DIGGING DEEPER INTO POETIC METER - PART 3 OF 4: DACTYLIC METER

Over the past two months, I’ve introduced you to a few basic terms related to rhythm and meter as well as two poetic meters. (If you missed it, you can find it following these links.) I first introduced the iamb, a two-syllable metrical foot commonly used in English poetry. Next, I reviewed another two-syllable metrical foot, the trochee. 
 
This month let’s look at a three-syllable metrical foot: dactylic meter.

​dactyl – (pronounce “dack-tull”) A dactyl foot includes a first syllable that is stressed and a second and third that are unstressed. Think DUM-da-da. An example is the word elephant. Dactylic meter is referred to as a “falling meter” because it moves from a stressed syllable to two unstressed syllables. It is less commonly used in poetry and can be a bit more difficult to find. I will diagram stressed and unstressed syllables using UPPERCASE (stressed) and lowercase (unstressed) letters.

---

Let’s look to Rhyme Doctor Patricia Toht’s picture book, ALL ABOARD THE LONDON BUS (Illustrated by Sam Usher) and the poem, “Speaker’s Corner” to see dactylic meter in a poem:

---

---

​Excerpt:
 
Speaker’s Corner
 
Speakers on boxes, and speakers on chairs.
Some raise a fist or wave arms in the air.
All have a message they’d like you to hear . . .
 
SPEAK-ers on BOX-es, and SPEAK-ers on CHAIRS.
SOME raise a FIST or wave ARMS in the AIR.
ALL have a MES-sage they’d LIKE you to HEAR . . .
 
In this example, Patty drops the two unstressed syllables in the last dactyl foot at the end of each line, which is very common when using dactylic meter. There are four dactyls per line in this poem, so the poetic meter is called dactylic tetrameter.

For a second example, check out Rhyme Doctor Michelle Schaub’s picture book, FINDING TREASURE (Illustrated by Carmen Saldana) and the poem, “Roger’s Roosts” to find another use of dactylic meter in a poem:

---

​Roger’s Roosts
 
Cheer-a-lees, fee-dee-dees,
robins and chickadees
love Roger’s birdhouses;
so do the wrens.
 
Merrily from each tree,
legions of homes swing free,
perfectly sized for his
fine feathered friends.
 
 
CHEER-a-lees, FEE-dee-dees,
ROB-ins and CHICK-a-dees
LOVE rog-er’s BIRD-house-es
SO do the WRENS.
 
MER-ri-ly FROM each tree
LE-gions of HOMES swing free,
PER-fect-ly SIZED for his
FINE feath-ered FRIENDS.

There are two dactyls per line in Michelle's poem, so the poetic meter is called dactylic dimeter.
 
In this post, you’ve seen two great examples of dactylic meter! I’ll leave you with one important writing tip that often comes into play with multi-syllable meter patterns.
 
Avoid “Word Wrenching!”
 
If you write in rhyme, you know to pay close attention to multi-syllable words and exactly which syllable is accented or stressed. (You can always find the accent defined in the dictionary.) For example, the word “between” has an accent on the second syllable and is correctly pronounced be-TWEEN. When used in verse, the poet needs to arrange this word so that the accent falls in the proper interval of the metrical pattern chosen so that between is pronounced “be-TWEEN” and not forced into a “BE-tween” arrangement in your metrical foot. Poets refer to that as “word wrenching” when you force a mispronunciation of the word based upon the erroneous placement in your metrical line.
 
Look for this harder-to-find dactylic meter when you read children’s picture books or poetry. Next month I’ll introduce another three-syllable meter pattern. See you then.
 
Eileen Meyer, Rhyme Doctor