Latin Meter:

an introduction

Dactyllic Hexameter
 English Poetry:
Poe’s “The Raven”—Trochaic Octameter
/ x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x
Once up- on a mid- night drear- y, while I pon- dered weak and wear- y

/ x / x x / x / x x / x / x / x /
O- ver man- y a quaint and cur- i- ous vol- ume of for- got- ten lore,

/ x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x
While I nod- ded, near- ly nap- ping, sud- den- ly there came a tap- ping,

/ x / x / x / x / x / x / x /
As of some- one gent- ly rap- ping, rap- ping at my cham- ber door.

/ x / x / x / x / x / x / x /
“’Tis some vis- i- tor,” I mut- tered, “tap- ping at my cham- ber door;

/ x / x / x /
On- ly this, and noth- ing more.”
 Scansion
n  Scansion: from the Latin scandere, “to move upward by
steps.” Scansion is the science of scanning, of dividing a
line of poetry into its constituent parts.
n  To scan a line of poetry is to follow the rules of scansion
by dividing the line into the appropriate number of feet,
and indicating the quantity of the syllables within each
foot.
n  A line of dactylic hexameter is properly scanned when
divided into six feet, with each foot labelled a dactyl or a
spondee.
Metrical Symbols: long: – short: u
syllaba anceps: u (may be long or short)
Basic Feet: dactyl: –uu
spondee: – –

Dactylic Hexameter:
Each line has six feet, of which the first five may be either dactyls or spondees,
though the fifth is nearly always a dactyl (– u u),
and the sixth must be either a spondee (– –) or a trochee (– u),
but we will treat it as a spondee.

Last syllables are always indifferent but should be marked as long in the
opinion of many, including the folks at the AP office.
 Major Rules
1. Double consonants: vowel in front is –
(exception: 2nd consonant is l or r).
2. Diphthongs are –.
3. 2 vowels, 2 sounds: 1st vowel is u (short).
(exception: Greek words like Aenēas)
4. Elision: Vowel at end of word or vowel +
m, if next word begins with vowel or h,
then you drop (elide) the first vowel.
 Major Rules
5. Six feet in line; only spondees (– –)
and dactyls (– uu) are used.
6. Foot five and six are always (99.9%):
dactyl (– uu) and spondee (– –).
7. x is a double consonant.
h is not a consonant.
qu is a consonant.
 Major Rules
8. Final (last letter in word) ō is long.
(exception: ego)
Final ī is long. (exception: mihi, tibi sibi)
Final ū is long.
9. Final a is ā in 1st declension ablative,
but not in nominative or in any neuters.
10. Final e is long in 5th declension nouns
(rē, diē), but not in 3rd declension nouns.
 Mutes and Liquids
n  Continuants:
–  Nasals: m, n
–  Liquids: l, r
–  Sibilants: s
n  Mutes/Stops (b c d f g p t)
–  Labials: b, p, f
–  Dentals: t, d, th
–  Palatals: c, ch, g, k
n  Combinations of mute and liquid :
–  bl, br; cl, chl, cr, chr; dr; fl, fr;
gl, gr; pl, pr; tr, and thr
 Consonants
n  some pairs of consonants count for one, as follows:
–  qu counts as a single consonant, and does not make
position .
–  ch, ph, and th also count as single consonants. (In general,
h can be ignored for purposes of scansion—h is not a
consonant, but an aspirant, a breathing)
n  Combinations of mute and liquid (bl, br; cl, chl, cr, chr; dr;
fl, fr; gl, gr; pl, pr; tr, and thr) may or may not make
position — some call this poet s choice .
–  mute consonants are b c d f g p t
–  liquid consonants are l and r
n  However, they always make position when the two letters are in
different words:
–  for example, in bona druidum the second syllable may be
either long or short, but in apud rēgem, the second syllable
(pud) must be long. spondee: – –
 Syllables and 2x Consonants
n  Vowels are either long or short ‘by nature’: those which are long by
nature are marked so in some texts (ā ē ī ō ū).
n  All diphthongs (ae, au, ei, eu, oe, and sometimes ui) are long by
nature.
–  Ui is only a diphthong in the pronoun forms cuius and cui,
huius and huic, and the exclamation hui!
–  Fuit and ruit are two syllables each.
n  Syllables are short, unless there is some reason for them to be long.
n  Final o and i are long (except for ego, mihi, tibi, and sibi).
n  Syllables are long by nature if they contain a vowel (or
diphthong), or they are long by position if they are followed by
two or more consonants. In the latter case, the vowel is still short,
but the syllable is long, because the consonants make position.
n  However, some single consonants count for two, as follows
–  x and z are double consonants, and make position all by
themselves: x = c + s and z = d + z.
 Elision
n  Elision occurs when one word ends with a vowel and
the next word begins with a vowel.
–  Example: osculØ ad This is pronounced osculad

n  Elision also occurs when one word ends with any
vowel + m and the next word begins with a vowel.
 Elision
n  Elision: If a word ending with a vowel or m is followed by a
word beginning with a vowel or h, the two syllables combine
into a single elided syllable, which keeps the quantity of the
second of the two.
n  Normally the first of the two is swallowed up
–  (atque oculīs > atqu oculīs,
–  monstrum horrendum ingēns >
monstr horrend ingēns,
–  multum ille et > mult ill et).
n  Prodelision: If the second word is es or est, then the
ending of the first word is kept, and the e of the second word
is swallowed up
–  (ambiguō est > ambiguō st,
–  mora est > mora st,
–  deōrum est > deōrum st).
 Caesura
n  Caesura (from the Latin caedere, “to cut”) is a division
between words that occurs within a foot. There may be
many caesurae in a line; but there will usually be only
one principal caesura (usually within the 3rd foot after
the 5th place; one place consists either of two shorts or
one long syllable).
–  May also appear in 2nd or 4th foot
n  The main caesura in a line, usually marks not only a
division between words, but also a pause in the sense of
the line.
¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ || ¯ | ¯ ¯ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ¯
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris

¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ¯ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ || ¯ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ¯
Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit

¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ -E- ¯ | -E-¯ ¯ | ¯ || ¯ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ¯
litora—multum ille et terris iactatus et alto

¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ || ¯ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ¯ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ¯
vi superum, saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram,

¯ ˇ ˇ | -E-¯ ¯ | ¯ ¯ | ¯ || ¯ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ¯
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem

¯ ¯ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ || ˇ ˇ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ¯
inferretque deos Latio—genus unde Latinum

¯ ¯ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ || ¯ | -E-¯ ¯ | ¯ ˇ ˇ | ¯ ¯
Albanique patres atque altae moenia Romae.