red derrick
we haven't had a rhetorical post in a few days. my sincere apologies. in the meantime, here is something i read today in michael trapp's collection 'greek and latin letters' about letter 42 in his collection--a letter by jerome (letter 23 in his own works, written in 384) to marcella on the death of lea. trapp writes in his commentary:
Using a (very) recent even as his cue, Jerome constructs a letter of consolation...which is also a sermon on the superiority of spiritual over worldly values; central to its rhetorical structure is a comparison (synkrisis, comparatio) that combines eulogy of a recently deceased Christian with invective against a recently deceased pagan. Rhetorical polish is evident also in the attention given to rhythm: e.g. in the double cretic clausulae (ex)isse de corpore, (doce)amus in tartaro, quanta mutatio, cernit inquirere.
i admit my complete ignorance about prose rhthym; if anyone cares to comment on it, please feel free!
2 comments:
On prose rhythm, cf., on line, Blasius (i.e. Don Biagio Amata, dean of the Facultas Litterarum Christianarum et Classicarum, at the Pontificii Instituti Altioris Latinitatis, in Vatican, Rome)[http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/blasius2/rhetor/lat_xap.html]:
"Clausula est periodi conclusio, in qua ex apta verborum et syllabarum longarum et brevium dispositione quidam temporum et sonorum numerus obtinetur, ideo metrica dicitur, quia a quantitate syllabarum pendet, non ab accentu verborum. Potiores clausulae a Cicerone propositae (Orator, 63,212 - 64,218) sunt:
1. dichoreus _ v / _ v esse possit aestimasti serviatis praetulistis commoratur
(saepe creticus praecedit: _ v _ | _ v | _ v censui persequendum regna perducunt diutissime commoratur )
2. creticus et spondeus _ v _ | _ _ bella gesserunt esse facturos prodeant ipsi
(creticus et creticus _ v _ | _ v _ libertate decernitur gloriam tradere )
3. paeon primus et spondeus _ v v v | _ _ potuisse superare esse videatur
(paeon primus et creticus _ v v v | _ v_ esse patiemini)
(paeon quartus et spondeus v v v _ | _ _ studia ducuntur
propria libertas)
4. dispondeus _ _ | _ _ commendetis
impellemus effecisti
(spondeus et creticus _ _ | _ v_ exspectabimus adulescens nobilis)
Clausula ad animos flectendos et permovendos adhibetur, ideo a Patribus colitur et in cursum rhythmicum convertitur: clausulae metricae verborum accentu suffectae sunt. Intima tamen conexio inter clausulas metricas et rhythmicas inest. Nam ut in carmine accentus vocis cum ictu pedis interdum convenit, ita et in prosa numerosa saepissime congruere videtur. Haec autem accentus et ictus convenientia in multis Ciceronis clausulis prorsus comprobatur. In clausulis accentus vocum extremarum semper tenetur et servatur, quocum saepissime quantitas consentit.
Clausulas metricas observat Cyprianus:
*voluit et audiri (l) v v v _ / _ _ (paeon IV et spondeus);
*Domino teneremus _ v _ /_ v (creticus et choreus);
*audiamur _ v / _ v (dichoreus);
*Christi orationem _ _ / _ v / _ v (spondeus dichoreus).
Item Leo Magnus, in natali S.ti Laurentii:
*religionis exsortem _ v _ /_ v (creticus et choreus);
*saeva crudelitas _v_ / _ v _ (duo cretici);
*substantiam repperisset _ v _ / _ v _v (creticus et dichoreus).
Greetings,
Nico Narsi,
Classico&Moderno (http://classico.blog.tiscali.it/)
thanks!
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