ain essentially Spanish; and this intensely local quality
has probably lessened the vogue of Calderon in other countries. In the
construction and conduct of his plots he showed great skill, yet the
ingenuity expended in the management of the story did not restrain the
fiery emotion and opulent imagination which mark his finest speeches
and give them a lyric quality which some critics regard as his greatest
distinction.

Of all Calderon's works, "Life is a Dream" may be regarded as the most
universal in its theme. It seeks to teach a lesson that may be learned
from the philosophers and religious thinkers of many ages--that the
world of our senses is a mere shadow, and that the only reality is to be
found in the invisible and eternal. The story which forms its basis
is Oriental in origin, and in the form of the legend of "Barlaam and
Josaphat" was familiar in all the literatures of the Middle Ages.
Combined with this in the plot is the tale of Abou Hassan from the
"Arabian Nights," the main situations in which are turned to farcical
purposes in the Induction to the Shakespearean "Taming of the Shrew."
But with Calderon the theme is lifted altogether out of the atmosphere
of comedy, and is worked up with poetic sentiment and a touch of
mysticism into a symbolic drama of profound and universal philosophical
significance.

LIFE IS A DREAM

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Basilio King of Poland.
Segismund his Son.
Astolfo his Nephew.
Estrella his Niece.
Clotaldo a General in Basilio's Service.
Rosaura a Muscovite Lady.
Fife her Attendant.

Chamberlain, Lords in Waiting, Officers,
Soldiers, etc., in Basilio's Service.

The Scene of the first and third Acts lies on the Polish frontier: of
the second Act, in Warsaw.

As this version of Calderon's drama is not for acting, a higher and
wider mountain-scene than practicable may be imagined for Rosaura's
descent in the first Act and the soldiers' ascent in the last. The bad
watch kept by the sentinels who guarded their state-prisoner, together
with much else (not all!) that defies sober sense in this wild drama, I
must leave Calderon to answer for; whose audience were not critical of
detail and probability, so long as a good story, with strong, rapid, and
picturesque action and situation, was set before them.

ACT I

SCENE I--A pass of rocks,