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 fugimus parvum, magnum persaepe perīclum
Obfuit: hōc vērum fābula nostra docet.Forte, canēs fugiēns sē Cerva recēpit in antrum,
Quās latebrās, vultum torva, Leaena tenet.Nec mora; capta fugax; tum sīc moritūra gemēbat:
"Heu! leve dum fugiō, mē capit ācre malum." PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Dum periclum parvum fugimus, persaepe perīclum magnum obfuit: fābula nostra hōc vērum docet. Forte, Cerva, canēs fugiēns, in antrum sē recēpit. Quās latebrās tenet Leaena, vultum torva. Nec mora: Cerva fugax capta est; tum sīc gemēbat, moritūra: "Heu! Dum malum leve fugiō, malum ācre mē capit."
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 períclum parvum fúgimus, persaépe períclum magnum óbfuit: fábula nostra hoc verum docet. Forte, Cerva, canes fúgiens, in antrum se recépit. Quas látebras tenet Leaéna, vultum torva. Nec mora: Cerva fugax capta est; tum sic gemébat, moritúra: "Heu! Dum malum leve fúgio, malum acre me capit."
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 fugi·mus par·vum, māg·num per·saepe pe·rīclum
Obfuit:· hōc vē·rum || fābula· nostra do·cet.Forte, ca·nēs fugi·ēns sē· Cerva re·cēpit i·n antrum,
Quās late·brās, vul·tum || torva, Le·aēna te·net.Nec mora;· capta fu·gax; tum· sīc mori·tūra ge·mēbat:
Heu! leve· dum fugi·ō, || mē capit· ācre ma·lum.IMAGE. Here's an illustration for the fable (image source) that shows a stag fleeing from the hunter and his dogs:
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Dum periclum parvum fugimus, persaepe periclum magnum obfuit: fabula nostra hoc verum docet. Forte, Cerva, canes fugiens, in antrum se recepit. Quas latebras tenet Leaena, vultum torva. Nec mora: Cerva fugax capta est; tum sic gemebat, moritura: "Heu! Dum malum leve fugio, malum acre me capit."
