The Andrian: Act the Fourth: Scene VII
CHREMES. Having provided all things necessary.I now return to bid them call the bride.What's here? (seeing the child) by Hercules, a child! Ha, woman,Was't you that laid it here?MYSIS. Where is he gone? (Looking after DAVUS.)
CHREMES. What, won't you answer me?
MYSIS. (Looking about.) Not here: Ah me!The fellow's gone, and left me in the lurch.
DAVUS. Good Heavens, what confusion at the Forum!The people all disputing with each other!The market-price is so confounded high. (Loud.)What to say else I know not. (Aside.)
MYSIS (to DAVUS). What d'ye mean, (CHREMES retires and listens totheir conversation.)By leaving me alone?
DAVUS. What farce is this?Ha, Mysis, whence this child? Who brought it here?MYSIS. Have you your wits, to ask me such a question?
DAVUS. Whom should I ask, when no one else is here?
DAVUS. Wilt answer me! (Loud.)
MYSIS. Ah! (Confused.)
DAVUS. This way to the right! (Apart to MYSIS.)
MYSIS. You're raving mad.Was 't not yourself!
DAVUS. I charge you not a word,But what I ask you. (Apart to MYSIS.)MYSIS. Do you threaten me?
DAVUS. Whence comes this child? (Loud.)
MYSIS. From our house.
DAVUS. Ha! ha! ha!No wonder that a harlot has assurance.
CHREMES. This is the Andrian's servant-maid, I take it.
DAVUS. Do we then seem to you such proper folksTo play these tricks upon? (Loud to MYSIS.)CHREMES. I came in time. (To himself.)
DAVUS. Make haste, and take your bantling from our door. (Loud.)Hold! do not stir from where you are, be sure. (Softly.)
MYSIS. A plague upon you: you so terrify me!
DAVUS. Wench, did I speak to you or no? (Loud.)
MYSIS. What would you?
DAVUS. What would I? Say, whose child have you laid here?Tell me. (Loud.)MYSIS. You don't know?
DAVUS. Plague of what I know:Tell what I ask. (Softly.)
DAVUS. Ours? Whose? (Loud.)
MYSIS. Pamphilus's.
DAVUS. How say you? Pamphilus's? (Loud.)
MYSIS. Why is 't not?
DAVUS. O monstrous impudence! (Bawling.)
MYSIS. Why all this noise?
DAVUS. Did not I see this child convey'd by stealthInto your house last night?
DAVUS. 'Tis true.I saw old Canthara stuff'd out?
MYSIS. Thank Heav'n,Some free-women were present at her labor?
DAVUS. Troth, she don't know the gentleman, for whomShe plays this game. She thinks, should Chremes seeThe child laid here, he would not grant his daughter.Faith, he would grant her the more willingly.CHREMES. Not he indeed. (To himself.)
DAVUS. But now, one word for all,Take up the child; or I shall trundle himInto the middle of the street, and rollYou, madam, in the mire.MYSIS. The fellow's drunk.
DAVUS. One piece of knavery begets another:Now, I am told, 'tis whisper'd all about,That she's a citizen of Athens-- (Loud.)
DAVUS. And that by law he will be forc'd to wed her.
MYSIS. Why prithee is she not a citizen?
CHREMES. What a fine scrape was I within a hairOf being drawn into! (To himself.)
DAVUS. What voice is that? (Turning about.)Oh Chremes! you are come in time. Attend!CHREMES. I have heard all already.
DAVUS. You've heard all?
CHREMES. Yes all, I say, from first to last.
DAVUS. Indeed?Good lack, what knaveries! this lying jadeShould be dragg'd hence to torture.--This is he! (To MYSIS.)Think not 'twas Davus you impos'd upon.
MYSIS. Ah me!--Good Sir, I spoke the truth indeed.
CHREMES. I know the whole.--Is Simo in the house?
Hold! do not stir from where you are, be sure.Harper edition has "besure"
HarperDAVUS. How say you? Pamphilus's?MYSIS. Why is 't not?Colman 1768DAVUS. How say you? Pamphilus's?
Words in this poem
- lurch v. t.
- To leave in the lurch; to cheat.
- 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.]
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- 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.]
- terrify v. t.
- To make terrible. [L. terrere to frighten + -fy: cf. F. terrifier, L. terrificare. See Terrific, and -fy.]
- stealth n.
- The act of stealing; theft. [OE. staple. See Steal, v. t.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- willingly adv.
- In a willing manner; with free will; without reluctance; cheerfully.
- 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,]
- knavery n.
- The practices of a knave; petty villainy; fraud; trickery; a knavish action.
- prithee interj.
- A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used without I.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- harper n.
- A player on the harp; a minstrel. [AS. hearpere.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Andrian: Act the Fourth: Scene VII 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 VII, 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-vii.html, id L25742.
Form and metre
The Andrian: Act the Fourth: Scene VII is 92 lines in 46 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.
- 5 -AA to · conversationA · aloneA
- 45 AA sureA · besureA
- 46 -A--A harper · pamphilus'sA · not · — · pamphilus'sA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CHREMES. Having provided all things necessary. | 12 | ·/˘˘/˘··/˘·˘ |
| I now return to bid them call the bride. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| What's here? (seeing the child) by Hercules, a child! Ha, woman, | 14 | ··/···/˘····/˘ |
| Was't you that laid it here? | 6 | ······ |
| MYSIS. Where is he gone? (Looking after DAVUS.) | 12 | /˘····/˘···· |
| CHREMES. What, won't you answer me? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| MYSIS. (Looking about.) Not here: Ah me! | 10 | /˘/˘······ |
| The fellow's gone, and left me in the lurch. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| DAVUS. Good Heavens, what confusion at the Forum! | 13 | ···/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| The people all disputing with each other! | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| The market-price is so confounded high. (Loud.) | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘·· |
| What to say else I know not. (Aside.) | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| MYSIS (to DAVUS). What d'ye mean, (CHREMES retires and listens to | 15 | /˘·······˘/·/˘· |
| their conversation.) | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| By leaving me alone? | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| DAVUS. What farce is this? | 6 | ······ |
| Ha, Mysis, whence this child? Who brought it here? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| MYSIS. Have you your wits, to ask me such a question? | 13 | /˘·········/˘ |
| DAVUS. Whom should I ask, when no one else is here? | 12 | ············ |
| DAVUS. Wilt answer me! (Loud.) | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| MYSIS. Ah! (Confused.) | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| DAVUS. This way to the right! (Apart to MYSIS.) | 12 | ·······˘/·/˘ |
| MYSIS. You're raving mad. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Was 't not yourself! | 5 | ···˘/ |
| DAVUS. I charge you not a word, | 8 | ········ |
| But what I ask you. (Apart to MYSIS.) | 10 | ·····˘/·/˘ |
| MYSIS. Do you threaten me? | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| DAVUS. Whence comes this child? (Loud.) | 7 | ······· |
| MYSIS. From our house. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| DAVUS. Ha! ha! ha! | 5 | ····· |
| No wonder that a harlot has assurance. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| CHREMES. This is the Andrian's servant-maid, I take it. | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| DAVUS. Do we then seem to you such proper folks | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| To play these tricks upon? (Loud to MYSIS.) | 10 | ········/˘ |
| CHREMES. I came in time. (To himself.) | 8 | ······˘/ |
| DAVUS. Make haste, and take your bantling from our door. (Loud.) | 13 | ·······/˘·/·· |
| Hold! do not stir from where you are, be sure. (Softly.) | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| MYSIS. A plague upon you: you so terrify me! | 13 | /˘·······/˘·· |
| DAVUS. Wench, did I speak to you or no? (Loud.) | 11 | ··········· |
| MYSIS. What would you? | 5 | /˘··· |
| DAVUS. What would I? Say, whose child have you laid here? | 12 | ············ |
| Tell me. (Loud.) | 3 | ··· |
| MYSIS. You don't know? | 5 | /˘··· |
| DAVUS. Plague of what I know: | 7 | ······· |
| Tell what I ask. (Softly.) | 6 | ····/˘ |
| DAVUS. Ours? Whose? (Loud.) | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| MYSIS. Pamphilus's. | 5 | /˘··· |
| DAVUS. How say you? Pamphilus's? (Loud.) | 9 | ········· |
| MYSIS. Why is 't not? | 6 | /˘···· |
| DAVUS. O monstrous impudence! (Bawling.) | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| MYSIS. Why all this noise? | 6 | /˘···· |
| DAVUS. Did not I see this child convey'd by stealth | 12 | ········˘/·· |
| Into your house last night? | 6 | ······ |
| DAVUS. 'Tis true. | 4 | ···· |
| I saw old Canthara stuff'd out? | 8 | ········ |
| MYSIS. Thank Heav'n, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Some free-women were present at her labor? | 11 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| DAVUS. Troth, she don't know the gentleman, for whom | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| She plays this game. She thinks, should Chremes see | 9 | ········· |
| The child laid here, he would not grant his daughter. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Faith, he would grant her the more willingly. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| CHREMES. Not he indeed. (To himself.) | 8 | ···˘/·˘/ |
| DAVUS. But now, one word for all, | 8 | ········ |
| Take up the child; or I shall trundle him | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Into the middle of the street, and roll | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| You, madam, in the mire. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| MYSIS. The fellow's drunk. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| DAVUS. One piece of knavery begets another: | 13 | ·····/˘˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Now, I am told, 'tis whisper'd all about, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That she's a citizen of Athens-- (Loud.) | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| DAVUS. And that by law he will be forc'd to wed her. | 13 | ············· |
| MYSIS. Why prithee is she not a citizen? | 11 | /˘·/˘····/˘ |
| CHREMES. What a fine scrape was I within a hair | 11 | ··········· |
| Of being drawn into! (To himself.) | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| DAVUS. What voice is that? (Turning about.) | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Oh Chremes! you are come in time. Attend! | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| CHREMES. I have heard all already. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| DAVUS. You've heard all? | 5 | ····· |
| CHREMES. Yes all, I say, from first to last. | 9 | ········· |
| DAVUS. Indeed? | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Good lack, what knaveries! this lying jade | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Should be dragg'd hence to torture.--This is he! (To MYSIS.) | 13 | ·····/˘····/˘ |
| Think not 'twas Davus you impos'd upon. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| MYSIS. Ah me!--Good Sir, I spoke the truth indeed. | 12 | /˘········˘/ |
| CHREMES. I know the whole.--Is Simo in the house? | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Hold! do not stir from where you are, be sure. | 10 | ·········· |
| Harper edition has "besure" | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| DAVUS. How say you? Pamphilus's? | 8 | ········ |
| MYSIS. Why is 't not? | 6 | /˘···· |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| DAVUS. How say you? Pamphilus's? | 8 | ········ |
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.