INTRODUCTORY 13
Greeks call heroic metre. At least it is said
(Octal, (pi-iv) that these are hexameters, consisting
of sixteen syllables ; also their other composi-
tions in verse are said to consist of trimeter and
tetrameter lines according to the sound of their
own language."^1 The reference to Deuteronomy
xxxii. and Psalm cxviii. (cxix.) and the specific
metres mentioned are as in Origen; but whether
or not Origen suspected or asserted measurement
by accented syllables, Eusebius clearly refers to a
measurement by syllables, and thereby produces
the impression that the Hebrew hexameter was
of the same nature as the Greek: whereas Origen
distinctly asserts that Hebrew metres are as
compared with the Greek e!teroi. At the same
time, the final words in Eusebius have something
of the character of a saving clause.
Scattered over Jerome's writings are a larger
number of specific statements, which may be
summarised as follows :
- Job iii. 2-xl. 6 consists of hexameters ; but
the verses are varied and irregular.^2 - Job, Proverbs, the songs in Deuteronomy
(i.e. Deut. xxxii.) and Isaiah, "Deuteronomy et
Isaiae Cantica," are all written in hexameters or
1 Praep. Ev. xi. 5. 5 : the translation given above is Gifforci's.
2 "Hexametri versus sunt, dactylo spondaeoque currentes ; et
propter linguae idioma crebro recipientes et alios pedes non earumdem
syllabarum, sed eorumdem temporum. Interdum quoque rhythmus
ipse dulcis et tinnulus fertur numeris lege metri solutis," Praef. in
Job (Migne, Patr. Lat. xxviii. 1082).