Risit Apollo. Sappho is said to have written entire poems in this measure, now lost. Boëthius has a piece of thirty-one Adonic lines (lib. 1. metr, 7.), of which the following are a specimen. Nubibus atris Condita nullum Sidera lumen. Si mare volvens Turbidus auster Misceat aestum, &c. The measure, however, is too short to be pleasing, unless accompanied by one of a different kind. Hence an Adonic is used in concluding the Sapphic stanza. (No. 10.) In tragic choruses, it is arbitrarily added to any number of Sapphics, without regard to uniformity. (Vid. Senec. Oedip, act 1. Troades, act 4. Herc. Fur.,act 3. Thyest.,act 3.) 5. IAMBIC TRIMETER. Iambic verses take their name from the Iambus,' which in pure Iambics, was the only foot admitted. They are scanned by measures of two feet; and it was usual, in reciting them, to make a short pause at the end of every second foot, with an emphasis (arsis) on its final syllable. The Iambic Trimeter (called likewise Senarius, from its containing six feet,) consists of three measures (metra). The feet which compose it, six in number, are properly all iambi; in which case, as above stated, the line is called a (1) The term Iambus ("Iaubos) is derived, according to some etymolo. gists, from láπrw, "to injure," or "attack," on account of its having been originally used in satirical composition. Lennep makes it the same with labos, and deduces this last from law; the same as w, 'to throw at." · pure iambic. The caesural pause most commonly occurs at the penthemimeris; that is, after two feet and a half; as, Phasellus ille quem | vidē||tis hōs|pītēs. || The metres here end respectively where the double lines are marked, and the caesural pause takes place at the middie of the third foot, after the word ille. The pure Iambic, however, was rarely used. This seems i have been owing partly to the very great difficulty of producing any considerable number of good verses, and partly to the wish of giving to the verse a greater degree of weight and dignity. In consequence of this, the spondee was allowed to take the place of the iambus in the first, third, and fifth feet. The admission of the spondee paved the way for other innovations. Thus, the double time of one long syllable was divided into two single times, or two short syllables. Hence, for the iambus, of three times, was substituted a tribrach, in every station except the sixth, because there the final syllable being lengthened by the longer pause at the termination of the line, a tribrach would, in fact, be equal to an anapaest, containing four times instead of three. For the spondee, of four times, was substituted a dactyl or an anapaest, and sometimes, in the first station, a proceleusmati cus. The scale of the mixed Iambic Trimeter is therefore as follows,2 (1) The reason why the Iambus was retained in the even places, tha , the second, fourth, and sixth, appears to have been this: that by placing the spondee first, and making the iambus to follow, greater emphasis was given to the concluding syllable of each measure, on which the ictus and pause took place, than would have been the case had two long syllables stood together. Vid. Carey's Latin Prosody, p. 259, ed. 1819,where other particulars will be found relative to the Trimeter Iambic measure as used by the Latin writers of Tragedy, Comedy, and Fable. (2) The scale of the Greek Trimeter Iambic must not be confounded 1 2 3 5 6 As an exemplification of this scale, we shall subjoin some of the principal mixed trimeters of Horace. Epod. Line. 1. 27. Pěcūs vě Călă||brīs ān|tě si||dūs fervidum. 2. 23. Libēt jācē||rě, mõdõ | sub antiqua ilicē. 33. Aut ămitě lē||vī rā|ră ten||dit rētiā. 1 Aūt ā mītē lē||vī rā|ră tēn||dīt rē|tìā. 35. Păvidum vě lēpo||rem, ēt ād|vēnām || lăqueō| grūēm 39. Quod si | pudi||că măli|ĕr in || pārtēm | jūvēt. 57. Aūt hēr|bă lăpă||thi prā|ta ămăn|tīs, ēt | grăvi. 61. Hās în|tĕr ēpŭ||lās, ūt | jūvāt || pāstās | õvēs. 65. Põsitõs|què vēr|nās, dīļtīs ēx||āmēn | dõmūs. 67. Haec übi | lõcū||tūs foe|nĕrā||tõr Al|phīūs. 3. 17. Nec munus humě||ris efficacis Herculis. with this. Porson (Praef. ad Hec. 6.) has denied the admissibility of the anapaest into the third or fifth place of the Greek Tragic trimeter, except in the case of Proper Names with the anapaest contained in the same word. In Latin tragedy, however, it obtained admission into both stations, though more rarely into the third. In the fifth station, the Roman tragedians not only admitted, but seemed to have a strong inclination for, this foot. Vid. Carey's Latin Prosody, p. 256, ed. 1819. (1) The quantity of the a in amite depends on that of the e in levi. If we read lēvi, it is ămite, but if lēvi, āmite. This results from the principles of the Trimeter Iambic scale. We cannot say āmite lēvi, without admitting an anapaest into the second place, which would violate the measure; neither can we read ămite lěvi, without admitting a pyrrhich into the second place, which is unheard of. Epod. Line. 5. 15. Cănidilă brēvi||būs īm\plică||tă vi|pērīs. 7. 10. 25. At ex|pēdī||tă Săgă|nă, pēr || tōtām | dõmūm. 91. Quin, ŭbì | pērī||rē jūs|sūs ēx||spīrā|věrō. 1. Quò, quò | scèlēs||tī rūì|tīs ? aūt || cūr dēx|tēris. 12. Aliti bus atque căni|bus homi||cidam Hectorēm. 6. IAMBIC TRIMETER CATALECTIC. This is the common Trimeter (No. 5.) wanting the final syllable. It consists of five feet, properly all iambi, followed by a catalectic syllable: as, Vocatus atque nōn | mõrā||tus audit. Like the common Trimeter, however, it admits the spondee into the first and third places; but not into the fifth, which would render the verse too heavy and prosaic. (1) Ionius, from the Greek 'Ióvios. Hence the remark of Maltby (Morell. Lex. Graec. Pros. ad. voc.) 'Iúvios apud poetas mihi nondum occurrit; nam ad Pind. Nem. 4. 87. recte dedit Heynius 'Ióviov non me. tro solum jubente, verum etiam hac Dammii regula. "Si de gente Graeca sermo est, semper hoc nomen scribi, per w; sed si de mari Ionio, semper per ο μικρόν.” Trahunt que siccās machinae || carinas. Terentianus Maurus, without any good reason, prefers scanning it as follows: Trăhunt que sic|cās || māchi|nae că|rīnăș. This species of verse is likewise called Archilochian, from the poet Archilochus. 7. IAMBIC DIMETER. The lambic Dimeter consists of two measures, or four feet, properly all iambi; as, Perunxit hoc ||ia|sõnēm. it admits, however, the same variations as the trimeter, though Horace much more frequently employs a spondee than any other foot in the third place. The scale of this measure is as follows: This species of verse is also called Archilochian dimeter The following lines from the Epodes will illustrate the scale. |