"The Motor Bus" is a macaronic poem by Alfred Denis Godley (1856–1925) written in 1914 in response to the introduction of motor buses in the city of Oxford.Alfred Godley (1914). Letter to C. R. L. Fletcher, Jan. 10, 1914. "The Motor Bus," Printed in Reliquiae, vol. 1 (1926).The Oxford Dictionary of QuotationsKingsley Amis (ed.), The New Oxford Book of English Light Verse The poem pokes fun at the complexities of Latin grammar, treating the words "motor" and "bus" as though they were Latin nouns and declining them accordingly. Godley, a distinguished Classical scholar, wrote the poem during his tenure as Public Orator at the University of Oxford.
The poem's rhymes rely on the Latin words being read using the traditional English pronunciations, which were taught in British (and American) schools until well into the 20th century. "Motor" is treated as a noun of the third declension, while "bus" is treated as a noun of the second declension.
Text The case and number of the Latin forms are given after each repetition of the phrase "Motor Bus".
Citations
The poem is quoted by Dorothy L. Sayers in her essay "The greatest single defect of my own Latin education" and other texts.Dorothy Sayers The Greatest Single Defect of My Own Latin Education Online version accessed on 2009-06-25.Dorothy Sayers (1952), Address to the Association for Latin Teaching (ARLT) 1952. Online version accessed on 2009-06-25.Latin For Today vol. 2, p. 10
Taking inspiration from "The Motor Bus", Herbert H. Huxley wrote a Latin poem entitled "Mars Bar", which he dedicated to Godley:Herbert H. Huxley (1975), Mars-Bar. In LACT Newsletter. Translations & versions accessed on 2009-06-25.
Between mid-1957 and early 1960,Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, II: Reader's Guide, "Environment", pp. 255-6 ("The Machine") J.R.R. Tolkien was inspired by the poem to write The Bovadium Fragments.
See also Carmen Possum Dog Latin
References