scansion and meter in Roman poetry

1. Poetry is Rhythmic sound Married to Meaning

2. Poetry should be read outloud And The sound should be naturally rhythmic

3. Meter is the measure Or Rhythm of poetry.

4. A syllable has quantity Quantity Is the length of time that it takes to pronounce a syllable.

5. Quantity Is the basis of meter in Latin poetry. In poetry, the regular stress accent of words is subordinated to the metrical rhythm set up by thepatterns of long and short syllables.

6. A Line of poetry is a sequence of Metrical feet

7. Each foot is a series of two, three, or four syllables that combine to form a metrical building block

8. Dactyl= ¯ ˘ ˘ long short short ¯˘˘ Mœnia IE

9. Spondee= ¯ ¯ long long ¯ ¯ opto IE

10. Iamb ˘ ¯ short long ˘ ¯ cano IE

11. Trochee ¯ ˘ long short ¯ ˘ esse IE

12. Choriamb ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ long short short long ¯ ˘ ˘¯ progenies IE

13. How do you know if a syllable is long ¯ or short ˘? The Vowel!

14. A syllable is long if it contains a vowel that is long by nature. IE-the ablative singular Puellā

15. Dipthongs ARE Long!!!!

16. What are dipthongs? Two vowels that are pronounced as one! IE- AE, AU, EI, EU, and OE

17. Vowels Can be long by Position!

18. A vowel followed by 2 consonants is long by position ¯ IE Libellum

19. Exceptions: (They prove the rule-and make this fun) X=cs so it acts like two consonants

20. The muta cum liquida rule: A mute consonant followed by a liquid consonant may or may not make a vowel long by position

21. Mute consonants: b, c, g, p and t Liquid consonants: l, m, n, and r (This rule makes scanning poetry fun!)

22. More fun! Elision A word that ends in a vowel elides with the next word if it begins with a vowel.

23. IE ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ Certe ego te in

24. A final m or an initial h is weak enough to be elided IE Solum hoc

25. Hendecasyllabic Eleven syllables Five Feet

26. The first foot may be: 1. An iamb (short long) OR 2. A spondee (long long) OR 3. A trochee (long short)

27. The second foot is: A dactyl (long short short) The third and fourth feet are: Trochees (long short)

28. The fifth foot may be: 1. A spondee (long long) OR 2. A trochee (long short)

29. Cuīdŏ/nōlĕpĭ/dūmnŏ/vūmlĭ/bēllūm

31. Finis