Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Scansion in Poetry

(Graphic Scansion of the Dactylic Hexameter poem "The Invader" Stanza 1)

....dactyl........dactyl..........spondee.........spondee............dactyl........spondee
......./uu.........../uu...........//...................//................./uu.............//
Soon as the| girl,  in her| night gown || closed door,| climbed on the|bedspread;|
...........................................caesura

....dactyl......spondee......dactyl........spondee......dactyl.....spondee
....../uu..........//............/uu...........//........../uu..........//
Clinging to| window| pane,|| in a| web cage;| spider on| soft lace;|
..............................caesura

...dactyl......spondee......spondee.....spondee.......dactyl......spondee
..../uu...........//...........//...........//................/uu............//
Looking in| skyline,| tall poles||stuck deep, lighting the| homestead,|
...................................caesura

.....dactyl......dactyl.........dactyl......spondee.......dactyl........spondee
....../uu........./uu........../uu...........//............../uu..............//
Tropic air| blowing in|! Spider|| in| bedroom|, crawling in| Jane's space.|
.................................caesura

Aeneid Book 1, lines 1-7 by Latin poet Virgil

1 Arma vi rumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
2 Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
3 Litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
4 Vi superum saevae memorem lunonis ob iram;
5 multa quoque et bello passus, dum onderet urbem,
6 inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
7 Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.

The translation of Aeneid Book 1, lines 1-7 from Latin to English

1 I sing of arms and a man, who first came from the shores of Troy
2 To Italy, and Lavina shores exile by fate
3 Having been tossed about much both on lands and the deep
4 By the might of those above on account of the unforgotten anger of harsh Juno
5 And also having suffered much in war; until he should found a city,
6 And carrying the gods to Latium from whence came the Latin Race,
7 And the Alban fathers, and the walls of high Rome.

Click on this link for the continuation