TrMt;r\ol&wf>^Wwfc*o^t.ed<AJl&hn*&&rLlr?

TD

DactylicHexameterTheLongandShortofIt
Dactylichexameterisversecomposedoflinesofsix"feet"each:
Daed&hls|InternaCre|tenlon|gumqu6p6|rosus183
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Eachfootiseitheradactylalong,short,shortarrangementofsyllables~w
oraspondee2longsyllables
Whetherasyllableislongorshortisdeterminedbyitsvowelorvowels.Avowelor
combinationofvowelsislongorshortbynature(thewayitis)orbyposition.Vowels
thatarelongbynaturehavebeenmarkedwithamacroninthetextofthisunit.A
simplifiedruleforlengthbypositionisexplainedinStep2of"ScansionforLatinII"that
followsinthisunit.
Scansionisthetermforthemarkingofthelengthofthevowelsandthedivisionsofa
lineintofeet(seeabove).Itisimportanttounderstandmeterandscansiontoknowthe
correctrhythmofthelineswhenreadingaloudforthefulleffectsofapoem.
WhenreadingapoemaloudinLatin,holdalongvoweltwiceaslongasashortone,
likehalfnotesandquarternotesinmusic,anduseexpression,alsolikeinmusic.Donot
readthelinestoomechanicallyasifkeepingbeattoadrum!Varyyourvoice
appropriatelyforthemeaningofthewordswhilerespectingthemeter.Payattentionto
howthepoetvariesthebeatthroughoutthepoemtoquickenorslowdownthepaceof
thewords.
RhythmPractice
Taptherhythmofthefollowinglineswithyourfingersonyourdesktop.Then,practice
readingthelinesaloudkeepingtherhythmwithouttapping.Pauseslightlywherethe
wordshavebeenwidelyseparated.
DaedSlus|TnterS|aCre|tenlon|gumqu5p5|rosus183
exfli|um,tac|tusqueI6|clna|talisa|more,184
claususe|ratpela|go."Ter|rasHcSt,"|Inquit,"6t|undas185
obstrtiat,|atcaejlumcer|tep5tet.|Ibimus|Iliac!186
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ScansionofDactylicHexameterforLatinII
Followthesimplifiedstepsbelowtoscaneachlineofdactylichexameter.Allexamples
arefrom"DaedalusetIcarus"{Met.8.183235).Theletter"v"standsforvowel
and"c"forconsonant.
Step1.Lookfor2typesofelision.Elisionisthedroppingofavoweltorunwords
together.
1.Crossoutavowelordiphthong(2vowelspronouncedasone:ae,oe,au,eu,ui,
ei)attheendofawordwhenthenextwordbeginswithavowel,diphthong,or
"h".
VV

Exampleatqueitacompositesparvocurvamineflectit194
N.B."qu"alwaysactsasasingleconsonantforthesound[kw];similarly,"gu"and"su".

2.Crossoutthefinal"m"ofawordwithitsprecedingvowelwhenthenextword
beginswithavowel,diphthong,or"h".
Thistypeofelisiondoesnotoccurin"DaedalusetIcarus."
Step2.Markaslongalldiphthongsandvowelsthatarelongbyposition.Generally,
avowelfollowedby2consonantsor"x","z",or"i/j"islong.Thereare
exceptions.
vccvccvcc

ExampleDaedalusIntereaCretenlongumqueperosus183
N.B.Diphthongsarelongbynature.Notethereisnoelisioninthisline.

Step3.Markthelastfootofthelineasaspondeeandthe5thfootasadactyl.A
spondeeisafootthatconsistsof2longsyllables:~~~Adactylisafootwith1
longsyllablefollowedby2shortsyllables:~""Makeaverticallinebeforethe
firstsyllablesofthe5thand6thfeet.
ExampleDaedalusintereaCretenlon|gumquSpfi|rosus183
56

N.B.The"o"inperosuswasalreadymarkedlongbecauseitislongbynature.

Step4.Marktheremainingvowelsasshortanddividetheremainingsyllablesinto4
feet.
ExampleDaedalus|InternaCre|tenI6n|gumqu5perosus183
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N.B.ThemetricalpatternofthislineisDDSSDS.

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