Book II: Ode XIX: Bacchum in Remotis
Bacchus I saw in mountain gladesRetired (believe it, after years!)Teaching his strains to Dryad maids,While goat-hoof'd satyrs prick'd their ears.Evoe! my eyes with terror glare;My heart is revelling with the god;'Tis madness! Evoe! spare, O spare,Dread wielder of the ivied rod!Yes, I may sing the Thyiad crew,The stream of wine, the sparkling rillsThat run with milk, and honey-dewThat from the hollow trunk distils;And I may sing thy consort's crown,New set in heaven, and Pentheus' hallWith ruthless ruin thundering down,And proud Lycurgus' funeral.Thou turn'st the rivers, thou the sea;Thou, on far summits, moist with wine,Thy Bacchants' tresses harmlesslyDost knot with living serpent-twine.Thou, when the giants, threatening wrack,Were clambering up Jove's citadel,Didst hurl o'erweening Rhoetus back,In tooth and claw a lion fell.Who knew thy feats in dance and playDeem'd thee belike for war's rough gameUnmeet: but peace and battle-frayFound thee, their centre, still the same.Grim Cerberus wagg'd his tail to seeThy golden horn, nor dream'd of wrong,But gently fawning, follow'd thee,And lick'd thy feet with triple tongue.
Words in this poem
- dryad n.
- A wood nymph; a nymph whose life was bound up with that of her tree. [L. dryas, pl. dryades, Gr. Tree.]
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- wielder n.
- One who wields or employs; a manager; a controller.
- ivied a.
- Overgrown with ivy. [From Ivy.]
- ruthless a.
- Having no ruth; cruel; pitiless.
- thundering a.
- Emitting thunder.
- wrack n.
- Wreck; ruin; destruction. [OE. wrak wreck. See Wreck.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- belike adv.
- It is likely or probably; perhaps. -- Be*like"ly, adv. [Pref. be- (for by) + like.]
- unmeet a.
- Not meet or fit; not proper; unbecoming; unsuitable; -- usually followed by for.
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
- cerberus n.
- A monster, in the shape, of a three-headed dog, guarding the entrance into the infernal regions, Hence: Any vigilant custodian or guardian, esp. if surly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: Ode XIX: Bacchum in Remotis 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 XIX: Bacchum in Remotis, in The Odes and Carmen Saeculare (1863), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5432, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/horace-odes/book-ii-ode-xix-bacchum-in-remotis.html, id L13951.
Form and metre
Book II: Ode XIX: Bacchum in Remotis is 32 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGH-I-IJKJKLMLMN-N- gladesA · yearsB · maidsA · earsB · glareC · godD · spareC · rodD · crewE · rillsF · dewE · distilsF · crownG · hallH · downG · funeralH · sea · wineI · harmlessly · twineI · wrackJ · citadelK · backJ · fellK · playL · gameM · frayL · sameM · seeN · wrong · theeN · tongue
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bacchus I saw in mountain glades | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Retired (believe it, after years!) | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| Teaching his strains to Dryad maids, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| While goat-hoof'd satyrs prick'd their ears. | 8 | ········ |
| Evoe! my eyes with terror glare; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My heart is revelling with the god; | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| 'Tis madness! Evoe! spare, O spare, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Dread wielder of the ivied rod! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Yes, I may sing the Thyiad crew, | 7 | ······· |
| The stream of wine, the sparkling rills | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That run with milk, and honey-dew | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That from the hollow trunk distils; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And I may sing thy consort's crown, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| New set in heaven, and Pentheus' hall | 8 | ···/···· |
| With ruthless ruin thundering down, | 8 | ·/˘//˘˘· |
| And proud Lycurgus' funeral. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Thou turn'st the rivers, thou the sea; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thou, on far summits, moist with wine, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy Bacchants' tresses harmlessly | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Dost knot with living serpent-twine. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Thou, when the giants, threatening wrack, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Were clambering up Jove's citadel, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Didst hurl o'erweening Rhoetus back, | 8 | ········ |
| In tooth and claw a lion fell. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who knew thy feats in dance and play | 8 | ········ |
| Deem'd thee belike for war's rough game | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Unmeet: but peace and battle-fray | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Found thee, their centre, still the same. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Grim Cerberus wagg'd his tail to see | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Thy golden horn, nor dream'd of wrong, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But gently fawning, follow'd thee, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And lick'd thy feet with triple tongue. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.