Iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter is a line of verse with ten syllables arranged as five iambs, each an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one, so it runs da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM.
"But SOFT, what LIGHT through YONder WINdow BREAKS?" Five pairs, each weak then strong, ten syllables in all. That is iambic pentameter: iambic for the weak-strong foot, pentameter for five of them.
Where it appears
- Shakespeare's plays, mostly as unrhymed blank verse.
- The sonnet, in English, almost always.
- Milton's Paradise Lost and a long line of English narrative and dramatic poetry.
- Heroic couplets, the form of Pope and Dryden.
How to scan a line
Say the line at normal speed and listen for the heavier syllables. Mark them. If they fall on 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, you have a regular line. Where they do not, you have found a variation, and variations are worth looking at because they usually sit on a word the poet wants you to notice.
The pattern is a ruler, not a cage. Pope wrote "True ease in writing comes from art, not chance" with a clean beat. Shakespeare often adds an eleventh unstressed syllable at the end of a line, called a feminine ending, as in "To be, or not to be, that is the question".
Why it matters to a writer or editor
Knowing the pentameter beat helps you hear when a line has gone wrong. A syllable too many makes it limp, and a missing one makes it jolt. Writers of dialogue also benefit, since a speech that falls into five soft beats can sound oddly elevated, which may suit a play and ruin a thriller. For the broader idea, see meter, and for the unrhymed form, blank verse.
Read an example
Read an example: the opening line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 (1609) has ten syllables and five beats, each beat landing on the second syllable of a pair.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
William Shakespeare, 1609
For a full poem in the meter, read Shelley's "Ozymandias" on Bossfeed.
Frequently asked questions
Why is iambic pentameter so common in English?
Its rhythm is close to the natural rise and fall of English speech, and ten syllables is about one comfortable breath. It sounds formal without sounding stiff.
Does every line have to be perfectly regular?
No. Poets vary the pattern for effect. The first foot is often reversed to a stress-first trochee, as in Hamlet's 'To be, or not to be', which opens on two stresses before settling.
What is the difference between blank verse and iambic pentameter?
Blank verse is unrhymed iambic pentameter. The pentameter is the rhythm, and rhyme is a separate choice.