Phormio: Act the Third: Scene IV
ANT. Well,Is that sufficient, think ye?
GETA. I can't tell.'Twas all my orders.GETA. Plague! what d'ye mean?
ANT. What do I mean, Sirrah!You've driven me to absolute perdition.All pow'rs of heav'n and hell confound you for't,And make you an example to all villains!--Here! would you have your business duly manag'd,Commit it to this fellow!--What could beMore tender than to touch upon this sore,Or even name my wife? my father's fill'dWith hopes that she may be dismiss'd.--And then,If Phormio gets the money for the portion,He, to be sure, must marry her.--And whatBecomes of me then?
GETA. He'll not marry her.
ANT. Oh, no: but when they redemand the money,On my account he'll rather go to jail! (Ironically.)
GETA. Many a tale is spoiled in telling, Antipho.You take out all the good, and leave the bad.--Now hear the other side--If he receivesThe money, he must wed the girl: I grant it.But then some little time must be allow'dFor wedding-preparation, invitation,And sacrifices.--Meanwhile, Phaedria's friendsAdvance the money they have promis'd him:Which Phormio shall make use of for repayment.ANT. How so? what reason can he give?
GETA. What reason?A thousand.--"Since I made this fatal bargain,Omens and prodigies have happen'd to me.There came a strange black dog into my house!A snake fell through the tiling! a hen crow'd!The Soothsayer forbade it! The DivinerCharg'd me to enter on no new affairBefore the winter."--All sufficient reasons.Thus it shall be.
ANT. Pray Heav'n it may be!
GETA. It shall.Depend on me:--But here's your father.--Go;Tell Phaedria that the money's safe. (Exit ANTIPHO.
Words in this poem
- perdition n.
- Entire loss; utter destruction; ruin; esp., the utter loss of the soul, or of final happiness in a future state; future misery or eternal death. [F., fr. L. perditio, fr. perdere, perditum, to ruin, to lose; per (cf. Skr. para away) + -dere (only in comp.) to put; akin to Gr. do. See Do.]
- redemand v. t.
- To demand back; to demand again. [Pref. re- back, again + demand: cf. F. redemander.]
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- 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,]
- tiling n.
- A surface covered with tiles, or composed of tiles.
- soothsayer n.
- One who foretells events by the art of soothsaying; a prognosticator.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Phormio: Act the Third: 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 Third: Scene IV, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/phormio-act-the-third-scene-iv.html, id L25902.
Form and metre
Phormio: Act the Third: Scene IV is 43 lines in 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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.
- 3 --------AA-A sirrah · perdition · for't · villains · manag'd · be · sore · fill'd · thenA · portionA · what · thenA
- 7 --A-----A reason · bargain · meA · house · crow'd · diviner · affair · reasons · beA
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. Well, | 2 | ·· |
| Is that sufficient, think ye? | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| GETA. I can't tell. | 5 | ····· |
| 'Twas all my orders. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| GETA. Plague! what d'ye mean? | 6 | ······ |
| ANT. What do I mean, Sirrah! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| You've driven me to absolute perdition. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| All pow'rs of heav'n and hell confound you for't, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And make you an example to all villains! | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| --Here! would you have your business duly manag'd, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Commit it to this fellow!--What could be | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| More tender than to touch upon this sore, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Or even name my wife? my father's fill'd | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| With hopes that she may be dismiss'd.--And then, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| If Phormio gets the money for the portion, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| He, to be sure, must marry her.--And what | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Becomes of me then? | 5 | ˘/··· |
| GETA. He'll not marry her. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| ANT. Oh, no: but when they redemand the money, | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| On my account he'll rather go to jail! (Ironically.) | 13 | ··˘/·/˘···˘/˘ |
| GETA. Many a tale is spoiled in telling, Antipho. | 13 | ··/·····/˘··· |
| You take out all the good, and leave the bad. | 10 | ·········· |
| --Now hear the other side--If he receives | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The money, he must wed the girl: I grant it. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| But then some little time must be allow'd | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| For wedding-preparation, invitation, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And sacrifices.--Meanwhile, Phaedria's friends | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Advance the money they have promis'd him: | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Which Phormio shall make use of for repayment. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| ANT. How so? what reason can he give? | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| GETA. What reason? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| A thousand.--"Since I made this fatal bargain, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Omens and prodigies have happen'd to me. | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| There came a strange black dog into my house! | 10 | ·········· |
| A snake fell through the tiling! a hen crow'd! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The Soothsayer forbade it! The Diviner | 11 | ··/˘˘/··˘/˘ |
| Charg'd me to enter on no new affair | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Before the winter."--All sufficient reasons. | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Thus it shall be. | 4 | ···· |
| ANT. Pray Heav'n it may be! | 6 | ······ |
| GETA. It shall. | 4 | ···· |
| Depend on me:--But here's your father.--Go; | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Tell Phaedria that the money's safe. (Exit ANTIPHO. | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
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