A Guide to Latin Meter and Verse Composition

223 Pages·2002·2.265 MB·English

by  David J. Califf

A Guide to Latin Meter
and
Verse Composition
David J. Califf
Anthem Press
London
First published by Anthem Press 2002
Anthem Press is an imprint ofWimbledan Publishing Campany,
PO Box 9779, London SW19 7QA
© David J. Califf
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without
the prior permission in writing of Wimbledon Publishing Company, or
as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the
appropriate reprographics rights organization.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record has been applied for
ISBN 1 898855 72 2
13579108642
Typeset by Mudra Typesetters - Pondicherry - India.
Printed by Bell & Bain Ltd., Glasgow
j. c. mckeown,
magistro,
et
discipulisa cademiae dominaen ostrae
hoe opus gratissime inscriptum est
Cui dono illepidum, tiro rudis ipse, libellum?
en, Caprimulge, tibi: tu namque docere solebas
dempta rusticitate bonos me fingere uersus
et uobis, carae, sua sit pars muneris huius,
discipulae, quamquam uereor maiora canendo
ne argutos inter uidear strepere anser olores.
iii

Contents
Preface viii
Preliminary remarks 1
Section I: Rhythm and Meter in English and Latin Poetry 2
Section II: General Rules for Determining the Quantity of Syllables 5
Exercise I: Vowel Quantity 7
Exercise II: Vowel Quantity 8
Section III: The Dactylic Hexameter 9
Exercise III: The Hexameter in English 10
Exercise IV: Scansion, No Elisions 11
Exercise V: Scansion, Elisions 12
Exercise VI: Scansion, Proper Names 13
Section IV: The Caesura 14
Exercise VII: Caesura and Diaresis 16
Section V: Variations and Irregularities 17
Section VI: Greek Words and Names 25
Exercise VIII: Metrical Anomalies 27
Section VII: Sound and Sense 28
Section VIIA: Rhythm 29
Exercise IX: Rhythmic Effects 32
Section VIIB: Consonants and Vowels 33
Exercise X: Alliteration, etc. 37
Section VIIC: Word Order 38
Exercise XI: Word Order 44
Exercise XII: Sound and Sense in Vergil's Eclogue 6 45
Exercise XIII: Hexameter Jumbles 1 48
Exercise XIV: Hexameter Jumbles 2 49
Exercise XV: Hexameter Jumbles 3 50
Exercise XVI: Hexameter Jumbles 4, elisions 51
Exercise XVII: Hexameter Jumbles 5, mixed lines 53
Exercise XVIII: Hexameter Jumbles 6, double lines 54
Exercise XIX: The End of the Line 1 55
Exercise XX: The End of the Line 2 56
Exercise XXI: The First Hemistich 57
Contents
Exercise XXII: The Second Hemistich 58
Exercise XXIII: Entire Hexameters 59
Exercise XXIV: Sentences Across a Line Break 61
Exercise XXV: Synonyms 63
Exercise XXVI: Synonyms in the Hexameter 64
Section VIII: Circumlocution 66
Exercise XXVII: Hexameters from a Paraphrase 74
Exercise XXVIII: Latin Translations of English Poetry 87
Section IX: The Elegiac Meter 92
Exercise XXIX: Elegiac Scansion 97
Exercise XXX: Jumbled Pentameters 99
Exercise XXXI: Jumbled Couplets 100
Exercise XXXII: The End of the Pentameter 101
Exercise XXXIII: The Full Couplet 102
Exercise XXXIV: Elegiacs from a Paraphrase 104
Section X: The Sapphic Meter 108
Exercise XXXV: Sapphic Scansion 115
Exercise XXXVI: Jumbled Sapphic Hendecasyllables 118
Exercise XXXVII: The Sapphic Stanza 119
Exercise XXXVIII: Sapphics from a Paraphrase 121
Section XI: The Alcaic Meter 124
Exercise XXXIX: Alcaic Scansion 131
Exercise XL: Jumbled Alcaic Lines 133
Exercise XLI: The Alcaic Stanza 134
Exercise XLII: Alcaics from a Paraphrase 136
Section XII: Asclepiadic Meters 143
Exercise XLIII: Asclepiadic Scansion 151
Exercise XLIV: Jumbled Asclepiads 153
Exercise XLV : Asclepiadic Stanzas 155
Exercise XLVI: Asclepiads from a Paraphrase 157
Section XIII: The Hendecasyllabic Meter 166
Exercise XLV II: Hendecasyllabic Scansion 169
Exercise XLVIII: Jumbled Hendecasyllables 170
Exercise IL: The Hendecasyllabic Line 171
Exercise L: Hendecasyllables from a Paraphrase 172
Section XIV: Iambic Meters 177
Exercise LI: Iambic Scansion 183
vi
Contents
Exercise LII: Iambic Meter Identification 186
Exercise LIii: Jumbled Iambics 188
Exercise LIV: Iambic Stanzas 189
Exercise LV : Iambics from a Paraphrase 191
Metrical Tables 195
Glossary of Terms 201
Modern Latin Poets Represented in the Exercises 210
Bibliography 212
Vll
Preface
It has been nearly one hundred years since S. E. Winbolt asked, "Will the compo
sition of Latin verse continue to form a part of our classical curriculum?" 1 The
answer, it would seem, turned out to be, "No." Eton has not taught the subject for
at least three generations, and today Oxford and Cambridge are lucky to have a
half-dozen composition students between them in any given year. At a time when
some graduate programs in classics are considering dropping their prose composi
tion requirements, the making of Latin verses is scarcely taught to, much less
required of, even those seeking a Ph.D. The question, then, that will inevitably
greet a guide to Latin meter and verse composition is, "Why?"
One is tempted to respond with a paraphrase of Dante's remarks from La vita
nuova on the difficulty of describing love to the loveless: It is impossible to explain
the value of verse composition to anyone who is not already a faithful follower of
the Muses, and to those who are, the rewards are obvious; consequently, there is
no point in my clarifying any doubts because such clarification would either be
useless or superfluous. 2 On the other hand, a few words in praise of verse compo
sition would be no more out of place here today than they were in the prefaces of
many nineteenth century textbooks.
If one is not persuaded by Charles Anthon's rather quaint claim that "original
composition in Latin verse [is] an accomplishment which forms decidedly the tru
est and most enduring ornament of classical education," 3 perhaps Richard Burnet's
enumeration of its practical benefits will be more appealing.
I. It exercises, and of course strengthens, the memory.
II. It cultivates the taste.
III. It quickens the intellect, by the necessity of having recourse to perpetual
contrivance to put together miscellaneous things regulated by certain laws.
IV. It strengthens the judgment, by the habit of selection.
V. It gives a more critical knowledge, not only of the Latin tongue, but of the
force and nature oflanguage in general, from the continual habit of considering the
various and minutely-differing shades of meaning which distinguish words that
would otherwise be taken for synonyms. 4
1 Latin Hexameter Verse (London: Methuen, 1903) vii.
2 Cf. VN 14.56-73.
3 Latin Versification (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1845) vii.
4 Various English and Latin Poems (1808) 1-2.
Vlll
Preface
Today's linguists have shown what Burnet already realized in 1808: that exer
cises in writing are as important to the process oflanguage acquisition and devel
opment as practice in reading. Further, the current resurgence and success of oral
Latin in both the schools and colleges confirms the instructional value of asking
students to produce original sentences in Latin.
But just as Latin prose has its own particular rules of syntax, sentence structure,
and style, and just as spoken Latin has its own conventions of expression, so too
Latin verse functions according to a specific, if flexible, set of principles. The
learning of these principles is facilitated by practice in composition no less than
one's understanding of the rules of prose is reinforced by writing prose.
Putting it more strongly, J. C. McKeown once remarked that "if you can't write a
hexameter, you can't read one." This may seem like an overstatement, but it is not,
for the reading of poetry involves more than the comprehension of informational
semantic content and more, too, than making sense out of a poem's figurative
language and multiple layers of meaning. Poetry also consists of a complex array of
verbal effects that are only ambiguously related to sense: its rhythms, sound pat
terns, and the arrangement of words within lines, couplets, or stanzas. While it is,
of course, possible to recognize these effects in a poem without being able to write
one, training in verse composition gives students a different and broader perspec
tive on poetry and enables them to read it in a deeper, richer, and arguably more
satisfying way. As Benjamin Franklin put it in a famous aphorism, "Tell me, and I
forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn."
If the composition of original Latin poetry is a prime example of"active learn
ing," it is not merely a good academic exercise; it is also fun. At its best, verse
composition can provide a welcome opportunity for creative expression, but even
at a relatively unsophisticated level, it can be an enjoyable mental challenge, not
unlike solving a puzzle. And like many good things, a Latin poem is even better
when shared. Therefore, do not just write for school or for yourself but also for
friends (and if they cannot read Latin, provide a translation). A gift becomes more
generous, a thank-you note more charming, and congratulations more festive when
accompanied by a Latin poem. Parting can be even sweeter sorrow in Latin verse,
and the poem written for no particular reason is perhaps the nicest of all. Some
people may think you are strange, but most will appreciate it, making your efforts all
the more worthwhile.
lX