The Step-Mother: Act the Fourth: Scene V
LACH. I have been standing at a distance, wife,And overheard your conversation with him.You have done wisely to subdue your temper,And freely to comply with what, perhaps,Hereafter must be done.SOSTRA. And let it be!
LACH. Now then retire with me into the country:There I shall bear with you, and you with me.
SOSTRA. I hope we shall.
LACH. Go in then, and pack upThe necessaries you would carry with you.Away!
SOSTRA. I shall obey your orders. (Exit.
PAM. My mother leave the town?By no means.
PAM. Because I'm yet uncertainWhat I shall do about my wife.
LACH. How's that?What would you do but take her home again?
PAM. 'Tis what I wish for, and can scarce forbear it.But I'll not alter what I first design'd.What's best I'll follow: and I'm well convinc'dThat there's no other way to make them friends,But that I should not take her home again.
LACH. You don't know that: but 'tis of no importanceWhether they're friends or not, when SostrataIs gone into the country. We old folksAre odious to the young. We'd best retire.In short, we're grown a by-word, Pamphilus,"The old man and old woman."--But I seePhidippus coming in good time. Let's meet him!
HarperPAM. 'Tis what I wish for, and can scarce forbear it.Colman 1768PAM. 'Tis what I wish for, and can scarce forbear.
HarperThat there's no other way to make them friendsColman 1768
Words in this poem
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- 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,]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- harper n.
- A player on the harp; a minstrel. [AS. hearpere.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Step-Mother: Act the Fourth: Scene V 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 V, 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-v.html, id L25876.
Form and metre
The Step-Mother: Act the Fourth: Scene V is 38 lines in 12 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 |
|---|---|---|
| LACH. I have been standing at a distance, wife, | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| And overheard your conversation with him. | 11 | ·/˘/··˘/˘·· |
| You have done wisely to subdue your temper, | 11 | ···/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| And freely to comply with what, perhaps, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| Hereafter must be done. | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| SOSTRA. And let it be! | 6 | ······ |
| LACH. Now then retire with me into the country: | 12 | ···˘/·····/˘ |
| There I shall bear with you, and you with me. | 10 | ·········· |
| SOSTRA. I hope we shall. | 6 | ······ |
| LACH. Go in then, and pack up | 7 | ······· |
| The necessaries you would carry with you. | 11 | ·/˘·˘··/˘·· |
| Away! | 2 | ˘/ |
| SOSTRA. I shall obey your orders. (Exit. | 11 | ····˘/·/˘/˘ |
| PAM. My mother leave the town? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| By no means. | 3 | ··· |
| PAM. Because I'm yet uncertain | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| What I shall do about my wife. | 8 | ········ |
| LACH. How's that? | 3 | ··· |
| What would you do but take her home again? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| PAM. 'Tis what I wish for, and can scarce forbear it. | 12 | ·········˘/· |
| But I'll not alter what I first design'd. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| What's best I'll follow: and I'm well convinc'd | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| That there's no other way to make them friends, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But that I should not take her home again. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| LACH. You don't know that: but 'tis of no importance | 12 | ·········˘/˘ |
| Whether they're friends or not, when Sostrata | 10 | ·········· |
| Is gone into the country. We old folks | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Are odious to the young. We'd best retire. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| In short, we're grown a by-word, Pamphilus, | 10 | ·········· |
| "The old man and old woman."--But I see | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Phidippus coming in good time. Let's meet him! | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| PAM. 'Tis what I wish for, and can scarce forbear it. | 12 | ·········˘/· |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
| PAM. 'Tis what I wish for, and can scarce forbear. | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Harper | 2 | /˘ |
| That there's no other way to make them friends | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Colman 1768 | 2 | /˘ |
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