Phormio: Act the Fourth: Scene IX
Well done, 'fore Heaven!I'm overjoy'd to see so much good fortuneFallen thus unexpectedly upon them:I've now an admirable opportunityTo bubble the old gentlemen, and easePhaedria of all his cares about the money;So that he need not be oblig'd to friends.For this same money, though it will be given,Will yet come from them much against the grain;But I have found a way to force them to't.--Now then I must assume a grander air,And put another face upon this business.--I'll hence a while into the next by-alley,And pop upon them as they're coming forth.--As for the trip I talk'd of to the fair,I sha'n't pretend to take that journey now. (Exit.
Words in this poem
- admirable a.
- Fitted to excite wonder; wonderful; marvelous. [L. admirabilis: cf. F. admirable.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Phormio: Act the Fourth: Scene IX 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 IX, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/phormio-act-the-fourth-scene-ix.html, id L25913.
Form and metre
Phormio: Act the Fourth: Scene IX is 16 lines in a single stanza. 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.
- 1 -------AA-B---B- heaven · fortune · them · opportunity · ease · money · friends · givenA · grainA · to't · airB · business · alley · forth · fairB · exit
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Well done, 'fore Heaven! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| I'm overjoy'd to see so much good fortune | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| Fallen thus unexpectedly upon them: | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| I've now an admirable opportunity | 11 | ···/˘˘·˘/˘˘ |
| To bubble the old gentlemen, and ease | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Phaedria of all his cares about the money; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| So that he need not be oblig'd to friends. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| For this same money, though it will be given, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Will yet come from them much against the grain; | 10 | ·········· |
| But I have found a way to force them to't. | 10 | ·········· |
| --Now then I must assume a grander air, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| And put another face upon this business. | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| --I'll hence a while into the next by-alley, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And pop upon them as they're coming forth. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| --As for the trip I talk'd of to the fair, | 10 | ·········· |
| I sha'n't pretend to take that journey now. (Exit. | 12 | ··˘/···/˘·/˘ |
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.