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 iambic meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)
VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:
Columbam dum persequitur, in laqueum incidit
Miluus; et ipsum dēdere cum vellet necī
Agricola: Parce, nōn enim tē laesī, ait.
At ille: Neque tē, opīnor, ista laeserat.
Mortem innocentī quī parat, iūre hanc subit.
PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Miluus, dum Columbam persequitur, in laqueum incidit; et, cum Agricola ipsum necī dēdere vellet, ait: Parce, nōn enim tē laesī. At ille: Et, opīnor, ista nōn tē laeserat. Quī innocentī mortem parat, iūre hanc subit.
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):
Míluus, dum Colúmbam perséquitur, in láqueum íncidit; et, cum Agrícola ipsum neci dédere vellet, ait: Parce, non enim te laesi. At ille: Et, opínor, ista non te laéserat. Qui innocénti mortem parat, iure hanc subit.
IAMBIC METER. Here is the verse text with some color coding to assist in the iambic meter. The disyllabic elements (iambs/spondees) are not marked, but the trisyllabic elements are color-coded: dactyls are red, anapests are purple, and tribrachs are green (as is any proceleusmaticus, although that is a rare creature); for more information, here are some Notes on Iambic Meter.
Colum·bam dum· persequi·tur, in· laque~ in·cidit
Miluus;· et ip·sum dē·dere cum· vellet· necī
Agrico·la: Par·ce, nōn· enim· tē lae·s~, ait.
At il·le: Neque· t~ opī·nor, is·ta lae·serat.
Mort~ in·nocen·tī quī· parat,· iūr~ hanc· subit.
IMAGE. Here is the illustration of the fable by Francis Barlow:
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Miluus, dum Columbam persequitur, in laqueum incidit; et, cum Agricola ipsum neci dedere vellet, ait: Parce, non enim te laesi. At ille: Et, opinor, ista non te laeserat. Qui innocenti mortem parat, iure hanc subit.
