- Anapestic tetrameter
Anapestic tetrameter is a poetic meter that has four anapestic metrical feet per line. Each foot has two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. It is sometimes referred to as a "reverse dactyl," and shares the rapid, driving pace of the dactyl.
Description and uses
Anapestic tetrameter is a traditional rhythm for comic verse, and prominent examples include
Clement Clarke Moore 's 'Twas the night before Christmas,Lewis Carroll 'sThe Hunting of the Snark , andDr. Seuss 'Yertle the Turtle andThe Cat in the Hat . When used in comic form, Anapestic tetrameter is often highly regular, as the regularity emphasizes the breezy, melodic feel of the meter, though the initial unstressed beat of a line may often be omitted.However, the verse form is not solely comic, and
Lord Byron 's epic Don Juan, for example, contains much anapestic tetrameter. In non-comic works, it is likely that anapestic tetrameter will be used in a less regular manner, withcaesura s and other meters breaking up the driving regularity of the beat.Example
An anapestic foot is two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. We could write the rhythm like this:
The following lines from
Dr. Seuss ' classic "Yertle the Turtle " are examples, showing both a complete line of anapestic tetrameter and a line with the first beat omitted:We can notate the
scansion of this as follows:Another, rather driving, example of anapestic tetrameter is the M.C. Hammer rap song, "Addams Family."
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