The Eunuch: Act the Fifth: Scene IV
PAR. I'm come to see what Chaerea has been doing:Who, if he has but manag'd matters well,Good Heav'ns, how much, and what sincere applauseShall Parmeno acquire!--For not to mention,In an intrigue so difficult as this,Of so much probable expense at least,Since with a griping harlot he'd have bargain'd,That I've procur'd for him the girl he lov'd,Without cost, charge, or trouble; t'other point,That, that I hold my master-piece, there thinkI've gain'd the prize, in showing a young sparkThe dispositions and the ways of harlots:Which having early learn'd, he'll ever shun.(Enter PYTHIAS behind.)When they're abroad, forsooth, there's none so clean,Nothing so trim, so elegant, as they;Nor, when they sup with a gallant, so nice!To see these very creatures' gluttony,Filth, poverty, and meanness, when at home;So eager after food, that they devourFrom yesterday's stale broth the coarse black bread:--All this to know is safety to young men.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- probable a.
- Capable of being proved. [L. probabilis, fr. probare to try, approve, prove: cf. F. probable. See Prove, and cf. Provable.]
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- gluttony n.
- Excess in eating; extravagant indulgence of the appetite for food; voracity. [OE. glotonie, OF. glotonie, gloutonnie.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Eunuch: Act the Fifth: Scene IV 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 IV, 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-iv.html, id L25779.
Form and metre
The Eunuch: Act the Fifth: Scene IV is 22 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PAR. I'm come to see what Chaerea has been doing: | 11 | ··········/ |
| Who, if he has but manag'd matters well, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Good Heav'ns, how much, and what sincere applause | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Shall Parmeno acquire!--For not to mention, | 11 | ····˘/···/˘ |
| In an intrigue so difficult as this, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Of so much probable expense at least, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| Since with a griping harlot he'd have bargain'd, | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| That I've procur'd for him the girl he lov'd, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Without cost, charge, or trouble; t'other point, | 11 | ·····/˘˘/˘· |
| That, that I hold my master-piece, there think | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I've gain'd the prize, in showing a young spark | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The dispositions and the ways of harlots: | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| Which having early learn'd, he'll ever shun. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| (Enter PYTHIAS behind.) | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| When they're abroad, forsooth, there's none so clean, | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| Nothing so trim, so elegant, as they; | 10 | /˘···/˘˘·· |
| Nor, when they sup with a gallant, so nice! | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| To see these very creatures' gluttony, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Filth, poverty, and meanness, when at home; | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| So eager after food, that they devour | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| From yesterday's stale broth the coarse black bread:-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| All this to know is safety to young men. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
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.