Act the Third: Scene XIX
FABIUS. Sir, the two for whom you sentHere are kneeling at your feet.
LELIUS. I, whose wish it is to beWelcomed as thy son this time,With no consciousness of crimeDo not see a judge in thee,I an angry sire may seeWith a son's respectful fearAnd obedience.
FLORUS. Being here, I infer that it must be(Though no guilt can I discern)Thy chastising hand to feel.See. Submissive here I kneel.
GOVERNOR. Lelius, Florus, I was stern,Justly stern against ye two,For as judge or father ICould not unchastised pass byYour offence. But then I knewThat in noble hearts the feelingOf resentment does not last,And as now the cause is past,I resolved, to both appealing,Friends to make of you once more.So to consecrate the tieNow embrace in amity.
LELIUS. I am glad that, as of yore,Florus is my friend to-day.
FLORUS. That thou'rt mine this act may show.Here's my hand.
GOVERNOR. This being so,You are free to go or stay:--When I tell you of the sadFall of her you once admired,Northing further is required.
Words in this poem
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- 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.]
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
- appealing a.
- That appeals; imploring.
- amity n.
- Friendship, in a general sense, between individuals, societies, or nations; friendly relations; good understanding; as, a treaty of amity and commerce; the amity of the Whigs and Tories. [F. amitié, OF. amistié, amisté, fr. an assumed LL. amisitas, fr. L. amicus friendly, from amare to love. See Amiable.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- admired a.
- Regarded with wonder and delight; highly prized; as, an admired poem.
- northing n.
- Distance northward from any point of departure or of reckoning, measured on a meridian; -- opposed to Ant: southing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Third: Scene XIX 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 XIX, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-third-scene-xix.html, id L26650.
Form and metre
Act the Third: Scene XIX is 34 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABBAA-- beA · timeB · crimeB · theeA · seeA · fear · obedience
- 3 ACDD beA · discernC · feelD · kneelD
- 4 CEFFEGHHGI-- sternC · twoE · iF · byF · knewE · feelingG · lastH · pastH · appealingG · moreI · tie · amity
- 5 IJ yoreI · dayJ
- 6 K- showK · hand
- 7 KJ-LL soK · stayJ · sad · admiredL · requiredL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FABIUS. Sir, the two for whom you sent | 9 | ········· |
| Here are kneeling at your feet. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| LELIUS. I, whose wish it is to be | 9 | ········· |
| Welcomed as thy son this time, | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| With no consciousness of crime | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Do not see a judge in thee, | 7 | ······· |
| I an angry sire may see | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| With a son's respectful fear | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| And obedience. | 5 | ·˘/˘˘ |
| FLORUS. Being here, I infer that it must be | 11 | ··/··˘/···· |
| (Though no guilt can I discern) | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Thy chastising hand to feel. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| See. Submissive here I kneel. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| GOVERNOR. Lelius, Florus, I was stern, | 9 | /˘······· |
| Justly stern against ye two, | 7 | /˘····· |
| For as judge or father I | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Could not unchastised pass by | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| Your offence. But then I knew | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| That in noble hearts the feeling | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Of resentment does not last, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| And as now the cause is past, | 7 | ······· |
| I resolved, to both appealing, | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| Friends to make of you once more. | 7 | ······· |
| So to consecrate the tie | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Now embrace in amity. | 7 | ·˘/·/˘˘ |
| LELIUS. I am glad that, as of yore, | 9 | ········· |
| Florus is my friend to-day. | 7 | ······· |
| FLORUS. That thou'rt mine this act may show. | 9 | ········· |
| Here's my hand. | 3 | ··· |
| GOVERNOR. This being so, | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| You are free to go or stay:-- | 7 | ······· |
| When I tell you of the sad | 7 | ······· |
| Fall of her you once admired, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Northing further is required. | 8 | /˘/˘·˘/˘ |
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