Act I: Scene II
CLEANTE.I won't escort her down,For fear she might fall foul of me again;The good old lady ...
DORINE.Bless us! What a pityShe shouldn't hear the way you speak of her!She'd surely tell you you're too "good" by half,And that she's not so "old" as all that, neither!
CLEANTE.How she got angry with us all for nothing!And how she seems possessed with her Tartuffe!
DORINE.Her case is nothing, though, beside her son's!To see him, you would say he's ten times worse!His conduct in our late unpleasantnessHad won him much esteem, and proved his courageIn service of his king; but now he's likeA man besotted, since he's been so takenWith this Tartuffe. He calls him brother, loves himA hundred times as much as mother, son,Daughter, and wife. He tells him all his secretsAnd lets him guide his acts, and rule his conscience.He fondles and embraces him; a sweetheartCould not, I think, be loved more tenderly;At table he must have the seat of honour,While with delight our master sees him eatAs much as six men could; we must give upThe choicest tidbits to him; if he belches,Master exclaims: "God bless you!"--Oh, he dotesUpon him! he's his universe, his hero;He's lost in constant admiration, quotes himOn all occasions, takes his trifling actsFor wonders, and his words for oracles.The fellow knows his dupe, and makes the most on't,He fools him with a hundred masks of virtue,Gets money from him all the time by canting,And takes upon himself to carp at us.Even his silly coxcomb of a lackeyMakes it his business to instruct us too;He comes with rolling eyes to preach at us,And throws away our ribbons, rouge, and patches.The wretch, the other day, tore up a kerchiefThat he had found, pressed in the Golden Legend,Calling it a horrid crime for us to mingleThe devil's finery with holy things.
Words in this poem
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- tartuffe n.
- A hypocritical devotee. See the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction. [F. tartufe.]
- besotted a.
- Made sottish, senseless, or infatuated; characterized by drunken stupidity, or by infatuation; stupefied.
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- admiration n.
- Wonder; astonishment. [F., fr. L. admiratio. See Admire.]
- canting a.
- Speaking in a whining tone of voice; using technical or religious terms affectedly; affectedly pious; as, a canting rogue; a canting tone. - Cant"ing*ly, adv.
- lackey n.
- An attending male servant; a footman; a servile follower. [F. laquais; cf. Sp. & Pg. lacayo; of uncertain origin; perh. of German origin, and akin to E.lick, v.]
- instruct a.
- Arranged; furnished; provided. [L. instructus, p. p. of instruere to furnish, provide, construct, instruct; pref. in- in, struere. See Structure.]
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- finery n.
- Fineness; beauty.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act I: Scene II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite, Project Gutenberg ebook #2027, the Curtis Hidden Page 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: Molière, Act I: Scene II, in Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite (1908), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2027, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/moliere-tartuffe/act-i-scene-ii.html, id L26922.
Form and metre
Act I: Scene II is 46 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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.
- 4 --AA--B-B------------------------- dorine · son's · worseA · unpleasantnessA · courage · like · takenB · him · sonB · secrets · conscience · sweetheart · tenderly · honour · eat · up · belches · dotes · hero · him · acts · oracles · on't · virtue · canting · us · lackey · too · us · patches · kerchief · legend · mingle · things
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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| CLEANTE. | 1 | · |
| I won't escort her down, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| For fear she might fall foul of me again; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The good old lady ... | 5 | ···/˘ |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Bless us! What a pity | 6 | ····/˘ |
| She shouldn't hear the way you speak of her! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| She'd surely tell you you're too "good" by half, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And that she's not so "old" as all that, neither! | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| CLEANTE. | 1 | · |
| How she got angry with us all for nothing! | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| And how she seems possessed with her Tartuffe! | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Her case is nothing, though, beside her son's! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| To see him, you would say he's ten times worse! | 10 | ·········· |
| His conduct in our late unpleasantness | 11 | ·˘/·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Had won him much esteem, and proved his courage | 11 | ····˘/···/˘ |
| In service of his king; but now he's like | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A man besotted, since he's been so taken | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| With this Tartuffe. He calls him brother, loves him | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| A hundred times as much as mother, son, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Daughter, and wife. He tells him all his secrets | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| And lets him guide his acts, and rule his conscience. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| He fondles and embraces him; a sweetheart | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/· |
| Could not, I think, be loved more tenderly; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| At table he must have the seat of honour, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| While with delight our master sees him eat | 10 | ··˘///˘··· |
| As much as six men could; we must give up | 10 | ·········· |
| The choicest tidbits to him; if he belches, | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| Master exclaims: "God bless you!"--Oh, he dotes | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| Upon him! he's his universe, his hero; | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| He's lost in constant admiration, quotes him | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘·· |
| On all occasions, takes his trifling acts | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| For wonders, and his words for oracles. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| The fellow knows his dupe, and makes the most on't, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| He fools him with a hundred masks of virtue, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Gets money from him all the time by canting, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| And takes upon himself to carp at us. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Even his silly coxcomb of a lackey | 11 | /˘·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Makes it his business to instruct us too; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| He comes with rolling eyes to preach at us, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And throws away our ribbons, rouge, and patches. | 11 | ··˘///˘··/˘ |
| The wretch, the other day, tore up a kerchief | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| That he had found, pressed in the Golden Legend, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Calling it a horrid crime for us to mingle | 12 | /˘··/˘····/˘ |
| The devil's finery with holy things. | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
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.