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§ 13. Objections to Meyer's theory. But plausible as is this theory about Commodian's verse-structure, there is an insuperable objection to it; and the substance of that objection is, in part, so carefully stated by Meyer himself, that it is hard to see how he failed to appreciate its weight. The fact is that in certain respects Commodian is strictly attentive to quantity, and it seems almost perverse to accept any theory which reduces this laborious strictness to "todter Zierrat". Meyer himself points out (p. 291) that of the 490 verses of the Carmen Apol. which end with dissyllables, there are only two in which the penultimate syllable is short; also (p. 296) that the penultimate syllable of the first hemistich is always strictly correct in quantity. The significance of the first of these facts is perhaps not obvious at first sight. It will be observed, however, that when the verse ended with a polysyllable, the penultimate syllable would necessarily be long, for otherwise the desired accentual effect would fail; but in the poet's use of dissyllables one would expect to find him utterly capricious as to quantity, since in such words the accent is necessarily on the penult. Here then Meyer finds indisputable proof not only that Commodian understood quantity but that at the end of each hemistich he was careful to observe it. On page 296 he says "Die Bildung des Schlusses war Commodian die Hauptsache"; in the remaining parts of each verse he finds (with a few exceptions which need not be noted here) nothing but entire indifference.

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§ 14. Commodian's use of dissyllables. But as matter of fact it can be shown that Commodian's regard for quantity extended much further than even Meyer has observed. The latter's remark upon dissyllables at the ends of verses naturally suggests an inquiry into the use of dissyllables elsewhere; and it will be found that the quantity of their penults is observed as carefully in all parts of the verse as it is at the end. This

observance of quantity follows a very curious but simple law. If the verses are read rhythmically, (i. e. with the same rhythmical movement as that of quantitative hexameters), it will be found that the thesis generally falls on the first syllable of a dissyllabic word only if that syllable is really long:-if, on the other hand, the first syllable of such a word stands in the arsis, then that syllable if long may form part of either a dactyl or a spondee, but if short can form part only of a dactyl.

This law can easily be demonstrated by an analysis of a passage from one of Commodian's poems. For example, in the first hundred lines of the Carmen Apologeticum there are some 108(1) dissyllables of which the penults will receive the thesis if the verses are read as quantitative hexameters. Of these, 52 are at the ends of lines, constituting in each case, of course, the 6th foot of the line. Of the latter all but two (edunt, 1. 22, and quoque,(2) 1.41) have the first syllable long. Of the other 56, which are found in the first, second, fourth and fifth feet of the lines,(3) all but three have the first syllable long, the exceptions being nisi (2), datas (27) and bonum (87).(4) This almost perfect regularity is not due to any overwhelming preponderance of trochaic or spondaic dissyllables in the Latin language, for there is no such preponderance:-and it is not due to any whimsical avoidance by Commodian of dissyllables with short penults; for in this same passage such dissyllables occur to the number of 59, and all except the three just mentioned stand with their penults in the arsis. Furthermore, and this is perhaps the most curious fact to be observed,of all the 56 dissyllables with short penults standing in

(1) This is without deduction for repetitions.
(2) Which Meyer seems to have overlooked.

(3) Not in the third, for Commodian puts his cæsura there.

(4) Perhaps also prius (83) should be added, making a total of 4 out

of 57 but I am doubtful as to the scansion of this line.

the arsis, only one is so placed that its penult forms part of a spondee. This single exception is statim (12). In all the other cases the penults stand properly for the short syllables of metrical dactyls. If, on the other hand, the penult of a dissyllable is long, then it may be in the thesis or the arsis indifferently, and in the latter case may be treated as either long or short. No system seems to prevail here, except at the close of the first hemistich (as will be pointed out hereafter). Compare for example the hemistich

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§ 15. Commodian's use of polysyllables. This curious system in the use of dissyllables seems quite inexplicable, unless the rhythmical reading of the verses (which we have assumed) was that really designed by Commodian. If that was really the case, it seems a fair working hypothesis (first) that Commodian was writing verse in quantity, so far as quantity was perceptible in his generation, in ordinary speech and to unscholarly ears, and (second) that for some reason the quantity of accented syllables was more marked and determinate than that of syllables not accented. If this were the case, then the same system would probably prevail in the use of polysyllables;-and an examination will show that in fact it does.

In the first hundred lines of the Carmen Apologeticum Commodian uses some 255 polysyllabic words. The accented syllables of these words are long in 182 cases, short in 73. Of these 182 long syllables, 140 stand in the thesis, 42 in the arsis. Of these 42 again, 17 are found in spondees and 25 in dactyls. A majority, therefore, of those that stand in the arsis, are improperly used. Of the 73 short syllables, on the other hand, 67 are used in the unstressed parts of dactyls, while none occur in the unstressed parts of spondees, and only 6

receive the metrical thesis. These 6 exceptions are found in divitiis (20) and divitias (27), humiles (29) and humilem (92), praeposuit (35), and arbitrio (85): and they practically reduce to three, for two of them are repetitions, and in arbitrio the penult may well have been regarded as long by position. It is worth noting, also, that in each of these exceptional cases the irregular foot is a dactyl, not a spondee;-and that the same is true where a dissyllable is irregularly used. Thus in the second line of the passage quoted above, the irregular foot is nisi quem, not nisi alone. Apparently the presence of two other syllables in the foot made it easier to tolerate the impropriety: or perhaps, indeed, we should say that Commodian did not regard these feet as dactyls at all, but that he sometimes allowed himself the license of substituting a tribrach. Such a substitution was of course not authorized by precedent: but it was logical and natural enough when all the dactyls were understood as cyclic, and of course Commodian cared little for precedent.

There is yet a further peculiarity in Commodian's use of polysyllables which remains to be noted. Where the accent, in Latin, is proparoxytone, the penult is of course always short. In the hundred lines now under examination these penults are never misused. In other words, not one of them receives the thesis, or stands in the arsis of a spondee. This uniform recognition of the quantity of short penults is sufficient to account for one of the facts stated in the last paragraph, namely the absence of short accented antepenultimate syllables from spondaic feet: for if such a syllable could finish a spondee, then a short penult would have to begin the next foot:but the statement was made as it stands for the sake of completeness, and because, moreover, the appearance of the same phenomenon in dissyllables shows that it would doubtless appear in polysyllables also as an independent fact, without this special necessity.

§ 16. The rationale of Commodian's verse. As to Commodian's treatment of the quantity of syllables in general it remains only to say that in monosyllables, and in all parts of other words except accented syllables and short penults, he shows entire indifference.(1) But that his practice in the matter of accented antepenults and short penults should be merely fortuitous, or anything but deliberate and systematic, is impossible. Moreover it is obvious that this practice must be capable of explanation and justification by the phenomena of ordinary speech in Commodian's time. To give such an explanation with thoroughness and certainty, is beyond the scope of this paper and beyond the writer's present ability; but the evidence seems irresistible that Commodian was writing in prosody as it existed in his own day. The common speech of his contemporaries seems to have exhibited a phase of transition between that of Virgil and that of St. Augustine's pupil. The quantity of accented syllables seems to have been appreciated by the unaided ear.(2) If they were long they could be slurred, but if they were short the poet was careful to avoid drawling them. Of syllables which did not bear the accent no particular account was taken, for their quantity, if perceptible, was at any rate not boldly marked. Perhaps only scholars knew whether they were long or short. If so, the use of these syllables by the classical poets must have seemed purely capricious to the unscholarly, and therefore Commodian might properly use them as convenience dictated.(3)

(1) Except, of course, in the special cases mentioned in the next

section.

(2) Of this exceptional definiteness in the pronunciation of accented syllables there is perhaps a remnant in the law of the preservation of the accented syllables in the passage from Low Latin into French.

(3) Of course his treatment of unaccented penults needs no explanation. Such syllables were known to be short by the rules of accent, whether they were so pronounced or not.

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