Act the Second: Scene II
PHILIP [aside]. If to find my death I come,Why precipitate my doom?But so patient who could beAs to not desire to seeWhat impends, how dark its gloom?
LUIS. Then, what pledge may I demandOf your faith?
POLONIA. This hand.
PHILIP. Not so,How to hinder it I shall know;More of this I must withstand.
POLONIA. Woe is me!
PHILIP. Wilt give thy handto this outcast of the wave?And, oh thou, to whom pride gaveThe presumption to aspireTo a sun's celestial fire,Knowing that thou wert my slave,Why thus dare to come betweenMe and mine?
LUIS. Because I dareBe what now I am, nor careMore to be what I have been.It is true that I was seenOnce your slave: for who, indeed,Can the fickle wheel control?But in nobleness of soulThe best blood of all your breedI can equal, nay, exceed.
PHILIP. Exceed ME? Vile homicide!Wretch . . . .
LUIS. In having thus repliedYou have made a slight mistake.
PHILIP. No.
LUIS. If such you did not make,You've done worse.
PHILIP. Say, what?
LUIS. You've lied!
PHILIP. Villain! traitor
POLONIA. Oh, ye skies!
LUIS. For so many injuriesWhy not instant vengeance take,When volcanic fires awakeIn my breast, and hell-flames rise?
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
- nobleness n.
- The quality or state of being noble; greatness; dignity; magnanimity; elevation of mind, character, or station; nobility; grandeur; stateliness.
- lied n.
- A lay; a German song. It differs from the French chanson, and the Italian canzone, all three being national. [G.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Second: Scene II 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 Second: Scene II, in The Purgatory of St. Patrick (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6371, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/calderon-purgatorio-san-patricio/act-the-second-scene-ii.html, id L26670.
Form and metre
Act the Second: Scene II is 44 lines in 16 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 -ABBA come · doomA · beB · seeB · gloomA
- 2 C- demandC · faith
- 3 C handC
- 4 DDC soD · knowD · withstandC
- 6 CEE--EF- handC · waveE · gaveE · aspire · fire · slaveE · betweenF · mine
- 7 GG-FHIIHH dareG · careG · been · seenF · indeedH · controlI · soulI · breedH · exceedH
- 8 J- homicideJ · wretch
- 9 JK repliedJ · mistakeK
- 11 K- makeK · worse
- 13 J liedJ
- 15 L skiesL
- 16 -MML injuries · takeM · awakeM · riseL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PHILIP [aside]. If to find my death I come, | 11 | /˘˘/······· |
| Why precipitate my doom? | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| But so patient who could be | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As to not desire to see | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| What impends, how dark its gloom? | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| LUIS. Then, what pledge may I demand | 9 | ˘/·····˘/ |
| Of your faith? | 3 | ··· |
| POLONIA. This hand. | 5 | ····· |
| PHILIP. Not so, | 4 | /˘·· |
| How to hinder it I shall know; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| More of this I must withstand. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| POLONIA. Woe is me! | 6 | ······ |
| PHILIP. Wilt give thy hand | 6 | /˘···· |
| to this outcast of the wave? | 7 | ··/···· |
| And, oh thou, to whom pride gave | 7 | ······· |
| The presumption to aspire | 7 | ·˘/˘·˘/ |
| To a sun's celestial fire, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Knowing that thou wert my slave, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Why thus dare to come between | 7 | ······· |
| Me and mine? | 3 | ··· |
| LUIS. Because I dare | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Be what now I am, nor care | 7 | ······· |
| More to be what I have been. | 7 | ······· |
| It is true that I was seen | 7 | ······· |
| Once your slave: for who, indeed, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Can the fickle wheel control? | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| But in nobleness of soul | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| The best blood of all your breed | 7 | ······· |
| I can equal, nay, exceed. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| PHILIP. Exceed ME? Vile homicide! | 9 | /˘˘/··/˘· |
| Wretch . . . . | 1 | · |
| LUIS. In having thus replied | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| You have made a slight mistake. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| PHILIP. No. | 3 | /˘· |
| LUIS. If such you did not make, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| You've done worse. | 3 | ··· |
| PHILIP. Say, what? | 4 | /˘·· |
| LUIS. You've lied! | 4 | ˘/·· |
| PHILIP. Villain! traitor | 6 | /˘/˘/˘ |
| POLONIA. Oh, ye skies! | 6 | ······ |
| LUIS. For so many injuries | 9 | ˘/··/˘/˘˘ |
| Why not instant vengeance take, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| When volcanic fires awake | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| In my breast, and hell-flames rise? | 7 | ······· |
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.