READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons in verse form, or macrons in prose order, or accent marks in prose order, or focusing on the meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)
VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:
Aethereās pennīs volat alba Columba per aurās;
Hanc videt Accipiter prōsequiturque simul.Prōtinus ingressus vīllam cupidusque sequendī
Captus ab Agricolā est; salva Columba fugit.Agricolam intereā blandīs, ut abīre licēret,
Sollicitat precibus; sē nocuisse negat."Tē nocuisse negās," sīc Rusticus; "improbe, quā rē,
Quam modo persequeris, laeserit illa, refer." PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Columba alba per aurās aethereās pennīs volat; Accipiter Columbam videt et simul prōsequitur. Prōtinus, Accipiter, sequendī cupidus, vīllam ingressus et ab Agricolā captus est; Columba, salva, fugit. Intereā, Accipiter Agricolam precibus blandīs sollicitat ut sibi abīre licēret; negat sē Rusticum nocuisse. Rusticus sīc ait: "Improbe! Negās tē me nocuisse; refer: quā rē illa Columba, quam modo persequeris, te laeserit?"
STRESS (ACCENT) MARKS. Here is the prose text with accents, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):
Colúmba alba per auras aethéreas pennis volat; Accípiter Colúmbam videt et simul proséquitur. Prótinus, Accípiter, sequéndi cúpidus, villam ingréssus et ab Agrícola captus est; Colúmba, salva, fugit. Intérea, Accípiter Agrícolam précibus blandis sollícitat ut sibi abíre licéret; negat se Rústicum nocuísse. Rústicus sic ait: "Ímprobe! Negas te me nocuísse; refer: qua re illa Colúmba, quam modo perséqueris, te laéserit?"
ELEGIAC COUPLET METER. Below I have used an interpunct dot · to indicate the metrical elements in each line, and a double line || to indicate the hemistichs of the pentameter line.
Aethere·ās pen·nīs volat· alba Co·lumba per· aurās;
Hanc videt· Accipi·ter || prōsequi·turque si·mul.Prōtinus· ingres·sus vīl·lam cupi·dusque se·quendī
Captus a·b Agrico·l~ est; || salva Co·lumba fu·git.Agrico·l~ intere·ā blan·dīs, ut a·bīre li·cēret,
Sollici·tat preci·bus; || sē nocu·isse ne·gat.Tē nocu·isse ne·gās, sīc· Rusticus;· improbe,· quā rē,
Quam modo· perseque·ris, || laeserit· illa, re·fer.IMAGE. Here's an illustration for the fable (image source) from a 19th-century edition of the fables:
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Columba alba per auras aethereas pennis volat; Accipiter Columbam videt et simul prosequitur. Protinus, Accipiter, sequendi cupidus, villam ingressus et ab Agricola captus est; Columba, salva, fugit. Interea, Accipiter Agricolam precibus blandis sollicitat ut sibi abire liceret; negat se Rusticum nocuisse. Rusticus sic ait: "Improbe! Negas te me nocuisse; refer: qua re illa Columba, quam modo persequeris, te laeserit?"
