Home › Glossary › Letter D

Dactylic quatrain

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 quatrain in which each line follows dactylic meter (DUM-da-da), producing a stately, processional rhythm often used in narrative or hymnal verse.

Detailed Definition
A Dactylic quatrain is a four-line stanza composed in dactylic meter (typically dactylic tetrameter or trimeter), often used in narrative or lyrical poetry to create a lilting, forward-moving rhythm; while uncommon in English, it appears in hymns and translations of classical verse, offering a melodic alternative to iambic norms.
Example
Example in poetry:
Dactylic quatrain: "Hark! the herald angels sing / Glory to the newborn King / Peace on earth and mercy mild / God and sinners reconciled" (each line dactylic, though adapted from trochaic original for illustration).
Additional Notes
Four-line stanza in dactylic meter throughout. Driving, falling rhythm; opposite of anapestic rise. Practice: Read Longfellow's hexameters for dactylic feel.
Also Known As
dactylic foursome galloping quatrain
Skip to main content