Book I: Elegy the Fifth: Country-Life with Delia

Tibullus (55 BC–19 BC), translated by Theodore Chickering Williams · 1905

iambic pentameter · ABAB · 64 lines · from The Elegies

With haughty frown I swore I could employThine absence well. But all my pride is o'er!Now am I lashed, as when a madcap boyWhirls a swift top along the level floor.

Aye! Twist me! Plague me! Never shall I saySuch boast again. Thy scorn and anger spare!Spare me!--by all our stolen loves I pray,By Venus,--by thy wealth of plaited hair!

Was it not I, when fever laid thee low,Whose holy rites and offerings set thee free?Thrice round thy bed with brimstone did I go,While the wise witch sang healing charms for thee.

Lest evil dreams should vex thee, I did bringThat worshipped wafer by the Vestal given;Then, with loose robes and linen stole, did singNine prayers to Hecate 'neath the midnight heaven.

All rites were done! Yet doth a rival holdMy darling, and my futile prayers deride:For I dreamed madly of a life all gold,If she were healed,--but Heaven the dream denied.

A pleasant country-seat, whose orchards yieldSweet fruit to be my Delia's willing care,While our full corn-crop in the sultry fieldStands ripe and dry! O, but my dreams were fair!

She in the vine-vat will our clusters press,And tread the rich must with her dancing feet;She oft my sheep will number, oft caressSome pretty, prattling slave with kisses sweet.

She offers Pan due tributes of our wealth,Grapes for the vine, and for a field of cornWheat in the ear, or for the sheep-fold's healthSome frugal feast is to his altar borne.

Of all my house let her the mistress be!I am displaced and give not one command!Then let Messala come! From each choice treeLet Delia pluck him fruit with her soft hand!

To serve and please so worshipful a guest,She spends her utmost art and anxious care;Asks his least wish, and spreads her dainty best,Herself the hostess and hand-maiden fair.

Mad hope! The storm-winds bore away that dreamFar as Armenia's perfume-breathing bids.Great Venus! Did I at thy shrine blaspheme?Am I accursed for rash and impious words?

Had I, polluted, touched some altar pure,Or stolen garlands from a temple door--What prayers and vigils would I not endure,And weeping kiss the consecrated floor?

Had I deserved this stroke,--with pious painFrom shrine to shrine my suppliant knees should crawl;I would to all absolving gods complain,And smite my forehead on the marble wall.

Thou who thy gibes at love canst scarce repress,Beware! The angry god may strike again!I knew a youth who laughed at love's distress,And bore, when old, the worst that lovers ken.

His poor, thin voice he did compel to woo,And curled, for mockery, his scanty hair;Spied on her door, as slighted lovers do,And stopped her maid in any public square.

The forum-loungers thrust him roughly by,And spat upon their breasts, such luck to turn:Have mercy, Venus! Thy true follower I!Why wouldst thou, goddess, thine own harvest burn!

Words in this poem 22

haughty a.: High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
madcap a.: Inclined to wild sports; delighting in rash, absurd, or dangerous amusements.
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,]
wealth n.: Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
brimstone n.: Sulphur; See Sulphur. [OE. brimston, bremston, bernston, brenston; cf. Icel. brennistein. See Burn, v. t., and Stone.]
wafer n.: A thin cake made of flour and other ingredients. [OE. wafre, OF. waufre, qaufre, F. qaufre; of Teutonic origin; cf. LG. & D. wafel, G. waffel, Dan. vaffel, Sw. våffla; all akin to G. wabe a honeycomb, OHG. waba]
vestal a.: Of or pertaining to Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth; hence, pure; chaste. [L. Vestalis belonging to Vesta, vestal. See Vesta.]
stole n.: A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
futile a.: Talkative; loquacious; tattling. [L. futilis that easily pours out, that easily lets loose, vain, worthless, from the root of fundere to pour out: cf. F. futile. See Fuse, v. t.]
deride v. t.: To laugh at with contempt; to laugh to scorn; to turn to ridicule or make sport of; to mock; to scoff at. [L. deridere, derisum; de- + rid to laugh. See Ridicule.]
madly adv.: In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
caress n.: An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
worshipful a.: Entitled to worship, reverence, or high respect; claiming respect; worthy of honor; -- often used as a term of respect, sometimes ironically.
dainty n.: Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
hostess n.: A female host; a woman who hospitably entertains guests at her house. [OE. hostesse, ostesse. See Host a landlord.]
blaspheme v. t.: To speak of, or address, with impious irreverence; to revile impiously (anything sacred); as, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. [OE. blasfem, L. blasphemare, fr. Gr. : cf. F. blasphémer. See Blame, v.]
suppliant a.: Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
crawl v. i.: To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and kness; to creep. [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kr to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]
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]
beware v. t.: To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
angry a.: Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
spat n.: A young oyster or other bivalve mollusk, both before and after it first becomes adherent, or such young, collectively. [From the root of spit; hence, literally, that which is ejected.]

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

About this text

Book I: Elegy the Fifth: Country-Life with Delia is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Elegies, Project Gutenberg ebook #9610, the Theodore Chickering Williams 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: Tibullus, Book I: Elegy the Fifth: Country-Life with Delia, in The Elegies (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9610, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tibullus-elegies/book-i-elegy-the-fifth-country-life-with-delia.html, id L14417.

Form and metre

Book I: Elegy the Fifth: Country-Life with Delia is 64 lines in 16 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See 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 ABAB employ^A · o'er^B · boy^A · floor^B
2 ABAB say^A · spare^B · pray^A · hair^B
3 ABAB low^A · free^B · go^A · thee^B
4 ABAB bring^A · given^B · sing^A · heaven^B
5 ABAB hold^A · deride^B · gold^A · denied^B
6 ABAB yield^A · care^B · field^A · fair^B
7 ABAB press^A · feet^B · caress^A · sweet^B
8 ABAB wealth^A · corn^B · health^A · borne^B
9 ABAB be^A · command^B · tree^A · hand^B
10 ABAB guest^A · care^B · best^A · fair^B
11 ABAB dream^A · bids^B · blaspheme^A · words^B
12 ABAB pure^A · door^B · endure^A · floor^B
13 ABAB pain^A · crawl^B · complain^A · wall^B
14 ABAB repress^A · again^B · distress^A · ken^B
15 ABAB woo^A · hair^B · do^A · square^B
16 ABAB by^A · turn^B · i^A · burn^B

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
With haughty frown I swore I could employ	10	·/˘·····˘/
Thine absence well. But all my pride is o'er!	10	·/˘·······
Now am I lashed, as when a madcap boy	10	·······/··
Whirls a swift top along the level floor.	10	····˘/·/˘·
Aye! Twist me! Plague me! Never shall I say	10	·····/˘···
Such boast again. Thy scorn and anger spare!	10	··˘/···/˘·
Spare me!--by all our stolen loves I pray,	10	····//˘···
By Venus,--by thy wealth of plaited hair!	10	·/˘····/˘·
Was it not I, when fever laid thee low,	10	·····/˘···
Whose holy rites and offerings set thee free?	10	·/˘··/˘···
Thrice round thy bed with brimstone did I go,	10	·····/˘···
While the wise witch sang healing charms for thee.	10	·····/˘···
Lest evil dreams should vex thee, I did bring	10	·/˘·······
That worshipped wafer by the Vestal given;	11	·/˘/˘··/˘/˘
Then, with loose robes and linen stole, did sing	10	·····/˘···
Nine prayers to Hecate 'neath the midnight heaven.	11	·······/·/˘
All rites were done! Yet doth a rival hold	10	·······/˘·
My darling, and my futile prayers deride:	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
For I dreamed madly of a life all gold,	10	···/˘·····
If she were healed,--but Heaven the dream denied.	10	·····/··˘/
A pleasant country-seat, whose orchards yield	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Sweet fruit to be my Delia's willing care,	10	·····/˘/˘·
While our full corn-crop in the sultry field	10	·/·····/˘·
Stands ripe and dry! O, but my dreams were fair!	10	··········
She in the vine-vat will our clusters press,	10	······//˘·
And tread the rich must with her dancing feet;	10	·······/˘·
She oft my sheep will number, oft caress	10	·····/˘·˘/
Some pretty, prattling slave with kisses sweet.	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
She offers Pan due tributes of our wealth,	10	·/˘··/˘·/·
Grapes for the vine, and for a field of corn	10	··········
Wheat in the ear, or for the sheep-fold's health	10	··········
Some frugal feast is to his altar borne.	10	·/˘····/˘·
Of all my house let her the mistress be!	10	·······/˘·
I am displaced and give not one command!	10	··˘/····˘/
Then let Messala come! From each choice tree	10	··········
Let Delia pluck him fruit with her soft hand!	10	·/˘·······
To serve and please so worshipful a guest,	10	·····/˘˘··
She spends her utmost art and anxious care;	10	···/···/˘·
Asks his least wish, and spreads her dainty best,	10	·······/˘·
Herself the hostess and hand-maiden fair.	10	˘/·/˘··/˘·
Mad hope! The storm-winds bore away that dream	10	······˘/··
Far as Armenia's perfume-breathing bids.	10	··˘/˘˘//˘·
Great Venus! Did I at thy shrine blaspheme?	10	·/˘·····˘/
Am I accursed for rash and impious words?	11	·······˘/˘·
Had I, polluted, touched some altar pure,	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
Or stolen garlands from a temple door--	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
What prayers and vigils would I not endure,	10	···/˘···˘/
And weeping kiss the consecrated floor?	10	·/˘··/˘·˘·
Had I deserved this stroke,--with pious pain	10	··˘/···/˘·
From shrine to shrine my suppliant knees should crawl;	11	·····/˘˘···
I would to all absolving gods complain,	10	····˘/˘·˘/
And smite my forehead on the marble wall.	10	···/˘··/˘·
Thou who thy gibes at love canst scarce repress,	10	········˘/
Beware! The angry god may strike again!	10	˘/·/˘···˘/
I knew a youth who laughed at love's distress,	10	········˘/
And bore, when old, the worst that lovers ken.	10	·······/˘·
His poor, thin voice he did compel to woo,	10	······˘/··
And curled, for mockery, his scanty hair;	10	···/˘˘·/˘·
Spied on her door, as slighted lovers do,	10	·····/˘/˘·
And stopped her maid in any public square.	10	·····/˘/˘·
The forum-loungers thrust him roughly by,	10	·/˘····/˘·
And spat upon their breasts, such luck to turn:	10	··········
Have mercy, Venus! Thy true follower I!	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Why wouldst thou, goddess, thine own harvest burn!	10	···/˘··/˘·

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.

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