The
metre of
Greek and
Roman Epic Poetry. This metre was also adopted by
Hellenistic poets in their
boucolic Idylls (for example
Calimachus or
Theocritus).While the first five feet may be either
Dactyls or
Spondees, the third and fifth feet are rarely
Spondees and the last foot is always a
Spondee. In
Virgil and later poets the last word is always either disyllabic or trisyllabic. The
Caesura is normally on the 3rd or 4th foot. In pastoral poetry there is an additional
Diaeresis (called "Boucolic Diaeresis") at the end of the 4th foot. The metre consists of six
dactylic (-^^) or
spondee (--) feet (the last being always a
spondee), by the following scheme:
- ^ ^ | - ^ ^ | - : ^ : ^ | - : ^ ^ | - ^ ^ | - -
- - | - - | (- : - )| - : - |( - - )| - -
* - stands for a long or stressed vowel, ^ stands for a short or unstressed vowel, : stands for a
caesura, ( ) mark a rare occurance.
Example (in Latin):
- - |- ^ ^|- : ^ ^|- - |- ^ ^ |- -
Class(em) aptent taciti : sociosqu(e) ad litora torquent
(Virgilius, Aen. 4, 289)