The Brothers: Act the Fourth: Scene XI
SYRUS. (to himself). Faith, little Syrus, you've ta'en special careOf your sweet self, and play'd your part most rarely.--Well, go your ways:--but having had my fillOf ev'ry thing within, I've now march'd forthTo take a turn or two abroad.
DEM. (behind). Look there!A pattern of instruction!
SYRUS. (seeing him). But see there:Yonder's old Demea. (Going up to him.) What's the matter now?And why so melancholy?DEM. Oh thou villain!
SYRUS. What! are you spouting sentences, old wisdom?
SYRUS. You'd be plaguy rich,And settle your affairs most wonderfully.
DEM. I'd make you an example.
SYRUS. Why? for what?
DEM. Why, Sirrah?--In the midst of the disturbance,And in the heat of a most heavy crime,While all is yet confusion, you've got drunk,As if for joy, you rascal!
SYRUS. Why the plagueDid not I keep within? (Aside.)
Words in this poem
- plaguy a.
- Vexatious; troublesome; tormenting; as, a plaguy horse.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Brothers: Act the Fourth: Scene XI 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 Brothers: Act the Fourth: Scene XI, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-brothers-act-the-fourth-scene-xi.html, id L25845.
Form and metre
The Brothers: Act the Fourth: Scene XI is 22 lines in 9 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SYRUS. (to himself). Faith, little Syrus, you've ta'en special care | 15 | ···˘/·/˘····/˘· |
| Of your sweet self, and play'd your part most rarely. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| --Well, go your ways:--but having had my fill | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of ev'ry thing within, I've now march'd forth | 10 | ·········· |
| To take a turn or two abroad. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| DEM. (behind). Look there! | 5 | ····· |
| A pattern of instruction! | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| SYRUS. (seeing him). But see there: | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Yonder's old Demea. (Going up to him.) What's the matter now? | 14 | /˘···/·····/˘· |
| And why so melancholy? | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| DEM. Oh thou villain! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| SYRUS. What! are you spouting sentences, old wisdom? | 12 | ·····/˘/˘·/˘ |
| SYRUS. You'd be plaguy rich, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And settle your affairs most wonderfully. | 11 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘˘˘ |
| DEM. I'd make you an example. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| SYRUS. Why? for what? | 5 | ····· |
| DEM. Why, Sirrah?--In the midst of the disturbance, | 12 | ··/˘·····˘/˘ |
| And in the heat of a most heavy crime, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| While all is yet confusion, you've got drunk, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| As if for joy, you rascal! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| SYRUS. Why the plague | 5 | ····· |
| Did not I keep within? (Aside.) | 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.