Page:Goethe and Schiller's Xenions (IA goetheschillersx00goetiala).pdf/35

 caesura." It is rare in heroic poems; nevertheless it occurs sometimes and its occasional appearance is effective, for the combination of one dactyl with one trochee gives a euphonious ring to the verse.

The heroic hexameter is best known to the English-reading public from Longfellow's Evangeline. It has not been a favorite with them mainly because of the awkwardness with which it has been handled and the boldness with which short syllables are frequently used to serve as long syllables. We may say that at present the German language has proved itself most apt in reproducing this classical measure, in which, however, the long syllable (arsis) is to be replaced by a decidedly accented syllable, while the place of a short syllable (thesis) is taken by an unaccented syllable. This makes it possible that the same word may, according to position, in one place serve as a short, in another as a long, syllable, while the prosody of the classical languages is more severe. There a syllable is either long or short, and a short syllable can only become long through subsequent conso