Act the Third: Scene IX
MOSCON. Have they gone?
LIVIA. They're gone: all right.
MOSCON. Why, I'm almost dead with fright.
LIVIA. Were you of your sense bereftWhen but now my room you leftAnd appeared before her sight?
MOSCON. Left your room? Be seen by her?Why, I swear it, Livia dear,Not one moment did I stir.
LIVIA. Who then was it she saw here?
MOSCON. Well, the devil, as I infer.How know I? But then do notTake it so to heart, my soul.
LIVIA. Oh! that's not the cause.
MOSCON. Then what?
LIVIA. Such a question, when the wholeOf a day it was his lotWith me here locked up to stay?For his comrade far awayMust I not a tear then shed,Though I take this day instead,Having wept not yesterday?Would I have him think of meAs a woman who could beSo forgetful and so frail,As for half a year to failIn what we did both agree?
MOSCON. Half a year? It is aboveOne whole year since he went away.
LIVIA. Quite an error, as I'll prove.Mind, I cannot count a dayWhen I Clarin could not love.This being so, if I to theeGave up half the year (ah me!),I would give a false amountTo place all to his account.
MOSCON. Ah, ungrateful! can it beWhen my heart on thee dependsFor its peace, that thine attendsTo such trifles?
LIVIA. Moscon, yes,For I find, I must confess,Short accounts make longest friends.
MOSCON. Such being then thy constancy,Livia, I must say good-bye,Till to-morrow. Ah! if heIs thy two-day fever, IHope he's not thy syncope.
LIVIA. Well, my friend, from this you knowI no malice bear.
MOSCON. Just so.
LIVIA. See me then no more to-day,But to-morrow, sir, you may:I'll not need to send. Heigho!
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- forgetful a.
- Apt to forget; easily losing remembrance; as, a forgetful man should use helps to strengthen his memory.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- ungrateful a.
- Not grateful; not thankful for favors; making no returns, or making ill return for kindness, attention, etc.; ingrateful. South.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Third: Scene IX 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 Third: Scene IX, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-third-scene-ix.html, id L26640.
Form and metre
Act the Third: Scene IX is 54 lines in 18 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.
- 2 A rightA
- 3 A frightA
- 4 BBA bereftB · leftB · sightA
- 5 CDC herC · dearD · stirC
- 6 D hereD
- 7 CEF inferC · notE · soulF
- 10 FEGGHHGIIJJI wholeF · lotE · stayG · awayG · shedH · insteadH · yesterdayG · meI · beI · frailJ · failJ · agreeI
- 11 KL aboveK · awayL
- 12 -LKIIMM prove · dayL · loveK · theeI · meI · amountM · accountM
- 13 INN- beI · dependsN · attendsN · trifles
- 14 OON yesO · confessO · friendsN
- 15 -P-P- constancy · byeP · he · iP · syncope
- 16 Q- knowQ · bear
- 17 Q soQ
- 18 RR- dayR · mayR · heigho
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MOSCON. Have they gone? | 5 | ····· |
| LIVIA. They're gone: all right. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| MOSCON. Why, I'm almost dead with fright. | 9 | ····/···· |
| LIVIA. Were you of your sense bereft | 9 | /˘·····˘/ |
| When but now my room you left | 7 | ······· |
| And appeared before her sight? | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| MOSCON. Left your room? Be seen by her? | 9 | ········· |
| Why, I swear it, Livia dear, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Not one moment did I stir. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| LIVIA. Who then was it she saw here? | 9 | /˘······· |
| MOSCON. Well, the devil, as I infer. | 9 | ····/··˘/ |
| How know I? But then do not | 7 | ······· |
| Take it so to heart, my soul. | 7 | ······· |
| LIVIA. Oh! that's not the cause. | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| MOSCON. Then what? | 4 | ···· |
| LIVIA. Such a question, when the whole | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| Of a day it was his lot | 7 | ······· |
| With me here locked up to stay? | 8 | ····˘··· |
| For his comrade far away | 7 | ··/··˘/ |
| Must I not a tear then shed, | 7 | ······· |
| Though I take this day instead, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Having wept not yesterday? | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Would I have him think of me | 7 | ······· |
| As a woman who could be | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| So forgetful and so frail, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| As for half a year to fail | 7 | ······· |
| In what we did both agree? | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| MOSCON. Half a year? It is above | 9 | ········· |
| One whole year since he went away. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| LIVIA. Quite an error, as I'll prove. | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| Mind, I cannot count a day | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| When I Clarin could not love. | 7 | ······· |
| This being so, if I to thee | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Gave up half the year (ah me!), | 7 | ······· |
| I would give a false amount | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| To place all to his account. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| MOSCON. Ah, ungrateful! can it be | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| When my heart on thee depends | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| For its peace, that thine attends | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| To such trifles? | 4 | ··/˘ |
| LIVIA. Moscon, yes, | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| For I find, I must confess, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Short accounts make longest friends. | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| MOSCON. Such being then thy constancy, | 9 | ···/··/˘˘ |
| Livia, I must say good-bye, | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Till to-morrow. Ah! if he | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Is thy two-day fever, I | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hope he's not thy syncope. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| LIVIA. Well, my friend, from this you know | 9 | /˘······· |
| I no malice bear. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| MOSCON. Just so. | 4 | ···· |
| LIVIA. See me then no more to-day, | 9 | /˘······· |
| But to-morrow, sir, you may: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I'll not need to send. Heigho! | 7 | ······· |
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