Book III: Elegy the First: The New-Year's Gift
Now the month of Mars beginning brings the merry season near,By our fathers named and numbered as the threshold of the year.Faithfully their custom keeping, through the wide streets to and fro,Offered at each friendly dwelling, seasonable gifts must go.O what gifts, Pierian Muses, may acceptably be pouredOn my own adored Neaera?--or, if not my own, adored!
Song is love's best gift to beauty; gold but tempts the venal soul;Therefore, 'tis a song I send her on this amateurish scroll.Wind a page of saffron parchment round the white papyrus there,Polish well with careful pumice every silvery margin fair:
On the dainty little cover, for a title to the sameLet her bright eyes read the blazon of a love-sick poet's name.Let the pair of horn-tipped handles be embossed with colors gay,For my book must make a toilet, must put on its best array.
By Castalia's whispering shadow, by Pieria's vocal spring,By yourselves, O listening Muses, who did prompt the song I sing,--Fly, I pray you, to her chamber, and my pretty booklet bear,All unmarred and perfect give it, every color fresh and fair:Let her send you back, confessing, if our hearts together burn;Or, if she but loves me little, or will nevermore return.Utter first, for she deserves it, many a golden wish and vow;Then deliver this true message, humbly, as I speak it now.
'Tis a gift, O chaste Neaera, from thy husband yet to be.Take the trifle, though a "brother" now is all he seems to thee.
He will swear he loves thee dearer than the blood in all his veins;Whether husband, or if only that cold "sister" name remains.Ah! but "wife" he calls it: nothing takes this sweet hope from his soul!Till a hapless ghost he wanders where the Stygian waters roll.
Words in this poem
- pierian a.
- Of or pertaining to Pierides or Muses. [L. Pierius, from Mount Pierus, in Thessaly, sacred to the Muses.]
- acceptably adv.
- In an acceptable manner; in a manner to please or give satisfaction.
- amateurish a.
- In the style of an amateur; superficial or defective like the work of an amateur.
- papyrus n.
- A tall rushlike plant (Cyperus Papyrus) of the Sedge family, formerly growing in Egypt, and now found in Abyssinia, Syria, Sicily, etc. The stem is triangular and about an inch thick. [L., fr. Gr. Paper.]
- 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.]
- blazon v. t.
- To depict in colors; to display; to exhibit conspicuously; to publish or make public far and wide. [From blazon, n.; confused with 4th blaze: cf. F. blasonner.]
- booklet n.
- A little book. T. Arnold.
- nevermore adv.
- Never again; at no time hereafter. Testament of Love. Tyndale.
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- stygian a.
- Of or pertaining to the river Styx; hence, hellish; infernal.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book III: Elegy the First: The New-Year's Gift 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 III: Elegy the First: The New-Year's Gift, in The Elegies (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9610, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tibullus-elegies/book-iii-elegy-the-first-the-new-year-s-gift.html, id L14430.
Form and metre
Book III: Elegy the First: The New-Year's Gift is 28 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 14.8 syllables. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic octameter.
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 AABBCC nearA · yearA · froB · goB · pouredC · adoredC
- 2 AABB soulA · scrollA · thereB · fairB
- 3 AABB sameA · nameA · gayB · arrayB
- 4 AABBCCDD springA · singA · bearB · fairB · burnC · returnC · vowD · nowD
- 5 AA beA · theeA
- 6 AABB veinsA · remainsA · soulB · rollB
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 trochaic octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now the month of Mars beginning brings the merry season near, | 15 | ·····˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| By our fathers named and numbered as the threshold of the year. | 15 | ·//˘··/˘··/···· |
| Faithfully their custom keeping, through the wide streets to and fro, | 14 | /˘·/˘/˘······· |
| Offered at each friendly dwelling, seasonable gifts must go. | 13 | /˘··/˘/˘/˘··· |
| O what gifts, Pierian Muses, may acceptably be poured | 15 | ···˘/˘˘/˘·˘/˘·· |
| On my own adored Neaera?--or, if not my own, adored! | 15 | ···˘/········˘/ |
| Song is love's best gift to beauty; gold but tempts the venal soul; | 15 | ······/˘····/˘· |
| Therefore, 'tis a song I send her on this amateurish scroll. | 13 | ··········/˘· |
| Wind a page of saffron parchment round the white papyrus there, | 15 | ····/˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| Polish well with careful pumice every silvery margin fair: | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| On the dainty little cover, for a title to the same | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Let her bright eyes read the blazon of a love-sick poet's name. | 15 | ······/˘····/˘· |
| Let the pair of horn-tipped handles be embossed with colors gay, | 15 | ······/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| For my book must make a toilet, must put on its best array. | 15 | ······/˘·····˘/ |
| By Castalia's whispering shadow, by Pieria's vocal spring, | 14 | ····/˘/····/˘· |
| By yourselves, O listening Muses, who did prompt the song I sing,-- | 15 | ·˘/·/˘/˘······· |
| Fly, I pray you, to her chamber, and my pretty booklet bear, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘· |
| All unmarred and perfect give it, every color fresh and fair: | 15 | ····/···/˘/˘··· |
| Let her send you back, confessing, if our hearts together burn; | 15 | ·····˘/˘·/·˘/˘· |
| Or, if she but loves me little, or will nevermore return. | 15 | ······/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Utter first, for she deserves it, many a golden wish and vow; | 15 | /˘···˘/·/·/˘··· |
| Then deliver this true message, humbly, as I speak it now. | 15 | ·˘/˘··/˘/˘····· |
| 'Tis a gift, O chaste Neaera, from thy husband yet to be. | 15 | ··········/˘··· |
| Take the trifle, though a "brother" now is all he seems to thee. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| He will swear he loves thee dearer than the blood in all his veins; | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Whether husband, or if only that cold "sister" name remains. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Ah! but "wife" he calls it: nothing takes this sweet hope from his soul! | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Till a hapless ghost he wanders where the Stygian waters roll. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘/˘· |
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.