Jiggery Pokery: A Compendium of Double Dactyls, With a New Epilogue [Paperback]

Anthony Hecht (Author), John Hollander (Author), Milton Glaser (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Finn Again by Irma Brandeis
Higgledy Higginson? by Donald Hall
Confession by Anthony Hecht
The Congress Of Vienna by Anthony Hecht
Down There On A Visit by Anthony Hecht
Escape Literature by Anthony Hecht
Firmness by Anthony Hecht
From The Grove Press by Anthony Hecht
The Glory That Was Rome by Anthony Hecht
Handicap by Anthony Hecht
It Never Rains... by Anthony Hecht
Nominalism by Anthony Hecht
Paradise Lost, Book 5. An Epitome by Anthony Hecht
Point Of View by Anthony Hecht
Professionalism by Anthony Hecht
The Russian Soul by Anthony Hecht
Sources Of Juvenile Crime by Anthony Hecht
Theory Of Architecture by Anthony Hecht
Vice by Anthony Hecht
Appearance And Reality by John Hollander
Arbiter Elegantiae by John Hollander
Danish Wit by John Hollander
A Far, Far Better World by John Hollander
Gourmet by John Hollander
Heliogabalus by John Hollander
High Art by John Hollander
Historical Reflections by John Hollander
Last Words by John Hollander
Letto Matrimoniale by John Hollander
Like A Cold Shower by John Hollander
The Lower Criticism by John Hollander
No Foundation by John Hollander
No Play by John Hollander
Parents' Fault by John Hollander
Plagiarism by John Hollander
The Russian Soul Ii by John Hollander
The Russian Soul Iii by John Hollander
Trou Bad! by John Hollander
When In Isenheim by John Hollander
Wrath by John Hollander
The German Romantics I by Richard Howard
The German Romantics Ii by Richard Howard
The German Romantics Iii by Richard Howard
Above All That? by James Ingram Merrill
Neo-classic by James Ingram Merrill
Twilight's Last Gleaming by Arthur W. Monks
Tact by M. Pascal
Bad Planning by Eric Salzman
Plus Ca Change... by Eric Salzman
Pop Art by Eric Salzman
Decisions, Decisions by E. William Seaman
Frayed, Tangled Nerves by E. William Seaman
No Fool, He by E. William Seaman
The Other Victoria by E. William Seaman
Sailing To Jerusalem by E. William Seaman
A Soft Answer by E. William Seaman
The Verdi Influence by E. William Seaman
Who, Indeed? by E. William Seaman
1066 by Chris Wallace-crabbe
Anguish by Chris Wallace-crabbe
Appearance And Reality by Chris Wallace-crabbe
Impressionism by Chris Wallace-crabbe
Personae, Or, Who's Who? by Chris Wallace-crabbe
Point Of View by Chris Wallace-crabbe
A Rich, Full Life by Chris Wallace-crabbe
The Ur-guggenheim by Chris Wallace-crabbe
Yin & Yang by Chris Wallace-crabbe
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Paperback: 119 pages
• Publisher: Scribner / Atheneum (December 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689706545
• ISBN-13: 978-0689706547
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,558,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars double-dactylically, June 28, 2006

By 

Brian Flanagan (cold spring, ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jiggery Pokery: A Compendium of Double Dactyls, With a New Epilogue (Paperback)

Higgledy Piggeldy
Amazon Booksellers,
Why do charge me so
Much for your books?!

Price as to increase your
Marketability--
Because right now, I think
You are all crooks.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Joseph E. Rizzolo, June 1, 2001

By 

Kick A. Hole Soup - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jiggery Pokery: A Compendium of Double Dactyls, With a New Epilogue (Paperback)

(It's nice having a name that fits the meter, as it enables you to write poems about yourself)

Any fans of light poetry e.g. limericks will love this book. The writers epitomize the uber-academic approach taken by so many literary elitists, which appeals to my own betimes elitist character. For those of you unfamiliar with the form, the rules go like this:

1. Eight lines of verse in two stanzas. 2. Lines 1-3 and 5-7 are double dactyls. 3. Lines 4 and 8 are single dactyls with an added beat, and rhyme. 4. Line 1 is nonsensical 5. Line 2 is a proper noun 6. Either line 6 or line 7 must be a single-word double dactyl (e.g. "anthropoligical") 7. (my favorite rule) No single word double dactyl may be used in another poem. Ever. By anyone.

Sound tough to pen? I've tried it many a time, and I think I've come up with two poems that reflect any merit. The challenge of the form is partly what makes a clever and well executed result so much fun.

Why only four stars? The authors seem to believe that rule number 7 makes the form finite (which is perhaps why the book is out of print), that the limited number of double dactyl words in the English language will be consumed and ultimately doom the form to oblivion. There's no rule that demands that ACTUAL words endorsed by the likes of Noah Webster be used, which rather threatens the ephemeral nature of the form. Some of my best work includes words of my own smithing like 'posttransubstantiate' and 'jiggliectomy' (the removal of breast implants).

If you ever find a copy, buy it....

Oh, by the way; I already used the above words in my own work. So ha.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tribute from a Fan, November 9, 2007

By 

C. Smith - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jiggery Pokery: A Compendium of Double Dactyls, With a New Epilogue (Paperback)

Jiggery, Pokery
"Jiggery Pokery"
Dactyl compendium
Self-conscious art

Volume of poems whose
Hexasyllabical
Genre was shaped by two
Dons at the start.