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:
Ut custōdīrent Agnam commīserat Hircīs,
Huic Lupus: est olidō grege quae comitante voluptas,
Optima quīn prātīs in amoenīs pascua carpis,
Agna, manēre meae cōgunt hīc iussa parentis,
Observāre piē, quae praecēpēre parentēs,
PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Māter Ovis Agnam Hircīs commīserat ut custōdīrent, quae rata est Agnam sīc tūtam fore. Huic Lupus: Grege olidō comitante, quae voluptas est tē sequī pascentem per loca salebrōsa? Quīn in prātīs amoenīs pascua optima carpis , quae nōstī pābula tuō generī grāta? Agna: Iussa parentis meae hīc manēre cōgunt; eā vetante, nōn licet hinc aliō īre. Nātīs ūtile saepe fuit piē observāre ut facerent quae praecēpēre parentēs.
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):
Mater Ovis Agnam Hircis commíserat ut custodírent, quae rata est Agnam sic tutam fore. Huic Lupus: Grege ólido comitánte, quae volúptas est te sequi pascéntem per loca salebrósa? Quin in pratis amoénis páscua óptima carpis, quae nosti pábula tuo géneri grata? Agna: Iussa paréntis meae hic manére cogunt; ea vetánte, non licet hinc álio ire. Natis útile saepe fuit pie observáre ut fácerent quae praecepére paréntes.
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.
Ut cus·tōdī·rent Ag·nam com·mīserat· Hircis,
Huic Lupus: ·est oli·dō grege· quae comi·tante vo·luptas,
Optima ·quīn prā·tīs in a·moenīs· pascua ·carpis,
Agna, ma·nēre me·ae cō·gunt hīc· iussa pa·rentis,
Obser·vāre pi·ē, quae· praecēp·ēre pa·rentēs,
IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source):
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches: Mater Ovis Agnam Hircis commiserat ut custodirent, quae rata est Agnam sic tutam fore. Huic Lupus: Grege olido comitante, quae voluptas est te sequi pascentem per loca salebrosa? Quin in pratis amoenis pascua optima carpis , quae nosti pabula tuo generi grata? Agna: Iussa parentis meae hic manere cogunt; ea vetante, non licet hinc alio ire. Natis utile saepe fuit pie observare ut facerent quae praecepere parentes.