Latin Verse and European Song: A Study in Accent and Rhythm

This book was begun as an attempt to answer the argument of Professor Philip Whaley Harsh, whose "Iambic Words and Regard for Accent in Plautus" appeared in 1949; the central question, however, is one which has perplexed me during most of my working life. The statistical method seems to me to yield no clear conclusion, depending as it does on the outlook of the author. I have tried another way. In order to escape, if possible, from the tyranny of preconceived notions and national habits of thought and speech, I have ventured into unfamiliar fields, and have been glad to seek the advice of friends... All that I have to say is, I fear, controversial; the subject of metric, however thorny and dry to the view, is in fact charged with emotion. ("Preface").