Act I: Scene V
ORGON.Ah! Good morning, brother.
CLEANTE.I was just going, but am glad to greet you.Things are not far advanced yet, in the country?
ORGON.Dorine ...
(To Cleante)Just wait a bit, please, brother-in-law.Let me allay my first anxietyBy asking news about the family.
(To Dorine)Has everything gone well these last two days?What's happening? And how is everybody?
DORINE.Madam had fever, and a splitting headacheDay before yesterday, all day and evening.
ORGON.And how about Tartuffe?
DORINE.Tartuffe? He's well;He's mighty well; stout, fat, fair, rosy-lipped.
ORGON.Poor man!
DORINE.At evening she had nauseaAnd couldn't touch a single thing for supper,Her headache still was so severe.
ORGON.And howAbout Tartuffe?
DORINE.He supped alone, before her,And unctuously ate up two partridges,As well as half a leg o' mutton, deviled.
ORGON.Poor man!
DORINE.All night she couldn't get a winkOf sleep, the fever racked her so; and weHad to sit up with her till daylight.
ORGON.HowAbout Tartuffe?
DORINE.Gently inclined to slumber,He left the table, went into his room,Got himself straight into a good warm bed,And slept quite undisturbed until next morning.
ORGON.Poor man!
DORINE.At last she let us all persuade her,And got up courage to be bled; and thenShe was relieved at once.
ORGON.And how aboutTartuffe?
DORINE.He plucked up courage properly,Bravely entrenched his soul against all evils,And to replace the blood that she had lost,He drank at breakfast four huge draughts of wine.
ORGON.Poor man!
DORINE.So now they both are doing well;And I'll go straightway and inform my mistressHow pleased you are at her recovery.
Words in this poem
- tartuffe n.
- A hypocritical devotee. See the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction. [F. tartufe.]
- mutton n.
- A sheep. Chapman. [OE. motoun, OF. moton, molton, a sheep, wether, F. mouton, LL. multo, by transposition of l fr. L. mutilus mutilated. See Mutilate.]
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act I: Scene V 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 V, in Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite (1908), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2027, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/moliere-tartuffe/act-i-scene-v.html, id L26925.
Form and metre
Act I: Scene V is 69 lines in 22 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Ah! Good morning, brother. | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| CLEANTE. | 1 | · |
| I was just going, but am glad to greet you. | 10 | ···/······ |
| Things are not far advanced yet, in the country? | 11 | ····˘/···/˘ |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Dorine ... | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| (To Cleante) | 2 | ·· |
| Just wait a bit, please, brother-in-law. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Let me allay my first anxiety | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘˘ |
| By asking news about the family. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| (To Dorine) | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Has everything gone well these last two days? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| What's happening? And how is everybody? | 11 | ·/˘˘···/˘·˘ |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Madam had fever, and a splitting headache | 11 | /˘·/˘··/˘/· |
| Day before yesterday, all day and evening. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| And how about Tartuffe? | 6 | ······ |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Tartuffe? He's well; | 4 | ···· |
| He's mighty well; stout, fat, fair, rosy-lipped. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Poor man! | 2 | ·· |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| At evening she had nausea | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| And couldn't touch a single thing for supper, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Her headache still was so severe. | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| And how | 2 | ·· |
| About Tartuffe? | 4 | ···· |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| He supped alone, before her, | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| And unctuously ate up two partridges, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| As well as half a leg o' mutton, deviled. | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Poor man! | 2 | ·· |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| All night she couldn't get a wink | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of sleep, the fever racked her so; and we | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Had to sit up with her till daylight. | 9 | ·······/· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| How | 1 | · |
| About Tartuffe? | 4 | ···· |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Gently inclined to slumber, | 7 | /˘˘/·/˘ |
| He left the table, went into his room, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Got himself straight into a good warm bed, | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| And slept quite undisturbed until next morning. | 11 | ····˘/···/˘ |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Poor man! | 2 | ·· |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| At last she let us all persuade her, | 9 | ······˘/· |
| And got up courage to be bled; and then | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| She was relieved at once. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| And how about | 4 | ···· |
| Tartuffe? | 2 | ·· |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| He plucked up courage properly, | 9 | ··˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| Bravely entrenched his soul against all evils, | 11 | /˘˘/·····/˘ |
| And to replace the blood that she had lost, | 10 | ···/······ |
| He drank at breakfast four huge draughts of wine. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Poor man! | 2 | ·· |
| DORINE. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| So now they both are doing well; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And I'll go straightway and inform my mistress | 11 | ···/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| How pleased you are at her recovery. | 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.