Greek Metre - an Introduction.    D. S. Raven. Faber & Faber. 1962. A good basic guide to most metres.
   Introduction to the Rhythmic and Metric of the Classical Languages.    J. H. H. Schmidt. Translated by J W White. Macmillan. 1894. In its day, this was regarded as both groundbreaking and oracular. Schmidt’s theories are now largely superseded : it was often said that he tried to force Classical metres, including lyrics, into the regularity of ‘Hymns A. & M’. It will not work. It is valuable however as an introduction to Greek lyric metres as they were classified by later Greek grammarians.
   Latin Elegiac Verse.    Maurice Platnauer. Cambridge 1951. Prosody, word order and every aspect of versification are analyzed in this book. Lots of references to Ovid, Propertius and Tibullus.
   Latin Hexameter     S. E. Winbolt. Blackie & Son. 1906. This is a shorter version of his bigger book. This is designed for school use, its scheme of study allotted to six terms, and it is interleaved for suitable quotations from Virgil derived from private or classroom study.
   Manual of Latin Prosody.    W. Ramsay. Charles Griffin. Seventh edition - no date A technical book full of interesting statistics on every aspect of Latin verse. Quantities and metres are fully dissected and no oddity goes unremarked or unexplained. The huge appendices deal with the early history of Latin, its pronunciation, the early spelling and problems of Saturnian verse. A mine of factual information, all clearly set out.

Published by the Hawtreys Classics Dept.
Web author:   Bruce McCrae