Anapesten =link= -

Most of us are familiar with the heavy, marching beat of the : "The curfew tolls the knell of parting day." (da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM).

Think of Heinrich Heine, who often used triple meters to create a sing-song, ironic effect. Where English anapests feel like galloping , German Anapesten can often feel like skipping —a lighter, more folk-song quality. Meter is not a cage for words; it is a vehicle. The iamb is a sturdy wagon. The trochee is a hammer blow. The dactyl is a waltz. anapesten

da-da-DUM. da-da-DUM.

And you will know you are in the presence of the most joyful, frantic, and unstoppable rhythm in the English language. Most of us are familiar with the heavy,

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). Meter is not a cage for words; it is a vehicle