IV. 10, 86.] The Poet's Autobiography. Successor fuit hic tibi, Galle; Propertius illi; 181 55 60 Multa quidem scripsi; sed quae vitiosa putavi, [cremavi, placitura Molle Cupidineis nec inexpugnabile telis 65 Tunc quoque, cum fugerem, quaedam Cor mihi, quodque levis causa moveret, erat. Cum tamen hic essem, minimoque accenderer igne, Nomine sub nostro fabula nulla fuit. Paene mihi puero nec digna nec utilis uxor Est data, quae tempus per breve nupta fuit. Illi successit, quamvis sine crimine conjunx, Filia me mea bis prima fecunda juventa, 70 75 Et jam complerat genitor sua fata, novemque Non aliter flevi, quam me fleturus ademptum 80 85 Fama, parentales, si vos mea contigit, umbrae Scite, precor, causam nec vos mihi fallere fas est Abstulerat decies praemia victor equus, Causa meae cunctis nimium quoque nota ruinae 90 95 100 Quid referam comitumque nefas famulosque nocentes? Ipsa multa tuli non leviora fuga. Indignata malis mens est succumbere, seque Praestitit invictam viribus usa suis. Oblitusque mei ductaeque per otia vitae, Totque tuli casus pelagoque terraque, quot inter Tacta mihi tandem longis erroribus acto Quod quamvis nemo est, cujus referatur ad aures, 105 Ergo quod vivo, durisque laboribus obsto, 115 Gratia, Musa, tibi; nam tu solacia praebes, Tu curae requies, tu medicina venis; Tu dux et comes es; tu nos abducis ab Histro, 120 IV. 10, 132.] The Poet's Autobiography. 183 Tu mihi, quod rarum est, vivo sublime dedisti 125 Cumque ego praeponam multos mihi, non minor illis Si quid habent igitur vatum praesagia veri, 130 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 Gr. p. 263); also, to be familiar with the general rules of Quantity and Accent (§§ 18, 19).* Besides this, the teacher should explain and illustrate, so far as may be necessary, the structure of the hexameter (§ 362), 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 I. 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); and is the most important point that distinguishes the 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 * To these it may be well to add the quantity of final syllables (§ 348). The learner should also be habituated to an accurate pronunciation of words according to their prose accent. |