a. Anapaestic (§ 609. b. 2) verses of various lengths are found in dramatic poetry. The spondee, dactyl, or proceleusmatic may be substituted for the anapaest: -
*beginverse
hic homost | omnium homi|num prae|cipuos
volupta |tibus gau|di=isque an|tepotens.
ita com|moda quae | cupio e |veniunt,
quod ag o | subit, ad|secue | sequitur:
ita gau|dium sup|peditat. - Pl. Trin. 1115 - 1119. *endverse
b. Bacchiac (§ 609. d. 4) verses (five-timed) occur in the dramatic poets, - very rarely in Terence, more commonly in Plautus, - either in verses of two feet (Dimeter) or of four (Tetrameter). They are treated very freely, as are all measures in early Latin. The long syllables may be resolved, or the molossus (three longs) substituted: -
*beginverse
mult=as r=es | sim'=itu in | meo cor|de vors=o,
multum in c=o|gitand=o | dol'=orem in|dip'=iscor.
egomet m=e | c=ogo et m=a|cero et d=e|fat'=ig=o;
magister | mihi exer|citor ani|mus nunc est.
- Pl. Trin. 223 - 226.
*endverse
c. Cretic measures (§ 609. d. 1) occur in the same manner as the Bacchiac, with the same substitutions. The last foot is usually incomplete: -
*beginverse
amor am=i|cus mih=i | ne fu=as | umquam.
his eg=o | de artibus | gratiam | faci=o.
nil ego is|tos moror | faece=os | mor=es. - id. 267, 293, 297.
*endverse
d. Saturnian Verse. In early Latin is found a rude form of verse, not borrowed from the Greek like the others, but as to the precise nature of which scholars are not agreed.[1][The two principal theories only are given. There are numerous variations, particularly of the second theory here stated.]
1. According to one view the verse is based on quantity, is composed of six feet, and is divided into two parts by a caesura before the fourth thesis. Each thesis may consist of a long syllable or of two short ones, each arsis of a short syllable, a long syllable, or two short syllables; but the arsis, except at the beginning of the verse and before the caesura, is often entirely suppressed, though rarely more than once in the same verse: -
*beginverse
dabunt malum Metellí || Naevio poetae.
*endverse
2. According to another theory the Saturnian is made up, without
regard to quantity, of alternating accented and unaccented syllables; but
for any unaccented syllable two may be substituted, and regularly are so
substituted in the second foot of the verse: -
*beginverse
dabunt malum Metellí || Naevio poetae.
*endverse