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:
Dum turdōs viscō, pedicā dum fallit alaudās,
Et iacta altivolam fīgit harundo gruem,Dipsada nōn prūdēns auceps pede perculit: ultrix
Illa malī ēmissum vīrus ab ōre iacit.Sīc obit, extentō quī sīdera rēspicit arcū,
Sēcūrus fātī, quod iacet ante pedēs. PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Dum viscō turdōs, dum pedicā alaudās fallit, et harundo iacta gruem altivolam fīgit, auceps, nōn prūdēns, dipsada pede perculit: illa malī ultrix vīrus, ab ōre ēmissum, iacit. Sīc obit, quī, arcū extentō, sīdera rēspicit, sēcūrus fātī, quod ante pedēs iacet.
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):
Dum visco turdos, dum pédica alaúdas fallit, et harúndo iacta gruem altívolam figit, auceps, non prudens, dípsada pede pérculit: illa mali ultrix virus, ab ore emíssum, iacit. Sic obit, qui, arcu exténto, sídera réspicit, secúrus fati, quod ante pedes iacet.
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.
Dum tur·dōs vis·cō, pedi·cā dum· fallit a·laudās,
Et iact~· altivo·lam || fīgit ha·rundo gru·em,Dipsada· nōn prū·dēns au·ceps pede· perculit:· ultrix
Illa mal~· ēmis·sum || vīrus a·b ōre· iacit.Sīc obit,· exten·tō quī· sīdera· rēspicit· arcū,
Sēcū·rus fā·tī, || quod iacet· ante pe·dēs.IMAGE. Here's an illustration for the fable (image source) from a 1534 edition of the emblems:
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches: Dum visco turdos, dum pedica alaudas fallit, et harundo iacta gruem altivolam figit, auceps, non prudens, dipsada pede perculit: illa mali ultrix virus, ab ore emissum, iacit. Sic obit, qui, arcu extento, sidera respicit, securus fati, quod ante pedes iacet.
