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:
Ītalicae Samius sectae celeberrimus auctor
Ipse suum clausit carmine dogma brevī:Quō praetergressus? quid agis? quid omittis agendum?
Hanc ratiōnem urgēns reddere quemque sibī.Quod didicisse gruum volitantum ex agmine fertur,
Arreptum gestant quae pedibus lapidem:Nē cessent, neu trānsversās mala flāmina raptent.
Quā ratiōne, hominum vīta regenda fuit. PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Samius ipse, Ītalicae sectae auctor celeberrimus, carmine brevī dogma suum clausit - Quō praetergressus? Quid agis? Quid omittis agendum? - quemque urgēns hanc ratiōnem sibī reddere. Quod didicisse fertur ex gruum volitantum agmine, quae lapidem arreptum pedibus gestant nē cessent, neu flāmina mala trānsversās raptent. Quā ratiōne, hominum vīta regenda fuit.
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):
Sámius ipse, Itálicae sectae auctor celebérrimus, cármine brevi dogma suum clausit - Quo praetergréssus? Quid agis? Quid omíttis agéndum? - quemque urgens hanc ratiónem sibi réddere. Quod didicísse fertur ex gruum volitántum ágmine, quae lápidem arréptum pédibus gestant ne cessent, neu flámina mala transvérsas raptent. Qua ratióne, hóminum vita regénda fuit.
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.
Ītali·cae Sami·us sec·tae cele·berrimus· auctor
Ipse su·um clau·sit || carmine· dogma bre·vī:Quō prae·tergres·sus? quid a·gis? quid o·mittis a·gendum?
Hanc rati·ōn~ ur·gēns || reddere· quemque si·bī.Quod didi·cisse gru·um voli·tant~ ex· agmine· fertur,
Arrep·tum ges·tant || quae pedi·bus lapi·dem:Nē ces·sent, neu· trāns·ver·sās mala· flāmina· raptent.
Quā rati·ōn~, homi·num || vīta re·genda fu·it.IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source).
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Samius ipse, Italicae sectae auctor celeberrimus, carmine brevi dogma suum clausit - Quo praetergressus? Quid agis? Quid omittis agendum? - quemque urgens hanc rationem sibi reddere. Quod didicisse fertur ex gruum volitantum agmine, quae lapidem arreptum pedibus gestant ne cessent, neu flamina mala transversas raptent. Qua ratione, hominum vita regenda fuit.
