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Latin Metre
The aim of this title is to provide a reference work for both students and teachers on every kind of Latin metre from the early "saturnian" to medieval accentual verse. The information provided aims to be in its simplest form to make the subject more accessible and jargon free.
- GenresClassics
124 pages, Paperback
First published June 26, 1998
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August 15, 2023
D.S. Raven's LATIN METRE was originally published in 1965 by Faber and Faber. The Bristol Classical Press imprint Duckworth reissued it in 1998, and we should be thankful, for it proves a very useful reference. I read Classics as an undergraduate, and I sorely wish that I had known of Raven's book when I was working my way through Virgil, Plautus, Juvenal, and others.
The first three chapters are meant to be read straight through. Here Raven explains the system of short and long quantity, some general phenomenon (elision, hiatus), and the basic metrical feet. He shows how much of the Latin system is borrowed wholesale from Greek, though he notes that Latin's own accent plays an important role in verse, and that Latin once had its own metre (the Saturnian). The remainder of the main body of the book is for reference. It consists of chapters dedicated to each metre: Iambic and Trochaic, Dactylic, Anapestic, Bacchiac and Cretic, Ionic, and Aeolic. These can be consulted when you find some peculiar challenge in the metre of a Latin poet. Finally, there are a couple of useful appendices. There's a note on prose rhythm and Ciceronian "Clausulae", and then metrical notes on selected authors.
The first three chapters are meant to be read straight through. Here Raven explains the system of short and long quantity, some general phenomenon (elision, hiatus), and the basic metrical feet. He shows how much of the Latin system is borrowed wholesale from Greek, though he notes that Latin's own accent plays an important role in verse, and that Latin once had its own metre (the Saturnian). The remainder of the main body of the book is for reference. It consists of chapters dedicated to each metre: Iambic and Trochaic, Dactylic, Anapestic, Bacchiac and Cretic, Ionic, and Aeolic. These can be consulted when you find some peculiar challenge in the metre of a Latin poet. Finally, there are a couple of useful appendices. There's a note on prose rhythm and Ciceronian "Clausulae", and then metrical notes on selected authors.
Displaying 1 of 1 review