98
DIFFERENT
KINDS OF VERSE.
Latin - Casserly - Complete System of Latin Prosody
tf As iii Ode, Lib. i. of Horace.
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? DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE. 93
is denominated Tristrophos or Tristrophon ;* when the
same kind recurs after the fourth line, it is denominated
Tetrastrophos or Tetrastrophon ;t and so of the rest.
Then by a combination of the preceding terms, a poem
written in stanzas, consisting of two verses of different
kinds, is called Dicolon-Distrophon jt when the stanza
consists of three verses, but of two sorts only, (one sort
being twice repeated,) it is called Dicolon-tristrophon ;?
when the stanza consists of four verses, -- still of two sorts
only, (one being thrice repeated,) it is called Dicolon-tetra-
strophon. W When the poem is written in stanzas consist-
ing of three lines, each of a different kind, it is called
Tricolon-tristrophon ;1T when a stanza consists of four
verses, but of three kinds only, (one being repeated,) it is
called Tricolon-tetrastropkon ;** and so of the rest.
SECTION VIII.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE.
GENUS I. DACTYLIC VERSES.
1. General Canon. These have their last foot always
a spondee,tt and the last but one always a dactyl, while
the rest may indiscriminately be either dactyles or spon-
dees. The penultimate foot is very seldom a spondee,
but when it is so, a dactyl most generally precedes it.
2. Species 1. -- Dactylic Hexameter or Heroic Verse
* As Ode xi. lib. Epod. of Horace, and the Preface to the Hymns of Pruden-
tius.
t As Ode ii. lib. i. of Horace.
X As the Elegiacs of Ovid, Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, and many of Horace'i
Odes.
5 As Ode xii. lib. iii. of Horace.
f| As Ode ii. lib. i. of Horace, already quoted.
IT As Ode xi. and xiii. lib. Epod. of Horace.
** As Ode ix. lib. i. of Horace.
tt Because a dactyl at the end, would become an amphimacer.
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? 94
DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE.
consists of six feet,* varied and limited as above : i. e. ,
five dactyls and one spondee ; admitting a spondee instead
of a dactyl, on any of the first four places, but on the fifth,
rarely : according to the following scale --
l
2
3
45 6
-- ~~
---1 --
Raditi|terltqui|dum,cele-|resneque | commovet| alas. "for.
oil! j respon|d! t rex | Alba|i lon|gai. Ennius.
Ludere | quae vel-|lem cala-|mo per-jmlsit a|gresti. V*rg.
Marglne | terra-|rum por-|rexerat | Amphi-|trite. Ovid,
The fifth foot should never be a spondee, unless for the
purpose of expressing slow or difficult motion, in solemn,
majestic, or mournful descriptions, or in those expressive
of dignity, gravity, astonishment, consternation, vastness
of extent, &c, &c.
3. Species 2. -- Dactylic Tetrameter a priore consists
of the first four feet of the ordinary hexameter varied and
limited as in Art. 1 ; with this difference, that the fourth
or last foot is always a dactyl.
Lumini-|bus que pri-|6r redi-|it vigor. Boethius.
Garrula | per ra-|mos avis | obstrepit. Seneca.
4. Species 3. -- Dactylic Tetrameter a posteriore, has
the last four feet of an hexameter ; as,
* As each of these feet -- whether dactyls or spondees-- contains fonr times,
there are consequently in every line or verse -- prosodially speaking-- twenty-four
times. So also in every other species of verse, must the number of times, in pro-
portion to the number of its feet, be inviolably preserved. Hence appears the
absurdity of attempting to read Latin verse, according to the rules of English
accent and quantity; by which the twenty-four times of an hexameter line are
often extended to twenty-nine times ! ! -- not unfrequently to thirty-one ! ! ! &3* It
may be useful to the young Prosodian to bear in mind, that every regular Hexa-
meter verse or line must contain not fewer than thirteen, and not more than
seventeen, syllables; i. e. , the line or verse may consist of five spondees and on<
dactyl (the penultimate foot), making thirteen syllables ; or of five dactyls an<
one spondee, making seventeen syllables.
IT
i
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? DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE. 95
lbimus|o socI-|I cdmi-|tesque. Hor.
Judice|te non|sor didus|auctor. Idem.
Menso-|rem cohi-|bent Ar-|chyta. Idem.
5. Species 4. -- Tetrameter Catalectic is the last species
with its final syllable cut off; as,
Ibimus|o soci-|I comi-|tes.
Unus e-|nim re-|rum pater|est. Boeth.
6. Species 5. -- Trimeter (Pherecratic) consists of a
spondee, a dactyl, and a spondee without variation ; as,
Cras do-|naberis|h2edo. Hor.
%* By some Prosodians this is scanned as a choriam-
bic. See Art. 34, under that head.
7. Species 6. -- Trimeter Catalectic (Arckilockian)
consists of two dactyls and a syllable ; a spondee being
seldom admitted ; as,
Arb5ri-|busque co-|mai. Hor.
8. Species 7. -- Dimeter (Adonic*) consists of a dactyl
and a spondee without variation ; as,
Terr CiT t|urbem. Hor.
The Adonic is rarely used unless joined to the Tro-
chaic, Pentameter or Sapphic : one Adonic being annexed
to three Sapphics, to form the strophe or stanza. In tragic
choruses, however, it is annexed to any number of Sap-
phics at the will of the poet. t
IRREGULAR DACTYLIC VERSES. t
Of Pentameter.
9. Species 1. -- Pentameter consists of five feet, of
* So called from the metre used in lamenting the fate of Adonis.
t See Seneca, (Edip. act 1 \-Troas, act 4;-- Here. Fur. act 3;-- Thy 'est. act 3,
&c.
X Those verses are called irregular, because they deviate from the general
canon laid down at the beginning of the genus.
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? 96
DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE.
which the first and second are either dactyls or spondees,
the third is always a spondee, and the fourth and fifth are
anapaests, according to the scale --
! 1
2
3
4
5
_w ^
--- ~
~v-
wV-
Lassa-|ret vidu-|as pen-jdiila te-|la manus. Ovid.
Et graci-|lis struc-|tos ef-jfugit um-|bra rogos. Idem.
The Pentameter must always have a caesura Penthe-
mimeris ; and every line ought to conclude with a dis-
syllable ; as a trisyilable is considered inelegant.
Another mode of dividing the Pentameter, and which
is preferred by the best Prosodians, -- is to separate each
line into two Catalectic Trimeters (7), the first admitting
the spondee, the second not : in other words, the first
two feet may be either dactyls or spondees, followed by
a long syllable, then two dactyls followed by another long
syllable : according to the scale --
1
2
3
4
5
6
--^ V
-
~
Lassa-|ret vidu-|as|jpendula|tela ma-|nus.
Et graci-|lls struc-]tos||effugit|umbra ro-|gos.
10. Species 2. -- Alcmanian Tetrameter Hypercatalec-
tic* consists of two divisions, the first being a dactylic
* Carey who has been followed hy Anthon and other distinguished classical
scholars-- calls it Phalacian, on the authority, it is alleged, of Terentianus. But
this writer's meaning appears to hare been misunderstood on this passage. Te-
rentianus in describing that particular form of verse in the above text, remarks,
that it is hendecasyllabic. But as in making this remark, he uses a Phalacian
verse, to which species, the term hendecasyllabic is almost exclusively confined,
he adds, in his prolix manner, that the verse he is describing i* alter--" differ-
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? DIFFERENT KINDS OF Y r ERSE. 97
penthemimeris, i. e. , two feet and a half from the begin-
ning of an Hexameter, and the second a dactyl and spon-
dee ; as,
Heu quam|praeclpi-|ti||mersa pro-|fundo. Boethius.
This might be scanned as a common Pentameter defi-
cient by a semifoot ; as,
Heu quam|praecipi-|ti mer-|,&a profun-|do.
or still again as a Choriambic Catalectic Tetrameter ; as,
Heu quam|prfficipitl|mersa profun|do.
GENUS II. ANAPAESTIC VERSES.
11. General Canon, The Anapaest is everywhere con-
vertible into a dactyl or a spondee, [and sometimes into
a proceleusmatic] with this limitation, that a dactyl is
rarely found in an even place : i. e. , in the second or
fourth ; -- according to the following scale of the Ana-
paestic Dimeter --
1
2
3
4
-- >-? >w*
12. Species 1. -- The Anapcsstic series is not limited to
any definite number of feet, but runs on continue carmine,
till it stops short at a pause in the sense, sometimes in
the middle of a foot. It then begins again, runs on and
stops short as before ; and so on to the end of the poem.
It is sometimes printed in verses of four feet ; as,
Indus |gelidum||potat Ar-|axem,
Albim | Persse, 1 1 Rhenum- 1 que bibunt.
ent/'-- from that he is using;-- "for the latter," says he, "is PhaUzcia/n, which
shall be afterwards described. " In the original his words are--
Fiet hendecasyllabos, sed alter,
Namque hie de genere est Phalaeciorum,
Cujus~mox tibi regulam loquemur.
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?
98 DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE.
Venient|annis||sascu]a|seris ;
Quibus 0|ceanus||vIncula|rerum,
Laxet et|ingens||pateat|tellus
Tiphys-|que novos||detegat|6rbes.
Nee sIt|tems||ultima|Thule. * Seneca,
Sometimes in verses of two feet ; as,
Defle | te virum,
Quo non | alms
Potuit | citius
Discere causas. Seneca.
But divide them as we may in printing, we should
always scan the whole paragraph as one line, the verses
being connected by Synapheia,t and a short syllable at
the end of a line being always lengthened by a consonant
or consonants at the beginning of the next : as the final
syllables of virum,% alius, citius, in the above\ examples.
13. Species 2. -- Anapaestic Tetrameter Catalectic (or,
as called by others, Dimeter Catalectic or Parcemiac)
consists of three anapaests and a syllable ; varied by the
admission of a spondee on the first two places ; as,
Nee vinct-|ta libi-|dine col-|la.
Fcedls | submlt-|tat habe-|nls. Bo'eth.
GENVS III. IAMBIC VERSES.
14. General Canon. Iambic verse is of two kinds,
pure and mixed. The pure admits no foot except the
iambus ; the mixed admits spondees on the odd places --
the first, third, &c, and allows any long syllable to be
* This remarkable prophecy uttered nearly 1500 years before its accomplish-
ment, has been verified to an extraordinary degree, by the discovery of America,
and its colonization from Europe. The poet doubtless drew his inspiration ftom
some of the Sybilline vaticinations extant in his day.
t See Synapheia, p. 78.
t M litera terminatus accusativus, in omni genere semper brevem habet . V&l.
Probus, i. See also Servius de ultimis syTlabis ; and Diomedes, iii.
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? DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE. 99
resolved into two short, by which means, an iambus may-
be converted into a tribrach, and a spondee into a dactyl,
an anapaest, or a proceleusmatic. Iambic verse, then,
admits on the even places a tribrach, and on the odd, a
tribrach, a spondee, dactyl, anapaest or a proceleusmatic.
But a tribrach is never admitted into the last place, nor
a proceleusmatic into any but the first;* according to the
following scale of an Iambic Trimeter Acatalectic.
1
2
3
4
5
6
^_
^_
w-
~-
~_
~zz
ZZ--
33-
15. Species 1. -- Iambic Tetrameter or Octonarius con-
sists of eight feet, that is, four metres or measures ; and
admits all the variations ; as,
Pure. Adest|celer||phase|lusi]||lequem|vide||tis hos|p! tes.
Catullus.
Mixed. Sane |polis||tate|mulen||ta est muli|eret||temera|ria.
Terence.
And agreeably to the practice of the comic poets : --
Atqueest|h33cea||demquae|mihidix||titu|tedI||casmulijerL
Idem.
16. Species 2. -- Tetrameter Catalectic consists of
seven iambics and a syllable, admitting the variations ;
as,
Pure. Kemlt|te pal||lium|mihI||meum|quod In||v6las|tT.
Catullus.
* Writers of Comedy and of Fable (the latter more sparingly), that their lan-
guage might approach nearer to that of common life, admit the spondee and its
equivalents into all the even places but the last.
10
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? 100
DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE.
Mixed. Quum de^via||mulier|aves|Josten|dit os||citan|tes.
Idem,
And according to the comic license ; --
Non pos|sum sati'|narra|re qu6s||ludos|praBbiie||ris Inltus.
Terence.
17. Species 3. -- Trimeter or Senarius (as in the above
scale) consists of six feet with all the variations ; as.
Pure. Suis|et Ip||sa Rojma vl||ribus|rult. Hor.
( Aliti|bus at|[que cani|bushomi||cidamHec|tora.
Mixed. < * Idem.
( Rex, ad|voca||ta c6n|cio-ne,|hax e|dldit. Phced.
And by the usage of comedy and fable : --
Infes-|tls Tau-||rus mox-|confo-||dit cor-|nibus. Phcedrus.
Jam mul-|tos an-||nos est,|cum pos||sideo et-|colo. Plan.
18. Species -4. -- Trimeter Catalectic consists of five
feet and a syllable. It admits the variations, except that
the spondee is rarely if ever admitted into the fifth place,
but is into the first and third ; as,
Pure. Pius | f ide-| |lis In-|n6cens||pudl-|cus. Prudentius.
Mixed. Regumjque pue-||ris; nec|satel-||les 6r-|cl. Hor,
19. Species 5. -- Dimeter Hypermeter consists of four
feet and a syllable, admitting the spondee on the odd
places ; as,
Non vul-|tus In-||stantis|tyran-||ni. Horace.
20. Species 6. -- Dimeter or Quaternarius has four
feet, admitting the Variations ; --
Pure. Sacer|nepo-||tibus|cruor. Horace,
Mixed. Mentis | repen-! | det con-|griia. Prudentius.
Most of the beautiful hymns in the Roman Breviary
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? DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE. 101
and in the public service of the Catholic Chui'cb, are
composed in this metre ; such as that exquisite Morning
Hymn --
Jam lu|cis or- |t to si|dere, &c, &c, --
or Jesu|cor6-||na vir-|ginum, &c, &c, --
or again . . Vexll-|la re-||g# pro-|deunt, &c, &c, --
all three justly attributed to St. Ambrose : although the
last has been assigned to Venantius Honorius Fortunatus. *
In these Dimeters, we find, that, with few exceptions,
- strict attention has been paid to the rules of Prosody ; the
verses generally terminating with a trisyllable, which is
their best cadence. ! Some of these hymns, however ex-
cellent in piety and elevated sentiment, are very indifferent
specimens of Prosodial composition ; as --
Jesu,|nostra||redem-|ti6, &c,
* A more beautiful or a more comprehensive matutinal prayer can scarcely be
offered his Creator by the pious student of any religious denomination, than the
first of the foregoing hymns. We are therefore induced to give it entire for the
reminiscence of the youthful reader : remarking, that, in reading or recitation,
the judicious Prosodian anxious to preserve its harmony and melody, will cause
the ictus metricus to fall, Iambico more, on every alternate syllable : as thus
marked --
Jam lulcis 6r||to slldere,
Deum precemur supplices,
Ut in diurnis actibus
Nos servet a nocentibus.
Linguam refraenans temperet,
Ne litis horror insonet.
Visum fovendo contegat,
Ne vanitates hauriat.
Sint pura cordis intima;
Absistat et vecordia.
Carnis terat superbiam
Potus cibique parcitas :
Ut cum dies abscesserit,
Noctemque sors reduxerit,
Mundi per abstinentiam
Ipsi canamus gloriam :
Deo Patri sit gloria,
Ejusque soli Filio,
Cum Spiritu Paracleto,
Nunc, et per omne seculum.
+ Much of the sweetness, delicacy and curiosa felicitas of these chaste effu-
sions of the Christian Muse, is undoubtedly lost to the readers of Latin Hymns,
unacquainted with Prosody.
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? 102
DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE.
arid cbuid nevgr have' emanated from the classic pen of the
accomplished St. Ambrose ; to whom this also has been
attributed.
21. Species 7. Dimeter Catalectic or Anacreontic con-
sists of three feet and a syllable. It admits in the first
position, a tribrach, a sponaee, or an amphibrach ; rarely
allowing- a spondee in the third ; as --
p C Lex hsec|data est||cadu-|cis,
1 Deo|juban-||te, mem-|bris ;
Mixed i ^ l tem-|peret||labo-|rem,
\ Medica-|bilis||v6lup-|tas. Prudentius.
IRREGULAR IAMBIC VERSES.
22. Species 1. -- Galliambus* is composed of two Ana-
creontics (21), with the final syllable cut off: that is, an
Anacreontic followed by three feet. The third foot of
both members is always an iambus, and the last but one
of the whole is commonly a tribrach ; as in the scale
following --
1, 2
3
4
5
6
7
w--
w--
--
"--
---
v-/ --
Jam jam|d6let||quod e-|gi,||jam jam-]que pcE-||nitet. Catul.
Roseis|ut hulc||label-|lis||palans|s6nltus||abit. Idem.
Ego muli-jer ego ad-||oles-|cens,||ego ephe|bus, ego||puer.
Idem.
Some Prosodians mark the scale and divide the lines
differently ; but the scale and metre above are in accord-
ance with the structure of the only specimen of the Gal-
liambus extant, -- Catullus's Atys ; in which the tribrach
in the penultimate foot is predominant.
* So called from its use by the Galli, or priests of Cybele, in their orgies.
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? DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE. 103
23. Species 2. * -- The Scazon or Choriambus has six
feet ; the sixth always a spondee, the fifth always an
iambus, and the rest varied as in Art. 14; thus --
Miser|Catul-||le de-|sinas||inep-|tlre. CatulL
Pieta-|te fra-||tres Cu-|n6s||licet|vlncas. Martial.
24. Species 3. -- Iambic Alcaic, commonly called
Greater Alcaic, consists of five feet, of which the fourth
is always an anapaest, and the rest are iambuses, admit-
ting the spondee on the first and third ; but as in the Di-
meter Hypermeter, (19), the first foot is seldom an iambus,
the third scarcely ever ; as --
Virtus|repul-||sse nes-|cia sor-|did? e. Horace.
The Greater Alcaic is sometimes scanned with a cho-
riambus and an iambus, in the latter member or colon ;
as --
Virtus | repul-|s? e || nescia sor-| didai.
The Alcaic is also scanned so as to make the first
colon, an iambic measure and a long syllable, and the
second, two dactyls : and indeed this is the mode gene-
rally followed ; as --
Virtus|repul|sae||nescia | sordidse. t
GENUS IV. TROCHAIC VERSES.
25. General Canon. The trochee is everywhere con-
vertible into a tribrach ; the same feet are also admitted
into the even places, that iambic verse receives into the
odd.
26. Species 1. -- Trochaic Tetrameter Catalectic con-
* Although the Saturnian ought, in regular order, find a place here, as species
2, still it has not been deemed requisite to introduce it, from its manifest inutility
to the young Prosodian.
t This affords an example of the poetica licentia in closing the line with a long
syllable, although the measure requires a short one. See p. 49, supra.
10*
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? 104
DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERSE.
sists of seven feet and a syllable. A tribrach is rarely
admitted into the sixth place, never into the seventh, except
in some few passages in comedy. In the case of proper
names, a dactyl is admissible into anyplace but the fourth
and seventh ; as in the following scale --
proper
name
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
--
_w
--
-^
-~
_w
""
zz~
~E~
Z3w
W W 1 ^> w
1
WWj^ w
Pure. Te so-]cer sub-||ire|celsa||poscit|astra||jupT-|ter.
Mart. Capella.
Mixed. Impl-|um rapi-||te, atquelmersum||premite|perpetu-
|| 13 ma-|lis.
