[sect. 13]
Prosody.
[86]
86. a. Catullus was unusually fond of ELISION, admitting it freely under almost every circumstance.
b. On the other hand, he admitted DIAERESIS only five times:
cc. 2.13 soluit;
61. 53 solvunt;
66.38 dissolvo;
66. 74 evolam;
95.5 pervoluent.
c. SYNAERESIS occurs in
cc. 40.1 Ravide;
55.10 Camerium;
62.57 conubium;
64.120 praeoptarit;
82.3 ei.
d. HIATUS in thesis is found in
cc. 66.11 novo auctus;
68. 158 primo omnia;
107.1 cupido optanti.
In cc. 27.4,
66.48, and 97.2, it occurs in
the MSS., but not in the emended text here presented. Hiatus in
arsis occurs in cc.10. 27 mane inquii;
55.4 te in;
97.1 di ament;
114.6 domo ipse.
e. SYSYOLE of final o is not uncommon,
especially in verbs. In 10. 26
commod (imperative) occurs.
f. DIASTOLE occurs in cc.64.360
tepfaciet and
90.6 liqufaciens (but
cf. 68.29 tepfaciet).
g. In c. 116.8 dabis final
s does not make position with the
initial consonant following; and in c. 23.27
the reading of V, satis beatus,
is probably correct, representing satis beatu's
(i.e. beatus es). In cc.62.4,
64.20, and 66.11
a final syllable ending in a single consonant is lengthened in thesis before
hymenaeus. A final syllable
ending in a short vowel is thrice lengthened in thesis before a mute
followed by r
(in cc.4.9 Propontida trucem;
4. 18 impotentia freta;
29.4 ultima Britannia); and it
is noticeable that all these instances occur in pure (?) iambics. A
similar syllable is lengthened in thesis before initial
s followed by a consonant in
cc. 17.24 pote stolidum;
22.12 modo scurra;
44.18 nefaria scripta;
63.53 gelida stabula;
64.186 nulla spes;
67.32 supposita speculae.
But Catullus is not careful to follow out this rule of position in all
cases, any more than he is consistent in instances of systole and
diastole, or in such cases as
cc. 43.2 ngris,
but 68.63 ngro;
and especially 71.2 podgra,
but 71.6 podgra.
In these minor matters he allows himself greater
freedom than either Lucretius or the later poets, and the same liberty
is seen in the greater matters concerned with his treatment of
metres. His graceful command of rhythm was far removed from the fixed
