Phormio: Act the First: Scene IV
GETA. Confusion!A quick thought, Geta, or you're quite undone,So many evils take you unprepar'd;Which I know neither how to shun nor howTo extricate myself: for this bold strokeOf ours can't long be hid.ANT. What's this confusion?
GETA. Then I have scarce a moment's time to think.My master is arriv'd.
ANT. What mischief's that?
GETA. Who, when he shall have heard it, by what artShall I appease his anger?--Shall I speak?'Twill irritate him.--Hold my peace?--enrage him.----Defend myself?--impossible?--Oh, wretch!Now for myself in pain, now AntiphoDistracts my mind.--But him I pity most;For him I fear; 'tis he retains me here:For, were it not for him, I'd soon provideFor my own safety--aye, and be reveng'dOn the old graybeard--carry something off,And show my master a light pair of heels.ANT. What scheme to rob and run away is this?
GETA. But where shall I find Antipho? where seek him?
PHAED. He mentions you.
ANT. I know not what, but doubtThat he's the messenger of some ill news.PHAED. Have you your wits?
GETA. I'll home: he's chiefly there.
PHAED. Let's call him back!
ANT. Holloa, you! stop!
GETA. Heyday!Authority enough, be who you will.
ANT. Tell us, what news?--in one word, if you can.
ANT. What shall I do?
PHAED. What say you? (To GETA.)
GETA. That I've seenHis father, Sir,--your uncle.
ANT. How shall I,Wretch that I am! oppose this sudden evil!Should I be so unhappy to be tornFrom thee, my Phanium, life's not worth my care.
GETA. Since that's the case then, Antipho, you oughtTo be the more upon your guard.
ANT. Alas!I'm not myself.
GETA. But now you should be most so, Antipho.For if your father should discern your fear,He'll think you conscious of a fault.PHAED. That's true.
ANT. I can not help it, nor seem otherwise.
GETA. How would you manage in worse difficulties?
ANT. Since I'm not equal to bear this, to thoseI should be more unequal.
GETA. This is nothing.Pooh, Phaedria, let him go! why waste our time?I will be gone. (Going.)PHAED. And I. (Going.)
ANT. Nay, prithee, stay!What if I should dissemble?--Will that do?
GETA. Ridiculous!
ANT. Nay, look at me! will thatSuffice?
GETA. Aye! now you've hit it. Do but stick to that;Answer him boldly; give him hit for dash,Nor let him bear you down with angry words.
ANT. I understand you.
GETA. "Forc'd"--"against your will"----"By law"--"by sentence of the court"--d'ye take me?--But what old gentleman is that I seeAt t'other end o' th' street?
ANT. 'Tis he himself.I dare not face him. (Going.)
GETA. Ah! what is't you do?Where d'ye run, Antipho! stay, stay, I say.
ANT. I know myself and my offense too well:To you, then, I commend my life and love. (Exit.
HarperAt t'other end o' th' street?ANT. 'Tis he himself.Colman 1768Turning the corner of the street?
Words in this poem
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- 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,]
- heyday interj.
- An expression of frolic and exultation, and sometimes of wonder. B. Jonson. [Cf. G. heida, or hei da, D. hei daar. Cf. Hey, and There.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- pooh interj.
- Pshaw! pish! nonsense! -- an expression of scorn, dislike, or contempt. [Of. imitative origin; cf. Icel. pu.]
- prithee interj.
- A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used without I.
- dissemble v. t.
- To hide under a false semblance or seeming; to feign (something) not to be what it really is; to put an untrue appearance upon; to disguise; to mask. [OF. dissembler to be dissimilar; pref. dis- (L. dis-) + F. sembler to seem, L. simulare to simulate; cf. L. dissimulare to dissemble. See Simulate, and cf. Diss]
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- harper n.
- A player on the harp; a minstrel. [AS. hearpere.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Phormio: Act the First: Scene IV is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Comedies of Terence, Project Gutenberg ebook #22695; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Terence, Phormio: Act the First: Scene IV, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/phormio-act-the-first-scene-iv.html, id L25889.
Form and metre
Phormio: Act the First: Scene IV is 81 lines in 33 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.
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.
- 1 AA----A confusionA · undoneA · unprepar'd · how · stroke · hid · confusionA
- 23 --AA nothing · time · goingA · goingA
- 29 -AA- will · meA · seeA · street
- 33 -A--A harper · streetA · himself · — · streetA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GETA. Confusion! | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| A quick thought, Geta, or you're quite undone, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| So many evils take you unprepar'd; | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Which I know neither how to shun nor how | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To extricate myself: for this bold stroke | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Of ours can't long be hid. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| ANT. What's this confusion? | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| GETA. Then I have scarce a moment's time to think. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| My master is arriv'd. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| ANT. What mischief's that? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| GETA. Who, when he shall have heard it, by what art | 12 | ············ |
| Shall I appease his anger?--Shall I speak? | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| 'Twill irritate him.--Hold my peace?--enrage him.---- | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/· |
| Defend myself?--impossible?--Oh, wretch! | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Now for myself in pain, now Antipho | 10 | ···/······ |
| Distracts my mind.--But him I pity most; | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| For him I fear; 'tis he retains me here: | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| For, were it not for him, I'd soon provide | 10 | ········˘/ |
| For my own safety--aye, and be reveng'd | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| On the old graybeard--carry something off, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| And show my master a light pair of heels. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| ANT. What scheme to rob and run away is this? | 11 | ·······˘/·· |
| GETA. But where shall I find Antipho? where seek him? | 13 | ············· |
| PHAED. He mentions you. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| ANT. I know not what, but doubt | 7 | ······· |
| That he's the messenger of some ill news. | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| PHAED. Have you your wits? | 5 | ····· |
| GETA. I'll home: he's chiefly there. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| PHAED. Let's call him back! | 5 | ····· |
| ANT. Holloa, you! stop! | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| GETA. Heyday! | 4 | ··/· |
| Authority enough, be who you will. | 10 | ˘/˘˘˘/···· |
| ANT. Tell us, what news?--in one word, if you can. | 11 | ··········· |
| ANT. What shall I do? | 5 | ····· |
| PHAED. What say you? (To GETA.) | 7 | ······· |
| GETA. That I've seen | 5 | ····· |
| His father, Sir,--your uncle. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| ANT. How shall I, | 4 | ···· |
| Wretch that I am! oppose this sudden evil! | 11 | ····˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Should I be so unhappy to be torn | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| From thee, my Phanium, life's not worth my care. | 10 | ·········· |
| GETA. Since that's the case then, Antipho, you ought | 12 | ············ |
| To be the more upon your guard. | 8 | ········ |
| ANT. Alas! | 3 | ·˘/ |
| I'm not myself. | 4 | ···/ |
| GETA. But now you should be most so, Antipho. | 12 | ············ |
| For if your father should discern your fear, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| He'll think you conscious of a fault. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| PHAED. That's true. | 3 | ··· |
| ANT. I can not help it, nor seem otherwise. | 11 | ········/˘· |
| GETA. How would you manage in worse difficulties? | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| ANT. Since I'm not equal to bear this, to those | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| I should be more unequal. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| GETA. This is nothing. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Pooh, Phaedria, let him go! why waste our time? | 10 | ········/· |
| I will be gone. (Going.) | 6 | ····/˘ |
| PHAED. And I. (Going.) | 5 | ···/˘ |
| ANT. Nay, prithee, stay! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| What if I should dissemble?--Will that do? | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| GETA. Ridiculous! | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| ANT. Nay, look at me! will that | 7 | ······· |
| Suffice? | 2 | ˘/ |
| GETA. Aye! now you've hit it. Do but stick to that; | 12 | ············ |
| Answer him boldly; give him hit for dash, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Nor let him bear you down with angry words. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| ANT. I understand you. | 6 | ···˘/· |
| GETA. "Forc'd"--"against your will"---- | 7 | ······· |
| "By law"--"by sentence of the court"--d'ye take me? | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| --But what old gentleman is that I see | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| At t'other end o' th' street? | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| ANT. 'Tis he himself. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| I dare not face him. (Going.) | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| GETA. Ah! what is't you do? | 7 | ······· |
| Where d'ye run, Antipho! stay, stay, I say. | 10 | ·········· |
| ANT. I know myself and my offense too well: | 11 | ····/··˘/·· |
| To you, then, I commend my life and love. (Exit. | 12 | ····˘/····/˘ |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| At t'other end o' th' street? | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| ANT. 'Tis he himself. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| Turning the corner of the street? | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
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.