Act III: Scene IV
DAMIS (coming out of the closet-room where he had been hiding)No, I say! This thing must be made public.I was just there, and overheard it all;And Heaven's goodness must have brought me thereOn purpose to confound this scoundrel's prideAnd grant me means to take a signal vengeanceOn his hypocrisy and arrogance,And undeceive my father, showing upThe rascal caught at making love to you.
ELMIRE.No, no; it is enough if he reforms,Endeavouring to deserve the favour shown him.And since I've promised, do not you belie me.'Tis not my way to make a public scandal;An honest wife will scorn to heed such follies,And never fret her husband's ears with them.
DAMIS.You've reasons of your own for acting thus;And I have mine for doing otherwise.To spare him now would be a mockery;His bigot's pride has triumphed all too longOver my righteous anger, and has causedFar too much trouble in our family.The rascal all too long has ruled my father,And crossed my sister's love, and mine as well.The traitor now must be unmasked before him:And Providence has given me means to do it.To Heaven I owe the opportunity,And if I did not use it now I have it,I should deserve to lose it once for all.
ELMIRE.Damis ...
DAMIS.No, by your leave; I'll not be counselled.I'm overjoyed. You needn't try to tell meI must give up the pleasure of revenge.I'll make an end of this affair at once;And, to content me, here's my father now.
Words in this poem
- undeceive v. t.
- To cause to be no longer deceived; to free from deception, fraud, fallacy, or mistake. South. [1st pref. un- + deceive.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- belie v. t.
- To show to be false; to convict of, or charge with, falsehood. [OE. bilien, bili, AS. beleógan; pref. be- + leógan to lie. See Lie, n.]
- scandal n.
- Offense caused or experienced; reproach or reprobation called forth by what is regarded as wrong, criminal, heinous, or flagrant: opprobrium or disgrace. [F. scandale, fr. L. scandalum, Gr. scandle, OF. escandle. See Slander.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act III: Scene IV 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 III: Scene IV, in Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite (1908), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2027, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/moliere-tartuffe/act-iii-scene-iv.html, id L26934.
Form and metre
Act III: Scene IV is 38 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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.
- 3 ----------A-A- damis · thus · otherwise · mockery · long · caused · family · father · well · him · itA · opportunity · itA · all
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 |
|---|---|---|
| DAMIS (coming out of the closet-room where he had been hiding) | 16 | ··/˘···/˘·····/˘ |
| No, I say! This thing must be made public. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| I was just there, and overheard it all; | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| And Heaven's goodness must have brought me there | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| On purpose to confound this scoundrel's pride | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| And grant me means to take a signal vengeance | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| On his hypocrisy and arrogance, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| And undeceive my father, showing up | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The rascal caught at making love to you. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| ELMIRE. | 2 | ·· |
| No, no; it is enough if he reforms, | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Endeavouring to deserve the favour shown him. | 11 | ˘/˘·˘/·/˘·· |
| And since I've promised, do not you belie me. | 11 | ···/˘···˘/· |
| 'Tis not my way to make a public scandal; | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| An honest wife will scorn to heed such follies, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| And never fret her husband's ears with them. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| You've reasons of your own for acting thus; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And I have mine for doing otherwise. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| To spare him now would be a mockery; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| His bigot's pride has triumphed all too long | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Over my righteous anger, and has caused | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Far too much trouble in our family. | 11 | ···/˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| The rascal all too long has ruled my father, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| And crossed my sister's love, and mine as well. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The traitor now must be unmasked before him: | 11 | ·/˘···˘/··· |
| And Providence has given me means to do it. | 10 | ·/˘·/····· |
| To Heaven I owe the opportunity, | 11 | ·/˘····˘/˘˘ |
| And if I did not use it now I have it, | 11 | ··········· |
| I should deserve to lose it once for all. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| ELMIRE. | 2 | ·· |
| Damis ... | 2 | ·· |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| No, by your leave; I'll not be counselled. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| I'm overjoyed. You needn't try to tell me | 11 | ··˘/·/˘···· |
| I must give up the pleasure of revenge. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| I'll make an end of this affair at once; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And, to content me, here's my father now. | 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.