Laurel · Persius · The Satires of Persius

Satire I

Persius (34–62) · 1821

iambic pentameter · heroic couplets · 255 lines · from The Satires of Persius

Alas, for man! how vain are all his cares!And oh! what bubbles, his most grave affairs!Tush! who will read such trite--Heavens! this to me?Not one, by Jove. Not one? Well, two, or three;Or rather--none: a piteous case, in truth!Why piteous? lest Polydamas, forsooth,And Troy's proud dames, pronounce my merits fallBeneath their Labeo's! I can bear it all.Nor should my friend, though still, as fashion sways,The purblind town conspire to sink or raise,Determine, as her wavering beam prevails,And trust his judgment to her coarser scales.O not abroad for vague opinion roam;The wise man's bosom is his proper home:And Rome is--What? Ah, might the truth be told!--And, sure it may, it must.--When I beholdWhat fond pursuits have formed our prime employ,Since first we dropped the playthings of the boy,To gray maturity, to this late hour,When every brow frowns with censorial power,Then, then--O yet suppress this carping mood.Impossible! I could not if I would;For nature framed me of satiric mould,And spleen, too petulant to be controlled.Immured within our studies, we compose;Some, shackled metre; some, free-footed prose;But all, bombast; stuff, which the breast may strain,And the huge lungs puff forth with awkward pain.'Tis done! and now the bard, elate and proud,Prepares a grand rehearsal for the crowd.Lo! he steps forth in birthday splendor bright,Combed and perfumed, and robed in dazzling white;And mounts the desk; his pliant throat he clears,And deals, insidious, round his wanton leers;While Rome's first nobles, by the prelude wrought,Watch, with indecent glee, each prurient thought,And squeal with rapture, as the luscious lineThrills through the marrow, and inflames the chine.Vile dotard! Canst thou thus consent to please!To pander for such itching fools as these!Fools--whose applause must shoot beyond thy aim,And tinge thy cheek, bronzed as it is, with shame!But wherefore have I learned, if, thus represt,The leaven still must swell within my breast?If the wild fig-tree, deeply rooted there,Must never burst its bounds, and shoot in air?Are these the fruits of study! these of age!O times, O manners--Thou misjudging sage,Is science only useful as 'tis shown,And is thy knowledge nothing, if not known?"But, sure, 'tis pleasant, as we walk, to seeThe pointed finger, hear the loud That's he,On every side:--and seems it, in your sight,So poor a trifle, that whate'er we writeIs introduced to every school of note,And taught the youth of quality by rote?--Nay, more! Our nobles, gorged, and swilled with wine,Call, o'er the banquet, for a lay divine.Here one, on whom the princely purple glows,Snuffles some musty legend through his nose;Slowly distills Hypsipyle's sad fate,And love-lorn Phillis, dying for her mate,With what of woeful else is said or sung;And trips up every word, with lisping tongue.The maudlin audience, from the couches round,Hum their assent, responsive to the sound.--And are not now the poet's ashes blest!Now lies the turf not lightly on his breast!They pause a moment--and again, the roomRings with his praise: now will not roses bloom,Now, from his relics, will not violets spring,And o'er his hallowed urn their fragrance fling!"You laugh ('tis answered), and too freely hereIndulge that vile propensity to sneer.Lives there, who would not at applause rejoice,And merit, if he could, the public voice?Who would not leave posterity such rhymes,As cedar oil might keep to latest times;Rhymes, which should fear no desperate grocer's hand,Nor fly with fish and spices through the land!Thou, my kind monitor, whoe'er thou art,Whom I suppose to play the opponent's part,Know--when I write, if chance some happier strain(And chance it needs must be) rewards my pain,Know, I can relish praise with genuine zest;Not mine the torpid, mine the unfeeling breast:But that I merely toil for this acclaim,And make these eulogies my end and aim,I must not, can not grant: for--sift them all,Mark well their value, and on what they fall:Are they not showered (to pass these trifles o'er)On Labeo's Iliad, drunk with hellebore?On princely love-lays driveled without thought,And the crude trash on citron couches wrought?You spread the table--'tis a master-stroke,And give the shivering guest a threadbare cloak,Then, while his heart with gratitude dilatesAt the glad vest and the delicious cates,Tell me, you cry--for truth is my delight,What says the Town of me, and what I write?He can not:--he has neither ears nor eyes.But shall I tell you, who your bribes despise?--Bald trifler! cease at once your thriftless trade;That mountain paunch for verse was never made.O Janus, happiest of thy happy kind!--No waggish stork can peck at thee behind:No tongue thrust forth, expose to passing jeers;No twinkling fingers, perked like ass's ears,Point to the vulgar mirth:--but you, ye Great,To a blind occiput condemned by fate,Prevent, while yet you may, the rabble's glee,And tremble at the scoff you can not see!--"What says the Town"--precisely what it ought:All you produce, sir, with such skill is wrought,That o'er the polished surface, far and wide,The critic nail without a jar must glide;Since every verse is drawn as straight and fineAs if one eye had fixed the ruddled line.--Whate'er the subject of his varied rhymes,The humors, passions, vices of the times;The pomp of nobles, barbarous pride of kings,All, all is great, and all inspired he sings!Lo! striplings, scarcely from the ferule freed,And smarting yet from Greek, with headlong speedRush on heroics; though devoid of skillTo paint the rustling grove, or purling rill;Or praise the country, robed in cheerful green,Where hogs, and hearths, and osier frails are seen,And happy hinds, who leap o'er smouldering hay,In honor, Pales, of thy sacred day.--Scenes of delight!--there Remus lived, and there,In grassy furrows Quinctius tired his share;Quinctius, on whom his wife, with trembling haste,The dictatorial robes, exulting, placed,Before his team; while homeward, with his plow,The lictors hurried--Good! a Homer, thou!There are, who hunt out antiquated lore;And never, but on musty authors, pore;These, Accius' jagged and knotty lines engage,And those, Pacuvius' hard and horny page;Where, in quaint tropes, Antiopa is seenTo--prop her dolorific heart with teen!O, when you mark the sire, to judgment blind,Commend such models to the infant mind,Forbear to wonder whence this olio sprung,This sputtering jargon which infests our tongue;This scandal of the times, which shocks my ear,And which our knights bound from their seats to hear!How monstrous seems it, that we can not plead,When called to answer for some felon deed,Nor danger from the trembling head repel,Without a wish for--Bravo! Vastly well!This Pedius is a thief, the accusers cry.You hear them, Pedius; now, for your reply?In terse antitheses he weighs the crime,Equals the pause, and balances the chime;And with such skill his flowery tropes employs,That the rapt audience scarce contain their joys.O charming! charming! he must sure prevail.THIS, charming! Can a Roman wag the tail?Were the wrecked mariner to chant his woe,Should I or sympathy or alms bestow?Sing you, when, in that tablet on your breast,I see your story to the life exprest;A shattered bark, dashed madly on the shore,And you, scarce floating, on a broken oar!--No, he must feel that would my pity share,And drop a natural, not a studied tear.But yet our numbers boast a grace unknownTo our rough sires, a smoothness all our own.True: the spruce metre in sweet cadence flows,And answering sounds a tuneful chime compose:Blue Nereus here, the Dolphin swift divides;And Idè there, sees Attin climb her sides:Nor this alone--for, in some happier line,We win the chine of the long Apennine!Arms and the man--Here, too, perhaps, you findA pithless branch beneath a fungous rind?Not so;--a seasoned trunk of many a day,Whose gross and watery parts are drawn away.But what, in fine (for still you jeer me), callFor the moist eye, bowed head, and lengthened drawl,What strains of genuine pathos?--O'er the hillThe dismal slug-horn sounded, loud and shrill,A Mimallonian blast: fired at the sound,In maddening groups the Bacchants pour around,Mangle the haughty calf with gory hands,And scourge the indocile lynx with ivy wands;While Echo lengthens out the barbarous yell,And propagates the din from cell to cell!O were not every spark of manly sense,Of pristine vigor quenched, or banished hence,Could this be borne! this cuckoo-spit of Rome,Which gathers round the lips in froth and foam!--The haughty calf, and Attin's jangling strain,Dropped, without effort, from the rheumy brain;No savor they of bleeding nails afford,Or desk, oft smitten for the happy word.But why must you, alone, displeased appear,And with harsh truths thus grate the tender ear?O yet beware! think of the closing gate!And dread the cold reception of the great:This currish humor you extend too far,While every word growls with that hateful gnar!Right! From this hour (for now my fault I see)All shall be charming--charming all, for me:What late seemed base, already looks divine,And wonders start to view in every line!Tis well, you cry: this spot let none defile,Or turn to purposes obscene and vile.Paint, then, two snakes entwined; and write around,Awed, I retire: and yet--when vice appeared,Lucilius o'er the town his falchion reared;On Lupus, Mutius, poured his rage by name,And broke his grinders on their bleeding fame.And yet--arch Horace, while he strove to mend,Probed all the foibles of his smiling friend;Played lightly round and round the peccant part,And won, unfelt, an entrance to his heart.Well skilled the follies of the crowd to trace,And sneer, with gay good humor in his face.And I!--I must not mutter? No; nor dare--Not to myself? No. To a ditch? Nowhere.Yes, here I'll dig--here, to sure trust confideThe secret which I would, but can not, hide.My darling book, a word;--"King Midas wears(These eyes beheld them, these!) such ass's ears!"--This quip of mine, which none must hear, or know,This fond conceit, which takes my fancy so,This nothing, if you will; you should not buyWith all those Iliads that you prize so high.But thou, whom Eupolis' impassioned page,Hostile to vice, inflames with kindred rage,Whom bold Cratinus, and that awful sire,Force, as thou readest, to tremble and admire;O, view my humbler labors:--there, if aughtMore highly finished, more maturely wrought,Detain thy ear, and give thy breast to glowWith warmth, responsive to the inspiring flow--I seek no farther:--Far from me the rest,Yes, far the wretch, who, with a low-born jest,Can mock the blind for blindness, and pursueWith vulgar ribaldry the Grecian shoe:Bursting with self-conceit, with pride elate,Because, forsooth, in magisterial state,His worship (ædile of some paltry town)Broke scanty weights, and put false measures down.Far too be he--the monstrous witty fool,Who turns the numeral scale to ridicule;Derides the problems traced in dust or sand,And treads out all Geometry has planned--Who roars outright to see Nonaria seize,And tug the cynic's beard--To such as theseI recommend, at morn, the Prætor's bill,At eve, Calirrhoë, or--what they will.

Words in this poem 87

tush interj.: An exclamation indicating check, rebuke, or contempt; as, tush, tush! do not speak of it.
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.]
forsooth v. t.: To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
censorial a.: Belonging to a censor, or to the correction of public morals.
carping a.: Fault-finding; censorious caviling. See Captious.
satiric a.: Of or pertaining to satire; of the nature of satire; as, a satiric style. [L. satiricus: cf. F. satirique.]
mould n.: Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
petulant a.: Forward; pert; insolent; wanton. Burton. [L. petulans, -antis, prop., making slight attacks upon, from a lost dim. of petere to fall upon, to attack: cf. F. pétulant. See Petition.]
elate a.: Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
insidious a.: Lying in wait; watching an opportunity to insnare or entrap; deceitful; sly; treacherous; -- said of persons; as, the insidious foe. [L. insidiosus, fr. insidiae an ambush, fr. insidere to sit in; pref. in- + sedere to sit: cf. F. insidieux. See Sit.]
glee n.: Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
prurient a.: Uneasy with desire; itching; especially, having a lascivious curiosity or propensity; lustful. [L. pruries, -entis, p. pr. of prurire to itch. Cf. Freeze.]
squeal v. i.: To cry with a sharp, shrill, prolonged sound, as certain animals do, indicating want, displeasure, or pain. [Of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. sqväla, Norw. skvella. Cf. Squeak, Squall.]
luscious a.: Sweet; delicious; very grateful to the taste; toothsome; excessively sweet or rich. [Prob. for lustious, fr. lusty, or perh. a corruption of luxurious. Cf. Lush, Lusty.]
wherefore adv.: For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
rote v. t.: To learn or repeat by rote.
gorged a.: Having a gorge or throat.
maudlin a.: Tearful; easily moved to tears; exciting to tears; excessively sentimental; weak and silly. [From Maudlin, a contr. of Magdalen, OE. Maudeleyne, who is drawn by painters with eyes swelled and red with weeping.]
responsive a.: That responds; ready or inclined to respond. [Cf. F. resposif.]
desperate a.: Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
needs adv.: Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
zest n.: A piece of orange or lemon peel, or the aromatic oil which may be squeezed from such peel, used to give flavor to liquor, etc. [F. zeste, probably fr. L. schistos split, cleft, divided, Gr. Schism.]
acclaim v. i.: To shout applause.
threadbare a.: Worn to the naked thread; having the nap worn off; threadbare clothes.
vest n.: An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
cates n.: Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. [Cf. Acates, and see Cater, 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,]
despise v. t.: To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
thriftless a.: Without thrift; not prudent or prosperous in money affairs.
paunch n.: The belly and its contents; the abdomen; also, the first stomach, or rumen, of ruminants. See Rumen. [OF. panch, pance, F. panse, L. pantex, panticis.]
waggish a.: Like a wag; mischievous in sport; roguish in merriment or good humor; frolicsome.
twinkling n.: The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
occiput n.: The back, or posterior, part of the head or skull; the region of the occipital bone. [L., fr. ob (see Ob-) + caput head. See Chief.]
ought p. p.: Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
ferule n.: A flat piece of wood, used for striking, children, esp. on the hand, in punishment. [L. ferula: cf. F. férule. See Ferula.]
purling n.: The motion of a small stream running among obstructions; also, the murmur it makes in so doing. [See 3d Purl.]
rill n.: A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
smouldering a.: Being in a state of suppressed activity; quiet but not dead.
dictatorial a.: Pertaining or suited to a dictator; absolute. [Cf. F. dictatorial.]
exulting a.: Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
homeward a.: Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
quaint a.: Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
dolorific a.: Causing pain or grief. Arbuthnot. [LL. dolorificus; L. dolor pain + facere to make.]
teen n.: Grief; sorrow; affiction; pain. Chaucer. [OE. tene, AS. teóna reproach, wrong, fr. teón to accuse; akin to G. zeihen, Goth. gateihan to tell, announce, L. dicere to say. See Token.]
sire n.: A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
olio n.: A dish of stewed meat of different kinds. [Sp. olla a round earthen pot, a dish of boiled or stewed meat, fr. L. olla a pot, dish. Cf. Olla, Olla-podrida.]
scandal n.: Offense caused or experienced; reproach or reprobation called forth by what is regarded as wrong, criminal, heinous, or flagrant: opprobrium or disgrace. [F. scandale, fr. L. scandalum, Gr. scandle, OF. escandle. See Slander.]
vastly adv.: To a vast extent or degree; very greatly; immensely. Jer.
terse a.: Appearing as if rubbed or wiped off; rubbed; smooth; polished. [L. tersus, p.p. of tergere to rub or wipe off.]
chime n.: The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
rapt n.: An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
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]
madly adv.: In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
tuneful a.: Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
apennine a.: Of, pertaining to, or designating, the Apennines, a chain of mountains extending through Italy. [L. Apenninus, fr. Celtic pen, or ben, peak, mountain.]
pithless a.: Destitute of pith, or of strength; feeble.
fungous a.: Of the nature of fungi; spongy. [L. fungosus: cf. F. fungueux.]
drawl v. t.: To utter in a slow, lengthened tone. [Prob. fr. draw: cf. D. dralen to linger, tarry, Icel. dralla to loiter. See Draw, and cf. Draggle.]
dismal a.: Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
haughty a.: High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
gory a.: Covered with gore or clotted blood. [From Gore.]
scourge n.: A lash; a strap or cord; especially, a lash used to inflict pain or punishment; an instrument of punishment or discipline; a whip. [F. escourgée, fr. L. excoriata (sc. scutica) a stripped off (lash or whip), fr. excoriate to strip, to skin. See Excoriate.]
indocile a.: Not teachable; indisposed to be taught, trained, or disciplined; not easily instructed or governed; dull; intractable. [L. indocilis: cf. F. indocile. See In- not, and Docile.]
jangling a.: Producing discordant sounds.
rheumy a.: Of or pertaining to rheum; abounding in, or causing, rheum; affected with rheum.
beware v. t.: To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
currish a.: Having the qualities, or exhibiting the characteristics, of a cur; snarling; quarrelsome; snappish; churlish; hence, also malicious; malignant; brutal. [From Cur.]
hateful a.: Manifesting hate or hatred; malignant; malevolent.
gnar n.: A knot or gnarl in wood; hence, a tough, thickset man; -- written also gnarr. [OE. knarre, gnarre, akin to OD. knor, G. knorren. Cf. Knar, Knur, Gnarl.]
falchion n.: A broad-bladed sword, slightly curved, shorter and lighter than the ordinary sword; -- used in the Middle Ages. [OE. fauchon, OF. fauchon, LL. fälcio, fr. L. falx, falcis, a sickle, cf. Gr. falcon; cf. It. falcione. Cf. Defalcation.]
lupus n.: A cutaneous disease occurring under two distinct forms. [L., a wolf. See Wolf.]
broke v. i.: To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
peccant n.: An offender. Whitlock.
nowhere adv.: Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
midas n.: A genus of longeared South American monkeys, including numerous species of marmosets. See Marmoset. [So called from L. Midas, a man fabled to have had ass's ears.]
quip n.: A smart, sarcastic turn or jest; a taunt; a severe retort; a gibe. [Cf. W. chwip a quick flirt or turn, chwipio to whip, to move briskly, and E. whip. Cf. Quib, Quibble.]
impassioned p. p.: Actuated or characterized by passion or zeal; showing warmth of feeling; ardent; animated; excited; as, an impassioned orator or discourse.
admire v. t.: To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
humbler n.: One who, or that which, humbles some one.
aught n.: Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
maturely adv.: In a mature manner; with ripeness; completely.
jest n.: A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
ribaldry n.: The talk of a ribald; low, vulgar language; indecency; obscenity; lewdness; -- now chiefly applied to indecent language, but formerly, as by Chaucer, also to indecent acts or conduct. [OE. ribaldrie, ribaudrie, OF. ribalderie, ribauderie.]
witty a.: Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
numeral a.: Of or pertaining to number; consisting of number or numerals. [L. numeralis, fr. numerus number: cf. F. numéral. See Number, n.]
outright adv.: Immediately; without delay; at once; as, he was killed outright.
morn n.: The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Satire I is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius Literally translated into English prose, with notes, chronological tables, arguments, &c., Project Gutenberg ebook #50657; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Persius, Satire I, in The Satires of Persius (1821), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #50657, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/persius-satires/satire-i.html, id L23624.

Form and metre

Satire I is 255 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 77% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).

See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.

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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ--KKLLMMNNOOPPQQ--RRSSTTUUVVWWXXYYZZaabbccddeeffgghhiijjkkllmmnnooppqq--rrss--ttuuvvwwxxyyzzAABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXXYYZZaabbccddee--ffgghhiijj--kkllmmnn--ooppqqrrsstt-uuvvwwxxyyzzAA--BBCCDD--EEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNN cares^A · affairs^A · me^B · three^B · truth^C · forsooth^C · fall^D · all^D · sways^E · raise^E · prevails^F · scales^F · roam^G · home^G · told^H · behold^H · employ^I · boy^I · hour^J · power^J · mood · would · mould^K · controlled^K · compose^L · prose^L · strain^M · pain^M · proud^N · crowd^N · bright^O · white^O · clears^P · leers^P · wrought^Q · thought^Q · line · chine · please^R · these^R · aim^S · shame^S · represt^T · breast^T · there^U · air^U · age^V · sage^V · shown^W · known^W · see^X · he^X · sight^Y · write^Y · note^Z · rote^Z · wine^a · divine^a · glows^b · nose^b · fate^c · mate^c · sung^d · tongue^d · round^e · sound^e · blest^f · breast^f · room^g · bloom^g · spring^h · fling^h · hereⁱ · sneerⁱ · rejoice^j · voice^j · rhymes^k · times^k · hand^l · land^l · art^m · part^m · strainⁿ · painⁿ · zest^o · breast^o · acclaim^p · aim^p · all^q · fall^q · o'er · hellebore · thought^r · wrought^r · stroke^s · cloak^s · dilates · cates · delight^t · write^t · eyes^u · despise^u · trade^v · made^v · kind^w · behind^w · jeers^x · ears^x · great^y · fate^y · glee^z · see^z · ought^A · wrought^A · wide^B · glide^B · fine^C · line^C · rhymes^D · times^D · kings^E · sings^E · freed^F · speed^F · skill^G · rill^G · green^H · seen^H · hay^I · day^I · there^J · share^J · haste^K · placed^K · plow^L · thou^L · lore^M · pore^M · engage^N · page^N · seen^O · teen^O · blind^P · mind^P · sprung^Q · tongue^Q · ear^R · hear^R · plead^S · deed^S · repel^T · well^T · cry^U · reply^U · crime^V · chime^V · employs^W · joys^W · prevail^X · tail^X · woe^Y · bestow^Y · breast^Z · exprest^Z · shore^a · oar^a · share^b · tear^b · unknown^c · own^c · flows^d · compose^d · divides^e · sides^e · line · apennine · find^f · rind^f · day^g · away^g · call^h · drawl^h · hillⁱ · shrillⁱ · sound^j · around^j · hands · wands · yell^k · cell^k · sense^l · hence^l · rome^m · foam^m · strainⁿ · brainⁿ · afford · word · appear^o · ear^o · gate^p · great^p · far^q · gnar^q · see^r · me^r · divine^s · line^s · defile^t · vile^t · around · appeared^u · reared^u · name^v · fame^v · mend^w · friend^w · part^x · heart^x · trace^y · face^y · dare^z · nowhere^z · confide^A · hide^A · wears · ears · know^B · so^B · buy^C · high^C · page^D · rage^D · sire · admire · aught^E · wrought^E · glow^F · flow^F · rest^G · jest^G · pursue^H · shoe^H · elate^I · state^I · town^J · down^J · fool^K · ridicule^K · sand^L · planned^L · seize^M · these^M · bill^N · will^N

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 pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Alas, for man! how vain are all his cares!	10	˘/········
And oh! what bubbles, his most grave affairs!	10	···/˘···˘/
Tush! who will read such trite--Heavens! this to me?	11	······/˘···
Not one, by Jove. Not one? Well, two, or three;	10	··········
Or rather--none: a piteous case, in truth!	11	·/˘··/˘˘···
Why piteous? lest Polydamas, forsooth,	11	·/˘˘·····˘/
And Troy's proud dames, pronounce my merits fall	10	····˘/·/˘·
Beneath their Labeo's! I can bear it all.	10	··········
Nor should my friend, though still, as fashion sways,	10	·······/˘·
The purblind town conspire to sink or raise,	10	·/˘·˘/····
Determine, as her wavering beam prevails,	10	˘/˘··/˘·˘/
And trust his judgment to her coarser scales.	10	···/˘··/˘·
O not abroad for vague opinion roam;	10	··˘/··˘/˘·
The wise man's bosom is his proper home:	10	···/˘··/˘·
And Rome is--What? Ah, might the truth be told!--	10	··········
And, sure it may, it must.--When I behold	10	········˘/
What fond pursuits have formed our prime employ,	10	··˘/··/·˘/
Since first we dropped the playthings of the boy,	10	·····/····
To gray maturity, to this late hour,	11	··˘/˘˘···/˘
When every brow frowns with censorial power,	11	·/˘···˘/˘˘/
Then, then--O yet suppress this carping mood.	10	····˘/·/˘·
Impossible! I could not if I would;	10	˘/˘˘······
For nature framed me of satiric mould,	10	·/˘···˘/˘·
And spleen, too petulant to be controlled.	10	···/˘˘··˘/
Immured within our studies, we compose;	10	····//˘·˘/
Some, shackled metre; some, free-footed prose;	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
But all, bombast; stuff, which the breast may strain,	10	··/˘······
And the huge lungs puff forth with awkward pain.	10	·······/˘·
'Tis done! and now the bard, elate and proud,	10	······˘/··
Prepares a grand rehearsal for the crowd.	10	˘/··˘/˘···
Lo! he steps forth in birthday splendor bright,	10	·····/·/˘·
Combed and perfumed, and robed in dazzling white;	10	··˘/···/˘·
And mounts the desk; his pliant throat he clears,	10	·····/˘···
And deals, insidious, round his wanton leers;	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
While Rome's first nobles, by the prelude wrought,	10	···/˘··/··
Watch, with indecent glee, each prurient thought,	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
And squeal with rapture, as the luscious line	10	···/˘··/˘·
Thrills through the marrow, and inflames the chine.	10	···/˘·˘/··
Vile dotard! Canst thou thus consent to please!	10	·/˘···˘/··
To pander for such itching fools as these!	10	·/˘··/˘···
Fools--whose applause must shoot beyond thy aim,	10	··˘/······
And tinge thy cheek, bronzed as it is, with shame!	10	··········
But wherefore have I learned, if, thus represt,	11	·/˘·····/˘˘
The leaven still must swell within my breast?	10	·/˘·······
If the wild fig-tree, deeply rooted there,	10	·····/˘/˘·
Must never burst its bounds, and shoot in air?	10	·/˘·······
Are these the fruits of study! these of age!	10	·····/˘···
O times, O manners--Thou misjudging sage,	10	···/˘·˘/˘·
Is science only useful as 'tis shown,	10	·/˘/˘/˘···
And is thy knowledge nothing, if not known?	10	···/˘/˘···
"But, sure, 'tis pleasant, as we walk, to see	10	···/˘·····
The pointed finger, hear the loud That's he,	10	·/˘/˘·····
On every side:--and seems it, in your sight,	10	·/˘·······
So poor a trifle, that whate'er we write	11	···/˘·˘˘/··
Is introduced to every school of note,	10	··˘/·/˘···
And taught the youth of quality by rote?	10	·····/˘˘··
--Nay, more! Our nobles, gorged, and swilled with wine,	10	··//˘·····
Call, o'er the banquet, for a lay divine.	10	···/˘···˘/
Here one, on whom the princely purple glows,	10	·····/˘/˘·
Snuffles some musty legend through his nose;	9	··/˘/˘···
Slowly distills Hypsipyle's sad fate,	9	/˘˘/·····
And love-lorn Phillis, dying for her mate,	10	···/˘/˘···
With what of woeful else is said or sung;	10	···/˘·····
And trips up every word, with lisping tongue.	10	···/˘··/˘·
The maudlin audience, from the couches round,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Hum their assent, responsive to the sound.--	10	··˘/˘/˘···
And are not now the poet's ashes blest!	10	·····/˘/˘·
Now lies the turf not lightly on his breast!	10	·····/˘···
They pause a moment--and again, the room	10	···/˘·˘/··
Rings with his praise: now will not roses bloom,	10	·······/˘·
Now, from his relics, will not violets spring,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And o'er his hallowed urn their fragrance fling!	10	···/˘··/˘·
"You laugh ('tis answered), and too freely here	10	···/˘··/˘·
Indulge that vile propensity to sneer.	10	˘/··˘/˘˘··
Lives there, who would not at applause rejoice,	10	······˘/˘/
And merit, if he could, the public voice?	10	·/˘····/˘·
Who would not leave posterity such rhymes,	10	····˘/˘˘··
As cedar oil might keep to latest times;	10	·/˘····/˘·
Rhymes, which should fear no desperate grocer's hand,	10	·····/˘/˘·
Nor fly with fish and spices through the land!	10	·····/˘···
Thou, my kind monitor, whoe'er thou art,	9	···/˘˘···
Whom I suppose to play the opponent's part,	11	··˘/···˘/˘·
Know--when I write, if chance some happier strain	10	·······/˘·
(And chance it needs must be) rewards my pain,	10	······˘/··
Know, I can relish praise with genuine zest;	10	···/˘··/˘·
Not mine the torpid, mine the unfeeling breast:	11	···/˘··˘/˘·
But that I merely toil for this acclaim,	10	···/˘···˘/
And make these eulogies my end and aim,	10	···/˘˘····
I must not, can not grant: for--sift them all,	10	··········
Mark well their value, and on what they fall:	10	···/˘·····
Are they not showered (to pass these trifles o'er)	10	···/···/˘·
On Labeo's Iliad, drunk with hellebore?	11	···/˘˘··/˘˘
On princely love-lays driveled without thought,	10	·/˘··/˘···
And the crude trash on citron couches wrought?	10	·····/˘/˘·
You spread the table--'tis a master-stroke,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And give the shivering guest a threadbare cloak,	10	···/˘··/··
Then, while his heart with gratitude dilates	10	·····/˘·˘/
At the glad vest and the delicious cates,	10	······˘/˘·
Tell me, you cry--for truth is my delight,	10	········˘/
What says the Town of me, and what I write?	10	··········
He can not:--he has neither ears nor eyes.	10	·····/˘···
But shall I tell you, who your bribes despise?	10	········˘/
--Bald trifler! cease at once your thriftless trade;	10	·/˘····/˘·
That mountain paunch for verse was never made.	10	·/˘····/˘·
O Janus, happiest of thy happy kind!--	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
No waggish stork can peck at thee behind:	10	·/˘·······
No tongue thrust forth, expose to passing jeers;	10	····˘/·/˘·
No twinkling fingers, perked like ass's ears,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Point to the vulgar mirth:--but you, ye Great,	10	···/˘·····
To a blind occiput condemned by fate,	10	···/˘˘˘/··
Prevent, while yet you may, the rabble's glee,	10	˘/·····/˘·
And tremble at the scoff you can not see!--	10	·/˘·······
"What says the Town"--precisely what it ought:	10	····˘/˘···
All you produce, sir, with such skill is wrought,	10	··˘/······
That o'er the polished surface, far and wide,	10	···/˘/˘···
The critic nail without a jar must glide;	10	·/˘·······
Since every verse is drawn as straight and fine	10	·/˘·······
As if one eye had fixed the ruddled line.	10	·······/˘·
--Whate'er the subject of his varied rhymes,	11	˘˘/·/˘··/˘·
The humors, passions, vices of the times;	10	·/˘/˘/˘···
The pomp of nobles, barbarous pride of kings,	10	···/˘/˘···
All, all is great, and all inspired he sings!	10	······˘/··
Lo! striplings, scarcely from the ferule freed,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
And smarting yet from Greek, with headlong speed	10	·/˘····/··
Rush on heroics; though devoid of skill	10	··˘/˘·˘/··
To paint the rustling grove, or purling rill;	10	···/˘··/˘·
Or praise the country, robed in cheerful green,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Where hogs, and hearths, and osier frails are seen,	10	·····/˘···
And happy hinds, who leap o'er smouldering hay,	11	·/˘········
In honor, Pales, of thy sacred day.	10	·/˘···/˘˘·
--Scenes of delight!--there Remus lived, and there,	10	··˘/·/˘···
In grassy furrows Quinctius tired his share;	10	·/˘/˘··/··
Quinctius, on whom his wife, with trembling haste,	10	·······/˘·
The dictatorial robes, exulting, placed,	10	··˘/˘·˘/˘·
Before his team; while homeward, with his plow,	10	·····/˘···
The lictors hurried--Good! a Homer, thou!	10	···/˘··/˘·
There are, who hunt out antiquated lore;	10	·····/˘·˘·
And never, but on musty authors, pore;	10	·/˘··/˘/˘·
These, Accius' jagged and knotty lines engage,	10	·····/˘·˘/
And those, Pacuvius' hard and horny page;	10	·······/˘·
Where, in quaint tropes, Antiopa is seen	9	·········
To--prop her dolorific heart with teen!	10	··········
O, when you mark the sire, to judgment blind,	10	·····/·/˘·
Commend such models to the infant mind,	10	˘/·/˘··/˘·
Forbear to wonder whence this olio sprung,	11	˘/·/˘··/˘˘·
This sputtering jargon which infests our tongue;	10	·/˘/˘·˘//·
This scandal of the times, which shocks my ear,	10	·/˘·······
And which our knights bound from their seats to hear!	10	··/·······
How monstrous seems it, that we can not plead,	10	·/˘·······
When called to answer for some felon deed,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Nor danger from the trembling head repel,	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
Without a wish for--Bravo! Vastly well!	10	·····/˘/˘·
This Pedius is a thief, the accusers cry.	11	·······˘/˘·
You hear them, Pedius; now, for your reply?	10	········˘/
In terse antitheses he weighs the crime,	10	··········
Equals the pause, and balances the chime;	10	/˘···/˘˘··
And with such skill his flowery tropes employs,	10	·····/˘·˘/
That the rapt audience scarce contain their joys.	10	···/˘·˘/··
O charming! charming! he must sure prevail.	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
THIS, charming! Can a Roman wag the tail?	10	·/˘··/˘···
Were the wrecked mariner to chant his woe,	10	···/˘˘····
Should I or sympathy or alms bestow?	10	···/˘˘··˘/
Sing you, when, in that tablet on your breast,	10	·····/˘···
I see your story to the life exprest;	10	···/˘·····
A shattered bark, dashed madly on the shore,	10	·/˘··/˘···
And you, scarce floating, on a broken oar!--	10	···/˘··/˘·
No, he must feel that would my pity share,	10	·······/˘·
And drop a natural, not a studied tear.	10	···/˘··/˘·
But yet our numbers boast a grace unknown	10	··//˘···˘/
To our rough sires, a smoothness all our own.	10	·/···/˘·/·
True: the spruce metre in sweet cadence flows,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And answering sounds a tuneful chime compose:	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
Blue Nereus here, the Dolphin swift divides;	10	·····/˘·˘/
And Idè there, sees Attin climb her sides:	9	·········
Nor this alone--for, in some happier line,	10	··˘/···/˘·
We win the chine of the long Apennine!	10	·······/˘·
Arms and the man--Here, too, perhaps, you find	10	······˘/··
A pithless branch beneath a fungous rind?	10	·/˘····/˘·
Not so;--a seasoned trunk of many a day,	10	···/˘··/··
Whose gross and watery parts are drawn away.	10	···/˘···˘/
But what, in fine (for still you jeer me), call	10	··········
For the moist eye, bowed head, and lengthened drawl,	10	·······/˘·
What strains of genuine pathos?--O'er the hill	10	···/˘/˘···
The dismal slug-horn sounded, loud and shrill,	10	·/˘··/˘···
A Mimallonian blast: fired at the sound,	10	······/···
In maddening groups the Bacchants pour around,	10	·/˘·······
Mangle the haughty calf with gory hands,	10	/˘·/˘··/˘·
And scourge the indocile lynx with ivy wands;	11	···˘/˘··/˘·
While Echo lengthens out the barbarous yell,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
And propagates the din from cell to cell!	10	·/˘·······
O were not every spark of manly sense,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Of pristine vigor quenched, or banished hence,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Could this be borne! this cuckoo-spit of Rome,	10	·····/····
Which gathers round the lips in froth and foam!	10	·/˘·······
--The haughty calf, and Attin's jangling strain,	10	·/˘····/˘·
Dropped, without effort, from the rheumy brain;	10	···/˘··/˘·
No savor they of bleeding nails afford,	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
Or desk, oft smitten for the happy word.	10	···/˘··/˘·
But why must you, alone, displeased appear,	10	····˘/˘/˘/
And with harsh truths thus grate the tender ear?	10	·······/˘·
O yet beware! think of the closing gate!	10	··˘/···/˘·
And dread the cold reception of the great:	10	····˘/˘···
This currish humor you extend too far,	10	·/˘/˘·˘/··
While every word growls with that hateful gnar!	10	·/˘····/˘·
Right! From this hour (for now my fault I see)	10	···/······
All shall be charming--charming all, for me:	10	···/˘/˘···
What late seemed base, already looks divine,	10	····˘/˘·˘/
And wonders start to view in every line!	10	·/˘····/˘·
Tis well, you cry: this spot let none defile,	10	········˘/
Or turn to purposes obscene and vile.	10	···/˘˘˘/··
Paint, then, two snakes entwined; and write around,	10	····˘/····
Awed, I retire: and yet--when vice appeared,	10	··˘/····˘/
Lucilius o'er the town his falchion reared;	10	·······/˘·
On Lupus, Mutius, poured his rage by name,	10	·/˘·······
And broke his grinders on their bleeding fame.	10	···/˘··/˘·
And yet--arch Horace, while he strove to mend,	10	···/˘·····
Probed all the foibles of his smiling friend;	10	···/˘··/˘·
Played lightly round and round the peccant part,	10	·/˘····/˘·
And won, unfelt, an entrance to his heart.	10	·····/˘···
Well skilled the follies of the crowd to trace,	10	···/˘·····
And sneer, with gay good humor in his face.	10	·····/˘···
And I!--I must not mutter? No; nor dare--	10	·····/˘···
Not to myself? No. To a ditch? Nowhere.	10	···/····/·
Yes, here I'll dig--here, to sure trust confide	10	········˘/
The secret which I would, but can not, hide.	10	·/˘·······
My darling book, a word;--"King Midas wears	10	·/˘····/˘·
(These eyes beheld them, these!) such ass's ears!"--	10	··˘/···/˘·
This quip of mine, which none must hear, or know,	10	··········
This fond conceit, which takes my fancy so,	10	··˘/···/˘·
This nothing, if you will; you should not buy	10	·/˘·······
With all those Iliads that you prize so high.	10	···/˘·····
But thou, whom Eupolis' impassioned page,	10	······˘/˘·
Hostile to vice, inflames with kindred rage,	10	˘/··˘/·/˘·
Whom bold Cratinus, and that awful sire,	11	·······/˘/˘
Force, as thou readest, to tremble and admire;	11	···/˘·/˘·˘/
O, view my humbler labors:--there, if aught	10	···/˘/˘···
More highly finished, more maturely wrought,	10	·/˘/˘·˘/˘·
Detain thy ear, and give thy breast to glow	10	˘/········
With warmth, responsive to the inspiring flow--	11	··˘/˘··˘/˘·
I seek no farther:--Far from me the rest,	10	···/˘·····
Yes, far the wretch, who, with a low-born jest,	10	··········
Can mock the blind for blindness, and pursue	10	·····/˘·˘/
With vulgar ribaldry the Grecian shoe:	10	·/˘/˘˘·/˘·
Bursting with self-conceit, with pride elate,	10	/˘··˘/··˘/
Because, forsooth, in magisterial state,	10	··˘/··˘/˘·
His worship (ædile of some paltry town)	10	·/˘····/˘·
Broke scanty weights, and put false measures down.	10	·/˘····/˘·
Far too be he--the monstrous witty fool,	10	·····/˘/˘·
Who turns the numeral scale to ridicule;	10	···/˘··/˘·
Derides the problems traced in dust or sand,	10	˘/·/˘·····
And treads out all Geometry has planned--	10	····˘/˘˘··
Who roars outright to see Nonaria seize,	10	··//······
And tug the cynic's beard--To such as these	10	···/˘·····
I recommend, at morn, the Prætor's bill,	10	··˘/······
At eve, Calirrhoë, or--what they will.	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.

More by Persius

The Satires of Persius