C8. The first member stands at the end of the first half-line, the other within the extremities of the second, as

Nam caelo terras, et terris abscidit undas (M. i 22).”

Ovid has 38 instances, Lucretius 24, and Vergil 17.

C9. The first member stands within the extremities of the first half-line, the other within the extremities of the second, as

Nec scit qua sit iter, nec, si sciat, imperet illis (M. ii 170).

Ovid has 25 instances, Lucretius 11, and Vergil 8.

From these figures it is clear that the favored position in group C for Ovid, Lucretius, and Vergil alike is that in which the first member of the repetition is the last word of the first half-line and the second member stands within the two extremities of the second half-line. This result agrees with what Professor Howe found to be true for the hexameter lines of Ovid's elegy. Furthermore, a comparison of group C with groups A and B shows that for Ovid and Vergil this particular class contains a larger number of instances than does either subdivision of group A or group B. Lucretius favors the juxtaposition in the second half-line, but with this one exception his usage is the same as that of the others. This arrangement, therefore, may be said to be characteristic of the hexameter line, whether in heroic or in elegiac verse.

This is further borne out by the fact that the arrangement in group C which in frequency of use stands next to the favored one varies with the three poets. With Ovid it is the juxtaposition at the inner extremities of the half-lines (C4), and this class has more instances than any class in A or B. With Lucretius, on the

vi 76, 154, vii 28, 733, viii 513, 704, ix 518, 554, xi 84, xv 637. D. R. N. i 200, iv 64, 466, 1246. Aen. ii 354, 728, vi 736, vii 279, xi 644.

"The other examples are M. i 311, îi 11, 56, 322, 384, 754, iii 436, 458, 523, 691, iv 227, v 166, vi 3, 349, vii 187, 724, 750, 858, viii 95, 187, 288, 602, ix 583, 631, 681, 782, x 303, 332, xi 410, 774, xii 548, xiii 12, 40, 911, 935, xiv 568, xv 243. D. R. N. i 693, 788, 896, ii 235, 350, 791, 902, iii 842, iv 302, 308, 314, 719, 1174, v 153, 336, 644, 737, 1190, 1351, vi 145, 355, 769, 775, 1078. Aen. i 239, 621, 657, iii 500, v 569, vi 204, 380, viii 692, ix 617, x 810, 839, 842, xi 293, 869, 886, xii 640, 936.

"The other examples are M. ii 345, iii 415, 430, 468, 471, 509, iv 159, 211, 752, v 55, vii 18, x 100, 148, 328, 698, xi 244, xii 295, 500, 567, xiii 158, 299, 564, xiv 123, 505. D. R. N. i 266, 544, ii 578, 986, iv 470, 518, 1040, 1210, vi 500, 538, 652. x 338, xii 78.

Aen. iii 251, 606, v 324, 422, vi 133, 776,

other hand, C6 is second in favor, and this is less frequent than B1, or B2, or A2. Again, class C5 is second in favor with Vergil, and this is less frequent than B2.

The following tables gather together the figures cited in the foregoing pages, and will serve to make clear at a glance the differences in the practice of the three poets under consideration:

The conclusions to be derived from the foregoing examination are in the main but confirmation of the general impressions arrived at from casual reading of the poets in question. It was to be expected, for example, that the frequency of occurrence of any effective form of repetition, as indeed of any effective device of rhetoric, would be greater in Ovid's verse than in that of other Latin poets with whom he might reasonably be compared. It was also to be expected that when Ovid had found such good use for a particular figure in one form of verse he would readily adapt it to a closely allied form. It is not therefore less interesting, however, nor less worth while, to learn through actual examination in detail just in what ways and to what extent his superior skill manifested itself. Whether the skill be measured in terms of variety and complexity, of ease and apparent naturalness, of the extent of application, of the facility with which obstacles of meter and word-position are met, Ovid is easily the master in the handling of such material.

As to the details of the practice of the several poets, there is perfect agreement in one respect only, that is, on what constitutes the most effective position in the hexameter line for the two members of a polyptoton. It was the common experience of Lucretius, Vergil, and Ovid that the emphasis sought was best achieved by

placing the first member at the end of the first half-line and the second member between the extremities of the other. That Ovid, who experimented so much more extensively than did the others, found no better arrangement is evidence that, in spite of the possibility, which he proves, of great variety of treatment, there is nevertheless a controlling principle in the rhythm of the line itself which he must obey as well as the others.

Classical Seminar, University of North Carolina.

POLYPTOTON IN TIBULLUS AND PROPERTIUS

BY GEORGE HOWE

In order to carry still further Miss Breazeale's comparison of Ovid with his immediate predecessors in respect of the interesting form of repetition known as polyptoton, it has seemed worth while to examine the elegy of the Corpus Tibullianum and of Propertius. The results of such examination are surprisingly negative. If pronouns, forms of the verb esse, and changes of inflection involving different roots be left out of the reckoning, as was done in the previous studies, the occurrence of the figure is extremely rare. Polyptoton is to be found indeed in the work of each of these poets, but so infrequently that it seems, as Miss Breazeale remarked of Vergil, almost accidental. Tibullus has only fourteen instances all told in the 1376 lines of his elegy,' and only once does he make use of a complex variety. To Lygdamus the device is almost unknown: there is but a single instance of it in the 290 lines of his poetry.3 The same is true of the forty lines by Sulpicia. Propertius employs it with even less frequency than Tibullus, but he exhibits more variety and skill in handling it. There are thirty-six instances in the 4024 lines, and eleven of these are of a complex variety."

These instances taken together offer too little material from which to make deductions of any value. The various possible positions of the component members of a repetition are illustrated so evenly that no favored arrangement is discoverable. That there is greater variety in Propertius than in Tibullus may be accounted

1i, 4, 63; 8, 26; 9, 15; 9, 80; 10, 28; ii, 1, 37; 4, 11; 5, 117; 6, 7; 6, 9; 6, 11; iv, 2, 10; 3, 20; 6, 17.

'i, 8, 31; 8, 37; ii, 1, 48; 7, 19; 8, 6; 8, 8; 9, 52; 12, 13; 15, 50; 18, 3; 18, 4; 19, 7; 20, 27; 28, 7; 28, 42; 32, 1; 32, 56; iii, 3, 3; 5, 1; 5, 12; 6, 15; 15, 37; 20, 13; 25, 7; iv, 1, 35; 1, 73; 2, 3; 2, 64; 4, 35; 4, 82; 6, 1; 6, 13; 7,92; 7, 94; 8, 81; 9, 4.

i, 8, 37; ii, 7, 19; 8, 6; 20, 27; 28, 7; 28, 42; 32, 1; 32, 56; iii, 3, 3; 20, 13; iv, 2, 64.