9 -c*y LlBRAR Y OF CONGRESS 003 041 573 5 HEXAMETER VERSE AND ITS REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER THAT IT MAY "READ ITSELF" BY PRENTISS CUMMINGS OF THE BOSTON BAR HEXAMETER VERSE AND ITS REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER THAT IT MAY "READ ITSELF" AN INQUIRY TENDING TO PROVE A UNIVERSAL LAW DEMANDED IN ENGLISH AND FOL- LOWED IN THE GREEK AND LATIN CLASSICS BY PRENTISS CUMMINGS OF THE BOSTON BAR ? CAMBRIDGE prittteti at ttie Mttarstoe press 1900 HEXAMETER VERSE CLASSIFIED AND ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF EMPHASIZED FEET WITH FOUR EMPHASIZED FEET. A I A2 A3 WITH TWO EMPHASIZED FEET. B I B 2 B3 WITH THREE EMPHASIZED FEET. C I C 2 WITH SIX EMPHASIZED FEET. The emphasized feet are shown by the heavy lines. HEXAMETER VERSE This little book is privately printed to afford illustra- tions for an off-hand talk before the classical instructors of Harvard College ; but as the views intended to be illustrated have never been committed even to writing, and as I suppose those views to be new and important, I -will make a brief statement of them with such expla- nations as will make the book intelligible. Many writers, including translators of Homer into other forms of verse, have expressed the opinion that a successful translation into English hexameters would be the most satisfactory of any, but have agreed with great uniformity that such a translation is impossible. Two Englishmen of distinction have published complete hex- ameter translations of the Iliad, and portions of Homer have been so rendered by several others ; but a passage in the recently published life of Tennyson voices, I think, the general opinion that their efforts, considered as a whole, are failures. The writer is one of those who believe with Matthew Arnold that no translation of Homer into other than hexameter verse can fitly represent that great author; and furthermore that such a rendering is not impossible, though no doubt the difficulties are great. I am not ready to concede that the English language has such limitations as to make hexameter in our tongue mathe- 2 HEXAMETER VERSE matically impossible ; and unless it be mathematically impossible, it is not impossible at all. It may require the work of generations, and revision after revision of the work of previous men, to produce really satisfactory results ; but scholars will never rest satisfied till it is done. Probably the originals required the labor of cen- turies to bring them to perfection, — and I do not mean by this to imply acceptance of all Wolfe's theories. Several years ago the writer began to make hexameter translations of stray passages of Homer, at first merely as studies of the nature and difficulties of the versifi- cation ; but becoming interested in the work, he later designed completing the Iliad if he lived long enough, hoping, to use a lawyer's expression, his rendering might be "good enough to amend by." A vast amount of elementary work must be done for some genius, without the drudgery which geniuses are supposed to abhor, to work over later into a true English classic ; and I was willing to do the drudgery if able. It is conceded that Homer is one of the three great authors of the world ; and a really good rendering of him into English is still unwritten. The prose translations of him are to me the best yet made : but prose has great limitations, and Homer was a poet. One single word about the difficulties of hexameter in English, which appear to be grievously misunder- stood. The one most frequently urged is the lack of spondees. James Russell Lowell once said humorously that " beef -steak " was the only spondee in the language ; but this remark is not quite true, and is based upon the erroneous assumption that real spondees are essential. A line like the following (which I must not be sup- posed to recommend), HEXAMETER VERSE 3 Thus they all day long till on came bright-hued sunset, has at least four true spondees ; and two monosyllables coming together often, and a compound word formed of two monosyllables generally, make true spondees. But in point of fact trochees in English make more satis- factory verse than spondees ; though spondees can be used freely in every foot except the sixth, where the effect is clumsy, and in a spondaic line the fifth foot should always be a* strong spondee. Counting the vow- els and consonants of seven lines of Homer, of Virgil, and of English hexameter discloses the fact that each has about one hundred and twenty vowels ; but while Homer has about a hundred consonants, Virgil will have about one hundred and thirty, and the English about two hundred. If printed in the same type a line of Virgil would be about fifteen per cent, longer than a line of Homer, and the English line about fifty per cent, longer, — the additional length consisting of consonants. In consequence of these consonants the Latin is much more spondaic than Homer ; but while in English the consonants neither affect quantity nor accent, and so frequently are not pronounced or are slightly pronounced that the tendency is to become as dactylic as Homer, yet it is liable to lack his lightness of movement. In fact it is likely to become as trail-footed as Homer's cattle. The frequent use of the trochee tends to remedy this : and if the views hereinafter set forth are correct, there is reason to believe that the ancients accented the ictus syllable of spondees very much as we do. Nor is it a difficulty with us, as I have seen it stated, that English is lacking in short, unaccented words, 4 HEXAMETER VERSE which are so numerous in Homer. On the contrary, I think our use of the article, and more frequent use of prepositions and auxiliary verbs, give us more of such useful words than either of the ancient tongues. A much greater difficulty, if attempt be made for a line- for-line translation, grows out of the fact that we do not naturally use so many long words as we find in Latin and Greek, and for that reason lack syllables to complete the line and are tempted to fill in extraneous matter. This difficulty is to a great extent met by Matthew Arnold's suggestion, that a translation requires much not actually expressed in the words of the original to make it perspicuous ; and in my experience the difficulty of compressing lines is quite as frequent as the other. Homer himself manifestly used, omitted, and varied his epithets to suit metrical convenience, and varied proper names for the same reason, and I can see no good reason why a translator cannot do the same and yet be faithful. I will add that while it greatly helps the translator to use the old and lengthened forms of the verb, as "doeth" for " does," I do not think it necessary therefore to be absolutely consistent in such use, for Homer is not, but not infrequently employs shorter forms of the verb, and the short termination of the genitive, and sometimes both forms in the same sentence. There are, however, two difficulties to which most hexameter writers have succumbed. The first is that of avoiding a diaeresis at the end of the third foot. I am sure I speak within bounds when I say that in Homer and Virgil such a pause does not occur on the average once in a hundred lines ; and two or three lines of that kind on a page spoil the whole as effectually as HEXAMETER VERSE 5 a drop of water spoiled the punch for Father Tom. This difficulty can be avoided ; and it must be avoided or the spirit of the verse is gone. The second difficulty is much greater, and indeed sur- passes all other difficulties combined, — that of begin- ning every line with an accented syllable. Longfellow calls attention to this in his diary, but did not always live up to his own standard. With some exceptions to be noted later, a line cannot begin with a conjunction, preposition, or the article, or an auxiliary verb ; and as the position of words in English is absolutely fixed in many cases, there is danger that the line will become crabbed in the effort to avoid this embarrassment. This trouble is greatly enhanced owing to the fact that the prevailing verse in our language is iambic, and our poetic diction and forms of expression are not adapted to trochaic lines. The first syllable in the line need not be strongly accented, but must be sufficiently so to make the first foot an accented spondee or dactyl, or the law of the verse is as much violated as if in rhymed poetry every now and then the lines do not rhyme. Accent should not be sacrificed for the sake of quan- tity ; but where the accent falls on the long vowel, and the short vowel is unaccented, it no doubt adds rapidity and smoothness. In the discussion that took place nearly forty years ago wherein Matthew Arnold was so prominent, much was said respecting the necessity that hexameter verse should be so constructed as to " read itself." I under- stand that by this is meant that the rhythm of the line should accord with the sense, — or in other words, that there should be no forcing of accent or emphasis in 6 HEXAMETER VERSE order to make the line harmonious. Unless hexameter reads itself in the sense indicated, I suspect it will have few other readers. What the requirements of the verse are in order that it may read itself have never been stated, so far as I am aware ; and it so happens that I have been led to make a study of the question, and in this book undertake to give the answer. In order to be readily understood, although the necessity of using so much the pronoun of the first person is to be regretted, I will state briefly how the problem was forced on my attention, and the circumstances leading to what I believe to be a solution. I began my study of hexameter with the supposition that caesuras, diaereses, and proper arrangement of dac- tyls and spondees, and care that every ictus syllable should be an accented syllable, were all that was neces- sary to make the verse "read itself," and, so far as mere mechanical construction was concerned, harmonious. I was surprised, however, to find that that was not always the case, and could not understand the reason. The following are some of my earliest attempts, which I give, not as being satisfactory by any means, but to show how I was put upon inquiry. Later a comparison will be made between these attempts and the original, wherein it will appear that Homer conformed to the law as I now understand it to be with absolute rigor, which I did not, and yet I surmise he simply had a good ear for rhythm and knew of no such law. The lines are numbered consecutively for convenient reference. Sing, O goddess, the wrath of the son of Peleus, Achilles, to Achaian numbered ; Wrath to Achaians accursed, and fraught with sorrows un- HEXAMETER VERSE 7 Many a mighty soul to darkness it hurried untimely, Many a hero's corse made prey to dogs and to vultures, While to the end great Zeus wrought out his unfaltering purpose : 5 Take up the song where first the twain were parted in quar- rel, Even Atreides, of heroes the lord, and Achilles the godlike. . . ... . . . . • • • Generations of men are like to the leaves of the forest ; Leaves of to-day to earth by the winds are strewn, but to- morrow New leaves start in the woodlands, they quicken, and lo, it is springtime : i o So generations of men, one cometh, another departeth. On it the earth he wrought, and on it the sea, and the hea- vens, Also the moon at her full, and the sun that wearieth never ; On it, moreover, the signs as many as garland the heavens, Even the Pleiads, the Hyads, the mighty hunter, Orion, 15 Also the great she-bear whose second name is the wagon, — Her that turneth on high and Orion eternally watcheth, Her that alone of the signs avoideth the baths of the ocean. I naturally tried at the outset to be very literal, and was much dissatisfied with the first line. The particu- lar rhythmic difficulty which I felt was in the fourth foot, and for a long time I supposed the trouble was that the foot was a weak spondee ; and the suggestion made in some grammars that probably the ancients laid a slight stress upon the first and fourth feet naturally presented itself. The supposition that that was a re- quirement, however, was negatived by the very next 8 HEXAMETER VERSE line wherein the fourth foot " fraught with " is also a weak spondee, and yet that line so far as harmony was concerned seemed to me well enough. Again, in the eighth line, the fourth foot "like to" was weak; and again, in the fifteenth line "mighty" was also weak; but the lines were not on that account unsatisfactory. Naturally wishing a good first line for the Iliad I re- curred to it again and again, wondering what the trouble with it was. It finally came over me that if the sense were such that the words " son of " were strongly em- phasized the peculiar difficulty I felt would disappear ; and at length I came to see that there was some metri- cal problem to be solved to make a line " read itself," and that this problem in some way involved emphasis. Becoming satisfied that my translation would not even be "good enough to amend by" until it was solved, in April, 1899, I stopped translating and turned to Longfel- low's " Evangeline " to see if I could get any light. The first line I emphasized as follows : — This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks, and I will add that I never heard it read otherwise. I had thus emphasized four words, and the line was satis- factory so far as the ear was concerned ; but when referred to the understanding I could see no reason why " pines " should not be emphasized as much as " hemlocks," nor why the epithet " murmuring " should be emphasized at all. Some mysterious rhythmic force had compelled me to emphasize two words wrongly in the second half of the line. I then had the curiosity to examine the first half, and soon satisfied myself that so far as the under- HEXAMETER VERSE 9 standing was concerned " this " should not be empha- sized, but instead the emphasis should fall on " forest." Thus four out of the six feet were wrongly read. Much mystified, I mechanically read aloud the words This is the forest primeval, and found to my astonishment that instinctively I then read the second half of the line — the murmuring pines and the hemlocks. If the reader has an ear for rhythm and will test for himself the two ways of reading that line, he will find I was correct. I had the key to the mystery. It was evident that the way the first half of the line was read determined the way the second half must be read to make it harmonious. Furthermore, I had dis- covered two forms of line in which, if the emphatic words were properly placed, the line would "read itself ; " that is to say, in a line with the caesura dividing the third foot four emphasized words might be placed two in each half of the line, with their accented syllables forming the ictus syllable of the first, third, fourth, and sixth feet, or the second, third, fifth, and sixth feet ; and one of these lines was just as good as the other. The only other arrangement of four such words that would balance would be where their accented and ictus syllables came in the first, second, fourth, and fifth feet ; and without hunting for such a line but merely by forcing the emphasis in the line above given, I ascer- tained that that arrangement would also form a harmo- nious line ; and two familiar lines of Virgil, where the emphasized words are similarly arranged if we can judge 10 HEXAMETER VERSE by the way we emphasize the translation, occurred to me at once : — TrOS Tyriusque mihi nullo discrimine agetur. Arma virumque cano, Trojae qui primus ab oris. I also ascertained in a few minutes, simply by practice on Longfellow's line, that if I emphasized the first, sec- ond, or third foot only in the first half, I should in like manner emphasize in the second half either the fourth, fifth, or the sixth foot only. The reader by testing the matter himself will be satis- fied, I think, that I was correct. On a later page illus- trations of all these forms of lines will be given. I soon, with this start, jumped to the conclusion that where there were but three emphatic words in the line, they would be arranged in alternate feet ; that is, in the first, third, and fifth foot, or in the second, fourth, and sixth ; which was correct, but I wrongly inferred that in such case the caesural pause would either divide or come at the end of the second or fourth foot. In point of fact, I have finally ascertained that the caesural pause does not affect the question at all, although it usually divides the third foot when there are an equal number of emphasized feet, and occurs somewhere else where the number is unequal. The caesuras and diaereses, however, are mere accidents, and the different kinds of line should properly be classi- fied according to the number and arrangement of em- phasized feet they contain. Later I found by investigation that in addition to the eight forms of line above given, there was a ninth, gov- erned by the same principle however, in which all six of the feet are emphasized. A line otherwise correct HEXAMETER VERSE II and written in accordance with any of these nine forms will be absolutely harmonious and will "read itself." But if written in any other way it will be inharmonious ; and, if it be tolerably near correct, the reader will force the emphasis in the way that does least violence to the understanding until he brings it within one of these forms, and most likely will be unconscious of the forcing process. It is impossible for a person with an ear for rhythm to read otherwise ; the difficulty being much the same a musical person would have in singing off the key. All these statements it is important the reader should verify for himself. The diagram on p. 12 shows visually the nine stand- ard forms of hexameter verse, with a classification based on emphasis ; and each line is designated by a letter for convenient reference. The reader will observe that I speak of emphasized feet. At the outset I rashly assumed that it was only words with an ictus syllable which were emphasized, and this mistake led to much error and discouragement. In fact, as a rule it is only words with the ictus that are emphasized ; but not infrequently it happens that short words, appended to a preceding word with an ictus, are themselves emphasized and give character to the foot. In such case, more frequently both words are empha- sized, as in the following examples : — Close at their sides their children ran, and urged on the oxen. Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls il/^sions ; and similar illustrations appear on every page of the classical authors. HEXAMETER VERSE CLASSIFIED AND ARRANGED. ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF EMPHASIZED FEET WITH FOUR EMPHASIZED FEET. WITH TWO EMPHASIZED FEET. WITH THREE EMPHASIZED FEET. A I A 2 A3 B I B 2 B3 C I C 2 WITH SIX EMPHASIZED FEET. D The emphasized feet are shown by the heavy lines. HEXAMETER VERSE 1 3 Less frequently the word without an ictus is empha- sized when the preceding word is not, and such lines are less pleasing, but they are admissible in English and not uncommon with the ancients. The following lines from Kingsley and Longfellow are illustrations : — Yet one fault I remember this day ; one word have I spoken. All things were held in amnion, and what one had was an- ger's. Daughter, thy words are not idle, nor are they to me without meaning. Such feet, in which the second half only is emphasized, may, as here, and often do correspond with a foot in which the ictus syllable is emphasized. The following four consecutive lines from Longfellow illustrate the three A forms : — Thus passed a few swift years, and they no longer were chil- dren. He was a valiant youth, and his face like the face of the niorn- ing, Gladdened the earth with its light, and ripened thought into action. She was a woman now, with the heart and hopes of a woman. The following lines represent B i : — " Not so thinketh the folk in the village," said, warmly, the blacksmith. Gaily the old man sang to the wbrant sound of his fiddle. The following are illustrations of B 2 and B 3 from Kingsley and Longfellow : — All day long they cast, till the house of the monarch was taken, 14 HEXAMETER VERSE Cepheus, king of the land ; and the faces of all gathered blackness. [?] Then once more they cast ; and Cassiq^da was taken. Talk not of wasted affection, affection never was wasted. Bind her aloft for a victim, a prey for the gorge of the mon- ster, Far on the sea-girt rock, which is washed by the surges for ever. The following lines contain illustrations of C I : — " Sunsnlne of Saint Eulalie " was she called ; for that was the sunshine Which, as the farmers believed, would load their orchards with apples. [?] Sweetly over the village the bell of the ^gelus sounded. The following illustrate C 2 : — Fragments of song the old man sang, and carols of Christmas^ Such as at home, in the olden time, his fathers before him Sang in their Norman orchards. The following illustrate D, in which all the feet are emphasized, or, what practically amounts to the same thing, none are emphasized : — No King George of England shall drive you away from your homestead Burning your dwellings and barns, and stealing your farms and your cattle. In pursuing my investigations I personally was so much embarrassed by ignorance of the principles of emphasis, that I shall take the liberty of saying a few words upon that subject. If there be any really good book upon HEXAMETER VERSE I 5 emphasis, I have failed to find it, but I will give a few prin- ciples found in Murdoch's "Elocution." First, it should be remembered that words ordinarily, and in this metre always, are emphasized on but one syllable, and in Eng- lish that is regularly the accented syllable. In the clas- sics, the emphasis falls on the ictus of words which have the ictus, and where there is more than one ictus syllable it always falls on the first only. I suspect it is ignorance of the fact that only one syllable of a word is affected by emphasis, which, though obvious when stated, may not have been actually formulated in the minds of men learned in the classics, that has prevented the truth from being perceived. In many cases where a long word is partly in three feet, and in a few cases even has three ictus syllables, it has not occurred to them that only one sylla- ble need be placed to determine the emphasis, and hence the orderly succession in the nine forms above given has not been suggested. Sometimes in English, when a distinction is made by the use of two words differing only in one syllable, the emphasis is effected by transferring the accent to those syllables, though it does not normally belong there, as "sins of ^mmission and sins of amission." That is not done by Virgil in the following lines, where there is a play upon the names Casmilla and Camilla : — Pulsus ob invidiam regno viresque superbas Priverno antiqua Metabus cum excederet urbe, infantem fugiens media inter proelia belli SUStulit exilio comitem, matrisque vocavit nomine Casmillae mutata parte Camillam. Aen. XL 539-543- Observe, also, how the emphasis is taken from infantem by comitem, which follows as a predicate. 1 6 HEXAMETER VERSE Sometimes in the classical tongues there is a contrast made by using the same word in different cases, but the emphasis, as elsewhere, falls on the ictus syllable and not on the terminations as such. In W. C. Lawton's re- cent book on the " Successors of Homer " (and I mention Mr. Lawton honoris causa) are the following lines : — Even the potter is jealous of potter, and craftsman of crafts- man ; Even the beggar is grudging to beggar, and poet to poet. The original appears to be emphasized as follows : — /cai /c€pa\ievs fcepa\L£i tcoreei ical tIktovl tzktcov, kclL 7TT(Dybs 7tto))(c3 (f>6oveet kcu aoiSo? aoihco. If Hesiod's order is retained the true emphasis will be preserved : — Even the potter of potter is jealous, and craftsman of crafts- man ; Even the beggar to beggar is grudging, and poet to poet. I call attention to this passage to show that in the origi- nal, while in the first pair of contrasted words in each line the emphasis falls on the terminations (wherein the words differ), in the second pair it falls on the first ictus (wherein they are alike) ; and also because it affords a good illustration of the principle stated later, that where words carry with them the sense of omitted words they must be emphasized to suggest the unexpressed idea. In this case the meaning intended to be conveyed is that every potter is jealous of every other potter; and if the full expression had been used the second " potter " would not have been emphatic, but owing to the omis- sion it should be emphasized. I will not undertake to HEXAMETER VERSE I 7 surmise how Mr. Lawton reads his lines, but am sure he forces them into one of the preceding nine forms, and in so doing he must either emphasize some word, or fail to emphasize some word, wrongly. This passage is also instructive as showing the practical usefulness of my theory if true. These lines are preceded by Hesiod with the statement that rivalry is good for mortals ; and critics have declared that these two lines were an inter- polation, on the ground that jealousy and grudging are not good for mortals ; but the force of this criticism is much lessened by the consideration that the objection- able words are not the emphatic words, but are subordi- nate to the leading thought that this spirit of emulation pervades all classes. This emphasis may be effected by stress, or by length- ening the vowel sound of the significant syllable ; and I have an impression, which is of course a mere theory, that in the classics the lengthening of the emphasized syllable was more frequent, and may have been accom- plished without interfering with the ordinary accent of the word which was effected by stress. This theory, if correct, would account for the apparent inconsistency between ictus and accent. Quintilian states that the poets lengthened the short vowels of certain words, as the I in Italia, and it is on that letter that the word is emphasized, although under Quintilian's rule the acute accent would fall on the second syllable. The fact that he speaks of it as the " acute " accent may be owing to the fact that words had another accent caused by length- ening the vowel on which emphasis would be placed. In this way it may be possible that the poetry of Homer and Virgil could be read metrically, and yet not be incon- 1 8 HEXAMETER VERSE sistent with the customs of speech. It has always seemed impossible that these ancient poems could have been read in an utterly sing-song fashion, and yet been a living force to their readers and hearers. The principal use of emphasis is to distinguish some- thing as distinct or opposite to some other thing. Where such antithesis is expressed it is usually easy to detect the emphasized words ; but in many cases the antithesis is only implied, and the implication is effected by empha- sizing strongly a word which would not be emphasized at all if the additional words necessary to complete the idea had also been used. I have called attention to this in a preceding example, and other instances occur in the illustrations that follow. Again, words may be emphasized simply to express strong emotion, or to designate some particular thing, when no distinction is intended. Again, words sometimes are emphasized simply to bring out a grammatical relation which otherwise might be obscured by an intervening clause ; and in such case, the emphasis seems to be due to the fact that the mind is thus held in suspense during the interval. This is technically termed an " emphatic tie," and Murdock gives the following as an illustration : — And Jura answers, through her misty shroud, Back to the joyous Alps, that called to her aloud. Under this principle of the emphatic tie even connec- tives like " and " or " but " may not only begin a hexa- meter line, but may be emphasized words in cases where a comma properly follows them, owing to an inversion in the sentence which holds the mind in suspense : — HEXAMETER VERSE 19 And, as they turned at length to speak to their silent compan- ion, Lo ! from his seat he had fallen. Virgil emphasizes atque under the same conditions in the following passage from the first Georgic : — Quid tempestates auctumni et sidera dicam atque, ubi iam breviorque dies et mollior aestas, quae vigilanda viris : which I will render, — Why should I tell of the storms and ^«stellations of autumn And, as the days grow short and the heat a&zteth its fury, What keen watch must be kept : This passage, wherein atque required emphasis to corre- spond with the obviously emphatic brevior and mollior, would have been a hopeless puzzle to me but for the analogy in English ; and prior to finding the principle of the emphatic tie, I had supposed " and " was admis- sible in such cases in the English because the comma gave it quantity, and never thought of it as emphasized. The reader will observe that I emphasized "constella- tions " on the first ictus syllable, partly for his considera- tion, and partly to show the effect of the similar way of emphasizing in the classical tongues. Of course it could have been rendered " stars of changeable (or perfidious) Autumn," or some similar epithet of waywardness ; but experiments with such words as "impossibility," "inartic- ulate," "whithersoever," "nevertheless," indicate to my mind that they may without impropriety be emphasized on the first syllable only, and often are so emphasized in familiar speech. 20 HEXAMETER VERSE Again, in certain cases several successive words are emphasized, forming what is called an emphatic phrase. In the classics such an emphatic phrase is often effected by a line in form A 3 followed by a line in form A 2? thus bringing four emphatic feet together : and to the purpose of forming an emphatic phrase the form D is especially adapted, and is often used to express a proverb or some sententious saying. Again, certain words are emphasized within my mean- ing, and within the definition recognized by authorities, where two or more successive words are run together in speech and pronounced, as one word. These combina- tions are what are technically known as oratorical words. Quintilian recognized such, and says that the second half of the first line of the Aeneid was pronounced as one word, and gives other illustrations. Commentators seem to think Quintilian wrong in regard to the first line of Virgil, and believe it is made up of at least two oratorical words. The emphasis in oratorical words is slight, and in common speech is merely spoken of as accent, but it is sufficient in poetry to make rhythm ; and the study and mastery of oratorical words, and of phrases and idioms, is essential to facility in ascertaining within which one of the nine forms I have given, the lines of the ancient classics are to be classified. Words which in themselves might naturally be empha- sized, frequently have the emphasis taken from them because combined with other words. For example, nouns often have the emphasis taken from them by an emphatic genitive, by an adjective, or by a relative clause ; and adjectives and verbs in the same way have their emphasis transferred to adverbs, or an accusative HEXAMETER VERSE 21 of specification, or other modifying word. In the same way nouns transfer the emphasis to a predicate. In the ablative absolute consisting of a noun and a participle, the participle ordinarily takes the emphasis ; but where it consists of two nouns, or a noun and a pronoun, the predicate word is the one emphasized. Where a word is repeated, it is commonly only emphasized in one in- stance ; but this would not apply obviously where words are correlative, and in fact an antithesis is intended. Although the main object of this publication does not relate to English hexameter verse, except so far as to illustrate ancient hexameter, I will make one or two sug- gestions. I do not know whether the law of emphasis at the base of it will add a new terror to the verse or not. I surmise, however, it will make it easier, because, whenever a verse is not satisfactory, the difficulty with it, if merely rhythmic, can be perceived at once. I have alluded to the difficulty of beginning lines with an accented syllable ; and the difficulty is considerably greater of beginning any large number with an empha- sized syllable ; consequently, the forms designated as A i, A 2, B i, C i, would be employed infrequently, unless much effort be made to the contrary. Our best English hexameter will be found on examination, so far as it conforms at all to the law as I have stated it, to be almost wholly A 3 and B 3, with an occasional C 2. While those three forms are as good as any, the constant recurrence of them is monotonous ; and in particular B 3 recurring a number of times in succession gives a jerky effect to the end line. The classical writers used freely all the above forms, — A 1, A 2, B 2, and both forms of C being very frequent indeed. In the first eleven lines 22 HEXAMETER VERSE of the Aeneid C i occurs four times and C 2 once cer- tainly, and perhaps twice, and the first seven lines of the Iliad have two lines in the form C 1. On the other hand, the form called D is peculiarly adapted to the short, pithy words of the English, and we also have the short, unaccented words to give them a setting. In the other forms, Latin and Greek, from their freedom in varying the order of words, and from their practice of elision, which allows the putting of two emphatic or two unemphatic words into the same foot, render the separa- tion of the emphatic from the unemphatic feet much easier than with us. But while those tongues have resources which the English does not have, I believe English will still have resources peculiar to itself, if they are fully developed. When I started on my quest for the law that must be followed in order to make an English line " read itself," it was not within my dreams that I should find anything that governed the form of the classical models. These models are in a language that to us is dead, and we are liable to forget that the deadness is in us and not in the text ; but, as intimated, I had not worked out the three A forms before I had begun to think of lines in Homer and Virgil, — lines having no words with more than one ictus and which admit of a word-for-word translation, — that appeared to be governed by the same laws as the English lines. It is to be remembered also that Quin- tilian treats of both accent and emphasis, and that accent and emphasis are the very life of a language. We speak of a foreigner as talking English with a foreign accent ; but in point of fact, he speaks it with little accent and still less emphasis ; that is, he talks his words and enun- HEXAMETER VERSE 23 ciates his syllables too much alike ; and it is not unnat- ural that we should deal with a dead language in the same way, only worse. Consequently, the very deadness of the model has been considered its distinctive feature, and hexameter writers in English have seemed to fear anything with more life than the model had to them. But in point of fact, the ancient tongues must have had living elements similar to ours, and their hexameter must have been emphasized, and the presumption is strong that emphasis played as important a part in their rhythm as with ours. It might even be thought a priori that in the set form of a hexameter line emphasis in one part of it must have required some corresponding emphasis in other parts. I believe it to be an under-statement to say that the ancient writers conformed to the nine forms of verse I have given much more rigorously than any English writer ; so much so, in fact, that it is not easy to believe it an accident. I do not mean to imply that every line strictly conforms, but the number that do not is less than might be apprehended from corruption of the text alone ; and the ingenuity shown in many of the lines is so great that it is difficult to believe the authors were not consciously conforming to a known rule. If, how- ever, it had been known, most likely some record would have come down to us ; and it is more reasonable to sup- pose that their conformity to law was due to a good ear. Perhaps I may be pardoned for saying in support of this that many verses of my own conform to the same laws, of which I was wholly unconscious ; and that is particu- larly true in respect to words which are emphasized though not having an ictus. The facts as to those words 24 HEXAMETER VERSE I discovered in the classics, laboriously and slowly, and it was after I had discovered them there that I found the same things in the English — not only in many lines of my own, but in Longfellow and Kingsley — whereof I have given illustrations above. I now feel justified in saying that there is practically nothing true of the law of the verse in English, so far as emphasis is concerned, which does not have its exact counterpart in Latin and Greek. Referring again to the diagram, I give the following classical illustrations of the nine different forms, but it is a thing almost unnecessary, for all these forms recur over and over again in the pages given later, and also equally in what is not given. His adjungit, Hylan nautae quo fonte relictum clamassent, ut litus " Hyla Hyla " omne sonaret. Haec memini, et victum frustra contendere Thyrsim. Ex illo Corydon Corydon est tempore nobis. Venit summa dies et ineluctabile tempus Dardaniae. Fuimus Troes, fuit Ilium et ingens Gloria Teucrorum. Torva leaena lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam, te Corydon, o Alexi : trahit Sua quemque voluptas. NOS numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati. Optat ephippia bOS, piger optat arare caballus. Rusticus, es, Corydon : nee munera curat Alexis. " Verane te facies, verus mihi nuntius aflers ? " " Vivo equidem, vitamque extrema per omnia duco." u Quo diversus abis ? " iterum : " pete saxa, Menoete." HEXAMETER VERSE 25 Nam certe ex vivo Centauri non fit imago. Quam mihi das aegro dabis aegrotare timenti. Iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra. " Solus ego in Pallanta feror ; soli mihi Pallas Debetur ; cuperem ipse parens spectator adesset." Frigidus, o pueri, fugite hinc, latet anguis in herba. Hos successus alit ; possunt, quia posse videntur. Phyllida amo ante alias : mam me discedere flevit, et longum " Formose, vale vale " inquit, " Iolla." " quae Phoebo Pater omnipotens, mihi Phoebus Apollo praedixit, vobis Furiarum ego maxima pando." Prospiciens, "Nate," exclamat, "fuge, nate, propinquant." TriSte lupus stabulis, maturis frugibus imbres. Dulce satis umor, depulsis arbutus haedis. Aurea mala decern misi ; eras altera mittam. Form D usually has one of the preceding eight lead- ing forms underlying it, since some of the words are more emphatic than others and are arranged accordingly. The line above given as an example of C2, Hos successus alit ; possunt, quia posse videntur, is also a form of D ; and the first of the following lines, which was an order shouted in the boat race, is also D. " quo tan turn mihi dexter abis ? hue dirige gressum ; Litus ama, et laevas stringat sine palmula cautes ; Altum alii teneant." Una salus victis nullam sperare salutem, is a form of D with Ai, or refining still farther Bi, underlying it, thus : — 26 HEXAMETER VERSE Una salus victis nullam sperare salutem. Una salus victis nullam sperare salutem. A line consisting of four or five long words, although all are emphasized, I do not regard as form D, since some of the feet must be made up of parts of words that are non-emphatic. The following from Homer illustrate the other forms : — heivrj $e fcXayyy] yever apy vpeoio /3tolo. kvvr)\xap jxev ava CTpaTOV oS^eTO KrfXa 0eolo. tt) 8ercdTT\ S' dyopr\vcje KaXeacraro \aov AxiXXeu?. Kpelvcrcov yap fiacnXevs, ore xaxrerat avSpl %epT|t.* XpT| |J.T|V (njxotVe/ooV ye, 0ea, €iros eipvcracrOai, teal fJidka irep #y|A(0 /cexoXcofievov cJ? yap d\L£lvov. o? tee #eois e7rtir€L^Tat, fxdXa r ZkXvov clvtov. vxymos et?, co j;elv\ rj T\\X66ev elXrjXovdas. \|/€i)So9 /cev (fralfiev ical vocfa^oifieOa /jlcLXXov. hr[IJLo/36po<; /3aatXev<;, iirel ovr ihavolcn avdaaei^ ' r\ "yap av, 'ArpetSr), vvv vcrrara Xco/3r)' iare yidyjcvQai. aXXci 7rt'6€cr9' * d/j,o£/3o? 'AttoWcov Tbv 8' aira\L^i(36ixevo^ 7rpoae<^r\ irohas o)/cu? 'Ax^XXet/?. 5 Arpei'8r] /cvbHTre, ava| dv8pa)v, 'Ayd\kt\Lvov Trjv 8* rj^ifter eTretra Aios dvydrrip Ac^pohlrr]. Tbv 8* dp* virohpa IScov 7T/3ocre(j)T| 7ro\vfjLT)TL$ 'OSwcev?. Trjv 8e fJLey* oyjdrjaas Trpoae^T] vec^eXrjyepera Zexis * 5(0*y/oet, 'AT/oeo? t/te, av 8' d|ia 6e|at diroiva. (o (f)i\oi T]/Oft)e? Aaz/aoC, Oepdnrovres "Apr|o?, /ce/cXvTe, ^airj/ccov r)yr\Tope<; r)8e /-te'SovTe?. 8ioyeves AatpTLaBr), 7ro\vfjLij^av 'Oh\). KeKXvTe yLteu /-tvOoav, KdKa 7rep 7rao-xovre? eralpot • 'ivOev 8e 7rpoTep(i) 7rXeo[i€V dKa^ijfievot yyrop, dcrfJLevoi i/c davdroio, (J>l\ov^ okeo-avres eTai/oof?. ^09 8' i\piyev€ia cj)dvr\ po8o8d/CTv\o<; 'Hc6?. i/c 8e kclI avrol ^r\fxev eirl pr}v8(1 ; ovk, aW AtycoFOS' fiocrKev Se /xot cdrras e'Sco/ccv. Paley, in the notes to his Theocritus, remarks on avrds that Virgil's manuscript evidently had avros, which would give better sense. According to my theory auros is required as being em- phatic, which ai/ras is not. If the views set forth in this HEXAMETER VERSE 35 book are correct, much aid will be given thereby in re- forming texts. Observe also that Virgil translates avros by repeating the name Aegon (which is not emphatic), whereas ipse would be and spoil the rhythm. The following from the same Eclogue is very spirited, and perhaps illustrates the several forms of verse more clearly than any preceding passage : — M. Quid domini faciant, audent cum talia fures ? Non ego te vidi, Damonis, pessime, caprum excipere insidiis, multum latrante Lycisca ? et cum clamarem " Quo nunc se proripit ille ? Tityre, coge pecus ! " tu post carecta latebas. 20 D. An mihi cantando victus non redderet ille quern mea carminibus meruisset fistula caprum ? Si nescis, meus ille caper fuit ; et mihi Damon ipse fatebatur, sed reddere posse negabat. 24 M. Cantando tu ilium ? aut umquam tibi fistula cera iuncta fuit ? non tu in triviis, indocte, solebas stridenti miserum stipula disperdere carmen ? D. Vis ergo inter nos quid posset uterque vicissim experiamur ? ego hanc vitulam (ne forte recuses, bis venit ad mulctram, binos alit ubere fetus,) 30 depono : tu die, mecum quo pignore certes. M. De grege non ausim quicquam deponere tecum : est mihi namque domi pater, et iniusta noverca ; bisque die numerant ambo pecus, alter et haedos. Verum, id quod multo tute ipse fatebere maius, 35 insanire libet quoniam tibi, pocula ponam fagina, caelatum divini opus Alcimedontis : lenta quibus torno facili super addita vitis 36 HEXAMETER VERSE diffusos hedera vescit pallente corymbos. In medio duo signa, Conon et — quis fuit alter, 40 descripsit radio totum qui gentibus orbem, tempora quae messor, quae curvus arator haberet ? necdum illis labra admovi, sed condita servo. D. Et nobis idem Alcimedon duo pocula fecit, et molli circum est ansas amplexus acantho, 45 Orpheaque in medio posuit silvasque sequentes ; necdum illis labra admovi, sed condita servo. Si ad vitulam spectas, nihil est quod pocula laudes. Ecloga III. 1-2 and 16-48. The following passages from the Georgics are selected for the reason that emphasis is quite marked throughout both, as Virgil is describing the nature of different souls and methods of culture. In the second passage the emphasis on glauca in the thirteenth line is because it refers to a particular kind of willow ; and the emphasis in the twenty-fifth line grows out of two methods of planting slips, — by one of which the end was split into quarters, and by the other it was sharpened. Vere novo gelidus canis cum montibus umor liquitur et Zephyro putris se glaeba resolvit, depresso incipiat iam turn mihi taurus aratro 45 ingemere, et sulco attritus splendescere vomer. Ula seges demum votis respondet avari agricolae, bis quae solem, bis frigora sensit ; illius immensae ruperunt horrea messes. At prius ignotum ferro quam scindimus aequor, 50 ventos et varium caeli praediscere morem cura sit ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum, et quid quaeque ferat regio et quid quaeque recuset. HEXAMETER VERSE 37 Hie segetes, illic veniunt felicius uvae, arborei fetus alibi, atque injussa virescunt 55 gramina. Nonne vides croceos ut Tmolus odores, India mittit ebur, molles sua tura Sabaei, at Chalybes nudi ferrum, virosaque Pontus castorea, Eliadum palmas Epiros equarum ? Continue* has leges aeternaque foedera certis 60 imposuit natura locis, quo tempore primum Deucalion vacuum lapides iactavit in orbem, unde homines nati, durum genus. Ergo age, terrae pingue solum primis extemplo a mensibus anni fortes invertant tauri, glaebasque iacentes 65 pulverulenta coquat maturis solibus aestas ; at si non fuerit tellus fecunda, sub ipsum Arcturum tenui sat erit suspendere sulco : illic, officiant laetis ne frugibus herbae, hie, sterilem exiguus ne deserat umor harenam. 7 <> Georg. I. 43-70. Hactenus arvorum cultus et sidera caeli ; nunc te, Bacche, canam, nee non silvestria tecum virgulta et prolem tarde crescentis olivae. Hue, pater o Lenaee ; tuis hie omnia plena muneribus, tibi pampineo gravidus autumno 5 floret ager, spumat plenis vindemia labris ; hue, pater o Lenaee, veni, nudataque musto tingue novo mecum dereptis crura cothurnis. Principio arboribus varia est natura creandis. Namque aliae nullis hominum cogentibus ipsae 10 sponte sua veniunt camposque et flumina late curva tenent, ut molle siler, lentaeque genistae, populus et glauca canentia fronde salicta ; 38 HEXAMETER VERSE pars autem posito surgunt de semine, ut altae castaneae, nemorumque Iovi quae maxima frondet 15 aesculus, atque habitae Graiis oracula quercus. Pullulat ab radice aliis densissima silva, ut cerasis ulmisque ; etiam Parnasia laurus parva sub ingenti matris se subiicit umbra. Hos natura modos primum dedit, his genus omne 20 silvarum fruticumque viret nemorumque sacrorum. Sunt alii, quos ipse via sibi repperit usus. Hie plantas tenero abscindens de corpore matrum deposuit sulcis ; hie stirpes obruit arvo quadrifidasque sudes et acuto robore vallos. 25 Silvarumque aliae pressos propaginis arcus expectant et viva sua plantaria terra ; nil radicis egent aliae, summumque putator haud dubitat terrae referens mandare cacumen. Quin et caudicibus sectis (mirabile dictu) 30 truditur e sicco radix oleagina ligno. Et saepe alterius ramos impune videmus vertere in alterius, mutatamque insita mala ferre pirum, et prunis lapidosa rubescere corna. Georg. II. 1-34. The following is one of four passages printed herein selected at my request by Professor IVforgan without knowledge on his part of the purpose for which they were to be used. The other three are the selection from Juvenal's tenth satire ; the selection from Odyssey III., and the simile from Iliad II., hereafter given. The third book tells that part of the story of Aeneas which relates to what took place after the destruction of Troy, hence the emphasis on Postquam. In the twelfth HEXAMETER VERSE 39 line, the words in the ablative are in pairs owing to the omission of one connective "and ; " and, as in English, in case of pairs of words of quasi kindred signification, the second is slightly emphasized. So felix faustusque, and Homer's ''death and destruction," "death and doom," and the like. Postquam res Asiae Priamique evertere gentem immeritam visum superis, ceciditque superbum Ilium et omnis humo fumat Neptunia Troia, diversa exilia et desertas quaerere terras auguriis agimur divum, classemque sub ipsa 5 Antandro et Phrygiae molimur montibus Idae, incerti quo fata ferant, ubi sistere detur, contrahimusque viros. Vix prima inceperat aestas, et pater Anchises dare fatis vela iubebat, litora cum patriae lacrimans portusque relinquo 10 et campos, ubi Troia fuit. Feror exul in altum cum sociis natoque Penatibus et magnis dis. Terra procul vastis colitur Mavortia campis, (Thraces arant) acri quondam regnata Lycurgo, hospitium antiquum Troiae sociique Penates, 15 dum fortuna fuit. Feror hue, et litore curvo moenia prima loco fatis ingressus iniquis, Aeneadasque meo nomen de nomine fingo. Sacra Dionaeae matri divisque ferebam auspicibus coeptorum operum, superoque nitentem 20 caelicolum regi mactabam in litore taurum. Forte fuit iuxta tumulus, quo cornea summo virgulta et densis hastilibus horrida myrtus. Accessi, viridemque ab humo convellere silvam conatus, ramis tegerem ut frondentibus aras, 25 40 HEXAMETER VERSE horrendum et dictu video mirabile monstrum. Nam quae prima solo ruptis radicibus arbos vellitur, huic atro linquuntur sanguine guttae et terrain tabo maculant. Mihi frigidus horror membra quatit, gelidusque coit formidine sanguis. 30 Rursus et alterius lentum convellere vimen insequor et causas penitus temptare latentes : ater et alterius sequitur de cortice sanguis. Multa movens animo Nymphas venerabar agrestes G-radivumque patrem, Geticis qui praesidet arvis, 35 rite secundarent visus omenque levarent. Tertia sed postquam maiore hastilia nisu aggredior genibusque adversae obluctor harenae, (eloquar an sileam ?) gemitus lacrimabilis imo auditur tumulo, et vox reddita fertur ad aures : 40 " Quid miserum, Aenea, laceras ? iam parce sepulto, parce pias scelerare manus : non me tibi Troia externum tulit aut cruor hie de stipite manat. Heu fuge crudeles terras, fuge litus avarum. Nam Polydorus ego : hie confixum ferrea texit 45 telorum seges et iaculis increvit acutis." Turn vero ancipiti mentem formidine pressus obstupui stetruntque comae et vox faucibus haesit. Aen. III. 1-48. In the following passage emphasis is comparatively slight. As to the fourth line I am in some doubt whether C 2 was not intended. In the fifth line multa is, comparatively speaking, unemphatic, being in effect a repetition of the preceding multum. In the ninth line regina deum is so emphasized as being a periphrasis for the name of Juno just used. HEXAMETER VERSE 41 Arma virumque cano, Trojae qui primus ab oris Italiam, fato profugus, Lavinia venit litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto vi superum, saevae memorem Iunnois ob iram, multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem 5 inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum Albanique patres atque altae moenia Romae. Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso, quidve dolens regina deum tot volvere casus insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores 10 impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae ? Aen. I. 1— 1 1. The emphasis of the following passage seems very modern, particularly that on the prepositions in line 3 1 1 and on potuit ax\dfuit in lines 312, 313. Vix ea legati, variusque per ora cucurrit Ausonidum turbata fremor : ceu saxa morantur cum rapidos amnes, fit clauso gurgite murmur, vicinaeque fremunt ripae crepitantibus undis. Ut primum placati animi et trepida ora quierunt, 300 praefatus divos solio rex infit ab alto : — " Ante equidem summa de re statuisse, Latini, et vellem et fuerat melius, non tempore tali cogere concilium, cum muros assidet hostis. Bellum importunum, cives, cum gente deorum 30s invictisque viris gerimus, quos nulla fatigant proelia : nee victi possunt absistere ferro. Spem si quam ascitis Aetolum habuistis in armis, ponite. Spes sibi quisque : sed haec quam angusta videtis. 42 HEXAMETER VERSE Cetera qua rerum iaceant perculsa ruina, 3 "> ante oculos interque manus sunt omnia vestras. Nee quemquam incuso : potuit quae plurima virtus esse, fuit ; toto certatum est corpore regni. Aen. XL 296-313. The text of Lucretius is very doubtful ; but as his writings are argumentative, and as he is constantly draw- ing distinctions, they afford very good illustrations of the theory of this book. He thus tells the story of Iphigenia to show that no one should have superstitious fear about studying science or philosophy. In the 100th line Mun- roe considers moesta very emphatic from its position. According to my theory, it is not, and the thought of the passage throws the emphasis where I have placed it. This in my judgment is a very frequent instance of a word being put out of its natural order because it is not emphatic and because a non-emphatic word is required in that place. The liberty of shifting the order of words in Latin and Greek gave a great advantage over the Eng- lish writer ; and words are placed where we find them because they are emphatic or because they are unem- phatic much more frequently than to make them the one or the other. Illud in his rebus vereor, ne forte rearis Impia te rationis inire elementa, viamque Indogredi sceleris : quod contra saepius ilia Religio peperit scelerosa atque impia facta. Aulide quo pacto Triviai virginis aram 80 Iphianassai turparunt sanguine foede Ductores Danaum delecti, prima virorum. HEXAMETER VERSE 43 Cui simul infula, virgineos circumdata comptus, Ex utraque pari malarum parte profusa est, Et moestum simul ante aras adstare parentem 90 Sensit, et hunc propter ferrum celare ministros, Adspectuque suo lacrymas effundere cives ; Muta metu terrain, genibus submissa, petebat : Nee miserae prodesse in tali tempore quibat, Quod patrio princeps donarat nomine regem. 95 Nam sublata virum manibus tremebundaque ad aras Deducta est ; non ut, solemni more sacrorum Perfecto, posset claro comitari Hymenaeo ; Sed casta inceste, nubendi tempore in ipso Hostia concideret mactatu moesta parentis, 100 Exitus ut classi felix faustusque daretur. Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum ! Lucretius I. 81-102. Lucretius then goes on, as an introduction to his Theory of Atoms, to prove the fundamental principle that " no thing is derived from nothing by divine power ever." This principle he states in line 151 in form D. Hunc igitur terrorem animi tenebrasque necesse est Non radii solis, nee lucida tela diei Discutiant, sed naturae species, ratioque : Principium hinc cujus nobis exordia sumet, 150 Nullam rem e nihilo gigni divinitus unquam. Quippe ita formido mortales continet omnes, Quod multa in terris fieri coeloque tuentur, Quorum operum causas nulla ratione videre Possunt, ac fieri divino numine rentur. 155 Quas ob res, ubi viderimus nil posse creari De nihilo, turn, quod sequimur, jam rectius inde 44 HEXAMETER VERSE Perspiciemus, et unde queat res quaeque creari, Et quo quaeque modo fiant opera sine divum. If it were not so he says that animals and plants would not belong to fixed species ; would not occupy their appropriate places in the universe ; nor come into exist- ence at propitious seasons ; nor require time nor food with which to grow ; nor could they be improved by cul- tivation. An examination of the following passage will show how the significant words are emphasized as the thought changes. Nam, si de nihilo fierent, ex omnibu' rebus 160 Omne genus nasci posset ; nil semine egeret : E mare primum homines, e terra posset oriri Squamigerum genus et volucres ; erumpere coelo Armenta atque aliae pecudes ; genus omne ferarum Incerto partu culta ac deserta tenerent : i6 S Nee fructus iidem arboribus constare solerent, Sed mutarentur : ferre omnes omnia possent. Quippe, ubi non essent genitalia corpora cuique, Qui posset mater rebus consistere certa ? At nunc, seminibus quia certis quaeque creantur, i 7 o Inde enascitur atque oras in luminis exit, Materies ubi inest cuj usque et corpora prima : Atque hac re nequeunt ex omnibus omnia gigni Quod certis in rebus inest secreta facultas. Praeterea, cur vere rosam, frumenta calore, 175 Vites autumno fundi suadente videmus ; Si non, certa suo quia tempore semina rerum Quum confluxerunt, patefit quodcumque creatur, Dum tempestates adsunt, et vivida tellus Tuto res teneras effert in luminis oras ? 180 HEXAMETER VERSE 45 Quod si de nihilo fierent, subito exorerentur Incerto spatio, atque alienis partibus anni : Quippe ubi nulla forent primordia, quae genitali Concilio possent arceri tempore iniquo. Nee porro augendis rebus spatio foret usus 185 Seminis ad coitum, e nihilo si crescere possent. Nam fierent juvenes subito ex infantibu parvis, E terraque exorta repente arbusta salirent : Quorum nil fieri manifestum est, omnia quando Paulatim crescunt, ut par est, semine certo ; 190 Crescendoque genus servant ; ut noscere possis, Quaeque sua de materia grandescere alique. Hue accedit, uti sine certis imbribus anni Laetificos nequeat foetus submittere tellus : Nee porro, secreta cibo, natura animantum 19s Propagare genus possit, vitamque tueri : Ut potius multis communia corpora rebus Multa putes esse, ut verbis elementa videmus, Quam sine principiis ullam rem existere posse. Denique cur homines tantos natura parare 200 Non potuit, pedibus qui pontum per vada possent Transire, et magnos manibus divellere montes, Multaque vivendo vitalia vincere saecla ; Si non, materies quia rebus reddita certa est Grignendis, e qua constat quid possit oriri ? 205 Nil igitur fieri de nilo posse fatendum est ; Semine quando opus est rebus, quo quaeque creatae Aeris in teneras possint proferrier auras. Postremo, quoniam incultis praestare videmus Culta loca, et manibus meliores reddere foetus ; 210 Esse videlicet in terris primordia rerum, Quae nos, foecundas vertentes vomere glebas, 46 HEXAMETER VERSE Terraique solum subigentes, cimus ad ortus. Quod si nulla forent, nostra sine quaeque labore Sponte sua multo fieri meliora videres. 215 Lucretius, I. 147-215. In the following passage he criticises Heraclitus, and intimates that his reputation depends upon his use of obscure language which men cannot understand, rather than upon the justice of his views. Quapropter, qui materiem rerum esse putarunt ignem, atque ex igni summam consistere solo, magnopere a vera lapsi ratione videntur. Heraclitus init quorum dux proelia primus, clarus ob obscuram linguam magis inter inanes 6 4 o quamde graves inter Graios, qui vera requirunt. Omnia enim stolidi magis admirantur amantque, inversis quae sub verbis latitantia cernunt ; Veraque constituunt, quae belle tangere possunt aures, et lepido quae sunt fucata sonore. 645 Lucretius, I. 636-645. In the next passage he denies that any theory that matter is made up of earth, air, fire or water, or any com- bination of them, is correct. The last line affords an illustration of skill in putting the names of the four ele- ments into three emphatic places. Quapropter, qui materiem rerum esse putarunt ignem, atque ex igni summam consistere posse ; et qui principium gignendis aera rebus constituere ; aut humorem quicumque putarunt fingere res ipsum per se, terramve creare 7"> omnia, et in rerum naturas vertier omnes ; HEXAMETER VERSE 47 magnopere a vero longeque errasse videntur. Adde etiam, qui conduplicant primordia rerum, Aera iungentes igni terramque liquori ; et qui quatuor ex rebus posse omnia rentur, 715 ex igni, terra atque anima, processere, et imbri. Lucretius, I. 706-716. In the following, Lucretius states the satisfactions of philosophy : — Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis, e terra magnum alterius spectare laborem ; non, quia vexari quemquam est iucunda voluptas, sed, quibus ipse malis careas, quia cernere suave est. Per campos instructa, tua sine parte pericli, 5 suave etiam, belli certamina magna tueri. Sed nil dulcius est, bene quam munita tenere edita doctrina sapientum templa serena ; despicere unde queas alios, passimque videre errare, atque viam palantes quaerere vitae, 10 certare ingenio, contendere nobilitate, noctes atque dies niti praestante labore ad summas emergere opes, rerumque potiri. Lucretius, II. 1-13. Juvenal was nothing if not emphatic, and his lines, which are highly finished, conform with great rigor to the principles set forth in this book. Ilia tamen gravior, quae cum discumbere coepit laudat Virgilium, periturae ignoscit Elissae, 43s committit vates et comparat, inde Maronem atque alia parte in trutina suspendit Homerum. cedunt grammatici, vincuntur rhetores, omnis 48 HEXAMETER VERSE turba tacet, nee causidicus nee preco loquatur, altera nee mulier : verborum tanta cadit vis, 440 tot pariter pelves ac tintinnabula dicas pulsari. iam nemo tubas, nemo aera fatiget ; una laboranti poterit succurrere lunae. non habeat matrona, tibi quae iuncta recumbit, dicendi genus, aut curtum sermone rotato 445 torqueat enthymema, nee historias sciat omnes, sed quaedam ex libris et non intelligat. odi hanc ego, quae repetit volvitque Palaemonis artem, servata semper lege et ratione loquendi, ignotosque mihi tenet antiquaria versus, 450 nee curanda viris opicae castigat amicae verba ; soloecisma liceat fecisse marito. imponit finem sapiens et rebus honestis ; nam quae docta nimis cupit et facunda videri, crure tenus medio tunicas succingere debet, 455 caedere Silvano porcum, quadrante lavari. Nil non permittit mulier sibi, turpe putat nil, cum virides gemmas collo circumdedit et cum auribus extentis magnos commisit elenchos. intolerabilus nihil est, quam femina dives. 460 Juvenal. Sat. VI, 434-460. Hae tamen et partus subeunt discrimen et omnes nutricis tolerant fortuna urgente labores, " sed jacet aurato vix ulla puerpera lecto. tantum artes hums, tantum medicamina possunt, 595 quae steriles facit atque homines in ventre necandos conducit. gaude, infelix, atque ipse bibendum porrige, quidquid erit ; nam si distendere vellet et vexare uterum pueris salientibus, esses HEXAMETER VERSE 49 Aethiopis fortasse pater, mox decolor heres 600 impleret tabulas nunquam tibi mane videndus. Juvenal. Sat. VI. 592-602. In the last line of the following extract I am in some doubt as to the true emphasis. The participle in -dus commonly takes the emphasis rather than the auxiliary, but in this case the use is peculiar. Juvenal's reasoning is that he advises men not to pray at all, but if they are so superstitious that they must pray, a sound mind in a sound body is a thing that may with some propriety be asked. A different solution of the line is possible, but I think the Romans emphasized the auxiliary verb very much as we do. In the Aen. II., the ghost of Hector says to Aeneas : — " Sat patriae Priamoque datum : si Pergama dextra defendi possent etiam hac defensa fuissent." "You have done enough for your country and for Priam. If Pergama could have been defended by (any) right hand, it would have been defended by (hac) mine." Here the emphasis falls, as it would with us, on the aux- iliary fuissent. In the same way the following passage in the third book where Aeneas takes farewell of Andro- mache and his countrymen who have made a settle- ment : — " Vivite felices, quibus est fortuna peracta iam sua : nos alia ex aliis in fata vocamur." If my emphasis upon the auxiliary est is correct, which depends upon whether vivite is emphatic, the translation should be — " whose fortune hath been achieved/' 50 HEXAMETER VERSE " Nil ergo optabunt homines ? " si consilium vis, permittes ipsis expendere numinibus, quid conveniat nobis rebusque sit utile nostris. nam pro jucundis aptissima quaeque dabunt di. 350 carior est illis homo quam sibi. nos animorum impulsu et caeca magnaque cupidine ducti conjugium petimus partumque uxoris ; at illis notum, qui pueri qualisque futura sit uxor, ut tamen et poscas aliquid, voveasque sacellis 355 exta et candiduli divina tomacula porci, orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano. Juvenal. Sat. X. 346-356. The following satire and two epistles of Horace are given entire : — I bam forte via Sacra, sicut meus est mos Nescio quid meditans nugarum, totus in illis : Accurrit quidam notus mihi nomine tantum, Arreptaque manu, " Quid agis, dulcissime rerum ? " " Suaviter ut nunc est," inquam, " et cupio omnia quae vis." 5 Cum assectaretur : " Num quid vis ? " occupo. At ille, " Noris nos," inquit ; " docti sumus." Hie ego, "Pluris Hoc," inquam, " mihi eris." Misere discedere quaerens Ire modo ocius, interdum consistere, in aurem Dicere nescio quid puero, cum sudor ad imos 10 Manaret talos. O te, Bolane, cerebri Felicem ! aiebam tacitus ; cum quidlibet ille Garriret, vicos, urbem laudaret. Ut illi Nil respond ebam, " Misere cupis," inquit, " abire ; Jamdudum video ; sed nil agis ; usque tenebo ; is HEXAMETER VERSE 5 I Persequar : hinc quo nunc iter est tibi ? " " Nil opus " est te Circumagi ; quendam volo visere non tibi notum ; Trans Tiberim longe cubat is prope Caesaris hortos." u Nil habeo quod agam et non sum piger ; usque se- quar te." Demitto auriculas ut iniquae mentis asellus, 20 Cum gravius dorso subiit onus. Incipit ille : " Si bene me novi non Viscum pluris amicum, Non Varium facies ; nam quis me scribere plures Aut citius possit versus ? quis membra movere Mollius ? Invideat quod et Hermogenes ego canto." 25 Interpellandi locus hie erat : " Est tibi mater, Cognati, quis te salvo est opus ? " — " Haud mihi quis- quam. Omnes composui." — Felices! nunc ego resto. Confice ; namque instat fatum mihi triste Sabella Quod puero cecinit divina mota anus urna : 30 Hunc neque dira venena nee hosticus auferet ensis Nee laterum dolor aut tussis nee tarda podagra ; G-arrulus hunc quando consumet cunque ; loquaces Si sapiat vitet simul atque adoleverit aetas. Ventum erat ad Vestae, quarta jam parte diei 35 Praeterita, et casu tunc respondere vadato Debebat, quod ni fecisset perdere litem. " Si me amas," inquit, " paulum hie ades." " Inteream si Aut valeo stare aut novi civilia jura ; Et propero quo scis." " Dubius sum quid faciam," in- quit, 40 "Tene relinquam an rem." "Me sodes." "Non fa- ciam " ille ; Et praecedere coepit. Ego ut contendere durum est 52 HEXAMETER VERSE Cum victore sequor. " Maecenas quomodo tecum ? " Hinc repetit ; " paucorum hominum et mentis bene sanae ; Nemo dexterius fortuna est usus. Haberes 4 s Magnum adjutorem posset qui ferre secundas, Hunc hominem velles si tradere ; dispeream ni Submosses omnes." "Non isto vivimus illic Quo tu rere modo ; domus hac nee purior ulla est Nee magis his aliena malis ; nil mi officit unquam, 5° Ditior hie aut est quia doctior ; est locus uni Cuique suus." "Magnum narras, vix credibile ! " " Atqui Sic habet." " Accendis, quare cupiam magis illi Proximus esse." "Velis tantummodo : quae tua vir- tus, Expugnabis ; et est qui vinci possit, eoque 5$ Difficiles aditus primos habet." " Haud mihi deero : Muneribus servos corrumpam ; non hodie si Exclusus fuero desistam ; tempora quaeram, Occurram in triviis, deducam. Nil sine magno Vita labore dedit mortalibus." Haec dum agit, ecce 60 Fuscus Aristius occurrit, mihi carus et ilium Qui pulchre nosset. Consistimus. Unde venis ? et Quo tendis ? rogat et respondet. Vellere coepi Et prensare manu lentissima brachia, nutans, Distorquens oculos, ut me eriperet. Male salsus 65 Ridens dissimulare : meum jecur urere bilis. " Certe nescio quid secreto velle loqui te Aiebas mecum." "Memini bene, sed meliore Tempore dicam ; hodie tricesima sabbata : vin tu Curtis Judaeis oppedere ? " "Nulla mihi, inquam, 7 <> Religio est." " At mi ; sum paulo infirmior, unus HEXAMETER VERSE 53 Multorum ; ignosces ; alias loquar." Huncine solem Tarn nigrum surrexe mihi ! Fugit improbus ac me Sub cultro linquit. Casu venit obvius illi Adversarius et : " Quo tu turpissime ? " magna 75 Inclamat voce ; et " Licet antestari ? " Ego vero Oppono auriculam. Rapit in jus ; clamor utrinque ; Undique concursus. Sic me servavit Apollo. Horace, I. Sat. IX. Quamvis, Scaeva, satis per te tibi consulis, et scis Quo tandem pacto deceat majoribus uti, Disce, docendus adhuc quae censet amiculus, ut si Caecus iter monstrare velit ; tamen adspice si quid Et nos quod cures proprium fecisse loquamur. 5 Si te grata quies et primam somnus in horam Delectat, si te pulvis strepit usque rotarum, Si laedit caupona, Ferentinum ire jubebo ; Nam neque divitibus contingunt gaudia solis, Nee vixit male qui natus moriensque fefellit. 10 Si prodesse tuis pauloque benignius ipsum Te tractare voles, accedes siccus ad unctum. " Si pranderet olus patient er regibus uti Nollet Aristippus." " Si sciret regibus uti Fastidiret olus qui me notat." Utrius horum 15 Verba probes et facta doce, vel junior audi Cur sit Aristippi potior sententia ; namque Mordacem Cynicum sic eludebat, ut aiunt : " Scurror ego ipse mihi, populo tu ; rectius hoc et Splendidius multo est. Equus ut me portet, alat rex, 20 Officium facio : tu poscis vilia rerum, Dante minor quamvis fers te nullius egentem." 54 HEXAMETER VERSE Omnis Aristippum decuit color et status et res, Tentantem majora fere, praesentibus aequum. Contra quern duplici panno patientia velat 25 Mirabor vitae via si conversa decebit. Alter purpureum non exspectabit amictum, Quidlibet indutus celeberrima per loca vadet, Personamque feret non inconcinnus utramque ; Alter Mileti textam cane pejus et angui 3° Vitabit chlamydem, morietur frigore si non Rettuleris pannum. Refer et sine vivat ineptus. Res gerere et captos ostendere civibus hostes Attingit solium Jovis et caelestia tentat : Principibus placuisse viris non ultima laus est. 35 Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum. Sedit qui timuit ne non succederet. Esto ! Quid qui pervenit, fecitne viriliter ? Atqui Hie est aut nusquam quod quaerimus. Hie onus hor- ret, Ut parvis animis et parvo corpore majus : 40 Hie subit et perfert. Aut virtus nomen inane est, Aut decus et pretium recte petit experiens vir. Coram rege suo de paupertate tacentes Plus poscente ferent ; distat sumasne pudenter An rapias. : Atqui rerum caput hoc erat, hie fons. 45 " Indotata mihi soror est, paupercula mater, Et fundus nee vendibilis nee pascere firmus," Qui dicit, clamat, "Victum date." Succinit alter: " Et mihi dividuo findetur munere quadra." Sed tacitus pasci si posset corvus haberet 50 Plus dapis et rixae multo minus invidiaeque. Brundisium comes aut Surrentum ductus amoenum, Qui queritur salebras et acerbum frigus et imbres, HEXAMETER VERSE 55 Aut cistam effractam et subducta viatica plorat, Nota refert meretricis acumina, saepe catellam, 55 Saepe periscelidem raptam sibi flentis, uti mox Nulla fides damnis verisque doloribus adsit. Nee semel irrisus triviis attollere curat Fracto crure planum, licet illi plurima manet Lacrima, per sanctum juratus dicat Osirim : 60 " Credite non ludo ; crudeles, tollite claudum." " Quaere peregrinum," vicinia rauca reclamat. Horace, Epistle XVII. Vertumrmm Janumque, liber, spectare videris, Scilicet ut prostes Sociorum pumice mundus. Odisti claves et grata sigilla pudico ; Paucis ostendi gemis et communia laudas, Non ita nutritus. Fuge quo descendere gestis. Non erit emisso reditus tibi. " Quid miser egi ? Quid volui ? " dices ubi quis te laeserit : et scis In breve te cogi cum plenus languet amator. Quodsi non odio peccantis desipit augur, Carus eris Romae donee te deserat aetas ; Contrectatus ubi manibus sordescere vulgi Coeperis, aut tineas pasces taciturnus inertes, Aut fugies Uticam aut vinctus mitteris Ilerdam. Ridebit monitor non exauditus, ut ille Qui male parentem in rupes protrusit asellum Iratus : quis enim invitum servare laboret ? Hoc quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa docentem Occupet extremis in vicis balba senectus. Cum tibi sol tepidus plures admoverit aures, Me, libertino natum patre et in tenui re, 56 HEXAMETER VERSE Majores pennas nido extendisse loqueris, Ut quantum generi demas virtutibus addas ; Me primis Urbis belli placuisse domique ; Corporis exigui, praecanum,' solibus aptum, Irasci celerem, tamen ut placabilis essem. 25 Forte meum si quis te percontabitur aevum, Me quater undenos sciat implevisse Decembres Collegam Lepidum quo duxit Lollius anno. Horace, Epistle XX. Book I. The precise emphasis in Homer is less easy for me to detect than in the Latin verse ; partly, perhaps, because his idioms are less like the English. If the fact be that the Homeric poems were sung or chanted, exact emphasis would be less important and slight variations less felt than in poems which were simply read. The great body of Homer, however, conforms to what I believe to have been ideal lines. The following was selected as being a famous passage, and not because it is favorable to my theories. It is in that respect about average ; and of the seventy-eight lines there are some half a dozen wherein the emphasis is questionable. The questionable features, however, both here and elsewhere, are infrequent in passages where the emphasis is marked. At the end of the preceding book it was stated that the arrow which Odysseus used in shooting through the axes was lying on the table, the other arrows being con- cealed in the quiver, "as the suitors soon would prove." In the third line Homer states that the quiver was full; to imply that Odysseus had a good supply of ammuni- tion. HEXAMETER VERSE 57 Odyssey XXII. Avrap 6 yv\kvco6rf pa/ce'oiv itoXv^tl^ '08u%o? 'AttoXXgoz;." ^H /cal eir 'Avtlvog) IQvvero iracpbv olcttoV. rj tol 6 kclXov dXticrov avatpTqaeaOai e'jicXXe, Xpvcreov a\uf>coTOV, /cal 8t| /jletcl yjzpcrlv ivco/jia, 10 ocfipa Trioi oivoio ' (fiovos 8e ol ov/c ivl Qv/jlco jjuefjuflXero ' tls k ololto fieT dvBpdcn bairv/jLovea-at [Lovvov ivl 7rXeov€0"crt, /cal el pdXa Kaprepo? et'77, oi review OdvaTov re icatcbv ical Kr\pa fieXacvav ; rbv 8' 3 08vs 8' airo elo rpdir^av were 7ro8l 7rX?5fa?, curb 8' el8ara yevev epafe* 20 clto? re /cpea r oirra (jyopvvero. rol 8' bfidh^crav fjLvr) a iv6d8e yvires e8ovTat." 30 "l, ovre tlv avOpcoircov vepuecriv KaroiricrOev eaeaOat • 40 vvv v/jllv teal irao-LP oXtQpov ireipar ec/^Trrcu." *I2? c/>aTO, tovs S 3 dpa iravra? virb ^Xcopbv Seo? €lXe* [TTdTTTTjvev 8e eKacrro? 07797 ^V 01 ofyriiv oktOpov] 'EiVpvfjLa'xos Be fjbiv 010? aji€i/3o'yu crcoz> • cWajO afJi^e? oiriaOev dp€(rad/jbevoL Kara Sfjyu-oz^, 55 oo-cra rot kxireiroTai /cat eSrjcWcu eV /jieydpOHri, Tl/Jbrjv dfji(j)U dyovTes ieiKOcrdf3oiov etcaoTOS, \a\1c6v re %pvcrov r a7ro8cocro/u,ez/, eh 6 Ke crov Ki^p taz^^^ * irplv B 3 ov tl ve\LC(To-r]rbv *;e%oXcocr#afc." Tbv B 3 dp 3 vwobpa IBcov 7rpocrecj>T| 7roXv/jLr)TL<> 'O8uo"crev? • " Eu/^yu-a^', oxiS' et fiou irarpma iravr airohoire^ 61 ooraa re vvv v\x\x earl Kal el iroOev dXX' eiridelre^ ovBe Kev cos en x e V a9 ^^ Xrj^aifii (f>6voio irplv Trdcrav \xvii]o-Tr)pa^ vir€p/3aair)V a7rcoTlcrat. HEXAMETER VERSE 59 vvv v/jllv TrapcLKtirai, ivavriov rje fid^irOaL 65 rj (frevytw, o? K€V ddvarov /cal KX\pa<; a\v£y aXXd rev oii (f>evt;€(r9cu otofjuai aiTrvv o\€0/ooz>." r/ X2? (jtaTO, T(hv S' avrov X/uto yovvara kol fyiXov r\rop. toZglv 8' 'Etvpvfjia'xp^ fjuerecfxtyvee btvrepov avrts' " &) cjyiXoi, ov yap ap£Tp7]v, ovSov diro %earTQV TO%a iraVTe? excofjuev 75 d8pOO£, el K€ fJLLV OVSOV a7T0i(TO/jL6V r/Se dvpQLCDV, tkdcofiev 8' ava dcrru, /3orj 8' wKicra yevoiro ' T(S zee rd^ outo? aW)jO zw vcrrara Tol^daacUTo" The following passages were selected for me as above stated. In these, as elsewhere, are many lines without much that we ordinarily call emphasis. Some lines, both in the Latin and Greek, have but four words all practically emphasized alike. In such cases, however, it will be found that the first ictus syllables of the four words are arranged by the ancient author according to one of the A forms. It will be observed that Homer says Pylian men ; in the same way he always says Phaeacian men, doctor man, handmaid women, and the like. Virgil likewise says Dryad girls, and Lucretius Greek man, and wild-beast animals. We thus see the road adjectives travelled to become nouns. In the lines immediately preceding the first passage, Telemachus expresses misgivings as to his ability to address an old man like Nestor with pro- priety, and Athena, in the guise of Mentor, seeks to encourage him. 60 HEXAMETER VERSE Odyssey Til. Tw 8* avre irpoaretiire 6ea yXavK&TTLS 'AGrjy?;' 25 " T^Xe/xa^', aWa puev axiro? evl (jypeal cfjct vor\v ae/cqrt yeviar6at re rpa? • 6 8' eirei/m pier lyjsia ftalve deoio. 30 l%ov 8' e? IlfXtcov dv8pu>v dyvpiv re Kal e'8/oa? eV#' apa Ni&Tcop rjaro crvv vidcriv, apL(f)l 8' eToXpoi Scut ivTWofievoc Kpea r &ttt(dv aXXa t eirzipov. ol S* a)? ol>z; fetvous l8ov, aOpooi rfkOov airavTe5, XCpcrtV t ycnrd^ovTO Kal khpudaaOai dvcoyov. 35 irpWT05 N€O"TO/0iS?75 IIe«j"io"TjoaT05 iyyvdev iXdcov a\L(f>OT€pa)v eXe %elpa Kal ibpvaev irapa 8atrl K&eaiv ev pLaXaKOio-LV, eirl yjra/JidQoiS dXiycn, Trap re Kaaiyv7]T(p %pao-v\L , x\8el Kal Trarepi £' hS)Ke 8' apa aTrXdy^voav /iot)oa5, ev 8* oivov e%eve 40 \pv(T€i(p 8enra'i' SetSiovco jjLevos 8e 7rpocn\v8a IlaXXaS' 'AQy\vair)V, Kovprjv Ato5 aiyio^oto' " Eu^eo ^w, o) £e£ye, IIo' TOvveKa col wporepcd 8coo-(0 %pv(T£iov aXticrov" 5° Iliad II. Tea*; 8', 0)5 t 6pvL0(ov 7reT€r}V(bv ZQvea 7roXXa, Xtl^wy 77 yepdvav rj kvkvcov 8o\)Xt^oSet/)0)y, 460 'Ao-to) e^ Xet|i(0^, Kauo-T/nou a^t peeQpa, HEXAMETER VERSE 6 1 evda /cal evOa ttot&vtcll dyaWo/xeva Trrepvyeo'cn, KkayyrjSbv TrpotcaOi^ovrcov, o-fxapayel 8e re Xetfjucov, S?) ra irpcora hiaarrjTriv ipfoaLVre ArpetSr)? re ava| avSpcov ical 810? 'A^tWeu?. Sing, O goddess, the wrath of the son of Peleus, Achilles, — Wrath to Achaians accursed, and fraught with sorrows un- numbered ; Many a mighty soul to darkness it hurried untimely, Many a hero's corse made prey to dogs and to vultures, While to the end great Zeus wrought out his unfaltering purpose : 5 Take up the song where first the twain were parted in quar- rel, Even Atreides, of heroes the lord, and Achilles the godlike. In the following passage I also varied from the origi- nal, except in the last line, which is in reality a form of D, being emphatic throughout, and by chance my trans- lation is the same : — Iliad VI. Tbv 8* add' * lTT7roXo^oto 7rpoo-r\v8a (f>ai8i/Jio<; uio?" " TvSeiSrj fjLeyddvfjie, tvx\ yeverjv epeeiveis ; 145 ol'rj TT€p (frvWi&v yever), tolj] Se teal avSpwv. fyvWa to, p.ev r ave^o? ^a/maSis X* 6L ' &\A a 8e 6 i v\r) TT\\e66coaa <£u€i, eapos 8 9 kiriyiyveTai tip?) ' w? avbp&v yever) r) /xev <|ni€l r) & a7ro\r\yei. Generations of men are like to the leaves of the forest ; Leaves of to-day to earth by the winds are strewn, but to- morrow New leaves start in the woodlands, they quicken, and lo, it is springtime : 10 So generations of men, one cometh, another departeth. 64 HEXAMETER VERSE The following lines, describing the designs on the shield of Achilles, were preceded by the statement that Hephaistos made the shield and wrought upon it much curious work ; therefore the word "wrought " should not be emphasized again, — the emphasis falling simply on the names of the things represented. Not observing what went before I know now that I emphasized wrought and read the line as A 3 ; and that later, noticing what preceded, I unconsciously forced the line emphasizing the second "on it" instead of "sea," turning the line into C 2, — which of course was wrong. Homer's emphasis in all these lines is exactly right. In my second line I think the reader will see that I do not emphasize the word "sun " as Homer properly does. In my third line, I emphasized the word "heavens" erroneously, the hea- vens already having been mentioned, and should have em- phasized the word which I translated "garland." The fourth line Homer manifestly intended to be read as C 1. The words "strength" and "might" joined to the genitive of a person's name are never emphasized in Homer. As I have written the line, I interpolated the word "hunter," using the expression "mighty hun- ter," which in the scriptures is applied to Ishmael, and thus emphasize four words; and I do not object to my translation, nor the line as it stands, but it emphasizes one more word than Homer does. In the remaining lines, and in most of my work, I have had a tendency to run everything in one mould, — which turned out A 3 lines, — while in all the ancient writers there is constant change from one form to another. HEXAMETER VERSE 65 Iliad XVIII. 'E^ /Jiev yaiav eVef £', iv 8' ovpavov, iv Se ddkavcrav, T\e\i6v t a/cdfjLavra cre\i\VTjv re irXrjOovaav, iv Be tcl Ttipea irdvra, rd t ovpavos £