NOTES. - IT is supposed that most classes who read Ovid at all, will read Ovid before any other Latin poet; and as it is desirable that a poetical composition should always be read as verse, - that is, with a knowledge of its rhythmical structure, a few directions will here be given for scanning at sight, or by ear, which, with a little practice, will be found an easy, almost mechanical process. It is necessary, first, for the learner to understand the nature of the verse, as depending on precisely the same principles as the rhythmical divisions of music (see §§ 355-358; G.729–733; H. 596– 599); also, to be familiar with the general rules of quantity and accent (§§ 18, 19; G. 10–15; H. 16-18).1 Besides this, the teacher should explain and illustrate, so far as may be necessary, the structure of the hexameter (§ 362; G. 784; H. 609–613), reading from the text of the poem itself, until its peculiar movement has become familiar to the learner's ear. It will now be observed, 1. That the difficulties in scanning lie almost entirely in the first half of the verse. With very rare exceptions, the last two feet, and generally the last three, are accented in verse exactly as they would be in prose; that is, the thesis (first syllable) of the foot corresponds with the natural or prose accent of the word. 2. That in hexameter verse the third foot (rarely the fourth instead) regularly begins with the last syllable of a word. Thus, while the last half of a verse is almost always accented as in prose, the first half very seldom is. The slight pause interrupting the foot at the end of the word is called a casural pause (§ 358, b; G.750; H. 602), and is the most important point that distinguishes the 1 To these it may be well to add the quantity of final syllables (§ 348; G. 707– 713; H. 579-581). The learner should also be habituated to an accurate pronunciation of words according to their prose accent. movement of verse from that of prose. The pause in the third foot (less commonly the fourth) usually corresponds with a pause in the sense, and is called the principal cæsura. 3. That whenever a short syllable occurs in the verse, there must be a dactyl. This becomes a most convenient rule, as soon as the pronunciation of even the commonest words is known, in all cases where there are words of more than two syllables; for thus a short syllable will often serve as a key to the entire structure of the verse. For examples, we will take the first four lines of the first selection given in this book (i. 89, foll.):— 89. Aúrea prima sata est aetas quae vindice nullo. Here the last two words are scanned exactly as they read: | víndice | núllo. The syllable before, quae, contains a diphthong, and is therefore long; consequently, as it is not the first syllable of a foot, it must be the second half of a spondee; and we find that the preceding syllable, -tas, is long, which gives us the first half of the spondee. The first syllable of aetas, again, consists of a diphthong, and must therefore form a spondee with the preceding syllable, ast (by elision from the last syllable of sata with est, § 359, c; G. 719, exc.; H. 608, 1). Beginning with the beginning of the line, aurea has a short penult, as its accent shows, and forms a dactyl. There remain, then, only three syllables, prima sa-, which must, therefore, also form a dactyl, and the verse scans as follows: : Aurĕă | primă să|ta 'st||ãe|tas quãe | vindicě | nullo. ́90. Sponte sua sine lege fidem rectumque colébat. The last words are scanned as they read: rēc túmque colébat. The length of the first syllable of rectum shows that it is the last half of a spondee. The correct scansion of the rest of the line depends entirely upon the reader's knowledge of the rules for quantity. Sponte ends in e, and final e is short; sua is ablative, and final a in the ablative is long; sine and lege both end in which is short; and the quantity of the other syllables is determined by their position in their respective feet. The line scans thus: Spontě săļā sině | lēgě || fi|dem rēc|tūmquè cŏ|lēbat, with feminine cæsura. 91. Poena metusque aberant, nec verba minácia fixo. The last four words are scanned as they read: nec | verba minacia | fixo. Here nec is long by position, as is the syllable before it. Poena is nominative, and has, therefore, a short final a; consequently the e of metus must also be short. Only the second foot is now unaccounted for, and it consists of the only three syllables remaining, — tusqu' abe-. The line scans, Poenǎ mě tusqu' ǎbě¦rant || nec | verbă mi|nācia | fixo. 92. Aere legebantur, nec supplex turba timebat. Here the words nec | supplex | turba ti│mebat are scanned as they are pronounced in prose; the length (by position) of nec shows that it forms the last half of a spondee; the short final e of aere shows that the first foot is a dactyl; consequently the two remaining syllables must form a spondee, the second foot of the verse: Aere le gebantur || nec | supplex | turba timebat. These hints would be sufficient for all or nearly all cases,1 if it were not for the frequent elision of the last syllable of words; viz., in general, whenever a word ending in a vowel or in m is followed by a word beginning with a vowel or with h. This makes the commonest and most annoying of the obstacles to be met, and requires the beginner to be constantly on the watch. If he will now carefully compare the following lines, as metrically divided, with the rules which have been given above, it is hoped that he will have little difficulty hereafter. Aurea prima sa ta 'st || aetas, quae | vindice | nullo 90 95 1 It will be observed that, of the first twenty verses of this selection, only verse 99 lacks the cæsura in the third foot, and that there the principal pause is in the fourth foot instead of the third. Non tuba | direc | ti, || non | aeris | cornua | flexi, Et quae | decide|rant || patu|la Jovis | arbore, | glandes. I. THE FOUR AGES AND THE FLOOD. I. 89. aurea: compare the description of the Golden Age in Virgil, Ecl. iv. The Ages are named from the metals gold, silver, brass (or more exactly copper), and iron, the best being the Golden, the worst the Iron Age. sata est, was created, i.e. was. vindice nullo (abl. abs.), when there was no avenger [of guilt], i.e. by no constraint. 91. verba minacia, refers to laws. The Roman laws were inscribed upon bronze tablets, which were fastened up in the forum and other public places. Hence fixo aere, posted up in brass (abl. of place, § 258, f, 3; G. 385, N.1; H. 425, 2, N.3). 92. supplex turba, the defendant and his friends, who generally tried to move the judges by their prayers. 93. erant tuti, not supplex turba, but the people in general. 94. caesa agrees with pinus; suis with montibus; the pine felled on its native hills, and wrought into ships (abl. like fixo aere in 91). 96. norant (§ 128, a; G. 131, 1, 3; H. 235, 2), knew, lit. had learned (§ 279, e; G. 236, 2, R.1; H. 297, I, 2). 98. directi, flexi, both agree with aeris (gen. of material, § 214, e; G. 368, R.; H. 395, v.). The tuba was a long straight brazen horn; the cornu was curved. 99. sine militis usu, without occasion for the employment of soldiery; militis is used collectively. 100. securae, free from care. Notice the interlocked order, a very common one in Latin. — otia: the plural is often used in Latin, when in English we use the singular; this is especially common in poetry, frequently, as here, for metrical reasons (§ 79, d; G. 204, R.; H. 130, 3). 101. ipsa immunis tellus, the earth itself unburdened. without any duties to perform, not called on by man for tribute. 102. per se, equiv. to sua sponte. Strictly, 103. cibis (§ 245; G. 408; H. 421, iii.).—nullo cogente (abl. abs.) =with no compulsion, qualifying creatis. 104. arbuteos fetus = arbuti fetus, the fruit of the arbute tree. The arbute or strawberry tree is common in Italy. The fruit resembles the strawberry in appearance, but is somewhat insipid in taste. - legebant, [men] gathered (§ 206, b). 105. mora, blackberries. 106. quae glandes: the antecedent is incorporated in the relative clause (§ 200, b; G. 616; H. 445, 9). — Jovis arbore, the oak, sacred to Jupiter. |