What is a dactyl?
A stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
Dactyl: Three Syllables to Rule Them All
Let's break it down: first, there's a strong, percussive beat - the stressed syllable - followed by two quicker, softer ones.
A foot made of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones
Why is this important? One word: rhythm. Whether you're penning a sonnet, an epic saga, or a 140-character Tweet, the meter can help pull your reader along through the journey of your written words. Experiment with different patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables and see how it affects your work!
This classic poem is chock-full of dactyls.
For example:
'Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward'
Notice how the first word is the stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
Yes, even songs are fair game for dactyls!
One of the most famous is the folk tune 'Oh! Susanna,' which has a chorus that follows a dactylic rhythm:
'Oh! Susanna,
don't you cry for me,
I come from Alabama
with a banjo on my knee.'