Spring Satire
| Tra-la-la Tra-la-la Sang the bird in the tree Harbinger am I Spring is my game I promise flowers soon Before that it must rain Strenuously Robin's my name What is Double Dactyl? ▼ A double dactyl consists of two four-line stanzas which are brief, usually satirical poems. The first through third lines of each stanza must be six syllables, in the form of double dactyls (Stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables). The fourth line of each stanza is only four syllables long, with no particular meter requirements but it is essential that the fourth lines of each stanza should rhyme. Finally, the first line of the first stanza is usually “Higgledy-piggledy” or some other repeating non-sense, like “Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake.” (Note that both “higgledy-piggledy” and “pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake” are in the double dactyl form ) One of the lines should consist of a single, six-syllable, double-dactyllic word (like “idiosyncrasy”). |
