The Eunuch: Act the Fifth: Scene I
THAIS. Still, still, you, baggage, will you shuffle with me?--"I know--I don't know--he's gone off--I've heard----I was not present"--Be it what it may,Can't you inform me openly?--The Virgin,Her clothes all torn, in sullen silence weeps.The Eunuch's fled.--What means all this? and whatHas happen'd?--Won't you answer me?
PYTH. Alas!What can I answer you?--He was, they say,No Eunuch.
THAIS. Chaerea!What Chaerea?PYTH. Phaedria's younger brother.
THAIS. How!What's that, hag?
PYTH. I've discover'd it: I'm sure on't.
THAIS. Why, what had he to do with us? or whyWas he brought hither?
PYTH. That I can not tell;Unless, as I suppose, for love of Pamphila.
THAIS. Alas! I am undone; undone, indeed,If that, which you have told me now, be true.Is't that the girl bemoans thus?PYTH. I believe so.
THAIS. How, careless wretch! was that the charge I gave youAt my departure?
PYTH. What could I do? SheWas trusted, as you bade, to him alone.
PYTH. Who comes here?--Hist! peace, madam, I beseech you!We're safe: we have the very man.(Seeing CHAEREA at a distance.)
THAIS. Where is he?
PYTH. Here, on the left; d'ye see him, ma'am?
THAIS. I see him.
PYTH. Let him be seiz'd immediately!
THAIS. And whatCan we do to him, fool?
PYTH. Do to him, say you?--See, what a saucy face the rogue has got!Ha'nt he?--and then how settled an assurance?
Words in this poem
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- departure n.
- Division; separation; putting away. [From Depart.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Eunuch: Act the Fifth: Scene I 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 Eunuch: Act the Fifth: Scene I, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-eunuch-act-the-fifth-scene-i.html, id L25776.
Form and metre
The Eunuch: Act the Fifth: Scene I is 40 lines in 17 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.
- 1 A-----A meA · heard · may · virgin · weeps · what · meA
- 3 AA- chaereaA · chaereaA · brother
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THAIS. Still, still, you, baggage, will you shuffle with me? | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| --"I know--I don't know--he's gone off--I've heard---- | 10 | ·········· |
| I was not present"--Be it what it may, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Can't you inform me openly?--The Virgin, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Her clothes all torn, in sullen silence weeps. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The Eunuch's fled.--What means all this? and what | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Has happen'd?--Won't you answer me? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| PYTH. Alas! | 3 | ·˘/ |
| What can I answer you?--He was, they say, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| No Eunuch. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| THAIS. Chaerea! | 3 | ··· |
| What Chaerea? | 3 | ··· |
| PYTH. Phaedria's younger brother. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| THAIS. How! | 2 | ·· |
| What's that, hag? | 3 | ··· |
| PYTH. I've discover'd it: I'm sure on't. | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| THAIS. Why, what had he to do with us? or why | 11 | ··········· |
| Was he brought hither? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| PYTH. That I can not tell; | 6 | ······ |
| Unless, as I suppose, for love of Pamphila. | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| THAIS. Alas! I am undone; undone, indeed, | 11 | ·˘/··˘/˘/˘/ |
| If that, which you have told me now, be true. | 10 | ·········· |
| Is't that the girl bemoans thus? | 7 | ····˘/· |
| PYTH. I believe so. | 5 | ··˘/· |
| THAIS. How, careless wretch! was that the charge I gave you | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| At my departure? | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| PYTH. What could I do? She | 6 | ······ |
| Was trusted, as you bade, to him alone. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| PYTH. Who comes here?--Hist! peace, madam, I beseech you! | 12 | ······/˘·˘/· |
| We're safe: we have the very man. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (Seeing CHAEREA at a distance.) | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| THAIS. Where is he? | 4 | ···· |
| PYTH. Here, on the left; d'ye see him, ma'am? | 9 | ········· |
| THAIS. I see him. | 4 | ···· |
| PYTH. Let him be seiz'd immediately! | 10 | ·····˘/˘˘˘ |
| THAIS. And what | 3 | ··· |
| Can we do to him, fool? | 6 | ······ |
| PYTH. Do to him, say you? | 6 | ······ |
| --See, what a saucy face the rogue has got! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Ha'nt he?--and then how settled an assurance? | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
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