Carmen XXXIX: On Egnatius of the White Teeth
Egnatius for that owns he teeth snow-white,Grins ever, everywhere. When placed a wightIn dock, when pleader would draw tears, the whileHe grins. When pious son at funeral pileMourns, or lone mother sobs for sole lost son,He grins. Whate'er, whene'er, howe'er is done,Of deed he grins. Such be his malady,Nor kind, nor courteous--so beseemeth me--Then take thou good Egnatius, rede of mine!Wert thou corrupt Sabine or a Tiburtine,Stuffed Umbrian or Tuscan overgrownSwarthy Lanuvian with his teeth-rows shown,Transpadan also, that mine own I touch,Or any washing teeth to shine o'er much,Yet thy incessant grin I would not see,For naught than laughter silly sillier be.Thou Celtiber art, in Celtiberia born,Where man who's urined therewith loves a-mornHis teeth and ruddy gums to scour and score;So the more polisht are your teeth, the moreArgue they sipping stale in ampler store.
Words in this poem
- 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]
- pleader n.
- One who pleads; one who argues for or against; an advotate. [F. plaideur.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- malady n.
- Any disease of the human body; a distemper, disorder, or indisposition, proceeding from impaired, defective, or morbid organic functions; especially, a lingering or deep-seated disorder. [F. maladie, fr. malade ill, sick, OF. also, malabde, fr. L. male habitus, i. e., ill-kept, not in good condition. See Malice, and Habit.]
- rede v. t.
- To advise or counsel. [See Read, v. t.]
- sabine a.
- Of or pertaining to the ancient Sabines, a people of Italy. [L. Sabinus.]
- grin n.
- A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
- therewith adv.
- With that or this.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen XXXIX: On Egnatius of the White Teeth 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 XXXIX: On Egnatius of the White Teeth, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-xxxix-on-egnatius-of-the-white-teeth.html, id L13822.
Form and metre
Carmen XXXIX: On Egnatius of the White Teeth is 21 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCC-D--EEFFDDGGHHH whiteA · wightA · whileB · pileB · sonC · doneC · malady · meD · mine · tiburtine · overgrownE · shownE · touchF · muchF · seeD · beD · bornG · mornG · scoreH · moreH · storeH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Egnatius for that owns he teeth snow-white, | 10 | ·········· |
| Grins ever, everywhere. When placed a wight | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| In dock, when pleader would draw tears, the while | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| He grins. When pious son at funeral pile | 10 | ···/··/˘˘· |
| Mourns, or lone mother sobs for sole lost son, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| He grins. Whate'er, whene'er, howe'er is done, | 12 | ··˘˘/······· |
| Of deed he grins. Such be his malady, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Nor kind, nor courteous--so beseemeth me-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Then take thou good Egnatius, rede of mine! | 10 | ·········· |
| Wert thou corrupt Sabine or a Tiburtine, | 11 | ··˘/˘/····· |
| Stuffed Umbrian or Tuscan overgrown | 10 | ·˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Swarthy Lanuvian with his teeth-rows shown, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Transpadan also, that mine own I touch, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or any washing teeth to shine o'er much, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Yet thy incessant grin I would not see, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| For naught than laughter silly sillier be. | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Thou Celtiber art, in Celtiberia born, | 11 | ··········· |
| Where man who's urined therewith loves a-morn | 10 | ···/˘˘/··· |
| His teeth and ruddy gums to scour and score; | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| So the more polisht are your teeth, the more | 10 | ·········· |
| Argue they sipping stale in ampler store. | 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.