VERSIFICATION. 



IX. Peonlc Metre. 



1 . A psEonic verfe requires all the admifTible feet to have 

 tlie fame rhythm with the proper foot, i.e. to confift of 

 five times. 



2. The conftruftion is moft perfeifl: when each metre ends 

 with the feveral words of the verfe. 



3. Verfes called Bacchiac and Cretic are referrible to 

 this head. 



Tetrameters cataleftic. 



OiXTOjj EytXwv ^Ey% XExjayora ^e 65W|[xevoi, 

 OudEF a^ tfzov fjLiXov. otrov ds juovav £(^£vat, 



Sxi>/X^XT>OV El !r07£ Tl S\l?0^£K)S !X?«\Xir..^ Arlftopll . 



2. An iambus in a trochaic, &c. 



3. Scazon. 



" Fit fcazon, fi fpondeo prior exit iambus." 



0/" t&e Figures ufed in Verjification. 



The fyllables compofing a verfe are afiefted feven different 

 ways : by ctefiira, by fynalxpha, by eahlipfis, by fyn;e- 

 nfis, by disrefis, by fyltole, and by diaitole. 



V C^fura — When, after finiftiing a foot, there remains 

 one fyllable of the word, this circumltance is called csefura ; 

 3 term which is alfo fometimes applied to the fyllable itfelf" 

 thus cut off, and which forms the firll part of the follovsnng 

 foot. 



There are four fpecies of cxfura ; the triemimeris, penthc- 

 mimerij, hepthemimeris, and ennemimcris. 



The triemimeris is when, after the firll foot, or two half 

 Befides the divifion of a verfe into metres and feet, writers feet, there remains a fyllable terminating a word or a third 

 have taken notice of another divifion into two parts only, half foot. 



X. Of the Paufe. 



The penthemimeris is when, after two feet, or four half 

 feet, there remains a terminating fyllable, or fifth half foot. 



The hepthemimeris is when, after three feet, or fix half 

 feet, a fyllable remains, which is the fevenlh half foot. 



The ennemimeris is when, after four feet, or eight half 

 feet, a fyllable remains, which is the ninth half foot. 



The firft three caefwse are in the following line : 



..3 57 



Silvef-|trem tenuj-i Mu-jfam medi|taris a|vena. — Virg. 



All are in the following line : 

 Ille la|-tus nive]-um mol|-li ful|-tus hya|-cintho Virg. 



On x^ri I ■aix,yivxi\w fu|JEiv /?i(\ii!pofoy avjja. 



Horn. II. /S. 24. 



WKtt fx'.\-yd ii[-;^OT (pXoyt e<x£A» tivx^"' wa-AX™. 



Hefiod. Suet. 451. 



The preceding are named fyllabic cxfuras. To thefe 

 In fome fpecies, the portions of an admifllble foot of .""^y ^^ ^^^^^ the trochaic cxfura, which is formed either 



■arifing from the natural intermiffion of the voice in readinj^ 

 it. This is called the paufe, which neceffarily ends with a 

 word. Heroics and trimeter iambics are efteemed moft har- 

 monious, when the paufe falls upon t\ie firfl fyllable of the 

 third foot. In iambic and trochaic tetrameters, its place is at 

 the end of the fecond metre. Thefe rules, which are far from 

 being general, are more obferved by the Roman than the 

 Greek poets. In anapxftic and paonic verfes, and the verfe 

 Ionic a minore, no place is alligned to the paufe ; becaufe 

 the efFe£l of a paufe will be produced at the end of each 

 regularly conftrufted metre. 



XI. Of the different Combinations of Metre. 



I . The firft is a long fyllable between the parts of a rerfe, 

 as in the common pentameter ; thus. 



four fyllables are feparated by the intermediate metres. 



3. It frequently happens that two fpecies totally dif- 

 fmiilar are united in the fame verfe, which is then deno- 

 minated Aj-ujKjTmtif. 



We (hall employ the mark 4- to conneft the diflimilar 

 portions, in the following inllances. 



1. Daftyl. tetram. + troch. hemihol. 



2. Iambic penth.' -f troch. hemihol. 



3. Daftyl. dim. + troch. monom. or logooedic verfe. 



4. Daftyl. comma prefixed to an iambic dim. which 



is called elegiambus. 

 f Iamb. dim. T prefixed to a daftylic comma, 



5. < or >■ the convcrfe of the former, and 

 {_ Iamb, pcnth. J called iambelegus. 



6. Daftyl. comma -f iamb, hemihol. 



7. Iamb, penth. -)- daftyl. dim. 



4. When the parts thus united are an iambic and tro- 

 chaic fy7ygy> the verfe is called periodic or circulating ; 

 the quantity being the fame as if fcanned from the end. 



5. A verfe agreeing with none of the preceding infti- 

 tutes is termed II(;?ivcr;]t;>:^aTio1o;, or anomalous ; to which 

 <;lafs wc may refer, 



I. A verfe, otherwifc iambic, having a fpondee in the 

 fecond or fourth place. 



by a trochee remaining at the end of a word, after the com- 

 pletion of a foot, or by a word confifting of a trochee ; as, 



Cunfta pri|us tenj-/J/<;; fed | immedicabile vulnus Ovid. 



Per con|-nubia | ndflra per | incasptos Hymensos Virg. 



And the monofyllabic ca;fura ; as, 



De grege | nunc tibi ( vir nunc | de grege | natus ha'- 

 bendus. — Ovid. 



The principal effcfts of ca:fura are, firft, to impart 

 fmoothnefs and elegance to a verfe, by connefting the dif- 

 ferent words harmonioufly together ; fecondly, to caufe a 

 fhort fyllable to become long, efpecially after the firft, 

 fecond, or third foot ; as, 



Peftoril-bus inhians, fpirantia confuht exta Virg. 



Of SynaUpha — Synalaepha cuts off the final vowel or 

 diphthong ot a word, when the following word begins with 

 a vowel or a diphthong ; as. 



Terra an|-tiqua, potens armis atquc uberc glebsc Virg. 



As though it were. 



Terr' anjtiqua, &c. 



The 



