![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
May. 1st, 2011
Okay, so, two posts ago I wrote about Robert J. Lurtsema; last post I expressed disappointment that people didn't notice that I did so in the form of a Higgledy Piggledy. And some folks expressed confusion.
A "Higgledy Piggledy" is a poetical form consisting of two stanzas, each of which is three sets of double dactyls, then a dactyl followed by a single stressed syllable. The single stressed syllable at the end of each stanza must rhyme.
A "dactyl" is a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
So, the template for a Higgledy Piggledy might be described as follows:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jadasc pointed out that what I wrote is technically a "McWhirtle", because the strict-form "Higgledy Piggledy" has a number of additional rules besides the form: the first line must be "Higgledy Piggledy", the second line must be a double-dactyl proper name who is the subject of the poem, and at least line in the second stanza must be a single double-dactylic word. Also, in a McWhirtle, you're allowed to stick in the occasional unstressed syllable at the beginning of a line, for the purposes of making things flow better.( Read more... )
A "Higgledy Piggledy" is a poetical form consisting of two stanzas, each of which is three sets of double dactyls, then a dactyl followed by a single stressed syllable. The single stressed syllable at the end of each stanza must rhyme.
A "dactyl" is a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
So, the template for a Higgledy Piggledy might be described as follows:
Doubley-Dactyly
Doubley-Dactyly
Doubley-Dactyly
Dactyly-THUMP
Doubley-Dactyly
Doubley-Dactyly
Doubley-Dactyly
Dactyly-BUMP
jadasc pointed out that what I wrote is technically a "McWhirtle", because the strict-form "Higgledy Piggledy" has a number of additional rules besides the form: the first line must be "Higgledy Piggledy", the second line must be a double-dactyl proper name who is the subject of the poem, and at least line in the second stanza must be a single double-dactylic word. Also, in a McWhirtle, you're allowed to stick in the occasional unstressed syllable at the beginning of a line, for the purposes of making things flow better.( Read more... )