Have you ever wondered what a Dactyl is? Here’s a poem, ‘Higgeldy Piggeldy’, by Ian Lancashire. Do you notice what’s interesting about this poem beyond the playful words? Do you recognise what sort of poem this is?
Higgledy piggledy,
Bacon, lord Chancellor.
Negligent, fell for the
Paltrier vice.
Bribery toppled him,
Bronchopneumonia
Finished him, testing some
Poultry on ice.
Reread the poem and focus on the words and their rhythm and syllables. What do you notice? The poem is an example of a double dactyl, which has a strict structure of dactyls, but what even are these?
The meaning of a dactyl
A dactyl is a foot of measurement for rhythm that is often found in poetry. It involves an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables.
A dactyl may occur in one word or several, depending on the syllables, but it has the general sound of dum-da-da or tum-ti-ti (where dum and tum are stressed syllables).
Stressed and unstressed syllables
In order to recognise a dactyl in English, we need to be able to recognise the difference between stressed and unstressed syllables.
Stressed syllables often:
Unstressed syllables often:
In this article, the difference between stressed and unstressed syllables is indicated by displaying stressed syllables in bold and unstressed syllables in normal font. We also divide each foot with a space ‘ ‘ and each syllable with a hyphen.
The ‘app’ sound in the word ‘apple’ is stressed, and the ‘le’ is unstressed. ‘App- le’.
The ‘app’ sound in the word ‘apply’ is unstressed, and the ‘ly’ is stressed. ‘App- ly’.
Examples of dactyls
There are many words in the English language that are dactyls.
These words have a dactylic rhythm to them:
- 'basketball' = bask-et-ball
- 'alphabet' = alph-a-bet
Possibly the most popular example of dactyls in English poetry is Lord Alfred Tennyson’s ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ (1854). According to Michael Rifenburg, the dactyls in the poem create an almost hypnotic state to ‘convey to the reader the futility of the charge’1 while also creating a march-like rhythm. Here are a few stanzas from the poem. Can you spot a dactyl?
I
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!” he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
II
Forward, the Light Brigade!
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Here are the lines in the poem that have a dactylic metre!
‘For-ward-the light-brig-ade’
‘Was-there-a man-dis-mayed’
Another example of dactyls can be found in the song America from the musical West Side Story (1961). These dactyls create an upbeat and bouncing tone in the chorus. Can you spot the dactyls?
I like to be in America,
Okay by me in America,
Everything’s free in America
This is where the dactyls are:
‘I-like-to be-in-Am … Ev-ery-thing’s free-in-Am …’
Even nursery rhymes use dactyls to create an upbeat and bouncing tone. See, for example, ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’.
Hickory dickory dock.
The mouse went up the clock
The clock struck one.
The mouse went down
Hickory dickory dock
The dactyls work as follows:
hick-or-y, dick-or-y, dock
Dactylic rhythms
Dactyls are a type of metrical foot and thus may contribute to a greater scheme of rhythm in a poem or song. A poem can use dactyls in various ways, depending on how long the lines are, as this changes how many feet can be in it. Some poems commit entirely to these types of rhythms, but others may only devote individual lines to it. Below are several types of dactylic rhythms.
Dactylic dimeter
Dimeter means that there are two feet on each line.
Therefore, the dactylic dimeter has two dactyls on a line of poetry or song.
‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is a perfect example of a poem that features a dactylic dimeter. Think of the first two lines of the second stanza, which have two dactyls (and only two) on each line.
Forward, the Light Brigade!
Was there a man dismayed?
Double Dactyl
A double dactyl is a fun and jovial type of poetry that follows a specific structure within two quatrains.
The stanzas of a double dactyl each have three lines of dactylic diameter followed by a dactyl and a spondee, and the final spondees have to rhyme with each other.
Beyond the strict structure, the content of the poem is also controlled. This is because:
- The first line must be nonsensical.
- The second line must contain a proper noun (this might be a place, a name, an institution, etc.).
- There must be another line with an entirely unique word never used in another double dactyl. This often happens in the sixth line.
Here is Wendy Cope’s version of a double dactyl (n.d.):
Higgledy-piggledy
Emily Dickinson
Liked to use dashes
Instead of full stops.
Nowadays, faced with such
Idiosyncrasy,
Critics and editors
Send for the cops.
As we can see, the nonsensical phrase is ‘higgledy-piggledy’, the proper noun is the famous poet Emily Dickinson, and the unique word is ‘idiosyncrasy’.
Dactylic pentameter
Pentameter means that there are five feet on a line of poetry, so dactylic pentameter means that there are five dactyls or perhaps four dactyls and another substituted metrical foot.
Here is an extract from a poem that is entirely constructed in dactylic pentameter called ‘Angels’ First Assignment’ by Stan Galloway (n.d.). In this poem, the dactylic pentameter creates a wonderful flowing sense to the narrative as the speaker contemplates what they are asking.
Were you the same angels posted beside the new tomb with the
Body of Jesus the New Tree provided again for us
Here is how the dactyls work in the extract:
were-you-the same-an-gels post-ed-be side-the-new tomb-with-the
Bo-dy-of Je-sus-the New-tree-pro vi-ded-a gain-for-us
Dactylic hexameter
Hexameter means that there are six feet within a line, so in a dactylic hexameter, there are six dactyls on a line or perhaps a substitute of another metrical foot for one dactyl.
This rhythm is found in some of the oldest poems from ancient Greece (like Homer’s ‘Iliad’ from the 8th century BC) but has all but disappeared in English literature. Despite this, some poets have tried to revitalise it, like Arthur Hugh Clough with his ‘Amours De Voyage’ (1858) and ‘The Bothie of Tober-Na-Vuolich’ (1848) or Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s ‘Evangeline’ (1847), from which the extract below is taken.
This is the forest primaeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,
Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.
Here is the first line of the poem:
‘This-is-the for-est-pri me-val-The mur-mur-ing pines-and-the hem-locks’
Did you notice how there are six feet but only five dactyls? This is because this case of hexameter ends with a spondee.
The impact of dactyls
Dactyls create a sense of abnormality in a poem as they alter the normal intonation of English words. This might create a sense of unease – as in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ – that reflects the tragedy that occurred in the event. However, in some poems, dactyls create a sort of bouncy and upbeat tone, as in ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’ or America. When used in dactylic hexameter, they may also resemble epic poetry where this metre was primarily used, as, for instance, in ‘Evangeline’.
Confusion with dactyls
There are several ways in which dactyls can be confusing, as there are other types of metrical feet that look quite similar. Let’s, therefore, look at another way to define dactyls.
Another definition of a dactyl
There is another way of defining a dactyl that is used in other languages.
In the case of languages like ancient Greek or Latin, a dactyl is defined as a long syllable followed by two shorter syllables.
The first line of Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ (29–19 BC) has several dactyls: ‘arma virumque cano’ (‘I sing of weapons and men’) goes ‘ar-ma-vir um-que-ca no’.
Other ternary feet
A ternary foot is a poetic term referring to a rhythmical foot that contains three syllables.
There are several types of ternary feet (each of which has its opposite). Below are some examples of other ternary feet (i.e., other than a dactyl). It is important to note that anapests and dactyls are the most common, even though the others do appear as well.
Anapest
The anapest is the opposite of a dactyl; it is a ternary foot with two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable.
Anapests have the general sound of da-da-dum or ti-ti-tum. There is also a more archaic spelling of anapest, which is anapaest.
‘understand’ = un-der-stand
or ‘velveteen’ = vel-ve-teen.
Molossus
A molossus is a foot made up of three stressed (or long, if in Latin or Greek) syllables. They have the sound of tum-tum-tum or dum-dum-dum
This type of metre is most often found in Latin and Greek literature, such as the word ‘audiri’ = au-di-ri. In English, the phrase ‘must hold true’ is a molossus = must-hold-true.
Tribrach
A tribrach is the opposite of a molossus foot and so consists of three unstressed syllables.
They have the sound of ti-ti-ti or da-da-da.
The phrase ‘he and me’ is an example of a tribrach = he-and-me.
Amphibrach
An amphibrach is a ternary foot that involves a stressed syllable in between two unstressed syllables.
It has the sound of ti-tum-ti or da-dum-da.
The word ‘ancestral’ is an example of an amphibrach = an-cest-ral.
Amphimacer
An amphimacer is the opposite of an amphibrach, featuring two stressed syllables sandwiching an unstressed syllable.
This can also be called a cretic foot. It has the sound of tum-ti-tum or dum-da-dum.
The words ‘common thought’ are an example of an amphimacer = com-mon-thought.
Bacchius
A Bacchius is a metrical foot that has one unstressed syllable followed by two stressed syllables.
Each line in the carol by Paul Edwards called No Small Wonder (1986) features a bacchius. You will notice the sound of the words having a ti-tum-tum or da-dum-dum feel.
‘when-day-breaks the-fish-bite at-small-flies’.
Antibacchius
An antibacchius is the opposite of a bacchius, and so features two stressed syllables followed by an unstressed syllable.
It has the general feel of tum-tum-ti or dum-dum-da.
The word ‘bare-footed’ = bare-foot-ed.
Although there are many types of ternary feet, the way you can remember dactyls is from the etymology. The Greek term ‘daktulos’ translates as ‘unit of measurement’ or ‘finger’. A dactyl in English is a unit of rhythmical measure that visually represents a finger. Think of the long finger bone followed by two shorter ones, just like one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones.
Dactyl - Key takeaways
- A dactyl is a type of rhythmical measurement. It is a ternary foot, so it has three syllables: one stressed followed by two unstressed syllables.
- Unstressed syllables are often quieter, shorter, lower, less emphasised and have more reduced vowel sounds than their stressed counterparts.
- There are different types of dactylic metre. Dactylic hexameter is mostly used in homage to ancient epics, as this was the metre in which these were constructed. Other dactyls create either a sense of uneasiness because of the way that the normal intonation of words is altered or a sense of happiness because of the bounciness of the intonation.
- Knowing the etymology of dactyl may help you remember what it is in comparison to other ternary feet. It is ancient Greek for ‘unit of measure’ or ‘finger’, and as fingers have one long bone followed by two shorter ones, a dactyl has one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones.
1 Michael Rifenburg, ‘The Hypnotic Meter of “The Charge of the Light Brigade”’ (2005).
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