"The steady march of the verse expresses calm assurance. Horace has used this metre thrice, when he speaks with lofty inspiration of the dignity of poetry and his own calling as a bard." (I. 1; III. 30; IV. 8.)

II. The first Asclepiadean strophe, in which the Glyconic verse alternates with the minor Asclepiadean:

(The Glyconic verse like the minor Asclepiadean, may be scanned as choriambic, the choriamb beginning with the third syllable.) "With less elevation and repose, this metre has more pathos and a more varied movement than the preceding." (I. 3, 13, 19, 36; III. 9, 15, 19, 24, 25, 28; IV. 1, 3.)

III. The second Asclepiadean strophe, consisting of three minor Asclepiadean verses, followed by a Glyconic:

(These measures may also be taken as choriambic.)

"The falling effect of this strophe is appropriate for the expression of modesty, apprehension, despondency, or longing." (I. 6, 15, 24, 33; II. 12; III. 10, 16; IV. 5, 12.)

IV. The third Asclepiadean strophe, consisting of two minor Asclepiadean verses, a Pherecratean, and a Glyconic:

(Here also we may use choriambi, taking the Pherecratean thus:

"This metre has a still more subdued tone than the preceding." (I. 5, 14, 21, 23; III. 7, 13; IV. 13.)

V. The greater Asclepiadean system; the greater Asclepiadean verse four times repeated:

(We may find three choriambs in this verse, if we prefer.)

"Horace uses this metre thrice in exhortations, which are well supported in the steady march of the weighty verse." (I. 11, 18; IV. 10.)

VI. The Sapphic strophe, consisting of three minor Sapphic verses and one Adonic verse:

"Earnest and stately, and the proper metre for supplication to the gods; yet sometimes, with unmistakable humor, applied to subjects of a very different character." (I. 2, 10, 12, 20, 22, 25, 30, 32, 38; II. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16; III. 8, 11, 14, 18, 20, 22, 27; IV. 2, 6, 11. Carmen Saeculare.)

VII. The greater Sapphic strophe; an Aristophanic verse followed by a greater Sapphic:

(The greater Sapphic may be scanned with two choriambs, beginning with the fifth syllable.)

Used in one Ode (I. 8), “in which the question beginning in the shorter verse gains in liveliness and compass as it passes into the longer."

VIII. The Alcaic strophe, consisting of the Alcaic hendecasyllabic verse twice repeated, an Alcaic enneasyllabic, and an Alcaic decasyllabic verse:

(Some metrists take the last three syllables of the Alcaic hende

casyllabic verse as a trochee, followed by a long syllable with ictus and pause.)

The first half of the first three verses may also be divided into a spondee or iambus followed by a bacchius:

'Strong and lively, the proper metre for appeal and encouragement, exhortation and admonition."

The first verse, beginning with a monosyllabic basis, consists of two halves; the third verse is the doubling of the first of those halves; the fourth verse is a pure refrain, combining the second halves of the two preceding kinds of verse. The Alcaic strophe, then, is like a composition in which a musical thought, after it has impressed itself upon the ear by repetition, is resolved into its elements and further carried out.

Horace employs this metre more than any other, and it is hence often called the Horatian stanza. (I. 9, 16, 17, 26, 27, 29, 31, 34, 35, 37; II. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20; III. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 17, 21, 23, 26, 29; IV. 4, 9, 14, 15.)

IX. The first Archilochian strophe, in which the dactylic hexameter alternates with the minor Archilochian verse:

"The Archilochian strophes all express a certain sadness. The first is elegiac, with a prevailing tone of melancholy, while the falling rhythms of the shorter verse seem to represent hopelessness and resignation." (IV. 7.)

X. The second Archilochian strophe; the dactylic hexameter followed by the iambelegic or the iambico-dactylic verse:

"The iambic dimeter, here interposed between the two members of the first Archilochian strophe, expresses encouragement." (Ep. 13.)

XI. The third Archilochian strophe, consisting of the iambic trimeter and the elegiambic verse :

XII. The fourth Archilochian strophe, consisting of the greater Archilochian verse followed by a trochaic monometer (with an anacrusis) and an ithyphallic verse.

"Elegiac, with a joyous feeling." (I. 4.)

XIII. The Alcmanian strophe; dactylic hexameter alternating with dactylic tetrameter catalectic:

This metre resembles the first Archilochian strophe, and "like that expresses melancholy thoughts." (I. 7, 28.)

"Impetuous as the swift arrows of Archilochus, the repertor pugnacis iambi." (Ep. 17.)

XV. The iambic strophe; iambic trimeters, alternating with iambic dimeters:

abrupt clauses are well adapted to give the words point and stress." (Epodes 1-10.)

XVI. The first Pythiambic strophe, consisting of the dactylic

hexameter (which, as the proper verse for oracles, is also called the Pythian,) and the iambic dimeter:

XVII. The second Pythiambic strophe; the dactylic hexameter alternating with the iambic trimeter (here consisting of pure iambs):

XVIII. The trochaic strophe (or the Hipponactean); a catalectic trochaic tetrapody, followed by the second verse of the fourth Archilochian strophe.

The very smoothness and rapidity of the metre, says Orelli, denote a mind content with its lot and gladly spurning superfluities. (II. 18.)