Carmen III: On the Death of Lesbia's Sparrow
Weep every Venus, and all Cupids wail,And men whose gentler spirits still prevail.Dead is the Sparrow of my girl, the joy,Sparrow, my sweeting's most delicious toy,Whom loved she dearer than her very eyes;For he was honeyed-pet and anywiseKnew her, as even she her mother knew;Ne'er from her bosom's harbourage he flewBut 'round her hopping here, there, everywhere,Piped he to none but her his lady fair.Now must he wander o'er the darkling wayThither, whence life-return the Fates denay.But ah! beshrew you, evil Shadows low'ringIn Orcus ever loveliest things devouring:Who bore so pretty a Sparrow fro' her ta'en.(Oh hapless birdie and Oh deed of bane!)Now by your wanton work my girl appearsWith turgid eyelids tinted rose by tears.
Words in this poem
- anywise adv.
- In any wise or way; at all.
- piped a.
- Formed with a pipe; having pipe or pipes; tubular.
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- denay n.
- Denial; refusal.
- beshrew v. t.
- To curse; to execrate.
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- birdie n.
- A pretty or dear little bird; -- a pet name.
- bane v. t.
- To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen III: On the Death of Lesbia's Sparrow is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Carmina, Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, the Richard Burton translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Catullus, Carmen III: On the Death of Lesbia's Sparrow, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-iii-on-the-death-of-lesbia-s-sparrow.html, id L13786.
Form and metre
Carmen III: On the Death of Lesbia's Sparrow is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII wailA · prevailA · joyB · toyB · eyesC · anywiseC · knewD · flewD · everywhereE · fairE · wayF · denayF · low'ringG · devouringG · ta'enH · baneH · appearsI · tearsI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Weep every Venus, and all Cupids wail, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And men whose gentler spirits still prevail. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Dead is the Sparrow of my girl, the joy, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Sparrow, my sweeting's most delicious toy, | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Whom loved she dearer than her very eyes; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For he was honeyed-pet and anywise | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Knew her, as even she her mother knew; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Ne'er from her bosom's harbourage he flew | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But 'round her hopping here, there, everywhere, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Piped he to none but her his lady fair. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Now must he wander o'er the darkling way | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thither, whence life-return the Fates denay. | 10 | /˘··˘/··˘/ |
| But ah! beshrew you, evil Shadows low'ring | 10 | ··˘/·//··· |
| In Orcus ever loveliest things devouring: | 11 | ···/····˘/˘ |
| Who bore so pretty a Sparrow fro' her ta'en. | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| (Oh hapless birdie and Oh deed of bane!) | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Now by your wanton work my girl appears | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| With turgid eyelids tinted rose by tears. | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
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.