Iambic pentameter

Iambic pentameter is a kind of verse. It is the most common kind of verse in English literature.

The two words seem difficult, because the words are Greek. Pentameter means "consisting of five measures" and iambic "consisting of iambs".

The rhythm which words make in the line is measured in small groups of syllables called "feet". The word "iambic" refers to the type of foot that is used, known as the iamb. This is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet".^[1]

In theory every line is composed of ten syllables and have five stresses.^[2] Stresses fall on the second, the fourth, the sixth, the eighth and the tenth syllable.^[2] This is marked with two signs. The sign "x" stands for a syllable with no stress, and the sign "/" stands for a syllable with stress. So a line of iambic pentameter is:

x / x / x / x / x /

1. ↑ "Poetic Feet and Line Length". Purdue Owl Online Writing Lab. Purdue University. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Amanda Mabillard. "Shakespearean Sonnet Basics: Iambic Pentameter and the English Sonnet Style". Shakespeare Online. Retrieved 14 October 2016.