Iambic Pentameter Examples
Alyssa Dipiero
Iambic pentameter (pronounced eye-AM-bik pen-TAM-i-ter) is a rhythmic pattern that consists of ten syllables per line, with alternating stressed and unstressed syllables. The pattern that emerges sounds like this: da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM.
Iambic pentameter was first used in ancient Greek poetry, but it gained popularity in English poetry in the sixteenth century, thanks, in large part, to Shakespeare. Shakespeare used this meter because the rhythm of five beats per line closely mimicked spoken English at the time. Furthermore, it provided just enough structure to challenge him creatively.
The meter became synonymous with a high style of poetry throughout the Renaissance, and its versatility allowed it to be carried through the centuries that followed. Although it has been adapted and modified in various ways over time, the fundamental structure of iambic pentameter remains unchanged, and it continues to be one of the most beloved forms of poetry.
Or another way to think of it it a short syllable followed by a long syllable. For example, deLIGHT, the SUN, forLORN, one DAY, reLEASE. English is the perfect language for iambus because of the way the stressed and unstressed syllables work. (Interestingly, the iamb sounds a little like a heartbeat).
Putting these two terms together, iambic pentameter is a line of writing that consists of ten syllables in a specific pattern of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, or a short syllable followed by a long syllable.
The iambic pentameter is the bread and butter for anyone who is interested in poetry, whether it is reading poetry or composing your own. It is the most frequently used meter in poetry. But wait, wait, wait, we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let's double back...
To begin understanding what iambic pentameter is, we need to explore what a 'meter' in poetry means. And to do that, we first need to learn about the foot which makes up a meter. This has all of us scratching our heads too, so let's simplify things a little.
If you need to measure the distance from point A to point B, there are numerous units available. If the distance is not too big, we would probably use centimetres. So let's say that delicious burger is ten centimetres away from you. If the distance was slightly larger, we would use metres. Easy peasy. Poetry works pretty much the same way: we measure lines of poetry through feet. In essence, syllables make up the foot/feet, which, in turn, make up the lines of poetry. So, let's move on from the pleasures of juicy burgers to find out about these components in more detail.
Poetry was and continues to be a pleasure to read out loud and listen to, and this is achieved by the lilts, cadences, rhythms and rhymes contained in a poem. There is something already pre-programmed in us that takes great pleasure in music and melodies, and poetry carries the potential to be both musical and melodious. Not everything we write or say will sound like poetry, though. For example: 'What is the time?' hardly sounds like a line from a poem. There is a reason for this: melody. Certain words, when put together, are more melodious than others. This is to do with the stress we put on certain syllables that provides the poem's rhythm or 'meter'.
In the example above from P. B. Shelley's 'Ode to the West Wind', the stressed syllables are marked in bold, while the syllables in regular font are unstressed. If you count them, there are a total of ten syllables. An iambic pentameter always consists of precisely ten syllables. A missing syllable would make the line catalectic, which is a fancy term for an incomplete metric line. The catalectic feature is often used to create an effect in poems, which we will examine later.
The iambic pentameter is the most frequently used meter in poetry for a reason. The downward-to-upward lilting of sound creates a pleasing melody. The desire to hear and speak in the iamb is ingrained in the human brain. Read the following two lines out loud:
Which line sounds more poetic to you? Line 2 seems to have more thought, more technicalities, more precise word choices factoring into it, thereby making it sound more poetic. One aspect of those technicalities is its meter, and in this case, the iambic pentameter:
Numerous qualities can be ascribed to a poem because of the iambic pentameter. It is a universally loved meter because it can make a line sound contemplative, narrative, musical, conversational, formal, comical, accented, or a combination of any of these qualities.
As the meter of a poem is indicative of the tone of the poem, any disruptions or inconsistencies in the meter are deliberate and used to emphasise something. Let's take a look at one of the most famous lines in English literature from Shakespeare's Hamlet (1609):
Sonnets are almost always written in the iambic pentameter. The sonnet is a type of poem that has a long and rich history. The sonnet form (first popularised by Francesco Petrarca and then, thanks to the Renaissance, adopted by Shakespeare) is a popular type of poem containing 14 lines. The most important feature of the sonnet is the volta or the turn.
The simplicity of the sonnet held great appeal for poets, especially when they wished to lay great emphasis on everyday thoughts and feelings. Since the volta is the expression of contradiction, change, transformation, transition, or doubt, the iambic pentameter serves a dual purpose here. Firstly, because the meter is so commonly used, and its melody is intuitively ingrained in us all, it makes the sonnet a smooth read. If you read a sonnet out loud, you will find it is pleasurable to listen to because of the rising meter of the iamb. Furthermore, because the meter remains unchanged in the volta, the change in idea, expression or any kind of transformation is subtly introduced and is not jarring to the reader.
The dramatic change, therefore, may be observed only in content and not form. However, if the meter does change, this change can certainly be made more dramatic. As a result, the iambic pentameter separates the sonnet from the more dramatic rhythms and meters, such as the spondee (two stressed syllables) or the pyrrhic (two unstressed syllables) foot, thereby making the sonnet appear simpler in its expression.
Trying to write poetry can be scary, and you might feel the fear of embarrassment. To quell that fear, I have attempted to write a few lines in the iambic pentameter. You will notice that these are hardly the same quality as William Shakespeare's or John Keats' works.
Once you master the iambic pentameter and it begins to come naturally to you, feel free to experiment with couplets, rhyming couplets, and adding punctuation to them. Remember, practice makes perfect!
While there are no shortcuts, and practice makes perfect, you can follow some tips to perfect your iambic pentameter. Start out with simpler language and do not focus on rhyme. Write a few lines of iambic till you feel it starts coming to you naturally. Then you can gradually add high diction and figures of speech to your lines.
Deciding on the meter of a poem can be one of the most challenging parts of analyzing poetry. This is due in part to the fact that poets often change up the meter, rather than follow one specific pattern. Or, a writer throws in dactyls or spondees to make the lines even harder to pin down.
In this particular example, Keats makes use of iambic pentameter throughout the poem until he gets to the eighth line. This line is in iambic trimeter. It takes the form of the iamb, but each line contains three rather than five pairs of unstressed and stressed.
It is more likely than not, if you are a consumer of poetry that you have come across iambic pentameter. It is the most common meter in English poetry, and many of the best-known Elizabethan poets and playwrights, such as William Shakespeare(Bio Poems), John Keats(Bio Poems), Ben Jonson(Bio Poems), and Christopher Marlowe(Bio Poems) made use of it. The latter is thought to have influenced Shakespeare through his skillful use of the structure.
One of the great meditations on suicide in English literature, this speech has become so well-known that its meaning and power have become less clear: as T. S. Eliot observed of Hamlet, it is the Mona Lisa of literature.
The poem is one of the great hymns to tranquillity, quiet contemplation, and self-examination in all of English literature, and a quintessential piece of Romantic poetry written in meditative blank verse. We have analysed this poem here.
What did the modernists of the early twentieth century do with iambic pentameter? Modernism was known for its spirit of experimentation and rejection of traditional forms, but poets such as Wallace Stevens still drew on the flexibility and speech-like qualities of iambic pentameter.
Iambic pentameter (/aɪˌmbɪk pɛnˈtmɪtər/ eye-AM-bik pen-TAM-it-ər) is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in each line. Rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables called "feet". "Iambic" indicates that the type of foot used is the iamb, which in English is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (as in a-BOVE). "Pentameter" indicates that each line has five "feet".
Iambic pentameter is the most common meter in English poetry. It was first introduced into English by Chaucer in the 14th century on the basis of French and Italian models. It is used in several major English poetic forms, including blank verse, the heroic couplet, and some of the traditionally rhymed stanza forms. William Shakespeare famously used iambic pentameter in his plays and sonnets,[1] John Milton in his Paradise Lost, and William Wordsworth in The Prelude.
It is possible to notate this with a "/" marking ictic syllables (experienced as beats) and a "" marking nonictic syllables (experienced as offbeats). In this notation a standard line of iambic pentameter would look like this:
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