Book IV: Ode VI: Dive, Quem Proles
Thou who didst make thy vengeful mightTo Niobe and Tityos known,And Peleus' son, when Troy's tall heightWas nigh his own,Victorious else, for thee no peer,Though, strong in his sea-parent's power,He shook with that tremendous spearThe Dardan tower.He, like a pine by axes sped,Or cypress sway'd by angry gust,Fell ruining, and laid his headIn Trojan dust.Not his to lie in covert pentOf the false steed, and sudden fallOn Priam's ill-starr'd merrimentIn bower and hall:His ruthless arm in broad bare dayThe infant from the breast had torn,Nay, given to flame, ah, well a way!The babe unborn:But, won by Venus' voice and thine,Relenting Jove Aeneas will'dWith other omens more benignNew walls to build.Sweet tuner of the Grecian lyre,Whose locks are laved in Xanthus' dews,Blooming Agyieus! help, inspireMy Daunian Muse!'Tis Phoebus, Phoebus gifts my tongueWith minstrel art and minstrel fires:Come, noble youths and maidens sprungFrom noble sires,Blest in your Dian's guardian smile,Whose shafts the flying silvans stay,Come, foot the Lesbian measure, whileThe lyre I play:Sing of Latona's glorious boy,Sing of night's queen with crescent horn,Who wings the fleeting months with joy,And swells the corn.And happy brides shall say, "'Twas mine,When years the cyclic season brought,To chant the festal hymn divineBy HORACE taught."
Words in this poem 18
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- vengeful a.
- Vindictive; retributive; revengeful.
- niobe n.
- The daughter of Tantalus, and wife of Amphion, king of Thebes.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- tremendous a.
- Fitted to excite fear or terror; such as may astonish or terrify by its magnitude, force, or violence; terrible; dreadful; as, a tremendous wind; a tremendous shower; a tremendous shock or fall. [L. tremendus that is to be trembled at, fearful, fr. tremere to tremble. See Tremble.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
- 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.]
- ruthless a.
- Having no ruth; cruel; pitiless.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- unborn a.
- Not born; no yet brought into life; being still to appear; future.
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- tuner n.
- One who tunes; especially, one whose occupation is to tune musical instruments.
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- lesbian a.
- Of or pertaining to the island anciently called Lesbos, now Mitylene, in the Grecian Archipelago.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- 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,]
- festal a.
- Of or pertaining to a holiday or a feast; joyous; festive. [L. festum holiday, feast. See feast.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: Ode VI: Dive, Quem Proles 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 VI: Dive, Quem Proles, in The Odes and Carmen Saeculare (1863), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5432, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/horace-odes/book-iv-ode-vi-dive-quem-proles.html, id L13987.
Form and metre
Book IV: Ode VI: Dive, Quem Proles is 44 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 34% 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJKLKLMNMNONO-PQPQRSRSTUTU mightA · knownB · heightA · ownB · peerC · powerD · spearC · towerD · spedE · gustF · headE · dustF · pentG · fallH · merrimentG · hallH · dayI · tornJ · wayI · unbornJ · thineK · will'dL · benignK · buildL · lyreM · dewsN · inspireM · museN · tongueO · firesN · sprungO · sires · smileP · stayQ · whileP · playQ · boyR · hornS · joyR · cornS · mineT · broughtU · divineT · taughtU
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou who didst make thy vengeful might | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To Niobe and Tityos known, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And Peleus' son, when Troy's tall height | 8 | ········ |
| Was nigh his own, | 4 | ···· |
| Victorious else, for thee no peer, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Though, strong in his sea-parent's power, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| He shook with that tremendous spear | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The Dardan tower. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| He, like a pine by axes sped, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or cypress sway'd by angry gust, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Fell ruining, and laid his head | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| In Trojan dust. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Not his to lie in covert pent | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of the false steed, and sudden fall | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On Priam's ill-starr'd merriment | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| In bower and hall: | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| His ruthless arm in broad bare day | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The infant from the breast had torn, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nay, given to flame, ah, well a way! | 8 | ·/······ |
| The babe unborn: | 4 | ··// |
| But, won by Venus' voice and thine, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Relenting Jove Aeneas will'd | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| With other omens more benign | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| New walls to build. | 4 | ···· |
| Sweet tuner of the Grecian lyre, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whose locks are laved in Xanthus' dews, | 8 | ········ |
| Blooming Agyieus! help, inspire | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| My Daunian Muse! | 4 | ···· |
| 'Tis Phoebus, Phoebus gifts my tongue | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With minstrel art and minstrel fires: | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Come, noble youths and maidens sprung | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| From noble sires, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Blest in your Dian's guardian smile, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Whose shafts the flying silvans stay, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Come, foot the Lesbian measure, while | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The lyre I play: | 4 | ···· |
| Sing of Latona's glorious boy, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Sing of night's queen with crescent horn, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who wings the fleeting months with joy, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And swells the corn. | 4 | ···· |
| And happy brides shall say, "'Twas mine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When years the cyclic season brought, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To chant the festal hymn divine | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| By HORACE taught." | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.