86. a. Catullus was unusually fond of ELISION, admitting it freely under almost every circumstance.
b. On the other hand, he admitted DIAERESIS only five times: cc. 2.13 “soluit”; 61. 53 “solvunt”; 66.38 “dissolvo”; 66. 74 “evolam”; 95.5 “pervoluent”.
c. SYNAERESIS occurs in cc. 40.1 “Ravide”; 55.10 “Camerium”; 62.57 “conubium”; 64.120 “praeoptarit”; 82.3 “ei”.
d. HIATUS in thesis is found in cc. 66.11 “novo auctus”; 68. 158 “primo omnia”; 107.1 “cupido optanti”. In cc. 27.4, 66.48, and 97.2, it occurs in the MSS., but not in the emended text here presented. Hiatus in arsis occurs in cc.10. 27 “mane inquii”; 55.4 “te in”; 97.1 “di ament”; 114.6 “domo ipse”.
e. SYSYOLE of final “o” is not uncommon, especially in verbs. In 10. 26 “commodă” (imperative) occurs.
f. DIASTOLE occurs in cc.64.360 “tepēfaciet” and 90.6 “liquēfaciens” (but cf. 68.29 “tepĕfaciet”).
g. In c. 116.8 “dabis” final “s” does not make position with the initial consonant following; and in c. 23.27 the reading of V, “satis beatus”, is probably correct, representing “satis beatu's” (i.e. “beatus es”). In cc.62.4, 64.20, and 66.11 a final syllable ending in a single consonant is lengthened in thesis before “hymenaeus”. A final syllable ending in a short vowel is thrice lengthened in thesis before a mute followed by “r” (in cc.4.9 “Propontida trucem”; 4. 18 “impotentia freta”; 29.4 “ultima Britannia”); and it is noticeable that all these instances occur in pure (?) iambics. A similar syllable is lengthened in thesis before initial “s” followed by a consonant in cc. 17.24 “pote stolidum”; 22.12 “modo scurra”; 44.18 “nefaria scripta”; 63.53 “gelida stabula”; 64.186 “nulla spes”; 67.32 “supposita speculae”. But Catullus is not careful to follow out this rule of position in all cases, any more than he is consistent in instances of systole and diastole, or in such cases as cc. 43.2 “nĭgris”, but 68.63 “nīgro”; and especially 71.2 “podāgra”, but 71.6 “podăgra”. In these minor matters he allows himself greater freedom than either Lucretius or the later poets, and the same liberty is seen in the greater matters concerned with his treatment of metres. His graceful command of rhythm was far removed from the fixed
