MA S TER NEGA TIVE NO. 92-80620-19 MICROFILMED 1992 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES/NEW YORK as part of the "Foundations of Western Civilization Preservation Project" Funded by the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES Reproductions may not be made without permission from Columbia University Library "i COPYRIGHT STATEMENT The copyright law of the United States - Title 17, United States Code - concerns the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material... Columbia University Library reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. A UTHOR : PRESCOTT, HENRY W TITLE: POSITION OF "DEFERRED" NOUNS PLACE: [CHICAGO] DA TE : [1912] u '.» COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT DIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARCFT Master Negative # Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record I Ill PC:s MMD: iOO 1 245 U RIYPia C3C:? GPC:? REP:? DM: Sfrs MOD: BIO:? CPI:? RP FRN: SNR: f-IC:? FSl:? COL : HYCG-PT AD:05-21-92 UD:05-21-?2 BKo/oAVb Books FUL/BIB NYCQ92-B350^^1 Record 1 of - SAVE record f ID :NYCG92- 635094 CC:9663 8Lf:ani DCF:? CP:iIu L:eng int:? PD:1912/ OR: POL: MNCiicHHC Prescott, Henry W. 260 I.Chica Professor Seymour's opinion (op. cU., p. 91) that Greek poetry was composed for the ear and Latin poetry for the eye (to which I cannot fully assent) seems to me to have prevented his appreciation of the full significance of the phenomena in Homer in their relation to later classical poetry. But the value of his careful study has not been properly recognized. * The material upon which my statements are based is collected by J. La Roche "Die Stellung des attributiven und appositiven Adjectivs bei Homer," Wiener Siudien XIX, 171 flf. I have not distinguished between adherent and appositive adjectives; "Deferred" Nouns and Adjectives 37 second verse; about 13 per cent have an initial short syllable and are excluded from the beginning; about 7 per cent appear within the verse, although they have an initial long syllable; of this 7 per cent, however, practically all are excluded from the beginning of the verse for metrical reasons which we shall presently consider. It is true, therefore, that the deferred adjective m the Homeric epic stands at the beginning of the second verse unless excluded from that position by insuperable metrical restrictions. It does not immediately follow that metrical convenience is an exclusive or dominant factor in the position of the deferred adjective. The compelHng force of metrical convenience may be roughly esti- mated by answering two questions: Do the adjectives in epic diction fall into a limited number of metrical categories ? Are words of these same metrical types limited to a definite position m the verse ? As a temporary answer to the first question I offer the fact that, out of 300 Homeric adjectives before me, four-fifths fall into the following four groups, arranged in order of frequency: (a) choriambic and molossic, (6) dactylic, (c) trochaic, (d) spondaic. Of the words of correspondmg metrical types the treatment is about as follows: (a) molossic and choriambic words are limited with few exceptions to the beginning of the verse and to position just before the masculine caesura of the third foot; (6) dactylic words appear at the begmning of the verse and in the fourth and fifth feet; (c) trochaic words stand at the beginning, or in the second foot, or immediately before the feminine caesura, or in the fifth foot, or in the sixth foot; (d) spondaic words stand at the beginning, or immediately before the masculine caesura, or in the fourth or fifth or sixth foot.^ It is clear that a very large proportion of adjectives might stand beyond the beginning of the verse, but a more careful inspection greatly reduces this possibility and brings sharply to our attention to a student of verse unity this distinction is important, but the position of the adjec- tive is independent of this consideration. The collection made by La Roche is in- complete, as might be expected, but I have preferred not to make additions, which would themselves be incomplete; such additions would change slightly the statistics without affecting the main argument. » The terms "choriambic," "molossic," " trochaic," etc., used throughout this paper, are to be understood as applying to the metrical form as it appears in the verse. My purpose is merely to compare the adjectives in general of most frequent occurrence with words of corresponding metrical types. 1 38 Henry W. Prescott a second important factor in the position. Although words of these metrical types do not seem to be greatly restricted, any individual word that is syntactically related to another word in the preceding verse is obviously impelled toward the beginning of the verse by the laws of collocation. These laws are by no means clearly understood, but I may illustrate the force of attraction in the case of the noun and adjective by the following facts derived from La Roche's material; La Roche distinguishes four categories: a) The substantive stands at the end of the first verse, the adjec- tive at the beginning of the second verse: 115 cases. b) The substantive stands before the end of the first verse, the adjective at the beginning of the second verse: 231 cases. c) The substantive stands at the end of the first verse, the adjec- tive beyond the beginning of the second verse or rarely in the third verse: 55 cases. d) The substantive stands before the end of the first verse, the adjective beyond the beginning of the second verse: 36 cases. The large number of cases imder a) and the small number under d) may serve to indicate that the attraction of the adjective to its noim eliminates to a large extent the possibility of placing dactylic, trochaic, and spondaic adjectives in the second half of the verse. In this combination of metrical form with the requirement of reasonably close collocation may be found a strong reason for the regular recurrence of deferred adjectives at or near the beginning of the verse. Before we consider the possibility of other factors, a brief account of the real and apparent exceptions will shed some light on the metrical limitations. An isolated exception to the principle in TTcpl Be p6o<; 'H^eai/oio | arjv iXOovra iXrja'€fiev €(oxov oAAcov 'A p yet CUV, (S 172) oAAa TLv^ aXXrjv yatav avdaTp€oiJuu- (i/326) drap ovS' aXkoicri kcXcvcis Xaoto-tv fJL€V€fji^v Kal ofiwefiofcu wpeacriv (E486) m Srj €y(o y' o<^cAoi/ /juucapo^ vv rev i/jifievtu vtos dvepos, ov KTcaTco-o-iv cois «rt y^pas mrfiev. (a 218) X€tAct c<^c(rradrcs- (M52) et ttoOl fi^ov tXrjo'i K^TOS, (ft 97) #cat dpeuHTLV yc ircp vpXv dvSpda-iv &fu\rj(ray (A 261) » For son e general objections to attaching significance exclusively to the emphasis in deferred adjectives cf. below, p. 48. •The facts about the deferred noun may be briefly stated as follows (cf. La Roche op. cit., 169) : There are fewer than 100 cases of deferred nouns in the two poems as against over 430 adjectives; this striking evidence of the sacredness of verse unity is 42 Henry W. Prescott "Deferred" Nouns and Adjectives 43 In general, as these examples illustrate, the emphasis is on the adjective in the preceding verse and a strong sense pause does not invariably follow the deferred noun. It is not impossible, however, that the conditions in the Homeric poems which Professor Seymour has described reveal a stage in the development of epic verse, a process of evolution, that may help to explain the persistency with which deferred units in general seek the first place in the verse. These conditions are, briefly, that the poems preserve the unity of individual verses; that if an expression escapes into the second verse it is an appositive expression; that this appositive expression contains the burden of the thought in the second verse, the rest of the verse being tautological, or amplifying, or purely decorative. So many examples of such structure appear that it is not unreasonable to suppose that they represent a natural stage in the development from a crude form of verse unity to the beginnings of a freer structure. In this transition stage the appositive adjectives, nouns in apposition, limiting genitives, adverbs, and various other separable units, whether single words or phrases, escape into the second verse, are set off by a strong pause, and the poet has not as yet the skill to do more than "pad" the rest of the second verse. In the course of further development the units that escape are not so inevitably separable; the nouns, for example, that are closely attached to adjectives, as well as those loosely attached, run over into the second verse; longer units escape; the sense pause becomes less stereotyped; the poet acquires greater skill and succeeds in develop- ing in the second verse, even in the second half, less tautological, or increased when we note that the adjectives in the preceding verse are in only about twenty cases closely adherent; in the main the adjectives in the preceding verse are easily separable from their nouns (iras and dirai, 35 cases; iroXi/j, 17 cases; AXXoy, 16 cases; SafuiaL, 3 cases; a^6s, 1). As regards the position of the deferred nouns, out of ninety-four examples seventy-five stand first in the verse; eleven have an initial short syllable; only eight have an initial long syllable and escape beyond the beginning of the verse; the eight apparent exceptions, all save one, correspond to the types of exceptions which we have discussed under the deferred adjective: in x 336 a trochaic noun (by elision) escapes to the fifth foot; otherwise we have simply the sequence of dactylic word and choriambic word (S 19), of spondaic word and molossic word (E 710, Z 412, T 84, 234), of spondaic word and choriambic word (H 199) ; in one case we seem to have a choriambic word followed by a spondaic word contrary to the favored sequence as postulated above (p. 39) ; but in this case the deferred noun is by nature trochaic and so could not precede the choriambic word, which begins with a vowel (S 34). >. amplifying, or decorative thought. The Homeric poems are not necessarily in any very early stage of verse development, but as our earliest document they show better than any other poems the traces of earlier developments. If we may safely posit a somewhat long stage of early development in which deferred adjectives, limiting genitives, adverbs, and the like, stood at the beginning of the verse set off by a strong sense pause, this long early stage would very likely leave its mark in future development toward freer structure. The early stage leads to a stereotyping of deferred words at the beginning of the second verse, and even after the consciousness of verse unity is completely lost, a sort of convention has become established which impels deferred adjectives and nouns and other units to the beginning of the verse. This theory, at any rate, is m accord with the facts brought out in this paper. Professor Seymour shows that in later Greek epic the burden of the thought is no longer limited to the first half of the verse, that verse unity is no longer sacred; it might be added that the units which escape into the second verse are no longer merely appositive. But in spite of this develop- ment of enjamhement the deferred nouns and adjectives (and other units which I cannot at present discuss) with great regularity assert themselves at the beginning of the second verse. Much as metrical convenience, natural collocation, and artistic effects may contribute to this position, there is clear evidence in trochaic and spondaic adjec- tives in Homer of some other constraining force; this seems to me to be convention, and the convention may possibly be an outgrowth from early conditions which are illustrated in many couplets of the Homeric poems. II The Hesiodic epics, in which Professor Seymour detected a diminu- tion of the verses carrying the burden of thought in the first half, in the position of deferred nouns and adjectives show no variation from Homeric usage. The deferred noun is as yet undeveloped. The Hellenistic epic has made a distinct advance. The Argonautica shows very much less regard for verse unity. The examples of deferred nouns in my collection slightly outnumber the deferred adjectives, and the deferred adjectives are not so invariably apposi- tive as in Homer. The total of deferred nouns and adjectives is :'» 44 Henry W. Prescott appreciably greater than in Homer: ApoUonius' 5,800 verses contain over 350 cases, while the two long Homeric epics contain slightly more than 530. In spite of a few significant differences in details, the greater number of cases in ApoUonius gives the appearance of even more regularity in the position of the deferred words. Only 8 per cent of the examples have an initial long syllable and are deferred beyond the beginning of the verse; these apparent exceptions fall under the Homeric categories: words of the type o^ela (ii. 405; iii. 149, 1204; iv. 894, 1662, 1678) occur more frequently than in Homer; similarly ^eivrjiov (iv. 1555) is impossible at the beginning of the verse; a dactylic word escapes but with special artistic effects (iv. 1144); the majority of the cases involve molossic or choriambic words; (o) preceded by a dactylic word or unit (i. 606, 1256; ii. 439; iii. 1205; iv. 188, 1034, 1403, 1425, 1614); (6) preceded by a spondaic word (iv. 378); to these should be added and - ^ , preceded by a dactylic or spondaic combination (iv. 713, 1721). But the most significant group of exceptions is composed of trochaic and spondaic words ^ escaping beyond the beginning of the verse (i. 1071, 1239; ii. 920; iii. 155, 208, 1067; iv. 493); these are relatively few in number, but it will be remembered that it is mamly this group of words the treatment of which in Homer led us to suspect an established convention; only one case occurred in the earlier epic. Agam it will be noted that in most of these few excep- tions the deferred word is found before the main caesura. In Quintus of Smyrna the procedure is as in ApoUonius; in the last four books of the Posthomerica the exceptions are few and of the Hellenistic types (xiii. 102, 424, 452; xiv. 487, 491). In Hellenistic hexameter outside of the epic the principle seems to be observed, although the different literary types naturally vary in the extent to which they use the deferred nouns and adjectives. In the Hymns » ApoUonius does not seem to favor so decidedly as Homer the sequences spondee- choriamb and spondee-molossus. In general we should expect the choice between these optional sequences to be determined in each case by the particular words involved: • the poet would arrange them largely with reference to the initial and final syllables, with a view to avoiding illegitimate hiatus and to obtaining long final syllables by position. In the three cases involving these combinations the sequence in iii. 1067, iv. 493 is unavoidable, but the sequence in iv. 378 seems to be deliberate choice; accordingly the Homeric preference is observed so far as our examples are concerned. "Deferred" Nouns and Adjectives 45 of Callimachus the exceptions are of the usual sort (iii. 12, 219, 243, 253; iv. 54); but in iv. 282 a trochaic noun escapes to the second foot. In Theocritus ii. 103 a trochaic noun stands m the third foot but apparently somewhat forced by the environing conditions; in xxii. 113 another trochaic noun appears beyond the beginning, but perhaps to brmg nearer together contrasted adjectives; in xxv. 7 the real unit is ov irdaai and not iraaat. Any such exceptions, even if real, are too few to mar the general effect. The Dionysiaca of Nonnus seems to me to stand on a very different footing; although it is in general true that the deferred nouns and adjectives when they occur conform to the principle, the more important fact is that this epic is totally unlike Homer, or ApoUonius, or Quintus of Smyrna in respect to the general effect. One may read page after page of the Dionysiaca without being at all conscious of any constant recurrence of deferred nouns and adjectives (or even other deferred units) at the beginning of the verse; this is quite impossible in earlier epic. Although I have not made any careful collection of material it seems to me that in general Nonnus follows fundamentally different methods; some of these Professor Seymour has roughly indicated at the end of his article; the neglect of pauses within the verse is very likely connected with the strikingly small number of deferred units at the beginning of the verse; in the case of adjectives and nouns it is also true that the content of Nonnus' diction is essentially different from Homeric diction; so for example I think I detect a greater number of adjectives with short initial syllables; there are consequently relatively few nouns and adjectives in the prominent position, and the monotonous effect of earlier epic disappears. Ill So far as we may safely argue from the fragments, the Annates of Ennius continues the characteristic features of the Hellenistic epic: the deferred noun is so frequent that ApoUonius rather than the Homeric epic indicates the stage of verse development which Ennius has attained in this particular detail. Of the fifteen examples^ of nouns and adjectives there are only two that need special comment — » Vss. 31, 66, 80, 81, 92, 145 (predicate adj.), 165, 184, 191, 237. 247, 304, 333, 369, 615 (Vahlen*); two-thirds of these are nouns. iv Ill 46 Henry W. Prescott in 184: proletarius publicitus scutisque feroque | ornatur ferrOy a spondaic noun escapes beyond the beginning; it will be noticed, however, that the reverse order is impossible except with hiatus, and also that feroque \ ferro is hardly a pleasing juxtaposition; it is true that the sequence of molossic word and spondaic word is not the preferred Homeric sequence, but in this respect the Latin hexameter may differ from the Greek and in this particular case a different arrangement is impossible. The second example is somewhat uncer- tain, but if the text is correct a molossic adjective escapes, resulting in the combination of a spondaic word and a molossic word at the beginning as in the ten Homeric cases discussed above (p. 39): insignita fere tum milia militum octo | duxit deledos bellum tolerare potentes (333). In this case the reverse order is metrically possible; and although we may dismiss the exception as being in accord with the favored Homeric sequence, we must note also that it is not in accord with the practice of Vergil, who as we shall see prefers, when the option is open to him, to place the spondaic word after the molossic or choriambic word at the beginning of the verse. In general, however, there is no reason for believing that the epic of Ennius would make a different impression from that of Apollonius in respect to deferred noims and adjectives. On the other hand the didactic poem of Lucretius, if I may draw conclusions from the first book, does make a totally different impres- sion. Although the deferred noim and adjective stand with reason- able frequency at the beginning when metrically adapted to that position, there is a strikingly large number of examples of adjective^ and nouns escaping beyond the beginning, in spite of their being available for the mitial position; the result is that one reads the first book of Lucretius without any consciousness of the monotonous regularity of Homeric procedure. The following examples illustrate the conspicuous differences: 8: . . . . tibi suavis daedala tellus | summittit ^ores, tibi rident aequora ponti. 70: ... . sed eo magis acrem \ inritat animi virtutenij effringere ut arta \ naturae primus portanun claustra cupiret. 286: . . . . ita magno turbidus imbri I molibus incurrit validis cum viribus amnis: 408: talibus in rebus poteris caecasque latebras \ insinuare omnis et verum protrahere inde. 416: quam tibi de quavis una re versibus omnis \ argumentorum sit 4 *# 4 it' '» 1 "Deferred" Nouns and Adjectives 47 copia missa per auris. 419: omnis ut est igitur per se natura dwafews Iconstitit in rebus; 922: .... sed a^cri \ percussit thyrso laudis spes magna meum cor. 931: primum quod magnis doceo de rebus et artis \ religionum animum nodis exsolvere pergo. 966: . ... in omnis \ tantundem partis infinitum omne relinquit. 969: . . . . siquis procurrat ad oras \ ultimus extremas iaciatque volatile telum, 996 : at nunc nimirum requies data principiorum | corporibus nullastj 1042: nee plagae possunt extrinsecus undique summam \ conservare omnem quaecumque est conciliata. It is true that some of these conform to the exceptional cases in Homer; 419 illustrates the necessary sequence of a dactylic word and a molossic word (for in rebus is a imit); similarly 969; it is true also that in several cases the first two words could not be reversed (966, 1042) ; but the striking fact remains that spondaic and trochaic words escape with surprising frequency as compared with the practice of Homer and even of Apollonius; furthermore it is particularly noteworthy that there are four cases (8, 408, 922, 996) in which a spondaic noun or adjective stands second following a choriambic or molossic word, although the reverse order in each case is metrically possible; this is in direct opposition to Homeric practice, but in accord with the usage of Vergil. Apart from this feature, which we must regard as peculiar to the Latin hexameter, the different impression created by Lucre- tius' poem is perhaps in a measure due to the diction of the philosophical epic; the presence, for example, of argumentorum in 416 makes an initial position for the dactylic word copia less available. The exceptions, as the examples show, usually bring the deferred word before the main caesura. In Catullus' epyllium (Ixiv) we return to Hellenistic technique. Not only is the usage of Greek epic strictly followed, but the monotony is almost intensified by the small number of words that begin with a short initial syllable and by the rather regular recurrence of a sense pause^ after the deferred noun or adjective when it stands in the first place. Once the deferred noun escapes to the end of the verse (17) balancing the adjective at the end of the preceding verse; this * The reader need hardly be cautioned against regarding commas as essential indications of sense pauses; modern punctuation fails to represent fully the pauses in recitation. C^ ...» i 48 Henry W. Prescott is in the style of Apollonius, and cultivated by Vergil. A trochaic noun escapes (281) hut with obvious advantage to the style: quos Thessala magnis | montibus ora creat, . . . .^ On the usage of Vergil in the Aeneidy Norden (Aeneis Buck VI, p. 390) has already remarked that the deferred adjective is mfre- quent, the deferred noun very common; the explanation of this departure from both Homeric and Hellenistic usage would probably form a chapter in the history of verse unity, with which we are not at present immediately concerned. Norden adds that the deferred adjective occupies a significant position at the beginning of the second verse, and this position he finds justified by the meanings of the adjectives thus deferred. Such adjectives add "einen besonders wesentlichen Begriflf,'' most frequently they express "ein Zahlen-, Grossen-, oder Raumverhaltnis," or they mark "eine besonders hervorstechende Eigenschaft des Substantivs"; and he notes as char- acteristic those cases in which the deferred adjective is contrasted, or explained, or amplified in the rest of the second verse. True as this may be from a descriptive standpoint, its value as an aid to the appreciation of Vergil's technique is very much impaired when we recall that all adjectives are either decorative or forceful, that a poet of Vergil's rank will employ forceful rather than decorative adjectives, and that consequently few adjectives will indicate anything short of " eine besonders hervorstechende Eigenschaft." The validity of Norden's description is further weakened by his failure to see that deferred verbs, limiting genitives, appositives, and nouns stand in the same prominent position, but cannot with any uniformity fall into such descriptive categories. One cannot understand Vergil's tech- nique by treatmg deferred adjectives apart from such examples of other deferred units as the following: Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit | litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto (i. 2), progeniem sed enim Troiano a sanguine duci | audierat, Tyrias olim quae verteret arces (i. 19). These deferred units are followed i The examples of the observance of the principle are: 236, 33, 44, 83, 87, 88, 92, 109 (predicative), 140, 170, 176, 206, 220, 289, 3l9, 383. In 279 princeps .... I ... . Chiron ..... and in 392, .... Delphi .... | ... . laeti .... the adjectives are so distinctly adverbial that we need not consider them as exceptions; if they are exceptions they simply illustrate the favorite Latin sequence of molossic (or choriambic) word and spondaic word at the beginning of the hexameter. J *. l-J "Deferred" Nouns and Adjectives 49 by a sense pause as are the majority of deferred adjectives; but neither litora nor audierat has in my opinion any appreciable emphasis; a great number of other deferred imits are without empha- sis though first in the verse; the only description of historical value is one that covers features common to all deferred units; to such a description I hope to attain at the end of this study. To return to our special pursuit of deferred adjectives and nouns in Vergil : except for the predominance of deferred nouns the usage of Vergil is essentially Hellenistic with a few peculiarities and slight extensions of Hellenistic usage due to the differences in the Latin hexameter and in Vergilian diction. The first two books of the Aeneid yield these facts of importance to our study: Nouns Adjectives Long Initial Syllable and First in Verse 71 26 97 Long Initial Syllable, but Not First 18 3 21 Short Initial Syllable 28 S 33 The twenty-one exceptions to the general practice represent a somewhat larger proportion than we have hitherto met in the heroic epic; the increase is largely due to a slightly greater freedom in the treatment of trochaic and spondaic words, but mainly a mere exten- sion of Apollonius' practice, and not so general as in Lucretius' first book: .... quibus omms ab alto | frangitur mque sinus scindit sese unda reductos (i. 160), . . . . et pinea furtim | laxat claustra Sinon (ii. 258), .... tactuque innoxia mollis | lambere ftrnnma comas (ii. 683), .... stupet insdus alto | accipiens sonitum saxi de vertice pO'^tor (ii. 307), .... tum volgus et omnem | miscet agens telis nemora inter frondea turham (i. 190) ; this balancing of the ends of verses is occasionally indulged: . . . . aut vibi fimo \ argentum Pariusve lapis circumdatur auro (i. 592) ; other spondaic or trochaic nouns near or at the end of the verse occur in i. 756; ii. 782. The regular sequence of dactylic word and molossic word occasions an apparent exception in i. 741. A prepositional phrase brings the noun to the second place in ii. 751. The most important group of apparent exceptions, however, m- volves the combination of molossic or choriambic words and spondaic 50 Henry W. Prescott words at the beginning of the verse. The Homeric practice, as we have seen, is to place the spondaic word first; already in Lucretius we have noted the opposite arrangement. This favored sequence in the Latin hexameter may be illustrated from the first book of the Aeneid: quite apart from nouns and adjectives the following verses show this combination at the beginning of the verse: 2, 53, 73, 104, 118, 127, 145, 178, 181, 206, 217, 239, 269, 282, 286, 294, 299, 311, 333, 340, 355, 368, 380, 388, 395, 406, 422, 432, 435, 447, 471, 481, 551, 571, 585, 590, 634, 686, 693, 713, 724, 747, 749, 754; the list might be legitimately increased by including cases that involve elision. Now in all these cases the spondaic word stands second ; to be sure in many verses meter or sense or natural collocation makes a different order impossible; on the other hand in a fair majority of cases the reverse order is quite feasible. Over against this evidence showing a predilection for the sequence molossus-spondee or choriamb- spondee stand isolated examples of the opposite arrangement which the Homeric epic favors; e.g., 640, 734, in both of which cases the reverse order is impossible; most illuminating is the exceptional arrangement in 423; here the exception is clearly due to a desire to avoid monotony; for the preceding verse illustrates the normal sequence, and, without the exceptional arrangement in 423, four successive verses would begin with molossic words: miratur molem Aeneas, magalia quondam, miratur porias strepitumque et strata viarum. 423 instant ardentes Tjrii : pars ducere muros molirique arcem et manibus subvolvere saxa. If the Latin hexameter so clearly prefers the spondaic word after rather than before the molossic or choriambic word at the beginning of the verse, the following examples in which a spondaic noun stands second in the verse simply illustrate the force of this preference: i. 395, 432, 622; ii. 173, 286, 461, 586; in some of these cases the opposite arrangement is impossible because of the hiatus or short final syllables that would result from the reversal of the order. Possibly i. 294 may be added to the list: in this verse a spondaic noun escapes to the third place.^ Such exceptional examples bring the deferred word usually before the caesural pause. » In ii. 98: hinc spargere voces | in volgum ambiguaa et quaerere conscius arma, we have a choriambic adjective following a spondaic unit (by elision) ; if this seems to " Deferred '* Nouns and Adjectives 51 IV It is desirable to test certain conclusions toward which our study of the epic tends by considering a different type of poetry in which the metrical structure is quite unlike that of the epic hexameter. For this purpose I have chosen the trimeters of Sophocles' Antigone and the iambic and trochaic measures of ordinary dialogue in Plautus* comedies. In neither case can I venture upon any full account of the deferred adjectives or nouns, or consider at length the idiosyn- crasies of the metrical structure. The questions I wish to answer are: Do the deferred nouns and adjectives stand at the beginning of the verse whenever they are metrically available for that position ? If so, what part do metrical convenience and convention as well as stylistic and rhythmical effects play in this initial position of these deferred units ? The trimeter of tragedy quite regularly ends the sentence at the caesura of the second verse; verse unity is not conspicuous; the deferred nouns in the Antigone far exceed the adjectives (forty-six nouns, eighteen adjectives). Of the sixty-four examples, forty-nine stand at the beginning of the second verse, fifteen beyond the begin- ning. The general impression, therefore, is much the same as in epic verse. As for the stylistic effects of adjectives in the initial position. I might repeat Norden's description of Vergilian practice (cf. 299, 642, 659, 660, 662, 1047) but I should find great difiiculty in detect- ing any prominence in the thought in the majority of deferred nouns (cf. 239, 247, 410, 424, 425, 435). So far as rhythmical effects are concerned the trimeter like the hexameter with great regularity has a sense pause either immediately after the deferred noun or adjective, or in the third foot beyond the deferred word. Without any doubt the consequent variety of rhythmical effects produced by the varying position of the sense pause is an important element in ancient as in modern verse; nor do I doubt that the development of deferred units is closely connected with a sense pause near the beginning of the second verse; but so long as the optional pause at the caesura beyond the noun or adjective is equally favored, the sense contradict the preferred sequence established above, there is a slight justification both for the exceptional sequence and for the position of the adjective in the second place in the fact that the preceding verse begins with a choriambic word ; amhiguas at the beginning therefore, quite apart from other considerations, would occasion undesirable monotony. 52 Henby W. Prescott pause immediately after the noun or adjective is only one of many factors involved in the prominent position of deferred adjectives and nouns. A few significant facts from a metrical standpoint are these: spondaic words in general stand in various parts of the verse, but, of twenty-two spondaic nouns and adjectives deferred to the second verse, twenty stand first in the verse; words of the measurement - - - are with great frequency placed in various positions beyond the beginning of the verse, but of eight deferred adjectives and nouns of this measurement all stand first in the verse (46, 414, 475, 659, 660, 1073, 1086, 1213); iambic words are not greatly restricted but the sixth foot is so natural a habitat that deferred nouns and adjectives of iambic form are not so consistently at the beginning: of fifteen cases, ten stand first, one is in the second foot, four are in the sixth foot. It is clear that the initial position in so large a majority of cases cannot be attributed merely to metrical convenience. In discussing the usage of Latin comedy we are confronted with insuperable difiaculties : without begging at all the question at issue we may say that our study of the epic and of Sophocles' tragedy has led us to the conclusion that deferred nouns and adjectives are with surprising uniformity placed at the begmning of the second verse; most of the departures from this practice we have found to be due to metrical constramt. If, however, influenced by these conclusions, we seek in metrical constraint explanations of exceptions in the verse of comedy, we find ourselves baffled both by the complex nature of the Latin verse and by the moot questions of Plautine meter; we cannot, for example, handle properly the material before us without knowing the validity of Meyer's law, or the exact limitations of the theory that accent and ictus coincide. Under the circumstances, we must be content with such evidence as is of immediate value to our study and at the same time unaffected by contemporary discussions of Plautme meter; we may not hope for completeness or definitive conclusions.^ In an earlier study of deferred nouns and adjectives from the standpoint of verse unity I divided the adjectives into groups for the » The material in Plautus may be found either in my previous article on the relation of verse to thought (Univ. of Cal. PuU.: Class. Phil. I, 205-62). or in Wiebe De versus aententiaeque condnnitate apud veteres poetas Romanos (Gottingen, 1909). "Deferred" Nouns and Adjectives 53 purposes of that study. This division into ordinary attributives, possessive adjectives, pronominal adjectives, and numerals may be less valid for our present investigation, but I follow it for con- venience. The general impression made by Plautus as regards the initial position of deferred nouns and adjectives may be indicated by the statistics for those deferred nouns and adjectives in which the adjective involved in the combination is an ordinary attributive; in this particular group of cases the deferred nouns and adjectives occupy the first place in the second verse in two-thirds of the examples. In this group the deferred adjectives in the initial position are very frequently emphatic and are frequently followed by a strong sense pause (e.g., Rud. 422, 1159; Capt. 610; Pers. 100; Amph. 1109); Homeric technique is exactly paralleled in spes mihi est vos inventur- um fratres germanos duos | geminoSj una matre natos et patre uno uno die (Men, 1102), in which the rest of the second verse elaborates the deferred adjective; as usual the adjective in this initial position is generally without much straining interpreted as conveying emphasis; the sense pause is not so regular (e.g., Trin. 790; Amph, 1064; Cure, 431; As, 764; M,G, 764) in the cases of nouns and adjectives, but it may be granted that some degree of pause is quite conceivable in very many of the examples. That the deferred nouns, however, in this initial position are regularly emphatic is quite inconceivable (e.g., Ps, 1163; Amph, 981; Capt. 160; Mere, 263; M,G, 451; Ps, 961; Amph. 1064; Terence Ad, 275). Although the exceptions, in which the deferred adjective or noun is postponed beyond the beginning of the verse, are larger than usual in number, it appears that the difference is in some degree due to the character of the verse and the metrical content of the words. In the main it is true that the cases in which the deferred word is beyond the beginning are metrically impossible at the beginning. So, for example, it is clear that an iambic verse may not begin with a cretic sequence of syllables; a small number of exceptions fall under this head (Cist, 159; Poen, 616, 1048, 1105; Pers, 118). A dactylic word in iambic verse becoming cretic by position is similarly postponed (Pers, 106), but this particular example is hardly to be explained metrically; rather adponi frigidam constitutes one idea balancing calefieri in the preceding verse. An iambic verse may not begin 54 Henry W. Prescott with a trochaic word ending with an unelided vowel (Merc. 97). Trochaic verses may not begin with an iambic sequence (Trin, 1082, M.G. 442). Certain long words have a fixed habitat at the end of the verse (Poen, 90; Terence Hec. 86). Very striking effects of style justify a few departures from the prmciple: the play on lepidus in Ps. 27-28 perhaps accounts for the postponement of conscriptis (contrast Ps. 999) ; the postponement of pudicam m M.G. 508 results in a balance of the ends of the verse and effective juxta- position in the middle (cf. Univ. of Cal. Publ: Class. Phil. I, 222); the reiteration of unicus in effective positions in the verses in Cas. 262-64 justifies its postponement in 263; the balancing of the ends of the verse with duo ... , tertio may justify the postponement of res m Most. 776 (cf. op. dt. I, 236), and in this case duo itself is a deferred adjective; the artificial structure of Trin. 493-94 is enhanced by the postponement of censu (cf. op. cU. I, 228) ; the juxtaposition of civem and conservam is very effective in Terence Eun. 858. In general, therefore, the exceptions appear to be due to metrical constraint or to effective stylistic features.^ The combinations of noun and adjective in which the adjective is pronominal may possibly be somewhat different from those in which ordmary attributives are involved (cf. op. dt. I, 214-15); there is, however, a considerable degree of uniformity in the position of the deferred noun or adjective in such combinations. As I showed in my previous study {op. dt. I, 245), "in all cases of separation (by the verse end) m which mens, tuos, or mos follows a substantive, .... the possessive stands at the beginning of the second verse.'' (For list of cases cf. op. dt. I, 245, n. 82; exceptions in Trin. 141; « To a few more exceptions I refer for the sake of completeness, without attempting any convincing explanation: I suspect that the position of opportunitate in Ep. 203 IS largely determined by metrical considerations and the symmetrical scheme of sound effects (cf. op.cit. I, 237); a comparison with Merc. 964 seems to support this view The combination of an adverb with an adjective seems to me to make a single unit of thought in such phrases as pariter moratum (AuL 22) and celeriler calidia (Ep. 142) Pathetic afterthoughts are rather consistently postponed beyond the beginning in the cases of misen, miserae, solae (Capt. 83; Merc. 818; Rud. 370, 75, 163) \ few cases are left: gemina (M.G. 975). honorem (Aul. 17). opere (Cas. 993. Terence Eun. 533 with which contrast Most. 421), puen (Poen. 989), transennae (Rud. 1236); it would not be difficult to offer suggestions on these cases, but I am not interested in setting up a rule that is not liable to exceptions. It may be noted that many of the excep- tions m this note and in the discussion above bring the deferred adjective or noun before the caesura! pause. "Deferred" Nouns and Adjectives 55 Terence And. 80). Such regularity may seem to strengthen my contention that deferred adjectives are normally in the initial position; but I suspect that the regularity is almost too precise, and that other factors beside the principle which I am establishing are at work in the case of the deferred possessive. It should be noted that such possessives are almost never emphatic and almost never in close relation to any sense pause. In this same combination, when the possessive is in the first verse and the noun is deferred, the deferred noun is only in a fair majority of cases in the initial position (As. 113, 786; Bacch. 778; Cist. 185, 548, 773; Men. 421, 481, 519; M.G. 636, 800; Rud. 1393; Trin. 1148; True. 827; beyond the beginning in As. 17; Aul. 734; Bacch. 407, 843; Ep. 280; Men. 741; M.G. 564; St. 417; True. 356). When noster is deferred it is beyond the beginning (Bacch. 173; Ep. 598; True. 406) except in As. 738; the deferred noim with noster is beyond the beginning in Bacch. 238; a deferred voster is in the initial position in Terence Haut. 712. In combinations involving the demonstratives the usage is somewhat variable: with hie the deferred noun is in the initial position in Aul. 295; but postponed in Trin. 21 ; True. 662; a deferred hie stands first in Ps. 59; Rud. 1379; but postponed in Poen. 1148; with iste the deferred noun stands first in M.G. 702; Poen. 266; a deferred iste stands first in Capt. 113, but postponed in Men. 385; with ille the deferred noun stands in the initial position in As. 361; Aul. 611, and to these I think may be added cases in which a pos- sessive stands before the noun at the beginning forming a single unit with the noun (Ep. 487; Amph. 859; M.G. 132, 243); a deferred ille stands first in Cure. 346; Ep. 268; St. 553; with is a deferred noun is postponed in M.G. 112; with the indefinite quis a deferred noun is postponed in M.G. 608, and in Capt. 712 but here preceded only by a possessive; with the interrogative adjective a deferred noun is in the initial position in M.G. 1345; Rud. 333. With perfect regularity the deferred noun after the relative adjective qui stands in the initial position (M.G. 74, 952; Pers. 115; Poen. 450; Ps. 768; Rud. 18, 1066) and in several of these cases there is a certain amount of emphasis and a strong sense pause. All these examples would bear a more careful examination but I am quite content to admit a considerable amount of irregularity in 56 Henry W. Prescott j i 3 many cases involving pronominal adjectives; there is as much uni- formity as I should expect in these words. Similarly in the cases of numerals and omnes there is slight variation: the deferred numeral is in the initial position in Ep, 237; Most 776; Rud. 642; St. 540; Trin, 775; a deferred omnes is first in Merc. 94; Poen. 500; but post- poned in Amph. 1133; Cayt. 673 aj). Nonius; Cas. 522; the deferred noun with omnes is first in Ep. 502, 523.^ V In order to present clearly some of the factors involved in the position of these deferred words I have treated the subject more mechanically than a feature of poetic art should be treated. There is no occasion for a hard and fast rule establishing deferred nouns and adjectives (and some other deferred units) in the initial position. It is apparent, however, that this position is sufficiently regular to make a recognition of the fact essential to our appreciation of many types of classical verse, and to make an explanation of the phenome- non desirable. The important facts are that in the main the deferred words in the initial position are metrically available for other posi- tions, and the deferred words beyond the beginning of the verse are usually unavailable for the initial position. Neither metrical con- ditions nor the requirements of collocation nor features of style serve, individually or in combination, to account fully for the regu- larity of poetic usage: for although normal collocation would often bring them near the begmning, it does not require the initial position; and emphasis, though apparent or conceivable in deferred adjectives in the initial position, is not discoverable usually in deferred nouns. These conditions point to a certain degree of conventionality in the initial position of deferred nouns and adjectives. This convention- ality, the effect of which is much stronger in the earlier than in the later stages of verse development, seems to me to be explained by con- ditions in Homeric verse which Professor Seymour discussed in their relation to the caesural pause. Here in the earliest classical verse we find a large number of examples of nouns and adjectives isolated at the beginning of the second verse; inasmuch as these are followed very frequently by a sense pause, and the balance of the verse is » For examples of the deferred noun and adjective in Menander cf. Wiebe op. cit. 72-75. In Aristophanes the infrequency of the deferred noun and adjective is striking Fl "Deferred^' Nouns and Adjectives 57 more or less otiose, it is at least conceivable that they illustrate a development from absolute verse unity to enjambement in an ele- mentary stage. In this stage detachable units escaped to the beginning of the second verse, and the rest of the verse was "padded"; appositive adjectives were easily separable; so too, appositive nouns. As verse technique develops, adherent nouns and adjectives escape freely, but the initial position has become somewhat stereotyped. Undoubtedly the initial position for such units was particularly favored because a sense pause so often naturally fell after the deferred unit and enabled the poet to pro- duce a great variety of ryhthmical effects near the beginning of the verse. But we find not infrequently that the sense pause falls beyond the deferred noun or adjective; in such cases the noun or adjective may be said to be only a part of a larger deferred unit, but still in most cases it asserts i.'self in the initial position; only on occasion and usually under metrical constraint does it then escape to a position beyond the beginning and usually before the caesural pause. The content of a poet's diction, idiosyncrasies of meter and of style, various conflicting factors may interfere with the general tendency to place deferred nouns and adjectives in the initial position. The heroic epic is more monotonously regular than the didactic epic of Lucretius. The complex structure of the verse of Latin com- edy, the exuberant person ility of Plautus, will conform less readily than the simpler tragic verse in the hands of a well-balanced artist like Sophocles. Not infrequently the skilful poet will enhance the effect of the initial position by deferring adjectives, and less frequently nouns, that are prominent in the thought, but it is in my opinion a mistake to demand that these deferred units at the beginning of the verse should be uniformly emphatic. There is much great 3r uniformity in the appearance of a sense pause, and in consequent variation of rhythm, than in emphasis. In general, as the result of the reconciliation of many different factors — ^metrical conditions, natural collocation, rhythmical and stylistic effects, the historical development of classical verse — the deferred nouns and adjectives in the vast majority of cases stand first in the verse if they are metrically available. In a very small minority I ''W Henry W. Prescott of cases these deferred words, though available for the initial position, escape to a position before the main caesura, and then usually under the metrical constraint of their environment. Outside of these two groups appear an almost negligible number of deferred words postponed even beyond the caesural pause, and a larger number of deferred words, variously disposed, which are not metrically available for the initial position.* The University of Chicago » I have frequently referred to other deferred units than the noun and adjective which seem to be treated in the same fashion: the reader may easily note them in the texts of epic and dramatic poetry. The deferred adverb, the deferred verb, the noun as subject or object, are noteworthy in the Homeric epic. The uniformity with which the deferred genitive in Plautus appears at the beginning of the verse may be seen by a glance at Wiebe op. cit. 9 ff. For deferred nouns in apposition cf. Asmus De appoai- tionis apud Plautum et Terentium collocatione (Halle, 1891). It is desirable that all such deferred units of thought, including the longer phrases, should be investigated, and other types of poetry than the epic and drama; I hav3 no doubt that a more com- prehensive study would lead to corrections in the provisional conclusions which I have drawn in this limited investigation. H