Anapestic tetrameter
Anapestic tetrameter (British spelling: anapaestic) is a poetic meter that has four anapestic metrical feet per line. Each foot has two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. It is sometimes referred to as a "reverse dactyl", and shares the rapid, driving pace of the dactyl.[1][2][3][4]
Description and uses[edit]
Anapestic tetrameter is a rhythm well suited for comic verse, and prominent examples include Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and the majority of Dr. Seuss's poems. When used in comic form, anapestic tetrameter is often highly regular, as the regularity emphasizes the breezy, melodic feel of the meter, though the initial unstressed beat of a line may often be omitted.
Non comic usage[edit]
The verse form is not solely comic. Lord Byron's "The Destruction of Sennacherib" is in anapestic tetrameter. Eminem's hit song "The Way I Am" uses the meter for all parts of the song except the chorus. In non-comic works, it is likely that anapestic tetrameter will be used in a less regular manner, with caesuras and other meters breaking up the driving regularity of the beat such as in the case of Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee. Anapestic tetrameter is generally used in the parode (entrance ode) of classical Greek tragedy.[5]