The Brothers: Act the Third: Scene V
I then will hence, since he, on whose accountI hither came, is gone into the country.He is my only care, He's my concern.My brother, since he needs will have it so,May look to AEschinus himself.----But whoIs coming yonder? Hegio, of our tribe?If I see plainly, beyond doubt 'tis he.Ah, we've been old acquaintance quite from boys;And such men nowadays are wondrous scarce.A citizen of ancient faith and virtue!The commonwealth will ne'er reap harm from him.How I rejoice to see but the remainsOf this old stock! Ah, life's a pleasure now.I'll wait, that I may ask about his health,And have a little conversation with him.
Words in this poem
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- nowadays adv.
- In these days; at the present time. [For now on (OE. an) days. See A-, 1.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- 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]
- commonwealth n.
- A state; a body politic consisting of a certain number of men, united, by compact or tacit agreement, under one form of government and system of laws. [Common + wealth well-being.]
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Brothers: Act the Third: Scene V 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 Third: Scene V, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-brothers-act-the-third-scene-v.html, id L25831.
Form and metre
The Brothers: Act the Third: Scene V is 15 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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.
- 1 ----------A---A account · country · concern · so · who · tribe · he · boys · scarce · virtue · himA · remains · now · health · himA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I then will hence, since he, on whose account | 10 | ········˘/ |
| I hither came, is gone into the country. | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| He is my only care, He's my concern. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| My brother, since he needs will have it so, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| May look to AEschinus himself.----But who | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Is coming yonder? Hegio, of our tribe? | 10 | ·/˘/˘···/· |
| If I see plainly, beyond doubt 'tis he. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Ah, we've been old acquaintance quite from boys; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And such men nowadays are wondrous scarce. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| A citizen of ancient faith and virtue! | 11 | ·/˘˘·/˘··/˘ |
| The commonwealth will ne'er reap harm from him. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| How I rejoice to see but the remains | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Of this old stock! Ah, life's a pleasure now. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I'll wait, that I may ask about his health, | 10 | ·········· |
| And have a little conversation with him. | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘·· |
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.