The Step-Mother: Act the Fourth: Scene VII
LACH. Going? how's that? and give me no plain answer!--D'ye think he's in his senses?--Well--send homeThe child to me, Phidippus. I'll take care on't.
PHID. I will.--I can not wonder that my wifeTook this so ill. Women are passionate,And can't away with such affronts as these.This was their quarrel: nay she told me so,Though before him I did not care to speak on't:Nor did I credit it at first; but now'Tis evident, and I can plainly seeHe has no stomach to a wife.
LACH. Phidippus,How shall I act? What's your advice?
PHID. How act?I think 'twere best to seek this wench, his mistress.Let us expostulate the matter with her,Speak to her roundly, nay, e'en threaten her,If she has aught to do with him hereafter.
LACH. I'll follow your advice.--Ho, boy! (Enter a boy) run overTo Bacchis. Tell her to come forth to me. (Exit boy.--I must beseech you also to continueYour kind assistance to me in this business.
PHID. Ah, Laches! I have told you all along.And I repeat it now, that 'tis my wishTo render our alliance firm and lasting,If possible, as I have hopes it will be.--But would you have me present at your conferenceWith Bacchis?LACH. No; go, seek the child a nurse. (Exit PHIDIPPUS.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- expostulate v. t.
- To discuss; to examine.
- roundly adv.
- In a round form or manner.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- laches n.
- Neglect; negligence; remissness; neglect to do a thing at the proper time; delay to assert a claim. [OF. lachesse, fr. lache lax, indolent, F. lâche, ultimately fr. L. laxus loose, lax. See Lax.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Step-Mother: Act the Fourth: Scene VII 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 VII, 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-vii.html, id L25878.
Form and metre
The Step-Mother: Act the Fourth: Scene VII is 29 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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.
- 2 A------A wifeA · passionate · these · so · on't · now · see · wifeA
- 4 --AA- act · mistress · herA · herA · hereafter
- 6 A-A---- alongA · wish · lastingA · be · conference · bacchis · phidippus
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. Going? how's that? and give me no plain answer! | 11 | ·/·······/˘ |
| --D'ye think he's in his senses?--Well--send home | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The child to me, Phidippus. I'll take care on't. | 11 | ··········· |
| PHID. I will.--I can not wonder that my wife | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Took this so ill. Women are passionate, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘˘ |
| And can't away with such affronts as these. | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| This was their quarrel: nay she told me so, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Though before him I did not care to speak on't: | 11 | ··········· |
| Nor did I credit it at first; but now | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| 'Tis evident, and I can plainly see | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| He has no stomach to a wife. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| LACH. Phidippus, | 4 | ···· |
| How shall I act? What's your advice? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| PHID. How act? | 3 | ··· |
| I think 'twere best to seek this wench, his mistress. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Let us expostulate the matter with her, | 11 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘·· |
| Speak to her roundly, nay, e'en threaten her, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| If she has aught to do with him hereafter. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| LACH. I'll follow your advice.--Ho, boy! (Enter a boy) run over | 15 | ··/˘·˘/··/˘···· |
| To Bacchis. Tell her to come forth to me. (Exit boy. | 13 | ·/˘·······/˘· |
| --I must beseech you also to continue | 11 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Your kind assistance to me in this business. | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| PHID. Ah, Laches! I have told you all along. | 11 | ··/˘·····˘/ |
| And I repeat it now, that 'tis my wish | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| To render our alliance firm and lasting, | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| If possible, as I have hopes it will be. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| --But would you have me present at your conference | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| With Bacchis? | 3 | ·/˘ |
| LACH. No; go, seek the child a nurse. (Exit PHIDIPPUS. | 13 | ········/˘··· |
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