The Self-Tormentor: Act the Fifth: Scene I
That I'm not overwise, no conjurer,I know full well: but my assistant here,And counselor, and grand controller Chremes,Outgoes me far: dolt, blockhead, ninny, ass;Or these, or any other common termsBy which men speak of fools, befit me well:But him they suit not: his stupidityIs so transcendent, it exceeds them all.
Words in this poem
- overwise a.
- Too wise; affectedly wise.
- controller n.
- One who, or that which, controls or restraines; one who has power or authority to regulate or control; one who governs. [From control, v.t.: cf. F. contrôleur.]
- ninny n.
- A fool; a simpleton. [Cf. It. ninno, ninna, a baby, Sp. niño, niña, child, infant, It. ninna, ninna nanna, lullably, prob. fr. ni, na, as used in singing a child to sleep.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Self-Tormentor: Act the Fifth: 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 Self-Tormentor: Act the Fifth: Scene I, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-self-tormentor-act-the-fifth-scene-i.html, id L25810.
Form and metre
The Self-Tormentor: Act the Fifth: Scene I is 8 lines in a single stanza. 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| That I'm not overwise, no conjurer, | 10 | ···/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| I know full well: but my assistant here, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And counselor, and grand controller Chremes, | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| Outgoes me far: dolt, blockhead, ninny, ass; | 10 | /····/·/˘· |
| Or these, or any other common terms | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| By which men speak of fools, befit me well: | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| But him they suit not: his stupidity | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Is so transcendent, it exceeds them all. | 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.