The Pentameter verse is the same as the Hexameter, except that it omits the last half of the third foot and of the sixth foot: -
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[QUERY]
a. The Pentameter verse is therefore to be scanned as two half-verses, the second of which always consists of two dactyls followed by a single syllable.
b. The Pentameter has no regular Caesura; but the first half-verse must always end with a word (dioeresis, § 611. c), which is followed by a pause to complete the measure.[2][The time of this pause, however, may be filled by the protraction of the preceding syllable: - - | - | || - | - | - ]
c. The following verses will illustrate the forms of the Elegiac Stanza: -
*beginverse
cum subit | ill=i|us || tr=is|tissima | noctis i|m=ag=o
qu=a mini | supr=e|mum || tempus in | urbe fu|it,
cum repe|t=o noc|tem || qu=a | tot mihi | c=ara re|l=iqu=i,
l=abitur | ex ocu|l=is || nunc quoque | gutta me|=is.
iam prope | l=ux ade|rat || qu=a | m=e dis|c=edere | Caesar
finibus | extr=e|mae || iusserat | Ausoni|ae.
*endverse
- Ov. Trist. i. 3.
NOTE: The Elegiac Stanza differs widely in character from hexameter verse (of which it is a mere modification) by its division into Distichs, each of which must have its own sense complete. It is employed in a great variety of compositions, - epistolary, amatory, and mournful, - and was especially a favorite of the poet Ovid. It has been illustrated in English verse, imitated from the German: -
*beginverse
In the Hex|ameter | rises || the | fountain's | silvery | column;
In the Pen|tameter | aye || falling in | melody | back.
*endverse