Book IV: Ode I: Intermissa, Venus
Yet again thou wak'st the flameThat long had slumber'd! Spare me, Venus, spare!Trust me, I am not the sameAs in the reign of Cinara, kind and fair.Cease thy softening spells to proveOn this old heart, by fifty years made hard,Cruel Mother of sweet Love!Haste, where gay youth solicits thy regard.With thy purple cygnets flyTo Paullus' door, a seasonable guest;There within hold revelry,There light thy flame in that congenial breast.He, with birth and beauty graced,The trembling client's champion, ne'er tongue-tied,Master of each manly taste,Shall bear thy conquering banners far and wide.Let him smile in triumph gay,True heart, victorious over lavish hand,By the Alban lake that day'Neath citron roof all marble shalt thou stand:Incense there and fragrant spiceWith odorous fumes thy nostrils shall salute;Blended notes thine ear entice,The lyre, the pipe, the Berecyntine flute:Graceful youths and maidens brightShall twice a day thy tuneful praise resound,While their feet, so fair and white,In Salian measure three times beat the ground.I can relish love no more,Nor flattering hopes that tell me hearts are true,Nor the revel's loud uproar,Nor fresh-wreathed flowerets, bathed in vernal dew.Ah! but why, my Ligurine,Steal trickling tear-drops down my wasted cheek?Wherefore halts this tongue of mine,So eloquent once, so faltering now and weak?Now I hold you in my chain,And clasp you close, all in a nightly dream;Now, still dreaming, o'er the plainI chase you; now, ah cruel! down the stream.
Words in this poem
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- 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,]
- alban n.
- A white crystalline resinous substance extracted from gutta- percha by the action of alcohol or ether. [L. albus white.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- tuneful a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
- salian a.
- Denoting a tribe of Franks who established themselves early in the fourth century on the river Sala [now Yssel]; Salic.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- faltering a.
- Hesitating; trembling.
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: Ode I: Intermissa, Venus 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 IV: Ode I: Intermissa, Venus, in The Odes and Carmen Saeculare (1863), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5432, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/horace-odes/book-iv-ode-i-intermissa-venus.html, id L13982.
Form and metre
Book IV: Ode I: Intermissa, Venus is 40 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 2 lines end 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 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-EFGFGHIHIJKJKLMLMNONO-P-PQRQR flameA · spareB · sameA · fairB · proveC · hardD · loveC · regardD · fly · guestE · revelry · breastE · gracedF · tiedG · tasteF · wideG · gayH · handI · dayH · standI · spiceJ · saluteK · enticeJ · fluteK · brightL · resoundM · whiteL · groundM · moreN · trueO · uproarN · dewO · ligurine · cheekP · mine · weakP · chainQ · dreamR · plainQ · streamR
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Yet again thou wak'st the flame | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| That long had slumber'd! Spare me, Venus, spare! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Trust me, I am not the same | 7 | ······· |
| As in the reign of Cinara, kind and fair. | 11 | ··········· |
| Cease thy softening spells to prove | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| On this old heart, by fifty years made hard, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Cruel Mother of sweet Love! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Haste, where gay youth solicits thy regard. | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| With thy purple cygnets fly | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To Paullus' door, a seasonable guest; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There within hold revelry, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| There light thy flame in that congenial breast. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| He, with birth and beauty graced, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The trembling client's champion, ne'er tongue-tied, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Master of each manly taste, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Shall bear thy conquering banners far and wide. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Let him smile in triumph gay, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| True heart, victorious over lavish hand, | 9 | ··˘/˘·/˘· |
| By the Alban lake that day | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'Neath citron roof all marble shalt thou stand: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Incense there and fragrant spice | 7 | /···/˘· |
| With odorous fumes thy nostrils shall salute; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Blended notes thine ear entice, | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| The lyre, the pipe, the Berecyntine flute: | 10 | ·········· |
| Graceful youths and maidens bright | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Shall twice a day thy tuneful praise resound, | 10 | ·····/˘··/ |
| While their feet, so fair and white, | 7 | ······· |
| In Salian measure three times beat the ground. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| I can relish love no more, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Nor flattering hopes that tell me hearts are true, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Nor the revel's loud uproar, | 7 | ··/˘·/· |
| Nor fresh-wreathed flowerets, bathed in vernal dew. | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Ah! but why, my Ligurine, | 7 | ······· |
| Steal trickling tear-drops down my wasted cheek? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Wherefore halts this tongue of mine, | 7 | /˘····· |
| So eloquent once, so faltering now and weak? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Now I hold you in my chain, | 7 | ······· |
| And clasp you close, all in a nightly dream; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Now, still dreaming, o'er the plain | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I chase you; now, ah cruel! down the stream. | 9 | ·····/··· |
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.