Here is a collection of verses about the Saturnalia that Senex has written over the years. They take various forms: villanelle, sonnet, rondeau, than-bauk, triolet, rubai, tyburn, madrigal, lai, double-dactyl, ballade, and yadu. Read them at leisure, or click on a particular verse form.
The cry of "Io!" resounds in Rome.
The time has passed for tilling loam,
Adorn the hall with fir and holm.
Beyond the door the slaves won't roam
Receive a gift of polished pome,
Catullus claimed in his great tome
With cries of "Io!" at dawn's first ray,
The master serves the slave today,
The slave who rules the roost today
Before the reign of Saturn's Golden Age,
It's Saturnalia in Rome.
The Lord of Misrule has his day at last.
December's chill is in the air once more,
The time to sow and reap is now behind;
Relax the rules and social strata blur.
Their cries of Io!
At Saturn's feast,
The day will end,
But never fear,
December is here...
Masters trade places;
Lord of Misrule reigns,
Gifts are sent to friends,
"Io! Saturnalia!"
December's chill is in the air,
This topsy-turvy world affair
As all may gamble if they dare,
O Prince, your reign concludes once more,
Winter is drear,
Masters serve slaves,
Gambling thrives,
The villanelle is a French adaptation of the Italian "country song." It contains 19 lines arranged as five tercets and one quatrain. It is usually written in iambic tetrameter or pentameter, but iambs and trochees are sometimes combined. The rhyme scheme is A1bA2 abA1 abA2 abA1 abA2 abA1A2, where A1 and A2 are repeated refrains.
December's chill is in the air.
All toil has ceased; relax at home.
And holidays should brook no care.
The cry of "Io!" resounds in Rome.
Prepare a feast for all to share.
All toil has ceased; relax at home.
For soon they'll sample finer fare.
The cry of "Io!" resounds in Rome.
Or roll the dice if you so dare.
All toil has ceased; relax at home.
The "best of days" was this affair.
The cry of "Io!" resounds in Rome;
All toil has ceased; relax at home.
The word rondeau was originally the generic term that the French used for all fixed patterns of verse that derived from dance-rounds, in which music was accompanied by call-and-response singing. A leader usually sang a verse, and everyone joined in on the refrain. The standard literary rondeau consists of 15 lines in 3 stanzas of 5-4-6 lines. The first phrase of line 1 repeats as the refrain [R] in lines 9 and 15. Other lines are of any equal length, usually 8 to 10 iambic feet. The rhyme scheme is AABBA AAB [R] AABBA [R].
They welcome Saturn's holiday.
Both slave and master hail the feast
With joy because all toil has ceased,
But know full well it cannot stay.
Reversing roles in life's great play,
And plays along awhile at least
With cries of "Io!"
May call the tune the pipers play,
But knows for sure the crown is leased
And not to goad a docile beast...
All hail the king with feet of clay
With cries of "Io!"
The sonnet is a poetic form of 14 lines written in iambic pentameter. The form typically consists of an octave and a sestet embodying the statement and the resolution of a single theme. It usually takes one of two general forms: Italian (Petrarchan) or English (Shakespearean). In the Italian sonnet, the rhyme scheme is ABBA ABBA CDECDE. In the English sonnet, the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
Before the vine was grown, or fields were tilled,
The lives of men were harsh and filled with rage;
At agriculture, they remained unskilled.
The welcome Janus gave to Saturn brought
A welcome change to every Roman's life.
With one another they no longer fought;
Prosperity replaced their constant strife.
Then Saturn disappeared from earthly view,
His work in Latium completely done.
The Golden Age of Saturn we renew
With shouts of Io! from each and everyone.
December's here; the time has come for sure.
In Latin: Gaudeamus igitur!
The triolet is a poetic form of eight lines that dates to the 13th century in France. Its name comes from the fact that the first line of the poem is used three times (lines 1, 4, and 7). The second line is used twice (lines 2 and 8), and the rhyme scheme is ABAA ABAB.
These are the best of days for me.
Work is over and harvest home;
It's Saturnalia in Rome.
The time has passed for tilling loam,
So let's relax and be carefree.
It's Saturnalia in Rome...
These are the best of days for me!
A topsy-turvy world sets things aright.
Although the reign of Saturn long has passed,
The Lord of Misrule has his day at last.
Prepare to play the rôle in which you're cast ...
The slave is master only this one night.
The Lord of Misrule has his day at last;
A topsy-turvy world sets things aright.
The rubai is a Persian verse consisting of a quatrain written in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme AABA. A collection of such verses is called a rubaiyat.
And Saturn's ship is seen approaching shore.
Thus Rome will ring anew with cries of "Io!"
Her people know full well what lies in store.
To cares of past and future all are blind.
Remember now the Golden Age of yore;
Enjoy the simple pleasures you may find.
Play host to friends; to slaves, for now, defer.
This time will pass and all too soon be o'er.
The best of times is now ... Don't you concur?
The poetic form called a Tyburn consists of six lines containing 2, 2, 2, 2, 9, 9 syllables. The first four lines are two-syllable descriptive words that rhyme, and they appear as syllables 5-8 in each line of the couplet.
Glary,
Very,
Merry...
In December's airy, glary days,
Romans feast in very merry daze.
Slightly,
Nightly,
Brightly
Slaves at masters rightly, slightly sneer;
Saturn's feast they nightly, brightly cheer.
Fettered,
Harbored,
Sheltered,
Saturn's statue tethered, fettered so,
Rome's assurance harbored, sheltered, lo.
The term madrigal presents some confusion because it is shared by two distinct genres of vocal music. The first genre of madrigal emerged in Italy in the 14th century. It was an unaccompanied vocal composition for two or three voices in simple harmony, following a strict poetic form. The second, far more important genre, emerged in 16th century Italy. It was a polyphonic part song, usually unaccompanied and with parts for four to six voices using a secular text. It was sometimes accompanied by strings that either doubled or replaced one or more of the vocal parts. The term also applies to a poetic form. The 16th century madrigal as a poetic form was a one-stanza poem using a free rhyme scheme and a fairly even mix of seven- and eleven-syllable lines.
We Romans should remember
That though the time to toil for now has ceased,
It's midway through December.
The slave will have his day;
A crown he may assume.
The master, too, will play,
And then his role resume.
The than-bauk is a three-line "climbing-rhyme" poem of Burmese origin. Conventionally it is a wittty saying or epigram containing four syllables per line. The rhyme is on the 4th syllable of the first line, the 3rd syllable of the second line, and the 2nd syllable of the third line.
Clearly show that
Slaves know the date!
Slaves have ceased, now
At least, to serve.
Rules unbend, then
Rescind their play.
Come next year, it'll
Appear once more.
The lai is a lyric poem which flourished in medieval France. It is composed of three-line units containing 5, 5, 2 syllables respectively. Lines 1 and 2 rhyme with each other and with similarly placed lines in the next unit, while line 3 rhymes only with the short line in the next unit. Stanzas may be of any length provided that each unit within it follows the rhyme scheme.
Saturn's feast draws near,
And so
Let's be of good cheer
At this time of year.
Cry "Io!"
Slaves' happy faces
Bear grins.
Dice box rolls aces;
Children run races.
Who wins?
Source of fun and games
For all.
Candles flicker flames;
Greenery soon frames
The hall.
Each of whom attends
Repast.
Merriment suspends;
Season wanes and ends
At last.
The double-dactyl is a short verse form invented by the American poets Anthony Hecht and John Hollander in 1966. The poem consists of one sentence containing forty-four syllables that are distributed over eight lines and fall into two four-line stanzas. The first three lines of each stanza are dactylic dimeter; the last one is a choriamb. The two stanzas end with a masculine rhyme on the last syllable of the choriamb. The final feature of the form is found in line six of the poem: a single, six-syllable word which is a double-dactyl.
Rings in the holiday,
Beckons the Golden Age
Era once more;
Manners and mōrēs are
Topsily-turvily
Altered to capture the
Aura of yore.
The ballade is a French form composed of three stanzas of eight lines and an envoy of four lines, with the last line of each stanza being a refrain. It is usually iambic tetrameter or pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC bcbC. The envoy is usually addressed to "Prince," or patron, or person referenced in the poem.
And Saturn's feast holds much in store.
The Golden Age has left an heir
Whose rightful reign we may restore,
Though briefer than the one before.
For seven days the fun abounds,
And even slaves enjoy the roar.
In Rome the cry of "Io!" resounds.
Creates a break from rank and chore,
And even winter's icy glare
Diminishes to frosty hoar
That decks the wreath on domus door.
The hall within is filled with sounds
Of laughter as the spirits soar.
In Rome the cry of "Io!" resounds.
The pips on dice display the score.
The room is bright from candle flare,
And banquet tables fill the floor.
The festive meal is roasted boar,
With other dishes heaped in mounds,
And goblets filled in rounds galore.
In Rome the cry of "Io!" resounds.
But true to form, it still astounds
And harkens back to days of yore...
In Rome the cry of "Io!" resounds.
The yadu is a Burmese climbing-rhyme verse. Each of the stanzas —up to three in all— has 5 lines. The first four lines have 4 syllables each, and the last one can have 5, 7, 9, or 11 syllables. The last two lines rhyme in the usual way. The climbing rhymes occur in syllables four, three, and two of both the first three lines and the last three lines of a stanza. There should be a reference to the seasons since the word yadu means "the seasons."
So we cheer the
Feast near at hand.
It's a grand meal
That's planned to meet everyone's appeal.
And each craves role
Which staves off dross
As the boss of
Chaos, that is, Misrule's Lord thereof.
And each strives to
Roll fives with dice
And play nice, too:
Advice that's meant for both me and you.