Act the Second: Scene VIII
LUIS. A most opportune occasionTo my hands has fortune offered;Since Heaven knows that all the showOf apparent love and fondnessWhich I proffered to PoloniaWas assumed, it being my objectShe should go with me, where I,Seizing on the gold and costlyGems she carries, so might issueFrom this Babylonian bondage.For although in my personWas esteemed and duly honoured,Still 'twas slavery after all,And my free wild life was longingFor that liberty, heaven's best gift,Which I had enjoyed so often.But a great embarrassmentAnd a hindrance were a womanFor the end I have in view,Since in me is love a follyThat ne'er passes appetite,Which being satisfied, no longerCare I for a woman's presence,How so fair or so accomplished.And since thus my dispositionIs so free, of what importanceIs a murder more or less?At my hands must die PoloniaFor her loving at a timeWhen there's no one loved or honoured.Had she loved as others love,Then she would have lived as others.
Words in this poem
- opportune v. t.
- To suit. Dr. Clerke(1637).
- fondness n.
- The quality or state of being fond; foolishness.
- babylonian a.
- Of or pertaining to the real or to the mystical Babylon, or to the ancient kingdom of Babylonia; Chaldean.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Second: 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 Second: 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-second-scene-viii.html, id L26676.
Form and metre
Act the Second: Scene VIII is 32 lines in a single stanza. 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LUIS. A most opportune occasion | 10 | ˘/···˘/˘/˘ |
| To my hands has fortune offered; | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Since Heaven knows that all the show | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of apparent love and fondness | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| Which I proffered to Polonia | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Was assumed, it being my object | 9 | ·˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| She should go with me, where I, | 7 | ······· |
| Seizing on the gold and costly | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Gems she carries, so might issue | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| From this Babylonian bondage. | 9 | ···˘/˘˘/˘ |
| For although in my person | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Was esteemed and duly honoured, | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Still 'twas slavery after all, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| And my free wild life was longing | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For that liberty, heaven's best gift, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Which I had enjoyed so often. | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| But a great embarrassment | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| And a hindrance were a woman | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| For the end I have in view, | 7 | ······· |
| Since in me is love a folly | 8 | ······/˘ |
| That ne'er passes appetite, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Which being satisfied, no longer | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Care I for a woman's presence, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| How so fair or so accomplished. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| And since thus my disposition | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Is so free, of what importance | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Is a murder more or less? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| At my hands must die Polonia | 8 | ········ |
| For her loving at a time | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| When there's no one loved or honoured. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Had she loved as others love, | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| Then she would have lived as others. | 8 | ······/˘ |
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