Act the Third: Scene XI
FIGURE. Summoned,As I wander through these mountains,I obey a call so urgent.What, then, wouldst thou? what, then, wouldst thou,Cyprian, with me?
CYPRIAN. Oh, I shudder!
FIGURE. And since now....
CYPRIAN. I am astonished!
FIGURE. I have come....
CYPRIAN. What thus disturbs me?
FIGURE. To this place....
CYPRIAN. What makes me tremble?
FIGURE. Where....
CYPRIAN. Oh! whence this doubt that numbs me?
FIGURE. Love doth call me....
CYPRIAN. Why, this terror?
FIGURE. And the powerful spell thou workestThus complied with, to this forest'sDeepest depths I fly to shun thee.
CYPRIAN. Listen, hear me, stay, Justina!But why linger spell-bound, stunned here?I'll pursue her, and this forest,Whither by my spells conductedShe has flown, will be the leafyTheatre, the rude-constructedBride-bed of the strangest bridalHeaven e'er witnessed.
Words in this poem
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- theatre n.
- An edifice in which dramatic performances or spectacles are exhibited for the amusement of spectators; anciently uncovered, except the stage, but in modern times roofed. [F. thé\'83tre, L. theatrum, Gr. dhya to meditate, think. Cf. Theory.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Third: 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 Third: Scene XI, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-third-scene-xi.html, id L26642.
Form and metre
Act the Third: Scene XI is 27 lines in 14 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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.
- 14 ---A-A-- justina · here · forest · conductedA · leafy · constructedA · bridal · witnessed
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FIGURE. Summoned, | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| As I wander through these mountains, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| I obey a call so urgent. | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| What, then, wouldst thou? what, then, wouldst thou, | 8 | ········ |
| Cyprian, with me? | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| CYPRIAN. Oh, I shudder! | 7 | /˘˘··/˘ |
| FIGURE. And since now.... | 5 | /˘··· |
| CYPRIAN. I am astonished! | 8 | /˘˘··˘/˘ |
| FIGURE. I have come.... | 5 | /˘··· |
| CYPRIAN. What thus disturbs me? | 8 | /˘˘··˘/· |
| FIGURE. To this place.... | 5 | /˘··· |
| CYPRIAN. What makes me tremble? | 8 | /˘˘···/˘ |
| FIGURE. Where.... | 3 | /˘· |
| CYPRIAN. Oh! whence this doubt that numbs me? | 9 | /˘······· |
| FIGURE. Love doth call me.... | 6 | /˘···· |
| CYPRIAN. Why, this terror? | 7 | /˘˘··/˘ |
| FIGURE. And the powerful spell thou workest | 10 | /˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Thus complied with, to this forest's | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| Deepest depths I fly to shun thee. | 8 | /˘······ |
| CYPRIAN. Listen, hear me, stay, Justina! | 10 | /˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| But why linger spell-bound, stunned here? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| I'll pursue her, and this forest, | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| Whither by my spells conducted | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| She has flown, will be the leafy | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Theatre, the rude-constructed | 8 | /˘˘··˘/˘ |
| Bride-bed of the strangest bridal | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Heaven e'er witnessed. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.