6. Contentique cibis, nullo cogente, creatis, PENTAMETER. A Pentameter verse is generally divided in scanning into two parts, the first of which consists of two feet, which are either dactyles or spondees, followed by a long syllable; the latter part is always composed of two dactyles, followed by another long syllable; as, Ipse ju bēt mōrtīs tē měmi nissě Dělūs. This is the most common, but not the most correct mode of scanning this species of verse. A pentameter properly consists, as its name implies, of five feet, of which the first two are either dactyles or spondees, the third a spondee, and the fourth and fifth anapæsts, or dactyles reversed. Agreeably to this division, the last of the preceding lines would be scanned thus, Sit nōx | cum sōm|nō sīt | sĭně lījtě dĭēs. This kind of verse is sometimes termed elegiac, because it is generally employed by the poets in elegiac and similar compositions. It is, however, seldom or never used alone in a poem, but is intermixed with hexameters, and sometimes with other measures. In the exercises in this work, and, indeed, in poetry in gencral, a pentameter may be distinguished from a hexameter verse by the first word being printed somewhat within the boundary of the page, and consequently not beginning in a line with the other verses; thus, in the exercises, which immediately follow, every alternate line is a pentameter; the others are hexameters. EXERCISES. 1. Quæ legis ex illo, Theseu, tibi littore mitto, Unde tuam sinè me vela tulêre ratem. . 2. Tempus erat, vitreâ quo primùm terra pruinâ Spargitur, et tectæ fronde queruntur aves. 3. Luna fuit: specto si quid nisi littora cernam; Quod videant, oculi nil nisi littus habent. 4. Nunc huc, nunc illuc, et utròque sinè ordine curro ; Alta puellares tardat arena pedes. Mons fuit; apparent frutices in vertice rari; 5. Ascendo; vires animus dabat; atque ita latè Inde ego, nam ventis quoque sum crudelibus usa, VERSIFICATION. CASURA. Casura is a division or separation of a foot, occasioned by the syllables, of which it is composed, belonging to different words it is a term applied also to the last syllable or two last syllables of a word, when they form the first part of a foot. The word cæsura is derived from cado, casus, to cut off: its use has been adopted in versification either because the syllable, to which it is applied, is divided or cut off from the other syllables in the word by the termination of the preceding foot, or because the foot, in which the cæsura takes place, is divided or separated, being composed of syllables belonging to different words. The beauty of a verse depends in a great measure on the cæsura. It connects with each other the different words, of which the line is composed, and gives to it smoothness and harmony. It must not therefore be considered merely as an ornament, but as an essential requisite of every hexameter and pentameter verse. A line in which it is neglected is not only destitute of all poetic beauty, but can hardly be distinguished from prose, and, unless on peculiar occasions, in which harmony is designedly avoided, is not admissible in Latin poetry. There are three kinds of cæsura, the syllabic, the trochaic, and the monosyllabic. The syllabic cæsura is that in which the first part of the divided foot consists of the last syllable of a word; as, Sylvēs trēm těnŭ|ī mū|sām mědĭ|tāris ǎ vēnā. The syllabic appears to be the principal cæsura in Latin versification, and but few harmonious lines can be found, in which it is not introduced. If the ancients did not consider it indispensably necessary, it is evident that they seldom ventured to write a verse without it. The syllabic cæsura may take place in a heroic verse at the triemimeris, penthemimeris, hephthemimeris, and sometimes at the enneemimeris; as, Si căni mus sylvās, sylvæ sint | consule | dignæ. The ancient grammarians generally divided every line into half feet, and from this division the preceding names have been introduced. The triemimeris is that portion of a verse which contains its three first half feet; the penthemimeris is the part which contains five half feet; the hephthemimeris that which contains seven; and the enneemimeris that which comprises nine half feet. The trochaic cæsura is that in which the first part of the divided foot consists either of a long and short syllable remaining at the end of a word, or of an entire word comprised of one long and one short syllable; as, Fortūnātus et illě, dělōs qui | nōvit ǎ|grēstēs. Although one syllabic cæsura, at least, generally occurs in every hexameter verse, yet the trochaic has nearly the same metrical effect, and often appears to be the principal cæsura in the verse; as, Fătă vocant con|ditquè nă|täntĭă | lūmină | sōmnūs. In Horace and Virgil, about twenty lines may be found, in which the trochaic cæsura only occurs, and which are still not deficient in harmony; as, Spargens humidă | mēllă să pōrĭfé |rümque pă|pāvēr. The trochaic cæsura may take place in either of the first five feet of a verse, but two successive trochaics must not occur in the second and third, or in the third and fourth fect; as, Taliă voce refert, o terque quǎ tērque běāti. The monosyllabic cæsura is that in which the first syllable of the divided foot is a monosyllable; as, Hic vir hic est tibi | quēm prōjmitti | sæpius audis. The preceding is one of the few lines in which no caesura but the monosyllabic occurs: the metrical effect of this cæsura is by no means so great as that of the syllabic or trochaic, but many instances may be found, in which it appears to be the principal cæsura in the verse. A cæsura is not indispensably necessary in every foot of a verse. Those lines, in which it most frequently occurs, generally appear to be the most poetical, but, for the sake of that variety without which the most harmonious arrangement of words would soon become tedious, the cæsura is often omitted in one or more of the feet, and its situation is frequently varied. In the first foot of a verse, the cæsura may generally be omitted; as, Pastores ovijum těně ros de pellěrě | fœtūs. Pauperis et tugu|ri côngēstům | cespitě | culmēn. In the second foot, the cæsura is often omitted; but when this omission takes place, the word which begins the foot is generally of sufficient length to complete it, and to leave a cæsural syllable in the next foot; as, Squaměă | convōlvēns subjlātō | pēctorě | tērgā. The frequent recurrence of the verb nescio as a dactyle, and of the prepositions inter and intra as spondees, forming the second foot, appears on the first view to be inconsistent with the preceding rule, but it is in reality quite agreeable with it. It has been clearly ascertained that the preposition and its case were frequently pronounced with one accent, as one word; and there is reason to suppose that nescio was often connected in a similar manner with the word which followed it; thus the words inter se were pronounced, and consequently regarded in versification, as though they were written interse, and nescio quis as though written nescioquis. A similar connexion is not unusual in English words; thus some body is pronounced somebody, no body, nobody; can not, cannot. The cæsura is not so frequently omitted at the penthemimeris; as it is in the other feet, and when it is omitted in the third, it always occurs in the fourth, and generally in the second foot when this omission of the cæsura at the penthemimeris takes place, the third foot generally consists of the two or three first syllables of a word, which is finished in the next foot; as, : Jūssă mori quæ | sōrtī tūs nōn | pērtŭlit | ūllōs. In the fourth foot, the cæsura is not necessary, if there is one at the penthemimeris; as, Pinguis et ingrā te prěmě rētur cāsĕus | ūrbi. The syllabic and monosyllabic cæsuras are seldom introduced after the fourth foot, but the trochaic often occurs at the enneemimeris, and is, in most instances, conducive to the harmony of the line; as, Sæpě lě vi som nūm suā dēbit în īre su sūrrō. Hinc alta sub rūpe că net frōn dātor ǎd | aurās. When there is but one cæsura in a verse, it is generally in the third foot, sometimes in the fourth, but never in the secend; as, Quēm měă | cārmĭni|būs měrů|īssēt | fistulă | cāprūm. In a pentameter verse, a syllabic cæsura generally takes place at the penthemimeris, and a trochaic in the foot preceding the final syllable in the second hemistich or half verse; as, Nec quererer tar dōs | īre relictă dílēs. Nil mihi rescrībās | āttăměn | ipsě vě│nī. There is sometimes a monosyllabic cæsura at the penthemimeris of a pentameter, when the preceding word is a monosyllable; as, Magnă tă men spēs ēst in bonitātě ději. The trochaic cæsura 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 för|mā māgnă pudicitiæ. The syllabic cæsura sometimes lengthens a short syllable; as, Pēctori būs inhi|āns spirantiă | consulit | extā. EXERCISES. The exercises which follow 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. 1. Ipse dei clypeus terrâ cùm ima tollitur, Manè rubet; rubet terrâque, cùm conditur imâ. |