''Carmen Possum'' is a popular 80-line

macaronic Macaronic language is any expression using a mixture of languages, particularly bilingual puns or situations in which the languages are otherwise used in the same context (rather than simply discrete segments of a text being in different langua ...

poem written in a mix of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

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 Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...

"'' (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 Normand Lockwood (March 19, 1906 – March 9, 2002) was an American composer born in New York, New York. He studied composition at the University of Michigan from 1921 to 1924, and then traveled to Rome and studied composition under Ottorino Respi ...

(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 The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

publication dated 1867, where it is attributed to Wheaton College. That same version later appeared in an 1886 issue of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

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 Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

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

boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is usually described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy ...

s who go out

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

for an

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

on a snowy night, with their

Dachshund The dachshund ( or ; German: 'badger dog'), also known as the wiener dog or sausage dog, badger dog, doxen and doxie, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, with varie ...

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

. Although the dog was often mocked for its disproportionate length ("eight spans", or seventy

inch The inch (symbol: in or prime (symbol), ) is a Units of measurement, unit of length in the imperial units, British Imperial and the United States customary units, United States customary System of measurement, systems of measurement. It is eq ...

es) and love of chasing

rabbits Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated form ...

cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

, and

rats Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

, it performs flawlessly on the night, chasing an

into a long, hollow

log Log most often refers to: * Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut ** Logging, cutting down trees for logs ** Firewood, logs used for fuel ** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs * Logarithm, in mathe ...

. 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 Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

, 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

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

s and as large as

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

. 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 In the traditional grammar of Modern English, a phrasal verb typically constitutes a single semantic unit consisting of a verb followed by a particle (e.g., ''turn down'', ''run into,'' or ''sit up''), sometimes collocated with a preposition (e. ...

). 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 In English poetry, trochaic tetrameter is a meter featuring lines composed of four trochaic feet. The etymology of ''trochaic'' derives from the Greek ''trokhaios'', from the verb ''trecho'', meaning ''I run''. In modern English poetry, a troc ...

and

iambic tetrameter Iambic tetrameter is a meter (poetry), poetic meter in Ancient Greek poetry, ancient Greek and Latin poetry; as the name of ''a rhythm'', iambic tetrameter consists of four metra, each metron being of the form , x – u – , , consisting of a spo ...

, with turns of phrase satirising

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

ian

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

text of poem
(with typos).

American poems 19th-century poems Macaronic language Latin language