From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A dactyl is like a finger, having one long part followed by two short stretches.
Metrical feet and accents
Disyllables
◡ ◡ pyrrhic, dibrach
◡ – iamb
– ◡ trochee, choree
– – spondee
Trisyllables
◡ ◡ ◡ tribrach
– ◡ ◡ dactyl
◡ – ◡ amphibrach
◡ ◡ – anapaest, antidactylus
◡ – – bacchius
– – ◡ antibacchius
– ◡ – cretic, amphimacer
– – – molossus
See main article for tetrasyllables.

A dactyl ( /ˈdæktɪl/; Greek: δάκτυλος, dáktylos, “finger”) is a foot in poetic meter. [1] In quantitative verse, often used in Greek or Latin, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, as determined by syllable weight. The best-known use of dactylic verse is in the epics attributed to the Greek poet Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. In accentual verse, often used in English, a dactyl is a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables—the opposite is the anapaest (two unstressed followed by a stressed syllable). [2]

An example of dactylic meter is the first line of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem Evangeline (1847), which is in dactylic hexameter:

This is the / forest prim- / eval. The / murmuring / pines and the / hemlocks,

The first five feet of the line are dactyls; the sixth a trochee.

Stephen Fry quotes Robert Browning's poem " The Lost Leader" as an example of the use of dactylic metre to great effect, creating verse with "great rhythmic dash and drive": [3]

Just for a handful of silver he left us
Just for a riband to stick in his coat

The first three feet in both lines are dactyls.

Another example is the opening lines of Walt Whitman's poem " Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" (1859), a poem about the birth of the author's poetic voice:

Out of the cradle, endlessly rocking [a dactyl, followed by a trochee ('cradle'); then another dactyl followed by a trochee ('rocking')]
Out of the mockingbird's throat, the musical shuttle [2 dactyls, then a trochee ('throat, the'); then another dactyl, followed by a trochee]
. . .

The dactyl "out of the..." becomes a pulse that rides through the entire poem, often generating the beginning of each new line, even though the poem as a whole, as is typical for Whitman, is extremely varied and "free" in its use of metrical feet.

Dactyls are the metrical foot of Greek and Latin elegiac poetry, which followed a line of dactylic hexameter with dactylic pentameter.

In the opening chapter of James Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922), a character quips that his name is "absurd": " Malachi Mulligan, two dactyls" (Mal-i-chi Mull-i-gan).

Dactyls in Contemporary Poetry

The anthology Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters collects a number of contemporary as well as classic poems in dactylic meter. [4] Recent dactylic poems in the meter online include "Moon for Our Daughters" and "Love in the Morning" by Annie Finch, [5] [6] and "Song of the Powers" by David Mason [7]

See also

Sources

  • Youmans, G. (2014). Rhythm and Meter: Phonetics and Phonology, Vol. 1. United Kingdom: Elsevier Science. [8]
  • Fraser, N. M. (1930). A Study of Meter in Goethe's Faust. (n.p.): University of Wisconsin—Madison. [9]
  • Finch, A. (1993). The ghost of meter: culture and prosody in American free verse. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. [10]
  • Finch, A., and A. Oliver. [11]

References

  1. ^ "Dactyl - Examples and Definition of Dactyl". Literary Devices. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  2. ^ "What is Poetic Meter? Oregon State Guide to Literary Terms". College of Liberal Arts. 2020-04-19. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  3. ^ Stephen Fry (2006), The ode less travelled: unlocking the poet within, Gotham, p. 84, ISBN  978-1-59240-248-9
  4. ^ Annie Finch and Alexandra Oliver (2023), Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters, Everymans Library, ISBN  978-0-375-71248-7
  5. ^ "Moon for Our Daughters? Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day". poets.org. 2023-08-14.
  6. ^ "Love in the Morning Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day". poets.org. 2023-08-14.
  7. ^ "Song of the Powers Poetry Foundation". poetryfoundation.org. 2023-08-14.
  8. ^ Kiparsky, Paul; Youmans, Gilbert (2014-05-10). Rhythm and Meter: Phonetics and Phonology, Vol. 1. Academic Press. ISBN  978-1-4832-1853-3.
  9. ^ Fraser, Nettie May (1930). A Study of Meter in Goethe's Faust. University of Wisconsin--Madison.
  10. ^ Finch, Annie (1993). The Ghost of Meter: Culture and Prosody in American Free Verse. University of Michigan Press. ISBN  978-0-472-10405-5.
  11. ^ Finch and A. Oliver, Annie (2015). Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters. Random House. ISBN  978-0-375-71248-7.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A dactyl is like a finger, having one long part followed by two short stretches.
Metrical feet and accents
Disyllables
◡ ◡ pyrrhic, dibrach
◡ – iamb
– ◡ trochee, choree
– – spondee
Trisyllables
◡ ◡ ◡ tribrach
– ◡ ◡ dactyl
◡ – ◡ amphibrach
◡ ◡ – anapaest, antidactylus
◡ – – bacchius
– – ◡ antibacchius
– ◡ – cretic, amphimacer
– – – molossus
See main article for tetrasyllables.

A dactyl ( /ˈdæktɪl/; Greek: δάκτυλος, dáktylos, “finger”) is a foot in poetic meter. [1] In quantitative verse, often used in Greek or Latin, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, as determined by syllable weight. The best-known use of dactylic verse is in the epics attributed to the Greek poet Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. In accentual verse, often used in English, a dactyl is a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables—the opposite is the anapaest (two unstressed followed by a stressed syllable). [2]

An example of dactylic meter is the first line of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem Evangeline (1847), which is in dactylic hexameter:

This is the / forest prim- / eval. The / murmuring / pines and the / hemlocks,

The first five feet of the line are dactyls; the sixth a trochee.

Stephen Fry quotes Robert Browning's poem " The Lost Leader" as an example of the use of dactylic metre to great effect, creating verse with "great rhythmic dash and drive": [3]

Just for a handful of silver he left us
Just for a riband to stick in his coat

The first three feet in both lines are dactyls.

Another example is the opening lines of Walt Whitman's poem " Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" (1859), a poem about the birth of the author's poetic voice:

Out of the cradle, endlessly rocking [a dactyl, followed by a trochee ('cradle'); then another dactyl followed by a trochee ('rocking')]
Out of the mockingbird's throat, the musical shuttle [2 dactyls, then a trochee ('throat, the'); then another dactyl, followed by a trochee]
. . .

The dactyl "out of the..." becomes a pulse that rides through the entire poem, often generating the beginning of each new line, even though the poem as a whole, as is typical for Whitman, is extremely varied and "free" in its use of metrical feet.

Dactyls are the metrical foot of Greek and Latin elegiac poetry, which followed a line of dactylic hexameter with dactylic pentameter.

In the opening chapter of James Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922), a character quips that his name is "absurd": " Malachi Mulligan, two dactyls" (Mal-i-chi Mull-i-gan).

Dactyls in Contemporary Poetry

The anthology Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters collects a number of contemporary as well as classic poems in dactylic meter. [4] Recent dactylic poems in the meter online include "Moon for Our Daughters" and "Love in the Morning" by Annie Finch, [5] [6] and "Song of the Powers" by David Mason [7]

See also

Sources

  • Youmans, G. (2014). Rhythm and Meter: Phonetics and Phonology, Vol. 1. United Kingdom: Elsevier Science. [8]
  • Fraser, N. M. (1930). A Study of Meter in Goethe's Faust. (n.p.): University of Wisconsin—Madison. [9]
  • Finch, A. (1993). The ghost of meter: culture and prosody in American free verse. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. [10]
  • Finch, A., and A. Oliver. [11]

References

  1. ^ "Dactyl - Examples and Definition of Dactyl". Literary Devices. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  2. ^ "What is Poetic Meter? Oregon State Guide to Literary Terms". College of Liberal Arts. 2020-04-19. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  3. ^ Stephen Fry (2006), The ode less travelled: unlocking the poet within, Gotham, p. 84, ISBN  978-1-59240-248-9
  4. ^ Annie Finch and Alexandra Oliver (2023), Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters, Everymans Library, ISBN  978-0-375-71248-7
  5. ^ "Moon for Our Daughters? Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day". poets.org. 2023-08-14.
  6. ^ "Love in the Morning Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day". poets.org. 2023-08-14.
  7. ^ "Song of the Powers Poetry Foundation". poetryfoundation.org. 2023-08-14.
  8. ^ Kiparsky, Paul; Youmans, Gilbert (2014-05-10). Rhythm and Meter: Phonetics and Phonology, Vol. 1. Academic Press. ISBN  978-1-4832-1853-3.
  9. ^ Fraser, Nettie May (1930). A Study of Meter in Goethe's Faust. University of Wisconsin--Madison.
  10. ^ Finch, Annie (1993). The Ghost of Meter: Culture and Prosody in American Free Verse. University of Michigan Press. ISBN  978-0-472-10405-5.
  11. ^ Finch and A. Oliver, Annie (2015). Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters. Random House. ISBN  978-0-375-71248-7.

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