Strictly speaking, Byron uses a mix, but the dominant, driving rhythm is anapestic. The two quick syllables ( the As- ) launch you into the stressed SYR , creating a sense of unstoppable forward motion. That is the anapest. To understand why the anapest is special, you have to look at its mirror image: the dactyl (DUM-da-da). The dactyl is the rhythm of a waltz: "HALF a league, HALF a league" (Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade ). It is a falling rhythm—you start high and tumble down.
Dr. Seuss is the undisputed king of the anapest. His books are essentially long, joyful anapestic bops. Read this from The Cat in the Hat : Then our mother came in and she said to us two , "Did you have any fun ? Tell me what did you do ?" That rhythm is pure anapest. It is the sound of a child’s excitement—the words trip over each other trying to get out. anapesten
And you will know you are in the presence of the most joyful, frantic, and unstoppable rhythm in the English language. Strictly speaking, Byron uses a mix, but the
An anapest is a metrical foot consisting of : two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. da-da-DUM Think of the sound of a ticking clock that suddenly slams a door. Think of a rubber band stretching for two beats and snapping on the third. To understand why the anapest is special, you
Wait. Let’s break it correctly. Actually, let’s look at it purely as anapests: The As--i-an came DOWN like the WOLF on the FOLD .
But there is another rhythm, less stately and far more frantic. It is the rhythm of a horse breaking into a gallop, of a panicked heartbeat, of a joyful, breathless spill of words. That rhythm is the (plural: Anapesten in German, Anapests in English).