Carmen LXX: On Woman's Inconstancy
Never, my woman oft says, with any of men will she mate be,Save wi' my own very self, ask her though Jupiter deign!Says she: but womanly words that are spoken to desireful loverOught to be written on wind or upon water that runs.
Words in this poem
- deign v. t.
- To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. [OE. deinen, deignen, OF. degner, deigner, daigner, F. daigner, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy, deign, fr. dignus worthy; akin to decere to be fitting. See Decent]
- desireful a.
- Filled with desire; eager.
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen LXX: On Woman's Inconstancy 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 LXX: On Woman's Inconstancy, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-lxx-on-woman-s-inconstancy.html, id L13851.
Form and metre
Carmen LXX: On Woman's Inconstancy is 4 lines in a single stanza. The lines average 14.8 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Never, my woman oft says, with any of men will she mate be, | 15 | /·/˘···/˘······ |
| Save wi' my own very self, ask her though Jupiter deign! | 13 | ····/˘····/˘· |
| Says she: but womanly words that are spoken to desireful lover | 17 | ···/˘˘···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Ought to be written on wind or upon water that runs. | 14 | ···/˘·····/˘·· |
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.