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According to the theory that the hendecasyllabics whose lines uniformly begin with two long syllables are earlier (see below on Metre), Hubbard notes that all the Furius and Aurelius poems (15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26) are metrically conservative, and presumably early, as are all the poems concerning Veranius and Fabullus (9, 12, 13, 28, 47); whereas the hendecasyllabic Lesbia poems tend to admit variations in their opening syllables and so are presumably later.

Metre

 * Butterfield, D. (2021). "Catullus and Metre". Chapter 7 in Du Quesnay, I. & Woodman, T. The Cambridge Companion to Catullus. Cambridge.
 * West, D. A. (1957). "The Metre Of Catullus' Elegiacs". The Classical Quarterly, 7(1-2), 98-102.

Phalaecian hendecasyllable
Catullus, to a greater extent than other surviving poets of the period, wrote in a great variety of metres. The most common metre in the first part of the collection (poems 1–60) is the Phalaecian hendecasyllable, which is used in 41 of the approximately 57 poems. This had been used before in Latin, by Laevius and Varro, but it seems to have been Catullus "who worked it into a supple and polished verseform". It is used for love poetry, invective, occasional pieces to friends, literary criticism, and anecdotal narrative. The pattern is:
 * x x – ᴗ ᴗ – ᴗ – ᴗ – –

Differences of style can be observed. In Catullus, the first two syllables (the so called aeolic base) can be a spondee (– –), iamb (ᴗ –), or trochee (– ᴗ) (later poets such as Martial used only the first of these). But there is a variation in different parts of the collection: poems 2 to 26 (263 lines) have a spondaic opening throughout, with only three exceptions (all iambic); poems 27 to 60 (279 lines), by contrast, have 63 non-spondaic bases (33 iambic, 30 trochaic). Poem 1, which has one iambic and three trochaic openings, belongs with this latter group. The conclusion seems to be that poems 2 to 26 are earlier compositions, but that later Catullus began to experiment with a more varied opening in poems 1 and 27 to 60.

Another variation is found in poems 55 and 58b (which may be parts of the same poem), when Catullus mixed in with the ordinary hendecasyllable some lines in which the 4th and 5th syllables are contracted into a single long syllable (13 times in 55, and twice in 58b).

Choliambic (scazon)
The next most common metre used in the polymetric part of the collection is the choliambic (scazon), a type of iambic which has a long syllable in the penultimate place. It is used in eight poems (8, 22, 31, 37, 39, 44, 59, 60). It mostly used for invective or self-reproach; but also twice (31 and 44) to praise a place dear to Catullus:
 * x — ᴗ — | x — ᴗ — | ᴗ — — —

Catullus uses resolution (the substitution of two shorts for a long) in only three places.

Iambic trimeter
Catullus also uses the ordinary iambic trimeter in three poems. Poem 4 is the famous Phaselus ille in praise of a retired sailing boat; the other two are invective. In two of them (4 and 29), the metre is almost entirely iambic:
 * ᴗ — ᴗ — | ᴗ — ᴗ — | ᴗ — ᴗ —

In another, of only four lines (52), although the first and last line are pure iambic, the 2nd and 4rd allow a long syllable in positions 1 or 5.

A characteristic of these iambic poems is that Catullus follows the Greek practice of allowing a short vowel to count as long before a word beginning with two consonants, e.g. Propontidā trucemve, impotentiā freta etc.

Iambic tetrameter
Another, rarer, type of iambic is the iambic tetrameter catalectic found in poem 25 (another invective): cinaede Thalle 'you sodomite Thallus':
 * x – ᴗ – | x – ᴗ – || x – ᴗ – | ᴗ – –

The poem is largely pure iambic, but with spondees in nine places. In comedies this metre is associated with women's speech, which is perhaps why it is appropriate for a poem about the effeminate Thallus, who is "softer than a rabbit's fur".