Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

it falls after a short syllable, it is called Weak or Feminine or Trochaic Caesura. We may have a caesura whenever a word ends within a foot, but the caesura which most commonly coincides with a rhetorical pause is the semiquinaria or penthemimeral, the strong caesura in the third foot:

cum subi tō iuve, nis, pedi,bus tellure re,pulsā.

Next in importance is the semiseptenaria or hephthemimeral, the strong caesura in the fourth foot, which is often accompanied by the semiternaria or trihemimeral, the strong caesura of the second foot:

nōn gale ae, nōn, ēnsis erant ; sine, militis, ūsū.

If the semiternaria fails, a weak caesura of the second foot occurs as the secondary caesura. Sometimes a weak caesura of the third foot is found.

A Diaeresis occurs when a word and a foot end together:

11

cessan,tem vī,dit, nōn, Hesperus; illa du,ābus. Here diaeresis occurs after Hesperus. Diaeresis after the third foot, especially if this be a spondee, is most carefully avoided.

Elision is the loss or slurring in pronunciation of a final vowel before a word beginning with a vowel or with h:

terraque, rāsa, so,nat squa,mis, qui,que hālitus, exit.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Ecthlipsis is the loss or slurring in pronunciation of a final m with a preceding short vowel before a word beginning with a vowel or with :

nōndum caesa su,is, peregrinum ut, viseret, orbem.

Here um in peregrinum is slurred, if pronounced at all, before ut.

By hiatus is meant the failure of elision when a final vowel is kept in pronunciation before a word beginning with another vowel or with h. This is generally avoided by Ovid, who, as a rule, allows hiatus only when the final long vowel or diphthong is shortened. This is called semi-hiatus:

verba locus. Dic,tōque “Va,lē, Vale,”, inquit et, Echō.

[ocr errors]

The final syllable of the second vale is not elided, but ĕ becomes ě.

Synapheia is the elision of a final syllable in one verse before the initial vowel of the following verse:

perque vijās vī disse hominum,, simulacra fe,rārum,que
in silicem ex ip,sīs, visā conversa Me,dūsā.

The first verse has an extra syllable, que, which is elided before in of the following verse. The verse which has the extra syllable is called a hypermeter.

Synizesis is the pronunciation of two separate vowels as one syllable: dehinc, deinde (both pronounced as dissyllables); omnya for omnia.

Each foot may be divided into thesis (the first long syllable) and arsis (the second long syllable of a spondee or the two short syllables of a dactyl). The prominence of the thesis of a foot is known as ictus. Ictus is commonly treated as a rhythmical accent, and so marked:

aurea, príma sat ést,, ae,tás, quae, víndice, núllō.

EXERCISE IN SCANSION

The first selection of this book is here given in full, with indication of long vowels, elision, principal caesuras, and feet, the number of each foot in the verse being marked under the vowel of its thesis:

Aurea prīma sata est aetās, " quae vindice nūllō,

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

10 nōn tuba dērēctī, nōn aeris cornua flexī,

[blocks in formation]

6

nōn galeae, nōn ensis erat; sine mīlitis ūsū

1

2

3

||

4

5

6

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

45 nāvita), quaeque diu steterant | in montibus altīs,

1

2

3

4

[blocks in formation]

5

6

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

50 pōscēbātur humus, sed itum est in viscera terrae;

1

2

3

4

5

6

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

nōn socer a generō;

1

2

3

4

5

6

Nōn hospes ab hospite tūtus,

4

5

6

frātrum quoque gratia rāra est.

Imminet exitio vir coniugis, illa marīti;

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

miscent aconīta novercae ;

4

5

6

patriōs inquirit in annōs.

4

5

6

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

By omitting the arsis of the third and sixth feet of the dactylic hexameter, we get the so-called dactylic pentameter. In the first half of the verse the spondee

« ZurückWeiter »