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Tell me now, the wish, forsooth, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Has invented my offences. | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| From that very chamber there | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Came a man, I turned my head, | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| When he saw my face he fled | 7 | ······· |
| Back into the room. | 5 | ····· |
| JUSTINA. The air | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| Must this phantasy display-- | 7 | ··/˘˘˘/ |
| This illusion. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| LELIUS. Oh, that sight! | 5 | ····· |
| JUSTINA. Is it not enough by night, | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/·· |
| Lelius, but in open day | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thus fictitious forms to see? | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| LELIUS. Phantom shape or real lover, | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Now the truth I will discover. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| JUSTINA. I no hindrance offer thee, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| For my innocence, a way, | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| At the cost of this permission, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Thus finds out the night's submission | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| To correct by the light of day. | 8 | ·˘/····· |
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