Carmen XXIII: To Furius Satirically Praising His Poverty
Furius! Nor chest, nor slaves can claim,Bug, Spider, nor e'en hearth aflame,Yet thine a sire and step-dame whoWi' tooth can ever flint-food chew!So thou, and pleasant happy lifeLead wi' thy parent's wooden wife.Nor this be marvel: hale are all,Well ye digest; no fears appalFor household-arsons, heavy ruin,Plunderings impious, poison-brewin'Or other parlous case forlorn.Your frames are hard and dried like horn,Or if more arid aught ye know,By suns and frosts and hunger-throe.Then why not happy as thou'rt hale?Sweat's strange to thee, spit fails, and failPhlegm and foul snivel from the nose.Add cleanness that aye cleanlier showsA bum than salt-pot cleanlier,Nor ten times cack'st in total year,And harder 'tis than pebble or beanWhich rubbed in hand or crumbled, e'enOn finger ne'er shall make unclean.Such blessings (Furius!) such a prizeNever belittle nor despise;Hundred sesterces seek no moreWith wonted prayer--enow's thy store!
Words in this poem
- aflame adv.
- Inflames; glowing with light or passion; ablaze. G. Eliot. [Pref. a- + flame.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- 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]
- parlous a.
- Attended with peril; dangerous; as, a parlous cough. [For perlous, a contr. fr. perilous.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- snivel v. i.
- To run at the nose; to make a snuffling noise. [OE. snivelen, snevelen, snuvelen, freg. of sneven. See Sniff, and cf. Snuffle.]
- cleanness n.
- The state or quality of being clean. [AS. cl. See Clean.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- belittle v. t.
- To make little or less in a moral sense; to speak of in a depreciatory or contemptuous way. T. Jefferson.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- wonted a.
- Accustomed; customary; usual.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen XXIII: To Furius Satirically Praising His Poverty 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 XXIII: To Furius Satirically Praising His Poverty, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-xxiii-to-furius-satirically-praising-his-poverty.html, id L13806.
Form and metre
Carmen XXIII: To Furius Satirically Praising His Poverty is 27 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCC--DDEEFFGGHHIIJJJKKLL claimA · aflameA · whoB · chewB · lifeC · wifeC · all · appal · ruinD · brewinD · forlornE · hornE · knowF · throeF · haleG · failG · noseH · showsH · cleanlierI · yearI · beanJ · e'enJ · uncleanJ · prizeK · despiseK · moreL · storeL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Furius! Nor chest, nor slaves can claim, | 8 | ········ |
| Bug, Spider, nor e'en hearth aflame, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Yet thine a sire and step-dame who | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Wi' tooth can ever flint-food chew! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So thou, and pleasant happy life | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Lead wi' thy parent's wooden wife. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Nor this be marvel: hale are all, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Well ye digest; no fears appal | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| For household-arsons, heavy ruin, | 9 | ·/·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Plunderings impious, poison-brewin' | 10 | /˘˘˘/˘/˘·· |
| Or other parlous case forlorn. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Your frames are hard and dried like horn, | 8 | ········ |
| Or if more arid aught ye know, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| By suns and frosts and hunger-throe. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then why not happy as thou'rt hale? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sweat's strange to thee, spit fails, and fail | 8 | ········ |
| Phlegm and foul snivel from the nose. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Add cleanness that aye cleanlier shows | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A bum than salt-pot cleanlier, | 7 | ······· |
| Nor ten times cack'st in total year, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And harder 'tis than pebble or bean | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| Which rubbed in hand or crumbled, e'en | 10 | ··˘···/˘˘· |
| On finger ne'er shall make unclean. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Such blessings (Furius!) such a prize | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Never belittle nor despise; | 8 | /˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| Hundred sesterces seek no more | 9 | /˘˘······ |
| With wonted prayer--enow's thy store! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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