Act the Second: Scene XV
FLORUS. Are you then that virtuous maiden,Who, the very breeze that flattersWith its soft and sweet caresses,You would call rude, bold, unmannered?How then is it you surrenderedEven the very keys of the casketOf your honour?
JUSTINA. Hold, hold, Florus,Do not dare to throw a shadowOn that honour which the sunAfter the most strict examenHas proved bright and pure.
FLORUS. Too lateComes this idle boast. It happensThat I know to whom you have givenFree access...
JUSTINA. You dare this scandal?--
FLORUS. By a balcony...
JUSTINA. Do not say it.
FLORUS. To your honour.
JUSTINA. Thus will you blast me?
FLORUS. Yes, for hypocritical virtueMerits something even harsher.
LELIUS [at the door, aside]. Florus was not then the heroOf the balcony; some more happyLover than us twain she welcomes.
JUSTINA. Oh! defame not noble damsels,Since you noble blood inherit.
FLORUS. Noble damsel, dar'st thou call thee,When thy very arms received him,And from thy balcony he departed?Power subdued thee; from the factThat the Governor is his father,Vanity led thee on to showThat in Antioch he commanded...
LELIUS [aside]. Here he speaks of me.
FLORUS. Not seeingAny graver defect of manner,Than what in his birth and breedingRank may cover with its mantle,But not so....
LELIUS. Be silent, Florus,Nor attack me in my absence;For of a rival to speak ill,Is the act but of a dastard.'Tis to stop this I come forward,Angry after so many passesWhich my sword has had with thine,That I have not yet dispatched thee.
JUSTINA. Who, not guilty, ever saw herIn such dangerous straits entangled?
FLORUS. What behind your back was spoken,I before you will establish,Truth is truth where'er 'tis uttered.
JUSTINA. Florus! Lelius! what would you have then.
LELIUS. I would have full satisfactionWhere I heard th'insulting language.
FLORUS. I'll maintain what I have saidWhere I said it.
JUSTINA. From so manyStrokes of fortune, free me, Heaven!--
FLORUS. And I'll learn to chastise your rashness.
Words in this poem
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
- casket v. t.
- To put into, or preserve in, a casket.
- 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.]
- examen n.
- Examination; inquiry. [L., the tongue of a balance, examination; for exagmen, fr. exigere to weigh accurately, to treat: cf. F. examen. See Exact, a.]
- 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.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- damsel n.
- A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL]
- graver n.
- One who graves; an engraver or a sculptor; one whose occupation is te cut letters or figures in stone or other hard material.
- dastard n.
- One who meanly shrinks from danger; an arrant coward; a poltroon. [Prob. from Icel. dæstr exhausted. breathless, p. p. of dæsa to groan, lose one's breath; cf. dasask to become exhausted, and E. daze.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- rashness n.
- The quality of state of being rash.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Second: Scene XV 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 XV, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-second-scene-xv.html, id L26628.
Form and metre
Act the Second: Scene XV is 62 lines in 22 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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.
- 15 ---AA--- florus · absence · ill · dastardA · forwardA · passes · thine · thee
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FLORUS. Are you then that virtuous maiden, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Who, the very breeze that flatters | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| With its soft and sweet caresses, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| You would call rude, bold, unmannered? | 8 | ········ |
| How then is it you surrendered | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Even the very keys of the casket | 9 | /·/˘···/˘ |
| Of your honour? | 4 | ··/˘ |
| JUSTINA. Hold, hold, Florus, | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| Do not dare to throw a shadow | 8 | ······/· |
| On that honour which the sun | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| After the most strict examen | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Has proved bright and pure. | 5 | ····· |
| FLORUS. Too late | 4 | ···· |
| Comes this idle boast. It happens | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| That I know to whom you have given | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Free access... | 3 | ·/· |
| JUSTINA. You dare this scandal?-- | 8 | ˘/˘···/˘ |
| FLORUS. By a balcony... | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| JUSTINA. Do not say it. | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| FLORUS. To your honour. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| JUSTINA. Thus will you blast me? | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| FLORUS. Yes, for hypocritical virtue | 10 | ·····˘/˘/˘ |
| Merits something even harsher. | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| LELIUS [at the door, aside]. Florus was not then the hero | 15 | ·····˘/······/˘ |
| Of the balcony; some more happy | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| Lover than us twain she welcomes. | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| JUSTINA. Oh! defame not noble damsels, | 11 | ˘/˘·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Since you noble blood inherit. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| FLORUS. Noble damsel, dar'st thou call thee, | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| When thy very arms received him, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| And from thy balcony he departed? | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Power subdued thee; from the fact | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| That the Governor is his father, | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| Vanity led thee on to show | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| That in Antioch he commanded... | 9 | ··/˘··˘/˘ |
| LELIUS [aside]. Here he speaks of me. | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| FLORUS. Not seeing | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Any graver defect of manner, | 9 | /˘/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Than what in his birth and breeding | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Rank may cover with its mantle, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| But not so.... | 3 | ··· |
| LELIUS. Be silent, Florus, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Nor attack me in my absence; | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| For of a rival to speak ill, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Is the act but of a dastard. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| 'Tis to stop this I come forward, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Angry after so many passes | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| Which my sword has had with thine, | 7 | ······· |
| That I have not yet dispatched thee. | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| JUSTINA. Who, not guilty, ever saw her | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/·· |
| In such dangerous straits entangled? | 9 | ··/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| FLORUS. What behind your back was spoken, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| I before you will establish, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Truth is truth where'er 'tis uttered. | 9 | ···˘˘/·/˘ |
| JUSTINA. Florus! Lelius! what would you have then. | 12 | ˘/˘········· |
| LELIUS. I would have full satisfaction | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Where I heard th'insulting language. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| FLORUS. I'll maintain what I have said | 9 | ···˘/···· |
| Where I said it. | 4 | ···· |
| JUSTINA. From so many | 7 | ˘/˘··/˘ |
| Strokes of fortune, free me, Heaven!-- | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| FLORUS. And I'll learn to chastise your rashness. | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
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