REMARKS

UPON SOME POINTS OF

CLASSICAL VERSIFICATION.

I. Quantity and Accent.

THE structure of Verse, in Latin and Greek, is founded on the different quantity of the syllables, as long or short; in English, on the contrary, and other modern languages, the laws of versification refer to the accentuation or non-accentuation of the syllable. Even in the prose pronunciation of Greek and Latin, the accent, while carefully observed, was quite subordinate, and is never named in speaking of rhetorical euphony, while, on the other hand, the distinction of quantity was distinctly and strongly marked; in poetry, accordingly, the verse was audibly distinguished by the alternation of the long and short syllables. As it is not possible for us, either in prose or verse, to pronounce the words according to their quantity with such precision and in such a way as the ancients did, we cannot recite their poetry correctly, but are forced to give their verses a certain resemblance to ours by laying an accent on the Arsis; whereas the ancients simply indicated the arsis by the length of the syllable, not raising the voice, but only prolonging the sound.

While in the recitation of verse the metrical intonation predominated, it did not entirely suppress the ordinary accent of words. Even now a delicate ear can often feel a subtile beauty in the relations, in ancient poetry, of the subordinate effects of accent with the metrical beat of the line; and even in English reading of Greek or Latin verse, the best method combines a primary regard for the rhythm with a certain attention to the accent.

II. The Heroic Hexameter.

From its sustained and continuous flow, the dactylic hexameter is the verse best adapted to a uniformly progressive exhibition of events, and is therefore used in narrative (or epic) poems, and in didactic poems, satires, and poetical epistles.

III. Caesura and Caesural Pause.

The beauty of an hexameter line depends very much upon the proper observance of the caesural pause in recitation. The pause most natural and most common is that in the third foot. A pause in the fourth, however, is considered as a beauty, when, at the same time, there is a less considerable cacsura in the second foot; e. g.

verse.

Italiam fato profugus || Laviniaque venit.

Caesura itself greatly contributes to the euphonic flow of the The student will grow familiar with its varieties by his own observation, aided by his grammar. I may call attention to the effect of "the seeming contest between the words and the verse" which appears in the foot-caesuras in such lines as the following:

Una sa lus vic | tis nul | lam spe | rare sa | lutem.

A pause of sense often determines for us the principal caesura, to be observed in recitation.

The expression of the verse is affected by the place of the caesura. In general, the earlier caesuras give to the verse more vivacity; the later, more gravity.

The first foot of each verse (says W.) is fitted for strong and emphatic expressions, because at the beginning of a line, when we have taken a fresh supply of breath, we use a full and powerful voice, which, if not roused anew, falls away in the middle and end of the verse. We must take care, therefore, that we do not diminish this force of the voice, which would be the result did we make a pause after the first foot. Sometimes, however, the very harshness of the incision in this place lends vigor and expressiveness to the verse, as Aen. I. 135, Quos ego; and IV, 237, Naviget! A pause after a spondee in the first foot is

*See note p. 328.

rugged and inelegant; it may be used, however, to lay great emphasis on the spondaic word, as Aen. III. 636, Ingens.

IV. Lengthening of a Syllable by the Arsis.*

The so-called lengthening by the arsis, rests, as a tolerated license, on the circumstance, that in defined places in certain verses the reader expects and requires a long syllable, and hence if the poet, within certain limits, allows himself to use a short one, is not misled by it, but modifies the pronunciation of the syllable in respect of the quantity in such a way, that the requirements of the verse are in a manner satisfied. This license therefore is analogous to the occasional accentuation of unaccented syllables in modern verse. It is not frequent, except in the short final syllable of dissyllabic or polysyllabic words ending in a consonant, and especially when the force of the arsis is aided by the principal caesura of the verse. Final syllables ending in a vowel are much less frequently "lengthened" by the arsis. This occurs often, however, with the enclitic -que in the second (or fourth) foot of the hexameter, commonly supported by the caesura. Short monosyllabic words are never lengthened by the arsis. M. and Z.

V. Hiatus.

Virgil allows himself an hiatus, (i. e. forbears to elide a vowel before another vowel,) first, in the arsis of the second, third, fourth, or fifth foot, especially in proper names followed by a mark of punctuation or when the same vowel is the initial of the following word; secondly, in the thesis, when in accordance with Greek precedents a long vowel or diphthong is shortened, especially in the case of proper names and interjections: with short vowels in the thesis, hiatus occurs only before a strong mark of punctuation (e. g. Aen. I. 405).

Hiatus in Virgil is often found in those lines which are formed on a Greek model, i. e., those which terminate in a quadrisyllable, (and this, moreover, is frequently of Greek origin,) or which have a spondaic ending. This is to be attributed to the poet's fondness for imitating his great masters. - L. and W.

*See note on p. 328.

VI. Synizēsis or Synaeresis.

Synizēsis (or Synaerĕsis) occurs in Virgil much less frequently than in the earlier Roman poets. Except in proper names, he uses it chiefly with ee (as in the different forms of the verb deesse), ei (as ferrei, anteirent), eo (as alveo, aureo); seldom with ea (as aurea, ocreas).

The ancient grammarians referred to synizesis the cases where i and u pass over into the consonants j and v (pronounced like the English y and w) and lengthen the preceding syllable: e. g. pārjetibus, ābjete, omnja, fluvjorum, genva, tenvis. In the case of verbs, the only instances in Virgil are precantja (Aen. VII. 237) and arjetat (Aen. XI. 890). A contraction of uu occurs in curruum (Aen. VI. 653), and, according to some editors, in manûm (manuum) Aen. VII. 490.

VII. Tmesis,

Tmesis is the separation of the component parts of a compound word by an intervening word or words. It may be resorted to from metrical considerations. In Virgil, with the exception of tenus and dissyllabic prepositions which may be used adverbially, (as super, circum, and praeter,) it occurs only in the separation of a preposition by an appended -que from the word of which it is a part, e. g. inque salutatam (Aen. IX. 288).

VIII. Hypermeter Verses.

Virgil sometimes introduces a line containing a syllable beyond the number requisite for the metre; this syllable, however, ends in a vowel or in m preceded by a vowel, and is elided before the initial vowel of the following line. Such lines are sometimes effective as denoting that the speaker is carried on beyond bounds by his excitement, or breaks off leaving something still unsaid; or simply as giving an emphatic ending to the sentence. See note on Aen. IV. 629 (page 212,) and cf. VII. 470. In the Georgics I. 295, the boiling over of a liquid is described in an hypermeter verse.

Ennius was fond of hypermeter lines; and Virgil may have used them partly on account of their archaic sound.

Archaic Forms,

Virgil makes a moderate and judicious use of a few archaic forms, the charm of which to the Roman reader we can assist ourselves in appreciating by calling to mind similar instances in our own poets. Such are the forms ast, quianam, vel quum (Aen. XI. 406), ni (for ne, Aen. III. 685), olli (for illi), ollis, the genitive in ai, di for diei, the dative in u, the inf. pass. in ier, fuat, faxo, jusso, the omission of the vowel in short syllables, as in repostus, periclum, aspris, and the conjugation of verbs in accordance with the forms of the third (as the oldest and original) conjugation, as lavěre (for lavāre), fervĕre (for fervēre), fulgĕre, stridère, potitur.

These archaisms are often introduced from the exigences of the metre.

Note to ? III.

Incision is the coincidence of the end of the foot with the end of the word.

Note to ? IV.

In many cases the final syllables which are ordinarily explained as "lengthened by the arsis," were originally long, and are so found in the older poets, as Ennius.