Phormio: Act the Second: Scene IV
ANT. (to himself). Indeed, indeed, my Antipho,You're much to blame, to be so poor in spirit.What! steal away so guilty-like! and trustYour life and safety to the care of others!Would they be touch'd more nearly than yourself?Come what come might of ev'ry thing beside,Could you abandon the dear maid at home?Could you so far deceive her easy faith,And leave her to misfortune and distress?Her, who plac'd all her hopes in you alone?
GETA (coming forward). I' faith, Sir, we have thought you muchto blameFor your long absence.----
ANT. You're the very manThat I was looking for.
GETA. --But ne'erthelessWe've miss'd no opportunity.
ANT. Oh, speak!How go my fortunes, Geta? has my fatherAny suspicion that I was in leagueWith Phormio?ANT. And may I hope?
GETA. I don't know.
GETA. Unless that PhaedriaDid all he could do for you.----ANT. Nothing new.
GETA. --And Phormio has on all occasions else.Prov'd himself a brave fellow.
ANT. What did he?
GETA. Out-swagger'd your hot father.
ANT. Well said, Phormio!
GETA. --I did the best I could too.
ANT. Honest Geta,I am much bounden to you all.
GETA. Thus, Sir,Stand things at present. As yet all is calm.Your father means to wait your uncle's coming.
GETA. For his advice, as he propos'd;By which he will be rul'd in this affair.
ANT. How do I dread my uncle's coming, Geta.Since by his sentence I must live or die!GETA. But here comes Phaedria.
GETA. From his old school. (They retire.)
Words in this poem
- bounden a.
- Bound; fastened by bonds. [Old. p. p. of bind.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Phormio: Act the Second: 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 Second: Scene IV, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/phormio-act-the-second-scene-iv.html, id L25896.
Form and metre
Phormio: Act the Second: Scene IV is 43 lines in 17 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.
- 7 -AA phaedria · youA · newA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ANT. (to himself). Indeed, indeed, my Antipho, | 12 | ··˘/˘/˘/···· |
| You're much to blame, to be so poor in spirit. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| What! steal away so guilty-like! and trust | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Your life and safety to the care of others! | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Would they be touch'd more nearly than yourself? | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Come what come might of ev'ry thing beside, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Could you abandon the dear maid at home? | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Could you so far deceive her easy faith, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| And leave her to misfortune and distress? | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Her, who plac'd all her hopes in you alone? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| GETA (coming forward). I' faith, Sir, we have thought you much | 14 | ··/˘/˘········ |
| to blame | 2 | ·· |
| For your long absence.---- | 5 | ···/˘ |
| ANT. You're the very man | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That I was looking for. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| GETA. --But ne'ertheless | 6 | ······ |
| We've miss'd no opportunity. | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| ANT. Oh, speak! | 3 | ··· |
| How go my fortunes, Geta? has my father | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Any suspicion that I was in league | 10 | /˘˘/˘····· |
| With Phormio? | 3 | ··· |
| ANT. And may I hope? | 5 | ····· |
| GETA. I don't know. | 5 | ····· |
| GETA. Unless that Phaedria | 7 | ······· |
| Did all he could do for you.---- | 7 | ······· |
| ANT. Nothing new. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| GETA. --And Phormio has on all occasions else. | 12 | ········˘/˘· |
| Prov'd himself a brave fellow. | 7 | ·˘/··/˘ |
| ANT. What did he? | 4 | ···· |
| GETA. Out-swagger'd your hot father. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| ANT. Well said, Phormio! | 5 | ····· |
| GETA. --I did the best I could too. | 9 | ········· |
| ANT. Honest Geta, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| I am much bounden to you all. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| GETA. Thus, Sir, | 4 | ···· |
| Stand things at present. As yet all is calm. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Your father means to wait your uncle's coming. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| GETA. For his advice, as he propos'd; | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| By which he will be rul'd in this affair. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| ANT. How do I dread my uncle's coming, Geta. | 12 | ······/˘/˘·· |
| Since by his sentence I must live or die! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| GETA. But here comes Phaedria. | 7 | ······· |
| GETA. From his old school. (They retire.) | 9 | ·······˘/ |
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.