Act the First: Scene VIII
PAUL [aside]. I'm to keep what you discarded!Good in faith!-- [To PATRICK] Behold in meYour strict guard; in you I seeThe sole thing I ever guardedIn my life; with such a careI can neither sleep nor eat.If you wish to use your feetYou can go, your road lies there.Nay, in flying quickly henceYou to me a good will do,Since my care will fly with you.Go in peace.
PATRICK. With confidenceYou may trust me, for I'm not,Though a slave, a fugitive.Lord! how gladly do I liveIn this solitary spot,Where my soul in raptured prayerMay adore Thee, or in tranceSee the living countenanceOf Thy prodigies so rare!Human wisdom, earlthly lore,Solitude reveals and reaches;What diviner wisdom teachesIn it, too, I would explore.
PAUL. Tell me, talking thus apart,Who it is on whom you call?
PATRICK. Great primeval cause of all,Thou, O Lord, in all things art!These blue heavens, these crystal skiesFormed of dazzling depths of light,In which sun, moon, stars unite,Are they not but draperiesHung before Thy heavenly land?--The discordant elements,Water, fire, earth, air immense,Prove they not Thy master hand?Or in dark or brightsome hours,Praise they not Thy power and might?O'er the earth dost Thou not writeIn the characters of flowersThy great goodness? And the air,In reverberating thunder,Does it not in fear and wonderSay, O Lord, that Thou art there?Are not, too, Thy praises sungBy the fire and water -- eachDowered for this divinest speech,With tongue the wave, the flame with tongue?Here, then, in this lonely placeI, O Lord, may better be,Since in all things I find Thee.Thou hast given to me the graceOf Obedience, Faith, and Fear;As a slave, then, let me stay,Or remove me where I mayServe Thee truly, if not here.
Words in this poem
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- 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]
- explore v. t.
- To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
- brightsome a.
- Bright; clear; luminous; brilliant. Marlowe.
- dowered p. a.
- Furnished with, or as with, dower or a marriage portion.
- 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 VIII 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 VIII, 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-viii.html, id L26666.
Form and metre
Act the First: Scene VIII is 57 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 -AA-BCCB-DD- discarded · meA · seeA · guarded · careB · eatC · feetC · thereB · hence · doD · youD · peace
- 2 -E--EF--FGHHG confidence · notE · fugitive · live · spotE · prayerF · trance · countenance · rareF · loreG · reachesH · teachesH · exploreG
- 3 IJ apartI · callJ
- 4 JI-KK-L--LMNNMOPPOQRRQSTTSUVVU allJ · artI · skies · lightK · uniteK · draperies · landL · elements · immense · handL · hoursM · mightN · writeN · flowersM · airO · thunderP · wonderP · thereO · sungQ · eachR · speechR · tongueQ · placeS · beT · theeT · graceS · fearU · stayV · mayV · hereU
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]. I'm to keep what you discarded! | 11 | ·˘/·····˘/˘ |
| Good in faith!-- [To PATRICK] Behold in me | 10 | ····/˘˘/·· |
| Your strict guard; in you I see | 7 | ······· |
| The sole thing I ever guarded | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| In my life; with such a care | 7 | ······· |
| I can neither sleep nor eat. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| If you wish to use your feet | 7 | ······· |
| You can go, your road lies there. | 7 | ······· |
| Nay, in flying quickly hence | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| You to me a good will do, | 7 | ······· |
| Since my care will fly with you. | 7 | ······· |
| Go in peace. | 3 | ··· |
| PATRICK. With confidence | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| You may trust me, for I'm not, | 7 | ······· |
| Though a slave, a fugitive. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Lord! how gladly do I live | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In this solitary spot, | 7 | ··/˘·˘· |
| Where my soul in raptured prayer | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| May adore Thee, or in trance | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| See the living countenance | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Of Thy prodigies so rare! | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Human wisdom, earlthly lore, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Solitude reveals and reaches; | 8 | /˘·˘/·/˘ |
| What diviner wisdom teaches | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| In it, too, I would explore. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| PAUL. Tell me, talking thus apart, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Who it is on whom you call? | 7 | ······· |
| PATRICK. Great primeval cause of all, | 9 | /˘·˘/˘··· |
| Thou, O Lord, in all things art! | 7 | ······· |
| These blue heavens, these crystal skies | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Formed of dazzling depths of light, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| In which sun, moon, stars unite, | 7 | ·····/· |
| Are they not but draperies | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Hung before Thy heavenly land?-- | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| The discordant elements, | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Water, fire, earth, air immense, | 8 | /˘/˘··˘/ |
| Prove they not Thy master hand? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Or in dark or brightsome hours, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Praise they not Thy power and might? | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| O'er the earth dost Thou not write | 7 | ······· |
| In the characters of flowers | 8 | ··/˘˘·/˘ |
| Thy great goodness? And the air, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In reverberating thunder, | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Does it not in fear and wonder | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Say, O Lord, that Thou art there? | 7 | ······· |
| Are not, too, Thy praises sung | 7 | ····/˘· |
| By the fire and water -- each | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Dowered for this divinest speech, | 8 | ·˘··˘/˘· |
| With tongue the wave, the flame with tongue? | 8 | ········ |
| Here, then, in this lonely place | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I, O Lord, may better be, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Since in all things I find Thee. | 7 | ······· |
| Thou hast given to me the grace | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Of Obedience, Faith, and Fear; | 8 | ·˘/˘˘··· |
| As a slave, then, let me stay, | 7 | ······· |
| Or remove me where I may | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Serve Thee truly, if not here. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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