Institutio Oratoria

as for example in the line,

1. quid igiturfaciam? non earn, ne nunc quidem?

Ter. Eun. I. i. 1. [*](What shall I do then? Not go even now?) The pyrrhic never forms a separate foot, but does form part of the anapaest, tribrach and dactyl and it is in this connexion that it is mentioned by Quintilian.

Violent and abusive language, on the other hand, even in verse, as I have said, employs the iambic for its attack: e.g.,

1. Quis hoc potest videre, quis potest pati,
2. nisi impudicus et vorax et aleo?

Cat. xxix. 1. [*](Who save a lecherous gambling glutton can endure to gaze on such a sight as this)

As a general rule, however,

if the choice were forced upon me, I should prefer my rhythm to be harsh and violent rather than nerveless and effeminate, as it is in so many writers, more especially in our own day, when it trips along in wanton measures that suggest the accompaniment of castanets. Nor will any rhythm ever be so admirable that it ought to be

continued with the same recurrence of feet.