Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/271

ixj GREEK CHRISTIAN POETRY 253 that veneration of power in humility which encircles thoughts of the Cross in later literature and art : — ^vXov u fjMKapurTbvy i<f> <fi debs i^€Tavij<rdri, . . . " O most blessed wood on which God was stretched ; earth shall not hold thee, but thou shalt see the heav- enly house when the face of God shall gleam burning anew." The later portions of the Sibylline books contain metrical irregularities indicating that quantity as the principle of verse formation was beginning to find a rival in a fresher principle more in accord with the actualities of speech, to wit, accent. Frequently in these verses a short syllable appears lengthened be- cause of the accent, or a long syllable shortened, when the accent falls on another syllable of the word.^ The struggle for supremacy between metre and accent appears in two early Christian compositions, which express true Christian feeling. The first of these is a poem found at the end of the Paedagogus of Clement of Alexandria, who died between 211 and 218 A.D. If not written by him, it is not much later than his time. The lines are short and simple ; but metricians differ as to whether the metre is iambic or anapaestic. It seems to be constructed largely of anapaestic words rather than anapaestic feet; that is to say, it contains many words of three syllables, accented on the final syllable, which is also long in quantity. At all events, accent is asserting itself as a vital force. The verses are addressed to Christ, and are filled with images showing the many ways in 1 S«e Bouvy, pp. c«., pp. 127-133.