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Scansion & Items of Metrical Interest

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  1. (57-9): The shift to the steady metrical pattern (DDSD) to a longer, drawn-out metrical pattern (DSSS) in the two following lines suggests that time has stopped. 

  2. (61): Ovid breaks the fourth wall, interrupting the slow-motion effect of the meter to extend a question to the reader: "for what could she complain about except that she was loved?" 

  3. (63-5): Ovid brings the reader back into reality. The quickness of the meter (DDDD) evokes the rhythm of a speedy heartbeat. 

  4. Broadly, the lack of caesuras reflects the fast pace of this climactic moment. 

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