Ill(ī) in|ter sē|sē ‖ ma|gnā vī | bracchia | tollunt (V. G. 4, 174).
The multiplication of dactyls imparts to the verse a comparatively rapid and impetuous motion, as in the famous verse
Quadrupe|dante pu|trem ‖ soni|tū quatit | ungula | campum (V. 8, 596).
But even when dactyls are numerous, the Latin hexameter, “the stateliest measure ever moulded by the lips of man,” should not be read with the jerky 3/8 movement which is characteristic of the English hexameter.
[2562.] The following passage may serve to illustrate the movement of the hexameter, and to show how the use of the different caesuras imparts variety to the measure:
Ō soci|ī ‖ —nequ(e) e|n(im) īgnā|rī ‖ sumus | ante ma|lōrum—
ō pas|sī gravi|ōra, ‖ da|bit deus | hīs quoque | fīnem.
Vōs et | Scyllae|am ‖ rabi|em ‖ peni|tusque so|nantēs
accē|stis scopu|lōs, ‖ vōs | et Cȳ|clōpea | saxa
exper|tī; ‖ revo|cāt(e) ani|mōs, ‖ mae|stumque ti|mōrem