Carmen Possum

''Carmen Possum'' is a popular 80-line macaronic poem written in a mix of Latin and English and dating to the 19th century. Its author is unknown, but the poem's theme and language enable one to surmise that he or she was from the United States of America and was either a teacher or at least a student of Latin.

The title is a multilingual pun: it could be taken to mean ''"I Can Sing"'' in Latin (''"Carmen"'' meaning "song" and ''"Possum"'' meaning "I can"), but, as revealed in the text, it is supposed to mean ''"Song of the Opossum"'' (with ''"Possum"'' referring to the animal). However, both interpretations violate Latin grammar—''"Carmen Possum"'' would not correctly translate to either phrase in proper Latin.

The poem humorously blends Latin declensions and conjugations with English words, creating absurd yet memorable phrases such as ''"turnus"'' (a pseudo-Latinized version of "turn") and ''"trunkum longum"'' (a nonsensical Latinized form of "long trunk"). This playful mixing of languages makes it a useful mnemonic tool for Latin students.

Beyond its educational value, ''Carmen Possum'' has been referenced in academic discussions on macaronic literature and language pedagogy. Its whimsical nature has also led to adaptations and performances in schools and Latin clubs.

The poem can be used as a pedagogical device for elementary Latin teaching. The language mix includes vocabulary, morphology (''turnus'') and grammar (''trunkum longum'').

In music, ''Carmen Possum'' is also the title of an unpublished choral work by American composer Normand Lockwood (1906–2002). Written in 1941, Lockwood’s composition sets the Latin-English text to music, blending classical and humorous elements.

Publication history

An early version of the poem, with different words, a couple extra lines, and divided into four sections and titled ''Tale of a 'Possum'', appeared in a Michigan University publication dated 1867, where it is attributed to Wheaton College. That same version later appeared in an 1886 issue of the University of Virginia magazine ''Virginia Spectator'', with the title ''The Tale of a 'Possum''; the editors inquired of readers as to the poem's authorship.

A version closer to the modern version, attributed to a "Prof. W. W. Legare" of northern Georgia and dated to the 1850s, was featured in a 1914 periodical.

The poem (modern version)

The translation on the right captures the intended reading of each verse.

Summary in prose

The poem chronicles the adventures of two boys who go out hunting for an opossum or raccoon on a snowy night, with their Dachshund dog. Although the dog was often mocked for its disproportionate length ("eight spans", or seventy inches) and love of chasing rabbits, cats, and rats, it performs flawlessly on the night, chasing an opossum into a long, hollow log.

The boys run quickly to secure their prey, chopping away at the log to get hold of it. They go back home, leaving the dead opossum on the ground. They proudly tell the story, which is said by the author to dwarf the feats of Pompey, Samson, Julius Caesar, Cyrus the Great, and other great military leaders of antiquity, as well as of American Indian chief Black Hawk; winning the praise of their parents and admiration of their younger brother. They go to sleep, dreaming of opossums as strong as bears and as large as cattle. Early the next morning, the two boys go to see their catch, but cannot find it. The "vile possum" had tricked them by playing dead—as opossums do when threatened and cornered. The kids never find the opossum again, and feel dejected.

Analysis

Title

While ''carmen possum'' may sound like a Latin phrase, it is grammatically incorrect. The closest interpretation, satisfying (if only barely) the requirements of syntax, would be "I am capable of song" (with "of" here constituting not a stand-alone preposition but rather a portion of an English phrasal verb).

However, as the text reveals ("''Up they jump to see the varmin / Of the which this is the carmen''"), the title itself is a macaronic mix of Latin and English, and should be understood as "Song of heOpossum". Yet, the noun "possum", if it were a Latin word, should be in the genitive case (''possi'') rather than the nominative (''possum''). Although one could assume that ''possum'' is an indeclinable noun.

Poem structure

The poem is written from a third-person omniscient perspective in a rhyming mix of trochaic tetrameter and iambic tetrameter, with turns of phrase satirising Homerian epic.

See also

*'' The Talents'' (c. 1460), a play containing a macaronic Middle English/Latin text.
*''The Motor Bus'' (1914), a macaronic English/Latin poem by Alfred Denis Godley.
*Dog Latin

References

{{Reflist

External links

text of poem
(with typos).

American poems
19th-century poems
Macaronic language
Latin language