Act the Third: Scene II
PAUL. There's no need to watch, for hitherSome one comes.
LUIS. A lucky mortalAm I, if the hour draws nighThat will two revenges offer.Since this night there then will beNaught to interrupt my project,Slaying first this muffled figureAnd then Philip. Slow and solemnComes this man again. I know himBy his gait. But whence this horrorThat comes o'er me as I see him,This strange awe that chills, that shocks me?
THE FIGURE. Luis Enius!
LUIS. Sir, I've seen youHere the last two nights; your object?If you call me, wherefore fly thus?If 'tis me you seek, why mock meBy retiring?
THE FIGURE. Follow me,Then you'll know my name.
LUIS. I'm stopped hereIn this street by a little business.--To be quite alone imports me.--Wherefore first by killing youI'll be free to kill anotherDraw, then, draw your sword or not,Thus the needful path I shortenTo two acts of vengeance. Heavens!I but strike the air, cut nothing,Sever nothing else. Quick! Paul,Stop him as he stalks off yonder,Near to you.
PAUL. I'm bad at stopping.
LUIS. Then your footsteps I will followEverywhere, until I learnWho you are. [Aside.] (In vain his bodyDo I strive to pierce. Oh, heavens!Lightnings flash from off my sword here;But in no way can I touch him,As if sword and arm were shortened.)
Words in this poem
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- needful a.
- Full of need; in need or want; needy; distressing.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Third: 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 Third: 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-third-scene-ii.html, id L26689.
Form and metre
Act the Third: Scene II is 41 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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.
- 2 -A-A--BB-BA mortal · nighA · offer · beA · project · figure · solemnB · himB · horror · himB · meA
- 6 ---A-------A here · business · me · youA · another · not · shorten · heavens · nothing · paul · yonder · youA
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. There's no need to watch, for hither | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Some one comes. | 3 | ··· |
| LUIS. A lucky mortal | 7 | ˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Am I, if the hour draws nigh | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| That will two revenges offer. | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Since this night there then will be | 7 | ······· |
| Naught to interrupt my project, | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| Slaying first this muffled figure | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| And then Philip. Slow and solemn | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Comes this man again. I know him | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| By his gait. But whence this horror | 8 | ······/˘ |
| That comes o'er me as I see him, | 8 | ········ |
| This strange awe that chills, that shocks me? | 8 | ········ |
| THE FIGURE. Luis Enius! | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| LUIS. Sir, I've seen you | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Here the last two nights; your object? | 8 | ······/˘ |
| If you call me, wherefore fly thus? | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| If 'tis me you seek, why mock me | 8 | ········ |
| By retiring? | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| THE FIGURE. Follow me, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Then you'll know my name. | 5 | ····· |
| LUIS. I'm stopped here | 5 | ˘/··· |
| In this street by a little business.-- | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| To be quite alone imports me.-- | 8 | ···˘/˘/· |
| Wherefore first by killing you | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| I'll be free to kill another | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Draw, then, draw your sword or not, | 7 | ······· |
| Thus the needful path I shorten | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| To two acts of vengeance. Heavens! | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| I but strike the air, cut nothing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Sever nothing else. Quick! Paul, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Stop him as he stalks off yonder, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Near to you. | 3 | ··· |
| PAUL. I'm bad at stopping. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| LUIS. Then your footsteps I will follow | 10 | ˘/··/···/˘ |
| Everywhere, until I learn | 7 | /˘····· |
| Who you are. [Aside.] (In vain his body | 10 | ···˘/···/˘ |
| Do I strive to pierce. Oh, heavens! | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Lightnings flash from off my sword here; | 8 | /˘······ |
| But in no way can I touch him, | 8 | ········ |
| As if sword and arm were shortened.) | 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.