2570. The DACTYLIC PENTAMETER is a verse consisting of two catalectic
dactylic tripodies, separated by a fixed diaeresis. Spondees are
admitted in the first tripody, but not in the second. The final thesis
of the first tripody is protracted to a tetraseme (2516) to compensate
for the omission of the arsis. The scheme is therefore
-́ ⏔ | -́ ⏔ | ⏘́ # -́ ⏑ | -́ ⏑ | -́ ⌅
2571. (1.) The verse is not asynartetic (2535), neither _syllaba anceps_
nor hiatus being allowed at the end of the first tripody.
2572. (2.) This verse is known as the pentameter because the ancient
grammarians measured it
- ⏑ | - ⏑ | - - | ⏑ - | ⏑ -
2573. The pentameter is rarely used except in combination with the
hexameter, with which it forms the so-called _Elegīac Distich_:
-́ ⏔ | - ⏔ | - ⏔ | -́ ⏔ | -́ ⏔ | -́ ⏔
-́ ⏔ | -́ ⏔ | ⏘́ # -́ ⏑ | -́ ⏑ | -́ ⌅
2574. The Elegiac Distich is used chiefly in elegiac poetry (whence the
name), in amatory verse and in epigrams. The end of the pentameter
generally coincides with a pause in the sense. As examples of the
Elegiac Distich, the following may serve:
Quam legis | ex il|lā ‖ tibi | vēnit e|pistola | terrā
lātus u|b(ī̆) aequore|īs # additur | Hister a|quīs.
Sī tibi | contige|rit ‖ cum | dulcī | vīta sa|lūte,
candida | fortū|nae # pars manet | ūna me|ae. O. _Tr._ 5, 7, 1.
Compare in English (but see 2561 _ad fin._):
“These lame hexameters the strong-winged music of Homer!
No--but a most burlesque, barbarous experiment . . .
Hexameters no worse than daring Germany gave us,
Barbarous experiment, barbarous hexameters.” (TENNYSON).
2575. The Elegiac Distich was introduced into Roman poetry by Ennius,
who used it in epigrams. Varro employed it in his _Saturae_, and
Catullus seems to have been the first of the Latins who used it in
Elegiac poetry. The elegiac and amatory poets of the Augustan age,
especially Ovid, perfected it, and wielded it with unequalled grace and
ease.
2576. Ovid nearly always closes the pentameter with a disyllabic word;
but earlier poets, especially Catullus, are less careful in this regard.
Elision is less frequent in the pentameter than in the hexameter. It
sometimes occurs in the main diaeresis of the pentameter, though rarely.
THE DACTYLIC TETRAMETER ACATALECTIC (or _Alcmanian_).
2577. This verse is chiefly used in composition with a trochaic tripody
to form the Greater Archilochian verse (2677); but it occurs alone once
in Terence (_Andria_ 625), and is employed in stichic series (2546) by
Seneca. The scheme is:
-́ ⏔ | -́ ⏔ | -́ ⏔ | -́ ⏑
An example is:
hocine | crēdibi|l(e) aut memo|rābile (T. Andr. 625).
This verse is often called _Alcmanian_ because it was used by the Greek
poet Alcman.
THE DACTYLIC TETRAMETER CATALECTIC (or _Archilochian_).
2578. This verse consists of four dactylic feet, the last one being
incomplete. The scheme is:
-́ ⏔ | -́ ⏔ | - ⏔ | -́ ⏑ ⌃
[In the final ⏔, the long-syllable line is in brackets.]
An example is:
Cármine | pérpetu|ṓ cele|brā́r(e) et (H. 1, 7, 6).
This verse differs from the preceding in that the last foot is always a
trochee or spondee, never a dactyl. It is used only in the Alcmanian
strophe (2724).
THE DACTYLIC TRIMETER CATALECTIC (or _Lesser Archilochian_).
2579. This verse has the scheme:
-́ ⏑ | -́ ⏑ | -́ ⌅
An example is:
Árbori|búsque co|maé (H. 4, 7, 2).
It is used chiefly in the First Archilochian Strophe (see 2725). In form
it is the same as the second half of the pentameter (2570).
2580. These verses (2578, 2579) are often called _Archilochian_ because
they were first used by the Greek poet Archilochus.
[Erratum:
Árbori|búsque co|maé (H. 4, 7, 2).
Árbori|búsque co | maé (H. 4, 7, 2).]