How Do I scan Latin?

Meter

The rhythm of Latin poetry is defined by its meter.

The meter in turn is made up of feet.

The feet are made up of a series of long and short syllables.

The rhythm of English poetry is defined by its meter.

The meter in turn is made up of feet.

The feet are made up of a series of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Compare the following lines

This is the forest primeval the murmuring pines and the hemlocks (Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Arma virumque cano trojae qui primus ab oris (Aeneid byVirgil)

Both of these lines are in the same meter namely Dactylic Hexamter.

Dactylic Hexamter:- u u, - u u, - u u, - u u, - u u, - x

“-” is a long syllable and “u” is a short syllable in Latin.“-” is a stressed syllable and “u” is an unstessed syllable in English.X is either long or short (stressed or unstressed). You may count X as long.The two shorts can equal one long so you may have “- -”instead of “- u u.” “- -” Is called a spondee.

Let’s look at our Longfellow line again

This is the | Forest pri | meval the | Murmuring | Pines and the |Hemlocks

Notice how it follows the basic pattern exactly – u u, - u u, - u u, - u u, - u u, - x

Now Virgil: (bold here will indicate length not stress!)

Arma vi | rumque ca | no tro | jae qui | primus ab| or isVirgil is a little more complicated. In foot 3 and foot 4 he substituted two shorts with one long.His pattern was - u u | - u u | - - | - - | - u u | - x (Remember although x can be long or short by nature it counts as long)

Exercise 1: long if proceeds 2 consonants or x

Exercise 2: a diphthong is longae, au, ei, eu, oe, ui

Exercise 3: a vowel before another vowel of H is short

Exercise 4: a “u” following a g,q,s might not be marked

Exercise 5: the end vowel before 2 consonants is long (h does not count)

Exercise 6: The final syllable of a word which ends in a vowel or –m is elided if the next word begins with a vowel or an h

Elision and HiatusElision: IF the last syllable of a word ends in a vowel, diphthong, or vowel + M AND is followed by a word beginning with a vowel or H the syllable is dropped out (elided)

Corpore in uno; multum ille et; monstrum horrendum; causae irarum

Hiatus: Sometimes a poet chooses to ignore the elision. This is called Hiatus. It often occurs before and after vowels that are used as interjections:

O et praesidium.

Here the “O” does not elide with the “et”.

NB Except in the examples of the aforementioned type Elision is the rule; Hiatus the exception.

Ictus: Another common term

Ictus: In a foot, the first long syllable receives prominence.

The Ictus does not have to match the natural stress of the word.

Arma vi | rumque ca | no Tro| jae qui | primus ab | oris (ictus)

Arma virumque cano Trojae qui primus ab oris

(natural stress)

Steps in scanning Latin1. Find all the naturally long syllables. (In Pharr they are marked).2. Find all the syllables that are long by position. (watch for elision).3. Mark the first syllable “-” and the last foot as “- -”.4. The penultimate foot (foot 5) is almost always “– u u”. If it is “- -” it is called spondaic. Mark the 5th foot as “– u u” after you make sure it isn’t spondaic.5. Work backwards.6. Read the Latin allowed. This last step will make it easier to scan future lines. Eventually you will be able to start with the first foot.

Daedalus and Icarus Scansion Daedalus intereā Crētēn longumque perōsus

exilium, tactusque locī nātālis amōre,

clausus erat pelagō. “Terrās licet,” inquit, “et undās

obstruat, at caelum certē patet. Ībimus illāc!

Omnia possideat, nōn possidet āera Mīnōs.”

Dīxit et ignōtās animum dīmittit in artēs

nātūramque novat. Nam pōnit in ōrdine pennās

ā minimā coeptās, longam breviōre sequentī,

ut clīvō crēvisse putēs (sīc rūstica quondam