Book I: Ode XXXVI: Et Thure, Et Fidibus
Bid the lyre and cittern play;Enkindle incense, shed the victim's gore;Heaven has watch'd o'er Numida,And brings him safe from far Hispania's shore.Now, returning, he bestowsOn each, dear comrade all the love he can;But to Lamia most he owes,By whose sweet side he grew from boy to man.Note we in our calendarThis festal day with whitest mark from Crete:Let it flow, the old wine-jar,And ply to Salian time your restless feet.Damalis tosses off her wine,But Bassus sure must prove her match to-night.Give us roses all to twine,And parsley green, and lilies deathly white.Every melting eye will restOn Damalis' lovely face; but none may partDamalis from our new-found guest;She clings, and clings, like ivy, round his heart.
Words in this poem
- enkindle v. t.
- To set on fire; to inflame; to kindle.
- lamia n.
- A monster capable of assuming a woman's form, who was said to devour human beings or suck their blood; a vampire; a sorceress; a with.
- festal a.
- Of or pertaining to a holiday or a feast; joyous; festive. [L. festum holiday, feast. See feast.]
- salian a.
- Denoting a tribe of Franks who established themselves early in the fourth century on the river Sala [now Yssel]; Salic.
- deathly a.
- Deadly; fatal; mortal; destructive.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book I: Ode XXXVI: Et Thure, Et Fidibus 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 XXXVI: Et Thure, Et Fidibus, in The Odes and Carmen Saeculare (1863), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5432, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/horace-odes/book-i-ode-xxxvi-et-thure-et-fidibus.html, id L13931.
Form and metre
Book I: Ode XXXVI: Et Thure, Et Fidibus is 20 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 1 line ends 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 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 -A-ABCBC-D-DEFEFGHGH play · goreA · numida · shoreA · bestowsB · canC · owesB · manC · calendar · creteD · jar · feetD · wineE · nightF · twineE · whiteF · restG · partH · guestG · heartH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bid the lyre and cittern play; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Enkindle incense, shed the victim's gore; | 10 | ˘/˘/···/˘· |
| Heaven has watch'd o'er Numida, | 8 | /˘······ |
| And brings him safe from far Hispania's shore. | 10 | ·········· |
| Now, returning, he bestows | 7 | ·˘/˘·˘/ |
| On each, dear comrade all the love he can; | 10 | ···/······ |
| But to Lamia most he owes, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| By whose sweet side he grew from boy to man. | 10 | ·········· |
| Note we in our calendar | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| This festal day with whitest mark from Crete: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Let it flow, the old wine-jar, | 7 | ······· |
| And ply to Salian time your restless feet. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Damalis tosses off her wine, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But Bassus sure must prove her match to-night. | 10 | ·········· |
| Give us roses all to twine, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And parsley green, and lilies deathly white. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Every melting eye will rest | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| On Damalis' lovely face; but none may part | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Damalis from our new-found guest; | 8 | ····/··· |
| She clings, and clings, like ivy, round his heart. | 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.