Phormio: Act the Third: Scene II
GETA (to himself). I never saw a more shrewd rogue than Phormio.I came to let him know we wanted money,With my advice for getting it; and scarceHad I related half, but he conceiv'd me.He was o'erjoy'd; commended me; demandedTo meet with Demipho; and thank'd the god;That it was now the time to show himselfAs truly Phaedria's friend as Antipho's.I bade him wait us at the Forum; whitherI'd bring th' old gentleman.--And there he is!--But who's the furthermost? Ha! Phaedria's father.--Yet what was I afraid of, simpleton?That I have got two dupes instead of one?Is it not better that my hopes are doubled?--I'll attack him, I first propos'd. If heAnswers my expectation, well: if not,Why then have at you, uncle!
HarperWith my advice for getting it; and scarceColman 1768
Words in this poem
- shrewd a.
- Inclining to shrew; disposing to curse or scold; hence, vicious; malicious; evil; wicked; mischievous; vexatious; rough; unfair; shrewish. [Originally the p. p. of shrew, v.t.]
- 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]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- forum n.
- A market place or public place in Rome, where causes were judicially tried, and orations delivered to the people. [L.; akin to foris, foras, out of doors. See Foreign.]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- furthermost a.
- Most remote; furthest.
- 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 Third: Scene II 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 Third: Scene II, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/phormio-act-the-third-scene-ii.html, id L25900.
Form and metre
Phormio: Act the Third: Scene II is 20 lines in 2 stanzas. 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 ---ABB--------A-- phormio · money · scarce · meA · demandedB · godB · himself · antipho's · whither · is · father · simpleton · one · doubled · heA · not · uncle
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 (to himself). I never saw a more shrewd rogue than Phormio. | 15 | ···˘/·/········ |
| I came to let him know we wanted money, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| With my advice for getting it; and scarce | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Had I related half, but he conceiv'd me. | 11 | ··˘/˘···˘/· |
| He was o'erjoy'd; commended me; demanded | 11 | ····˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| To meet with Demipho; and thank'd the god; | 10 | ·········· |
| That it was now the time to show himself | 10 | ········˘/ |
| As truly Phaedria's friend as Antipho's. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I bade him wait us at the Forum; whither | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| I'd bring th' old gentleman.--And there he is! | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| --But who's the furthermost? Ha! Phaedria's father. | 11 | ···/˘˘···/˘ |
| --Yet what was I afraid of, simpleton? | 10 | ····˘/·/˘˘ |
| That I have got two dupes instead of one? | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Is it not better that my hopes are doubled? | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| --I'll attack him, I first propos'd. If he | 10 | ·˘/···˘/·· |
| Answers my expectation, well: if not, | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| Why then have at you, uncle! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| With my advice for getting it; and scarce | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
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.