iambic pentameter
[ (eye-am-bik pen-tam-uh-tuhr) ]
The most common meter in English verse. It consists of a line ten syllables long that is accented on every second beat (see blank verse). These lines in iambic pentameter are from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare:
Ĭn sóoth,/Ĭ knów/nŏt whý/Ĭ ám/sŏ sád.
Ĭt wéa/riĕs mé;/yŏu sáy/ĭt wéa/riĕs yóu....
Words Nearby iambic pentameter
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
How to use iambic pentameter in a sentence
The lovers speak entirely in iambic pentameter, which works much better than it should.
The meter is iambic pentameter; but the first foot of the second line is a trochee, and emphasizes thoughts with fine effect.
Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism | F. V. N. PainterIt consists of nine verses, the first eight being iambic pentameter, and the ninth line iambic hexameter, or Alexandrine.
Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism | F. V. N. PainterUnrhymed poetry, usually in iambic pentameter measure, is known as blank verse.
Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism | F. V. N. PainterThe sonnet is a lyric poem consisting of fourteen iambic pentameter lines.
Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism | F. V. N. Painter
He first gives his reasons for preferring iambic pentameter to the Reinartsvers, which some might think best to use.
The Translations of Beowulf | Chauncey Brewster Tinker
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