metamorphosable... not an easy one to start this with but.
Higgamus hoggamus,
David D. Cronenburg
Had some te-Merity
Remade The Fly;
Goldblum was Shown to be
Metamorphosable,
We were told, "Be afraid,"
They didn't lie.
here's a self-referential example:
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.
Roger Robison
(that's as may be, but it doesn't support the added stipulation of having a person's name as the second line--which really makes things a lot harder!)
Those double dactyls are terrific, tsuwm.
Do you have any such examples for the contrary little pest, anapest?
The Distracted Musician
(autobiographical, yes)
Holding my crash cymbals,
Counting the measures out,
Waiting to enter and
Doing my best;
Hear the bold trumpets play!
Woodwinds and saxophones!
Ah, here's my entrance -- OOPS!
Played in the rest. 
before we get too far afield, here are those basic stips.
a double dactyl has a rigid (if peculiar) structure. Two stanzas, each comprising three lines of dactylic dimeter followed by a line with a dactyl and a single accent. The two stanzas have to rhyme on their last line. The first line of the first stanza is repetitive nonsense. The second line of the first stanza is somebody's name -- strictly speaking, a proper noun. Note that this name must itself be double-dactylic. E.g. Gloria Vanderbilt, Jesus of Nazareth, Gilbert and Sullivan, Archangel Gabriel. In the second stanza, one entire line must be a double-dactylic word. E.g. biopsychology, geopolitical, gastrointestinal, abecedarian, etc. etc.
BTW, anapest is a dactyl (hint, hint), making it a heterological word.
The second line of the first stanza is somebody's name
Sorry, I missed that. I'll try to stick to the roolz.
...and don't forget the six-syllable word!!
if you sing it to the tune of "The Irish Washerwoman", you'll get pretty close...
except for the fourth line... hmmm...
(from the Weekly Themes thread)
Here's a classic example:
Higgledy-piggledy
Ludwig van Beethoven
Bored by requests for some
Music to hum,
Finally answered with
Oversimplicity
"Here's my Fifth Symphony:
Duh, duh, duh, DUM!"
~~
and here's another source for the rules of this and other fixed-forms poems:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T2E112764tsuwm, your maiden dactyls were lovely.
Here's one that I think follows all the rules:
Doodilly, deedilly
Butler of Erewhon
Slogged through the high country
Staking a claim
Wrote on a hillside high
Autobiography
Led to a lifetime of
Living off fame.
>sing it to the tune of "The Irish Washerwoman"..
I'm glad this tune doesn't come readily to mind--it's bad enough having that damnable rhythm Stuck in your Head
hehe.
http://www.obrienclan.com/music/washer_woman.midthis tune was also the one that Isaac Asimov used to pronounce chemical names...
Whoops. Oh well, Mike ...
Hi-de-hi, hi-de-ho
Capfka of Wellybro
Writing a dactyl and
Dimeter too;
No need to reference
Encyclopaedia
No point in hoping that
tsuwm won’t sue!
it's bad enough having that damnable rhythm Stuck in your Head
How does "Stuck in your head" go, tsuwm?
>Stuck in your Head
this is the last line of a devilishly clever double dactyl..
tsuwm ba-la, tswum ba-la,
tswum saw a likable
chance to enlighten all
those that have read.
these double dactyls do
au-to-mag-i-cal-ly
get that fun Irish tune
Stuck in my head.
oh well...
Just for the sake of commpleteness -
There's also the practice that the first line is characeristically (there's a nice one for you) two nonsense words, paradigmatically (there's another) "Higgledy Piggledy" but anything will do.
Hoggamus Higgamus is another, and has an interesting history (as in Hoggamus Higgamus/Men are polygamous/Higgamus Hoggamus/Women monogamous").
The Irish Washerwoman also has the dubious distinction of fitting exactly the chemical "Paradichloroaminobenzaldehlyde" (a quadruple-dactyl, no less) repeated four or eight times, including the pickups to the next verse.
...The first line of the first stanza is repetitive nonsense.
Just for the sake of commpleteness -
There's also the practice that the first line is characeristically (there's a nice one for you) two nonsense words
choptliverology <g>
Willaby Wallaby
Wofa-doc missed it and
Made a correction he
Oughtn't have said.
Gave you the Mantle of
Invisibility.
I should sign off now and
Go straight to bed.
Nice save, wofa!
Inch me and Pinch me
went down to the river
Inch me fell in so
Who's in first?
Pitching Today
Catching Tommorrow
Pinch me remained
laughing in bursts.
As you were saying: This tune was also the one that Isaac Asimov used to pronounce chemical names...
(and as I was saying...)
Writer of Sci-Fi was
Asimov, Isaac. He
Taught biochemistry
Once, at B.U.
Also he noted that
"Para-dichloro-
aMino-benzaldehyde"
Fits in these, too.
musick, I think that's a triple diptych! <g>
"Para-dichloro-
aMino-benzaldehyde"you anguished a long time trying to decide where to put that "a", didn't you?
tsuwm - Doesn't that make it "septych"?
Oh, come on people. Have a go at the double dactyls. I can't do limericks for nuts, but this was fun and easy. I suggest you start by finding your six-syllable word and go from there. Wofa holds the originality prize so far, but the ASp's Beethoven one is the funniest so far.
Scrumpdillyiciousness!
Jack and his Wife (the Sprats)
eat the last speck of food
as they make the plate clean.
At restaurants they're surprisingly
Nonconfrontational
they just smile and they eat
never causing a scene.
...the added stipulation of having a person's name as the second line--which really makes things a lot harder!I'm officially
ammending this steenkin' hierarchy to *allow well known couples...
musick, let me count the ways..
1. a dactyl is three syllables, with the stress on the first,; see no. 4.
2. Two stanzas, each comprising three lines of dactylic dimeter followed by a line with a dactyl and a single accent..
3. The first line of the first stanza is repetitive nonsense. (e.g., Jiggery Pokery, Higgledy Piggledy, etc.)
4. so it goes
DAH dah dah DAH dah dah
DAH dah dah DAH dah dah
DAH dah dah DAH dah dah
DAH dah dah DEE
DAH dah dah DAH dah dah
NONconfronTAtional
DAH dah dah DAH dah dah
DAH dah dah DEE
other than that, nice try. <g>
Thanks, tsuwm...but I think I'll stick to pterodactyls.
Oh, my. The Beethoven d-d wasn't mine, I dredged it up as a stellar example.
Since I can't (yet) come up with anything new, I hereby repeat the one I wrote to commemorate the first year of AWADtalk:
Higgledy Piggledy,
Anu Garg's AWADtalk
Celebrates one year of
Being today.
Stilling the urge to wax
Sesquipedalian,
I'll keep it short and say:
"Hip, hip, hooray!"
http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=announcements&Number=20656
I can't do limericks for nuts, but this was fun and easy. ~ Capfka
This may be fun, but it’s not at all easy! For me, the AnnaS above and Coffeebean’s distracted musician, even if the latter is not quite to the rules, are sharpest so far.
Rattusye rattusme
Edward G Robinson
Gave us a rendering
Of Al Capone.
Cagney too acted the
pharmacophiliac.
You dirty RAT! the cry,
For which he’s known.
G*D forbid there be any *real creativity in here... fine!
Mikey make mikey moo! Does the repetitive nonsense have to rhyme?<eg>
Jack and his wife (the Sprats)
eat the last speck of food
lick the plate clean.
Rest'raunts are s'prisingly (ha-ha)
Nonconfrontational
smiling and eating not
causing a scene.I'm sticking to my *notorious couple clause... we need to "bridge the communication gap" {crossthreading-e}
ASp - I wanna know how you got away with "hip, hip, hooray" being accented "DUM dum dum DUM instead of the actual® DUM DUM dum DUM *we speak...
Hossery Sossory,
Caius Caligula,
Mad Roman Emperor,
Gave his horse votes.
Unstable actions and
Sororilagnia
Brought death by assassin.
Horse got its oats.
>G*D forbid there be any *real creativity in here... fine!
according to one practitioner of the art form, "Double dactyls are not for sissies and strictness of interpretation is the rule of the day." so it goes.
strictness of interpretation is the rule of the day
We were told, "Be afraid,"
Those look an awful lot like anapests to me.
>Those look an awful lot like anapests to me.
well, it all depends on where you put the stress, joe reversed archly. <g>
where you put the stress
As in, where they'd go if you were actually® saying it as opposed to where they'd go if you were forcing them into the required pattern?
well, now you know, I guess, why I haven't attempted any since that first one.
why I haven't attempted any
Yeah, you're like me. You talk a good game…
And just pour encourager les autres, here's another one:
Snippery, snappery,
Jackie of Louisville
Gutter policewoman
Extraordinaire;
Nagging here, niggling there,
Respectability!
Gutters were beckoning,
Most strange affair!
Gen'ral George Washington he-he
crossed river Delaware
Christmas night seventeen
seventy six
Hessians rested from
overindulgences
George had not had such a
death free conflict.
Lapidus Napidus
David of Bethlehem
Gazed at the giant who
Razzed with delight:
“Send out your best man to
End the hostility!”
Dave took his slingshot and
Ended the fight.
Hoggetty, moggetty,
Capfka of Kiwiland,
Thoroughly threatening
Some dire fate;
He has his own little
Idiosyncrasy:
Sheep from the first should all
'Cap'itulate.
This interests me greatly, so I've copy-and-pasted the "roolz" and the ur-sample, and printed them out. I hope to compose an entry soon!
OK. Two hours of hard slog produced this:
Snippety-snappety,
Jennifer Aniston's
Famous for "Friends," and for
Wedding Brad Pitt.
But, for the majors in
Astrotrichology,
Jennifer's hairdo is
Her greatest hit.
(A postscript:
I didn't see Capfka's eerily similar "snippery snappery" till just now, when paging through the thread again. Coincidence! Just in case this is a faux pas, though, I ask Capfka to remember the utterance of the rookie stock clerk, who, hefting heavy boxes in his arms, enviously watched the skilled men moving stock with trim machines. "To bear is human," sighed the rookie, "but to forklift, divine!")
nice slog, ebsa! though I would have used hippity hoppity...
Funny, I thought of that, but passed it over as being (a) already much in use, and (b) not tied in to my theme; "snippety-snappety" came to me, and related to haircutters, as well as, perhaps, the "snippiness" of the wisecracking "Friends" gal characters.
well, I figured since it was about hare...
OK. Blinking my eyes and returning from a long hibernation:
[Musical prodigy] [or some Argentinian doggerel]
Daniel Barenboim
played the piano
and married Du Pre
She played the cello with
impetuosity;
playing together
they took breath away.
paulb!!!!!! [throwing my arms around you and planting a big one e] Who can care about Daniel and Du Pre? You're back, you're back, you're back!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
Plinkety Plunkety
Sergei Rachmaninoff:
Russian composer
Deserving of praise;
He, cosmopolitan,
Twentieth-century;
Yet a "Romantic" in
Form and in phrase.
Dear tsuwm: Your first line reminded me of something I read a very long time ago. A woman woke up in the middle of the night feeling she had discovered a very profound tr;uth, and wrote it down. In the morning, she discovered that she had written:
"Hogamus, Higamus, Men Are Polygamous
Higamus, Hogamus, Women Monogamous"
[Musical prodigy] [or some Argentinian doggerel]
Whaddaya know! An audience participation double dactyl!
(First, a note to etaoin: OK, a hair/hare pun! I was slow on the uptake!)
Hey-nonny-nunnery,
Emily Dickinson
Hid, with her oeuvre, from the
Harsh light of day.
Nowadays, we'd call it
Agoraphobia,
Social anxiety --
"Shy" is passe.
w'afe.. ask Faldage about proper scanning--I'm afraid I can't help you.
; )
Dear tsuwm:
Please specify where I departed from proper scanning vis-a-vis the following rules, which you posted:
1. a dactyl is three syllables, with the stress on the first,; see no. 4.
2. Two stanzas, each comprising three lines of dactylic dimeter followed by a line with a dactyl and a single accent..
3. The first line of the first stanza is repetitive nonsense. (e.g., Jiggery Pokery, Higgledy Piggledy, etc.)
4. so it goes
DAH dah dah DAH dah dah
DAH dah dah DAH dah dah
DAH dah dah DAH dah dah
DAH dah dah DEE
DAH dah dah DAH dah dah
NONconfronTAtional
DAH dah dah DAH dah dah
DAH dah dah DEE
Thanks!
I was willing to let it go, it being fairly minor, but, this is how I see it:
Hey-nonny-nunnery,
OK
Emily Dickinson
OK
Hid, with her oeuvre, from the
Dah duh duh DAH d' duh duh
Harsh light of day.
OK
Nowadays, we'd call it
DAH duh duh duh DAH duh
Agoraphobia,
OK
Social anxiety --
OK
"Shy" is passe.
OK
I'd say the departures are relatively minor and the first one might depend on how one pronounces oeuvre, OOV or OOV 'r (that'd be a gargled French r). The second one could pass if the intent is to stress that *We'd call it whatever (as opposed to someone else calling it whatever) rather than we'd call it agoraphobia rather than calling it something else.
On second thoughts:
Nowadays, we'd call it
DAH duh duh duh dah duh
That call is just a secondary stress.
But as I said this is all so minor I wouldn't have said anything except tsuwm invoked my name. I think he's mad at me because I agreed with him about the suspect etymology of sneeze.
plugging into the formula we have:
1..
2..
3.HID, with her OEUVRE, from the
4.HARSH light of DAY.
5.NOWadays, WE'D call it
6.AgoraPHObia,
7.SOcial anXIety --
8."SHY" is pasSE.
as I said, I'm no expert on scanning but line 5 would seem to want "NOWadays we'd CALL it"
maybe it would work as something like this
THESE days we'd NAME it as
also, I have difficulty saying 'oeuvre' as one sylLAble..
Or, if you don't use Nowadays you could say:
Nowdays we'd SAY it was
Good job, websafe! I thought of Emily Dickinson yesterday and couldn't think of anything to say about her. (Yeah, in my free time, you know.)
Welcome to the Board!
I was willing to let it go, it being fairly minor, but, this is how I see it:At least Faldage is trying...
...as I said, I'm no expert on scanning but line 5 would seem to want "NOWadays we'd CALL it"You won't even attempt to plug mine in anymore...
...although I'm with you, tsuwm/faldage, on "OEUVRE"... one has to at least have a chance at successful application (regardless of propriety, of course)
>At least Faldage is trying...
very trying. *rimshot*
or, alternatively: I don't think he's tried this form yet!
I don't think he's tried this form yet!
Oh, I've *tried plenty.
Oh, I've *tried plenty.
You took the words right out of my mouth!
---------
One ringy two dingy
AlexanDer graham bell
batteries, wires and
magnets in flux
Newspapers provoked to
telecommunicate
now it's too late to get
them to shut up.
Nice one Websafe. And it scanned properly to me. Must be their acCENTs (on the wrong syLABles, doncha know)
AHD NI3
AWADers all of us
Playing around with this
Poetry form
Calm(?) our discussions syl-
Labificational
Stress disagreement makes
Arguing norm
OK, Doc. What's NI3?
This is such a great thread. I find myself with an Ohrwurm, though: I'm walking around trying out six-syallble words, and it looks like I'm talking to myself. Well, I am, but.
Sorry. "NI3" is Webster's
New
International Dictionary,
3rd Edition.
I came across that abbreviation first at a venerable organization called the National Puzzlers' League
http://puzzlers.org/ (teaser: my son calls them "a bunch of the cleverest people in the world" and he doesn't dole out such praise lightly) that delights in word games and all sorts of outside-the-box verbal diversions. Might be worthwhile to glance at, particularly for any who like GEB/puzzles/etc.
>"NI3" is Webster's New International Dictionary, 3rd Edition.
in these parts, a.k.a. W3
Faldage and tsuwm: Thank you both for your thorough and specific explanations of double-dactyl scanning. The English-language dictionaries I consulted all gave "oeuvre" two syllables (I hadn't looked it up beforehand). As for "Nowadays, we'd call it," I did hear the (secondary?) stress on "call." Both of these were open questions to me while I was composing.
Coffeebean and Zed: Thanks for your pleasant remarks.
Wofahulicodoc: I enjoyed your poem and agree with its sentiment.
"NI3" is Webster's New International Dictionary, 3rd Edition.
in these parts, a.k.a. W3
Autre temps, autre moeurs. "Other times, other customs." Totally fabricated-on-the-spot rationalization why my way is better: why use a three-syllable word when two syllables will do?
By either name I've never liked that dictionary, except maybe to check spelling. I've never forgiven them for including "uninterested" as a synonym for "disinterested." Among other transgressions.
(Besides, who ya gonna believe - me or some strange dictionary?)
Totally fabricated-on-the-spot rationalization why my way is better: why use a three-syllable word when two syllables will do?
Well-thought-out online casuistry: why use three letters when two will do. regarding W3 trangressions: you have to understand their mission: to provide a description of "American" English. detractors read descriptive as permissive.
(I apologize if I was seeming to correct your usage of NI3; I've just been using W3 here and wanted to provide some continuity.)
Yes, I took your usage to be descriptive rather than prescriptive ;-)
I know their mission; I just consider it a sad abrogation of responsibility. I guess that tells me which side of the fence I sit on !
I have difficulty saying 'oeuvre' as one sylLAble.. (Ahem.) You are too sensitive.
I have difficulty saying "oeuvre" at all!
can I get some eggs, please?
some eggs, please
I'll work on it.
OK, sorry to whomever I used to "reply" to but this thread has veered away from the original purpsose...
Dag and I wrote a nice one after working hard to come up with a double dactyl name. Here ya go:
Waka-tow, waka-tow,
Jaco Pastorius
Bass virtuoso, was
Second to none.
He was convinced of his
Invincibility
Taunted a bully, his
Short life was done.
So there! I almost never contribute to these poetry things!
Orthodox Shmorthodox
Judas Iscariot
bad-mouthed by many
for his perceived crime
Had he not done it then
incontravertibly
Christian religion would
just be small time.
A double dactyl is two of something, that is certain
But a pterodactyl is only one, and that's confusin'.
Flippety flappety,
Peter O'Dactycal
None fly with one wing but
some fly with two.
It's not a question just
ornithological.
Reptiles might fly just as
Some mammals do.
...is "ptero-" = wing?
Remember BC (the comic strip)'s apteryx : "I am a wingless bird with hairy feathers." a-pter = without wings.
Come to think of it, arachno-dactyly is a condition of very long slender limbs, like a spider's (usually associated with the descritpion of Marfan's Syndrome, and attached to the description of Abraham Lincoln as a hypothesis). If dactyls are fingers or arms or even legs, why is the poetic dactyl a "foot" ?
"Because dactyls aren't fingers, Silly," I hear you say, "they've been feet all the time!" Yes? No?
If anyone cares, I noticed this morning (as the radio was doing a thing about Flanders and Swann, and we heard a song where they wrote words to a Mozart horn concerto), that the double dactyl is the rhythm of this Mozart horn concerto. If you've heard it, you know what I mean, if you haven't, there's no way in HELL I'd be able to communicate it in text over the Internet!
Now you know why I call him "Faldo the Great". Good one.
Truly the Internet is a wonderful thing.
google plus thirty seconds yields
http://www.hornplanet.com/hornpage/museum/articles/ill_wind.htmlHave fun!
[I didn't find a place with sound but I didn't look very hard. And there are other takeoffs as well... ("I once found a modem and wanted to buy it" usw.) ]
Apparently, etaoin, you are a bad referer.
Bingley
the double dactyl is the rhythm of this Mozart horn concerto
Dear Bean - so it is! I hadn't thought about it before. I posted the words from the Flanders & Swann version back in January, but the link doesn't seem to function now. Of all their work, that is my favourite.
I liked your unprecedented piece of poetry. Looked the guy up because I hadn't heard of him before. What a sad story! What would be a good album to get to hear him?
Apparently, etaoin, you are a bad referer.
do you mean the link doesn't work, or did you happen to grab the clarinet concerto that I posted first?
or is it too early in the morning for me to grasp the deep wit of your remark?
do you mean the link doesn't work?
The link you clicked was not located on the Classical Archives.
Please notify the site's webmaster responsible for the URL http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?… that they should not provide deep-links to the files on our servers.
(Deep-linking to the Classical Archives files isn't allowed.)
Instead they are invited to COPY the file (after receiving permission) to their
own server and provide a link to that local copy.
re pterodactyls
pair-o-dactylsre Jaco Pastorious
He was Joni Mitchell's bass player during the 70's. I'm fond of
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter. I also like his self-titled album. He also was in the band
Weather Report. Try the album
Heavy Weather. I'm sure musick will come up with some more good reccomendations. After all, he reccomended him to me
I called Dag to ask about albums by Jaco for you, dxb. Dag's the real fan of Jaco (being the REAL bass player in our household; I also play but my skill is nothing compared to his). One of the songs that Dag really likes is actually Jaco's version of America the Beautiful, which apparently is on his live album called "Invitation". The guy manages to play two or three part harmony with a single pair of hands on his bass!!! It IS quite nice. And sounds pretty much impossible to learn.
Now, asking Dag advice about one of his favourite musicians is kind of hopeless because every album is accompanied by a statement like "Oh! That's a WICKED album, too!!" So he suggests, in no particular order, Word of Mouth, Portrait of Tracy, and his self-titled album. Hope that helps!
OKaay! I shall sally forth next weekend, plastic at the ready. Thanks for the advice.
ok. sorry. try this:
http://www.classicalarchives.com/mozart.htmland then scroll down to find the horn concertos.
they are a bit testy there, no?
Jaco rocks! too bad he couldn't stay off the drugs... no telling what he'd be playing today. his work with Weather Report is terrific. love
Heavy Weather.
Since you's already covered most of the Jaco story, I'll add "Night Passage" by Weather Report as a prime contender for the best of Jaco in WR... and "Bright Size Life" by Pat Metheny and a mentor of mine named Bob Moses, which opened most peoples' ears to Jaco.
yep, faldage, that was the message I got as well. The heading at the top of the screen was Bad Referer.
But apart from that, it's a great site, etaoin. I might even fork out good money for it. Thanks for drawing it to our attention.
Bingley
I love Double dactyls.... I wrote one about a horny songwriter (which is as close to a horny poet as you can get...)
Jiggery-Pokery
Ziggy Stardustian
Rumored to have had a
Fling with a Stone.
Mick says it was a lie
Bi-sexuality
Isn't his thing unless
Keith's home alone.
Are you guys all played out on this thread? I hope not. Hi, my name is Lisa and I'm a dactylholic...
Trippily-Frippily
Tim Leary, PhD
Author, Philosopher
Observed the mind.
On acid his world seemed
Kaleidoscopical
Still he sought answers 'til
Death he did find.
Welcome, Lisa!
...not at all played out...never...just outtta site-outta mind...
I have to ask... do you have a sister named Alba?
How many times have you heard that one...???--------------
...meanwhile...
Orkinzie Morkinzie
musick dichotomuse
yanking yer chain as it
dangles in air
few of his comments are
misunderstandable
spoken nonsequitur
no one should care
Actually I have one of those long Italian names that ends in "ello" but no one, and I mean NO ONE has ever pronounced it correctly so I stopped using the whole thing. No one mispronounces (or mis-reads since we are not actually speaking aloud...) just Tross. So, I have never heard the "do you have a sister named Alba" line... It's a good one though, I like it. I may change my screen name to it...
ctually I have one of those long Italian names that ends in "ello" but no one, and I mean NO ONE has ever pronounced it correctly so I stopped using the whole thing.
One of our regular contributors here is trilingual - she is an Italian mathematician with excellent English. If anybody could say your name properly, it would be emanuela
Yes, please let us all have a go at the loooooooong Italian name -- it sounds delightful to me.