Book I: Elegy the Sixth: A Lover's Curses
I strove with wine my sorrows to efface.But wine turned tears was all the drink I knew;I tried a new, strange lass. Each cold embraceBrought my true love to mind, and colder grew.
"I was bewitched" she cried "by shameful charms;"And things most vile she vowed she could declare.Bewitched! 'tis true! but by thy soft white arms,Thy lovely brows and lavish golden hair!
Such charms had Thetis, born in Nereid cave,Who drives her dolphin-chariot fast and freeTo Peleus o'er the smooth Haemonian wave,Love-guided o'er long leagues of azure sea.
Ah me! the magic that dissolves my healthIs a rich suitor in my mistress' eye,Whom that vile bawd led to her door by stealthAnd opened it, and bade me pine and die.
That hag should feed on blood. Her festive bowlsShould be rank gall: and round her haunted roomWild, wailing ghosts and monitory owlsShould flit forever shrieking death and doom.
Made hunger-mad, may she devour the grassThat grows on graves, and gnaw the bare bones downWhich wolves have left! Stark-naked may she pass,Chased by the street-dogs through the taunting town!
My curse comes fast. Unerring signs are seenIn stars above us. There are gods who stillProtect unhappy lovers: and our QueenVenus rains fire on all who slight her will.
O cruel girl! unlearn the wicked artOf that rapacious hag! For everywhereWealth murders love. But thy poor lover's heartIs ever thine, and thou his dearest care.
A poor man clings close to thy lovely side,And keeps the crowd off, and thy pathway free;He hides thee with kind friends, and as his brideFrom thy dull, golden thraldom ransoms thee.
Vain is my song. Her door will not uncloseFor words, but for a hand that knocks with gold.O fear me, my proud rival, fear thy foes!Oft have the wheels of fortune backward rolled!
Words in this poem
- lass n.
- A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
- suitor n.
- One who sues, petitions, or entreats; a petitioner; an applicant.
- bawd n.
- A person who keeps a house of prostitution, or procures women for a lewd purpose; a procurer or procuress; a lewd person; -- usually applied to a woman. [OE. baude, OF. balt, baut, baude, bold, merry, perh. fr. OHG. bald bold; or fr. Celtic, cf. W. baw dirt. Cf. Bold, Bawdry.]
- stealth n.
- The act of stealing; theft. [OE. staple. See Steal, v. t.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- monitory a.
- Giving admonition; instructing by way of caution; warning. [L. monitorius.]
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- unerring a.
- Committing no mistake; incapable or error or failure certain; sure; unfailing; as, the unerring wisdom of God.
- unlearn v. t.
- To forget, as what has been learned; to lose from memory; also, to learn the contrary of. [1st pref. un- + learn.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- thraldom n.
- The condition of a thrall; slavery; bondage; state of servitude. [Icel. . See Thrall, and -dom.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book I: Elegy the Sixth: A Lover's Curses 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 Sixth: A Lover's Curses, in The Elegies (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9610, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tibullus-elegies/book-i-elegy-the-sixth-a-lover-s-curses.html, id L14418.
Form and metre
Book I: Elegy the Sixth: A Lover's Curses is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 9 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 42% 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 effaceA · knewB · embraceA · grewB
- 2 ABAB charmsA · declareB · armsA · hairB
- 3 ABAB caveA · freeB · waveA · seaB
- 4 ABAB healthA · eyeB · stealthA · dieB
- 5 -A-A bowls · roomA · owls · doomA
- 6 ABAB grassA · downB · passA · townB
- 7 ABAB seenA · stillB · queenA · willB
- 8 ABAB artA · everywhereB · heartA · careB
- 9 ABAB sideA · freeB · brideA · theeB
- 10 ABAB uncloseA · goldB · foesA · rolledB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I strove with wine my sorrows to efface. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| But wine turned tears was all the drink I knew; | 10 | ·········· |
| I tried a new, strange lass. Each cold embrace | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Brought my true love to mind, and colder grew. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| "I was bewitched" she cried "by shameful charms;" | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| And things most vile she vowed she could declare. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Bewitched! 'tis true! but by thy soft white arms, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Thy lovely brows and lavish golden hair! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Such charms had Thetis, born in Nereid cave, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘˘· |
| Who drives her dolphin-chariot fast and free | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To Peleus o'er the smooth Haemonian wave, | 10 | ·········· |
| Love-guided o'er long leagues of azure sea. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Ah me! the magic that dissolves my health | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Is a rich suitor in my mistress' eye, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Whom that vile bawd led to her door by stealth | 10 | ·········· |
| And opened it, and bade me pine and die. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That hag should feed on blood. Her festive bowls | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Should be rank gall: and round her haunted room | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Wild, wailing ghosts and monitory owls | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘· |
| Should flit forever shrieking death and doom. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Made hunger-mad, may she devour the grass | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| That grows on graves, and gnaw the bare bones down | 10 | ·········· |
| Which wolves have left! Stark-naked may she pass, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Chased by the street-dogs through the taunting town! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| My curse comes fast. Unerring signs are seen | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| In stars above us. There are gods who still | 10 | ·········· |
| Protect unhappy lovers: and our Queen | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘·/· |
| Venus rains fire on all who slight her will. | 10 | /˘·/······ |
| O cruel girl! unlearn the wicked art | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Of that rapacious hag! For everywhere | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Wealth murders love. But thy poor lover's heart | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Is ever thine, and thou his dearest care. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A poor man clings close to thy lovely side, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And keeps the crowd off, and thy pathway free; | 10 | ·······/·· |
| He hides thee with kind friends, and as his bride | 10 | ·········· |
| From thy dull, golden thraldom ransoms thee. | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Vain is my song. Her door will not unclose | 10 | ········˘/ |
| For words, but for a hand that knocks with gold. | 10 | ·········· |
| O fear me, my proud rival, fear thy foes! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Oft have the wheels of fortune backward rolled! | 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.