Book II: Ode XVII: Cur Me Querelis
Why rend my heart with that sad sigh?It cannot please the gods or meThat you, Maecenas, first should die,My pillar of prosperity.Ah! should I lose one half my soulUntimely, can the other stayBehind it? Life that is not whole,Is THAT as sweet? The self-same dayShall crush us twain; no idle oathHas Horace sworn; whene'er you go,We both will travel, travel bothThe last dark journey down below.No, not Chimaera's fiery breath,Nor Gyas, could he rise again,Shall part us; Justice, strong as death,So wills it; so the Fates ordain.Whether 'twas Libra saw me bornOr angry Scorpio, lord malignOf natal hour, or Capricorn,The tyrant of the western brine,Our planets sure with concord strangeAre blended. You by Jove's blest powerWere snatch'd from out the baleful rangeOf Saturn, and the evil hourWas stay'd, when rapturous benches fullThree times the auspicious thunder peal'd;Me the curst trunk, that smote my skull,Had slain; but Faunus, strong to shieldThe friends of Mercury, check'd the blowIn mid descent. Be sure to payThe victims and the fane you owe;Your bard a humbler lamb will slay.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- natal a.
- Of or pertaining to one's birth; accompying or dating from one's birth; native. [L. natalis, fr. natus, p.p. of nasci to be born: cf. F. natal. See Nation, and cf. Noel.]
- capricorn n.
- The tenth sign of zodiac, into which the sun enters at the winter solstice, about December 21. See Tropic. [L. capricornus; caper goat + cornu horn: cf. F. capricorne.]
- curst a.
- Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- humbler n.
- One who, or that which, humbles some one.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: Ode XVII: Cur Me Querelis 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 XVII: Cur Me Querelis, in The Odes and Carmen Saeculare (1863), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5432, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/horace-odes/book-ii-ode-xvii-cur-me-querelis.html, id L13949.
Form and metre
Book II: Ode XVII: Cur Me Querelis is 32 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% 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 AAA-BCBCDEDEF-F-GHGHIJIJ-K-KLMLM sighA · meA · dieA · prosperity · soulB · stayC · wholeB · dayC · oathD · goE · bothD · belowE · breathF · again · deathF · ordain · bornG · malignH · capricornG · brineH · strangeI · powerJ · rangeI · hourJ · full · peal'dK · skull · shieldK · blowL · payM · oweL · slayM
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Why rend my heart with that sad sigh? | 8 | ········ |
| It cannot please the gods or me | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That you, Maecenas, first should die, | 8 | ········ |
| My pillar of prosperity. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Ah! should I lose one half my soul | 8 | ········ |
| Untimely, can the other stay | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Behind it? Life that is not whole, | 8 | ········ |
| Is THAT as sweet? The self-same day | 8 | ········ |
| Shall crush us twain; no idle oath | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Has Horace sworn; whene'er you go, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| We both will travel, travel both | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The last dark journey down below. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No, not Chimaera's fiery breath, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor Gyas, could he rise again, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Shall part us; Justice, strong as death, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So wills it; so the Fates ordain. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Whether 'twas Libra saw me born | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or angry Scorpio, lord malign | 9 | ·/˘/˘··˘/ |
| Of natal hour, or Capricorn, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| The tyrant of the western brine, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Our planets sure with concord strange | 8 | //˘··/˘· |
| Are blended. You by Jove's blest power | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Were snatch'd from out the baleful range | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of Saturn, and the evil hour | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Was stay'd, when rapturous benches full | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Three times the auspicious thunder peal'd; | 9 | ···˘/˘/˘· |
| Me the curst trunk, that smote my skull, | 8 | ········ |
| Had slain; but Faunus, strong to shield | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The friends of Mercury, check'd the blow | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In mid descent. Be sure to pay | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The victims and the fane you owe; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your bard a humbler lamb will slay. | 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.