War and Peace: Hypermetric Verse and Its Contrasting Uses in Aeneid Book One

Hypermetric verse is a phenomenon where the last syllable of the dactylic hexameter is potentially extrametrical because the dactylic hexameter must end in a dactyl and spondee; this error is resolved by elision of the extrametrical syllable by the initial vowel of the first syllable of the next line. Hypermetric verse, therefore, places a restriction on the following line, much as a mistake in game can limit the conditions by which one corrects their strategy. Hypermetric verse implies enjambment, but enjambment is not dependent on hypermetric verse, avoiding it altogether. Two examples of hypermetric verse are Aeneid 1.332-3 and 1.448-9; the intended effect of the hypermetric verse, however, is antithetical.

The first example (1.332-3) occurs in a speech in which Aeneas petitions his mother Venus, thinly disguised as an impossibly beautiful huntress.

 

iactemur, doceas. Ignari hominumque locorumque
erramus, vento huc vastis et fluctibus acti:

 

The -que is self-consciously hypermetric, as indicated by erramus, the first word of the second line. The use of hypermetric verse also augments the theme of lack of control and involuntary mobility, which is shown in the bracketing of the hypermetric verse by ‘ignari’ and ‘vento … acti’.

 

The second example (1.448-9) occurs in the context of Aeneas’ jealousy of the state of Dido’s Carthage, which is not complete but well-built enough to have a finished temple whereas Aeneas has yet to reach his destination.

 

aerea cui gradibus surgebant limina, nexaeque
aere trabes, foribus cardo stridebat aenis.

 

 

This completed temple is heavily composed of bronze, a metal associated with war. This metal is mentioned three times (aerea, aere, and aenis), creating an impression of unity. This unity is reinforced by reference to architectural features which connect and support (gradibus, trabes, cardo, limina, foribus). The word which hypermetricizes the verse, ‘nexaeque’, is a verb of joining. This example, in contrast to the preceding, uses hypermetric verse to emphasize control and stability. Both lines have identical metrics for the dactylic hexameter except for the hypermetric elision!  

 

One might be tempted to consider this unity and conformity a wholly good thing, but there are elements which suggest otherwise. The use of bronze, a martial metal, is a reminder of past and future conflicts. The metrical identity of the two lines could suggest an army on the march or a crippling lack of flexibility, on the part of peoples and kings. This temple gate, which creaks (stridebant) like the Trojan fleet under assault, is reminiscent of the Gate of the Temple of Janus, which was open during war and closed in peacetime. The man who is still wandering and the woman who has settled bodes ill for any romance (of which there must be one, since Venus is involved).