Act the First: Scene V
PAUL [aside]. Eh, sirs! what is this I see?Some one here my wife's embracing.What's to do? I burn, I burst.Kill her? Yes. 'Twas fortune sent me.One thing only doth prevent me,Which is, she might kill me first.
PHILIP. For your hospitable care,Beauteous mountaineer, I wouldThat this ring's bright diamond couldFar outshine a star of air.
LUCY. Think me not a woman whoLives intent her gain to make;But I take it for your sake.
PAUL. [aside'. What I wonder should I do?But if I'm her husband, then,As I saw him give the ring,Silence is the proper thing.
LUCY. In these arms I once againGive to you my soul, for IHave no other ring or chain.
PHILIP. Where I ever could remain:--For such sweet captivityLures me from the miseriesOf remembering my sad fate,Caused, as you have seen, so late,By these crystalline blue seas.
PAUL [aside[. What! a new embrace! Halloo!Don't you see, sir, Od's my life,That this woman is my wife?
PHILIP. Here's your husband full in view;He has seen us. I must straightLeave you and return -- [Aside.} Ah, me!Couldst thou this, Polonia, see,Thou mightst mourn, perhaps, the stateUnto which I see me doomed.And. O heaven-aspiring sea,Say in what vast depths can beAll the lives thou hast entombed?
Words in this poem
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- mountaineer n.
- An inhabitant of a mountain; one who lives among mountains. [OF. montanier, LL. montanarius. See Mountain.]
- outshine v. i.
- To shine forth.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the First: Scene V 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 V, 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-v.html, id L26663.
Form and metre
Act the First: Scene V is 38 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 A-BAAB seeA · embracing · burstB · meA · meA · firstB
- 2 CDDC careC · wouldD · couldD · airC
- 3 EFF whoE · makeF · sakeF
- 4 EGHH doE · thenG · ringH · thingH
- 5 G-I againG · i · chainI
- 6 I--JJ- remainI · captivity · miseries · fateJ · lateJ · seas
- 7 KLL hallooK · lifeL · wifeL
- 8 KJMMJNMMN viewK · straightJ · meM · seeM · stateJ · doomedN · seaM · beM · entombedN
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PAUL [aside]. Eh, sirs! what is this I see? | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| Some one here my wife's embracing. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| What's to do? I burn, I burst. | 7 | ······· |
| Kill her? Yes. 'Twas fortune sent me. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| One thing only doth prevent me, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| Which is, she might kill me first. | 7 | ······· |
| PHILIP. For your hospitable care, | 8 | /˘··//˘· |
| Beauteous mountaineer, I would | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| That this ring's bright diamond could | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Far outshine a star of air. | 7 | ·/····· |
| LUCY. Think me not a woman who | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| Lives intent her gain to make; | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| But I take it for your sake. | 7 | ······· |
| PAUL. [aside'. What I wonder should I do? | 10 | ·˘/··/˘··· |
| But if I'm her husband, then, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| As I saw him give the ring, | 7 | ······· |
| Silence is the proper thing. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| LUCY. In these arms I once again | 9 | /˘·····˘/ |
| Give to you my soul, for I | 7 | ······· |
| Have no other ring or chain. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| PHILIP. Where I ever could remain:-- | 8 | /˘··/·˘/ |
| For such sweet captivity | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Lures me from the miseries | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Of remembering my sad fate, | 8 | ·˘/˘˘··· |
| Caused, as you have seen, so late, | 8 | ·˘······ |
| By these crystalline blue seas. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| PAUL [aside[. What! a new embrace! Halloo! | 10 | ·˘/···˘/˘/ |
| Don't you see, sir, Od's my life, | 7 | ······· |
| That this woman is my wife? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| PHILIP. Here's your husband full in view; | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| He has seen us. I must straight | 7 | ······· |
| Leave you and return -- [Aside.} Ah, me! | 9 | ···˘/˘/·· |
| Couldst thou this, Polonia, see, | 7 | ······· |
| Thou mightst mourn, perhaps, the state | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Unto which I see me doomed. | 8 | ·······˘ |
| And. O heaven-aspiring sea, | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| Say in what vast depths can be | 7 | ······· |
| All the lives thou hast entombed? | 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.