evening all,
i imagine many of you are not currently overloaded with things to do, especially in the scholarly field.
accordingly, i challenge all people interested to write an elegiac couplet. just one - in latin or greek.
most of you, i should think, are familiar with basic prosody and can scan. if not, there are many fine sites online that can introduce you to the basics (for that is all here necessary).
the mechanics of the metre are very simple. an elegiac couplet consists of two verses, the former in dactylic hexameter, the latter in dactylic pentameter.
the most basic metrical rules that must be followed are these:
for the hexameter:
-the first four feet should be either a dactyl (long-short-short) or a spondee (long-long)
-the fifth foot must be a dactyl (special licence for Greek proper names and effect need not be considered at present)
and the sixth a spondee or trochee (long-short)
-there must be a caesura (i.e. a gap between words in a foot) after the long of the third foot (so-called 'third strong' caesura) OR, if this is not the case, a caesura after the first short of the third foot ('third weak') backed up by BOTH a strong in the second AND in the fourth.
-the metrical scheme for the hexameter is thus:
(~ marks long; u marks short; / separates feet; // marks main caesura):
~ u u / ~ u u / ~// u u / ~ u u/ ~ u u / ~ ~
~ ~ / ~ ~ / ~ // ~ / ~ ~ / ~ u u / ~ u
for each foot either the top or bottom option is available, though the fifth foot dactyl needs to be adhered. i have not included the much rarer pattern of caesurae (2nd s + 3rd w + 4th s).
if we take the opening line to Ovid's Amores (i will use Latin as the explanatory language, for here it is commoner to more), we see:
Arma gravi numero violentaque bella parabam
which can be broken down thus:
Arm-a gra- - first foot dactyl
-vi nu-me - second foot dactyl
-o // vio- - third foot dactyl with typical strong caesura
-lentaque - fourth foot dactyl
bella par- - fifth foot dactyl
-abam - sixth foot trochee
the line is thus as dactylic as possible (Ovid's purpose, incidentally, is to pretend that he is writing epic at the very start so the characteristic tum-ti-ti of the dactylic hexameter is over-used. lines with the first four feet as dactyls number only 6.7% in the Corpus Ovidianum.)
the following line is the pentameter, so called (rather inappropriately) because the metrical 'value' of its constituents 'add up' to five dactylic feet.
the main rules for the pentameter:
-the first half of the line has two feet that can be either dactyls or spondees, followed by a long syllable (this can be long of itself or lengthened by position)
-the second half of the line has to be two dactyls, followed by an anceps (i.e. either a long or a short syllable).
-there must be caesura after the end of the first half (so after the long on its own).
the metrical scheme runs thus:
~ u u / ~ u u / ~ // ~ u u / ~ u u / ~
~ ~ / ~ ~ / ~ // ~ u u / ~ u u / u
so if we look at the following line of the Amores' inception:
edere, materia conveniente modis.
we have:
edere - first foot dactyl
materi - second foot dactyl
a - long syllable
caesura
conveni - third foot dactyl
ente mo - fourth foot dactyl
dis - long syllable
Ovid has continued the silliness and retained as many dactlys as possible in this line.
One final essential point needs to be observed for the pentameter line of LATIN elegiacs:
the last word must be disyllabic, i.e. words of three syllables (or more) or monosyllables are prohibited. [for those interested, prodelided forms of sum are permitted and Greek proper names of polysyllabic nature are occasionally accepted, but are not to be imitated here.]
so, i hope my instructions have not been too haphazard and that the basics are understood. if any of you can pull off a couplet, that would be superb. if anyone is especially interested, i will append some more detailed notes on the latin elegiac (for it was more polished metrically, in the guise of Ovid, than the counterpart of its sister language).
happy versifying.
~D
any questions will be answered with interest.
