Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Common Three-Syllable Feet Used in Poetry in English

The three-syllable feet that are common in English poetry are the "dactyl", the "anapest", and the "amphibrach". Here are examples to illustrate each of these feet:

dactyl: "Mulligan". A stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.

anapest: "a balloon". The opposite of a dactyl. Two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable.

amphibrach: "Obama". Two unstressed syllables with a stressed syllable between them.

And, to follow that theme, "Kenyan" is a trochee (stressed-unstressed) and "Hawaiian" is an amphibrach--unless one pronounces the "ii", which is not the usual pronunciation. ;-)

1 comment:

  1. I appreciate very much that you know this, but I am astonished that it exists to BE known.

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