THE POETIC FORM OF OVID'S WORKS

I. THE DACTYLIC HEXAMETER

This is the great epic and didactic measure introduced from the Greek into Latin literature by the poet Ennius, in his historical epic, the Annales. He was followed in this by all the satirists, Lucilius (for the most part), Horace, Persius, and Juvenal, whose poetry, as Horace himself said, was in outward form only; by Lucretius, in his great work on natural philosophy, De Natura Rerum; and by Vergil, in all his works. Though the Aeneid, his greatest work, shows some metrical defects, which the author would doubtless have removed, had he lived to do so, - Vergil will stand as the poet who advanced the noble measure to its highest state of perfection, and will be considered, as Tennyson has styled him, —

"Wielder of the stateliest measure ever molded by the lips of man."

It was in the Dactylic Hexameter that Ovid wrote his longest poem, and probably his greatest work, — though he himself seems not so to have regarded it, — the Metamorphoses. Many students will in this poem meet their first Latin verse, while more advanced students will come to it with a wider range of metrical knowledge. It is

for the interest and instruction of both these classes that the following notes are prepared.

Let the beginner read the following lines (Met. I. 89 and following) aloud repeatedly, giving careful heed to the correct enunciation of the Latin words. Let him continue this until he feels a sense of rhythm, and then advance to a consideration of the verses in detail.

Aurea prima salta (e)st aetas, || quae | vindice | nullo
Sponte sua, || sine | lege fidem || rectumque collebat.
Poena metusque abe|rant, || nec | verba mi|nacia | fixo
Aere legebantur, || nec | supplex | turba timebat
Iudicis | ora sui, || sed erant sine | vindice | tuti.
Nondum caesa suis, || peregrinum ut | viseret | orbem,
Montibus in liquidas || pinus de scenderat | undas,
Nullaque mortales || praeter sua | litora | norant.
Nondum praecipites || cin gebant | oppida | fossae :
Non tuba | directi, || non | aeris | cornua | flexi,

Non galeae, || non | ensis erant: || sine | militis | usu
Mollia | securae || peragebant | otia | gentes.
Ipsa quo que immunis || ras troque in tacta nec ullis
Saucia | vomeribus || per | se dabat | omnia | tellus ;
Contentique cibis || nullo cogente creatis
Arbute os fetus || montanaque | fraga legebant
Cornaque et in duris || haerentia | mora | rubetis
Et quae | decide|rant || patula Iovis | arbore, | glandes.
Ver erat aeter|num, || placi|dique te pentibus | auris
Mulcebant zephy|ri || natos sine | semine | flores.
Mox etiam fruges || tellus ina rata ferebat,
Nec renovatus alger || gravidis ca❘nebat aristis:
Flumina | iam lactis, || iam | flumina | nectaris | ibant,
Flavaque de virildi || stillabant | ilice | mella.

Number, value, and character

the verse.

A consideration of the metrical structure of of the constitu- these lines shows that each is divided into six ent elements of regularly recurring cadences; and that these cadences, measures or feet are composed either of two long syllables or beats (a spondee), or of one long and two short beats (a dactyl); and that they are consequently equal in respect to the time required to pronounce them. The last foot in each line differs from the others in that it may be either a spondee, filling up the full time of the measure, or a trochee, composed of a long and a short beat followed by a rest equivalent in time to a short beat. The first two lines are represented both metrically and musically as follows:

Quantity the basis of rhythm

in Latin verse.

It will be seen from these considerations that the rhythm of Latin verse depends upon the quantity of the syllables which compose it. If due attention has been paid to the subject of quantity from the beginning of the study of Latin, the student will experience little difficulty at this point, particularly in the Hexameter, whose mechanical structure is simple. If this has not been the case, the student should master at the outset a few of the simpler principles, especially those which include quantity by position and quantity of final and increment syllables. For these, the following refer

ences may be consulted: H. 687-711 (576–586); M. 16–22; A. 347-351; G. 702-713; B. 5, 362–365.

While mastering these principles, the student should put them into practice by attempting to read Latin verse at once. Let him get the swing of the hexameter by repeatedly reading aloud the verses printed above, observing the application of the principles of quantity which he is considering.

The metrical accent and the word accent.

Meanwhile, observe that there is a musical or metrical stress falling upon the first syllable in each measure. This stress, in the last two feet of each line, coincides with the word-accent, but does not regularly do so in the other feet. It is the traditional theory that the word-accent is lost when it falls upon a syllable that does not bear the metrical stress. The opposite theory, advanced notably by Professor W. G. Hale (Proceedings of the Am. Phil. Ass., 1895, p. xxvi), is that, beside quantity, both word-accent and metrical stress were given by the Romans in reading verse. While the exact facts can probably never be known, it is likely that only a slight stress, whether metrical or word, was given by the Romans themselves.

Slurring of

so-called Eli

sion.

The rhythm of Latin verse further requires final syllables, the practical suppression of certain easily slurred final syllables coming before a word beginning with a vowel or the simple breathing h. These letters are any vowel or vowel with m, or a diphthong. The slurred part is retained sufficiently to indicate to the ear its presence in the verse, but not enough to count in the time. It is the second or receiving element which gives the time to the resultant syllable. In the case of

est following a syllable or letter that would ordinarily be slurred, the reverse takes place; i.e. the e is lost, and st is pronounced with the preceding unchanged word.

Omission of slurring (Hiatus) rarely occurs. In the nearly four thousand lines selected from the Metamorphoses for the present edition, only the following cases occur:

I, 363. O utinam possem || populos reparare paternis. 756. Et tulit | ad Clyme|nem || Epa|phi con vicia | matrem. II, 244. Et celer | Isme nos || cum | Phegia co Ery mantho. III, 467. O utinam a nostro || se cedere | corpore | possem !

501. Verba locus ; || dic toque valle, || 'vale' | inquit et | Echo.

In this line note the double peculiarity of hiatus and the shortening of final e in the second vale.

V, 409. Est medium Cyanes || et | Pisaelae Are thusa.

625. Et bis 'io Arethusa, io Arethusa!' vocavit.

In this line note that there is a triple hiatus. In such cases, including the two lines in which O occurs, hiatus is regularly found, since it is evident that the word could not be slurred without undue loss to its integrity as a word.

No instance is found, in the hexameters of this edition, of a letter at the end of a line slurring over to the beginning of the next line (Synapheia). Vergil allows, in all, twenty such hypermetric lines, the syllable concerned being, in all but two cases, the enclitic -que.

The polished hexameter of the Augustan period avoids frequent and harsh slurrings, although these abound to excess in the earlier poets, e.g. Ennius, Lucilius, and Lucretius. Some specimens of Lucilian harshness are seen in the following: