Plurima | perque vi|as ster|nuntur
inlertia
| passim.
Latin - Bradley - Exercises in Latin Prosody
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl.
handle.
net/2027/hvd.
hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
? *6 EXERCISES IN
Nec queerer tar|<ios ( Ire re|llcta di|es.
Nil mihi | rescri|fow | attamen | Ipse velnl. Ovid.
There is sometimes a monosyllabic caesura at the pen-
themimeris of a pentameter, when the preceding word is
a monosyllable; as
Magna ta|men spes. | est | in boni|tatS de|I. Ovid.
The trochaic caesura is sometimes neglected in the foot
preceding the final syllable of a pentameter, and the verse
is concluded by a word of four or more syllables; as
Lis est | cum for|ma [ magna pu\dicit)\ee. Ovid.
The syllabic caesura sometimes lengthens a short sylla-
ble; as
Pectori|6Ss mhi|ans spi|rantia | consutft | exta. Virg.
The questions in the first eight of the following exer-
cises are designed to be answered by the pupil: the remain-
ing exercises in this chapter consist of lines, to which the
preceding observations on the casura are to be applied, and
which may be formed into hexameter or pentameter verses,
by a change of the position of one word in each line.
EXERCISES.
i
1.
What is meant by caesura?
Is attention to the caesura indispensably necessary in
Latin versification?
What are the principal advantages resulting from the
caesura?
How many kinds of caesura are there? Mention them.
: :. 2.
What is the syllabic caesura?
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. *7
"What caesura is termed trochaic?
What is a monosyllabic caesura?
How many syllabic caesuras are there in the following
line from Virgil;
Sic positae quoniam suaves miscetis odores i
3.
Are the caesuras in the following line from Virgil syl-
labic or trochaic caesuras;
Lumina labentem ccelo quae ducitis annum i
Which is considered the principal caesura in Latin
poetry?
What part of a hexameter line is termed the triemimeris?
What part of the following line from Virgil is the pen-
themimcris;
Et jam summa procul villarum culmina fumant i
4.
. How many half-feet are comprised in the ennehimeris,
and how many in the hephthemimeris?
In how many feet of a hexameter may the syllabic
caesura occur f
In what parts of a heroic verse is the trochaic caesura
found?
In what feet are two successive trochaic caesuras ob-
. jectionable?
5.
Why are the following verses from Ennius objectionable;
Ergo magisque magisque viri nunc gloria claret;
'Prudentem qui multa loquive tacereve posset I
In what respect is the following line from Ennius de-
fective;
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 48 EXERCISES IN
Sparsis hastis late campus splendet et horret?
Is a caesura necessary in every foot of a verse?
Does a caesura always occur in the first foot of a hexame-
ter?
6.
Of what does the second foot of a verse generally con-
sist when a caesura does not take place in it?
In what feet of the following line from Virgil is the
syllabic caesura omitted;
Cognatique patres tua terris didita fama?
When the caesura is omitted in the third foot, in which
of the other feet in the line is it generally found?
When may the caesura be omitted in the fourth foot?
7.
Which of the caesuras may properly be introduced in
the fifth foot of a hexameter?
What objection may be made to the following line from
Lucretius;
Corporibus caecis igitur natura gerit res?
When there is only one caesura in a verse, in which
foot is it generally found?
In what part of a pentameter does the trochaic caesura
generally occur?
8. *
What caesura generally takes place at thejjenthemimeris
of a pentameter verse?
When may a monosyllable be admitted at the penthe-
mimeris of a pentameter?
How is a pentameter verse concluded, if the trochaic
caesura in the last hemistich is omitted?
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 49
What short syllable is lengthened by the caesura in the
following line from Virgil;
Dona dehinc auro gravia sectoque elephanto?
9.
Ipse dei clypeus terra cum ima tollitur,
Mane rubet; rubet terraque, cum cohditur ima.
10.
En, proles antiqua redit; virtus, Concordia,
Cumque fide pietas cervice alta vagantur.
11.
Robora nec cuneis, olentem scindere et cedrum,
Nec plaustris cessant vectare ornos gementibus.
12.
Sponte juvenco tuus florebit ager cessante;
Oblatas mirabitur incola ditior messes.
13.
Non propter vitam quidam faciunt patrimonia,
Vitio caeci, sed propter patrimonia vivunt.
14.
Sol fugit, et removent subeuntia ccelum nubila,
Et efFusis, gravis decidit imber, aquis.
15.
Quod si quis monitis aures tardas adverterit,
Heu, referet quanto mea verba dolore!
16.
Arte laborata e puppes vincuntur ab aquore. *
Tu tua brachia plus remis posse putes?
Lot. Pr. E
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 50 EXERCISES IK
17.
Casta placent superis; venite purl cum veste,
Et manibus puris sumite aquam fontis.
18.
Corpora sive flamma rogus, seu tabe vetustas
Abstulerit, posse pati non ulla mala putetis.
19.
Multa dies, variusque mutabilis aevi labor,
In melius rettulit, multos alterna revisent
Lusit, et in solido fortuna rursus locavit.
20.
Alternis idem cessare tonsas novates,
Et patiere segnem situ durescere campum;
Aut ibi flava, mutato sidere, seres farra.
21.
Lucus erat nunquam violatus ab longo sevo,
Obscurum aera cingens connexis ramis,
Et gelidas umbras, alte summotis solibus.
22.
Interea colat pax arva; pax Candida primum
Duxit sub juga curra araturos boves.
Nitent pace bidens vomerque; at tristia duri
Militis situs in tenebris occupat arma.
-23.
Non domus et fundus, non acervus aeris et auri
Deduxit aegroto domini corpore febres,
Non animo curas. Oportet valeat possessor,
Si uti comportatis rebus bene cogitat.
24.
Hlc sedes augusta deae, colendi templique
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 51
Silex religiosa, densis quam pinus obumbrat
Frondibus, et procella nulla lucos agitante,
Rami stridula coniferi modulantur carmina.
CHAPTER II. --ARRANGEMENT OP WORDS.
1 he principal rules for the arrangement of words in Latin
prose are applicable also to the composition of verse;
but the language of poetry admits of a much greater
variety of inversion than the language of prose, and con-
sequently of a more frequent deviation from the general
laws of position.
As the introduction of the general rules for the position of
words in a sentence could contribute but little to the utility of
this work, they have not been inserted. Lyne's Latin Primtr
affords a summary of these rules, but a more comprehensive
statement of them may be found in Grant's Grammar and Valpy's
Elegantia Latina.
An adjective is generally placed in poetry before one or
more words, which intervene between it and its substan-
tive; it is sometimes found immediately after the noun, to
which it relates, and sometimes immediately before it; and
it occasionally occurs in other situations; as
Dumosa pendere procul de rupe videbo.
Carmina nulla canam; non, me pascente, capellae,
Florentem cytisum et salices carpetis amaras. Virg.
When two adjectives are introduced in the same verse,
they are most commonly placed together in the beginning
of the line; as
Agrestem tenui meditabor arundine musam. Virc.
When an adjective is peculiarly emphatic, it is elegantly
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? S2 EXERCISES IN
placed at a considerable distance after its substantive, and
sometimes in the beginning of the following line; as,
Vox quoque per lucos vulgo exaudita silentes
Ingens, et simulacra modis pallentia miris. Virg.
Prepositions are often placed in poetry after the noun,
which they govern, and are sometimes separated from the
words, with which they are compounded, and placed in a
different part of the verse; as
Spemque metumque inter dubii seu vivere credant.
Ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circum. Virg.
The compounds Quicunque, quisnam, priusquam, with
a few other compound words, are sometimes divided by
the figure tmesis; as
Qui te cunque manent isto certamine casus. Virg.
Although each of the four first feet in a hexameter
verse may be either a dactyl or a spondee, yet the greatest
harmony generally results from a judicious intermixture
of both these kinds of feet. This variety, however, is
often neglected, and sometimes with an expressive and
striking effect. It may in general be observed that light-
ness, rapidity, or confusion may be expressed the most
forcibly by dactyls, and slowness, grief, or dignity, by
spondees; as .
Radit iter liquidum, celeres neque commovet alas.
Cara deum soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum.
ViRC.
A sentence is most commonly completed in every dis-
tich or two lines of pentameter or elegiac poetry, but the
elegance of hexameters is increased, when neither a sen-
tence nor the clause of a sentence is finished with the
verse, and when each line through several successive
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 53
verses is begun with one or more words immediately
connected in sense with the preceding line. When one
word only is thus carried on to the next verse, it is in
most instances either a dactyl, or a polysyllable of suffici-
ent length to complete the first foot and leave a caesural
syllable in the second; it is seldom or never a monosylla-
ble only, and, unless the word is remarkably emphatic, it
is not often a spondee; as
Quid faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere terram
Vertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adjungere vites
Conveniat, quae cura boum, qui cultus habendo
Sit pecori, atque apibus quanta experientia parcis,
Hinc canere incipiam. Virg.
A monosyllable is seldom found at the end of a hex-
ameter or pentameter verse, unless it is elided or preceded
by another monosyllable; as
Sicut erat magni genibus procumbere non est.
Littoribus nostris anchora pacta tua est. Ovid.
A dissyllable is most commonly found at the end of a
pentameter verse; it often occurs also in the last foot of
a hexameter, but seldom in the fifth unless a trochaic
caesura takes place in it; as
Ilion, et Tenedos, Simoisque, et Xanthus, et Ide,
Nomina sunt ipso pene timenda sono. Ovid.
A hexameter line frequently ends in a trisyllable, but
very seldom in a polysyllable. A spondaic hexameter is
most commonly concluded with a polysyllable, but some-
times by a word ofvthree syllables; as
Namque ut conspectu in medio turbatus, inermis,
Constitit, atque oculis Phrygia agmina circumspexit.
Pro molli viola, pro purpureo narcisso. Virg.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 54 EXERCISES IN
It is obvious that the preceding observations on the concluding
foot of a verse may be traced to the rules for the regulation of
the ciESura, but, as the most constant attention to these rules is
essential to the composition of Latin verse, the repetition of a
part of them in this chapter may not be either irrelevant or use-
less. The following lines, which are designed to show in what
parts of a verse polysyllables are advantageously placed, may be
referred also to the same rules.
A word of four syllables may with propriety stand thus
in a hexameter verse;
Fata vo|cant con|ditque na|tantia | lumina | soranus.
Plurima | perque vi|as ster|nuntur inlertia | passim.
Teveni|ente di|e, te | dece|dente ca|nebat.
Nec mag|nus prohT|bere la|bortu | regibus | alas.
Luctus a|rlstae[t vitre|Isque se|dllibus | omnes.
Stat for|tuna do|mus, et a|vi nume|rantiir a|vorum.
Qua niger J humec|tat fla|ventia | culta Ga|lesus.
Eripe | non il|lis quisjquam cuncltantibus | altum.
Narcis|sum aut flex|i tacu|issem | vimen a|canthi.
Indue|rat toti|dem autum|no maitura te|nebat.
Aut one|ra accipi|unt veni|entum aut | agmine | facto.
vEra la|cu gemit | imposi|tis in|cudibus | JEtna
Jamque mi|nlstran|tem plata|num po|tap>iSus | umbras.
Exer|centfir a|gris pars | intraj^c^ta do|morum.
Nec ve|ro a stabu|lis pluvial impen|dente re|cedunt.
Usque co|lora|tIs am|nis de|vexus ab | Indis. Virg.
A word of five syllables may properly stand thus in a
hexameter verse;
Expen|untur et | in medi|um quae|sita re|ponunt.
Praetere|o atque ali|is post | commemo|randa re|linquo.
Hoc geri|tur Zephy|rusprimum Impel|lentibus | undas,
Umbrx i|bant tenu|es simul|acraque | luce ca|renttim.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. . 55
Contu|soque ani|mos et | res mise|rabere | fractas.
Mellaque a|rundinS|is in|ferre ca|nalibus | ultro.
Longius | aut cre|dunt cce|lo, adven|tantibus | Euris.
Obscce|nique ca|nes, Im|p6rtu|naeque vo|lucres.
Quo|peri|i super|Impo|nas abo|lere ne|fandi.
Et taroen | hanc pela|go pr#|terla|bare ne|cesse est.
Diver|si cir|cumspici|unt hoc | acrior | idem.
Tros an|chlsia|des ani|mos tamen | omine | tollit.
Morte Nejoptolelmi reg|norum | reddita | cessit. *
Ingemu|it Glau|cumque Meldontaque | Thersilolchum-
que. Virg.
Ut puer | et vaculis ut in|6bser|vatus in | herbis.
Intem[pesti|va tur|banles | festa Mi|nerva. Ovid.
A word of six or more syllables is generally situated
thus in a hexameter verse;
Stat sua | cuique di|es breve et | irrepa|rabfl8 | tempus.
Nam quis | te juve|num c6n|fiden|tissime | nostras.
Aut ar|guta la|cus ctr|cumvoli|tavit hi|rundo.
Hlc labor | ille do|mus et in|extrilcabilis | error.
Res aga|memnoni|as vic|tricia|que arma se|cutus. -
Laome|ddnte|ae lui|mus per|juria | Trojae.
Helle|spontia|ci ser|vet tu|tela Pri|api. Virg.
Secre|tos mon|tes et in|ambiti|6sa co|kbat. Ovid.
A word of seven syllables may stand thus in a hexame-
ter line;
Juno|nis gravis | ira et in|exsatu|rabile | pectus.
At Dana|um proceres aga|memnoni|aeque pha|langes.
LaomS|dontiadsb bel|lumne in|ferre pa|ratis. Virg.
Many useful observations on the subject of this and the
preceding chapter may be found in the judicious and recon-
dite analysis of the hexameter in Dr. Carey's Latin Prosody.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 56 EXERCISES IN
The lines in the exercises, which follow, are designed to
exemplify the preceding observations, and may be formed
into verses by changing the arrangement of the words.
The words printed in Italics are either compound voids,
which must be divided, or words, which are designed to be
placed at the beginning of the next tine.
EXERCISES.
1.
Ego non falsa loquar: ter acutum ensem sustulit,
Ter recidit manus male sublato ense.
2.
Sed timor obstitit et pLetas ausis crudelibus,
Castaque dextra refugit mandatum opus.
3.
Cor pavet admonitu noctis sanguine temeratx,
Et subitus tremor praepedit ossa dextrae.
% 4.
P^que tacitus venit^circumdatus fuscis alis,
Somnus, et vana somnia incerto pede.
5.
Aures vacent lite, insanaque/wrg/a protinus absint:
--livida lingua, differ tuum opus.
6.
Navita non moritur fluctu, non miles cuspide:
Oppida, immunia funerei lethi, pollent.
7.
Iliados cantabitur conditor, atque Maronis
Altisoni carmina, facientia palmam dubiam.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 57
8.
Qudcunque se medio agmine virgo furens tulit,
Hac Aruns subit, et tacitus lustrat vestigia.
9.
Tunc genitum Maia, qui reportet fervida dicta,
Imperat acciri. Cyllenius ales astitit,
Quatiens somniferam virgam, tectusque galero.
10.
Atlantiades paret dictis genitoris, et inde
SAma pedum propere illigat plantaribus alis,
Obnubitque comas, et galero astra temperat.
, 11-
Principio, mirantur naturam non reddere mare majuf,
quo sit aquarum tantus decursus,
Quo veniant omnia flumina ex omni parte.
12.
Jamque Titanis, surgens per confinia emeriti Phocbi,
late subvecta silenti mundo,
Tenuaverat gelidum aera rorifera biga.
13.
Tale tuum carmen nobis, poeta divine,
Quale fessis in gramine sopor; quale per aestum
Restinguere sitim saliente rivo dulcis aquae.
14.
Ut sylvae mutantur foliis in pronos annos,
Prima cadunt; ita vetus aetas verborum interit,
Et modd nata florent vigentque ritu juvenum.
15.
Hic radiant flores, et viva voluptas prati,
Variata suo ingenio; illic fulgentibus
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 58 EXERCISES IN
Toris strata surgunt; hie mollis herba panditur,
Non abruptura soporem solicitum curis.
16.
Quod caret alterna requie, non est durabile.
Haec reparat vires, novat fessaque membra.
Arcus et arma tua e Dianae sunt imitanda tibi;
Si tendere nunquam cesses, erit mollis.
17.
^Iquorese aquae miscentur; aether caret ignibus,
Caecaque nox tenebris hyemisque suisque premitur. ~
Tamen discutiunt has, praebentque lumen micantia
Fulmina: undae ardescunt fulmineis ignibus.
18.
Movit et eoos recessus fama bellorum,
Qua Ganges colitur, qui solus in toto orbe
Audet solvere ostia contraria nascenti Phcebo,.
? et impellit fluctus in adversum Eurum.
19.
Hlc purpureum ver; hic circumfundit flumina varios
,humus flores; hlc Candida populus imminet antro;
et lentae vites texunt umbracula.
Huc ades: sine insani fluctus feriant littora.
20.
Dixerat: ille concutit pennas madidantes novo nectare,
et maritat glebas fcecundo rore.
Quaque volat, vernus color sequitur; turget in herbas
omnis humus,
----- medioque patent sereno convexa.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 59
CHAPTER III. --Elision.
Elision is the cutting off of the final vowel or the two
final letters of a word, and is divided into synahepha and
ecthlipsis.
Synaljepha is the elision of a vowel or a diphthong at
the end of a word, when the following word begins with
a vowel or the aspirate h; as
Humida|solstitT|a atque hye|mes o|rate se|renas,
Agrico|l#; hyber|no lae|tissima | pulvSrS | farra.
Ecthlipsis is the elision of the consonant m with the
vowel preceding it, in the last syllable of a word, when
the following word begins with a vowel or the aspirate h;
as
Ille de|um y\tam accipi|et di|visquS vl|debit. ViRG.
The preceding definitions of synalspha and ecthlipsis must be
understood with some limitations. The final letters are elided or
omitted in scanning only, and not in writing nor [in the usual
mode of pronouncing a verse. Hence the two first lines her*
quoted from Virgil, though scanned with the vowels cut off, arc
always written and generally pronounced thus,
Humida solstitia atque hyemes orate serenas,
Agricolae; hyberno ketissima pulvere farra.
Two vowels at the end of a word are sometimes cut off, when
the next word begins with a vowel; as
Siellio et | luc'ifd|gis con|gesta cii|bilia | blattis. Vino.
Synalceplia never takes place in the words O, heu, ah, proh, va,
vali, and hei: it is also occasionally omitted by poetical licence
in other words; as
O pater, | b h5mi|num dq\ unique a? |terna po|testas.
Et suc|cus peco|ri, et ) lac sub|ducitur | aguls. Viro.
A long vowel or diphthong, when preserved from elision by
poetical licence, becomes common, but it is generally made short;
as' k
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 60 EXERCISES IN
Ter sunt | c6nat>>|lm|p6nere' | Peli6 | Ossam.
Imple|runt mon|tes, fle|runt Rhod6|peiae | arces. Virg.
A vowel at the end of a verse is not, in general, cut off, when
the first word of the following verse begins with a vowel; but if
the pause, which intervenes between the lines, is not required
by the sense, but is merely that slight pause, which the end of
the verse necessarily occasions, the final vowel, as well as the con-
sonant m, is sometimes elided; as
Jactemur, doceas: ignari hominumque locorumjue
Rrramus, vento hue et vastis fluctibus acti.
Jamque iter emensi, turres ac tecta Latin orum
Ardua cernebant juvenes, muroque subibant. Virg.
When the final vowel of a word is elided, the effect of the sylla-
ble as a ctesura is hardly perceptible, and it ought not perhaps to be
regarded, in any instance, as a ere sural syllable.
The consonant t was often elided by the ancient poets, some-
times with the vowel preceding it, but more frequently alone, and
consequently with the final syllable of the word preserved; as
VidtO|lyrflpia | nunc sem|o con|fectus qui|esclt. Emnius.
A verse, in which there are more than two elisions, is
most commonly deficient in harmony; as the following
pentameter from Catullus;
Quam modo | qui me u\num at|que umcum a|mkum
habu|It.
Elisions may generally be introduced into a verse with-
out diminishing its harmony, when the final vowel of a
word is the same as that, which begins the next word, and
when the elided vowel is either naturally short or followed
by a long syllable; as
Ipse ego | cana le|gam tene|ra la|nugine | mala.
Tum casi|a atque ali|is in|texens | suavibiis | herbis.
Virg.
An elision has seldom a good effect when it occurs in
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 61
the first syllable of a verse, in the end of the fifth foot of
a hexameter, immediately after the penthemimer in a pen-
tameter, or in a word ending with a long vowel before a
word beginning with a short vowel; as
Nam iit feru|la cie|das meri|tum ma|jora sub|ire. Hor.
Loripe|dem rec|tus de|rideat | iEthi6|pm albus, Juv.
Trojane|fas! c6m|munesS|pulcrumEu|rop<2? Asi|<<que.
Me mise|ro eripu|is|tt' omnia | nostra bo|na. Catul.
Although elisions are often admitted into our own poetry, they
generally appear to us harsh and injurious to harmony in Latin
verse. There is reason to think that even by the Romans them-
selves, they were considered in some degree objectionable, though
their best poets sanctioned and adopted the use of them. It is
probable, however, that in the ancient pronunciation of these
vowels, much of their apparent harshness was removed. It is not
indeed possible to ascertain precisely what this pronunciation was;
but it is generally supposed either that the elided syllables were
altogether omitted, as they now are in scanning, or that the sound,
which was given to them, was so slight and imperfect, that it
could hardly be distinguished, and consequently interrupted but
little the measure of the verse.
The figure ecthlipsis, or the elision of the final m, has in our
pronunciation a still harsher effect than the elision of the vowel
only, and appears on the first view to be a peculiarity in Latin
poetry, for which it is impossible to account. Dr.
? *6 EXERCISES IN
Nec queerer tar|<ios ( Ire re|llcta di|es.
Nil mihi | rescri|fow | attamen | Ipse velnl. Ovid.
There is sometimes a monosyllabic caesura at the pen-
themimeris of a pentameter, when the preceding word is
a monosyllable; as
Magna ta|men spes. | est | in boni|tatS de|I. Ovid.
The trochaic caesura is sometimes neglected in the foot
preceding the final syllable of a pentameter, and the verse
is concluded by a word of four or more syllables; as
Lis est | cum for|ma [ magna pu\dicit)\ee. Ovid.
The syllabic caesura sometimes lengthens a short sylla-
ble; as
Pectori|6Ss mhi|ans spi|rantia | consutft | exta. Virg.
The questions in the first eight of the following exer-
cises are designed to be answered by the pupil: the remain-
ing exercises in this chapter consist of lines, to which the
preceding observations on the casura are to be applied, and
which may be formed into hexameter or pentameter verses,
by a change of the position of one word in each line.
EXERCISES.
i
1.
What is meant by caesura?
Is attention to the caesura indispensably necessary in
Latin versification?
What are the principal advantages resulting from the
caesura?
How many kinds of caesura are there? Mention them.
: :. 2.
What is the syllabic caesura?
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. *7
"What caesura is termed trochaic?
What is a monosyllabic caesura?
How many syllabic caesuras are there in the following
line from Virgil;
Sic positae quoniam suaves miscetis odores i
3.
Are the caesuras in the following line from Virgil syl-
labic or trochaic caesuras;
Lumina labentem ccelo quae ducitis annum i
Which is considered the principal caesura in Latin
poetry?
What part of a hexameter line is termed the triemimeris?
What part of the following line from Virgil is the pen-
themimcris;
Et jam summa procul villarum culmina fumant i
4.
. How many half-feet are comprised in the ennehimeris,
and how many in the hephthemimeris?
In how many feet of a hexameter may the syllabic
caesura occur f
In what parts of a heroic verse is the trochaic caesura
found?
In what feet are two successive trochaic caesuras ob-
. jectionable?
5.
Why are the following verses from Ennius objectionable;
Ergo magisque magisque viri nunc gloria claret;
'Prudentem qui multa loquive tacereve posset I
In what respect is the following line from Ennius de-
fective;
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 48 EXERCISES IN
Sparsis hastis late campus splendet et horret?
Is a caesura necessary in every foot of a verse?
Does a caesura always occur in the first foot of a hexame-
ter?
6.
Of what does the second foot of a verse generally con-
sist when a caesura does not take place in it?
In what feet of the following line from Virgil is the
syllabic caesura omitted;
Cognatique patres tua terris didita fama?
When the caesura is omitted in the third foot, in which
of the other feet in the line is it generally found?
When may the caesura be omitted in the fourth foot?
7.
Which of the caesuras may properly be introduced in
the fifth foot of a hexameter?
What objection may be made to the following line from
Lucretius;
Corporibus caecis igitur natura gerit res?
When there is only one caesura in a verse, in which
foot is it generally found?
In what part of a pentameter does the trochaic caesura
generally occur?
8. *
What caesura generally takes place at thejjenthemimeris
of a pentameter verse?
When may a monosyllable be admitted at the penthe-
mimeris of a pentameter?
How is a pentameter verse concluded, if the trochaic
caesura in the last hemistich is omitted?
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 49
What short syllable is lengthened by the caesura in the
following line from Virgil;
Dona dehinc auro gravia sectoque elephanto?
9.
Ipse dei clypeus terra cum ima tollitur,
Mane rubet; rubet terraque, cum cohditur ima.
10.
En, proles antiqua redit; virtus, Concordia,
Cumque fide pietas cervice alta vagantur.
11.
Robora nec cuneis, olentem scindere et cedrum,
Nec plaustris cessant vectare ornos gementibus.
12.
Sponte juvenco tuus florebit ager cessante;
Oblatas mirabitur incola ditior messes.
13.
Non propter vitam quidam faciunt patrimonia,
Vitio caeci, sed propter patrimonia vivunt.
14.
Sol fugit, et removent subeuntia ccelum nubila,
Et efFusis, gravis decidit imber, aquis.
15.
Quod si quis monitis aures tardas adverterit,
Heu, referet quanto mea verba dolore!
16.
Arte laborata e puppes vincuntur ab aquore. *
Tu tua brachia plus remis posse putes?
Lot. Pr. E
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 50 EXERCISES IK
17.
Casta placent superis; venite purl cum veste,
Et manibus puris sumite aquam fontis.
18.
Corpora sive flamma rogus, seu tabe vetustas
Abstulerit, posse pati non ulla mala putetis.
19.
Multa dies, variusque mutabilis aevi labor,
In melius rettulit, multos alterna revisent
Lusit, et in solido fortuna rursus locavit.
20.
Alternis idem cessare tonsas novates,
Et patiere segnem situ durescere campum;
Aut ibi flava, mutato sidere, seres farra.
21.
Lucus erat nunquam violatus ab longo sevo,
Obscurum aera cingens connexis ramis,
Et gelidas umbras, alte summotis solibus.
22.
Interea colat pax arva; pax Candida primum
Duxit sub juga curra araturos boves.
Nitent pace bidens vomerque; at tristia duri
Militis situs in tenebris occupat arma.
-23.
Non domus et fundus, non acervus aeris et auri
Deduxit aegroto domini corpore febres,
Non animo curas. Oportet valeat possessor,
Si uti comportatis rebus bene cogitat.
24.
Hlc sedes augusta deae, colendi templique
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 51
Silex religiosa, densis quam pinus obumbrat
Frondibus, et procella nulla lucos agitante,
Rami stridula coniferi modulantur carmina.
CHAPTER II. --ARRANGEMENT OP WORDS.
1 he principal rules for the arrangement of words in Latin
prose are applicable also to the composition of verse;
but the language of poetry admits of a much greater
variety of inversion than the language of prose, and con-
sequently of a more frequent deviation from the general
laws of position.
As the introduction of the general rules for the position of
words in a sentence could contribute but little to the utility of
this work, they have not been inserted. Lyne's Latin Primtr
affords a summary of these rules, but a more comprehensive
statement of them may be found in Grant's Grammar and Valpy's
Elegantia Latina.
An adjective is generally placed in poetry before one or
more words, which intervene between it and its substan-
tive; it is sometimes found immediately after the noun, to
which it relates, and sometimes immediately before it; and
it occasionally occurs in other situations; as
Dumosa pendere procul de rupe videbo.
Carmina nulla canam; non, me pascente, capellae,
Florentem cytisum et salices carpetis amaras. Virg.
When two adjectives are introduced in the same verse,
they are most commonly placed together in the beginning
of the line; as
Agrestem tenui meditabor arundine musam. Virc.
When an adjective is peculiarly emphatic, it is elegantly
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? S2 EXERCISES IN
placed at a considerable distance after its substantive, and
sometimes in the beginning of the following line; as,
Vox quoque per lucos vulgo exaudita silentes
Ingens, et simulacra modis pallentia miris. Virg.
Prepositions are often placed in poetry after the noun,
which they govern, and are sometimes separated from the
words, with which they are compounded, and placed in a
different part of the verse; as
Spemque metumque inter dubii seu vivere credant.
Ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circum. Virg.
The compounds Quicunque, quisnam, priusquam, with
a few other compound words, are sometimes divided by
the figure tmesis; as
Qui te cunque manent isto certamine casus. Virg.
Although each of the four first feet in a hexameter
verse may be either a dactyl or a spondee, yet the greatest
harmony generally results from a judicious intermixture
of both these kinds of feet. This variety, however, is
often neglected, and sometimes with an expressive and
striking effect. It may in general be observed that light-
ness, rapidity, or confusion may be expressed the most
forcibly by dactyls, and slowness, grief, or dignity, by
spondees; as .
Radit iter liquidum, celeres neque commovet alas.
Cara deum soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum.
ViRC.
A sentence is most commonly completed in every dis-
tich or two lines of pentameter or elegiac poetry, but the
elegance of hexameters is increased, when neither a sen-
tence nor the clause of a sentence is finished with the
verse, and when each line through several successive
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 53
verses is begun with one or more words immediately
connected in sense with the preceding line. When one
word only is thus carried on to the next verse, it is in
most instances either a dactyl, or a polysyllable of suffici-
ent length to complete the first foot and leave a caesural
syllable in the second; it is seldom or never a monosylla-
ble only, and, unless the word is remarkably emphatic, it
is not often a spondee; as
Quid faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere terram
Vertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adjungere vites
Conveniat, quae cura boum, qui cultus habendo
Sit pecori, atque apibus quanta experientia parcis,
Hinc canere incipiam. Virg.
A monosyllable is seldom found at the end of a hex-
ameter or pentameter verse, unless it is elided or preceded
by another monosyllable; as
Sicut erat magni genibus procumbere non est.
Littoribus nostris anchora pacta tua est. Ovid.
A dissyllable is most commonly found at the end of a
pentameter verse; it often occurs also in the last foot of
a hexameter, but seldom in the fifth unless a trochaic
caesura takes place in it; as
Ilion, et Tenedos, Simoisque, et Xanthus, et Ide,
Nomina sunt ipso pene timenda sono. Ovid.
A hexameter line frequently ends in a trisyllable, but
very seldom in a polysyllable. A spondaic hexameter is
most commonly concluded with a polysyllable, but some-
times by a word ofvthree syllables; as
Namque ut conspectu in medio turbatus, inermis,
Constitit, atque oculis Phrygia agmina circumspexit.
Pro molli viola, pro purpureo narcisso. Virg.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 54 EXERCISES IN
It is obvious that the preceding observations on the concluding
foot of a verse may be traced to the rules for the regulation of
the ciESura, but, as the most constant attention to these rules is
essential to the composition of Latin verse, the repetition of a
part of them in this chapter may not be either irrelevant or use-
less. The following lines, which are designed to show in what
parts of a verse polysyllables are advantageously placed, may be
referred also to the same rules.
A word of four syllables may with propriety stand thus
in a hexameter verse;
Fata vo|cant con|ditque na|tantia | lumina | soranus.
Plurima | perque vi|as ster|nuntur inlertia | passim.
Teveni|ente di|e, te | dece|dente ca|nebat.
Nec mag|nus prohT|bere la|bortu | regibus | alas.
Luctus a|rlstae[t vitre|Isque se|dllibus | omnes.
Stat for|tuna do|mus, et a|vi nume|rantiir a|vorum.
Qua niger J humec|tat fla|ventia | culta Ga|lesus.
Eripe | non il|lis quisjquam cuncltantibus | altum.
Narcis|sum aut flex|i tacu|issem | vimen a|canthi.
Indue|rat toti|dem autum|no maitura te|nebat.
Aut one|ra accipi|unt veni|entum aut | agmine | facto.
vEra la|cu gemit | imposi|tis in|cudibus | JEtna
Jamque mi|nlstran|tem plata|num po|tap>iSus | umbras.
Exer|centfir a|gris pars | intraj^c^ta do|morum.
Nec ve|ro a stabu|lis pluvial impen|dente re|cedunt.
Usque co|lora|tIs am|nis de|vexus ab | Indis. Virg.
A word of five syllables may properly stand thus in a
hexameter verse;
Expen|untur et | in medi|um quae|sita re|ponunt.
Praetere|o atque ali|is post | commemo|randa re|linquo.
Hoc geri|tur Zephy|rusprimum Impel|lentibus | undas,
Umbrx i|bant tenu|es simul|acraque | luce ca|renttim.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. . 55
Contu|soque ani|mos et | res mise|rabere | fractas.
Mellaque a|rundinS|is in|ferre ca|nalibus | ultro.
Longius | aut cre|dunt cce|lo, adven|tantibus | Euris.
Obscce|nique ca|nes, Im|p6rtu|naeque vo|lucres.
Quo|peri|i super|Impo|nas abo|lere ne|fandi.
Et taroen | hanc pela|go pr#|terla|bare ne|cesse est.
Diver|si cir|cumspici|unt hoc | acrior | idem.
Tros an|chlsia|des ani|mos tamen | omine | tollit.
Morte Nejoptolelmi reg|norum | reddita | cessit. *
Ingemu|it Glau|cumque Meldontaque | Thersilolchum-
que. Virg.
Ut puer | et vaculis ut in|6bser|vatus in | herbis.
Intem[pesti|va tur|banles | festa Mi|nerva. Ovid.
A word of six or more syllables is generally situated
thus in a hexameter verse;
Stat sua | cuique di|es breve et | irrepa|rabfl8 | tempus.
Nam quis | te juve|num c6n|fiden|tissime | nostras.
Aut ar|guta la|cus ctr|cumvoli|tavit hi|rundo.
Hlc labor | ille do|mus et in|extrilcabilis | error.
Res aga|memnoni|as vic|tricia|que arma se|cutus. -
Laome|ddnte|ae lui|mus per|juria | Trojae.
Helle|spontia|ci ser|vet tu|tela Pri|api. Virg.
Secre|tos mon|tes et in|ambiti|6sa co|kbat. Ovid.
A word of seven syllables may stand thus in a hexame-
ter line;
Juno|nis gravis | ira et in|exsatu|rabile | pectus.
At Dana|um proceres aga|memnoni|aeque pha|langes.
LaomS|dontiadsb bel|lumne in|ferre pa|ratis. Virg.
Many useful observations on the subject of this and the
preceding chapter may be found in the judicious and recon-
dite analysis of the hexameter in Dr. Carey's Latin Prosody.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 56 EXERCISES IN
The lines in the exercises, which follow, are designed to
exemplify the preceding observations, and may be formed
into verses by changing the arrangement of the words.
The words printed in Italics are either compound voids,
which must be divided, or words, which are designed to be
placed at the beginning of the next tine.
EXERCISES.
1.
Ego non falsa loquar: ter acutum ensem sustulit,
Ter recidit manus male sublato ense.
2.
Sed timor obstitit et pLetas ausis crudelibus,
Castaque dextra refugit mandatum opus.
3.
Cor pavet admonitu noctis sanguine temeratx,
Et subitus tremor praepedit ossa dextrae.
% 4.
P^que tacitus venit^circumdatus fuscis alis,
Somnus, et vana somnia incerto pede.
5.
Aures vacent lite, insanaque/wrg/a protinus absint:
--livida lingua, differ tuum opus.
6.
Navita non moritur fluctu, non miles cuspide:
Oppida, immunia funerei lethi, pollent.
7.
Iliados cantabitur conditor, atque Maronis
Altisoni carmina, facientia palmam dubiam.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 57
8.
Qudcunque se medio agmine virgo furens tulit,
Hac Aruns subit, et tacitus lustrat vestigia.
9.
Tunc genitum Maia, qui reportet fervida dicta,
Imperat acciri. Cyllenius ales astitit,
Quatiens somniferam virgam, tectusque galero.
10.
Atlantiades paret dictis genitoris, et inde
SAma pedum propere illigat plantaribus alis,
Obnubitque comas, et galero astra temperat.
, 11-
Principio, mirantur naturam non reddere mare majuf,
quo sit aquarum tantus decursus,
Quo veniant omnia flumina ex omni parte.
12.
Jamque Titanis, surgens per confinia emeriti Phocbi,
late subvecta silenti mundo,
Tenuaverat gelidum aera rorifera biga.
13.
Tale tuum carmen nobis, poeta divine,
Quale fessis in gramine sopor; quale per aestum
Restinguere sitim saliente rivo dulcis aquae.
14.
Ut sylvae mutantur foliis in pronos annos,
Prima cadunt; ita vetus aetas verborum interit,
Et modd nata florent vigentque ritu juvenum.
15.
Hic radiant flores, et viva voluptas prati,
Variata suo ingenio; illic fulgentibus
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 58 EXERCISES IN
Toris strata surgunt; hie mollis herba panditur,
Non abruptura soporem solicitum curis.
16.
Quod caret alterna requie, non est durabile.
Haec reparat vires, novat fessaque membra.
Arcus et arma tua e Dianae sunt imitanda tibi;
Si tendere nunquam cesses, erit mollis.
17.
^Iquorese aquae miscentur; aether caret ignibus,
Caecaque nox tenebris hyemisque suisque premitur. ~
Tamen discutiunt has, praebentque lumen micantia
Fulmina: undae ardescunt fulmineis ignibus.
18.
Movit et eoos recessus fama bellorum,
Qua Ganges colitur, qui solus in toto orbe
Audet solvere ostia contraria nascenti Phcebo,.
? et impellit fluctus in adversum Eurum.
19.
Hlc purpureum ver; hic circumfundit flumina varios
,humus flores; hlc Candida populus imminet antro;
et lentae vites texunt umbracula.
Huc ades: sine insani fluctus feriant littora.
20.
Dixerat: ille concutit pennas madidantes novo nectare,
et maritat glebas fcecundo rore.
Quaque volat, vernus color sequitur; turget in herbas
omnis humus,
----- medioque patent sereno convexa.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 59
CHAPTER III. --Elision.
Elision is the cutting off of the final vowel or the two
final letters of a word, and is divided into synahepha and
ecthlipsis.
Synaljepha is the elision of a vowel or a diphthong at
the end of a word, when the following word begins with
a vowel or the aspirate h; as
Humida|solstitT|a atque hye|mes o|rate se|renas,
Agrico|l#; hyber|no lae|tissima | pulvSrS | farra.
Ecthlipsis is the elision of the consonant m with the
vowel preceding it, in the last syllable of a word, when
the following word begins with a vowel or the aspirate h;
as
Ille de|um y\tam accipi|et di|visquS vl|debit. ViRG.
The preceding definitions of synalspha and ecthlipsis must be
understood with some limitations. The final letters are elided or
omitted in scanning only, and not in writing nor [in the usual
mode of pronouncing a verse. Hence the two first lines her*
quoted from Virgil, though scanned with the vowels cut off, arc
always written and generally pronounced thus,
Humida solstitia atque hyemes orate serenas,
Agricolae; hyberno ketissima pulvere farra.
Two vowels at the end of a word are sometimes cut off, when
the next word begins with a vowel; as
Siellio et | luc'ifd|gis con|gesta cii|bilia | blattis. Vino.
Synalceplia never takes place in the words O, heu, ah, proh, va,
vali, and hei: it is also occasionally omitted by poetical licence
in other words; as
O pater, | b h5mi|num dq\ unique a? |terna po|testas.
Et suc|cus peco|ri, et ) lac sub|ducitur | aguls. Viro.
A long vowel or diphthong, when preserved from elision by
poetical licence, becomes common, but it is generally made short;
as' k
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 60 EXERCISES IN
Ter sunt | c6nat>>|lm|p6nere' | Peli6 | Ossam.
Imple|runt mon|tes, fle|runt Rhod6|peiae | arces. Virg.
A vowel at the end of a verse is not, in general, cut off, when
the first word of the following verse begins with a vowel; but if
the pause, which intervenes between the lines, is not required
by the sense, but is merely that slight pause, which the end of
the verse necessarily occasions, the final vowel, as well as the con-
sonant m, is sometimes elided; as
Jactemur, doceas: ignari hominumque locorumjue
Rrramus, vento hue et vastis fluctibus acti.
Jamque iter emensi, turres ac tecta Latin orum
Ardua cernebant juvenes, muroque subibant. Virg.
When the final vowel of a word is elided, the effect of the sylla-
ble as a ctesura is hardly perceptible, and it ought not perhaps to be
regarded, in any instance, as a ere sural syllable.
The consonant t was often elided by the ancient poets, some-
times with the vowel preceding it, but more frequently alone, and
consequently with the final syllable of the word preserved; as
VidtO|lyrflpia | nunc sem|o con|fectus qui|esclt. Emnius.
A verse, in which there are more than two elisions, is
most commonly deficient in harmony; as the following
pentameter from Catullus;
Quam modo | qui me u\num at|que umcum a|mkum
habu|It.
Elisions may generally be introduced into a verse with-
out diminishing its harmony, when the final vowel of a
word is the same as that, which begins the next word, and
when the elided vowel is either naturally short or followed
by a long syllable; as
Ipse ego | cana le|gam tene|ra la|nugine | mala.
Tum casi|a atque ali|is in|texens | suavibiis | herbis.
Virg.
An elision has seldom a good effect when it occurs in
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwrgkf Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? VERSIFICATION. 61
the first syllable of a verse, in the end of the fifth foot of
a hexameter, immediately after the penthemimer in a pen-
tameter, or in a word ending with a long vowel before a
word beginning with a short vowel; as
Nam iit feru|la cie|das meri|tum ma|jora sub|ire. Hor.
Loripe|dem rec|tus de|rideat | iEthi6|pm albus, Juv.
Trojane|fas! c6m|munesS|pulcrumEu|rop<2? Asi|<<que.
Me mise|ro eripu|is|tt' omnia | nostra bo|na. Catul.
Although elisions are often admitted into our own poetry, they
generally appear to us harsh and injurious to harmony in Latin
verse. There is reason to think that even by the Romans them-
selves, they were considered in some degree objectionable, though
their best poets sanctioned and adopted the use of them. It is
probable, however, that in the ancient pronunciation of these
vowels, much of their apparent harshness was removed. It is not
indeed possible to ascertain precisely what this pronunciation was;
but it is generally supposed either that the elided syllables were
altogether omitted, as they now are in scanning, or that the sound,
which was given to them, was so slight and imperfect, that it
could hardly be distinguished, and consequently interrupted but
little the measure of the verse.
The figure ecthlipsis, or the elision of the final m, has in our
pronunciation a still harsher effect than the elision of the vowel
only, and appears on the first view to be a peculiarity in Latin
poetry, for which it is impossible to account. Dr.
