Iambic pentameter

Iambic pentameter is a meter in poetry, consisting of lines with five feet (hence "pentameter") in which the iamb is the dominant foot (hence "Iambic"). Iambic rhythms are quite easy to write in English and iambic pentameter is among the most common metrical forms in English poetry. Like other meters, it has its origins in Greek poetry.

Related Topics:
Meter - Poetry - Feet - Pentameter - Iamb - English - Greek

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William Shakespeare, like many of his contemporaries, wrote poetry and drama in iambic pentameter. Here is an example from his Sonnet XVIII:

Related Topics:
William Shakespeare - Drama

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: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

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: Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

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: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

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: And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

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When read aloud, such verse naturally follows a beat. There is some debate over whether works such as Shakespeare's was originally performed with the rhythm prominent, or whether it was disguised by the patterns of normal speech as is common today. In written form, the rhythm looks like this:

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: da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM

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: (weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG)

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: Shall I com - PARE thee TO a SUM mer's DAY

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Although strictly speaking, iambic pentameter refers to five iambs in a row (as above), in practice, most poets vary their iambic pentameter a great deal, while maintaining the iamb as the most common foot. The second foot of a line of iambic pentameter is almost never altered. The first foot, on the other hand, is the most likely to be changed, often in order to highlight a particular word or mark a shift in a poem. A trochaic inversion, in which a trochee is substituted for an iamb in the first foot, is perhaps the most common alteration of the iambic pentameter pattern.

Related Topics:
Trochee - Iamb

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Here is the first quatrain of a sonnet by John Donne that demonstrates how poets use variations in their iambic pentameter:

Related Topics:
Sonnet - John Donne

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: Batter my heart three-personed God, for you

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: as yet but knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend.

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: That I may rise and stand o'erthrow me and bend

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: Your force to break, blow, burn and make me new.

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The rhythm is:

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DUM da | da DUM | da DUM | da DUM | da DUM

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da DUM | da DUM | DUM DUM | da DUM | da DUM

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da DUM | da DUM | da DUM | DUM DUM |dada DUM

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da DUM | da DUM | DUM DUM | da DUM | da DUM

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Donne uses a trochaic inversion in the first line to stress the key verb, "batter", and then sets up a clear iambic pattern with the rest of the line (da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM). He uses spondees in the third foot to slow down the rhythm when he lists verbs in lines 2 and 4. The parallel rhythm and grammar of these lines highlights the comparison Donne sets up between what God does to him "as yet" (knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend"), and what he asks God to do ("break, blow, burn and make me new"). Donne also uses enjambment between lines 3 and 4 to speed up the flow as he builds to his desire to be made new. To further the quickening effect of the enjambment, Donne puts an anapest (dada DUM) in the final foot, carrying you to the next line.

Related Topics:
Spondee - Enjambment

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Most poets who have a great facility for iambic pentameter frequently vary the rhythm of their poetry as Donne does here, both to create a more interesting overall rhythm and to highlight important thematic elements. In fact, the skillful variation of iambic pentameter, rather than the consistent use of it, may well be what distinguishes the rhythmic artistry of poets like Donne, Shakespeare, Milton, and the 20th century sonneteer Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Related Topics:
Donne - Shakespeare - Milton - Sonneteer - Edna St. Vincent Millay

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