Act IV: Scene IV
ELMIRE.Bring up this table, and get under it.
ORGON.What?
ELMIRE.One essential is to hide you well.
ORGON.Why under there?
ELMIRE.Oh, dear! Do as I say;I know what I'm about, as you shall see.Get under, now, I tell you; and once thereBe careful no one either sees or hears you.
ORGON.I'm going a long way to humour you,I must say; but I'll see you through your scheme.
ELMIRE.And then you'll have, I think, no more to say.
(To her husband, who is now under the table.)But mind, I'm going to meddle with strange matters;Prepare yourself to be in no wise shocked.Whatever I may say must pass, because'Tis only to convince you, as I promised.By wheedling speeches, since I'm forced to do it,I'll make this hypocrite put off his mask,Flatter the longings of his shameless passion,And give free play to all his impudence.But, since 'tis for your sake, to prove to youHis guilt, that I shall feign to share his love,I can leave off as soon as you're convinced,And things shall go no farther than you choose.So, when you think they've gone quite far enough,It is for you to stop his mad pursuit,To spare your wife, and not expose me fartherThan you shall need, yourself, to undeceive you.It is your own affair, and you must end itWhen ... Here he comes. Keep still, don't show yourself.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
- meddle v. i.
- To mix; to mingle. [OE. medlen to mix, OF. medler, mesler, F. mêler, LL. misculare, a dim. fr. L. miscere to mix. Mix, and cf. Medley, Mellay.]
- convince v. t.
- To overpower; to overcome; to subdue or master. [L. convincere, -victum, to refute, prove; con- + vincere to conquer. See Victor, and cf. Convict.]
- undeceive v. t.
- To cause to be no longer deceived; to free from deception, fraud, fallacy, or mistake. South. [1st pref. un- + deceive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act IV: 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 IV: Scene IV, in Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite (1908), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2027, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/moliere-tartuffe/act-iv-scene-iv.html, id L26941.
Form and metre
Act IV: Scene IV is 37 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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.
- 8 -A-A-B---C------CB- table · mattersA · shocked · becauseA · promised · itB · mask · passion · impudence · youC · love · convinced · choose · enough · pursuit · farther · youC · itB · yourself
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ELMIRE. | 2 | ·· |
| Bring up this table, and get under it. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| What? | 1 | · |
| ELMIRE. | 2 | ·· |
| One essential is to hide you well. | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Why under there? | 4 | ···· |
| ELMIRE. | 2 | ·· |
| Oh, dear! Do as I say; | 6 | ······ |
| I know what I'm about, as you shall see. | 10 | ·········· |
| Get under, now, I tell you; and once there | 10 | ·········· |
| Be careful no one either sees or hears you. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| I'm going a long way to humour you, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| I must say; but I'll see you through your scheme. | 10 | ·········· |
| ELMIRE. | 2 | ·· |
| And then you'll have, I think, no more to say. | 10 | ·········· |
| (To her husband, who is now under the table.) | 12 | ··/˘······/˘ |
| But mind, I'm going to meddle with strange matters; | 11 | ···/·/˘··/˘ |
| Prepare yourself to be in no wise shocked. | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| Whatever I may say must pass, because | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| 'Tis only to convince you, as I promised. | 11 | ·/˘·˘/···/˘ |
| By wheedling speeches, since I'm forced to do it, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| I'll make this hypocrite put off his mask, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Flatter the longings of his shameless passion, | 11 | /˘·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And give free play to all his impudence. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| But, since 'tis for your sake, to prove to you | 10 | ·········· |
| His guilt, that I shall feign to share his love, | 10 | ·········· |
| I can leave off as soon as you're convinced, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And things shall go no farther than you choose. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| So, when you think they've gone quite far enough, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| It is for you to stop his mad pursuit, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To spare your wife, and not expose me farther | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| Than you shall need, yourself, to undeceive you. | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| It is your own affair, and you must end it | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| When ... Here he comes. Keep still, don't show yourself. | 10 | ········˘/ |
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