§9.4.106idem trochaeus praecedente longa fit paean, quale est Si potero et dixit hoc Cicero, obstat inuidia.
The same trochee, with a preceding long syllable, becomes a paean, such as: 'Si potero', and Cicero said this: 'obstat inuidia'.
sed hum initiis dederunt.
But they assigned this to the beginnings.
cludet et pyrrhichius choreo praecedente, nam sic paean est.
The pyrrhichius will also conclude with a preceding choreus, for in this way it is a paean.
sed omnes hi, qui ut breves excidunt, minus erunt stabiles, nec alibi fere satis apti, quam ubi cursus orationis exigitur et clausulis non intersistitur.
But all these, which fall as short syllables, will be less stable, and are hardly suitable anywhere else than where the flow of speech is required and one does not pause at the conclusions.
creticus et initiis optimus: §9.4.107quod precatus a diis immortalibus sum, et clausulis: in conspectu populi Romani vomere postridie.
The cretic is also excellent for beginnings: as: 'quod precatus a diis immortalibus sum', and for conclusions: 'in conspectu populi Romani vomere postridie'.
apparet vero, quam bene eum praecedant vel anapaestos vel ille, qui videtur fini aptior, paean.
It is indeed clear how well either an anapaest or that paean which seems more suitable for the end precedes it.
sed et se ipse sequitur: servare quam plurimos.
But it also follows itself: 'servare quam plurimos'.
sic melius quam choreo praecedente, quis non turpe duceret? si ultima brevis pro longa sit; sed fingamus sic, non turpe duceres.
This is better than when a choreus precedes, as in: 'quis non turpe duceret?', if the last short syllable stands for a long one; but let us pretend it is: 'non turpe duceres'.
§9.4.108sed hic est illud inane, quod dixi: paulum enim morae damus inter ultimum ac proximum verbum et turpe illud intervallo quodam producimus; alioqui sit exultantissimum et trimetri finis: quis non turpe duceret? sicut illud ore excipere liceret, si iungas, lascivi carminis est; sed interpunctis quibusdam et tribus quasi initiis fit plenum auctoritatis.
But here is that void of which I spoke: for we allow a little pause between the last word and the next, and we prolong that 'turpe' by a certain interval; otherwise, it would be extremely bouncy and the end of a trimeter: 'quis non turpe duceret?' Just as that phrase 'ore excipere liceret', if you join them together, belongs to a wanton song; but with certain interpunctions and as it were three beginnings, it becomes full of authority.
§9.4.109nec ego, cum praecedentes pedes posui, legem dedi ne alii essent, sed quid fere accideret et quid ut praesentia videretur optimum, ostendi.
Nor did I, when I set down the preceding feet, lay down a law that there should be no others, but I showed what generally happens and what seemed best for the present.
non quidem optime est sibi iunctus anapaestos, ut qui sit pentametri finis, vel rhythmos qui nomen ab eo traxit: nam ubi libido dominatur, innocentiae leve praesidium est; nam synaloephe facit, ut duae ultimae syllabae pro una sonent.
Indeed, the anapaest is not best joined to itself, as one which is the end of a pentameter, or the rhythm which took its name from it: as, 'nam ubi libido dominatur, innocentiae leve praesidium est'; for synaloepha makes the last two syllables sound as one.
§9.4.110melior fiet praecedente spondeo vel bacchio, ut si idem mutes leave innocentiae praesidium est.
It will become better if preceded by a spondee or a bacchius, as if you should alter the same to: 'leave innocentiae praesidium est'.
non me capit (ut a magnis viris dissentiam) paean, qui est ex tribus brevibus et longa.
The paean which consists of three shorts and a long does not win me over (though I disagree with great men).
nam est et ipse una plus brevi anapaestos facilitas et agilitas.
For it is itself an anapaest with one more short syllable, like 'facilitas' and 'agilitas'.
quid ita placuerit is, non video, nisi quod illum fere probaverunt, quibus loquendi magis quam orandi studium fuit.
Why it pleased them so much, I do not see, unless because those who studied speaking more than oratory generally approved of it.
§9.4.111nam et ante se brevibus gaudet pyrrhichio vel choreo, mea facilitas, nostra facilitas; ac praecedente spondeo tamen plane finis est trimetri, cum sit per se quoque.
For it also delights in short syllables before it, like a pyrrhichius or a choreus: 'mea facilitas', 'nostra facilitas'; and yet with a preceding spondee, it is clearly the end of a trimeter, since it is so by itself too.
ei contrarius principiis merito laudatur, nam et primam stabilem et tres celeres habet.
Its opposite is deservedly praised for beginnings, for it has both a stable first syllable and three swift ones.
tamen hoc quoque meliores alios puto.
Yet I think there are others better than this too.
§9.4.112totus vero hic locus non ideo tractatur a nobis, ut oratio, quae ferri debet ac fluere, dimetiendis pedibus ac perpendendis syllabis consenescat; nam id cum miseri, §9.4.113tum ut minimis occupati est, neque enim, qui se totum ut hac cura consumpserit, potioribus vacabit, si quidem relicto rerum pondere ac nitore contempto tesserulas, ut ait Lucilius, struet et vermiculate inter se lexis committet. nonne ergo refrigeretur sic calor et impetus pereat, ut equorum cursum delicati minutis passibus frangunt?
Indeed, this whole subject is not treated by us so that prose, which ought to be carried along and flow, should grow old and feeble by measuring feet and weighing syllables; for such a task belongs to miserable men, and also to those occupied with the most trivial things; for he who consumes his whole self in this care will not have leisure for better things, if indeed, leaving behind the weight of content and despising its brilliance, he builds 'small tiles,' as Lucilius says, and 'connects words like worm-tracks.' Would not, therefore, the warmth be chilled in this way and the momentum perish, just as fastidious drivers break the course of horses with minute steps?
§9.4.114quasi vero numeri non sint ut compositione deprehensi, sicut poema nemo dubitaverit impetu quodam initio fusum et aurium mensura et similiter decurrentium spatiorum observatione esse generatum, mox ut eo repertos pedes.
As if, indeed, rhythms were not discovered by the very act of composition, just as no one would doubt that a poem was at first poured out by a certain impulse and generated by the measurement of the ears and the observation of similarly running intervals, and only later were the feet found in it.
satis igitur ut hoc nos componet multa scribendi exercitatio, ut ex tempore etiam similia fundamus.
Therefore, much practice in writing will sufficiently compose us for this, so that we may pour out similar things even on the spur of the moment.
§9.4.115neque vero tam sint intuendi pedes quam universa comprehensio, ut versum facientes totum illum decursum non sex vel quinque partes, ex quibus constat versus, aspiciunt.
Nor indeed should the feet be gazed at as much as the overall comprehension, just as those who make a verse do not look at the six or five parts of which the verse consists, but at that entire course.
ante enim carmen ortum est quam observatio carminis, ideoque illud Fauni vatesque canebant.
For a poem arose before the observation of a poem, and therefore 'Fauni vatesque canebant'.