OTP: Lesson - The Scansion of Poetry - Example One
The Scansion of Poetry - Let's Scan!
We've been working with a line from Vergil's Aeneid to demonstrate syllables and length. Let's now attempt to scan the line we've been working with. The Aeneid was written in dactylic hexameter, so we can expect six feet, with the final two feet being a dactyl (long, short, short) followed by a spondee (long, long).
The Process of Scanning
Scanning a line of Latin is a process. Eventually, it can become something that you "just do" but for now, we're going to go through each step in detail.
Please note: this process is much easier to do on a piece of paper, where you can mark the line as needed. Take a moment to write out any Latin that you are scanning and complete your analysis with pencil and paper. I know: so old fashioned, but I promise this will make scansion a much easier process!
Aeneid, Book 1, Line 1 (Vergil)
Arma virumque canō, Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs
- First, let's check for elision: there are no examples of elision in this line.
- Now, let's perform the syllabification for this line:
- ar/ma/vi/rum/que/ca/nō/Trō/iae/quī/prī/mus/ab/ōr/īs
- For each syllable, we now need to assign a quantity: long or short
- ar = long (a followed by two consonants: r + m)
- ma = short
- vi = short
- rum = long (u followed by two consonants: m + qu)
- que = short
- ca = short
- nō = long (by nature)
- Trō = long (by nature)
- iae = long (ae = diphthong)
- quī = long (by nature)
- prī = long (by nature)
- mus = short
- ab = short
- ōr = long (by nature)
- īs = long (by nature)
- Let's lay out the full line with space to mark each syllable as long or short. This should make it easier to see the feet for the final analysis:
| ar | ma | vi | rum | que | ca |
nō |
Trō | iae | quī | prī | mus | ab |
ōr |
īs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| − | u | u | − | u | u | − | − | − | − | − | u | u | − | − |
- Now we can search for feet: long, short, short = dactyl; long, long = spondee. These are the only two types of feet used in dactylic hexameter and we know that the line ends with a dactyl, spondee for feet five and six. Remember, feet are divided with a straight line: |
- − u u | − u u | − − | − − | − u u | − − |
- arma vi | rumque ca | nō Trō | iae quī | prīmus ab | ōrīs |
- dactyl | dactyl | spondee | spondee | dactyl | spondee
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