Act the Third: Scene III
PAUL [aside]. God be with you both! But scarceHas one vanished, when anotherComes to haunt me. Why, I'm temptedBy strange phantoms and hobgoblinsLike another San Antonio:--In this doorway I'll ensconce me,Till my friend here kindly passes.
PHILIP. Love, ambitious, bold, deep-plotted,With the favours of a kingdomMe thou mak'st a prosperous lover.To the desert fled Polonia,Where, mid savage rocks and forests,Citizen of mighty mountains,Islander of lonely grottoes,She doth dwell, to Lesbia leavingCrown and kingdom; through a strongerGreed than love I Lesbia court,--For a queen is worth my homage.From her trellis I have come,From a sweet and pleasant converse.But, what's this? Each night I stumbleOn a man here at my doorstep.Who is there?
PAUL [aside]. To me he's coming.Why on earth should every goblinPounce on me?
PHILIP. Sir, Caballero.
PAUL. These are names I don't acknowledge;He can't speak to ME.
PHILIP. This houseIs my home.
PAUL. Which I don't covet;May you for an age enjoy it,Without billets.
PHILIP. If importantBusiness in this street detains you(Not a word whereon I offer),Give me room that I may pass.
PAUL [aside]. Somewhat timid, though quite proper,Goblins can be cowards too.--Yes, sir, for a certain officeI am here; go in, and welcome;I no gentleman would stop hereBound for bed, nor is it right.
PHILIP. The condition I acknowledge.--Well, fine spectres, to be sure,Haunt this street: each night I noticeThat a man here comes before me,But when I approach him softly,Hereabouts on my own threshold,I, as now, have always lost him.But what matters this to me?
PAUL. As he's gone, the right and properThing is this:-- Stay, stay, cold shadow,Whether you're a ghost or ghostess,I can't reach it. Why, by heaven!Air alone I cut and chop here.But if this is he we wait forIn the night-time like two blockheadsFaith! he is a lucky fellowTo have got to bed so promptly.But another noise I hearSounding from that dark street yonder.'Tis of swords and angry voices:--There I run to reconnoitre.
Words in this poem 16
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- doorway n.
- The passage of a door; entrance way into a house or a room.
- ensconce v. t.
- To cover or shelter, as with a sconce or fort; to place or hide securely; to conceal.
- islander n.
- An inhabitant of an island.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- doorstep n.
- The stone or plank forming a step before an outer door.
- pounce n.
- A fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, -- formerly used to prevent ink from spreading on manuscript. [F. ponce pumice, pounce, fr. L. pumex, -icis, pumice. See Pumice.]
- caballero n.
- A knight or cavalier; hence, a gentleman.
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- hereabouts adv.
- About this place; in this vicinity.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- promptly adv.
- In a prompt manner.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- reconnoitre v. t.
- To examine with the eye to make a preliminary examination or survey of; esp., to survey with a view to military or engineering operations. [F. reconnoitre, a former spelling of reconnaître. See Recognize.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act the Third: Scene III 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 III, 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-iii.html, id L26690.
Form and metre
Act the Third: Scene III is 65 lines in 11 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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.
- 7 AA- covetA · itA · billets
- 10 ---A---A acknowledge · sure · notice · meA · softly · threshold · him · meA
- 11 ----A----A--- proper · shadow · ghostess · heaven · hereA · for · blockheads · fellow · promptly · hearA · yonder · voices · reconnoitre
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]. God be with you both! But scarce | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| Has one vanished, when another | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Comes to haunt me. Why, I'm tempted | 8 | ······/˘ |
| By strange phantoms and hobgoblins | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Like another San Antonio:-- | 9 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| In this doorway I'll ensconce me, | 8 | ··/··˘/· |
| Till my friend here kindly passes. | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| PHILIP. Love, ambitious, bold, deep-plotted, | 10 | /˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| With the favours of a kingdom | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Me thou mak'st a prosperous lover. | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| To the desert fled Polonia, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Where, mid savage rocks and forests, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Citizen of mighty mountains, | 8 | /˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| Islander of lonely grottoes, | 8 | /˘˘·/˘/· |
| She doth dwell, to Lesbia leaving | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Crown and kingdom; through a stronger | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Greed than love I Lesbia court,-- | 7 | ······· |
| For a queen is worth my homage. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| From her trellis I have come, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| From a sweet and pleasant converse. | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| But, what's this? Each night I stumble | 8 | ······/˘ |
| On a man here at my doorstep. | 8 | ······/· |
| Who is there? | 3 | ··· |
| PAUL [aside]. To me he's coming. | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| Why on earth should every goblin | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Pounce on me? | 3 | ··· |
| PHILIP. Sir, Caballero. | 7 | /˘··˘/˘ |
| PAUL. These are names I don't acknowledge; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| He can't speak to ME. | 5 | ····· |
| PHILIP. This house | 4 | /˘·· |
| Is my home. | 3 | ··· |
| PAUL. Which I don't covet; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| May you for an age enjoy it, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Without billets. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| PHILIP. If important | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| Business in this street detains you | 8 | /˘···˘/· |
| (Not a word whereon I offer), | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| Give me room that I may pass. | 7 | ······· |
| PAUL [aside]. Somewhat timid, though quite proper, | 11 | ·˘////˘··/˘ |
| Goblins can be cowards too.-- | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Yes, sir, for a certain office | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| I am here; go in, and welcome; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| I no gentleman would stop here | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Bound for bed, nor is it right. | 7 | ······· |
| PHILIP. The condition I acknowledge.-- | 10 | /˘·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Well, fine spectres, to be sure, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Haunt this street: each night I notice | 8 | ······/˘ |
| That a man here comes before me, | 8 | ········ |
| But when I approach him softly, | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| Hereabouts on my own threshold, | 8 | /˘····/· |
| I, as now, have always lost him. | 8 | ····/··· |
| But what matters this to me? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| PAUL. As he's gone, the right and proper | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Thing is this:-- Stay, stay, cold shadow, | 8 | ······/· |
| Whether you're a ghost or ghostess, | 8 | ········ |
| I can't reach it. Why, by heaven! | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Air alone I cut and chop here. | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| But if this is he we wait for | 8 | ········ |
| In the night-time like two blockheads | 8 | ······/· |
| Faith! he is a lucky fellow | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| To have got to bed so promptly. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But another noise I hear | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Sounding from that dark street yonder. | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| 'Tis of swords and angry voices:-- | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| There I run to reconnoitre. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
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