quō mē cumque rapit tempestās, for quōcumque, etc.
8. Sýncope. A short vowel is sometimes dropped between two consonants; as,—
repostus for repositus
THE DACTYLIC HEXAMETER.
[368]. 1. The Dactylic Hexameter, or Heroic Verse, consists theoretically of six dactyls. But in all the feet except the fifth, a spondee (
) may take the place of the dactyl. The sixth foot may be either a spondee or a trochee, since the final syllable of a verse may be either long or short (syllaba anceps). The following represents the scheme of the verse:—
2. Sometimes we find a spondee in the fifth foot. Such verses are called Spondaic. A dactyl usually stands in the fourth place, and the fifth and sixth feet are generally made up of a quadrisyllable; as,—
armātumque aurō circumspicit Ōrīōna.
cāra deum subolēs, magnum Jovis incrēmentum.