The Self-Tormentor: Act the Third: Scene IV
I never heardMy master argue more commodiously;Nor ever had a mind to mischief, whenIt might be done with more impunity.But who's this coming from our house?
HarperNor ever had a mind to mischief, whenColman 1768
Words in this poem
- commodiously adv.
- In a commodious manner.
- impunity n.
- Exemption or freedom from punishment, harm, or loss. [L. impunitas, fr. impunis without punishment; pref. im- not + poena punishment: cf. F. impunité. See Pain.]
- 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 Third: Scene IV 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 Third: Scene IV, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-self-tormentor-act-the-third-scene-iv.html, id L25797.
Form and metre
The Self-Tormentor: Act the Third: Scene IV is 8 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I never heard | 4 | ·/˘· |
| My master argue more commodiously; | 11 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘˘˘ |
| Nor ever had a mind to mischief, when | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| It might be done with more impunity. | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| But who's this coming from our house? | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| Nor ever had a mind to mischief, when | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
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.