Double dactyl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A dactyl is a poetic foot of the form >-- (ON-off-off). For example, matador, realize, cereal, limerick, etc. A double dactyl can therefore mean simply two dactyls in a row.
A double dactyl is also a verse form, also known as "higgledy piggledy," invented by Anthony Hecht and Paul Pascal in 1961. Like a limerick, it has a rigid structure and is usually humorous, but the double dactyl is considerably more rigid and difficult to write. There must be two stanzas, each comprising three lines of dactylic dimeter followed by a line with a dactyl and a single accent. The two stanzas have to rhyme on their last line. The first line of the first stanza is repetitive nonsense. The second line of the first stanza is the subject of the poem, a proper noun. Note that this name must itself be double-dactylic. There is also a requirement for at least one line of the second stanza to be entirely one double dactyl word, for example "va-le-dic-tor-i-an".
A classic example by Theodore L. Drachman:
- Small Problem
- Higgamus Hoggamus
- "Anton Von Leewenhoek
- Has a small problem," con-
- Fided his wife.
- "Microbiology
- Doesn't disturb me; his
- Microanatomy's
- Blighting my life!"
A lewd, yet clever one by Brian Flanagan -- although the word stresses in the last two lines do not follow normal English pronunciation:
- Show Business
- "Hey-nonny, ho-nonny,
- Penis Van Lesbian
- Entered the bus'ness that
- no biz is like."
- "Keen on increasing his
- marketability,
- he took on the stage name
- of Dick Van Dyke."
A delicate antique one with an interesting historical background (see also that below) by E. Jaksch:
- Inheritance
- Higgledy-Piggledy
- Gay Caius Julius.
- Tribune sojourning a
- Long way from home,
- Seeking distraction in
- Nicomedophily,
- Earned with his service a
- Province for Rome.
A wonderful one by Paul Pascal on the subject of Antony and Cleopatra:
- Tact
- "Patty cake, patty cake,
- Marcus Antonius,
- What do you think of the
- African queen?"
An example about Joe DiMaggio by Washington Post writer Gene Weingarten:
- Higgledy Piggledy
- Joseph DiMaggio,
- Jolted the ball but was
- Jilted in bed.
- Marilyn walked, but he
- Necro-romantically
- Laid her in rose bouquets
- When she was dead.
A similar verse form called a McWhirtle was invented in 1989 by American poet Bruce Newling.
A related form is the double amphibrach, similar to the McWhirtle but with stricter rules more closely resembling the double dactyl.
In literature, Neil Gaiman's Stardust (novel) contains a Double Dactyl.
- Hankety pankety
- Boy in a blanket, he’s
- Off on a goose-chase to
- Look for a star
- Incontrovertibly
- Journeys through Faerie
- Strip off the blanket to
- See who you are.
