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:
Praecōnem lituō perflantem classica victrix
Captīvum in taetrō carcere turba tenet.Queis ille excūsat, quod nec sit strēnuus armīs,
Ullius aut saevō laeserit ēnse latus.Huīc illī: Quīn ipse magis timidissime peccās,
Quī clangōre aliōs aeris in arma ciēs. PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Turba victrix praecōnem lituō classica perflantem captīvum in carcere taetrō tenet. Queis (quibus) ille excūsat, quod nec strēnuus armīs sit, aut ēnse saevō latus ullius laeserit. Illī huīc: Quīn ipse magis timidissime peccās, quī aeris clangōre aliōs in arma ciēs.
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):
Turba victrix praecónem lítuo clássica perflántem captívum in cárcere taetro tenet. Queis (quibus) ille excúsat, quod nec strénuus armis sit, aut ense saevo latus ullíus laéserit. Illi huic: Quin ipse magis timidíssime peccas, qui aeris clangóre álios in arma cies.
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.
Praecō·nem litu·ō per·flantem· classica· victrix
Captīv~· in tae·trō || carcere· turba te·net.Queis il·l~ excū·sat, quod· nec sit· strēnuus· armīs,
Ullius· aut sae·vō || laeserit· ēnse la·tus.Huīc il·lī: Quīn· ipse ma·gis timi·dissime· peccās,
Quī clan·gōr~ ali·ōs || aeris in· arma ci·ēs.IMAGE. ere's an illustration for the fable (image source) from a 1531 edition of the emblems:
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Turba victrix praeconem lituo classica perflantem captivum in carcere taetro tenet. Queis (quibus) ille excusat, quod nec strenuus armis sit, aut ense saevo latus ullius laeserit. Illi huic: Quin ipse magis timidissime peccas, qui aeris clangore alios in arma cies.
