Book II: Ode I: Motum Ex Metello
The broils that from Metellus date,The secret springs, the dark intrigues,The freaks of Fortune, and the greatConfederate in disastrous leagues,And arms with uncleansed slaughter red,A work of danger and distrust,You treat, as one on fire should tread,Scarce hid by treacherous ashen crust.Let Tragedy's stern muse be muteAwhile; and when your order'd pageHas told Rome's tale, that buskin'd footAgain shall mount the Attic stage,Pollio, the pale defendant's shield,In deep debate the senate's stay,The hero of Dalmatic fieldBy Triumph crown'd with deathless bay.E'en now with trumpet's threatening blareYou thrill our ears; the clarion brays;The lightnings of the armour scareThe steed, and daunt the rider's gaze.Methinks I hear of leaders proudWith no uncomely dust distain'd,And all the world by conquest bow'd,And only Cato's soul unchain'd.Yes, Juno and the powers on highThat left their Afric to its doom,Have led the victors' progenyAs victims to Jugurtha's tomb.What field, by Latian blood-drops fed,Proclaims not the unnatural deedsIt buries, and the earthquake dreadWhose distant thunder shook the Medes?What gulf, what river has not seenThose sights of sorrow? nay, what seaHas Daunian carnage yet left green?What coast from Roman blood is free?But pause, gay Muse, nor leave your playAnother Cean dirge to sing;With me to Venus' bower away,And there attune a lighter string.
Words in this poem 19
- disastrous a.
- Full of unpropitious stellar influences; unpropitious; ill-boding. [Cf. F. désastreux. See Disaster.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- ashen a.
- Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- 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,]
- dalmatic n.
- A vestment with wide sleeves, and with two stripes, worn at Mass by deacons, and by bishops at pontifical Mass; -- imitated from a dress originally worn in Dalmatia. [LL. dalmatica: cf. F. dalmatique.]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- blare v. i.
- To sound loudly and somewhat harshly. [OE. blaren, bloren, to cry, woop; cf. G. plärren to bleat, D. blaren to bleat, cry, weep. Prob. an imitative word, but cf. also E. blast. Cf. Blore.]
- clarion n.
- A kind of trumpet, whose note is clear and shrill. [OE. clarioun, OF. clarion, F. clairon, LL. clario, claro; so called from its clear tone, fr. L. clarus clear. See Clear.]
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- scare v. t.
- To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm. [OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both perhaps akin to E. sheer ]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- daunt v. t.
- To overcome; to conquer. [OF. danter, F. dompter to tame, subdue, fr. L. domitare, v. intens. of domare to tame. See Tame.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- latian a.
- Belonging, or relating, to Latium, a country of ancient Italy.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- carnage n.
- Flesh of slain animals or men. [F. carnage, LL. carnaticum tribute of animals, flesh of animals, fr. L. caro, carnis, flesh. See Carnal.]
- dirge n.
- A piece of music of a mournful character, to accompany funeral rites; a funeral hymn. [Contraction of Lat. dirige, direct thou (imperative of dirigere), the first word of a funeral hymn (Lat. transl. of Psalm v. 8) beginning, "Dirige, Domine, in c]
- attune v. t.
- To tune or put in tune; to make melodious; to adjust, as one sound or musical instrument to another; as, to attune the voice to a harp. [Pref. ad- + tune.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: Ode I: Motum Ex Metello 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 II: Ode I: Motum Ex Metello, in The Odes and Carmen Saeculare (1863), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5432, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/horace-odes/book-ii-ode-i-motum-ex-metello.html, id L13934.
Form and metre
Book II: Ode I: Motum Ex Metello is 40 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 ABABCDCD-E-EFGFGHIHIJKJK-L-LMNMNOPOPQRQR dateA · intriguesB · greatA · leaguesB · redC · distrustD · treadC · crustD · mute · pageE · foot · stageE · shieldF · stayG · fieldF · bayG · blareH · braysI · scareH · gazeI · proudJ · distain'dK · bow'dJ · unchain'dK · high · doomL · progeny · tombL · fedM · deedsN · dreadM · medesN · seenO · seaP · greenO · freeP · playQ · singR · awayQ · stringR
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The broils that from Metellus date, | 8 | ········ |
| The secret springs, the dark intrigues, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The freaks of Fortune, and the great | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Confederate in disastrous leagues, | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And arms with uncleansed slaughter red, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A work of danger and distrust, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| You treat, as one on fire should tread, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Scarce hid by treacherous ashen crust. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Let Tragedy's stern muse be mute | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Awhile; and when your order'd page | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Has told Rome's tale, that buskin'd foot | 8 | ········ |
| Again shall mount the Attic stage, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Pollio, the pale defendant's shield, | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| In deep debate the senate's stay, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The hero of Dalmatic field | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By Triumph crown'd with deathless bay. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| E'en now with trumpet's threatening blare | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| You thrill our ears; the clarion brays; | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| The lightnings of the armour scare | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The steed, and daunt the rider's gaze. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Methinks I hear of leaders proud | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| With no uncomely dust distain'd, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And all the world by conquest bow'd, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And only Cato's soul unchain'd. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Yes, Juno and the powers on high | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| That left their Afric to its doom, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Have led the victors' progeny | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| As victims to Jugurtha's tomb. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| What field, by Latian blood-drops fed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Proclaims not the unnatural deeds | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| It buries, and the earthquake dread | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Whose distant thunder shook the Medes? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| What gulf, what river has not seen | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Those sights of sorrow? nay, what sea | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Has Daunian carnage yet left green? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What coast from Roman blood is free? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But pause, gay Muse, nor leave your play | 8 | ········ |
| Another Cean dirge to sing; | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| With me to Venus' bower away, | 8 | ···/˘/˘/ |
| And there attune a lighter string. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
Notes from the edition 1
John Conington's own notes to his translation of the Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace (3rd ed.; Project Gutenberg #5432).
- Line 21 Methinks I hear of leaders proud. Horace supposes himself to hear not the leaders themselves, but Pollio's recitation of their exploits. There is nothing weak in this, as Orelli thinks. Horace has not seen Pollio's work, but compliments him by saying that he can imagine what its finest passages will be like--"I can fancy how you will glow in your description of the great generals, and of Cato." Possibly "Non indecoro pulvere sordidos" may refer to the deaths of the republican generals, whom old recollections would lead Horace to admire. We may then compare Ode 7 of this Book, v. 11-- "Cum fracta virtus, et minaces Turpe solum tetigere mento," where, as will be seen, I agree with Ritter, against Orelli, in supposing death in battle rather than submission to be meant, though Horace, writing from a somewhat different point of view, has chosen there to speak of the vanquished as dying ingloriously.
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