Act the Third: Scene XXIII
JUSTINA. What! without a word you leave me?When I come here, calm, contented,Even to die. Ah! wishing death,Am I then of death prevented?--But my punishment is, doubtless,Thus locked up to face the terrorsOf a slow and lingering death,With the body of this wretch hereLeft alone, my sole companionBeing a corse. O thou, re-enteredInto thy original earth,Happy wert thou, if thy sentenceWas passed on thee for the faithI adore!
CYPRIAN [recovering consciousness]. O proud avengerOf your gods, why wait, the threadOf my life to cut?...Heaven bless me!--Can I trust my eyes? Justina!
JUSTINA [aside]. Cyprian, do I see? O Heaven!
CYPRIAN [aside]. No, it is not she, my thoughtFills the void air with her presence.
JUSTINA [aside]. No, it is not he, the windForms this phantom to divert me.
CYPRIAN. Shadow of my fantasy...
JUSTINA. Of my wish, delusive spectre...
CYPRIAN. Terror of my startled senses...
JUSTINA. Horror of my heart's dejection...
CYPRIAN. What, then, wouldst thou?
JUSTINA. What, then, wouldst thou?
CYPRIAN. I invoked thee not. What errandHas thou come on?
JUSTINA. Why thus seek me?I to thee no thought directed.
CYPRIAN. Ah! I sought thee not, Justina.
JUSTINA. Nor here at thy call I entered.
CYPRIAN. Then why here?
JUSTINA. I am a prisoner.--Thou?
CYPRIAN. I, too, have been arrested.But, Justina, say what crimeCould thy virtue have effected?
JUSTINA. It is not for any crime,It is from their deep resentment,Their abhorrence of Christ's faith,Whom I as my God confess here.
CYPRIAN. Thou dost owe Him that, Justina,For thy God was thy defender,He watched o'er thee in His goodness.Get my prayers to Him accepted.
JUSTINA. Pray with faith, and He will listen.
CYPRIAN. Then with that I will address Him.Though a fear, that's not despair,Makes me for my great sins tremble.
JUSTINA. Oh! have confidence.
CYPRIAN. My crimes areSo immense.
JUSTINA. But more immense areHis great mercies.
CYPRIAN. Then, will HePardon have on me?
JUSTINA. 'Tis certain.
CYPRIAN. How, if my soul surrenderedTo the Demon's self, as purchaseOf thy beauty?
JUSTINA. Oh, there are notStars as many in the heavens,Sands as many on the shore,Sparks within the fire as many,Motes as many in the beam,On the winds so many feathers,As the sins He can forgive.
CYPRIAN. I believe it, and am readyNow a thousand lives to give Him.--But I hear some people enter.
Words in this poem
- doubtless a.
- Free from fear or suspicion.
- corse n.
- A living body or its bulk. [OF. cors, F. corps. See Corpse.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
- fantasy n.
- Fancy; imagination; especially, a whimsical or fanciful conception; a vagary of the imagination; whim; caprice; humor. [See Fancy.]
- spectre n.
- Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
- dejection n.
- A casting down; depression. Hallywell. [L. dejectio a casting down: cf. F. déjection.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Third: Scene XXIII 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 XXIII, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-third-scene-xxiii.html, id L26654.
Form and metre
Act the Third: Scene XXIII is 75 lines in 30 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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.
- 1 -ABA--B------- me · contentedA · deathB · preventedA · doubtless · terrors · deathB · here · companion · entered · earth · sentence · faith · adore
- 26 AA heA · meA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| JUSTINA. What! without a word you leave me? | 11 | ˘/˘········ |
| When I come here, calm, contented, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Even to die. Ah! wishing death, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Am I then of death prevented?-- | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| But my punishment is, doubtless, | 8 | ··/˘˘·/˘ |
| Thus locked up to face the terrors | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Of a slow and lingering death, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| With the body of this wretch here | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Left alone, my sole companion | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| Being a corse. O thou, re-entered | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| Into thy original earth, | 8 | ···˘/˘˘· |
| Happy wert thou, if thy sentence | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Was passed on thee for the faith | 8 | ··˘····· |
| I adore! | 3 | ·˘/ |
| CYPRIAN [recovering consciousness]. O proud avenger | 12 | /˘˘/˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| Of your gods, why wait, the thread | 7 | ······· |
| Of my life to cut?... | 5 | ····· |
| Heaven bless me!-- | 4 | /˘·· |
| Can I trust my eyes? Justina! | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| JUSTINA [aside]. Cyprian, do I see? O Heaven! | 12 | ˘/˘˘//˘····/ |
| CYPRIAN [aside]. No, it is not she, my thought | 11 | /˘˘/······· |
| Fills the void air with her presence. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| JUSTINA [aside]. No, it is not he, the wind | 12 | ˘/˘˘/······· |
| Forms this phantom to divert me. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| CYPRIAN. Shadow of my fantasy... | 9 | /˘/···/˘˘ |
| JUSTINA. Of my wish, delusive spectre... | 11 | ˘/˘···˘/˘/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. Terror of my startled senses... | 10 | /˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| JUSTINA. Horror of my heart's dejection... | 11 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. What, then, wouldst thou? | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| JUSTINA. What, then, wouldst thou? | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| CYPRIAN. I invoked thee not. What errand | 10 | /˘·˘/···/˘ |
| Has thou come on? | 4 | ···· |
| JUSTINA. Why thus seek me? | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| I to thee no thought directed. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. Ah! I sought thee not, Justina. | 10 | /˘·····˘/˘ |
| JUSTINA. Nor here at thy call I entered. | 11 | ˘/˘······/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. Then why here? | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| JUSTINA. I am a prisoner.-- | 9 | ˘/˘···/˘˘ |
| Thou? | 1 | · |
| CYPRIAN. I, too, have been arrested. | 9 | /˘····˘/˘ |
| But, Justina, say what crime | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Could thy virtue have effected? | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| JUSTINA. It is not for any crime, | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| It is from their deep resentment, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Their abhorrence of Christ's faith, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Whom I as my God confess here. | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| CYPRIAN. Thou dost owe Him that, Justina, | 10 | /˘·····˘/˘ |
| For thy God was thy defender, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| He watched o'er thee in His goodness. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Get my prayers to Him accepted. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| JUSTINA. Pray with faith, and He will listen. | 11 | ˘/˘······/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. Then with that I will address Him. | 10 | /˘·····˘/· |
| Though a fear, that's not despair, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Makes me for my great sins tremble. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| JUSTINA. Oh! have confidence. | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| CYPRIAN. My crimes are | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| So immense. | 3 | ·˘/ |
| JUSTINA. But more immense are | 8 | ˘/˘··˘/· |
| His great mercies. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. Then, will He | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Pardon have on me? | 5 | /˘··· |
| JUSTINA. 'Tis certain. | 6 | ˘/˘·/˘ |
| CYPRIAN. How, if my soul surrendered | 9 | /˘····˘/˘ |
| To the Demon's self, as purchase | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Of thy beauty? | 4 | ··/˘ |
| JUSTINA. Oh, there are not | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| Stars as many in the heavens, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Sands as many on the shore, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Sparks within the fire as many, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Motes as many in the beam, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| On the winds so many feathers, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| As the sins He can forgive. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| CYPRIAN. I believe it, and am ready | 10 | /˘·˘/···/˘ |
| Now a thousand lives to give Him.-- | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| But I hear some people enter. | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
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.