Phormio: Act the Fourth: Scene I
DEM. 'Tis our own fault that we encourage rogues,By overstraining the due characterOf honesty and generosity."Shoot not beyond the mark," the proverb goes.Was't not enough that he had done us wrong,But we must also throw him money too,To live till he devises some new mischief?DEM. Knavery's now its own reward.
DEM. How like fools have we behav'd!
GETA. So as he keeps his word, and takes the girl,'Tis well enough.DEM. Is that a doubt at present?
GETA. A man, you know, may change his mind.
DEM. How! change?
GETA. That I can't tell: but, if perhaps, I say.
DEM. I'll now perform my promise to my brother,And bring his wife to talk to the young woman.You, Geta, go before, and let her knowNausistrata will come and speak with her. (Exit DEMIPHO.
Words in this poem
- generosity n.
- Noble birth. Harris (Voyages). [L. generositas: cf. F. générosité.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Phormio: Act the Fourth: Scene I 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 Fourth: Scene I, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/phormio-act-the-fourth-scene-i.html, id L25905.
Form and metre
Phormio: Act the Fourth: Scene I is 19 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| DEM. 'Tis our own fault that we encourage rogues, | 11 | ··/····˘/˘· |
| By overstraining the due character | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Of honesty and generosity. | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘˘ |
| "Shoot not beyond the mark," the proverb goes. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Was't not enough that he had done us wrong, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| But we must also throw him money too, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To live till he devises some new mischief? | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| DEM. Knavery's now its own reward. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| DEM. How like fools have we behav'd! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| GETA. So as he keeps his word, and takes the girl, | 12 | ············ |
| 'Tis well enough. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| DEM. Is that a doubt at present? | 8 | ······/˘ |
| GETA. A man, you know, may change his mind. | 10 | ·········· |
| DEM. How! change? | 3 | ··· |
| GETA. That I can't tell: but, if perhaps, I say. | 12 | ········˘/·· |
| DEM. I'll now perform my promise to my brother, | 12 | ···˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| And bring his wife to talk to the young woman. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| You, Geta, go before, and let her know | 10 | ·········· |
| Nausistrata will come and speak with her. (Exit DEMIPHO. | 15 | ··········/˘··· |
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