Saturnian is an old form of Latin poetry, complex in structure and eclipsed by classical Greek meters. It can be accentuated or quantitative, and its origins are obscure, possibly influenced by Celtic or astrological symbols. It fell out of use in modern English poetry.
Saturnian is an obsolete form of Latin poetry that was most used before the classical era. It was eventually eclipsed by the classical Greek meters for poetry. As a poetic metre, Saturnian is relatively complex. It requires a specific set of strongly stressed and lightly stressed syllables in a concrete arrangement that provides a certain number of sounds and accents.
Among the historical meters for poetry, Saturnian is often called an element of Latin prosody. Experts also identify two different systems that could be applied to this type of poetry. The first is called an accent verse. Stressed verse is a type of verse that is based on a specific number of stressed syllables.
In addition to the accentuated verse, experts also sometimes associate the Saturnian verse with the quantitative verse. This is a type of verse that corresponds to the Greek and Roman poetic forms. In quantitative verse, a line of poetry consists of a certain number of feet or collections of syllables. Accents and stresses do not determine the length of the line.
Like other forms of quantitative verse, Saturnian had long since fallen out of use by the time modern English-language poetry developed. Because English is a language that some describe as heavily accented, other modern forms are much more commonly used. These include iambic pentameter, which has dominated some forms of English-language poetry and drama from Elizabethan times to the present.
Since the actual origins of this type of classical or pre-classical poetry are quite obscure, some experts have theorized much earlier uses of the form that go back to earlier Indo-European or Proto-Indo-European roots. For example, some see a Celtic influence in the Roman version of the Saturnian. Others point out that the classical symbols used to construct the meter are not unlike some signs and symbols commonly used in astrology, a widespread practice in pre-classical times.
Some experts would also point out that the name Saturnian could theoretically be used to connect this type of poetic meter or structure with some numerical or planetary numerology. Many pre-Roman traditions had developed around Saturn and its role within the planetary system. Further study of the origins of Saturnian could reveal associations with other elements of early civilizations and more technical approaches to language based on these associations.
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