Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/124

VERSIFICATION. 90 VERSIFICATION. The same form of verse, under the name septenarius, was common in Latin comedy and was employed by Varro, Seneca, and many later Latin poets. In the early period, however, the Konians admitted substitutions in any foot but the last; in later Latin verse the Greek models were adhered to more strictly. Hipponax (q.v. ) introduced a modification of the trochaic tetrameter catalectic in which the last syllable but one is always long; the sub- stitutions allowed are few. This form is called Eippo7actean or Scazon, the 'lame tetrameter,' from its peculiar movement. This may be illus- trated by the following: atj.(j>i5iii. OS yap tl/ii II Koiix afiaprd Hippon. V(t3 KhlTTUV frg. 83. i w — > nee coruscus | imber alto || nubile ca I dens multus Varro, Sat. frg. 557. The rare trochaic tetrameter aeatalectic is mostly confined in both Greek and Latin to lyric systems. Great freedom of substitution is al- lowed especially in Latin comedy. /cXO^i MCi> 7^ I povTos, tii-^6(ipa xP^fiS | TfirXe Kovpa Anac. frg. 76. .i^^iw >l i^- < adeon homin(em) es | s(e) invenust(um)aufc4t: infelieem quemqu(am) ut ego sum Ter. And. 245. Of the other trochaic rhythms too great va- riety, ranging from the dipody to the hexapody, is employed in lyric passages to admit of illus- tration here. Iambic Rhythm,?. Iambic, like trochaic rhythms, are usually measured by dipodies- (^.L^j.). The tribrach is here allowed in any foot but the last, and the irrational spondee (> i), the irrational dactyl (>.i„), or the cyclic anap.Test (,^.. ' ) may be substituted in the first foot of any dipody. The most common iambic verse is the trimeter aeatalectic, in which the dialogue of the drama is composed. In Greek tragedy resolutions are not frequent and substitutions are usually confined to the first foot of the dipody, e.g. (3 'iKva Kd5 j ixov roO irdXat | via Tpofp'f} rivas woffi dpas || rdaSe p.oi dod^ere Soi)h. 0. T. 1-2. In comedy, however, the greatest freedom is allowed except in the sixth foot, which is always an iambus, e.g. Sera St; 5^5i)7 | /mil rrjv i/iav rov xapSlav, r^ffi}y]v bk /3a( I (i, II wdvv 5i fiai <£, rirrapa Arist. A char. 1-2. With the early Latin poets tliis verse, called by the Roman grammarians the liciuirius, was even less restrained, the procelcusmatic (^ ^ .,. w) being a possible substitution in any foot but the last, e.g. ubi vent(um) ad a;' | dis || est Dromo pultat fores ) anus quajdam prod | it; jj hiec ub(i)ape- rit ostium >c_ -'-I > - ^ - continu(o) hie se | coniecit || in- tr(o), ego consequor. Ter. Eaxtt. 275-7. The later Roman writers, like Horace, con- formed more closely to their Greek models, but the degree of strictness varied with each writer. The ChoUambiis or limpinfi iambus is an iam- bic trimeter in which a trochee has been sub- stituted for the last iambus of the normal line. As this verse, like the corresponding trochaic measure, was introduced by Hipponax for satiric and ludicrous effects, it is also known as the Hipponactean.. In the Alexandrine period it became a favorite measure for narrative and didactic poetry, especially for tables; the mimes of Herondas, discovered in 1890, are in this verse. In Latin it was used by Catullus, Martial, and others. miser Catul | le, || desinas | ineptire Catul. 8, 1. The iamhic tetrameter catalectic (in Latin called the scptniarius) is frequent in comedy. Resolutions and substitutions are numerous in the first six feet, and in Latin are allowed even in the seventh. Kai firjv TfdXat | 7' eTTVLybfX7)vTa airXdyx^a KCL I iredvfxovv Arist. Suh. 1036. verb(um) unum cave | de nuptiis, || n(e) ad i > o.^ I > ^ w >A morb(um) hoc eti | am teneo Ter. And. 300. The iambic tetrameter aeatalectic (Latin oc- tonariiis) is much less frequently used, but is found in the Greek lyric poets and in the cantica of Latin comedy. >i "-I >--- > i.^-|w-i^- KdiTTwp '€ TTtji Xwi* ijiKitav II ^p.aTvipi%^ ZttI 7r6 rai (ro0o£, Ale. frg. 2. enim vero, Da| ve, nil locist || segnitiae C ., I > i w .1 neque | socordise Ter. And. 206. Dacttxic Rhythms. In all dactylic rhythms the regular suhstitute for the dactyl ( — w- ) is the spondee ( ). In Greek and Latin alike the dactylic or heroic hexameter is the nmst com- mon form of verse, and is regularly employed in ei)ic, didactic, and bucolic poetry. It contains six feet, of which the first four may be cither dactyls or sjiondecs. the fifth is usually a dactyl (when ,a, spondee is here used, tlie verse is called spondaic), and the sixth is either a spondee or a trochee. The chief caesura is iisually after the thesis — occasionally in the arsis — of the third foot, less often after the thesis of the fourth. A dia'resis after the fourth foot is called bueoHo from its frequency in bucolic poetry. Hvdpa p.01 1 ivviTTf, I MoOcra, || tto I XirpOTOv, 8s p.ia TToXXd