Book I: Ode IV: Solvitur Acris Hiems
The touch of Zephyr and of Spring has loosen'd Winter's thrall;The well-dried keels are wheel'd again to sea:The ploughman cares not for his fire, nor cattle for their stall,And frost no more is whitening all the lea.Now Cytherea leads the dance, the bright moon overhead;The Graces and the Nymphs, together knit,With rhythmic feet the meadow beat, while Vulcan, fiery red,Heats the Cyclopian forge in Aetna's pit.'Tis now the time to wreathe the brow with branch of myrtle green,Or flowers, just opening to the vernal breeze;Now Faunus claims his sacrifice among the shady treen,Lambkin or kidling, which soe'er he please.Pale Death, impartial, walks his round; he knocks at cottage-gateAnd palace-portal. Sestius, child of bliss!How should a mortal's hopes be long, when short his being's date?Lo here! the fabulous ghosts, the dark abyss,The void of the Plutonian hall, where soon as e'er you go,No more for you shall leap the auspicious dieTo seat you on the throne of wine; no more your breast shall glowFor Lycidas, the star of every eye.
Words in this poem
- zephyr n.
- The west wind; poetically, any soft, gentle breeze. [L. zephyrus, Gr. zéphyr.]
- keels n.
- Ninepins. See Kayles.
- ploughman n.
- One who plows, or who holds and guides a plow; hence, a husbandman. Chaucer.
- whitening n.
- The act or process of making or becoming white.
- rhythmic a.
- Pertaining to, or of the nature of, rhythm DAy and night I worked my rhythmic thought. Mrs. Browning. [Gr. rhythmicus, F. rhythmique.]
- treen a.
- Made of wood; wooden. [AS. treówen.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book I: Ode IV: Solvitur Acris Hiems is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Odes and Carmen Saeculare, Project Gutenberg ebook #5432, the John Conington 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: Horace, Book I: Ode IV: Solvitur Acris Hiems, in The Odes and Carmen Saeculare (1863), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5432, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/horace-odes/book-i-ode-iv-solvitur-acris-hiems.html, id L13900.
Form and metre
Book I: Ode IV: Solvitur Acris Hiems is 20 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJ. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.0 syllables. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJ thrallA · seaB · stallA · leaB · overheadC · knitD · redC · pitD · greenE · breezeF · treenE · pleaseF · gateG · blissH · dateG · abyssH · goI · dieJ · glowI · eyeJ
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The touch of Zephyr and of Spring has loosen'd Winter's thrall; | 14 | ···/˘····/˘/˘· |
| The well-dried keels are wheel'd again to sea: | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| The ploughman cares not for his fire, nor cattle for their stall, | 14 | ·······/·/˘··· |
| And frost no more is whitening all the lea. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Now Cytherea leads the dance, the bright moon overhead; | 14 | ··˘/˘······/˘/ |
| The Graces and the Nymphs, together knit, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| With rhythmic feet the meadow beat, while Vulcan, fiery red, | 14 | ·/˘··/···/˘/˘· |
| Heats the Cyclopian forge in Aetna's pit. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'Tis now the time to wreathe the brow with branch of myrtle green, | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| Or flowers, just opening to the vernal breeze; | 10 | ·/·/˘··/˘· |
| Now Faunus claims his sacrifice among the shady treen, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Lambkin or kidling, which soe'er he please. | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Pale Death, impartial, walks his round; he knocks at cottage-gate | 14 | ··˘/˘······/˘· |
| And palace-portal. Sestius, child of bliss! | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| How should a mortal's hopes be long, when short his being's date? | 14 | ···/˘······/˘· |
| Lo here! the fabulous ghosts, the dark abyss, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The void of the Plutonian hall, where soon as e'er you go, | 14 | ····˘/˘······· |
| No more for you shall leap the auspicious die | 11 | ·······˘/˘· |
| To seat you on the throne of wine; no more your breast shall glow | 14 | ·············· |
| For Lycidas, the star of every eye. | 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.