The Step-Mother: Act the Fourth: Scene III
No woman more unhappy than myself:For how he'd bear it, did he know the whole,When he has taken such offense at this,Which is of much less consequence, is plain.Nor by what means to reconcile him to it,Can I devise. After so many ills,This only misery there yet remain'd,To be oblig'd to educate the child,Ignorant of the father's quality.For he, the cruel spoiler of her honor,Taking advantage of the night and darkness,My daughter was not able to discernHis person; nor to force a token from him,Whereby he might be afterward discover'd:But he, at his departure, pluck'd by forceA ring from off her finger.--I fear too,That Pamphilus will not contain himself,Nor longer keep our secret, when he findsAnother's child acknowledg'd for his own. (Exit.
Words in this poem
- spoiler n.
- One who spoils; a plunderer; a pillager; a robber; a despoiler.
- departure n.
- Division; separation; putting away. [From Depart.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Step-Mother: Act the Fourth: Scene III 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 Step-Mother: Act the Fourth: Scene III, in The Comedies of Terence (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/terence-comedies/the-step-mother-act-the-fourth-scene-iii.html, id L25874.
Form and metre
The Step-Mother: Act the Fourth: Scene III is 19 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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.
- 1 A---------------A-- myselfA · whole · this · plain · it · ills · remain'd · child · quality · honor · darkness · discern · him · discover'd · force · too · himselfA · finds · exit
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No woman more unhappy than myself: | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/ |
| For how he'd bear it, did he know the whole, | 10 | ·········· |
| When he has taken such offense at this, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Which is of much less consequence, is plain. | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Nor by what means to reconcile him to it, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Can I devise. After so many ills, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| This only misery there yet remain'd, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| To be oblig'd to educate the child, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Ignorant of the father's quality. | 10 | /˘˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| For he, the cruel spoiler of her honor, | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Taking advantage of the night and darkness, | 11 | /˘˘/˘····/˘ |
| My daughter was not able to discern | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| His person; nor to force a token from him, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Whereby he might be afterward discover'd: | 11 | ·····/˘˘˘/˘ |
| But he, at his departure, pluck'd by force | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| A ring from off her finger.--I fear too, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That Pamphilus will not contain himself, | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Nor longer keep our secret, when he finds | 10 | ·/˘·//˘··· |
| Another's child acknowledg'd for his own. (Exit. | 12 | ˘/˘·˘/˘···/˘ |
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.