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, but, as revealed in the text, it is supposed to mean "Song of the Opossum".
The language mix includes vocabulary, morphology (turnus) and grammar (trunkum longum).
[1] 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.
Some used to say, in stultum jocum Quod a field was too small locum For sic a dog to make a turnus Circum self from stem to sternus.
Down to Hades spirit flieth, Joyful pueri, canis bonus, Think him dead as any stonus.
[c] Now they seek their pater's domo, Feeling proud as any homo, Knowing, certe, they will blossom Into heroes, when with possum They arrive, narrabunt story, Plenus blood et plenior glory.
Pueri think non plus of Caesar, Go ad Orcum, Shalmanezer, Take your laurels, cum the honor, Since ista possum is a goner!
Some used to say, in a silly joke, That a field was too small a place For such a dog to make a turn Around himself from stem to stern.
[f] Now they seek their father's house, Feeling proud as any man, Knowing, certainly, they will blossom Into heroes, when with possum They arrive, they will tell the story, Full of blood and even fuller of glory.
When night gives way to morning light, White earth much adorning, Up they jump to see the varmint, Of which this is the song.
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.
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.
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 [the] Opossum".