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:
Cūr tē nāte, parēns inquit, cuī grandior aetas,
Incēdente legī nōn via recta solet?Huīc ait ille, sequī nōn hoc mī pappule cessem,
Sī faciās rē, quod vōce requīris, idem.Prāva nocent mīrē nātīs exempla parentum,
Quī sibi iūre putant illa licēre sequī.PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Parēns, cuī grandior aetas, inquit: Nāte, tē incēdente, cūr nōn via recta legī solet? Ille huīc ait: Mī pappule, hoc sequī nōn cessem, sī rē idem faciās, quod vōce requīris. Parentum exempla prāva nātīs mīrē nocent, quī putant iūre sibi licēre illa sequī.
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):
Parens, cui grándior aetas, inquit: Nate, te incedénte, cur non via recta legi solet? Ille huic ait: Mi páppule, hoc sequi non cessem, si re idem fácias, quod voce requíris. Paréntum exémpla prava natis mire nocent, qui putant iure sibi licére illa sequi.
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.
Cūr tē· nāte, pa·rēns in·quit, cuī ·grandior ·aetas,
Incē·dente le·gī || nōn via ·recta so·let?Huīc ait ·ille, se·quī nōn ·hoc mī ·pappule ·cessem,
Sī faci·ās rē, ·quod || vōce re·quīris, i·dem.Prāva no·cent mī·rē nā·tīs ex·empla pa·rentum,
Quī sibi ·iūre pu·tant || illa li·cēre se·quī.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: Parens, cui grandior aetas, inquit: Nate, te incedente, cur non via recta legi solet? Ille huic ait: Mi pappule, hoc sequi non cessem, si re idem facias, quod voce requiris. Parentum exempla prava natis mire nocent, qui putant iure sibi licere illa sequi.
