alt Hacker NewsMetrum Alcaicum:
dul.cet.de.co:.rest.|pro:.pa.tri.a:.mo.ri:
mor.set.fu.ga:.cem.|per.se.qui.tur.vi.rum
nec.par.ci.tin.bel.li:s.iu.ven.tae
po:pli.ti.bus.ti.mi.do:.que.ter.go
Reading it like in school (with qualitative stress marking the quantitative meter), that would be:
dulcét decórest | pró patriá morí
morsét fugácem | pérsequitúr virúm
nec párcit ínbellís iuvéntae
póplitibús timidóque térgo.
Replies
thaumasiotes • yesterday at 7:36 PM
Thanks!
Minor note: I was taught that forms of esse are weak enough that they lose their vowel to elision, so it would be de.co:.rust.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodelision
This seems like it would never matter for esse or est, but I guess it could preserve a long vowel in a case like -V: es V-.
> Not sure about the first syllable of "poplitibus"
Lewis and Short doesn't mark that o short or long. This also occurred with vexo, which I assumed was because the first syllable of anything starting with vex- is necessarily long (because the 'x' is two non-liquid consonants).
In the case of poples, 'l' is a liquid and a short vowel could be revealed by the syllabification po-ples (or po-pli-), but I guess this is never attested? This verse can't answer the question because the syllable is allowed to be long.