Laurel · Poems by form and metre

Dactylic dimeter

Two dactyls to the line, a stress then two light syllables. Below, what the metre is and how to recognise it, then every poem on Laurel measured as dactylic dimeter, with how closely each keeps it.

What dactylic dimeter is

Two beats to the line, a heavy syllable then two light ones: DUM-da-da DUM-da-da. Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade is in it.

DUM-da-da DUM-da-da

HALF a league, HALF a league
Tennyson, The Charge of the Light Brigade; the beats in capitals

How to tell

Very short falling lines, five or six syllables, two beats.

Paste a poem of your own and Laurel will say whether it is in dactylic dimeter, stanza by stanza. How to scan a line.

43 poems on Laurel in dactylic dimeter

  1. May-Flower Emily Dickinson, Poems · 87%
  2. I went to heaven, — Emily Dickinson, Poems
  3. Poem Langston Hughes, The Weary Blues · 75%
  4. The Charge of the Light Brigade Alfred Tennyson, Maud, and Other Poems · 94%
  5. Bannocks o’ Bear Meal Robert Burns, Poems and Songs · 96%
  6. Song of Hope Thomas Hardy, Poems of the Past and the Present · 96%
  7. The Challenge of Thor Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems · 90%
  8. 604. His Prayer to Ben Jonson Robert Herrick, Hesperides · 93%
  9. 767. A Conjuration to Electra Robert Herrick, Hesperides · 93%
  10. In the Wilderness Robert Graves, Fairies and Fusiliers · 80%
  11. The Weary Wedding Algernon Charles Swinburne, Poems and Ballads · 85%
  12. In Prison William Morris, The Defence of Guenevere · 85%
  13. "It Will Not Change" Sara Teasdale, Flame and Shadow
  14. Elegy for an Enemy Stephen Vincent Benét, Young Adventure · 90%
  15. The Song of the Sword W. E. Henley, Poems · 86%
  16. When you wake in your crib W. E. Henley, Poems · 86%
  17. To W. R W. E. Henley, Poems · 85%
  18. To A. J. H W. E. Henley, Poems · 84%
  19. To R. L. S W. E. Henley, Poems · 82%
  20. To J. A. C W. E. Henley, Poems · 82%
  21. AM the Reaper W. E. Henley, Poems · 81%
  22. The Fountain James Russell Lowell, Poems · 84%
  23. O’Er the Far Blue Mountains Felicia Hemans, Poems
  24. The Bell at Sea Felicia Hemans, Poems
  25. Ballad Thomas Hood, The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems
  26. The Bridge of Sighs Thomas Hood, The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems
  27. England My Mother II William Watson, The Poems of William Watson · 95%
  28. The Willow-Tree (Another Version) William Makepeace Thackeray, Ballads · 89%
  29. England My Mother III William Watson, The Poems of William Watson · 88%
  30. England My Mother IV William Watson, The Poems of William Watson · 88%
  31. England My Mother I William Watson, The Poems of William Watson · 87%
  32. Awake! George MacDonald, A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems
  33. Disobedience A. A. Milne, When We Were Very Young
  34. Harvest Moon John Drinkwater, Poems, 1908-1919
  35. Hoppity A. A. Milne, When We Were Very Young
  36. Little White Lily Mary E. Burt, Poems Every Child Should Know
  37. Old English Lullaby Eugene Field, A Little Book of Western Verse
  38. Sermon George MacDonald, A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems
  39. The Garden of Kama: Kama the Indian Eros Laurence Hope, India's Love Lyrics
  40. The Tryst Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Poems and Songs
  41. To Satan Giosuè Carducci, Poems of Giosuè Carducci

The first 41 of 43 poems, best-known poets first. The rest are reachable through their poets.

Each poem's metre was measured from its own words by the method described here; the figure beside a poem is the share of its stressed syllables that fall on the beat. Forms are named from the rhyme scheme and line count together.