Carmen XXIX: To Caesar of Mamurra, Called Mentula
Who e'er could witness this (who could endureExcept the lewdling, dicer, greedy-gut)That should Mamurra get what hairy GaulAnd all that farthest Britons held whilome?(Thou bardache Romulus!) this wilt see and bear?Then art a lewdling, dicer, greedy-gut! 5bHe now superb with pride superfluousShall go perambulate the bedrooms allLike white-robed dovelet or Adonis-love.Romulus thou bardache! this wilt see and bear?Then art a lewdling, dicer, greedy-gut!Is't for such like name, sole Emperor thou!Thou soughtest extreme Occidental Isle?That this your ---- MentulaMillions and Milliards might at will absorb?What is't but Liberality misplaced?What trifles wasted he, small heirlooms spent?First his paternal goods were clean dispersed;Second went Pontus' spoils and for the third,--Ebro-land,--weets it well gold-rolling Tage.Fear him the Gallias? Him the Britons' fear?Why cherish this ill-wight? what 'vails he do?Save fat paternal heritage devour?Lost ye for such a name, O puissant pair(Father and Son-in-law), our all-in-all?
Words in this poem
- dicer n.
- A player at dice; a dice player; a gamester.
- superb a.
- Grand; magnificent; august; stately; as, a superb edifice; a superb colonnade. [F. superbe, L. superbus, fr. super over. See Super-.]
- 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,]
- dovelet n.
- A young or small dove. Booth.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- heritage a.
- That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
- puissant a.
- Powerful; strong; mighty; forcible; as, a puissant prince or empire. [F., originally, a p. pr. formed fr. L. posse to be able: cf. L. potens powerful. See Potent.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen XXIX: To Caesar of Mamurra, Called Mentula 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 XXIX: To Caesar of Mamurra, Called Mentula, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-xxix-to-caesar-of-mamurra-called-mentula.html, id L13812.
Form and metre
Carmen XXIX: To Caesar of Mamurra, Called Mentula is 25 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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 -AB-C--B-CA---------C--CB endure · gutA · gaulB · whilome · bearC · — · superfluous · allB · love · bearC · gutA · thou · isle · mentula · absorb · misplaced · spent · dispersed · third · tage · fearC · do · devour · pairC · allB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who e'er could witness this (who could endure | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Except the lewdling, dicer, greedy-gut) | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| That should Mamurra get what hairy Gaul | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And all that farthest Britons held whilome? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| (Thou bardache Romulus!) this wilt see and bear? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Then art a lewdling, dicer, greedy-gut! 5b | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| He now superb with pride superfluous | 9 | ··˘/··/˘· |
| Shall go perambulate the bedrooms all | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/·· |
| Like white-robed dovelet or Adonis-love. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Romulus thou bardache! this wilt see and bear? | 10 | /˘········ |
| Then art a lewdling, dicer, greedy-gut! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Is't for such like name, sole Emperor thou! | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Thou soughtest extreme Occidental Isle? | 10 | ·/˘˘/·˘/˘· |
| That this your ---- Mentula | 6 | ······ |
| Millions and Milliards might at will absorb? | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| What is't but Liberality misplaced? | 10 | ····˘/˘˘˘/ |
| What trifles wasted he, small heirlooms spent? | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| First his paternal goods were clean dispersed; | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Second went Pontus' spoils and for the third,-- | 10 | /˘········ |
| Ebro-land,--weets it well gold-rolling Tage. | 10 | /······/˘· |
| Fear him the Gallias? Him the Britons' fear? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Why cherish this ill-wight? what 'vails he do? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Save fat paternal heritage devour? | 11 | ··˘/˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Lost ye for such a name, O puissant pair | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| (Father and Son-in-law), our all-in-all? | 10 | /˘····/··· |
Notes from the edition 3
Leonard C. Smithers's explanatory and illustrative notes to the Burton/Smithers translation of the Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus (1894; Project Gutenberg #20732), keyed "Carmen N, v. N" to the Latin verse.
- Line 5 Cinaede Romule. The epithet is here applied in its grossest sense, which again is implied in the allusion to the spoil of Pontus; for this, as Vossius proves, can only be understood to mean the wealth obtained by Caesar, when a young man, through his infamous relations with Nicomedes, king of Pontus--as witness two lines sung by Caesar's own soldiers on the occasion of his triumph: Ecce Caesar nunc triumphat, qui subegit Galliam; Nicomedes non triumphat, qui subegit Caesarem.
- Line 14 Defututa Mentula = a worn-out voluptuary. Mentula is a cant term which Catullus frequently uses for a libidinous person, and particularly for Mamurra.
- Line 25 Pompey married Caesar's daughter, Julia, and is commonly supposed to be the "son-in-law" here meant; but Vossius argues with some force, that socer and gener apply, not to Caesar and Pompey, but to Caesar and Mamurra. Those words, and the corresponding terms in Greek, were often used in an unnatural sense, as for instance in an epigram on Noctuinus, attributed to Calvus, in which occurs this very line, Gener socerque perdidistis omnia.
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