Act the First: Scene III
PATRICK. Luis, though a low positionMine is here, and I observe theeRaised to fortune's highest summit,Yet I feel more grief than envyAt thy rise. Thou art a Christian;Show thyself one now in earnest.
LUIS. Patrick, let me now enjoyThe first favours fate has sent meAfter so much sad misfortune.
PATRICK. One word, then (if thou wilt let meSo presume), I ask of thee.
LUIS. What is that?
PATRICK. Upon this earth here,Once again, alive or dead,That we two shall meet together.
LUIS. Such a word dost ask me?
PATRICK. Yes.
LUIS. Then I give it.
PATRICK. I accept it.
Words in this poem
- presume v. t.
- To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained. [F. présumer, L. praesumere, praesumptum; prae before + sumere to take. See Assume, Redeem.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the First: Scene III is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Purgatory of St. Patrick, Project Gutenberg ebook #6371, 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 First: Scene III, in The Purgatory of St. Patrick (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6371, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-purgatorio-san-patricio/act-the-first-scene-iii.html, id L26661.
Form and metre
Act the First: Scene III is 19 lines in 9 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.
- 3 AA meA · theeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PATRICK. Luis, though a low position | 10 | /˘˘/···˘/˘ |
| Mine is here, and I observe thee | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Raised to fortune's highest summit, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Yet I feel more grief than envy | 8 | ······/˘ |
| At thy rise. Thou art a Christian; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Show thyself one now in earnest. | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| LUIS. Patrick, let me now enjoy | 9 | ˘//˘···˘/ |
| The first favours fate has sent me | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| After so much sad misfortune. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| PATRICK. One word, then (if thou wilt let me | 10 | /˘········ |
| So presume), I ask of thee. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| LUIS. What is that? | 5 | ˘/··· |
| PATRICK. Upon this earth here, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Once again, alive or dead, | 7 | ·˘/˘/·· |
| That we two shall meet together. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| LUIS. Such a word dost ask me? | 8 | ˘/······ |
| PATRICK. Yes. | 3 | /˘· |
| LUIS. Then I give it. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| PATRICK. I accept it. | 6 | /˘·˘/· |
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.