Latin Metrics

Resumen Los tratados de métrica antiguos y medievales reflejan la popularidad y los rasgos estructurales del versus quadratus. Abstract Ancient and Medieval treatures on metrics reflect the popular fashion and structural caracteristics of the versus quadratus.

The Venerable Bede s eighth-century De arte metrica was the most important treatise on Latin metrics to emerge in the early Middle Ages. It played a central role in the transmission of the classical literary tradition to the medieval audience, but, at the same time, constitutes one of the first efforts at creating a textbook on metrics that was primarily intended for the monastic curriculum. This historical background, together with the author s Christian agenda, is present in virtually every aspect of the way the work discusses the Latin poetic heritage. The main focus of De arte metrica is on hexameter verse and the problems inherent in its composition at a time when syllable quantity had disappeared from spoken Latin. The work departs from previous grammatical tradition by incorporating syllable lengths into its discussion of poetic metres, a didactic solution necessitated by the linguistic conditions of Anglo-Saxon England. Even here, Bede consciously strives to create a consistently Christian literary norm. Instead of relying on the example of Vergil and other classics, he seeks to base his presentation of metrical rules, from syllable lengths to larger structures, on the example of Christian poets, most notably Sedulius, implying that pagan authors were even prosodically less advanced than Christian ones. Bede s views have been influenced by his belief in the biblical origins of metre, an idea expounded by several Christian apologists. Bede s discussion of other poetic metres is mainly restricted to those employed in Christian hymnody, and their simplified analyses correspond with Christian usage. Bede is also the first author to give an appropriate presentation of rhythmic or non-quantitative verse, anticipating later medieval poetic practices. The aim of this thesis is to examine the ways in which Bede sought to recast the classical poetic heritage in a form more appropriate for Christian scholars. This usually manifests itself in minute alterations of wording, but sometimes Bede takes a definite stand for the virtues of Christian verse as opposed to the pre-Christian classics. As many of Bede s definitions influenced numerous generations of medieval grammarians and poets, and the work itself became a model for the genre of Artes metricae, the strong role of its Christianising tendency must not be underestimated.

Study of Catullus 5, 7 and 48. The work aims above
all to show that in these poems, as in most of the
Catullians, one can easily recognize the two great
parts in which the epigram is ordinarily organized:
a first, more extensive (A), and a final ( B), brief,
witty, judgmental, culminating all of the above

This work deals with some features of the Latín metrics of Renaissance poets, who tried to emulate Ancient poetry, but managed this goal to varying degrees from one another. The quality of their verses is determined by the limited knowledge they had of classical metrics. In some cases, only the most general rules of versification are respected, sometimes without even checking the quantity of every vowel. But in other cases, attention is paid to all known precepts to compose verses as accuratly as possible, with the result that they somewhat surprisingly may even obey metric laws formulated much later, such as Marx’s law and Lachmann’s law.

Lupus of Ferrières's ninth-century De metris Boethii was the first attempt to describe the varied and complex poetic metres employed by Boethius in his De consolatione philosophiae, and it constituted the most important authority on the subject throughout the Middle Ages. Although Lupus's presentation of the metres has mainly been assembled from Servius's Late Antique De centum metris, this article demonstrate its dependence on Bede's De arte metrica especially in its discussion of the hexameter and the so-called terentianean metre, which Lupus gives an analysis that is thoroughly consistent with Bede's, although  it is manifestly ill-suited to Boethius's poems. Lupus's surprising reliance on Bede's treatise testifies for Bede's role as the central authority on Latin metre in the Early Middle Ages.

Dealing with the consonant cluster muta cum liquida poses a complex and stimulating problem with numerous implications besides the strictly metrical ones. Tackling the problem effectively implies precise knowledge of data which is not available for classical poetry. This article seeks to collect and analyse this data in a sufficiently significant corpus of the classical Latin hexameter katà stíchon. The result shows a high frequency of heterosyllabism which stands out as the predominant feature.

This article deals with the different Classical Greek denominations for the parts of the metrical foot as they are used in ancient doctrines of rhythm and metre. The method that we follow is based upon a compila-t'ion and classification of the more outstanding text for this topic. O.-Entre otras cuestiones pendientes en el estudio de la música y de la métrica grecolatinas se halla la de la ejecución de las obras, instrumen-tales, cantadas o simplemente recitadas. La imposibilidad de acceso direc-to a dicha ejecución hace muy difícil, por no decir imposible, cualquier intento en este sentido. Y, por si esto fuera poco, quien desde nuestra perspectiva intenta abrirse camino por tan espinoso terreno se tropieza además con la dificultad añadida de no contar con un apoyo suficiente en lo que podría ser una vía secundaria para abordar el problema, es decir, en la tradición escrita. En efecto, no se puede decir que los textos sean muy explícitos al respecto. No lo son ni siquiera a la hora de definir los térmi-nos con los que se designaban las partes del pie/compás, lo cual habría si-do una ayuda inestimable en este sentido. Pero, por desgracia, no es éste

Riassunto: questo studio vuole dimostrare il ruolo ritmante dell'accento latino, sia in relazione allo schema metrico del verso che al contesto scenico. Attraverso l'analisi di due scene teatrali di Plauto (Mil. 481-595) e Seneca (Tro. 524-704) si assiste a una distribuzione degli accenti di parola non casuale all'interno del senario / trimetro giambico. Parole chiave: accento; ictus; senario / trimetro giambico; Plauto; Seneca. Dos estudios sobre el acento latino: cuestiones métricas y estilísticas en Plauto y Séneca Resumen: este estudio tiene como objetivo demostrar el papel rítmico del acento latino, tanto en relación con el esquema métrico del verso como con el contexto escénico. A través del análisis de dos escenas teatrales por Plauto (Mil. 481-595) y Séneca (Tro. 524-704) se observa una distribución de palabras no aleatoria dentro del senario / trímetro yámbico. Summary: this study aims to demonstrate the rhythmic role of the Latin accent, both in relation to the metric scheme of the verse and the scenic context. Though the analysis of two theatrical scenes by Plautus (Mil. 481-595) and Seneca (Tro. 524-704) there is a distribution of non-random word accents within the iambic senarius / trimeter.

A central prosodic feature of nearly all Latin verse, classical and medieval alike, is the avoidance of hiatus, where a word with a final vowel, or in classical verse, a final m, is followed by a word with an initial vowel, (or, in classical verse, an initial h). In classical Latin, hiatus is eliminated by a process known as elision, or synaloephe, where the final vowel of the preceding word is fused with the following one or left unpronounced. The avoidance of hiatus is a feature of most medieval verse, as well, but early insular verse forms a notable exception: hiatus is abundant in many rhythmical Irish and Anglo-Latin hymns, and even in much of Anglo-Latin hexameter poetry elision is not systematically observed. This is a noticeable feature, above all, in the verse of Aldhelm and his followers, although Aldhelm himself gives a detailed description of elision in his treatise on metrics (De metris). Bede took an opposite line in his strenuous avoidance of hiatus in his own verse. In his metrical treatise De arte metrica he went so far as to condemn hiatus as a ‘pagan’ feature, a view which he attempted to corroborate with examples of Vergil’s artful deviations from the rules of elision. Bede’s reluctance to recognise hiatus for a contemporary rather than a pre-Christian feature reflects his attempts to show Christian verse in as favourable light as possible, although, in a roundabout way, he probably also tried to regularise the prosodic practices of Anglo-Latin verse. The present paper studies this discrepancy between Anglo-Saxon prosodists’ views on hiatus and the prevailing verse technique of the same period and suggests that some seeming idiosyncrasies in Aldhelm’s use of elision are, in fact, probably based on certain less-known practices of Late Latin hexameter verse.

In this paper we introduce four unpublished inscriptions preserved in the private collection Vallentin de Cheylard in Montélimar (coming from Saint-Montan) and in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie of the city of Vienne. All of these show clear signs of having belonged to verse inscriptions, however they are extremely fragmentary pieces, so that the study of some other features, like the lexicon or the ordinatio, have been necessary for their classification as carmina Latina epigraphica (CLE).

Resumen Propuesta de un sistema de signos para el análisis de textos latinos en verso. Abstract A proposed system of signs and abbreviations for the analysis of latin texts in Palabras clave: Signos análisis métrico. O. A la hora de hacer aquí la propuesta que quiero hacer, no considero necesario pasar revista previamente a los distintos recursos a que, ya desde la Antigüedad, se ha venido y se viene acudiendo para representar estos o aquellos aspectos del análisis de los textos en verso; la mayoría de ellos son de sobra conocidos1 • Responden, por supuesto, a las interpretaciones cambiantes de que a lo largo de los siglos han sido objeto los versos antiguos y son reflejo de las diversas concepciones y planteamientos metodológicos del análisis métrico que se han ido sucediendo en la historia de la filología. Pensar, por tanto, a estas alturas en un nuevo sistema de signos puede tal vez sonar a petulancia; y puede que lo fuese, si partiera de la idea de innovar dando al traste con toda esa milenaria tradición. Evidentemente, no es ese, ni mucho menos, el punto de donde parto, ni el motivo que me anima. Al contrario,

Resumen
En este trabajo se estudia en qué medida destaca Juvenco el nombre del “héroe” de su poema épico, Christus, cuidando su colocación dentro del verso. Se analiza su ubicación en el hexámetro partiendo para ello de los principios establecidos por la llamada “métrica verbal”. Un estudio similar de Aeneas en el verso virgiliano y la comparación entre ambos términos pretende averiguar si Virgilio, reconocido modelo del poeta cristiano, ha ejercido también sobre él su influencia a la hora de buscar a Christus una ubicación en el hexámetro de acuerdo con su rango, aunque se trate en ambos casos de palabras de estructura prosódica diferente.
Abstract
This paper seeks to determine the extent to which Juvencus highlights the name of the ‘hero’ of his epic poem, Christus, by means of its position within the line. It will analyze its location within the hexameter using the principles established by ‘verbal metrics’. A similar study of Aeneas in Virgil’s lines, and a comparison between both of them, will try to establish whether Virgil —the acknowledged model of the Christian poet— has been also used by Juvencus to seek an appropriate place for Christus within the line, according to his rank, in spite of the fact that they are two nouns with different prosodic structures.

Resumen Fórmulas para el análisis de la tipología verbal ("tipos rítmicos" y "tipos métrico"") en los versos cuantitativos. Abstract Formulae for the Analysis ofVerbal Typologies in Quantitative Latin Verse: Rhythmic and Metrical Types. Palabras clave: Tipología verbal. O. Cuando en el análisis métrico se habla de "estructura prosódica" de las palabras, se las entiende, como es lógico, no aisladas, como elementos del sistema léxico o gramatical, sino integradas en la cadena, tal y como aparecen de hecho en el habla. En este sentido Korzeniowski1 distingue entre "Wortgestalt", que seria la estructura prosódica de una palabra aislada lformosum y formosus = antibaqueo) y "Wortyp", que seria la estructura prosódica de esa palabra realizada en un lugar concret::-de un verso concreto lformosum pastor = moloso; formos(um aut = espondeo; formosus et ipse = antibaqueo;formosus pastor= moloso). Yo, sin embargo, no encuentro muy rentable esta distinción a efectos del análisis métrico. Es verdad que la "estructura prosódica" de cada palabra determina, en prinicipio, su capacidad y sus posibilidades de empleo como pieza en la versificación, en la composición de las formas métricas; de ahí la necesidad del estudio de esta faceta de las palabras, al margen de otros muchos aspectos

Resumen: En el presente artículo se ofrece una nueva edición crítica y un comentario epigráfico-filológico de un carmen epigraphicum funerario de comienzos del siglo XIV que, procedente de la desaparecida iglesia de Santa María de Puigcerdá (Gerona), se expone en la exposición permanente de arte gótico del Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC).

Abstract: This paper presents a new critical edition and an epigraphic and philological commentary on a funerary carmen epigraphicum of the fourteenth century can be found in this paper. This composition comes from the Santa María de Puigcerdá Church (Girona), and it is located in the permanent exhibition of Gothic art at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC).

Precious repositories of ancient wisdom? Musty relics of outmoded culture? Timeless paragons of artistic achievement? Hegemonic tools of intellectual repression? Just what are the classics, anyway, and why do (or should) we still pay so much attention to them? What is the literary canon? What is myth, and how do we use it?
These are some of the questions that gave rise to John Kirby's Secret of the Muses Retold. This new study of works by five twentieth-century Italian writers investigates the abiding influence of the Greek and Roman classics, and their rich legacy in our own day. The result is not only a splendid introduction to contemporary Italian literature, but also a lucid and stimulating meditation on the insights that writers such as Umberto Eco and Italo Calvino have tapped from the wellspring of ancient tradition.
Kirby's book offers an impassioned plea for the recuperation of the humanities in general, and of classical studies in particular. No expertise in Greek, Latin, Italian, or literary theory is presumed, and both traditional and postmodern perspectives are accommodated.

Origin and meaning of the term septenarius: between senarius (six foot verse)
and octonarius (eight foot verse), septenarius designates a verse of seven feet. It is a more
colloquial denomination that properly technical; is even inaccurate: does not account for
the true rhythmic-metric entity of the period it designates, a «catalytic octonary