"Fëanor" Is A Dactyl… and Other Poems by

Sá-sí-free, þá-þí-ing
Fëanor Curufin,
Crafted three gems, then grew
Somewhat unhinged.

Chasing the Silmarils
Un-Gods-endorsédly
Got his kids killed, and him-
Self rather singed.

Chapter End Notes

Regarding the use of hyphens to construct the single-word double-dactylic line in the second stanza: "While the Regents at present feel that hyphens may be used quite freely in this form, they have not yet determined how censorious to be about hyphenated double-dactylic words. A decision on this point is hoped for at our next convocation." (Anthony Hecht & John Hollander, Introduction to Jiggery-Pokery: A Compendium of Double Dactyls, 1966.)

As the much-anticipated Second Convocation of the Regents of the Double Dactyl is still, regrettably, in the planning stages, this author considers that, as of this poem's publication, the use of hyphens in the monologic line does not invalidate the form.

Higgledy-piggledy,
Eru Ilúvatar
Cobbled together the
World with a song;

Given his basso’s great
Obstreperosity,
Who can be shocked that some
Chords came out wrong?

Chapter End Notes

“Higgledy-piggledy” is far and away the most popular opening line among authors of the double dactyl. While this author, therefore, tends to avoid using this particular nonsense word as an opener, it felt appropriate to use the universally-recognized symbol of the beginning of a double dactyl to open the double-dactylized description of the beginning of a universe.