An amphibrach () is a

metrical foot The foot is the basic repeating rhythmic unit that forms part of a line of verse in most Indo-European traditions of poetry, including English accentual-syllabic verse and the quantitative meter of classical ancient Greek and Latin poetry. ...

used in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

prosody. It consists of a

long syllable 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 syllable ...

between two short syllables. The word comes from the

ἀμφίβραχυς, ''amphíbrakhys'', "short on both sides".

Usage

English

In English accentual-syllabic poetry, an amphibrach is a stressed syllable surrounded by two unstressed syllables. It is rarely used as the overall meter of a poem, usually appearing only in a small amount of humorous poetry, children's poetry, and experimental poems. The individual amphibrachic foot often appears as a variant within, for instance,

anapaest An anapaest (; also spelled anapæst or anapest, also called antidactylus) is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. In classical quantitative meters it consists of two short syllables followed by a long one; in accentual stress meters it consi ...

ic meter. It is the main foot used in the construction of the

limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, as in "There once was / a girl from / Nantucket." It was also used by the Victorians for narrative poetry, e.g. Samuel Woodworth's poem "The Old Oaken Bucket" (1817) beginning "How dear to / my heart are / the scenes of / my childhood."

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

's poem "O where are you going?" (1931) is a more recent and slightly less metrically-regular example. The amphibrach is also often used in ballads and light verse, such as the hypermetrical lines of

Sir John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

's poem "Meditation on the A30" (1966).

Russian

Amphibrachs are a staple meter of Russian poetry. A common variation in an amphibrachic line, in both Russian and English, is to end the line with an iamb, as

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

does in " The Ruined Maid" (1901): "Oh did n't / you know I'd / been ru in'd / said she".

Polish

Amphibrachic metre is very popular in Polish literature. It can be found in romantic poetry in some works by

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukra ...

and

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; ; ; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the " Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of modern Polish drama. Hi ...

. The best known example is "Deszcz jesienny" (English: "Autumn rain"; 1908) by Leopold Staff. The amphibrach is believed to be suitable for lullabies. Usually Polish amphibrachic lines have feminine endings (for example the tetrametre ◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡) but some poets experiment with masculine lines as well. In the poem "Walc" (English: "Waltz") from

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz ( , , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. He primarily wrote his poetry in Polish language, Polish. Regarded as one of the great poets of the ...

's 1945 collection '' Ocalenie'' the first line is feminine, ◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡, the second masculine, ◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–, and so on. Jan Bolesław Ożóg experimented with irregular amphibrachic verse with different numbers of feet in successive lines. An example of this way of making verse is the poem ''Jemioła'' (''Mistletoe''), included in the book with the same title (1966).

Examples

Dr. Seuss

Some books by Dr. Seuss contain many lines written in amphibrachs, such as these from '' If I Ran the Circus'' (1956): :All ready / to put up / the tents for / my circus. :I think I / will call it / the Circus / McGurkus. :And NOW comes / an act of / Enormous / Enormance! :No former / performer's / performed this / performance!

A Visit from St. Nicholas

Clement Clarke Moore Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863) was an American writer, scholar and real estate developer. He is best known as author of the Christmas poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas", which first named each of Santa Claus's reindeer. M ...

's popular Christmas poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas" is written mostly in anapestic tetrameter ("'Twas the Night before Christmas, when all through the house…") but shifts into amphibrachs when St. Nick calls his reindeer by name: :Now, Dasher! / now, Dancer! / now, Prancer / and Vixen! :On, Comet! / on, Cupid! / on, Donder / and Blitzen!

Famous Blue Raincoat

Much of

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

's song "

Famous Blue Raincoat "Famous Blue Raincoat" is a song by Leonard Cohen. It is the sixth track on his third album, '' Songs of Love and Hate'', released in 1971. The song is written in the form of a letter (many of the lines are written in amphibrachs). The lyric tell ...

" (1971) is written in amphibrachs, e.g. the first verse (the first foot of the third line has only two syllables and begins in the second syllable): :It's four in / the morning, / the end of / December :I'm writing / you now just / to see if / you're better :___ New York / is cold, but / I like where / I'm living :There's music / on Clinton / Street all through / the evening.

Versace

Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...

' 2013 hit " Versace" popularized rapping in (amphibrachic) triplets:

Versace / Versace / Medusa / head on me / like I'm 'Lum / inati I know that / you like it / Versace / my neck and / my wrist is / so sloppy Versace / Versace / I love it / Versace / the top of / my Audi My plug is / John Gotti / he give me / the ducks and / I know that / they mighty

References

{{reflist

External links

"The Old Oaken Bucket" by Samuel Woodworth
Metrical feet