'Dabunt malum Metelli Naevio poetae': so runs the old
Saturnian verse. Bloomer does not actually quote this famous line, though he indirectly refers to it, while - in an excellent note - explaining that the issues are more complex (here let me say that the notes, over sixty pages in length, are of the first interest and highest quality).
15), he proceeds to examine sample verses of Umbrian, Old Latin, Non-Saturnian, and
Saturnian verse, finding a number of features in common with Old English verse (the variable length of the half-line, for example, and the range of one to three for unstressed syllables tolerated within a foot).