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:
Mollia carpēbant trēs pinguī corpore Taurī
Gramina, quōs constāns cōnsociārat amor.Hāc vim vītārunt omnem ratiōne ferārum
Nōn quia coniunctīs dēbile rōbur erat.Nōn audent ipsī quōs infestāre Leōnēs,
Rōboris hīs sociī vīs ea terror erat.At mox discidiō vexātī praeda fuērunt,
Rōbore crūdēlī quae valuēre, ferīs.Rēbus ut hūmānīs affert concordia vīrēs,
Frangere sīc illās vīs inimīca solet.PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Taurī trēs, corpore pinguī, gramina mollia carpēbant, quōs amor constāns cōnsociārat. Hāc ratiōne ferārum vim omnem vītārunt, quia coniunctīs rōbur nōn dēbile erat. Quōs Leōnēs ipsī infestāre nōn audent; vīs ea sociī rōboris terror hīs erat. At mox discidiō vexātī praeda fuērunt ferīs, quae rōbore crūdēlī valuēre. Ut rēbus hūmānīs concordia vīrēs affert, sīc vīs inimīca illās frangere solet.
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):
Tauri tres, córpore pingui, grámina móllia carpébant, quos amor constans consociárat. Hac ratióne ferárum vim omnem vitárunt, quia coniúnctis robur non débile erat. Quos Leónes ipsi infestáre non audent; vis ea sócii róboris terror his erat. At mox discídio vexáti praeda fuérunt feris, quae róbore crudéli valuére. Ut rebus humánis concórdia vires affert, sic vis inimíca illas frángere solet.
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.
Mollia ·carpē·bant trēs· pinguī· corpore ·Taurī
Gramina, ·quōs con·stāns || cōnsoci·ārat a·mor.Hāc vim ·vītā·runt om·nem rati·ōne fe·rārum
Nōn quia ·coniunc·tīs || dēbile· rōbur e·rat.Nōn au·dent ip·sī quōs· infes·tāre Le·ōnēs,
Rōboris ·hīs soci·ī || vīs ea· terror e·rat.At mox ·discidi·ō vex·ātī ·praeda fu·ērunt,
Rōbore· crūdē·lī || quae valu·ēre, fe·rīs.Rēbus ut· hūmā·nīs af·fert con·cordia ·vīrēs,
Frangere ·sīc il·lās || vīs ini·mīca so·let.IMAGE. 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: Tauri tres, corpore pingui, gramina mollia carpebant, quos amor constans consociarat. Hac ratione ferarum vim omnem vitarunt, quia coniunctis robur non debile erat. Quos Leones ipsi infestare non audent; vis ea socii roboris terror his erat. At mox discidio vexati praeda fuerunt feris, quae robore crudeli valuere. Ut rebus humanis concordia vires affert, sic vis inimica illas frangere solet.
