2. DACTYLIC TETRAMETER a posteriore.1 The Tetrameter a posteriore, or Spondaic tetrameter, consists of the last four feet of an hexameter; as, Certus enim promisit Apollo. Sometimes, as in the hexameter, a spondee occupies the last place but one, in which case the preceding foot ought to be a dactyl, or the line will be too heavy; as, Mēnsō|rēm cōhì|bēnt År|chÿtā. 3. DACTYLIC TRIMETER CATALECTIC. The Trimeter catalectic is a line consisting of the first five half-feet of an hexameter, or two feet and a half; as, Arboribusque comae. Horace uniformly observes this construction, viz. two dactyls and a semi-foot. Ausonius, however, sometimes makes the first foot a spondee, and twice uses a spondee in the second place; but the spondee injures the harmony of the verse. 4. ADONIC.2 The Adonic, or Dactylic Dimeter, consists of two feet, a dactyl and spondee; as, (1) The expression a posteriore refers to the verse being considered as taken from the latter part of an hexameter line (a posteriore parte versus hexametri), and is consequently opposed to the dactylic tetrameter a priore. This last is taken from the first part (a priore parte) of an hexameter, and must always have the last foot a dactyl. (2) This verse derives its name from the circumstance of its being used by the Greeks in the music which accompanied the celebration of the festival of Adonis: that part probably which represented the restoration of Adonis to life. 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 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 (No. 10.) In tra used in concluding the Sapphic stanza. gic 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 ("Iaμbos) is derived, according to some etymolo gists, from lánrw, "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 iáw; the same as iw, 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 middle of the third foot, after the word ille. The pure Iambic, however, was rarely used. This seems to 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, that is, 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 As an exemplification of this scale, we shall subjoin some of the principal mixed trimeters of Horace. Epod. Line. 1. 27. Pēcūs vě Călă||brīs ān|tē si||dūs fēr|vidūm. 2. 23. Lībēt | jācē||rē, mõdõ | sub ān||tiqua i|licē. 33. Aut ămīļtě lē||vi ră|ră tēn||dit rē\tìā. Aut a mitě levi ră ră ten||dīt rētīā. 35. Păvidūm/vě lěpõ||rem, ēt ād|vēnām || lăquéo | grūēm 39. Quod si | pudi||că măli|ĕr în || pārtēm | jūvēt. 57. Aut her|bă lăpă||thì prā|ta ămăn|tīs, ēt | grāvī. 61. Hās în|tĕr ĕpŭ||lās, ūt | jūvāt || pāstās | õvēs. 65. Põsitos que vēr|nās, dīļtīs ēx||āmēn | dõmūs. 67. Haec übi | lõcū||tūs foe|nĕrā||tõr Al\phiūs. 3. 17. Nēc mūnus humě||rīs ef|ficā||cis Hēr|culis. 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 levi, amite. This results from the principles of the Trimeter Iambic scale. We cannot say amite levi, without admitting an anapaest into the second place, which would violate the measure; neither can we read ămite levi, without admitting a pyrrhich into the second place, which is unheard of. Epod. Line. 5. 15, Cănidilă brèvi||būs im\plīcā||tă vī|pērīs. 7. 10. 25. At expedită Săgă|nă, pēr || tōtām | dõmām. 1. Quò, quò sceles ||ti ruitis? aut || cur dexteris. 17. 6. Cănidi|ă, pār||cè võ|cībūs || tāndēm | săcrīs. 12. Alīti|būs āt||què căni|bus homi||cīdam Hēc|tõrēm. 42. Înfā|mis Hēlē||nae Căs|tõr öf ||ƒensūs | vīcē. 63. Îngrā|tă misĕ||rõ vi|tă dū||cēnda ēst, | în hōc 65. Õptāt | qužē||tēm Pělõ|pis in||fīdī | pătēr. 74. Vecta bor humě||rīs tūnc | ĕgo inì||mīcīs | èquès. 78. Dērĭpĕ|rě Lū||nām vō|cībūs || pōssīm | mēīs. 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, Võcā|tés āt||que nõn | mõrā||tés au|dit. 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 metro solum jubente, verum etiam hac Dammii regula. "Si de gente Gracca sermo est, semper hoc nomen scribi, per w: sed si de mari Ionio, semper per ο μικρόν.” |