Act the Third: Scene XXVI
MOSCON. How contentedly to dieThey go forth.
LIVIA. Much more contentedAre we three to remain alive.
CLARIN. Not much more; for we must settleOur account now, though I ownThe occasion might be better,And the place too, still 'twere wrongTo neglect the time that's present.
MOSCON. What account pray?
CLARIN. I have beenAbsent.
LIVIA. Speak.
CLARIN. The whole of a twelvemonth,When without my intermissionMoscon in possession held thee.Now my quota in the business,If we both have equal measure,Is that I must have my year.
LIVIA. Can it be that I'm suspectedOf thus wronging thee so basely?Why, I wept whole days togetherWhen it was the day for weeping.
MOSCON. Yes, for I myself was present:Every day that was not mineShe thy friendship quite respected.
CLARIN. That's a bounce; for not a tear,When this day her house I entered,Did she shed, and there I found theeSitting with her quite contented.
LIVIA. But this day is not a fast.
CLARIN. Yes, it is; for I rememberThat the day I went awayWas my day.
LIVIA. Oh! that's an error.
MOSCON. Yes, I see how that arises,This year is a year bissextile,And our days are now the same.
CLARIN. Well, I'm satisfied, 'tis betterThat a man should not too deeplyPry into such things.--Good heavens!--
Words in this poem
- twelvemonth n.
- A year which consists of twelve calendar months.
- quota n.
- A proportional part or share; the share or proportion assigned to each in a division. [LL., fr. L. quota (sc. pars), fr.quotus which or what in number, of what number, how many, fr. quot how many, akin to quis, qui, who: cf. It. quota a share. See]
- basely adv.
- In a base manner; with despicable meanness; dishonorably; shamefully.
- bounce v. i.
- To strike or thump, so as to rebound, or to make a sudden noise; a knock loudly. [OE. bunsen; cf. D. bonzen to strike, bounce, bons blow, LG. bunsen to knock; all prob. of imitative origin.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Third: Scene XXVI 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 XXVI, in The Wonder-Working Magician (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6372, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-magico-prodigioso/act-the-third-scene-xxvi.html, id L26657.
Form and metre
Act the Third: Scene XXVI is 41 lines in 15 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.
- 12 -AA remember · awayA · dayA
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. How contentedly to die | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| They go forth. | 3 | ··· |
| LIVIA. Much more contented | 8 | /˘˘··˘/˘ |
| Are we three to remain alive. | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| CLARIN. Not much more; for we must settle | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Our account now, though I own | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| The occasion might be better, | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| And the place too, still 'twere wrong | 7 | ······· |
| To neglect the time that's present. | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| MOSCON. What account pray? | 6 | ···˘/· |
| CLARIN. I have been | 5 | ····· |
| Absent. | 2 | /˘ |
| LIVIA. Speak. | 4 | /˘˘· |
| CLARIN. The whole of a twelvemonth, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| When without my intermission | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Moscon in possession held thee. | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| Now my quota in the business, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| If we both have equal measure, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Is that I must have my year. | 7 | ······· |
| LIVIA. Can it be that I'm suspected | 10 | /˘·····˘/˘ |
| Of thus wronging thee so basely? | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Why, I wept whole days together | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| When it was the day for weeping. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| MOSCON. Yes, for I myself was present: | 10 | ······/·/˘ |
| Every day that was not mine | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| She thy friendship quite respected. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| CLARIN. That's a bounce; for not a tear, | 9 | ········· |
| When this day her house I entered, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Did she shed, and there I found thee | 8 | ········ |
| Sitting with her quite contented. | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| LIVIA. But this day is not a fast. | 9 | /˘······· |
| CLARIN. Yes, it is; for I remember | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| That the day I went away | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Was my day. | 3 | ··· |
| LIVIA. Oh! that's an error. | 8 | /˘˘···/˘ |
| MOSCON. Yes, I see how that arises, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| This year is a year bissextile, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| And our days are now the same. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| CLARIN. Well, I'm satisfied, 'tis better | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| That a man should not too deeply | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Pry into such things.--Good heavens!-- | 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.