Dactyl

A metrical foot of three syllables, the first of which is long or accented and the next two short or unaccented, as in MER-rily or LOV-er boy, or from Byron's "The Bride of Abydos,"

KNOW ye the | LAND where the | CY-press and | MYR-tle

Note: Except for their use in humorous light verse, dactylic lines are now infrequent in English poetry.

(See also Double Dactyl, Meter, Rhythm)

References

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