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Dactylic dimeter

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A two-foot line of dactyls (— ∪ ∪ — ∪ ∪), often used for lyrical or narrative brevity

Detailed Definition
Dactylic dimeter is a two-foot line of dactyls (–uu –uu), producing a brisk, galloping rhythm; it appears in Greek lyric, nursery rhymes, and modern light verse, suitable for energetic or playful expression.
Example
Example in poetry:
Dactylic dimeter: ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘; “This is the / forest primeval” – Longfellow’s opening to “Evangeline” (though longer); Short example: “Over the / mountain high”; “Hickory, / dickory, dock” – nursery rhyme dactylic dimeter; “Cannon to / right of them” – Tennyson’s “Charge” uses dactylic meter.
Additional Notes
Dactylic dimeter contains two dactylic feet per line (– ᴗ ᴗ / – ᴗ ᴗ). Creates bouncing, falling rhythm. Compare with dactylic hexameter (longer). Lighter than longer dactylic lines—suitable for quick movement.
Also Known As
Dactylic two-measure Two-foot dactylic Double-dactyl meter Paired-dactyl line Classical dimeter long-short-long
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