2650. Logaoedic verse consists of dactyls and trochees combined in the
same metrical series. The dactyls are “cyclic” (see 2523), occupying
approximately the time of trochees, and hence the verse moves in 3/8
time. Except in the “Lesser Alcaic” verse (2663), only one dactyl may
stand in a single series; and a dactyl must not occupy the last place in
a line.
2651. (1.) The name “logaoedic” (Gr. λογαοιδικός, from λόγος, _speech_,
_prose_, and ἀοιδή, _song_) may refer to the apparent change of rhythm
(due to the mixture of dactyls and trochees), in which logaoedic verse
resembles prose; but this is a disputed point.
2652. (2.) In the logaoedic verses of Horace, an irrational spondee
almost always takes the place of a trochee before the first dactyl; and
if an apparent choriambus (-́ ⏑ | ⏗́; see 2521) is followed by another
apparent choriambus in the same verse, the two are regularly separated
by a caesura. These rules are not observed by Catullus.
2653. (3.) Anacrusis (2529) and syncope (2541) are very common in
logaoedic verse.