The Single Dactyl

  • All lines are in dactylic meter. (DUH duh duh…)
  • Line 1 is repetitive, nonsensical, or cheerful… and/or rhymes with line 5.
  • Line 2 is a noun/proper noun.
  • All lines are three syllables, except lines 4 and 8, which are either one or two syllables.
  • At least one line, preferably line 6, is a single three-syllable word.
  • Lines 4 and 8 rhyme.
  • Ideally, there’s no hyphenation between lines.

~ Alex Steelsmith