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The Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus (circa 84-54 B.C.) is one of the most influential Latin poets of the classical era. A contemporary of Julius Caesar and Cicero, not much is known about the life of Catullus outside of what scholars have reconstructed from the texts of his 116 poems that have survived. Born in Verona, Catullus moved to Rome to pursue his career, as many young aristocrats would do. A member of a circle of well-educated lawyers, orators, and poets, Catullus’ writing stands out for its frank tone, passion, and—at times—explicit language. Among numerous themes, Catullus often wrote about friendship, love, and the act of writing poetry itself. He is perhaps best known for a series of approximately twenty-five poems, scattered throughout his literary corpus, that he wrote to an older, perhaps more sophisticated and charismatic woman. This woman was believed to be Clodia Metelli, wife of an important Roman politician named Quintus Caecilius Metellus. Clodia, whom Catullus calls “Lesbia” in his poetry as an homage to the influential seventh-century B.C. poet Sappho who lived and wrote from the island of Lesbos, is the subject of the two short poems below in which the author first ponders the trustworthiness of her promises and then reveals his feelings after her apparent betrayal. The poems focus on the power(lessness) of writing and the difference between speech, action, and their impact on and the connection between two different kinds of love. Catullus 70Nūllī sē dīcit mulier mea nūbere mālle1 quam mihi, nōn sī sē Iuppiter ipse petat.2dīcit: sed mulier cupidō quod dīcit amantī,3 in ventō et rapidā scrībere oportet aquā. 4Catullus 72Dīcēbās quondam sōlum tē nosse Catullum,1 Lesbia, nec prae mē velle tenēre Iōvem.2dīlexī tum tē nōn tantum ut vulgus amīcam,3 sed pater ut gnātōs dīligit et generōs.4nunc tē cognōvī: quārē etsi impensius uror,5 multō mī tamen es vīlior et levior.quī potis est, inquis? quod amantem iniūria tālis cogit amāre magis, sed bene velle minus. Introduction to ScansionLatin poetry is written in meter, which is to say that it is written according to various patterns of pronunciation that provide a rhythm and musicality to the work. Like other languages, there are a variety of meters available to Latin authors. Latin and Greek meters, unlike English meters, are quantitative in nature, meaning they rely on patterns and alternations of “long” and “short” syllables, meaning syllables that are categorized by how long they take the mouth to pronounce. In classical literature, therefore, reading in meter requires the student to understand what circumstances make a syllable long or short and to be able to detect the underlying patterns accordingly. To know the “quantity” of a syllable, i.e. what makes a syllable long or short, the student must learn some of the rules around this. To “scan” a line of poetry is to mark the syllables to indicate whether they are pronounced long or short. Generally, you can assume a syllable is short unless it is either long by nature (e.g. ablative singular –ā of first declension), a diphtong (e.g. cAEsar), or long by position (e.g. a vowel followed by two consecutive consonants). The most important of Latin and Greek meters is the dactylic hexameter, which is a metrical pattern comprising a maximum of 17 syllables that consists six units called “feet.” Each of these feet will either be a dactyl or a spondee, depending on the arrangement of words in that particular line poetry, though the fifth foot is usually a dactyl, with the last foot a spondee or trochee. In both Greek and Latin, dactylic hexameter is the primary meter used for epic poems such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Vergil’s Aeneid. The meter Catullus uses in poems 70 and 72 is called elegiac distich or elegiac couplet, which is a meter widely employed by writers of love elegies, funeral dirges, and lampoons known as epigrams. This meter consists of a pair of lines alternating between dactylic hexameter and dactylic pentameter. Catullus uses this meter in all of his poems from nos. 65 through 116. Another of Catullus’ favorite meters is the hendecasyllabic meter, which consists of eleven syllables. It follows a mostly fixed pattern of long and short syllables, which makes it a good first meter to study. An example of a poem written in this meter is included in this document. Metrical Feetˉ ? ? = dactyl (“FINGer bone”)ˉ ˉ = spondee (SPON-DEE)ˉ ? = trochee (TROH-chee)? ˉ = iamb (i-AMB)? ? ˉ= anapest (an-ah-PEST)Rules of Quantity:Assume the vowels (a, e, i, o, u, (y)) are short unless:Long by nature Long as a monosyllabic diphthong (ae, au, ei, eu, oe) Long by position (two consecutive consonants)vowels before “double-consonants” x an z are longa vowel before a consonant and an “h” stay shorta vowel before -qu- stays short; i.e. qu counts as a single consonantconsonants can be in two different wordsSOMETIMES vowels before a combination of a particular “mute” and the “liquids” l and r stay shortthe mutes b, c, ch, f, g, p + either l or r:the mutes d, t, th + only r:when:the vowel is the end of a word and the two consonants begin the next word urb? fruuntur, plumbe? glans. the vowel and the two consonants are in the same word: ten?brae, p?tres, l?crimae, rēplent. but NOT:when the two consonants are tied to different parts of a compoundābrumpo (ab + rumpo)when the two consonants belong to different words altogetherāt rabidaeAlways check the basic metrical pattern - look for elisionsElision The omission of a vowel, consonant, or syllable in pronunciation. In Latin poetry, this occurs when a word ends in a vowel and the next word begins in a vowel. Pronounce the elided syllables by using the second syllable’s sound: e.g. atque amēmus sounds like “atquamēmus”Hendecasyllabic Meter [Spondee1 / Dactyl / Trochee / Trochee / Trochee2]1 – can also be a trochee or iamb2 – can also be a spondee ˉ ˉ | ˉ ? ? | ˉ ?| ˉ ? | ˉ ?VIVAMUS mea Lesbia, atque amemus,1 ˉ ˉ | ˉ ? ? |ˉ ? | ˉ ?|ˉ ?rumoresque senum severiorum2 ˉ ˉ |ˉ ? ? | ˉ ? | ˉ ? | ˉ ?omnes unius aestimemus assis!3 ˉ ˉ | ˉ ? ?| ˉ ? | ˉ ? | ˉ ˉsoles occidere et redire possunt:4 ˉ ˉ | ˉ ? ? |ˉ ?|ˉ ? | ˉ ˉnobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,5 ˉ ˉ | ˉ ? ?| ˉ ? | ˉ ?|ˉ ?nox est perpetua una dormienda.da mi basia mille, deinde centum,dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum.dein, cum milia multa fecerimus,10conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus,aut ne quis malus invidere possit,cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.Elegiac CoupletDactylic Hexameter[Dactyl1 / Dactyl1 / Dactyl1 / Dactyl1/ Dactyl2 / Spondee3]1 – can also be a spondee2 – Rarely a spondee 3– can also be a trocheeOdi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.Dactylic Pentameter[Dactyl1 / Dactyl1 / Spon- // Dactyl / Dactyl/ -dee]1 – can also be a spondee nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. Figures of Speech / Rhetorical Devices / Literary DevicesallegoryA narrative in which abstract ideas figure as circumstances or persons, usually to enforce a moral truth (Fama in Aeneid 4.173-197).alliterationRepetition of the same sound, usually initial, in two or more words. This term normally applies to consonants and accented initial vowel (magno cum murmure montis, Aeneid 1.55).anaphoraRepetition of a word, usually at the beginning of successive clauses or phrases, for emphasis or for pathetic effect. This figure is often accompanied by asyndeton and ellipsis (hic illius arma, hic currus fuit; hoc regnum..., Aeneid 1.16-17; ubi...ubi...ubi, Aeneid 1.99-100).aposiopesisAn abrupt failure to complete a sentence, for rhetorical effect (Quos ego - , Aeneid 1.135).apostropheAddress of an absent person or an abstraction, usually for pathetic effect (o terque quaterque beati, Aeneid 1.94).assonanceThe close recurrence of similar sounds, usually used of vowel sounds (amissos longo socios sermone requirunt, Aeneid 1.217).asyndetonOmission of conjunctions in a closely related series (see anaphora).chiasmusArrangement of pairs of words in opposite order, for example,(adj. chiastic)noun A, adjective A, adjective B, noun B. This figure often emphasizes a contrast (navem in conspectu nullam, tres litore cervos prospicit, Aeneid1.184-85).ecphrasisAn apparent digression describing a place (est locus...), connected at the end of the description to the main narrative by hic or huc (Aeneid 1.159-70). This device is used in epic for a transition to a new scene. Ecphrasis can also consist of a detailed description of a work of art or some other object. ellipsisOmission of one or more words necessary to the sense (Haec secum (dixit), Aeneid 1.37).enjambementThe running over of a sentence from one verse or couplet into another so that closely related words fall in different lines (ac veluti magno in populo cum saepe coorta est seditio, Aeneid 1.148-49).hendiadysUse of two nouns connected by a conjunction with the meaning of one modified noun (molem et montes, Aeneid 1.61).hyperboleExaggeration for effect (terram inter fluctus aperit, Aeneid 1.107).hysteron proteronReversal of chronological order in order to put the more important idea first (moriamur et in media arma ruamus, Aeneid 2.353).interlocked order (synchysis)Arrangement of pairs of words so that one word of each pair is between the words of the other (A,B,A,B). This arrangement normally emphasizes the close association of the pairs (saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram, Aeneid 1.4).ironyThe use, clearly intentional or apparently unintentional (dramatic irony), of words with a meaning contrary to the situation. (Iunone secunda, Aeneid 4.45, unintentional; scilicet is superis labor est, Aeneid 4.379, intentional).litotesAn understatement for emphasis, usually an assertion of something by denying the opposite (neque enim ignari sumus, Aeneid 1.198).metaphorAn implied comparison, that is, the use of a word or words suggesting a likeness between what is actually being described and something else (remigo alarum, Aeneid 1.301).metonymyUse of one noun in place of another closely related noun (Cererem corruptam undis, Aeneid 1.177), to avoid common or prosaic words.onomatopoeia(adj., onomatopoeic or onomatopoetic)Use of words whose sound suggests the sense (magno cum murmure montis, Aeneid 1.55).oxymoron The use of apparently contradictory in the same phrase. (paradox)This figure is particularly Horatian (insaniens sapientia, Odes 1.34.2). personificationTreatment of inanimate objects as human (suadentque cadentia sidera somnos, Aeneid 2.9).pleonasm (adj.,pleonastic) Use of unnecessary words (mortales visus...reliquit et procul in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram, Aeneid 4. 277-78).polysyndetonUse of unnecessary conjunctions (Eurusque Notusque ruunt creberque...Africus, Aeneid 1.85-86).praeteritio Claiming to not mention or “pass over” something that one plans to say.prolepsis (adj., proleptic) Use of a word before it is appropriate in the context. A proleptic adjective does not apply to its noun until after the action of the verb, and is often best translated with a clause or phrase to bring out the emphasis on the adjective (Submersasque obrue puppes, “so that they sink,” Aeneid 1.68).rhetorical question A question posed for its rhetorical effect and not requiring a reply or intended to induce a reply (et quisquam numen Iunonis adorat/ praeterea aut supplex aris imponet honorem? Aeneid 1.48-49).simileAn expressed comparison, introduced by a word such as similis, qualis, or velut(i) (velut agmine facto, Aeneid 1.82). Epic similes tend to be long, to relate to nature, and to digress from the point(s) of comparison (compare Aeneid 1.430-36).syncopeThe loss of one (or more) syllables from the interior of a word, often for the sake of fitting meter. amāvērunt becomes amārunt; novisse becomes nosse. synecdocheUse of the part for the whole (puppes for naves, Aeneid 1.68) to avoid common words or to focus attention on a particular part.tmesisSeparation of the parts of a compound word, usually for metrical convenience (circum dea fudit, Aeneid 1.412).transferred epithetA device of emphasis in which the poet attributes some characteristic of a thing to another thing closely associated with it (templumque vetustum desertae Cereris, Aeneid 2.713-14).tricolon crescens A three part increase of emphasis or enlargement of meaning (auxiliumque viae veteres tellure recludit/ thesauros, ignotum argenti pondus et auri. Aeneid 1.358-359). zeugmaUse of a verb or adjective with two words, to only one of which it literally applies (crudeles aras traiectaque pectora ferro nudavit, Aeneid 1.355-56). ................
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