Carmen X: He Meets Varus and Mistress
Led me my Varus to his flame,As I from Forum idling came.Forthright some whorelet judged I itNor lacking looks nor wanting wit,When hied we thither, mid us threeFell various talk, as how might beBithynia now, and how it fared,And if some coin I made or spared."There was no cause" (I soothly said)"The Praetors or the Cohort madeThence to return with oilier head;The more when ruled by ----Praetor, as pile the Cohort rating."Quoth they, "But certes as 'twas thereThe custom rose, some men to bearLitter thou boughtest?" I to herTo seem but richer, wealthier,Cry, "Nay, with me 'twas not so illThat, given the Province suffered, stillEight stiff-backed loons I could not buy.'(Withal none here nor there owned IWho broken leg of Couch outwornOn nape of neck had ever borne!)Then she, as pathic piece became,"Prithee Catullus mine, those sameLend me, Serapis-wards I'd hie.""Easy, on no-wise, no," quoth I,"Whate'er was mine, I lately saidIs some mistake, my camaradeOne Cinna--Gaius--bought the lot,But his or mine, it matters what?I use it freely as though bought,Yet thou, pert troubler, most absurd,None suffer'st speak an idle word."
Words in this poem
- varus n.
- A deformity in which the foot is turned inward. See Talipes.
- forum n.
- A market place or public place in Rome, where causes were judicially tried, and orations delivered to the people. [L.; akin to foris, foras, out of doors. See Foreign.]
- forthright adv.
- Straight forward; in a straight direction. Sir P. [Forth, adv. + right, adv.]
- soothly adv.
- In truth; truly; really; verily.
- cohort n.
- A body of about five or six hundred soldiers; the tenth part of a legion. [L. cohors, prop. an inclosure: cf. F. cohorte. See Court, n.]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- certes adv.
- Certainly; in truth; verily. [F. certes, for à certes, fr. L. certus. See Certain.]
- withal adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- pathic n.
- A male who submits to the crime against nature; a catamite.
- prithee interj.
- A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used without I.
- troubler n.
- One who troubles or disturbs; one who afflicts or molests; a disturber; as, a troubler of the peace.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen X: He Meets Varus and Mistress 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 X: He Meets Varus and Mistress, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-x-he-meets-varus-and-mistress.html, id L13793.
Form and metre
Carmen X: He Meets Varus and Mistress is 34 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABBCCDDE-E--FF--GGHHIIJJ----K-KLL flameA · cameA · itB · witB · threeC · beC · faredD · sparedD · saidE · made · headE · by · rating · thereF · bearF · her · wealthier · illG · stillG · buyH · iH · outwornI · borneI · becameJ · sameJ · hie · i · said · camarade · lotK · what · boughtK · absurdL · wordL
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Led me my Varus to his flame, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As I from Forum idling came. | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| Forthright some whorelet judged I it | 10 | //·····˘·· |
| Nor lacking looks nor wanting wit, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When hied we thither, mid us three | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Fell various talk, as how might be | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Bithynia now, and how it fared, | 9 | ········˘ |
| And if some coin I made or spared. | 9 | ········˘ |
| "There was no cause" (I soothly said) | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "The Praetors or the Cohort made | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thence to return with oilier head; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The more when ruled by ---- | 5 | ····· |
| Praetor, as pile the Cohort rating." | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| Quoth they, "But certes as 'twas there | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The custom rose, some men to bear | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Litter thou boughtest?" I to her | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| To seem but richer, wealthier, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Cry, "Nay, with me 'twas not so ill | 8 | ········ |
| That, given the Province suffered, still | 10 | ·/˘·/˘/˘˘· |
| Eight stiff-backed loons I could not buy.' | 9 | ···˘····· |
| (Withal none here nor there owned I | 9 | ˘/·····˘· |
| Who broken leg of Couch outworn | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On nape of neck had ever borne!) | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then she, as pathic piece became, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| "Prithee Catullus mine, those same | 8 | /˘······ |
| Lend me, Serapis-wards I'd hie." | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| "Easy, on no-wise, no," quoth I, | 8 | /˘······ |
| "Whate'er was mine, I lately said | 9 | ˘˘/···/˘· |
| Is some mistake, my camarade | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| One Cinna--Gaius--bought the lot, | 7 | ······· |
| But his or mine, it matters what? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I use it freely as though bought, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet thou, pert troubler, most absurd, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| None suffer'st speak an idle word." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.