VERSIFICATION. 



fpondee, tlie third a daAyl, and the fourth and fifth tro- the epithet is equally fuitable to the Sapphic and to the 

 _i . .„ Alcaic vcrfc. 



chees ; as_ 



Deflii-|-it fax-]-is agit-]-tatus ( humcir. — Hor. 



1. Tlie pt'Dthemimeral csefura adds that elegance to Sap- 

 phic verfe, without vvhicli it does not flow harmonioufly. 



2. Sappho and others admitted fometimes, in the firit 

 place, a fpondee, or a pyrric ; as, 



^Aivl-' aA?i' I £ Jtitono Tu ^ in jxaKCU^x. — Sappho. 



' P6si-|tis tandem levibus fagittis. — Seneca. 



3. Sappho, Catullus, and Seneca, fometimes made the 

 fecond foot an iambus, a trochee, or a daftyl ; as, 



X^V(n-\-cfxi\-r^x dxi^^m caaa-ira,, — £rinna. 



rial Ai-|-o; 4o-j-\o7rXoKE, Xi^-cropai (te. — Sappho. 



QuEque ad | Hefp&i-|-a8 jacet orametas Seneca. 



Horace, however, who in many inftances improved upon 

 the invention of Sappho, invariably adheres to that form 

 which has the fecond foot a fpondee ; and the young poet, 

 if he be prudent, will not pais beyond his hmits. 



4. Sapphic verfe appears fometimes to be hypercata- 

 leftic, but in this cafe the final vowel of the line fuffers 

 the elifion confequent on the following verfe beginning with 

 a vowel. 



5. Inftances occur in Sappho, Catullus, and Horace, 

 of the divifion of a word between two hnes ; as, 



Grofphe, non gemmis, neque purpura -ve- 

 -nale, nee auro. — Hor. 



■ It has been conjeftured, hovcever, that the caufe of this 

 pecuHarity in the Sapphic is, that neither Sappho, Catul-. 

 lus, nor Horace, intended the ilanza to confift; of four, but 

 of three feparate verfes ; ■u/z. two lapphics, and one verfe 

 of feven feet ; as, 



Otium bello furiofa Tlirace, 

 Otium Medi pliaretra decori, 



Grofphe, non gemmis, neque purpura venale, nee auro. 



Hor. Od. ii. 16. 5. 



IX. Of the Pherecratic Verfe. 



This verfe, invented by Pherecrates of Athens, confifts 

 of what may be the three laft feet of an hexameter ; •u/z. a 

 fpondee, a daftyl, and a fpondee ; as, 



Nrgrls I Eequora \ ventis 

 I. Bocthius fometimes admits 



an 



-Hor. 



anapift in the firft 



place ; as, 



SimJli I fijrglt ab I ortu. 



2. Catullus fometimes admits in the firft place a trochee, 

 or an iambus, and at others, in the laft place, a daftyl ; 



as, 



Prodt;- -as nova | nupta. 

 Pu5l-|-lique ci-|-namus. 



X. Of the Iambic Verfe. 

 Iambic verfes take their name from the iambus, which 

 in pure iambics was the only foot admitted. The two moft 

 common kinds are the dimeter and the trimeter ; as, 



I. 



II. 



III. 



•ribijs I rtlTt. — Hor. 



Inar-j-sit se-l -ftiio- j-slus 

 Sills I gt ip-|-sa RS-J-ma vl- 



1. But in order both to facilitate and dignify the com- 

 pofition, fpondees were admitted into the odd places ; as, 



rorti seqiie- -mijr pec-' -tore I Hor. 



Pars sa-] -nita- | -tis vcl-|-le sa-]-nari j fdlt — Seneca. 



2. The former of thefe makes two thirds epitrits, and 

 the latter three. 



3. And inftead of an iambus and a fpondee, their ifo- 

 chronal feet were admitted inftead of them, i. e. in the odd 

 places, an anapxft, a daftyl, and fometimes a tribrac ; and 

 alfo in tlie even places, (except the laft, which always re- 



'6. However, we moderns ufually confider the ftrophe to quii'es an iambus,) a tribrac : the fcale of the mixed tii- 

 confift of three fapphics and an adonic : fee No. VI. ; as, meter iambic is, therefore, as follows : 



Quid brevi fortes jaculamur xvo 

 Multa ? Quid terras alio calentes 

 Sole mutamus ? Patriae quis exul 



Se quoque fugit. — Hor. Od. ii. 16. 17. 



VIII. Of the Phalacian Verfe. 



The Phalajcian verfe, denominated from the poet Pha- 

 laecius, confifts of five feet, -viz.. a fpondee, a daftyl, and 

 three trochees ; as, 



Non eft 1 vivcrti, | fed va-|lcr('!, | vita.— Martial. 



1. This verfe neither rejcfts nor requires n ca:fura. 



2. Sometimes the firll foot was made an iambus or 

 a trochee by Catullus, but by the poets poftcrior to Catul- 

 lus, not more than two or tiiree folitary inftances of this 

 anomaly can be proved from an analyfis of fome thoufand 

 verfes. 



3. The fame poet has in fome inftances alfo fpoiled 

 the elegance and harmony of his meafure by introducing a 

 heavy fpondee into the (ccond place, but his example was 

 not imitated by his more polidied fucceftors. 



4. The term hendecafyllabic (as employed by fome) 

 is not applicable exclufivcly to the Phalician verfe, fincc 



Vol. XXXVII. 



4. The comic poets not only admitted thefe feet, but 

 alfo the amphibrac, proceleufmatie, and bacchic into tlie 

 even as well as the odd places, the laft always excepted ; 

 and almoil all the fables of Phxdrus are written in the fol- 

 lowing manner : 



Amrt-]-tit meri-'-to proprI-|-iini, qui ali-]-enum 



ap-| -petit 

 Facit I pSren- Jtes b6nr-|-t,l3 non | neccs-|-slfta3. 



The following are the varieties of the iambic. 



1. The iambic monometer, or binarius, confifting of two 

 iambi ; as, 



I 1 _ 



CSvc I malum 



Tone I bonum. 



2. The iambic dimeter confifts of two metree, or four feet, 

 N properly 



