The Andrian: Act the Fourth: Scene VI
MYSIS. Prithee, man, what now?Where are you carrying the child?
DAVUS. Oh, Mysis,Now have I need of all your ready wit,And all your cunning.MYSIS. What are you about?
MYSIS. What, on the bare ground?
DAVUS. From the altar thenTake herbs and strew them underneath.
MYSIS. And whyCan't you do that yourself?
DAVUS. Because, that ifMy master chance to put me to my oathThat 'twas not I who laid it there, I mayWith a safe conscience swear. (Gives her the child.)
MYSIS. I understand.But pray how came this sudden qualm upon you?
DAVUS. Nay, but be quick, that you may comprehendWhat I propose.-- (MYSIS lays the child at SIMO'S door.)Oh Jupiter! (Looking out.)
MYSIS. What now?
DAVUS. Here comes the father of the bride!--I changeMy first-intended purpose.
MYSIS. What you meanI can't imagine.
DAVUS. This way from the right,I'll counterfeit to come:--And be't your careTo throw in aptly now and then a word,To help out the discourse as need requires.
MYSIS. Still what you're at, I can not comprehend.But if I can assist, as you know best,Not to obstruct your purposes, I'll stay. (DAVUS retires.)
HarperDAVUS. Because, that ifMy master chance to put me to my oathThat 'twas not I who laid it there, I mayWith a safe conscience swear.MYSIS. I understand.Colman 1768DAVUS. Because, supposingThere should be need to swear to my old masterI did not lay the bantling there myselfI may with a safe conscience.
Words in this poem
- prithee interj.
- A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used without I.
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- qualm n.
- Sickness; disease; pestilence; death. [AS. cwealm death, slaughter, pestilence, akin to OS. & OHG. qualm. See Quail to cower.]
- propose v. i.
- To speak; to converse.
- aptly adv.
- In an apt or suitable manner; fitly; properly; pertinently; appropriately; readily.
- harper n.
- A player on the harp; a minstrel. [AS. hearpere.]
- bantling n.
- A young or small child; an infant. [Slightly contemptuous or depreciatory.] [Prob. for bandling, from band, and meaning a child wrapped in swaddling bands; or cf. G. bäntling a bastard, fr. bank bench. Cf. Bastard, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Andrian: Act the Fourth: Scene VI 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, The Andrian: Act the Fourth: Scene VI, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-andrian-act-the-fourth-scene-vi.html, id L25741.
Form and metre
The Andrian: Act the Fourth: Scene VI is 43 lines in 14 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.
- 11 AA meanA · imagineA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MYSIS. Prithee, man, what now? | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Where are you carrying the child? | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| DAVUS. Oh, Mysis, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Now have I need of all your ready wit, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And all your cunning. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| MYSIS. What are you about? | 7 | /˘····· |
| MYSIS. What, on the bare ground? | 7 | /˘····· |
| DAVUS. From the altar then | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Take herbs and strew them underneath. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| MYSIS. And why | 4 | /˘·· |
| Can't you do that yourself? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| DAVUS. Because, that if | 6 | ······ |
| My master chance to put me to my oath | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That 'twas not I who laid it there, I may | 10 | ·········· |
| With a safe conscience swear. (Gives her the child.) | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| MYSIS. I understand. | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| But pray how came this sudden qualm upon you? | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| DAVUS. Nay, but be quick, that you may comprehend | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| What I propose.-- (MYSIS lays the child at SIMO'S door.) | 13 | ··˘//˘····/˘· |
| Oh Jupiter! (Looking out.) | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| MYSIS. What now? | 4 | /˘·· |
| DAVUS. Here comes the father of the bride!--I change | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| My first-intended purpose. | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| MYSIS. What you mean | 5 | /˘··· |
| I can't imagine. | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| DAVUS. This way from the right, | 7 | ······· |
| I'll counterfeit to come:--And be't your care | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To throw in aptly now and then a word, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To help out the discourse as need requires. | 11 | ····/˘··˘/˘ |
| MYSIS. Still what you're at, I can not comprehend. | 12 | /˘········˘/ |
| But if I can assist, as you know best, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Not to obstruct your purposes, I'll stay. (DAVUS retires.) | 13 | ··˘/·/˘····˘/ |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| DAVUS. Because, that if | 6 | ······ |
| My master chance to put me to my oath | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That 'twas not I who laid it there, I may | 10 | ·········· |
| With a safe conscience swear. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| MYSIS. I understand. | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| DAVUS. Because, supposing | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| There should be need to swear to my old master | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I did not lay the bantling there myself | 10 | ·····/˘··/ |
| I may with a safe conscience. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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