Carmen IV: On His Pinnace
Yonder Pinnace ye (my guests!) beholdSaith she was erstwhile fleetest-fleet of crafts,Nor could by swiftness of aught plank that swims,Be she outstripped, whether paddle plied,Or fared she scudding under canvas-sail.Eke she defieth threat'ning Adrian shore,Dare not denay her, insular Cyclades,And noble Rhodos and ferocious Thrace,Propontis too and blustering Pontic bight.Where she (my Pinnace now) in times before,Was leafy woodling on Cytorean ChineFor ever loquent lisping with her leaves.Pontic Amastris! Box-tree-clad Cytorus!Cognisant were ye, and you weet full well(So saith my Pinnace) how from earliest ageUpon your highmost-spiring peak she stood,How in your waters first her sculls were dipt,And thence thro' many and many an important straitShe bore her owner whether left or right,Where breezes bade her fare, or Jupiter deignedAt once propitious strike the sail full square;Nor to the sea-shore gods was aught of vowBy her deemed needful, when from Ocean's bourneExtreme she voyaged for this limpid lake.Yet were such things whilome: now she retiredIn quiet age devotes herself to thee(O twin-born Castor) twain with Castor's twin.
Words in this poem
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- erstwhile adv.
- Till then or now; heretofore; formerly.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- adrian a.
- Pertaining to the Adriatic Sea; as, Adrian billows. [L. Hadrianus.]
- denay n.
- Denial; refusal.
- insular a.
- Of or pertaining to an island; of the nature, or possessing the characteristics, of an island; as, an insular climate, fauna, etc. [L. insularis, fr. insula island: cf. F. insulaire. See Isle.]
- pontic a.
- Of or pertaining to the Pontus, Euxine, or Black Sea.
- weet v. i.
- To know; to wit. Tyndale. [See Wit to know.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- needful a.
- Full of need; in need or want; needy; distressing.
- bourne n.
- A stream or rivulet; a burn. [OE. burne, borne, AS. burna; akin to OS. brunno spring, G. born, brunnen, OHG. prunno, Goth. brunna, Icel. brunnr, and perh. to Gr. burn, v., because the source]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen IV: On His Pinnace 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 IV: On His Pinnace, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-iv-on-his-pinnace.html, id L13787.
Form and metre
Carmen IV: On His Pinnace is 27 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 37% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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--BA--------B-------- behold · crafts · swims · plied · sail · shoreA · cyclades · thrace · bightB · beforeA · chine · leaves · cytorus · well · age · stood · dipt · strait · rightB · deigned · square · vow · bourne · lake · retired · thee · twin
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Yonder Pinnace ye (my guests!) behold | 9 | /˘/˘···˘/ |
| Saith she was erstwhile fleetest-fleet of crafts, | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Nor could by swiftness of aught plank that swims, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Be she outstripped, whether paddle plied, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Or fared she scudding under canvas-sail. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Eke she defieth threat'ning Adrian shore, | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Dare not denay her, insular Cyclades, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘˘˘/˘ |
| And noble Rhodos and ferocious Thrace, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Propontis too and blustering Pontic bight. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Where she (my Pinnace now) in times before, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Was leafy woodling on Cytorean Chine | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| For ever loquent lisping with her leaves. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Pontic Amastris! Box-tree-clad Cytorus! | 11 | /˘········· |
| Cognisant were ye, and you weet full well | 10 | ·········· |
| (So saith my Pinnace) how from earliest age | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Upon your highmost-spiring peak she stood, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| How in your waters first her sculls were dipt, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And thence thro' many and many an important strait | 11 | ···/·/·˘/˘· |
| She bore her owner whether left or right, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Where breezes bade her fare, or Jupiter deigned | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| At once propitious strike the sail full square; | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Nor to the sea-shore gods was aught of vow | 10 | ·········· |
| By her deemed needful, when from Ocean's bourne | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Extreme she voyaged for this limpid lake. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Yet were such things whilome: now she retired | 10 | ········˘/ |
| In quiet age devotes herself to thee | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/·· |
| (O twin-born Castor) twain with Castor's twin. | 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.