Anacrusis in poetry is the lead-in syllables that precede the first full measure, while, similarly, in music, it is the note or notes (even a phrase) which precede the first downbeat in a group. The latter sense is synonymous with upbeat and is often called the pickup or the pickup note. Bust of Homer, one of the earliest European poets, in the British Museum Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... In music a phrase is a section of music that is relatively self contained and coherent over a medium time scale. ... In musical notation, a bar or measure is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. ... Synonyms (in ancient Greek syn συν = plus and onoma όνομα = name) are different words with similar or identical meanings. ...
In the Star Spangled Banner, the word Oh in the first line is in anacrusis in both the music and the anapesticmeter of the poem: Nicholson took the copy Key gave him to a printer, where it was published as a broadside on September 17 under the title The Defence of Fort McHenry, with an explanatory note explaining the circumstances of its writing. ... An anapaest is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. ... Meter (or metre) is the rhythm or regular sound-pattern of poetry. ...
x / x x / x x / x x / Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light. . .
In poetry, anacrusis is the lead-in syllables that precede the first full measure, while, similarly, in music, it is the note or notes (even a phrase) which precede the first downbeat in a group.
The latter sense is synonymous with upbeat and is often called the pickup or the pickup note.
An anacrusis is similar to the wind-up a pitcher takes before the ball is thrown; it sets a melody into motion.