The Eunuch: Act the Fourth: Scene II
PHAED. Going into the country, I began(As happens when the mind is ill at ease)To ponder with myself upon the road,Tossing from thought to thought, and viewing allIn the worst light. While thus I ruminate,I pass unconsciously my country-house,And had got far beyond, ere I perceiv'd it.I turn'd about, but with a heavy heart;And soon as to the very spot I cameWhere the roads part, I stop. Then paus'd a while:Two days? alone: without her?--Well! what then?That's nothing.--What, is't nothing?--If I've notThe privilege to touch her, shall I notBehold her neither?--If one may not be,At least the other shall.--And certainlyLove, in its last degree, is something still."--Then I, on purpose, pass'd the house.--But see!Pythias breaks forth affrighted.--What means this?
Words in this poem
- ruminate v. i.
- To chew the cud; to chew again what has been slightly chewed and swallowed. [L. ruminatus, p.p. of ruminari, ruminare, fr. rumen, -inis, throat, akin to ructare to belch, erugere to belch out, Gr. roccettan.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Eunuch: Act the Fourth: Scene II 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 Fourth: Scene II, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-eunuch-act-the-fourth-scene-ii.html, id L25769.
Form and metre
The Eunuch: Act the Fourth: Scene II is 18 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 -----------AAB--B- began · ease · road · all · ruminate · house · it · heart · came · while · then · notA · notA · beB · certainly · still · seeB · this
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PHAED. Going into the country, I began | 10 | ·/···/˘·˘/ |
| (As happens when the mind is ill at ease) | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To ponder with myself upon the road, | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Tossing from thought to thought, and viewing all | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| In the worst light. While thus I ruminate, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I pass unconsciously my country-house, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| And had got far beyond, ere I perceiv'd it. | 11 | ········˘/· |
| I turn'd about, but with a heavy heart; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And soon as to the very spot I came | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Where the roads part, I stop. Then paus'd a while: | 10 | ·········· |
| Two days? alone: without her?--Well! what then? | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| That's nothing.--What, is't nothing?--If I've not | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The privilege to touch her, shall I not | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Behold her neither?--If one may not be, | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| At least the other shall.--And certainly | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Love, in its last degree, is something still." | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| --Then I, on purpose, pass'd the house.--But see! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Pythias breaks forth affrighted.--What means this? | 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.