The Brothers: Act the Third: Scene VI
HEGIO. A deed so baseSprung from that family?--Oh AEschinus,I'm sure this was not acting like your father.
DEM. (behind.) So! he has heard about this Music-Girl,And is affected at it, though a stranger,While his good father truly thinks it nothing.Oh monstrous! would that he were somewhere nigh,And heard all this!
HEGIO. Unless they do what's just,They shall not carry off the matter thus.
GETA. Our only hope is in you, Hegio.You're our sole friend, our guardian, and our father,The good old Simulus, on his death-bedBequeath'd us to your care. If you desert us,We are undone indeed.
HEGIO. Ah, name it not!I will not, and with honesty, I can not.DEM. I'll go up to him.--Save you, Hegio!
HEGIO. The man I look'd for.--Save you, Demea!
DEM. Your pleasure!
HEGIO. AEschinus, your elder son,Adopted by your brother, has committedA deed unworthy of an honest man,And of a gentleman.
HEGIO. You knewOur friend and good acquaintance, Simulus?
HEGIO. He has debauch'd his daughter.
HEGIO. Hold, Demea, for the worst is still to come.
DEM. Is there aught worse?
HEGIO. Much worse: for this perhapsMight be excus'd. The night, love, wine, and youth,Might prompt him. 'Tis the frailty of our nature.--Soon as his sense returning made him consciousOf his rash outrage, of his own accordHe came to the girl's mother, weeping, praying.Entreating, vowing constancy, and swearingThat he would take her home.--He was forgiven;The thing conceal'd; and his vows credited.The girl from that encounter prov'd with child:This is the tenth month.--He, good gentleman,Has got a music-girl, Heav'n bless the mark!With whom he means to live, and quit the other.
DEM. And are you well assur'd of this?
HEGIO. The mother,The girl, the fact itself, are all before you,Joining to vouch the truth on't. And besides,This Geta here--as servants go, no bad one,Nor given up to idleness--maintains them;The sole support of all the family.Here take him, bind him, force the truth from him.
GETA. Aye, torture me, if 'tis not so, good Demea!Nay, AEschinus, I'm sure, will not deny it.Bring me before him.
DEM. (aside). I'm asham'd: and whatTo do, or what to say to him, I know not.
PAMPHILA (within). Ah me! I'm torn in pieces!--Racking pains!Juno Lucina, help me! save, I pray thee!
HEGIO. Ha! Is she then in labor, Geta?
HEGIO. Hark! she now calls upon your justice, Demea!Grant her then freely, what law else will claim.And Heaven send, that you may rather doWhat honor bids! but if you mean it not,Be sure of this; that with my utmost forceI'll vindicate the girl, and her dead father;He was my kinsman; we were bred togetherFrom children; and our fortunes twin'd togetherIn war, and peace, and bitter poverty.Wherefore I'll try, endeavor, strive, nay loseMy life itself, before I will forsake them.--What is your answer?
DEM. I'll find out my brother:What he advises, I will follow, Hegio.
HEGIO. But still remember, Demea, that the moreYou live at ease; the more your pow'r, your wealth,Your riches, and nobility; the moreIt is your duty to act honorably,If you regard the name of honest men.
DEM. Go to: we'll do you justice.
HEGIO. 'Twill become you.Geta, conduct me in to Sostrata. (Exit with GETA.
HarperHEGIO. Good Heaven! a most unworthy action, Geta!GETA. Ev'n so.HEGIO. A deed so baseSprung from that family?--Oh AEschinus,I'm sure this was not acting like your father.DEM. So! he has heard about this Music-Girl,Colman 1768HEGIO. Can it be true?GETA. Ev'n so.HEGIO. A deed so baseSprung from that family?--Oh AEschinus,This was not acting like your father.DEM. So!He has just heard about this Musick-Girl,
HarperHEGIO. Unless they do what's justColman 1768HEGIO. Unless they do you justice
HarperThe good old Simulus, on his death-bedColman 1768On his death-bed, the good old Simulus
HarperHEGIO. AEschinus, your elder son,Adopted by your brother, has committedColman 1768HEGIO. AEschinus, your elder son,Your brother's by adoption, has committed
HEGIO. Ha! Is she then in labor, Geta?
Words in this poem
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- 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,]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- frailty n.
- The condition quality of being frail, physically, mentally, or morally, frailness; infirmity; weakness of resolution; liableness to be deceived or seduced. [OE. frelete, freilte, OF. fraileté, fr. L. fragilitas. See Frail, a., and cf. Fragility.]
- vouch v. t.
- To call; to summon. [OE. vouchen, OF. vochier to call, fr. L. vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice. See Voice, and cf. Avouch.]
- racking n.
- Spun yarn used in racking ropes.
- kinsman n.
- A man of the same race or family; one related by blood.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- harper n.
- A player on the harp; a minstrel. [AS. hearpere.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Brothers: Act the Third: 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 Brothers: Act the Third: Scene VI, 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-vi.html, id L25832.
Form and metre
The Brothers: Act the Third: Scene VI is 110 lines in 29 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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- notA · notA · hegio
- 8 A-AA sonA · committed · manA · gentlemanA
- 20 ------AA---- demea · claim · do · not · force · father · togetherA · togetherA · poverty · lose · them · answer
- 22 A-A-- moreA · wealth · moreA · honorably · men
- 25 --ABCDE--ABCDAE harper · geta · soA · baseB · aeschinusC · fatherD · girlE · — · true · soA · baseB · aeschinusC · fatherD · soA · girlE
- 28 -AB-AB harper · sonA · committedB · — · sonA · committedB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| HEGIO. A deed so base | 6 | ······ |
| Sprung from that family?--Oh AEschinus, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| I'm sure this was not acting like your father. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| DEM. (behind.) So! he has heard about this Music-Girl, | 13 | ··········/˘· |
| And is affected at it, though a stranger, | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| While his good father truly thinks it nothing. | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Oh monstrous! would that he were somewhere nigh, | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| And heard all this! | 4 | ···· |
| HEGIO. Unless they do what's just, | 8 | ········ |
| They shall not carry off the matter thus. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| GETA. Our only hope is in you, Hegio. | 11 | ··//˘······ |
| You're our sole friend, our guardian, and our father, | 11 | ·/··//˘·//˘ |
| The good old Simulus, on his death-bed | 10 | ·········· |
| Bequeath'd us to your care. If you desert us, | 11 | ˘/······˘/· |
| We are undone indeed. | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| HEGIO. Ah, name it not! | 6 | ······ |
| I will not, and with honesty, I can not. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| DEM. I'll go up to him.--Save you, Hegio! | 10 | ·········· |
| HEGIO. The man I look'd for.--Save you, Demea! | 11 | ··········· |
| DEM. Your pleasure! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| HEGIO. AEschinus, your elder son, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Adopted by your brother, has committed | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| A deed unworthy of an honest man, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And of a gentleman. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| HEGIO. You knew | 4 | ···· |
| Our friend and good acquaintance, Simulus? | 10 | /···˘/˘··· |
| HEGIO. He has debauch'd his daughter. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| HEGIO. Hold, Demea, for the worst is still to come. | 12 | ············ |
| DEM. Is there aught worse? | 5 | ····· |
| HEGIO. Much worse: for this perhaps | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Might be excus'd. The night, love, wine, and youth, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Might prompt him. 'Tis the frailty of our nature. | 11 | ·····/˘·//˘ |
| --Soon as his sense returning made him conscious | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| Of his rash outrage, of his own accord | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| He came to the girl's mother, weeping, praying. | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Entreating, vowing constancy, and swearing | 11 | ···/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| That he would take her home.--He was forgiven; | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| The thing conceal'd; and his vows credited. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘˘ |
| The girl from that encounter prov'd with child: | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| This is the tenth month.--He, good gentleman, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Has got a music-girl, Heav'n bless the mark! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With whom he means to live, and quit the other. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| DEM. And are you well assur'd of this? | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| HEGIO. The mother, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The girl, the fact itself, are all before you, | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| Joining to vouch the truth on't. And besides, | 10 | /˘·······/ |
| This Geta here--as servants go, no bad one, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Nor given up to idleness--maintains them; | 10 | ·/··/˘˘˘/· |
| The sole support of all the family. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘˘ |
| Here take him, bind him, force the truth from him. | 10 | ·········· |
| GETA. Aye, torture me, if 'tis not so, good Demea! | 13 | ···/˘········ |
| Nay, AEschinus, I'm sure, will not deny it. | 11 | ········˘/· |
| Bring me before him. | 5 | ····· |
| DEM. (aside). I'm asham'd: and what | 8 | ·˘/·˘/·· |
| To do, or what to say to him, I know not. | 11 | ··········· |
| PAMPHILA (within). Ah me! I'm torn in pieces!--Racking pains! | 15 | ··········/˘/˘· |
| Juno Lucina, help me! save, I pray thee! | 11 | /˘········· |
| HEGIO. Ha! Is she then in labor, Geta? | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| HEGIO. Hark! she now calls upon your justice, Demea! | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| Grant her then freely, what law else will claim. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And Heaven send, that you may rather do | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| What honor bids! but if you mean it not, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Be sure of this; that with my utmost force | 10 | ·······/·· |
| I'll vindicate the girl, and her dead father; | 11 | ·/˘˘·····/˘ |
| He was my kinsman; we were bred together | 11 | ···/····˘/˘ |
| From children; and our fortunes twin'd together | 11 | ·/˘·//˘·˘/˘ |
| In war, and peace, and bitter poverty. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Wherefore I'll try, endeavor, strive, nay lose | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| My life itself, before I will forsake them. | 11 | ··˘/····˘/· |
| --What is your answer? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| DEM. I'll find out my brother: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| What he advises, I will follow, Hegio. | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘·· |
| HEGIO. But still remember, Demea, that the more | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| You live at ease; the more your pow'r, your wealth, | 10 | ·········· |
| Your riches, and nobility; the more | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘·· |
| It is your duty to act honorably, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘˘˘ |
| If you regard the name of honest men. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| DEM. Go to: we'll do you justice. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| HEGIO. 'Twill become you. | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Geta, conduct me in to Sostrata. (Exit with GETA. | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| HEGIO. Good Heaven! a most unworthy action, Geta! | 13 | ···/··˘/˘/˘·· |
| GETA. Ev'n so. | 4 | ···· |
| HEGIO. A deed so base | 6 | ······ |
| Sprung from that family?--Oh AEschinus, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| I'm sure this was not acting like your father. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| DEM. So! he has heard about this Music-Girl, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| HEGIO. Can it be true? | 6 | ······ |
| GETA. Ev'n so. | 4 | ···· |
| HEGIO. A deed so base | 6 | ······ |
| Sprung from that family?--Oh AEschinus, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| This was not acting like your father. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| DEM. So! | 2 | ·· |
| He has just heard about this Musick-Girl, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| HEGIO. Unless they do what's just | 8 | ········ |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| HEGIO. Unless they do you justice | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| The good old Simulus, on his death-bed | 10 | ·········· |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| On his death-bed, the good old Simulus | 10 | ·········· |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| HEGIO. AEschinus, your elder son, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Adopted by your brother, has committed | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| HEGIO. AEschinus, your elder son, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Your brother's by adoption, has committed | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| HEGIO. Ha! Is she then in labor, Geta? | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
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