©Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia

©Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia
REMARKS
UPON 80ME POINT$ OF
CLASSICAL VERSIFICATION.
I. Quantity and Accent.
THE structure of Verse, in Latin and Greek, is founded on the
different quantity of the syllables, as long or short; in English,
on the contrary, and other modern languages, the laws of versification
refer to the accentuation or non-accentuation of the syllable.
Even in the prose pronunciation of Greek and Latin, the
accent, while carefully observed, was quite subordinate, and is
never named in speaking of rhetorical euphony, while, on the
other hand, the distinction of quantity was distinctly and strongly
marked; in poetry, accordingly, the verse was audibly distinguished
by the alternation of the long and short syllables. As it
is not possible for us, either in prose or verse, to pronounce the
words according to their quantity with such precision and in
such. a way as t.he ancients did, we cannot recite their poetry correctly,
but are forced to give their verses a certain resemblance
to OUl'S by laying an accent on the Arsis; whereas the ancients
simply indicated the arsis by the length of the syllable, not raising
the voice, but only prolonging the sound. .
While in the recitation of verse the metrical intonation pre ..
dominated, it did not entirely suppress the ordinary accent of
words. Even now a delicate ear can often feel a subtile beauty
in the relations, in ancient poetry. of the subordinate effects of
accent with the metrical beat of the line; and even in English reading
of Greek 01' Latin verse, the best method combines a primal'Y
regard for the rhythm with a certain attention to the accent.
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