Horace I, 13
When, Lydia, you (once fond and true,But now grown cold and supercilious)Praise Telly's charms of neck and arms--Well, by the dog! it makes me bilious!
Then, with despite, my cheeks wax white,My doddering brain gets weak and giddy,My eyes o'erflow with tears which showThat passion melts my vitals, Liddy!
Deny, false jade, your escapade,And, lo! your wounded shoulders show it!No manly spark left such a mark--(Leastwise he surely was no poet!)
With savage buss did TelephusAbraid your lips, so plump and mellow--As you would save what Venus gave,I charge you shun that awkward fellow!
And now I say thrice happy theyThat call on Hymen to requite 'em;For, though love cools, the wedded foolsMust cleave 'till death doth disunite 'em!
Words in this poem
- bilious a.
- Of or pertaining to the bile. [L. biliosus, fr. bilis bile.]
- vitals n.
- Organs that are necessary for life; more especially, the heart, lungs, and brain.
- escapade n.
- The fling of a horse, or ordinary kicking back of his heels; a gambol. [F., fr. Sp. escapada escape, fr. escapar to escape; or F., fr. It. scappata escape, escapade, fr. scappare to escape. see Escape.]
- leastwise adv.
- At least; at all events. At leastways, or At leastwise, at least. Fuller.
- buss n.
- A kiss; a rude or playful kiss; a smack. [OE. basse, fr. L. basium; cf. G. bus (Luther), Prov. G. busserl, dim. of bus kiss, bussen to kiss, Sw. puss kiss, pussa to kiss, W. & Gael. bus lip, mouth.]
- abraid v. t.
- To awake; to arouse; to stir or start up; also, to shout out. [OE. abraiden, to awake, draw (a sword), AS. abredgan to shake, draw; pref. a- (cf. Goth. us-, Ger. er-, orig. meaning out) + bregdan to shake, throw. See Braid.]
- hymen n.
- A fold of muscous membrane often found at the orifice of the vagina; the vaginal membrane.
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Horace I, 13 is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hoosier Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #36150; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, Horace I, 13, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/horace-i-13.html, id L11612.
Form and metre
Horace I, 13 is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 -A-A true · superciliousA · arms · biliousA
- 2 -A-A white · giddyA · show · liddyA
- 3 -A-A escapade · itA · mark · poetA
- 4 -A-A telephus · mellowA · gave · fellowA
- 5 -A-A they · emA · fools · emA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When, Lydia, you (once fond and true, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But now grown cold and supercilious) | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Praise Telly's charms of neck and arms-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Well, by the dog! it makes me bilious! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Then, with despite, my cheeks wax white, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| My doddering brain gets weak and giddy, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| My eyes o'erflow with tears which show | 8 | ········ |
| That passion melts my vitals, Liddy! | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Deny, false jade, your escapade, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And, lo! your wounded shoulders show it! | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| No manly spark left such a mark-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| (Leastwise he surely was no poet!) | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| With savage buss did Telephus | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Abraid your lips, so plump and mellow-- | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| As you would save what Venus gave, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I charge you shun that awkward fellow! | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And now I say thrice happy they | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That call on Hymen to requite 'em; | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| For, though love cools, the wedded fools | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Must cleave 'till death doth disunite 'em! | 9 | ········· |
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.