Act the Third: Scene VIII
LYSANDER. My child?
LIVIA. What means this cry?
JUSTINA. Saw you not a man (ah, me!)Who but left me instantly?I can scarce express my thought.
LYSANDER. A man here?
JUSTINA. You saw him not?
LIVIA. No, senora.
JUSTINA. I could see.
LYSANDER. Saw a man here? That is hard,When the place was locked and barred.
LIVIA [aside]. Moscon sure she must have seen,Whom I have contrived to screenIn my changer.
LYSANDER. I regardWhat you saw but as the playOf your fancy and your fear.Melancholy surely mayHave, the man that you saw here,Formed from atoms of the day.
LIVIA. Yes, I think my master's right.
JUSTINA. No, 'twas no defect of sight,No illusion: since my heart,--Ah! too well I feel the smart--Has been broken by the fright.Some strange witchery of my willMust have been effected here.And with such consummate skill,That if God had not been nearI might have pursued my ill.He who at such timely hourHelped me to resist the powerOf this fearful violence,Will my humble innocenceGuard, whatever dangers lower.--Livia, my cloak: whene'erOverwhelming griefs oppress,I to holy church repair,Where we secretly confessThe true faith.LIVIA. 'Tis this you wear.
JUSTINA. There perchance I may appeaseThis strange fire that burns me so.
LYSANDER. I desire with thee to go.
LIVIA [aside]. I will breathe much more at easeWhen they're out of the house, I know.
JUSTINA. Since I wholly trust to theeHeaven, thy hold to me afford.Save me....
LYSANDER. Come: so it may be.
JUSTINA. Since the cause is thine, O Lord!Oh, defend Thyself and me!
Words in this poem
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- changer n.
- One who changes or alters the form of anything.
- witchery
- Sorcery; enchantment; witchcraft.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Third: 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 Third: Scene VIII, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-third-scene-viii.html, id L26639.
Form and metre
Act the Third: Scene VIII is 52 lines in 18 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
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.
- 3 A-- meA · instantly · thought
- 7 A seeA
- 8 BB hardB · barredB
- 9 CC- seenC · screenC · changer
- 10 BDEDED regardB · playD · fearE · mayD · hereE · dayD
- 11 F rightF
- 12 FGGFHIHIHJJ----KLK-L sightF · heartG · smartG · frightF · willH · hereI · skillH · nearI · illH · hourJ · powerJ · violence · innocence · lower · whene'er · oppressK · repairL · confessK · faith · wearL
- 13 MN appeaseM · soN
- 14 N goN
- 15 MN easeM · knowN
- 16 OPO theeO · affordP · meO
- 17 O beO
- 18 PO lordP · meO
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LYSANDER. My child? | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| LIVIA. What means this cry? | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| JUSTINA. Saw you not a man (ah, me!) | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Who but left me instantly? | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| I can scarce express my thought. | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| LYSANDER. A man here? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| JUSTINA. You saw him not? | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| LIVIA. No, senora. | 7 | /˘˘··/˘ |
| JUSTINA. I could see. | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| LYSANDER. Saw a man here? That is hard, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| When the place was locked and barred. | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| LIVIA [aside]. Moscon sure she must have seen, | 11 | /˘˘/······· |
| Whom I have contrived to screen | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| In my changer. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| LYSANDER. I regard | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| What you saw but as the play | 7 | ······· |
| Of your fancy and your fear. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Melancholy surely may | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Have, the man that you saw here, | 7 | ······· |
| Formed from atoms of the day. | 8 | ·˘·/˘··· |
| LIVIA. Yes, I think my master's right. | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| JUSTINA. No, 'twas no defect of sight, | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/·· |
| No illusion: since my heart,-- | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Ah! too well I feel the smart-- | 7 | ······· |
| Has been broken by the fright. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Some strange witchery of my will | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Must have been effected here. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| And with such consummate skill, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| That if God had not been near | 7 | ······· |
| I might have pursued my ill. | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| He who at such timely hour | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Helped me to resist the power | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| Of this fearful violence, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Will my humble innocence | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Guard, whatever dangers lower.-- | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Livia, my cloak: whene'er | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Overwhelming griefs oppress, | 7 | ·˘/˘·˘/ |
| I to holy church repair, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Where we secretly confess | 7 | ··/˘˘˘/ |
| The true faith. | 3 | ··· |
| LIVIA. 'Tis this you wear. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| JUSTINA. There perchance I may appease | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| This strange fire that burns me so. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| LYSANDER. I desire with thee to go. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| LIVIA [aside]. I will breathe much more at ease | 11 | /˘˘/······· |
| When they're out of the house, I know. | 8 | ········ |
| JUSTINA. Since I wholly trust to thee | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Heaven, thy hold to me afford. | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Save me.... | 2 | ·· |
| LYSANDER. Come: so it may be. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| JUSTINA. Since the cause is thine, O Lord! | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Oh, defend Thyself and me! | 7 | ·˘/˘/·· |
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