You are on page 1of 1

IAMBIC PENTAMETER Lets define some terms to help explain this one.

Meter refers to the pattern of syllables in a line of poetry. The most basic unit of measure in a poem is the syllable and the pattern of syllables in a line, from stressed to unstressed or vice versa. This is the meter. Syllables are paired two and three at a time, depending on the stresses in the sentence. Two syllables together, or three if its a three-syllable construction, is known as a foot. So in a line of poetry the cow would be considered one foot. Because when you say the words, the is unstressed and cow is stressed, it can be represented as da DUM. An unstressed/stressed foot is known as an iamb. Thats where the term iambic comes from. Pentameter is simply penta, which means 5, meters. So a line of poetry written in pentameter has 5 feet, or 5 sets of stressed and unstressed syllables. In basic iambic pentameter, a line would have 5 feet of iambs, which is an unstressed and then a stressed syllable. For example: If you would put the key inside the lock This line has 5 feet, so its written in pentameter. And the stressing pattern is all iambs: if YOU | would PUT | the KEY | inSIDE | the LOCK da DUM | da DUM | da DUM | da DUM | da DUM Thats the simplest way to define iambic pentameter. When we speak, our syllables are either stressed (stronger emphasis) or unstressed (weaker emphasis). For example, the word remark consists of two syllables. "Re" is the unstressed syllable, with a weaker emphasis, while "mark" is stressed, with a stronger emphasis. In poetry, a group of two or three syllables is referred to as a foot. A specific type of foot is an iamb. A foot is an iamb if it consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, so the word remark is an iamb. Pent means five, so a line of iambic pentameter consists of five iambs five sets of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables. An iamb is a pair of syllables that go da-DUM, so words like alas, enough, today. Pentameter means five pairs of syllables to a line. So "Melissa Grey is forty-one today!" is a line of iambic pentameter, because it goes Me-LISS-a GREY is FOR-ty ONE to-DAY. (da-DUM da-DUM daDUM da-DUM da-DUM).

You might also like