§3.8.1τὸ δὲ σχῆμα τῆς λέξεως δεῖ μήτε ἔμμετρον εἶναι μήτε ἄρρυθμον· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀπίθανον (πεπλάσθαι γὰρ δοκεῖ), καὶ ἅμα καὶ ἐξίστησι· προσέχειν γὰρ ποιεῖ τῷ ὁμοίῳ, πότε πάλιν ἥξει· ὥσπερ οὖν τῶν κηρύκων προλαμβάνουσι τὰ παιδία τὸ
τίνα αἱρεῖται ἐπίτροπον ὁ ἀπελευθερούμενος; Κλέωνα
· §3.8.2τὸ δὲ ἄρρυθμον ἀπέραντον, δεῖ δὲ πεπεράνθαι μέν, μὴ μέτρῳ δέ· ἀηδὲς γὰρ καὶ ἄγνωστον τὸ ἄπειρον.
The prose style must be neither metrical nor non-rhythmical; for the former lacks persuasiveness (as it seems artificial), and at the same time it distracts the hearer; for it makes him pay attention to the similarity, watching when it will come again, just as children anticipate the criers by shouting, "Cleon!" when they ask "Whom does the freedman choose as his patron?" But the non-rhythmical is unlimited, whereas it ought to be limited, though not by meter; for the unlimited is unpleasant and unknowable.
περαίνεται δὲ ἀριθμῷπάντα· ὁ δὲ τοῦ σχήματος τῆς λέξεως ἀριθμὸς ῥυθμός ἐστιν, οὗ καὶ τὰ μέτρα τμήματα·
But all things are limited by number, and the number of the prose style is rhythm, of which meters are segments.
§3.8.3διὸ ῥυθμὸν δεῖ ἔχειν τὸν λόγον, μέτρον δὲ μή· ποίημα γὰρ ἔσται.
Therefore, prose should have rhythm, but not meter; for then it will be a poem.
ῥυθμὸν δὲ μὴ ἀκριβῶς· τοῦτο δὲ ἔσται ἐὰν μέχρι του ᾖ.
However, its rhythm should not be precise; and this will be so if it is only carried to a certain extent.
§3.8.4τῶν δὲ ῥυθμῶν ὁ μὲν ἡρῷος σεμνῆς ἀλλʼ οὐ λεκτικῆς ἁρμονίας δεόμενος, ὁ δʼ ἴαμβος αὐτή ἐστιν ἡ λέξις ἡ τῶν πολλῶν (διὸ μάλιστα πάντων τῶν μέτρων ἰαμβεῖα φθέγγονται λέγοντες), δεῖ δὲ σεμνότητα γενέσθαι καὶ ἐκστῆσαι.
Of rhythms, the heroic is grand but lacks the harmony of spoken language, whereas the iambic is the very speech of the multitude (which is why in speaking, people utter iambic verses most of all meters), but prose needs to acquire grandeur and to elevate the hearer.
ὁ δὲ τροχαῖος κορδακικώτερος· δηλοῖ δὲ τὰ τετράμετρα· ἔστι γὰρ τροχερὸς ῥυθμὸς τὰ τετράμετρα.
The trochaic is too dance-like, as the tetrameters show; for tetrameters are a running rhythm.
λείπεται δὲ παιάν, ᾧ ἐχρῶντο μὲν ἀπὸ Θρασυμάχου ἀρξάμενοι, οὐκ εἶχον δὲ λέγειν τίς ἦν.
There remains the paeon, which people have used starting from Thrasymachus, though they could not define what it was.
ἔστι δὲ τρίτος ὁ παιάν, καὶ ἐχόμενος τῶν εἰρημένων· τρία γὰρ πρὸς δύʼ ἐστίν, ἐκείνων δὲ ὁ μὲν ἓν πρὸς ἕν, ὁ δὲ δύο πρὸς ἕν, ἔχεται δὲ τῶν λόγων τούτων ὁ ἡμιόλιος· οὗτος δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ παιάν.
The paeon is the third rhythm, and adjacent to those mentioned; for it is in the ratio of three to two, whereas of the others, one is in the ratio of one to one, and the other of two to one; and adjacent to these ratios is the sesquialteral, which is indeed the paeon.
§3.8.5οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι διά τε τὰ εἰρημένα ἀφετέοι, καὶ διότι μετρικοί· ὁ δὲ παιὰν ληπτέος· ἀπὸ μόνου γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι μέτρον τῶν ῥηθέντων ῥυθμῶν, ὥστε μάλιστα λανθάνειν.
Therefore, the other rhythms should be abandoned for the reasons mentioned, and because they are metrical; but the paeon must be adopted, for it is the only one of the rhythms mentioned from which no meter arises, so that it is most likely to pass unnoticed.
§3.8.6νῦν μὲν οὖν χρῶνται τῷ ἑνὶ παιᾶνι καὶ ἀρχόμενοι καὶ τελευτῶντες, δεῖ δὲ διαφέρειν τὴν τελευτὴν τῆς ἀρχῆς.
Now indeed, they use only one kind of paeon both at the beginning and at the end, but the end ought to differ from the beginning.
ἔστιν δὲ παιᾶνος δύο εἴδη ἀντικείμενα ἀλλήλοις, ὧν τὸ μὲν ἓν ἀρχῇ ἁρμόττει, ὥσπερ καὶ χρῶνται· οὗτος δʼ ἐστὶν οὗ ἄρχει μὲν ἡ μακρά, τελευτῶσιν δὲ τρεῖς βραχεῖαι,
"
Δαλογενὲς εἴτε Λυκίαν,
"
καὶ
"
Χρυσεοκόμα Ἕκατε παῖ Διός
"
· ἕτερος δʼ ἐξ ἐναντίας, οὗ βραχεῖαι ἄρχουσιν τρεῖς, ἡ δὲ μακρὰ τελευταία· "
μετὰ δὲ γᾶν ὕδατά τʼ ὠκεανὸν ἠφάνισε νύξ. "
οὗτος δὲ τελευτὴν ποιεῖ· ἡ γὰρ βραχεῖα διὰ τὸ ἀτελὴς εἶναι ποιεῖ κολοβόν.
There are two opposite kinds of paeon, of which one is suitable for the beginning, as indeed they use it; this is the one which begins with a long syllable and ends with three short ones, as in "Delos-born, or Lycian..." and "Golden-haired Hecatus, son of Zeus." The other is the opposite, where three short syllables begin and the long syllable is at the end, as in "After earth and waters, night obscured ocean." This latter produces the end; for the short syllable, because of being incomplete, makes the ending truncated.
§3.8.7ἀλλὰ δεῖ τῇ μακρᾷ ἀποκόπτεσθαι, καὶ δήλην εἶναι τὴν τελευτὴν μὴ διὰ τὸν γραφέα, μηδὲ διὰ τὴν παραγραφήν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ῥυθμόν.
But prose must be cut off by the long syllable, and the end should be clear not because of the scribe or the punctuation mark, but because of the rhythm.