Dactyl
I recently learned the word “dactyl”. It refers to a rhythm—long, short short. The derivation is Greek, from dactylos—finger, referring to the three finger joints. The context in which I learned the word was a set of program notes for a Piano Trio Opus 49 by Felix Mendelssohn where he repeats the rhythm over and over again in the Finale. I thought, why not try my hand at using the dactyl in poetry? Interestingly, the Morse code Long-short-short represents the letter D. Perhaps Mr. Morse had Dactyl in mind when he assigned “D” that pattern? What follows is pretty random, but I had fun putting it together. When these are read, be sure to keep the long-short-short rhythm throughout!
Random Dactyl
Go Dactyl, ho dactyl, lo dactyl, grow dactyl,
Dah dit dit, code sender, dah dit dit, Morse says it,
Write music, hum music, make music, fake music,
Start friendship, form friendship, keep friendship, lose friendship,
Choose hobby, learn hobby, do hobby, love hobby,
Find water, swim water, flow water, slow water,
Swing dancing, horse prancing, knight lancing, her glancing,
Snap picture, view picture, scan picture, toss picture,
Eye doctor, ear doctor, nose doctor, throat doctor.
Get random, ride tandem, go hand ‘em mem’randum,
Dactyl Ballad
Gene sequenced gray matter gives us a short story,
Well written, old fashioned, zig-zagging nar-rative,
Sun bathing, swing dancing, blasphemous wild women,
Loved by a hair trigger, heart stricken, song writer.
Bold Siegfried, longed for a fine lady, Brünnhilde,
She was a, hard hearted, fire ‘rounded, wild woman,
Then when he stepped up the high pressure sales tactic,
She found the time for his song writing favorites.
He played the Timpani, Cymbals and C Trumpet,
She loved the leisurely harp and a grand piano,
Beachcombing barkeepers served them a rum butter,
She called him, “My sweetheart, quick acting tap dancer.”
Bullheaded, like minded, self conscious plans were made,
He had a hard workout; cold water quick shower,
She tried the fe-minine lavender, indigo,
Served him his fav-orite high fructose corn syrup.
He—Siegfried, prime mover, hard working wine grower,
Pied piper, well balanced brachial arm wrestler,
Race driver, ice skater, tax paying gigolo,
Bright yellow / blue tunic. That was the deal clincher.
They set the date for a nice princely grand wedding,
Well wishers came from a-far to the big nuptials,
Small minded gate crashers came just to eat spareribs,
Hot tempered drunk sailors, wallowed in wine coolers,
Then off they went in a black painted stretch limo,
After a century of love tied to make believe,
Magical harlequin turned to the grim reaper,
That’s where the tale has to end with a soft whimper.
So much for dactyls they stretch out the cra-nium,
Next time I’ll try something more focused, less disp’rate,
Maybe an old english, large house with gas hobbie,
Filled with some quite youthful left handed old fogies!
I recently learned the word “dactyl”. It refers to a rhythm—long, short short. The derivation is Greek, from dactylos—finger, referring to the three finger joints. The context in which I learned the word was a set of program notes for a Piano Trio Opus 49 by Felix Mendelssohn where he repeats the rhythm over and over again in the Finale. I thought, why not try my hand at using the dactyl in poetry? Interestingly, the Morse code Long-short-short represents the letter D. Perhaps Mr. Morse had Dactyl in mind when he assigned “D” that pattern? What follows is pretty random, but I had fun putting it together. When these are read, be sure to keep the long-short-short rhythm throughout!
Random Dactyl
Go Dactyl, ho dactyl, lo dactyl, grow dactyl,
Dah dit dit, code sender, dah dit dit, Morse says it,
Write music, hum music, make music, fake music,
Start friendship, form friendship, keep friendship, lose friendship,
Choose hobby, learn hobby, do hobby, love hobby,
Find water, swim water, flow water, slow water,
Swing dancing, horse prancing, knight lancing, her glancing,
Snap picture, view picture, scan picture, toss picture,
Eye doctor, ear doctor, nose doctor, throat doctor.
Get random, ride tandem, go hand ‘em mem’randum,
Dactyl Ballad
Gene sequenced gray matter gives us a short story,
Well written, old fashioned, zig-zagging nar-rative,
Sun bathing, swing dancing, blasphemous wild women,
Loved by a hair trigger, heart stricken, song writer.
Bold Siegfried, longed for a fine lady, Brünnhilde,
She was a, hard hearted, fire ‘rounded, wild woman,
Then when he stepped up the high pressure sales tactic,
She found the time for his song writing favorites.
He played the Timpani, Cymbals and C Trumpet,
She loved the leisurely harp and a grand piano,
Beachcombing barkeepers served them a rum butter,
She called him, “My sweetheart, quick acting tap dancer.”
Bullheaded, like minded, self conscious plans were made,
He had a hard workout; cold water quick shower,
She tried the fe-minine lavender, indigo,
Served him his fav-orite high fructose corn syrup.
He—Siegfried, prime mover, hard working wine grower,
Pied piper, well balanced brachial arm wrestler,
Race driver, ice skater, tax paying gigolo,
Bright yellow / blue tunic. That was the deal clincher.
They set the date for a nice princely grand wedding,
Well wishers came from a-far to the big nuptials,
Small minded gate crashers came just to eat spareribs,
Hot tempered drunk sailors, wallowed in wine coolers,
Then off they went in a black painted stretch limo,
After a century of love tied to make believe,
Magical harlequin turned to the grim reaper,
That’s where the tale has to end with a soft whimper.
So much for dactyls they stretch out the cra-nium,
Next time I’ll try something more focused, less disp’rate,
Maybe an old english, large house with gas hobbie,
Filled with some quite youthful left handed old fogies!
©Frank Bliss 2008 All rights reserved
