Scansion: Dactylic Hexameter
METER: DACTYLIC HEXAMETER
The Dactyl ( ¯ ˘ ˘ ) is a metrical pattern known as a "foot" which is comprised of one long
syllable followed by two short syllables.
The Spondee ( ¯ ¯ ) is a metrical foot comprised of two long syllables.
Dactylic Hexameter is line of poetry made up of six metrical feet (hex = six), mostly
dactyls. The pattern for a line of pure dactylic hexameter consists of five dactyls and a
final foot that consists of two syllables (¯ ¯ or ¯ ˘). Since the final syllable may be long or
short it is called an anceps (either). Since two short syllables equal one long syllable any
or all of the dactyls in a line of dactylic hexameter may become spondees.
( -£ | -£ | -£ | -£ | -£ | -x )
Qui fit, Maecenas, ut nemo, quam sibi sortem
seu ratio dederit seu fors obiecerit, illa
Quī fīt,| Mǣ cē |nās, ūt | nē mō,| quām sĭ bĭ |sōr tēm
seū ră tĭ| ō dĕ dĕ |rīt seū| fōrs ōb| iē cĕ rĭt,| īl lā
Caesurae, brief pauses that occur in each line, often coincide with a break between two
clauses or ideas. They occur where a word ends within a foot. There are two types of
caesurae:
strong caesura : when a word ends with the first syllable of a dactyl or spondee.
weak caesura : when a word ends after the second syllable of a dactyl.
Quī fīt, Mǣ cē |nās, ūt nē mō, quām sĭ bĭ sōr tēm
seū ră tĭ| ō dĕ dĕ |rīt seū
fōrs ōb| iē cĕ rĭt, īl lā
There may be many caesurae in a line; but there will usually only be one principal
caesura. The principal caesura marks the most obvious pause in the sense, and is
usually in the third foot (but can also appear in the second and fourth feet).
Do not confuse caesurae
with the diaeresis , which occurs only at the end of a foot.
Scansion: Dactylic Hexameter
BASIC RULES & TIPS
SYLLABLES
Each vowel or dipthong represents a syllable. DIPTHONGS: ae, ai, au, ei, eu, oe, oi
If a vowel or dipthong is followed by a single consonant or cluster, another vowel or a dipthong, then the
syllable ends after the vowel/dipthong.
If a vowel or dipthong is followed by two consonants (excluding clusters) then the consonants are
divided between the syllables.
"
"
CLUSTERS: bl, br, ch, dr, fl, fr, gl, gr, ph, pl, pr, sp, st, tr, th, gu, hu, qu, su
LONG or SHORT?
A syllable is long by nature when it contains a long vowel or a dipthong (see above)
A syllable in long by position - contains a short vowel followed by two consonants or x. X = KS
A syllable is short if it’s not long
Exceptions that can be either long or short (wiggle room for poets) include the final -i of ubi, ibi, mihi,
tibi
and any vowel followed by cluster group (see above).
!
ELISION
When a word ends with a vowel or the letter ‘m’ and when the following word begins with a vowel or
the letter ‘h’ then the final syllable of the first word is dropped:
!
quae pu er i in te ne bris
!
quae pu er in te ne bris
Except when the second word is est. Instead of dropping the final syllable of the first word, the ‘e’ in est is
dropped:
ti men dum est
!
ti men dumst
MAIULLO METHOD
After all elisions are made, count the number of syllables to determine
the number of dactyls/spondees for a given line of dactylic hexameter.
syllables
dactyls
spondees
17
5
1
16
4
2
15
3
3
14
2
4
13
1
5
12
0
6