How Do I scan Latin?

1. How Do I scan Latin?

2. The rhythm of Latin poetry is defined by its meter. The meter in turn is made up of feet. The feet are made up of a series of long and short syllables. The rhythm of English poetry is defined by its meter. The meter in turn is made up of feet. The feet are made up of a series of stressed and unstressedsyllables. Meter

3. This is the forest primeval the murmuring pines and the hemlocks (Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) Arma virumque cano trojae qui primus ab oris (Aeneid byVirgil) Both of these lines are in the same meter namely Dactylic Hexamter. Compare the following lines

4. Dactylic Hexamter:- u u, - u u, - u u, - u u, - u u, - x • “-” is a long syllable and “u” is a short syllable in Latin. • “-” is a stressed syllable and “u” is an unstessed syllable in English. • X is either long or short (stressed or unstressed). You may count X as long. • The two shorts can equal one long so you may have “- -”instead of “- u u.” “- -” Is called a spondee.

5. Let’s look at our Longfellow line again • This is the | Forest pri | meval the | Murmuring | Pines and the |Hemlocks • Notice how it follows the basic pattern exactly – u u, - u u, - u u, - u u, - u u, - x

6. Now Virgil: (bold here will indicate length not stress!) • Arma vi | rumque ca | notro | jaequi | primus ab| oris • Virgil is a little more complicated. In foot 3 and foot 4 he substituted two shorts with one long. • His pattern was - u u | - u u | - - | - - | - u u | - x (Remember although x can be long or short by nature it counts as long)

7. In English it is [relatively] easy to find the stressed syllable.In Latin there are several rules to determining whether a syllable is long or short. • A syllable is long: • if the vowel it contains is naturally long or a diphthong • if a vowel is followed two or more consonants or X (ks) or Z (ts) and sometimes I (j). • Unless a mute [ p,t,c,k,b,d,g,ph,th,ch] is followed by l or r. Then syllable may be long or short as the poet chooses. (Often these were long) • “Qu” counts as a single consonant.

8. Elision and Hiatus • Elision: IF the last syllable of a word ends in a vowel, diphthong, or vowel + M AND is followed by a word beginning with a vowel or H the syllable is dropped out (elided) Corpore in uno; multum ille et; monstrum horrendum; causae irarum • Hiatus: Sometimes a poet chooses to ignore the elision. This is called Hiatus. It often occurs before and after vowels that are used as interjections: O et praesidium. • Here the “O” does not elide with the “et”. • NB Except in the examples of the aforementioned type Elision is the rule; Hiatus the exception.

9. Ictus: Another common term • Ictus: In a foot, the first long syllable receives prominence. • The Ictus does not have to match the natural stress of the word. • Arma vi | rumque ca | no Tro| jae qui | primus ab | oris (ictus) • Arma virumque cano Trojae qui primus ab oris (natural stress)

10. Steps in scanning Latin • 1. Find all the naturally long syllables. (In Pharr they are marked). • 2. Find all the syllables that are long by position. (watch for elision). • 3. Mark the first syllable “-” and the last foot as “- -”. • 4. The penultimate foot (foot 5) is almost always “– u u”. If it is “- -” it is called spondaic. Mark the 5th foot as “– u u” after you make sure it isn’t spondaic. • 5. Work backwards. • 6. Read the Latin allowed. This last step will make it easier to scan future lines. Eventually you will be able to start with the first foot.

11. Hendecasyllabic (Phalaecean) 11 syllables; 5 feet • - u | - u u | - u | - u | - x • u - • - - • Try this line: Watch for elision! Vivamus mea Lesbia, atque amemus • Vīvā|mūs mĕă| Lēsbĭa| ātque ă|mēmūs • See the 2 elisions and notice how the last foot can be counted as two longs-no matter what.