Carmen XLIV: Catullus to His Own Farm
O Farm our own, Sabine or Tiburtine,(For style thee "Tiburs" who have not at heartTo hurt Catullus, whereas all that haveWage any wager thou be Sabine classed)But whether Sabine or of Tiburs truerTo thy suburban Cottage fared I fainAnd fro' my bronchials drave that cursed coughWhich not unmerited on me my maw,A-seeking sumptuous banquetings, bestowed.For I requesting to be Sestius' guestRead against claimant Antius a speech,Full-filled with poisonous pestilential trash.Hence a grave frigid rheum and frequent coughShook me till fled I to thy bosom, whereRepose and nettle-broth healed all my ills.Wherefore recruited now best thanks I giveTo thee for nowise punishing my sins:Nor do I now object if noisome writsOf Sestius hear I, but that cold and coughAnd rheum may plague, not me, but Sestius' selfWho asks me only his ill writs to read.
Words in this poem
- sabine a.
- Of or pertaining to the ancient Sabines, a people of Italy. [L. Sabinus.]
- whereas adv.
- At which place; where.
- wage v. i.
- To bind one's self; to engage.
- suburban a.
- Of or pertaining to suburbs; inhabiting, or being in, the suburbs of a city. [L. suburbanus.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- drave
- , old imp. of Drive.
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- claimant n.
- One who claims; one who asserts a right or title; a claimer. [Cf. OF. clamant, p. pr. of clamer. Cf.Clamant.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- nowise adv.
- Not in any manner or degree; in no way; noways. [For in no wise. See Wise, n.]
- noisome a.
- Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome; insalubrious; destructive; as, noisome effluvia. [For noysome, fr. noy for annoy. See Annoy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen XLIV: Catullus to His Own Farm 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 XLIV: Catullus to His Own Farm, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-xliv-catullus-to-his-own-farm.html, id L13827.
Form and metre
Carmen XLIV: Catullus to His Own Farm is 21 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 81%). 89% 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. 57% 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-----A-----A-- tiburtine · heart · have · classed · truer · fain · coughA · maw · bestowed · guest · speech · trash · coughA · where · ills · give · sins · writs · coughA · self · read
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O Farm our own, Sabine or Tiburtine, | 10 | ··/·˘/···· |
| (For style thee "Tiburs" who have not at heart | 10 | ·········· |
| To hurt Catullus, whereas all that have | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
| Wage any wager thou be Sabine classed) | 10 | ·/˘/˘··˘/· |
| But whether Sabine or of Tiburs truer | 11 | ···˘/····/˘ |
| To thy suburban Cottage fared I fain | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| And fro' my bronchials drave that cursed cough | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Which not unmerited on me my maw, | 10 | ·········· |
| A-seeking sumptuous banquetings, bestowed. | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| For I requesting to be Sestius' guest | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Read against claimant Antius a speech, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Full-filled with poisonous pestilential trash. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Hence a grave frigid rheum and frequent cough | 11 | ···/˘/˘·/·· |
| Shook me till fled I to thy bosom, where | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Repose and nettle-broth healed all my ills. | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Wherefore recruited now best thanks I give | 10 | /˘˘/˘····· |
| To thee for nowise punishing my sins: | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Nor do I now object if noisome writs | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Of Sestius hear I, but that cold and cough | 10 | ·········· |
| And rheum may plague, not me, but Sestius' self | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Who asks me only his ill writs to read. | 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.