The Self-Tormentor: Act the Fourth: Scene VI
CLIT. (to himself). Nothing so easy in itself, but whenPerform'd against one's will, grows difficult.This little walk how easy! yet how faintAnd weary it has made me!--and I fearLest I be still excluded, and forbidTo come near Bacchis. (Seeing SYRUS.)--Now all powers above.Confound you, Syrus, for the trick you play'd me!That brain of yours is evermore contrivingSome villainy to torture me withal.
SYRUS. Away, you malapert! Your frowardnessHad well-nigh ruin'd me.
CLIT. I would it had,As you deserv'd!
SYRUS. As I deserv'd!--How's that?----Before you touch'd the cash, that I was justAbout to give you.
CLIT. Why, what can I say?You went away; came back, beyond my hopes,And brought my mistress with you; then againForbade my touching her.
SYRUS. Well, well, I can'tBe peevish with you now--But do you knowWhere Bacchis is?CLIT. At our house.
SYRUS. At Clinia's.
CLIT. Then I'm ruin'd.
SYRUS. Courage, man!You shall go to her instantly, and carryThe money that you promis'd her.
CLIT. Fine talk!Where should I get it?SYRUS. From your father.
CLIT. Pshaw!You play upon me.
SYRUS. The event shall show.
SYRUS. Hist! here's your father.--Have a care! don't seemSurpris'd at any thing: give way in all:Do as he bids, and say but little. Mum!
HarperSYRUS. Away, you malapert! Your frowardnessHad well-nigh ruin'd me.CLIT. I would it had,As you deserv'd!SYRUS. As I deserv'd!--How's that?----Colman 1768SYRUS. Away, you malapert! Your frowardnessHad well-nigh been my ruin.CLIT. Would it had!For you deserv'd it richly.SYRUS. How! deserv'd it?
Words in this poem
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- withal adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- malapert a.
- Bold; forward; impudent; saucy; pert. [OF. malapert unskillful, ill-taught, ill-bred; mal ill + apert open, adroit, intelligent, L. apertus, p. p. of aperire to open. See Malice, and Aperient.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- 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,]
- pshaw interj.
- Pish! pooch! -- an exclamation used as an expression of contempt, disdain, dislike, etc. [Of imitative origin.]
- harper n.
- A player on the harp; a minstrel. [AS. hearpere.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Self-Tormentor: Act the Fourth: Scene VI 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 Fourth: Scene VI, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-self-tormentor-act-the-fourth-scene-vi.html, id L25806.
Form and metre
The Self-Tormentor: Act the Fourth: Scene VI is 50 lines in 14 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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.
- 14 -A-B---A-B-- harper · frowardnessA · me · hadB · deserv'd · that · — · frowardnessA · ruin · hadB · richly · it
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CLIT. (to himself). Nothing so easy in itself, but when | 14 | ··˘//˘·/˘·˘/·· |
| Perform'd against one's will, grows difficult. | 10 | ˘/·····/˘˘ |
| This little walk how easy! yet how faint | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And weary it has made me!--and I fear | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Lest I be still excluded, and forbid | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| To come near Bacchis. (Seeing SYRUS.)--Now all powers above. | 13 | ···/˘/····/·· |
| Confound you, Syrus, for the trick you play'd me! | 11 | ˘/········· |
| That brain of yours is evermore contriving | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| Some villainy to torture me withal. | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/ |
| SYRUS. Away, you malapert! Your frowardness | 12 | ··˘/·/˘˘···· |
| Had well-nigh ruin'd me. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| CLIT. I would it had, | 5 | ····· |
| As you deserv'd! | 4 | ··˘/ |
| SYRUS. As I deserv'd!--How's that?---- | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Before you touch'd the cash, that I was just | 10 | ·········· |
| About to give you. | 5 | ····· |
| CLIT. Why, what can I say? | 6 | ······ |
| You went away; came back, beyond my hopes, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And brought my mistress with you; then again | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Forbade my touching her. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| SYRUS. Well, well, I can't | 6 | ······ |
| Be peevish with you now--But do you know | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Where Bacchis is? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| CLIT. At our house. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| SYRUS. At Clinia's. | 5 | ····· |
| CLIT. Then I'm ruin'd. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| SYRUS. Courage, man! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| You shall go to her instantly, and carry | 11 | ·····/˘˘·/˘ |
| The money that you promis'd her. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| CLIT. Fine talk! | 3 | ··· |
| Where should I get it? | 5 | ····· |
| SYRUS. From your father. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| CLIT. Pshaw! | 2 | ·· |
| You play upon me. | 5 | ····· |
| SYRUS. The event shall show. | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| SYRUS. Hist! here's your father.--Have a care! don't seem | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Surpris'd at any thing: give way in all: | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Do as he bids, and say but little. Mum! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| SYRUS. Away, you malapert! Your frowardness | 12 | ··˘/·/˘˘···· |
| Had well-nigh ruin'd me. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| CLIT. I would it had, | 5 | ····· |
| As you deserv'd! | 4 | ··˘/ |
| SYRUS. As I deserv'd!--How's that?---- | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| SYRUS. Away, you malapert! Your frowardness | 12 | ··˘/·/˘˘···· |
| Had well-nigh been my ruin. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| CLIT. Would it had! | 4 | ···· |
| For you deserv'd it richly. | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| SYRUS. How! deserv'd it? | 6 | ···˘/· |
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