An anapaest is a type of rhythm used in poetry. In classical poetry, it has two short syllables followed by one long syllable. In modern poetry, it has two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. It is the opposite of a dactyl. The word "anapaest" comes from Greek, meaning "struck back" or "a reversed dactyl."

An anapaest creates a smooth and flowing rhythm in poetry. Its structure allows for strong rhymes and can support long, complex lines.

Anapaests are sometimes used in iambic poetry instead of regular rhythms. They are rare in strict iambic pentameter but appear more often in flexible forms of iambic verse, such as the poetry of Shakespeare's later plays or 19th-century lyric poetry.

Examples

Here is an example from William Cowper's "Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk" (1782), which uses a rhythm pattern called anapaestic trimeter:

An example of anapaestic tetrameter is found in "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore (1823):

The following lines are from Byron's "The Destruction of Sennacherib":

An even more complex example appears in Yeats's "The Wanderings of Oisin" (1889). In this poem, Yeats mixes anapests and iambs, creating lines with six beats (instead of four beats as in earlier examples). Because the anapaest is a long rhythm, this results in very long lines.

The blending of anapests and iambs in this way is common in late-19th-century poetry, especially in works by Algernon Charles Swinburne. Examples include "The Triumph of Time" (1866) and the choruses from "Atalanta in Calydon" (1865). Swinburne also wrote poems that use mostly anapaests, with lines ranging from three beats ("Dolores") to eight beats ("March: An Ode").

The song "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel is mainly written in anapaestic heptameter, which consists of two parts with two beats each and one part with three beats. At the end of each verse, there is a short line with a different rhythm and another line that resembles iambic pentameter.

The anapaest is most often used in English poetry for humorous or playful purposes. It appears in the rhythm of limericks, Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark" (1876), Edward Lear's "The Book of Nonsense" (1846), T. S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" (1939), and several books by Dr. Seuss.