Carmen XVI: To Aurelius and Furius in Defence of His Muse's Honesty
I'll ---- you twain and ----Pathic Aurelius! Furius, libertines!Who durst determine from my versiclesWhich seem o'er softy, that I'm scant of shame.For pious poet it behoves be chasteHimself; no chastity his verses need;Nay, gain they finally more salt of witWhen over softy and of scanty shame,Apt for exciting somewhat prurient,In boys, I say not, but in bearded menWho fail of movements in their hardened loins.Ye who so many thousand kisses sungHave read, deny male masculant I be?You twain I'll ---- and ----
Words in this poem
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- pathic n.
- A male who submits to the crime against nature; a catamite.
- prurient a.
- Uneasy with desire; itching; especially, having a lascivious curiosity or propensity; lustful. [L. pruries, -entis, p. pr. of prurire to itch. Cf. Freeze.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen XVI: To Aurelius and Furius in Defence of His Muse's Honesty 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 XVI: To Aurelius and Furius in Defence of His Muse's Honesty, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-xvi-to-aurelius-and-furius-in-defence-of-his-muse-s-h.html, id L13799.
Form and metre
Carmen XVI: To Aurelius and Furius in Defence of His Muse's Honesty is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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--B---B-----A andA · libertines · versicles · shameB · chaste · need · wit · shameB · prurient · men · loins · sung · be · andA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I'll ---- you twain and ---- | 4 | ···· |
| Pathic Aurelius! Furius, libertines! | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Who durst determine from my versicles | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| Which seem o'er softy, that I'm scant of shame. | 10 | ·········· |
| For pious poet it behoves be chaste | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Himself; no chastity his verses need; | 10 | ˘/·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Nay, gain they finally more salt of wit | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| When over softy and of scanty shame, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Apt for exciting somewhat prurient, | 10 | ··˘/˘///˘˘ |
| In boys, I say not, but in bearded men | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Who fail of movements in their hardened loins. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Ye who so many thousand kisses sung | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Have read, deny male masculant I be? | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| You twain I'll ---- and ---- | 4 | ···· |
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.