Carmen LXVII: Dialogue Concerning Catullus at a Harlot's Door
O to the gentle spouse right dear, right dear to his parent,Hail, and with increase fair Jupiter lend thee his aid,Door, 'tis said wast fain kind service render to BalbusErst while, long as the house by her old owner was held;Yet wast rumoured again to serve a purpose malignant,After the elder was stretched, thou being oped for a bride.Come, then, tell us the why in thee such change be reportedThat to thy lord hast abjured faithfulness owed of old?
Never (so chance I to please Caecilius owning me now-a-days!)Is it my own default, how so they say it be mine;Nor can any declare aught sin by me was committed.Yet it is so declared (Quintus!) by fable of folk;Who, whenever they find things done no better than should be,Come to me outcrying all:--"Door, the default is thine own!"
This be never enough for thee one-worded to utter,But in such way to deal, each and all sense it and see.
First let me note that the maid to us committed (assert they)Was but a fraud: her mate never a touch of her had,But that a father durst dishonour the bed of his firstborn,Folk all swear, and the house hapless with incest bewray;Or that his impious mind was blunt with fiery passionOr that his impotent son sprang from incapable seed.And to be sought was one with nerve more nervous endowed,Who could better avail zone of the virgin to loose.
'Sooth, of egregious sire for piety wondrous, thou tellest,Who in the heart of his son lief was ----!Yet professed herself not only this to be knowing,Brixia-town that lies under the Cycnean cliff,Traversed by Mella-stream's soft-flowing yellow-hued current,Brixia, Verona's mother, I love for my home.
Eke of Posthumius' loves and Cornelius too there be tattle,With whom dared the dame evil advowtry commit.
Here might somebody ask:--"How, Door, hast mastered such matter?Thou that canst never avail threshold of owner to quit,Neither canst listen to folk since here fast fixt to the side-postsOnly one office thou hast, shutting or opening the house."
Oft have I heard our dame in furtive murmurs o'er telling,When with her handmaids alone, these her flagitious deeds,Citing fore-cited names for that she never could fancyEver a Door was endow'd either with earlet or tongue.Further she noted a wight whose name in public to mentionNill I, lest he upraise eyebrows of carroty hue;Long is the loon and large the law-suit brought they against himTouching a child-bed false, claim of a belly that lied.
Words in this poem 23
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- folk 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.]
- dishonour n.
- Lack of honor; disgrace; ignominy; shame; reproach. [OE. deshonour, dishonour, OF. deshonor, deshonur, F. déshonneur; pref. des- (L. dis-) + honor, honur, F. honneur, fr. L. honor. See Honor.]
- firstborn a.
- First brought forth; first in the order of nativity; eldest; hence, most excellent; most distinguished or exalted.
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- incest n.
- The crime of cohabitation or sexual commerce between persons related within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law. [F. inceste, L. incestum unchastity, incest, fr. incestus unchaste; pref. in- not + castus chaste. See Chaste.]
- bewray v. t.
- To expose; to reveal; to disclose; to betray. [OE. bewraien, biwreyen; pref. be- + AS. wr to accuse, betray; akin to OS. wr, OHG. ruog, G. rügen, Icel. rægja, Goth. wr to accuse.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- tattle v. i.
- To prate; to talk idly; to use many words with little meaning; to chat. [Akin to OE. tateren, LG. tateln, D. tateren to stammer, and perhaps to E. titter.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- somebody n.
- A person unknown or uncertain; a person indeterminate; some person.
- furtive a.
- Stolen; obtained or characterized by stealth; sly; secret; stealthy; as, a furtive look. Prior. [L. furtivus, fr. furtum theft, fr. fur thief, akin to ferre to bear: cf. F. furtif. See Fertile.]
- flagitious a.
- Disgracefully or shamefully criminal; grossly wicked; scandalous; shameful; -- said of acts, crimes, etc. [L. flagitiosus, fr. flagitium a shameful or disgraceful act, orig., a burning desire, heat of passion, from flagitare to demand hotly, fiercely; cf. flagrare to]
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- nill v. t.
- Not to will; to refuse; to reject. [AS. nilan, nyllan; ne not + willan to will. See No, and Will.]
- upraise v. t.
- To raise; to lift up.
- carroty a.
- Like a carrot in color or in taste; -- an epithet given to reddish yellow hair, etc.
- lied n.
- A lay; a German song. It differs from the French chanson, and the Italian canzone, all three being national. [G.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen LXVII: Dialogue Concerning Catullus at a Harlot's Door 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 LXVII: Dialogue Concerning Catullus at a Harlot's Door, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-lxvii-dialogue-concerning-catullus-at-a-harlot-s-door.html, id L18657.
Form and metre
Carmen LXVII: Dialogue Concerning Catullus at a Harlot's Door is 44 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 78% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.2 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -----AA- parent · aid · balbus · held · malignant · brideA · reportedA · old
- 4 A--A---- theyA · had · firstborn · bewrayA · passion · seed · endowed · loose
- 8 A--A---- tellingA · deeds · fancy · tongueA · mention · hue · him · lied
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O to the gentle spouse right dear, right dear to his parent, | 14 | ···/˘·······/˘ |
| Hail, and with increase fair Jupiter lend thee his aid, | 12 | ···˘/·/˘···· |
| Door, 'tis said wast fain kind service render to Balbus | 13 | ······/˘/˘··· |
| Erst while, long as the house by her old owner was held; | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| Yet wast rumoured again to serve a purpose malignant, | 14 | ··/˘˘/···/˘˘/˘ |
| After the elder was stretched, thou being oped for a bride. | 13 | ···/˘···/···· |
| Come, then, tell us the why in thee such change be reported | 14 | ············/˘ |
| That to thy lord hast abjured faithfulness owed of old? | 13 | ············· |
| Never (so chance I to please Caecilius owning me now-a-days!) | 15 | /········/˘···· |
| Is it my own default, how so they say it be mine; | 13 | ····˘/······· |
| Nor can any declare aught sin by me was committed. | 14 | ··/˘˘/·····˘/˘ |
| Yet it is so declared (Quintus!) by fable of folk; | 13 | ····˘/···/˘·· |
| Who, whenever they find things done no better than should be, | 14 | ·˘/˘·····/˘··· |
| Come to me outcrying all:--"Door, the default is thine own!" | 14 | ···/·˘···˘/··· |
| This be never enough for thee one-worded to utter, | 13 | ··/˘/···/˘·/˘ |
| But in such way to deal, each and all sense it and see. | 13 | ············· |
| First let me note that the maid to us committed (assert they) | 15 | ·········˘/˘˘/· |
| Was but a fraud: her mate never a touch of her had, | 12 | ······/····· |
| But that a father durst dishonour the bed of his firstborn, | 15 | ···/˘·˘/˘····// |
| Folk all swear, and the house hapless with incest bewray; | 13 | ······/˘·/·˘/ |
| Or that his impious mind was blunt with fiery passion | 14 | ···˘/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Or that his impotent son sprang from incapable seed. | 12 | ···/˘···˘/˘· |
| And to be sought was one with nerve more nervous endowed, | 13 | ·········/˘˘/ |
| Who could better avail zone of the virgin to loose. | 13 | ··/˘˘/···/˘·· |
| 'Sooth, of egregious sire for piety wondrous, thou tellest, | 14 | ··˘/˘/·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Who in the heart of his son lief was ----! | 9 | ········· |
| Yet professed herself not only this to be knowing, | 12 | ·˘/˘/·/˘···/ |
| Brixia-town that lies under the Cycnean cliff, | 11 | ··········· |
| Traversed by Mella-stream's soft-flowing yellow-hued current, | 13 | ˘/·/˘··//˘·/˘ |
| Brixia, Verona's mother, I love for my home. | 12 | ··˘/˘/˘····· |
| Eke of Posthumius' loves and Cornelius too there be tattle, | 15 | ·······˘/˘···/˘ |
| With whom dared the dame evil advowtry commit. | 11 | ·····/···˘/ |
| Here might somebody ask:--"How, Door, hast mastered such matter? | 14 | ··/˘˘····/˘·/˘ |
| Thou that canst never avail threshold of owner to quit, | 13 | ···/˘//··/˘·· |
| Neither canst listen to folk since here fast fixt to the side-posts | 15 | /˘·/˘·········· |
| Only one office thou hast, shutting or opening the house." | 14 | /˘·/˘··/˘·/˘·· |
| Oft have I heard our dame in furtive murmurs o'er telling, | 14 | ····/··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| When with her handmaids alone, these her flagitious deeds, | 13 | ·····˘/··˘/˘· |
| Citing fore-cited names for that she never could fancy | 13 | /˘·/˘····/·/˘ |
| Ever a Door was endow'd either with earlet or tongue. | 13 | /···˘//˘·/˘·· |
| Further she noted a wight whose name in public to mention | 15 | /˘·/˘·····/˘·/˘ |
| Nill I, lest he upraise eyebrows of carroty hue; | 13 | ····˘//··/˘˘· |
| Long is the loon and large the law-suit brought they against him | 14 | ·············· |
| Touching a child-bed false, claim of a belly that lied. | 13 | /˘·······/˘·· |
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