Poetry can be called a whole science, which has its own laws and rules developed over the millennia of poetry. And in this article we will talk about one of the oldest poetic sizes - hexameter.
What is a hexameter in the literature?
The hexameter is the oldest form of verse, known since antiquity. This is a 6-foot dactylitic meter with caesura after the 7th syllable and a shortened ending for one syllable. The hexameter was the most common meter in ancient poetry, it was he who wrote the Odyssey and the Iliad. That is why the hexameter is also called an epic and heroic verse.
History
The hexameter is a metric verse that arose around the 8th century BC. e. in ancient Greece. Scientists do not fully know how this size came about. There is an assumption about the borrowed character of the hexameter. According to the most popular opinion, this meter arose under the influence of the Hittite and Hurrian poems. Initially, verses compiled according to the laws of the hexameter were not recorded, but were passed from mouth to mouth.
According to myths, this form of verse was created by the ancient Greek god Apollo, and the daughter of the god Femonoy, the Delphic Pythia, spread it on the earth. Therefore, it is not surprising that at first the hexameter was used only in sacred tests, for example, in composing speeches of oracles and religious hymns. Often such verses were pronounced to the accompaniment of musical instruments.
Much later, the hexameter switched to heroic poetry and other types of verse. And his first written example was the famous works of Homer - "Odyssey" and "Iliad", the writing of which dates back to about 9-8 centuries BC. e. In these texts, the hexameter appears in its classical form. Therefore, scientists have no way to trace the formation of this form of versification; the first written monument is an example of a completed and fully established meter.
As for Roman poetry, the hexameter was first introduced there by Quintus Ennius. In general, by its nature, this poetic form is suitable for languages such as Latin and Ancient Greek, where the vowel longitudes had a phonological meaning. To date, this size is not used in its classical form, it is only imitated and artificially recreated.
Hexameter: examples of verses and their structure
The heroic antique hexameter is a 6-foot verse with two options for filling the feet. A strong place is called arsis, it can only be a long syllable. The weak point is called the thesis - it can be both a long and a short syllable. The main thing is that the principle of quantitativeness, that is, equal quantity, be respected. Moreover, the last syllable can be any and is a sign of the end of the poem. The hexameter diagram is as follows: _UU | _UU | _UU | _UU | _UU | _X
Considering that each foot can be replaced by a sponday, we can conclude that there are 32 possibilities to implement such a verse. The classic 17-complex will sound like this: Quādrupedānte putrēm sonitū quatit ūngula cāmpūm ...
We are forced to give examples in Latin, as the Russian language simply does not have the ability to write verses with a classic hexameter due to the lack of long and short vowels.
Caesura
So, if you ever find yourself in the test task "explain the terms" hexameter "and" caesura ", then how do you answer the first part - you know, but what about the second?
Cesura is called the section of words (a kind of pause), which is monotonously repeated throughout the poem. Parts that are obtained after separation by their caesura are called hemistichs.
The role of such pauses in the hexameter is great because of the symmetry of the rhythmic size. And, for example, for syllabics, caesuras do not play an important role in the perception of verse. In the sizes of metric (recitative, with a fixed rhythm) pauses are necessary, since without them it is impossible to catch a monorhythmic long line by ear.
Nevertheless, the hexameter is initially pronounced without pauses. Examples of sacred verses confirm this. And later, with the development of individual creativity, the poetic system evolved. Only a native speaker of the original language in which ancient works were written can fully understand the meaning of Caesura.
Thus, the hexameter is a poetic size consisting of three-part parts arranged in series, the beginning and end of which are marked by pauses. Typically, such poetic works are divided into 2-3 fragments.
What is used for
As you know, poetic dimensions have their own semantic feature, in accordance with which they are applied. The hexameter is, first of all, an excellent tool for creating an image and its further disclosure.
Experienced poets, alternating pauses, could achieve a very high artistic effect in terms of imagery. This effect can be further enhanced by replacing the usual stanza with a sponde.
As a result, the classic size was used to describe a lively action, something that was fast. And spondaeus was inserted when there was a need for solemnity, moderation and significance.
Hexameter in tonic
However, there are languages in which the length of the vowels does not have any phonological value, for example, German, Russian, etc. In such languages, the hexameter was recreated artificially in order to convey the size of Latin classics and ancient Greek works.
Such an artificial hexameter is usually a poem with 6 shock consonants and 2, and sometimes one, unstressed. Thus, in the syllabonic-tonic system of versification, it looks like a 6-foot dactyl, which can be replaced by a chorea. Also, this scheme is called the 6-foot dactyl-choreic dolnik. Caesura remains in the middle of the stanza.
Russian hexameter
As mentioned above, in Russian this size is artificially recreated. It has 18 shares, the original antique - 24 shares.
The hexameter in the Russian language obeys the rules of the usual three-syllable sizes, while stressed syllables can be replaced by unstressed, and vice versa. Usually it has the following scheme:
_UU | _UU | _UU || _UU | _UU | _U, where || is a designation of caesura.
He became the first in Russian versification the size of hexameter fractions. Poems written according to this scheme first appeared in Grammar by M. Smotrytsky in 1619. However, these were just blueprints, since long and short syllables were set arbitrarily, and outwardly the verse resembled the alternation of dactyls with sponds. The first stable example of a hexameter is considered the work of the Swede Sparvenfeld, written in 1704.
Trediakovsky
However, only Trediakovsky was the first to approve the norm for the hexameter - the thirteenth compiler. He outlined this idea in his work, “A New and Concise Way to Compose Russian Verse”. The poet gave the first examples of a new size in the collection “Argenida”: “The first Phoebe, they say, fornication with the Venus of Mars / Could see: this god sees everything that happens, the first ...”.
The hexameter, examples of which can be found in other works of Trediakovsky, of this kind has become a classic for Russian literature.
But work on the size did not stop there, it was continued by Lomonosov. He did not change anything, but he gave a theoretical justification for the work of Trediakovsky. Significantly, these studies helped Lomonosov to work on the syllabonic system, which became the main one for Russian poetry.
Homer Translations
The hexameter is not the most popular system in Russian poetry. The only truly significant and great example of it is the translation of Homer's poems, which were made by N. Gnedich and V. Zhukovsky.
Gnedich worked most diligently on the translation of the Iliad - 2 times he set out a sample of ancient Greek classics in prose and 1 time in poetry. The last attempt (1787) is the most significant, since for her the poet had to continue considerable work on transforming the hexameter and adapting it to the Russian language. Although initially he tried to translate it in Alexandrian verse, which he spent 6 years on, he was disappointed as a result, destroyed all his work and set about again, already using only the hexameter.
Thanks to such efforts, Gnedich managed to create the best translation of Homer's poem, which to this day is considered unsurpassed. Here is a small excerpt from it: “The word having passed away, Festorid sat down; and from the host rose / Powerful hero, spatially imperious king Agamemnon ... " Written by the hexameter in the original, the Iliad was thus recreated in the same rhythm in Russian.
It is difficult to believe, but the first examples of translation were met negatively by readers, and Gnedich had to defend the chosen poetic size.
19th century
Work on the translations of Homer was continued by Zhukovsky, introducing the Odyssey to the Russian reader. He also owns a wonderful adaptation of “The War of Mice and Frogs,” in which the hexameter was also taken as a poetic basis. Examples from the works: “Muse, tell me about that experienced husband who / Wandering long since the day how Saint Ilion was destroyed by him ...” (“Odyssey”); “Listen: I will tell you, friends, about mice and frogs. / The tale is a lie, and the song is true, they tell us; but in this ... ”(“ War ”).
Also, the hexameter was addressed by Pushkin, Lermontov, Fet and many other poets of the 19th century. However, interest in him gradually subsides. In the 20th century, this poetic dimension is revived again in the works of Vyach. Ivanov, Balmont, Shengeli, Nabokov.