Question

Which is one characteristic of iambic pentameter, which is used in "Sonnet 29”?

A.Each line contains twelve syllables.
B.Each line contains ten syllables.
C.Each line contains eight syllables.
D.Each line contains six syllables.

“Sonnet 29””
by William Shakespeare

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Answer 1

In iambic pentameter, each verse consists of five metrical feet. Meter is a poem's rhythm, and feet are units of that rhythm.

In an iamb, an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable, as in the word "hello."

"Penta" means five, so a verse of iambic pentameter has five iambs. Five pairs of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables.

Five pairs gives a total of ten syllables. So the answer is B, "each line contains ten syllables."

Answer 2

B. Each line contains ten syllables. Iambic pentameter is a rhythmic pattern common to poetry made up of an unrhymed line containing five metrical feet wherein each foot contains an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable.