Scansion
Scansion
Since the Amores may well be among the first Latin poems a student encounters, it may be helpful to provide a brief introduction to the rules of Latin prosody (the quantity of individual syllables) and to the reading aloud of elegaic couplets. For fuller discussion see D. S. Raven, Latin Metre: an Introduction (Cambridge, 1965).
Prosody.
Whereas English meters are based on a word's accent ("Múch have I trávelled in the reálms of góld”), Latin meters are based on quantity; what matters most is whether syllables are long or short. For most us the obstacle to reading Latin verse aloud is that we have not learned the quantities of Latin very well. All dipthongs are normally long by nature, but individual vowels can be either long or short, though a vowel followed by another vowel not in a dipthong is normally short. Ideally we would all know, say, that the first syllable of miles was long and the second one short, but in practice we are often uncertain, or even wrong, and it sometimes necessary to consult a dictionary solely to ascertain the quantities of a word. An additional problem is that it is often necessary to know the meaning of a Latin word before one can know its prosody. Latin has a number of virtual homonyms, distinguished only by their quantity, such as lěvis ("light") and lēvis ("smooth"). Much more common are the words whose form is identified only by their quantity: amicitia can be nominative singular or ablative singular, civis can be nominative or genitive singular or accusative plural, and manus can be nominative singular or nominative or accusative plural, etc. In such cases it is almost impossible to scan the line without also establishing its sense. On the other hand the endings of Latin words provide us with a large collection of easily learned quanties: with a review of the basic declensions and conjugations it is not difficult to learn that the o of amo is long, and that the i and of tradit is short, or that the o and is of puero and pueris are long, while i and u of militibus are short. Other syllables with easily identifiable quantities are those which though short by nature, becomes long by position because of the consonants that follow them. The most obvious instances are when vowels are followed by double consonants (ll, mm, nn, pp, ss etc.), and such words are also the easiest for a reader to speak correctly; in Latin there was a clear difference between the L-sounds in malus and tellus, and it is easy to make this distinction aloud once alerted to it (MAL-us vs. TEHL-Lus). More generally, a short syllable can be long by position when followed by any two (or more) consonants together, or by x and z, which were each the equivalent of two consonants. But before the following combinations of consonants the preceding short vowel can remain short:
bl, br; cl, chl, cr, chr; dr; fl, fr; gl, gr; pl, pr; tr, thr.
However, a vowel cannot remain short when the two consonants following it belong to different parts of a compound (*ābrupit), or to different words (ēt refer).
Elision
A further complication in reading aloud is the fact that a vowel or a vowel + m at the end of a word is usually suppressed (“elided”) when the next word begins with a vowel, or h + a vowel. This occurs even if the elided vowel would have been long.
*āstǐtǐt īll(a) āmēns ālb(o) ēt sǐně sānguǐně vūltū (Am. 1.7.51)
nēc tē dēcǐpǐānt větěrēs cīrc(um) ātrǐǎ cērae (Am. 1.8.65)
A failure to elide (hiatus) is rare.
The Elegaic couplet.
The Amores are all written in elegaic couplets. This meter consisted of a line of dactylic hexameter, the meter of epic poetry, i.e. six dactyls (-úuúu) or spondees (- -), followed by a line of dactylic pentameter, i.e. five dactyls or spondees (with one of the spondees divided into two). The basic scheme is as follows:
- uu | - uu | - uu | - uu | - uu | - u - uu | - uu | - // - uu | - uu | -
In the dactylic line the fifth and sixth feet are almost always a dactyl and a spondee (the last beat of each line is technically anceps, i.e. it can be either long or short, but for practical purposes the lines can all be read as if the last beat is long); thus each line can be expected to end - u u - -. The first four feet can be any combination of dactyls and spondees, and it is here that a knowledge of prosody becomes important. In addition, the hexameter line almost always has a break between words in the third foot, most commonly after the first beat (whether of dactyl or spondee). This is called a strong caesura, e.g.
Īam super oceanum / vĕnit a seniore marito (Am. 1.13.1)
Sometimes the break occurs after the second beat of the third foot (which must be a dactyl), giving a kind of syncopated feel to the line. This is the so-called “weak” caesura, e.g.
quo properās, Aurōră // mănē: sic Memnŏnis umbris (Am. 1.13.3)
The pentameter line can be thought of as the first part of a hexameter line extending to a strong caesura. As in the hexameter line spondees can be substituted for dactyls in the first two feet. The second half of the line essentially repeats the first, but here there are no spondees.
Reading aloud
Despite the apparent complexities, elegaic couplets are reasonably easy to read aloud. The key, in my view, is to become thoroughly at home with the basic unit of - uu | - uu | -, which in its pure form provides the second half of the pentameter line, and which with spondaic variation provides the first half of the pentameter line and begins the vast majority of the hexameter lines. This, combined with the near certainty the last two feet of the hexameter lines will be - u u - -, makes it possible to guess how most of Ovid’s couplets should be scanned, even if one's grasp of basic Latin prosody is weak. It is important, of course, to be alert to those quantities which can be known in advance, such as dipthongs, certain word endings, vowels followed by double consonants, and vowels followed by more than one consonant, while remaining alert to the exceptions mentioned above. I suggest practicing by beginning with the easiest section to scan, reading the second halves of all the pentameter lines in a poem; here there are no variations from - uu | - uu | - and it is usually easy enough to see where the second halves of the lines begin. Follow this by reading the pentameter lines complete; the first two feet will offer some variation, but there are only four possible combinations for the first half of a pentameter:
-- | -- | - - uu | - uu | - -- | - u u | - - uu | - - | -
Practicing the pentameter lines should make the hexameter lines much easier. Most lines will have a strong caesura, and will thus offer exactly the same four possibilities as the first half of the pentameter line. Following the strong caesura there will be either one long beat or two short ones to complete the third foot. The fourth foot will be either a dactyl or a spondee, and is thus usually the hardest foot to scan, but the fifth and sixth foot will almost certainly a dactyl and a spondee. Lines with a weak caesura of course work slightly differently: the third foot will be a dactyl, with the caesura coming between the two short beats. To introduce this approach to reading aloud, I print here a modified text of Amores 1.13. I have introduced gaps in the text to identify caesurae, and lines with weak caesurae are printed in italics; I have also put elided syllables in parentheses. In theory this should make it possible to follow the procedure suggested above with relative ease, so that unknown quantities can be deduced rather than looked up.
Iam super oceanum venit a seniore marito
flava pruinoso quae vehit axe diem.
quo properas, Aurora? mane: sic Memnonis umbris
annua sollemni caede parentet auis.
nunc iuuat in teneris dominae iacuisse lacertis; 5
si quando, lateri nunc bene iuncta me(o) est.
nunc etiam somni pingues et frigidus aer,
et liquidum tenui gutture cantat avis.
quo properas ingrata viris, ingrata puellis?
roscida purpurea supprime lora manu. 10
ante tuos ortus melius sua sidera servat
navita nec media nescius errat aqua;
te surgit quamvis lassus veniente viator
et miles saevas aptat ad arma manus;
prima bidente vides oneratos arva colentes, 15
prima vocas tardos sub iuga panda boves;
tu pueros somno fraudas tradisque magistris,
ut subeant tenerae verbera saeva manus,
atqu(e) eadem sponsum cultos ant(e) Atria mittis,
unius ut verbi grandia damna ferant; 20
nec tu consulto nec tu iucunda diserto:
cogitur ad lites surger(e) uterque novas;
tu, cum feminei possint cessare labores,
lanificam revocas ad sua pensa manum.
omnia perpeterer; sed surgere mane puellas 25
quis, nisi cui non est ulla puella, ferat?
optavi quotiens ne nox tibi cedere vellet,
ne fugerent vultus sidera mota tuos!
optavi quotiens aut ventus frangeret axem
aut caderet spissa nube retentus equus! 30
invida, quo properas? quod erat tibi filius ater,
materni fuerat pectoris ille color. 32
Tithono vellem de te narrare liceret: 35
femina non caelo turpior ulla foret.
illum dum refugis, longo quia grandior aevo,
surgis ad invisas a sene mane rotas;
at si quem manibus Cephalum complexa teneres,
clamares "lente currite, noctis equi." 40
cur ego plectar amans, si vir tibi marcet ab annis?
num me nupsisti conciliante seni?
aspice quot somnos iuveni donarit amato
Luna, nequ(e) illius forma secunda tuae.
ipse deum genitor, ne te tam saepe videret, 45
commisit noctes in sua vota duas.
iurgia finieram. scires audisse: rubebat,
nec tamen adsueto tardius orta dies.
