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Anapaest
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{{short description|Metrical foot}} {{Metrical feet}} An '''anapaest''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|n|ə|p|iː|s|t|,_|-|p|ɛ|s|t}}; also spelled '''anapæst''' or '''anapest''', also called '''antidactylus''') is a [[metrical foot]] used in formal [[poetry]]. In classical quantitative meters it consists of two [[short syllable]]s followed by a [[long syllable|long]] one; in accentual stress meters it consists of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. It may be seen as a reversed [[dactyl (poetry)|dactyl]]. This word comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|ἀνάπαιστος}}, ''anápaistos'', literally "struck back" and in a poetic context "a dactyl reversed".<ref>{{LSJ|a)na/paistos|ἀνάπαιστος|ref}}.</ref><ref>''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'' 7th Ed. (2009) Edited by Dinah Birch, Oxford University Press Inc.</ref><ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989)</ref><ref>''The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms'' (2008) Chris Baldick, Oxford University Press.</ref> Because of its length and the fact that it ends with a stressed syllable and so allows for strong rhymes, anapaest can produce a very rolling verse, and allows for long lines with a great deal of internal complexity.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com.libwin2k.glendale.edu/EBchecked/topic/22718/anapest ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2011)]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Apart from their independent role, anapaests are sometimes used as substitutions in iambic verse. In strict [[iambic pentameter]], anapaests are rare, but they are found with some frequency in freer versions of the iambic line, such as the verse of Shakespeare's last plays, or the lyric poetry of the 19th century.
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