In case you've not yet read their posts, let me summarise what a double dactyl is. The form was only devised as recently as 1951 by Anthony Hecht and Paul Pascal. It has been compared to the limerick (which originated in Ireland in the early 1700s) inasmuch as both are concise and often comedic in content, but the prosodic requirements of the double dactyl are more demanding. By the way, it has nothing to do with pterodactyls.
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| Hecht and Pascal |
Examples always help, so I've uncovered two to share with you. In the first, Roger L. Robison metapoetically and quite amusingly nails the double dactyl form thus:
Long-short-short, long-short-short
Dactyls in dimeter
Verse form with choriambs
Long-short-short, long-short-short
Dactyls in dimeter
Verse form with choriambs
(Masculine rhyme)
One sentence (two stanzas)
Hexasyllabically
Challenges poets who
Don't have the time.
One sentence (two stanzas)
Hexasyllabically
Challenges poets who
Don't have the time.
This second example by Joanna Daniel is rather splendid. I believe she said it was a piece of cake to write:
Clickety clackety
Queen Marie Antionette
"Let them eat cake" she said
When they'd no bread
Due to her callousness
Improvisational
French mob decided then
"Off with her head!"
Chile entered a long and oppressive reign by the military junta and then under Pinochet as President after one-sided elections. Pinochet's rule was decried as fascist with a track record of human rights violations. When he was eventually replaced he came to live in London where he was arrested on charges of corruption and genocide and sent back to Chile to face trial. A thoroughly nasty man, he died of a heart attack in 2006. This final double dactyl is a return to the classic form.
Okay, I think that's given you the general idea. So let me offer you a trio of double dactyls of my own devising. For the first one, as I've been feeling the influence of all those Greatest Dancer blogs from the other week, I've penned something in praise of Caroline Rafferty. It's the one I'm most pleased with in that I think it accords one hundred percent with the strictest rules of the form.
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| Caroline Rafferty |
I wasn't too sure what title to give it, as most double dactyl poems don't appear to have one, but I thought it deserved something and so I've simply called it...
Dance Time
Tippety-tappety
Caroline Rafferty
Sweet showgirl prodigy
Danced to the top
Brimming with energy
Indefatigably
Stamped until forty then
Knew when to stop.
For the second, and prompted by Terry Quinn's double dactyl about a Birmingham City player, I've elaborated upon a hoary old joke about Manchester United's first Chinese footballer - "young Lee Sharpe". I'm not quite so happy with this one as it's not really all about Lee Sharpe. But hey.
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| Young Lee Sharpe |
Apologies in advance for any historical inaccuracies or perceived stereotype bias. Again, I've given it a title in deference to the famous Goon song it references...
Milligan Redux
Ying tong yiddle i po
Young Lee Sharpe see him go
China loves how red man
United flow
Growing the brand out East
Exponentially
Warms Glazers' brazen hearts
It's a goon show.
The final one is a political swipe at General Augusto José Ramón Pinochet. When the USA decided to unseat the democratically elected Marxist government of Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973, Pinochet was the right-wing Chilean army general who led the American-backed coup. The overthrow of Allende and all who supported him was swift and brutal. Thousands of people were rounded up and killed. Thousands more fled the country.
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| Augusto Pinochet crushes democracy in Chile |
A Right Bastard
Uppity puppety
Augusto Pinochet
Backed by the USA
To lead a coup
Toppled democracy
Unhesitatingly
Ruled Chile brutally
Loved by the few.
And that's your lot. Thanks for reading. Do have a go at home. If you come up with anything you like, feel free to add it in the comment below. S ;-)
23 comments:
This was most entertaining. I like your Dance Time poem in particular. It's lovely. Why don't you invent a poetic form of your own? I'm sure you've got the ability. It might catch on and that would be fun.
Unsurprisingly I'd not heard of DD before. I can see its appeal. It's witty but not as silly as the limerick. Almost epigrammatical (if that's a word it would fit right into a DD). I too (reference an earlier comment) find your Dance Time DD particularly pleasing with the Right Bastard a close second.
That was a fun read, apart from Pinochet of course, but your double dactyl about him was good. I particularly like the nonsense rhymes you've concocted to begin your poems. Tippety tappety is spot on for a tap dancer and Uppity puppety is brilliant for a US-backed coup d'etat general. 👏
Fabulous, thank you. I have seen a few double dactyl poems but until now knew nothing of their origin or rules. I loved Dance Time and A Right Bastard (and the Robison 'example' as well).
New to me, but what fun.
❤️
Neatly done that, Steve.
Ha ha, I loved your quirky Hecht and Pascal graphic and your trio of double dactyls. Very clever. The wife taps, so you've got another fan of Dance Time there.
Bravo Steve. I've sometimes seen these on Facebook and wondered idly what it was all about. There's a guy (don't know his name) been posting a Double Dactyl of the week for a few months now. Thanks for explaining the history etc behind them. By the way, yours are as funny/good an any of the ones I've read.
I'd never heard of the Double Dactyl form before, but it looks fun and is more sophisticated than the limerick as you say. I love your Dance Time one and your blog has prompted me to give it a go, as requested. Don't be too harsh. My family and I used to love going to visit the sea lions at Whipsnade zoo. Unfortunately for us, the whole colony was relocated to a wildlife park in Yorkshire a couple of years ago. So I've written this in memory. Dominic was our favourite. I don't have a title.
Slippery flippery
Dominic Sea Lion
Always a character
At Whipsnade Zoo
Got relocated when
Unsentimentally
ZSL found a new
Home for his crew.
Brilliant. Such a fun blog. I may even have a go.
I loved Milligan Redux and the poem about Pinochet. This form really is a brain teaser and takes real skill to produce! I also liked your poem about the dancer. You really made a star twinkle!
Excellent that. Well played, la!
I really enjoyed this, loved all three of your poems and felt inspired to have a go. It's not easy is it? My effort (with Spanish nonsense words):
Flipando flipado
Katharine of Aragon
Turned out a paragon
Of Spanish grace
Widowed while still sixteen
Diplomatically
Waited until Henry
Took Arthur's place.
These were great fun to read, thank you.
Fabulous fun. Even I could manage one, inspired by your Tippety tappety one. I hope I've got it right....
Trippety trappety
Biggest Billy Goat Gruff
Stomps across the troll bridge
Feeling so tough
When troll pokes his head up
Inquisitively
Biggest Billy Goat Gruff
Treats him right rough.
Thanks so much everyone for the feedback to date. Jen, I'll follow up on that tip about the Double-Dactyl poster on Facebook... and all credit to Penny, Peter and Jacq for giving it a go - some fine Double-Dactyls.
A fun read - particularly like the tippety-tappety Dance Time one. Might have too have a go...
Ooh, that's a treat. How come I didn't know about DDs before now? Will definitely give it a go (but may not share). You've set a high bar there.
Thanks for the introduction to this fascinating form. It's definitely a notch up from the limerick in terms of sophistication. I particularly enjoyed your A Right Bastard double-dactyl.
New ground for me, and a lot of fun to read but as your Pinochet poem proves, the double dactyl can also pack a punch. Well done.
Hugely enjoyable. 👍
This was great fun. I like what you've done but I'm not up to attempting my own double dactyl. Thanks for the link.
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