Salve kindly people who give up their own free time to assist people like me.
I am having a little (!) difficulty with scansion. I understand the concept, and even feel as though I understand the application, but in trying to make these two lines from Aeneid II fit the metre, I have had to really push the boundaries and effectively bodge long syllables where I am not confident they belong. I'm not sure I know exactly what constitutes cheating here; if I place the whole line with my attempt at a solution is that cheating? I will start with trying to highlight the areas with which I was least happy, but if it doesn't make sense, please let me know and I will post the rest of my solution...
I am looking at Aeneid II line 248-249.
I have come up with a solution that follows the pattern of:
S - D - D - D - D - TR
D - S - S - S - D - TR
(where D is dactyl, S is spondee and TR is trochee)
However in order to achieve this I have had to make 'velamus' comprise all long vowels.
I am also not sure if 'deum' should count as having two vowels or one diphthong. If deum should be one long syllable not a short-long then the metre doesn't fit unless 'delubra' comprises all long vowels. I fear I have fallen foul of the temptation to make the lines do what I want them to do rather than what they actually do! If someone can help, I would be mightily grateful.
I am having a little (!) difficulty with scansion. I understand the concept, and even feel as though I understand the application, but in trying to make these two lines from Aeneid II fit the metre, I have had to really push the boundaries and effectively bodge long syllables where I am not confident they belong. I'm not sure I know exactly what constitutes cheating here; if I place the whole line with my attempt at a solution is that cheating? I will start with trying to highlight the areas with which I was least happy, but if it doesn't make sense, please let me know and I will post the rest of my solution...
I am looking at Aeneid II line 248-249.
I have come up with a solution that follows the pattern of:
S - D - D - D - D - TR
D - S - S - S - D - TR
(where D is dactyl, S is spondee and TR is trochee)
However in order to achieve this I have had to make 'velamus' comprise all long vowels.
I am also not sure if 'deum' should count as having two vowels or one diphthong. If deum should be one long syllable not a short-long then the metre doesn't fit unless 'delubra' comprises all long vowels. I fear I have fallen foul of the temptation to make the lines do what I want them to do rather than what they actually do! If someone can help, I would be mightily grateful.
