A dactyl (; el, δάκτυλος, ''dáktylos'', “finger”) is a

foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg mad ...

in poetic meter. In quantitative verse, often used in Greek or

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, as determined by

syllable weight In linguistics, syllable weight is the concept that syllables pattern together according to the number and/or duration of segments in the rime. In classical Indo-European verse, as developed in Greek, Sanskrit, and Latin, distinctions of syllab ...

. The best-known use of dactylic verse is in the epics attributed to the Greek poet

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

, the

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...

and the

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Iliad'', ...

. In accentual verse, often used in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

, a dactyl is a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables—the opposite is the anapaest (two unstressed followed by a stressed syllable). An example of dactylic meter is the first line of

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely trans ...

's epic poem '' Evangeline'' (1847), which is in

dactylic hexameter Dactylic hexameter (also known as heroic hexameter and the meter of epic) is a form of meter or rhythmic scheme frequently used in Ancient Greek and Latin poetry. The scheme of the hexameter is usually as follows (writing – for a long syllable ...

: :''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 Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical sett ...

'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": : '' 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 Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

'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 dactyl, followed by a trochee ('cradle'); then another dactyl followed by a trochee ('rocking'): Out of the mockingbird's throat, the musical shuttle 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 James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

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

Sources

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dactyl (Poetry) Metrical feet

See also

Sources

References