The Self-Tormentor: Act the First: Scene II
He draws tears from me.--How I pity him!--But 'tis high time, as the day goes, to warnMy neighbor Phania to come forth to supper.I'll go, and see if he's at home.(Goes to PHANIA'S door, and returns.)There was,It seems, no need of warning: for, they tell me,He has been gone to my house some time since;I keep my guests in waiting; so I'll in.But my doors creak. (CLITIPHO appears.) Who's this? I'll step aside.(Retires.)
HarperHe has been gone to my house some time since;I keep my guests in waiting; so I'll in.But my doors creak. Who's this? I'll step aside.Colman 1768He went to his appointment some time since.'Tis I myself that keep my guests in waiting.I'll in immediately.--But what's the meaning
Words in this poem
- creak v. i.
- To make a prolonged sharp grating or ssqueaking sound, as by the friction of hard substances; as, shoes creak. [OE. creken, prob. of imitative origin; cf. E. crack, and. D. kreiken to crackle, chirp.]
- harper n.
- A player on the harp; a minstrel. [AS. hearpere.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Self-Tormentor: Act the First: 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 Self-Tormentor: Act the First: Scene II, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-self-tormentor-act-the-first-scene-ii.html, id L25788.
Form and metre
The Self-Tormentor: Act the First: Scene II is 19 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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.
- 2 -A---A-- harper · sinceA · in · aside · — · sinceA · waiting · meaning
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 |
|---|---|---|
| He draws tears from me.--How I pity him! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| --But 'tis high time, as the day goes, to warn | 10 | ·········· |
| My neighbor Phania to come forth to supper. | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| I'll go, and see if he's at home. | 8 | ········ |
| (Goes to PHANIA'S door, and returns.) | 8 | ······˘/ |
| There was, | 2 | ·· |
| It seems, no need of warning: for, they tell me, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| He has been gone to my house some time since; | 10 | ·········· |
| I keep my guests in waiting; so I'll in. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But my doors creak. (CLITIPHO appears.) Who's this? I'll step aside. | 15 | ·······˘/····˘/ |
| (Retires.) | 2 | ˘/ |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| He has been gone to my house some time since; | 10 | ·········· |
| I keep my guests in waiting; so I'll in. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But my doors creak. Who's this? I'll step aside. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| He went to his appointment some time since. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| 'Tis I myself that keep my guests in waiting. | 11 | ···/·····/˘ |
| I'll in immediately.--But what's the meaning | 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.