The Eunuch: Act the Second: Scene I
PAR. Ah! what a question's that? as if it wereSo difficult! I wish, Sir Phaedria,You could gain aught so easy, as lose these.
PHAED. I lose, what's dearer yet, my comfort with them.Repine not at my gifts.
PAR. Not I: moreoverI will convey them straight. But have you anyOther commands?
PHAED. Oh yes: set off our presentsWith words as handsome as you can: and drive,As much as possible, that rival from her!PAR. Ah, Sir, I should, of course, remember that.
PHAED. I'll to the country, and stay there.
PAR. O, aye! (Ironically.)
PHAED. But hark you!
PAR. Sir, your pleasure?
PHAED. Do you thinkI can with constancy hold out, and notReturn before my time?
PAR. Hold out? Not you.Either you'll straight return, or soon at nightYour dreams will drive you out o' doors.
PHAED. I'll toil;That, weary, I may sleep against my will.PAR. Weary you may be; but you'll never sleep.
PHAED. Ah, Parmeno, you wrong me. I'll cast outThis treacherous softness from my soul, nor thusIndulge my passions. Yes, I could remain,If need, without her even three whole days.
PAR. Hui! three whole livelong days! consider, Sir.
PHAED. I am resolved.
Heav'ns, what a strange disease is this! that loveShould so change men, that one can hardly swearThey are the same!--No mortal liv'dLess weak, more grave, more temperate than he.--But who comes yonder?--Gnatho, as I live;The Captain's parasite! and brings alongThe Virgin for a present: oh rare wench!How beautiful! I shall come off, I doubt,But scurvily with my decrepit Eunuch.This Girl surpasses ev'n Thais herself.
HarperEither you'll straight return, or soon at nightYour dreams will drive you out o' doors.PHAED. I'll toilColman 1768Either you'll straight return, or want of sleepWill drive you forth at midnight.PHAED. I will toil
PARMENO alone.
Words in this poem
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- repine v. i.
- To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
- livelong a.
- Whole; entire; long in passing; -- used of time, as day or night, in adverbial phrases, and usually with a sense of tediousness. [For lifelong. Cf. Lifelong.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- 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,]
- scurvily adv.
- In a scurvy manner.
- decrepit a.
- Broken down with age; wasted and enfeebled by the infirmities of old age; feeble; worn out. [L. decrepitus, perhaps orig., noised out, noiseless, applied to old people, who creep about quietly; de- + crepare to make a noise, rattle: cf. F. décrépit. See]
- harper n.
- A player on the harp; a minstrel. [AS. hearpere.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Eunuch: Act the Second: 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 Second: 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-second-scene-i.html, id L25757.
Form and metre
The Eunuch: Act the Second: Scene I is 50 lines in 17 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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.
- 16 -A-B--AB harper · nightA · doors · toilB · — · sleep · midnightA · toilB
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. Ah! what a question's that? as if it were | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| So difficult! I wish, Sir Phaedria, | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| You could gain aught so easy, as lose these. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| PHAED. I lose, what's dearer yet, my comfort with them. | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| Repine not at my gifts. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| PAR. Not I: moreover | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| I will convey them straight. But have you any | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| Other commands? | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| PHAED. Oh yes: set off our presents | 10 | ·˘····/˘/˘ |
| With words as handsome as you can: and drive, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As much as possible, that rival from her! | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| PAR. Ah, Sir, I should, of course, remember that. | 11 | ·······˘/˘· |
| PHAED. I'll to the country, and stay there. | 10 | ·˘···/˘··· |
| PAR. O, aye! (Ironically.) | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| PHAED. But hark you! | 4 | ···· |
| PAR. Sir, your pleasure? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| PHAED. Do you think | 4 | ···· |
| I can with constancy hold out, and not | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Return before my time? | 6 | ˘/···· |
| PAR. Hold out? Not you. | 5 | ····· |
| Either you'll straight return, or soon at night | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Your dreams will drive you out o' doors. | 8 | ········ |
| PHAED. I'll toil; | 3 | ··· |
| That, weary, I may sleep against my will. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| PAR. Weary you may be; but you'll never sleep. | 10 | ·/˘·····/· |
| PHAED. Ah, Parmeno, you wrong me. I'll cast out | 11 | ··········· |
| This treacherous softness from my soul, nor thus | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Indulge my passions. Yes, I could remain, | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| If need, without her even three whole days. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| PAR. Hui! three whole livelong days! consider, Sir. | 12 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/˘· |
| PHAED. I am resolved. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Heav'ns, what a strange disease is this! that love | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Should so change men, that one can hardly swear | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They are the same!--No mortal liv'd | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Less weak, more grave, more temperate than he. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| --But who comes yonder?--Gnatho, as I live; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The Captain's parasite! and brings along | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| The Virgin for a present: oh rare wench! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| How beautiful! I shall come off, I doubt, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| But scurvily with my decrepit Eunuch. | 11 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘/˘ |
| This Girl surpasses ev'n Thais herself. | 9 | ··˘/˘··˘/ |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| Either you'll straight return, or soon at night | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Your dreams will drive you out o' doors. | 8 | ········ |
| PHAED. I'll toil | 3 | ··· |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| Either you'll straight return, or want of sleep | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Will drive you forth at midnight. | 7 | ·····/· |
| PHAED. I will toil | 4 | ···· |
| PARMENO alone. | 5 | ···˘/ |
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