And when we have learned by long familiarity to read between the lines, to apportion the emphasis, to reproduce, it may be, in imagination some shadow of that "marvelous witchery" with which, as tradition tells us, Vergil's own reading of his poems brought out their beauty, we shall be surprised at the amount of self-revelation discernible beneath the calm of his impersonal song. F. W. H. MYERS.

PREFACE

That the vox viva has a vital part to play in the study of language, seems to call for little argument. The one is closely bound up in the other. In numberless ways sound is accommodated to sense; and this holds true alike of ancient and modern tongues. Moreover, the literatures of the Greeks and Romans have always been regarded as preeminently human, hence called the "humanities," which accords with the fact that they are permeated with ideas not merely well suited to vocal expression, but frequently such as can be fully conveyed only by means of the living voice. In discussing the style of poets, Cicero went so far as to say "Nonnulli eorum voluptati vocibus magis quam rebus inserviunt" (Orator, xx, 68).

The following pages concern the student of the Roman poets, especially Vergil and Ovid. They aim to promote modes of study that shall react favorably upon the mother tongue, that shall yield good training, reasonable command of the Latin language, and some well-founded conceptions of antiquity. They aim to make it clear that reading (as opposed to the "puzzling out" method of study) furnishes at all stages the true key to sense, and that without such reading one will fail to enter into the full comprehension, as well as the highest enjoyment, of the poetry. The principles governing Latin metrical composition in the Augustan age will be briefly set forth. For a full