dactyls
Long-short-short meters
Dactyls is the plural of dactyl, a metrical foot in poetry consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables—the rhythm of the word "poetry" itself.
The term comes from the Greek word for finger, which has one long bone followed by two shorter ones.
The poem's dactyls gave it a galloping feel.
Six-foot poetic line
- scansionAnalyzing verse rhythm patterns
- prosodyStudy of verse rhythm
- metrical footUnit of poetic rhythm
- spondeeDouble-stress metrical unit
trochee · iamb · anapest · stressed · unstressed · syllable · quantitative · verse
Ancient Greek epic composer
- IliadAncient Greek war epic
- OdysseyEpic of homecoming
- VirgilClassical epic poet
- AeneidRoman founding epic
epic poetry · hexameter · Homeric · classical · antiquity · oral tradition · catalogue · invocation
hexameter
Six-foot poetic line
- scansionAnalyzing verse rhythm patterns
- prosodyStudy of verse rhythm
- metrical footUnit of poetic rhythm
spondee · trochee · iamb · anapest · stressed · unstressed · syllable · quantitative · verse · cadence
Homer
Ancient Greek epic composer
Aeneid · epic poetry · hexameter · Homeric · classical · antiquity · oral tradition · catalogue · invocation · muse
finger
Hand's grasping extension
bone · joint · fingertip · knuckle · appendage · skeletal · Greek root · etymology · digital
pterodactyl, dactyl, dactylic, polydactyly, pterodactyls, polydactylous, polydactylism