The Eunuch: Act the Fifth: Scene III
PYTH. What can I think of? what can I devise?Some trick now to be even with that rogueWho palm'd this young spark on us.
CHREM. (leading the nurse). Nay, but stirYour stumps a little faster, nurse!
CHREM. Aye, marry; but you don't come on a jot.
PYTH. Well! have you shown the tokens to the nurse?
PYTH. And pray what says she? Did she know them?
CHREM. At first sight.
PYTH. Oh brave news! I'm glad to hear it;For I've a kindness for the girl. Go in;My mistress is impatient for your coming.(Exeunt CHREMES and SOPHRONA.See, yonder's my good master Parmeno,Marching this way: How unconcern'd, forsooth,He stalks along!--But I've devis'd, I hope,The means to vex him sorely.--First I'll in,To know the truth of this discovery,And then return to terrify this rascal. (Exit.
Words in this poem
- exeunt
- They go out, or retire from the scene; as, exeunt all except Hamlet. See 1st Exit. [L., 3d pers. pl. pres. of exire to go out.]
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- sorely adv.
- In a sore manner; grievously; painfully; as, to be sorely afflicted.
- terrify v. t.
- To make terrible. [L. terrere to frighten + -fy: cf. F. terrifier, L. terrificare. See Terrific, and -fy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Eunuch: Act the Fifth: Scene III 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 III, 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-iii.html, id L25778.
Form and metre
The Eunuch: Act the Fifth: Scene III is 19 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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.
- 7 -A-----A-- it · inA · coming · sophrona · parmeno · forsooth · hope · inA · discovery · exit
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PYTH. What can I think of? what can I devise? | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Some trick now to be even with that rogue | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who palm'd this young spark on us. | 7 | ······· |
| CHREM. (leading the nurse). Nay, but stir | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your stumps a little faster, nurse! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| CHREM. Aye, marry; but you don't come on a jot. | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| PYTH. Well! have you shown the tokens to the nurse? | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| PYTH. And pray what says she? Did she know them? | 10 | ·········· |
| CHREM. At first sight. | 4 | ···· |
| PYTH. Oh brave news! I'm glad to hear it; | 9 | ········· |
| For I've a kindness for the girl. Go in; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| My mistress is impatient for your coming. | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| (Exeunt CHREMES and SOPHRONA. | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| See, yonder's my good master Parmeno, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Marching this way: How unconcern'd, forsooth, | 10 | /˘····˘/˘/ |
| He stalks along!--But I've devis'd, I hope, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| The means to vex him sorely.--First I'll in, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To know the truth of this discovery, | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| And then return to terrify this rascal. (Exit. | 13 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘/˘ |
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.