The Self-Tormentor: Act the Second: Scene I
CLIN. Had my affairs in love been prosperous,They had, I know, been here long since: but, ah,I fear she's fall'n from virtue in my absence:So many things concur to prove it so,My mind misgives me; opportunity,The place, her age, an infamous old mother,Under whose governance she lives, to whom'Naught but gain's precious.CLIN. Woe is me! (To himself.)
CLIT. Take heed, lest some one issue from your father's,And chance to see you here.
CLIN. I will: but yetMy mind forebodes I know not what of ill.CLIT. What, still foreboding, ere you know the truth?
CLIN. Had there been no untoward circumstance,They had return'd already
CLIT. Patience, Clinia!They'll be here presently.
CLIN. Presently! but when?
CLIT. Consider, 'tis a long way off: and thenYou know the ways of women; to set off,And trick their persons out, requires an age.
CLIT. Take courage; see,Dromo and Syrus!
Words in this poem
- concur v. i.
- To run together; to meet. [L. concurrere to run together, agree; con- + currere to run. See Current.]
- governance n.
- Exercise of authority; control; government; arrangement. [F. gouvernance.]
- untoward a.
- Froward; perverse. [Pref. un- not + toward.]
- presently adv.
- At present; at this time; now.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Self-Tormentor: 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 Self-Tormentor: 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-self-tormentor-act-the-second-scene-i.html, id L25791.
Form and metre
The Self-Tormentor: Act the Second: Scene I is 24 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CLIN. Had my affairs in love been prosperous, | 11 | ···˘/···/˘˘ |
| They had, I know, been here long since: but, ah, | 10 | ·········· |
| I fear she's fall'n from virtue in my absence: | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| So many things concur to prove it so, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| My mind misgives me; opportunity, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘˘ |
| The place, her age, an infamous old mother, | 11 | ·····/˘˘·/˘ |
| Under whose governance she lives, to whom | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| 'Naught but gain's precious. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| CLIN. Woe is me! (To himself.) | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| CLIT. Take heed, lest some one issue from your father's, | 12 | ······/˘··/˘ |
| And chance to see you here. | 6 | ······ |
| CLIN. I will: but yet | 5 | ····· |
| My mind forebodes I know not what of ill. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| CLIT. What, still foreboding, ere you know the truth? | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| CLIN. Had there been no untoward circumstance, | 10 | ·····˘//˘· |
| They had return'd already | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| CLIT. Patience, Clinia! | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| They'll be here presently. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| CLIN. Presently! but when? | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| CLIT. Consider, 'tis a long way off: and then | 11 | ·˘/˘······· |
| You know the ways of women; to set off, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And trick their persons out, requires an age. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| CLIT. Take courage; see, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Dromo and Syrus! | 5 | ····· |
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.