Horace, Book I, Ode XVI
Great Sir, than Phoebus more divine,Whose verses far his rays outshine,Look down upon your quondam foe;O! let me never write again,If e'er I disoblige you, Dean,Should you compassion show.
Take those iambics which I wrote,When anger made me piping hot,And give them to your cook,To singe your fowl, or save your pasteThe next time when you have a feast;They'll save you many a book.
To burn them, you are not content;I give you then my free consent,To sink them in the harbour;If not, they'll serve to set off blocks,To roll on pipes, and twist in locks;So give them to your barber.
Or, when you next your physic take,I must entreat you then to makeA proper application;'Tis what I've done myself before,With Dan's fine thoughts and many more,Who gave me provocation.
What cannot mighty anger do?It makes the weak the strong pursue,A goose attack a swan;It makes a woman, tooth and nail,Her husband's hands and face assail,While he's no longer man.
Though some, we find, are more discreet,Before the world are wondrous sweet,And let their husbands hector:But when the world's asleep, they wake,That is the time they choose to speak:Witness the curtain lecture.
Such was the case with you, I find:All day you could conceal your mind;But when St. Patrick's chimesAwaked your muse, (my midnight curse,When I engaged for better for worse,)You scolded with your rhymes.
Have done! have done! I quit the field,To you as to my wife, I yield:As she must wear the breeches:So shall you wear the laurel crown,Win it and wear it, 'tis your own;The poet's only riches.
Words in this poem
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- outshine v. i.
- To shine forth.
- quondam a.
- Having been formerly; former; sometime. [L., formerly.]
- disoblige v. t.
- To do an act which contravenes the will or desires of; to offend by an act of unkindness or incivility; to displease; to refrain from obliging; to be unaccommodating to. [Pref. dis- + oblige: cf. F. désobliger.]
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- piping a.
- Playing on a musical pipe. [From Pipe, v.]
- harbour n.
- A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
- barber n.
- One whose occupation it is to shave or trim the beard, and to cut and dress the hair of his patrons. Barber's itch. See under Itch. [OE. barbour, OF. barbeor, F. barbier, as if fr. an assumed L. barbator, fr. barba beard. See 1st Barb.]
- entreat v. t.
- To treat, or conduct toward; to deal with; to use. [OE. entreten to treat, request, OF. entraiter to treat of; pref. en- (L. in) + traitier to treat. See Treat.]
- discreet a.
- Possessed of discernment, especially in avoiding error or evil, and in the adaptation of means to ends; prudent; sagacious; judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious. [F. discret, L. discretus separated (whence the meaning reserved, prudent), p. p. of discernere. See Discern, and cf. Discrete.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Horace, Book I, Ode XVI is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #13621; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jonathan Swift, Horace, Book I, Ode XVI, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/horace-book-i-ode-xvi.html, id L09426.
Form and metre
Horace, Book I, Ode XVI is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% 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 AABCCB divineA · outshineA · foeB · againC · deanC · showB
- 2 --A--A wrote · hot · cookA · paste · feast · bookA
- 3 AABCCB contentA · consentA · harbourB · blocksC · locksC · barberB
- 4 AABCCB takeA · makeA · applicationB · beforeC · moreC · provocationB
- 5 AABCCB doA · pursueA · swanB · nailC · assailC · manB
- 6 AA---- discreetA · sweetA · hector · wake · speak · lecture
- 7 AABCCB findA · mindA · chimesB · curseC · worseC · rhymesB
- 8 AA---- fieldA · yieldA · breeches · crown · own · riches
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Great Sir, than Phoebus more divine, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Whose verses far his rays outshine, | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| Look down upon your quondam foe; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O! let me never write again, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| If e'er I disoblige you, Dean, | 8 | ········ |
| Should you compassion show. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Take those iambics which I wrote, | 7 | ······· |
| When anger made me piping hot, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And give them to your cook, | 6 | ······ |
| To singe your fowl, or save your paste | 8 | ········ |
| The next time when you have a feast; | 8 | ········ |
| They'll save you many a book. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| To burn them, you are not content; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| I give you then my free consent, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To sink them in the harbour; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| If not, they'll serve to set off blocks, | 8 | ········ |
| To roll on pipes, and twist in locks; | 8 | ········ |
| So give them to your barber. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Or, when you next your physic take, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I must entreat you then to make | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| A proper application; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| 'Tis what I've done myself before, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| With Dan's fine thoughts and many more, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who gave me provocation. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| What cannot mighty anger do? | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| It makes the weak the strong pursue, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A goose attack a swan; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| It makes a woman, tooth and nail, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her husband's hands and face assail, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| While he's no longer man. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Though some, we find, are more discreet, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Before the world are wondrous sweet, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And let their husbands hector: | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| But when the world's asleep, they wake, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| That is the time they choose to speak: | 8 | ········ |
| Witness the curtain lecture. | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Such was the case with you, I find: | 8 | ········ |
| All day you could conceal your mind; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But when St. Patrick's chimes | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Awaked your muse, (my midnight curse, | 8 | ˘/···/·· |
| When I engaged for better for worse,) | 9 | ··˘/·/˘·· |
| You scolded with your rhymes. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Have done! have done! I quit the field, | 8 | ········ |
| To you as to my wife, I yield: | 8 | ········ |
| As she must wear the breeches: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| So shall you wear the laurel crown, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Win it and wear it, 'tis your own; | 8 | ········ |
| The poet's only riches. | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
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.