The Eunuch: Act the First: Scene III
Ah me! I fear that he believes me not,And judges of my heart from those of others.I in my conscience know, that nothing falseI have deliver'd, nor to my true heartIs any dearer than this Phaedria:And whatsoe'er in this affair I've done,For the girl's sake I've done: for I'm in hopesI know her brother, a right noble youth.To-day I wait him, by his own appointment;Wherefore I'll in, and tarry for his coming.
Words in this poem
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Eunuch: Act the First: 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 First: 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-first-scene-iii.html, id L21068.
Form and metre
The Eunuch: Act the First: Scene III is 10 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ah me! I fear that he believes me not, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And judges of my heart from those of others. | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| I in my conscience know, that nothing false | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I have deliver'd, nor to my true heart | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Is any dearer than this Phaedria: | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| And whatsoe'er in this affair I've done, | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| For the girl's sake I've done: for I'm in hopes | 10 | ·········· |
| I know her brother, a right noble youth. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To-day I wait him, by his own appointment; | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Wherefore I'll in, and tarry for his coming. | 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.