(b) Iambic Tetrameter Catalectic. 267 The following is a specimen of the Iambic Septenarius (Ter. Hecyr. v. 2. 24): L. At haec amí|cae erunt, ubi quámob|rem adveneris | resciscent. PH. At easdem amilcas fore tibi | promitto, rem úbi | cognorint: L. Num illas errófre et te simúl | suspitióne exsolves. B. Perii, pudét | Philumenaé: | vos sequimini intro huc ambae. (c) Iambic Tetrameter Acatalectic. 268 The following is a specimen of the Iambic Octonarius (Ter. Andr. 1. 3. 1): Enimvero, Dálve, nil locist | segnitiae neque | socordiáe, | Si illum relínquo, ejus vitae tímeļo; sin opítu|lor, hujus minás; | (d) Trochaic Tetrameter Catalectic. 269 The following is a specimen of the Trochaic Septenarius (Plautus, Captivi, v. 3. 1): PH. Hégio, assum | sí quid me vis impera. HE. Hic gnatúm meum Tuo patri ait se | véndidisse | séx minis in | 'Alide. | PH. Quam diu id factum'st? ST. Hic annus | incipit vicési mus. PH. Fálso memorat. | ST. Aút ego, aut tu. | Nám tibi quad\rímulum | Túus pater peculiarem | párvolum pue|ró dedit. | PH. Quíd erat ei nomén? Si vera | dicis, memora | dúm mihi. ST. Paégnium voci|tátu'st; post vos | índidistis | Týndaro. PH. Cúr ego te non | nóvi? ST. Quia mos | ést oblivisci hóminibus. Néque novisse | cújus nihili | sít faciunda | grátia. (e) Trochaic Tetrameter Acatalectic. 270 The following is a specimen of the Trochaic Octonarius (Plautus, Bacchides, IV. 3. 1): Pétulans, protervlo, iracundo | ánimo, indomito, incógitato Sine modo et modéstia sum, | síne bono jure átque honore, 'Incredibilis | imposque animi, | ínamabilis, inflépidus vivo, Malevolente ingénio natus. | póstremo id mist | quód volo aliis. (f) Bacchiac Verse. 271 The following is a specimen of the Bacchiac Verse, mixed as it often is with Cretics (Plautus, Menaechmi, IV. 2. 1): Ut hóc ultimúr maxfumé more | móro | molésto que múltum: (Bac chiac): 'Atque utí | quíque sunt | óptumi, | máxumi: | mórem habent | húncce | (Cretic) Clientis | sibi ómnes | volúnt es\se múltos; | (Bacch. with Iambus); Bonine an | malí sint, | id haúd quae ritánt: (Bacch. with Iambus): Rés magis quaéritur, | quám clientúm fides | quójusmodi | clúeat. | (Cretic). Si quis est | paúper atque haúd malus, | néquam habetur; I 1} (Cretics with Trochaic dipodia). § 6. Accentual and rhyming Verses. 272 (a) The substitution of accent for quantity, which took place in the middle of the third century, will be sufficiently exemplified by the following verses on the martyrdom of Marcellinus and Petrus in the reign of Diocletian (Fleetwood, Syll. Inscr. Monum. Christ. p. 449): Dúae quaedam réferuntur Rómae nataé féminae; Quibus ipse cúm beatis sémet comitantibus, 'Et in crypta súum prope cúrent corpus ponere. In these imitations of the trochaic Septenarius it will be observed that the ictus always corresponds to the accent (above, 3, (6)), except in the word ducebant. An approximation to this kind of versification is cited as early as the time of Julius Cæsar, whose soldiers, according to Suetonius (Jul. Caesar, 51), sang thus at his triumph over the Gauls: 'Urbani serváte uxores moéchum calvum addúcimus. Aúrum in Gallia effútuisti: at híc sumpsisti mútuum. Here also the accent corresponds to the ictus except in the first word. 273 (b) The tendency to homoeoteleuton or rhyme, which was common enough in the oldest Latin verse (see Ennius, apud Cic. Tusc. 1. 35, 44; de Offic. 1. 12; Anonym. ap. Cic. Tusc. 1. 28; Orat. III. 38; Plaut. Capt. I. 1. 17; Cas. II. 7. 1; Cistell. II. 1. 48; Mil. Glor. II. 1. 1), and which the classical poets generally, but not always, avoided, was allowed to prevail, when accent had superseded quantity, and Christian poets in the middle ages used this substitute for the resources of the old metrical system with no inconsiderable success. The following stanzas from the celebrated hymn de Novissimo judicio, by Thomas of Celano, a Minorite of the 13th century, furnish one of the most pleasing specimens: Júdex ergo quúm sedebit Quid sum miser túm dicturus? Quúm vix justus sít securus? Occasional practice in writing these rhyming trochaics will contribute to extend the student's command over the Latin language, if he is careful to observe the classical usages of quantity and metre, which are signally neglected in most of these sacred Latin poems. § 7. Poetic Style as connected with Metre. 274 Elaborate treatises have been written on the style, diction, and idiom of Latin poetry. The most important of these works is Jani's (Artis Poeticae Latinae Libri IV. Hala, 1774), which has also appeared in an English adaptation (Art of Latin Poetry. Cambridge, 1828). And the student, who wishes to pursue the subject, may have recourse to one of these books. Most of the grammatical forms peculiar to poetry, have been noticed in their proper places. Here it will be sufficient to adduce a few particulars respecting those forms and constructions, which are adopted to obviate some difficulty of metre. (a) Obsolete forms are sometimes used to help the scansion; thus we have genitives in a for ae; imperf. in -ibam for -iebam, and even in -ibo for -iam, and infinitives in -ier for i; olli for illi; and indu- for inin compounds, as induperator for imperator. These and other archaisms are generally confined to epic verse. (b) Syllables are contracted when the metre requires it; thus we have always for ii in dî for dii, and in the gen. sing. of substantives in Virgil and Horace; and um is written for either -orum or for -ium in the gen. plur.; u is written for ui and 'e for ei, as in constantis juvenem fide; parce metu; we have -asse, -assem, -esse, -essem for -avisse, -evisse, -avissem, -evissem; also -aro, -oro for -avero, -overo; and in particular words we have contractions of contiguous short syllables, as reice for rejice, compostus for compositus, puertia for pueritia, and even when the second syllable is long, as aspris for asperis (Virg. En. II, 379). On the contrary, we have resolutions, as navita for nauta, silua for silva, alituum for alitum. (c) Prepositions are separated from their cases; as argutos inter strepere anser olores (Virg. Ecl. IX. 36); and prepositions and other separable words are divided by what is called tmesis from the rest of the compound, as inque salutatum linquo (Virg. Æn. Ix, 288); argento post omnia ponas (Hor. 1 Serm. 1. 86); septem subjecta trioni (Virg. Georg. III. 381); quae me cunque vocant terræ (Virg. Æn. 1. 614). (d) Græcisms are occasionally introduced; thus the gen. is used as an ablative (above, 153, Obs. 4), and the participle is used as an infin. in an objective sentence, e. g. sensit medios delapsus in hostes, Virg. En. II. 377 (cf. above, 177, Obs. 1). (e) The order of the words, in Latin as in other poetry, is often affected by the exigencies of the metre, but a study of the best authors will correct the natural tendency to take undue liberties in this respect. APPENDIX I. CLASSIC AUTHORS. THE best writers of Latin are called auctores classici, i. e. 'authors of the first class,' a phrase derived from the comitia centuriata, which divided the Roman people into classes according to their wealth (Aul. Gel. XIX. 8). They are also subdivided, according to the old mythological arrangement, into authors of the golden and silver age respectively. The period during which the Latin language flourished in full perfection was little more than three hundred years, that is, from about 200 B.C. to about 100 A.D. The Christian era indicates the line of demarcation between the golden and silver ages of Latinity. A. Golden Age. T. Maccius Plautus (254-184 B. C.); b. at Sarsina in Umbria: 20 Comedies. P. Terentius Afer (195-159 B.C.); b. at Carthage: 6 Comedies. M. Terentius Varro (116-28 B.C.); b. at Rome: 3 books on Agriculture; 6 books on the Latin Language. M. Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.c.); b. at Arpinum, in the Volscian territory: Rhetorical and Philosophical Works; Orations; Epistles. C. Julius Cæsar (100-44 B.c.); b. at Rome: History. T. Lucretius Carus (95-52 B.C.); b. at Rome: Philosophical Poetry. Cornelius Nepos (-30 B.C.); b. at Verona: Lives of Cato and Atticus. The other biographies ascribed to him were written by Æmilius Probus in the reign of Theodosius. C. Sallustius Crispus (86-34 B.C.); b. at Amiternum, in the Sabine territory: histories of the rebellion of Catiline and the war with Jugurtha. P. Virgilius (or rather Vergilius) Maro (70-19 B.C.); b. at Andes near Mantua, in Cisalpine Gaul: 10 books of Bucolics, 4 of Georgics, and 12 of the Eneid. Q. Horatius Flaccus (65-8 B.C.); b. at Venusia in Apulia: 4 books of Odes, 1 book of Epodes, 2 of Satires, and 2 of Epistles in verse. |