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Double dactyl

Form
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 modern fixed form consisting of two tercets and a quatrain, featuring dactylic dimeter, a repeated nonsense line, and a six-syllable final line.

Detailed Definition
Double dactyl is a humorous or light verse form consisting of two quatrains, each with three dactylic lines (¯˘˘) followed by a spondaic or trochaic line; it often includes a nonsense first line and a proper noun in the second stanza, prized for its playful constraints.
Example
Example in poetry:
Double dactyl: "Higgledy piggledy, / Emily Dickinson / Wrote tiny poems— / Slant rhymes, dashes, / Frugal, fierce, and / Never published."—a humorous, strict form with two stanzas of three dactylic feet followed by a choriamb.
Additional Notes
A light verse form with strict rules: two four-line stanzas where lines 1, 2, and 4 are double dactyls (DUM-da-da DUM-da-da), line 3 is a single double-dactylic word. Compare with the lighter tone of limericks.
Also Known As
Double dactylic poem Twin falling meter verse Paired three-syllable foot poem Higgledy-piggledy verse
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