Choriamb:Trochee + Iamb = ChoriambDUM da + da DUM = DUM da da DUM

Choriamb is two stressed syllables enclosing two unstressed syllables.

OVer the HILLUNder the BRIDGEWHAT a misTAKE

Quantitative Meter:System of measurement in Classic Greek & Italian poems. Difficult to do in English.The Rhythm of the poem depends on the length of time it takes to speak each line, not on the number of stresses or syllables.

COMMON MEASUREQuatrain (Four-line stanza which rhymes)Common Measure is a Quatrain which rhymes in the pattern ABAB and alternates four-beats and three-beats per line. This example is from Kenn Nesbitt’s Poetry4Kids.com:

- / - / - / - / 4 beatsMy puppy punched me in the eye. - / - / - / 3 beatsMy rabbit whacked my ear. - / - / - / - / 4 beatsMy ferret gave a frightful cry - / - / - / 3 beatsand roundhouse kicked my rear.

A= eye, cryB = ear, rear

Emily Dickinson wrote a lot in Common Measure.

This is the meter used in hymns and ballads (which we will cover later.)

HENDECASYLLABIC

Each line has eleven syllables.Often the foot is spondee, trochee, choriamb and/or iamb.

From an Algernon Charles Swinburne poem:

In the month of the long decline of rosesI, beholding the summer dead before me,Set my face to the sea and journeyed silent,Gazing eagerly where above the sea-markFlame as fierce as the fervid eyes of lionsHalf divided the eyelids of the sunset

DOUBLE DACTYLThe Double Dactyl consists of Two quatrains* (the Double Dactyl has two stanzas)Each quatrain is made up of three double-dactyl lines, then the fourth line is a dactyl and a single stressed syllable. Dactyl: DUM da da (like in the words poetry or basketball)DUM da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da daDUM da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da daDUM da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da daDUM da da DUM DUM da da DUM

Underlined DUMs Rhyme!The poems are silly – first line is usually nonsense, second line is usually a proper name or person. *Quatrain (Four-line stanza which rhymes)

DOUBLE DACTYL example:

Higgledy Piggledy, DUM da da DUM da daBacon, lord Chancellor. DUM da da DUM da daNegligent, fell for the DUM da da DUM da daPaltrier vice. DUM da da DUM

Bribery toppled him,Bronchopneumonia vice & ice rhyme!Finished him, testing somePoultry on ice.

(Ian Lancashire)

DOUBLE DACTYL example:

Higgelvich Piggelvich DUM da da DUM da daAnna Karenina DUM da da DUM da daRussian romanticist DUM da da DUM da dacracked under strain. DUM da da DUM

Impetuosity caused her to tragically, strain & train rhymemelodramatically catch the next train.

DOUBLE DACTYL example:

“Antiques Roadshow” by Alex Williams

Cheerio dearie-o Nonsense lineLeslie and Leigh Keno Proper Name(s)Praising the furnitureSaid as they grinned: rhymes with pinned

“It’s neither Empire norNeoclassical butFrank Lloyd Wright-inspired!See how it’s pinned?”

DOUBLE DACTYL example:

Anthony and Cleopatra

Patty-cake, patty-cake, Marcus Antonius What do you think of the African Queen?

Gubernatorial duties require my presence in Egypt. Ya know what I mean?

-Paul Pascal