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:
Cum pavidī silvīs Leporēs strīdentibus essent,
Praecipitī cursū dēseruēre locum.Dēsiluēre metū sed Rānae cūius in undās,
Dīcitur alta palus esse morāta fugam.Tunc, ita sī celerēs sumus, aevō grandior inquit,
Murmura cūr silvae nōn timuisse pudet?Saepe cient animōsō subeunda perīcula vīrēs,
Et mala, quid valeat quemque ferenda docent. PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Cum Leporēs pavidī essent, silvīs strīdentibus, praecipitī cursū locum dēseruēre. Sed huius metū Rānae dēsiluēre in undās; palus alta dīcitur fugam morāta esse. Grandior aevō inquit: Tunc, sī ita celerēs sumus, cūr silvae murmura timuisse nōn pudet? Saepe animōsō perīcula subeunda vīrēs cient, et mala ferenda docent, quid quemque valeat.
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):
Cum Lépores pávidi essent, silvis stridéntibus, praecípiti cursu locum deseruére. Sed huius metu Ranae desiluére in undas; palus alta dícitur fugam moráta esse. Grándior aevo inquit: Tunc, si ita céleres sumus, cur silvae múrmura timuísse non pudet? Saepe animóso perícula subeúnda vires cient, et mala ferénda docent, quid quemque váleat.
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.
Cum pavi·dī sil·vīs Lepo·rēs strī·dentibus· essent,
Praecipi·tī cur·sū || dēseru·ēre lo·cum.Dēsilu·ēre me·tū sed· Rānae· cūius in· undās,
Dīcitur· alta pa·lus || esse mo·rāta fu·gam.Tunc, ita· sī cele·rēs sumus,· aevō· grandior· inquit,
Murmura ·cūr sil·vae || nōn timu·isse pu·det?Saepe ci·ent ani·mōsō sube·unda pe·rīcula· vīrēs,
Et mala ·quid vale·at || quemque fe·renda do·centIMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story from the 1574 edition of Osius:
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches: Cum Lepores pavidi essent, silvis stridentibus, praecipiti cursu locum deseruere. Sed huius metu Ranae desiluere in undas; palus alta dicitur fugam morata esse. Grandior aevo inquit: Tunc, si ita celeres sumus, cur silvae murmura timuisse non pudet? Saepe animoso pericula subeunda vires cient, et mala ferenda docent, quid quemque valeat.
