Carmen XXXV: An Invitation to Poet Cecilius
Now to that tender bard, my Comrade fair,(Cecilius) say I, "Paper go, declare,Verona must we make and bid to NewComum's town-walls and Larian Shores adieu;"For I determined certain fancies heAccept from mutual friend to him and me.Wherefore he will, if wise, devour the way,Though the blonde damsel thousand times essayRecall his going and with arms a-neckA-winding would e'er seek his course to check;A girl who (if the truth be truly told)Dies of a hopeless passion uncontroul'd;For since the doings of the Dindymus-dame,By himself storied, she hath read, a flameWasting her inmost marrow-core hath burned.I pardon thee, than Sapphic Muse more learn'd,Damsel: for truly sung in sweetest laysWas by Cecilius Magna Mater's praise.
Words in this poem
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- blonde a.
- Of a fair color; light-colored; as, blond hair; a blond complexion. [F., fair, light, of uncertain origin; cf. AS. blonden-feax gray-haired, old, prop. blended-haired, as a mixture of white and brown or black. See Blend, v. t.]
- damsel n.
- A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL]
- 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]
- storied a.
- Told in a story. [From Story.]
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- sapphic a.
- Of or pertaining to Sappho, the Grecian poetess; as, Sapphic odes; Sapphic verse.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carmen XXXV: An Invitation to Poet Cecilius 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 XXXV: An Invitation to Poet Cecilius, in The Carmina (1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #20732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/catullus-carmina/carmen-xxxv-an-invitation-to-poet-cecilius.html, id L13818.
Form and metre
Carmen XXXV: An Invitation to Poet Cecilius is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 33% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII fairA · declareA · newB · adieuB · heC · meC · wayD · essayD · neckE · checkE · toldF · uncontroul'dF · dameG · flameG · burnedH · learn'dH · laysI · praiseI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now to that tender bard, my Comrade fair, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| (Cecilius) say I, "Paper go, declare, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Verona must we make and bid to New | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Comum's town-walls and Larian Shores adieu;" | 10 | ········˘/ |
| For I determined certain fancies he | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Accept from mutual friend to him and me. | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Wherefore he will, if wise, devour the way, | 10 | /˘····˘/·· |
| Though the blonde damsel thousand times essay | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Recall his going and with arms a-neck | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| A-winding would e'er seek his course to check; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A girl who (if the truth be truly told) | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Dies of a hopeless passion uncontroul'd; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| For since the doings of the Dindymus-dame, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| By himself storied, she hath read, a flame | 10 | ·˘//˘····· |
| Wasting her inmost marrow-core hath burned. | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| I pardon thee, than Sapphic Muse more learn'd, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Damsel: for truly sung in sweetest lays | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Was by Cecilius Magna Mater's praise. | 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.