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Bible Encyclopedias
Caesura
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or (Lat. for "cutting," Gr. Toµ7)), in prosody, a rest or pause, usually occurring about the middle of a verse, which is thereby separated into two parts (Kaa, members). In Greek and Latin hexameters the best and most common caesura is the penthemimeral (i.e. after the 5th half-foot): Mivu ' S, I Oe It, I I17)I Xnia I 'Ax I kilos Arma vi I rumque ca I no, Tro i jae qui I primus ab I oris. Another caesura very common in Homer, but rare in Latin verse,, is after the 2nd syllable of the 3rd dactyl: I of I en S' Piero I Oov?ori.
On the other hand, the hephthemimeral caesura (i.e. after the 7th half-foot) is common in Latin, but rare in Greek: Formo I sam reso I nare do Ices Ama I ryllida I silvas.
The "bucolic" caesura, peculiar to Greek (so called because it is. chiefly found in writers like Theocritus) occurs after the 4th dactyl: ivvere, I Mouva, aoI XuTp07rov, I µaXa I,roXAa.
In the pentameter verse of the elegiac distich the caesura is always penthemimeral. In the iambic trimeter (consisting of three dipodia or pairs of feet), both in Greek and Latin, the most usual. caesura is the penthemimeral; next, the hephthemimeral: 'St I va KIM Toii 17raXat I vFa I Supplex I et o I ro reg I na per I Proser I pinae.
Verses iii which neither of these caesuras occurs are considered faulty. On the other hand, secondary or subsidiary caesuras are found in both Greek and Latin; thus, a trithemimeral (after the 3rd half-foot) is combined with the hephthemimeral, which divides the verse into two unequal parts. A caesura is often called masculine when it falls after a long, feminine when it falls after a short syllable.
The best treatise on Greek and Latin metre for general use is L. Muller, Die Metrik der Griechen and Romer (1885); see also the article Verse.
These files are public domain.
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Caesura'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/c/caesura.html. 1910.
