Latin Hexameter Verse - An Aid to Composition #247878

This book contains the fruit of several years' class-teaching. It is offered as a help to fifth and sixth forms at public schools, and undergraduates at universities.<br><br>The metrical notes included in my edition of the four books of Virgil's Georgics (Messrs Blackie & Son) met with so much encouragement from several reviewers that I am hopeful there will be some use for these pages. I do not know of any book in English covering the same ground, and possibly a few of the faults of this work may be entitled to the indulgence due to the pioneer.<br><br>Will the composition of Latin Verse continue to form a part of our classical curriculum? I am not here concerned to answer this question; but there can be no doubt that if classical education is to continue to hold its own, its various departments must be made thoroughly efficient, and the best methods in translation and composition must be sought for. The present is a humble departmental effort in this direction.<br><br>The principle adopted is to aid in the composition of hexameter verse by showing to some extent the development of this literary form, by inferring from the evolution what is the best workmanship, and by hinting how technique depends largely on thought. A treatment of the subject on the broadest lines should stimulate an enthusiasm for the hexameter as a literary form.