The Andrian: Act the Third: Scene II
SIMO. How's this? (To himself.)And can he be so mad? What! educateA harlot's child!--Ah, now I know their drift:Fool that I was, scarce smelt it out at last.
SIMO. Imprimis, (To himself.)'Tis this rogue's trick upon me. All a sham:A counterfeit deliv'ry, and mock labor,Devis'd to frighten Chremes from the match.GLY. (within). Juno Lucina, save me! Help, I pray thee.
SIMO. Heyday! Already! Oh ridiculous!Soon as she heard that I was at the doorShe hastens to cry out: your incidentsAre ill-tim'd, Davus.
SIMO. Are your playersUnmindful of their cues, and want a prompter?
DAVUS. I do not comprehend you.
SIMO (apart.) If this knaveHad, in the real nuptial of my son,Come thus upon me unprepar'd, what sport,What scorn he'd have exposed me to? But nowAt his own peril be it. I'm secure.
Words in this poem
- 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]
- imprimis adv.
- In the first place; first in order. [L., for in primis among the first, chiefly; in in + primus first.]
- heyday interj.
- An expression of frolic and exultation, and sometimes of wonder. B. Jonson. [Cf. G. heida, or hei da, D. hei daar. Cf. Hey, and There.]
- prompter n.
- One who, or that which, prompts; one who admonishes or incites to action.
- knave n.
- A boy; especially, a boy servant. Wyclif. [OE., boy, servant, knave, AS. cnafa boy, youth; cf. AS. cnapa boy, youth, D. kna, G. knabe boy, knappe esquire, Icel. knapi, Sw. knape esquire, knäfvel knave.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Andrian: 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, The Andrian: Act the Third: Scene II, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-andrian-act-the-third-scene-ii.html, id L25730.
Form and metre
The Andrian: Act the Third: Scene II is 21 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SIMO. How's this? (To himself.) | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| And can he be so mad? What! educate | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A harlot's child!--Ah, now I know their drift: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Fool that I was, scarce smelt it out at last. | 10 | ·········· |
| SIMO. Imprimis, (To himself.) | 8 | /˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| 'Tis this rogue's trick upon me. All a sham: | 10 | ·········· |
| A counterfeit deliv'ry, and mock labor, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Devis'd to frighten Chremes from the match. | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| GLY. (within). Juno Lucina, save me! Help, I pray thee. | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| SIMO. Heyday! Already! Oh ridiculous! | 11 | /˘/·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Soon as she heard that I was at the door | 10 | ·········· |
| She hastens to cry out: your incidents | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Are ill-tim'd, Davus. | 5 | ····· |
| SIMO. Are your players | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Unmindful of their cues, and want a prompter? | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| DAVUS. I do not comprehend you. | 9 | ······˘/· |
| SIMO (apart.) If this knave | 7 | /˘˘/··· |
| Had, in the real nuptial of my son, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Come thus upon me unprepar'd, what sport, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| What scorn he'd have exposed me to? But now | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| At his own peril be it. I'm secure. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
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.