[IV.]
METRICA.
ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE CAESURA IN THE GREEK SENARIUS.
FROM THE
TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY,
JUNE 23, 1843.
In respect to the cæsura of the Greek tragic senarius, the rules, as laid down by Porson in the Supplement to his Preface to the Hecuba, and as recognised, more or less, by the English school of critics, seem capable of a more general expression, and, at the same time, liable to certain limitations in regard to fact. This becomes apparent when we investigate the principle that serves as the foundation to these rules; in other words, when we exhibit the rationale, or doctrine, of the cæsura in question. At this we can arrive by taking cognizance of a second element of metre beyond that of quantity.
It is assumed that the element in metre which goes, in works of different writers, under the name of ictus metricus, or of arsis, is the same as accent in the sense of that word in English. It is this that constitutes the difference between words like týrant and resúme, or súrvey and survéy; or (to take more convenient examples) between the word Aúgust, used as the name of a month, and augúst used as an adjective. Without inquiring how far this coincides with the accent and accentuation of the classical grammarians, it may be stated that, in the forthcoming pages, arsis, ictus metricus, and accent (in the English sense of the word), mean one and the same thing. With this view of the arsis, or ictus, we may ask how far, in each particular foot of the senarius, it coincides with the quantity.
First Foot.—In the first place of a tragic senarius it is a matter of indifference whether the arsis fall on the first or second syllable, that is, it is a matter of indifference whether the foot be sounded as týrant or as resúme, as Aúgust or as augúst. In the following lines the words [a]ἡκω], [a]παλαι], [a]εἰπερ], [a]τινας], may be pronounced either as [a]ἥκω], [a]πάλαι], [a]εἴπερ], [a]τίνας], or as [a]ἡκώ], [a]παλαί], [a]εἰπέρ], [a]τινάς], without any detriment to the character of the line wherein they occur.
[a]Ἥκω νεκρον κευθμωνα και σκοτου ρυλας.]
[a]Πάλαι κυνηγετουντα και μετρουμενον.]
[a]Είπερ δικαιος εστ' εμος τα πατροθεν.]
[a]Τίνας ποθ' ἑδρας τασδε μοι θοαζετε.]