Bacchius
Metrical foot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A bacchius (/bəˈkaɪəs/) or bacchy is a metrical foot of three syllables, consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by two stressed ones.
| Disyllables | |
|---|---|
| ◡ ◡ | pyrrhic, dibrach |
| ◡ – | iamb |
| – ◡ | trochee, choree |
| – – | spondee |
| Trisyllables | |
| ◡ ◡ ◡ | tribrach |
| – ◡ ◡ | dactyl |
| ◡ – ◡ | amphibrach |
| ◡ ◡ – | anapaest, antidactyl |
| ◡ – – | bacchius |
| – ◡ – | cretic, amphimacer |
| – – ◡ | antibacchius |
| – – – | molossus |
| See main article for tetrasyllables. | |
In accentual-syllabic verse we could describe a bacchius as a foot that goes like this:
| da | DUM | DUM |
Example:
When day breaks
the fish bite
at small flies.
The Christmas carol 'No Small Wonder' by Paul Edwards is a fair example of usage.
The name is thought to come from its use in ancient Greek songs to the god Bacchus.[1]
