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Iambic Pentameter
Rhythm, or meter, is an important element of poetry. As you learned in the article "Be a Sonnet Superstar!"
in this issue of Scope, iambic pentameter is one type of meter. Complete the worksheet below to practice identifying
and writing lambic pentameter.
I. What is iambic pentameter?
Let's look at these two terms separately. An lamb
is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable. Say the words between, mature, and
instead. These are iambs. In poetry, rhythmic units
are called "feet." An iamb is a kind of foot.
Pentameter means that the foot is repeated
five times. It has the Greek root penta-, which means
five. (Think of a pentagon; it has five sides.)
Now put the terms "iamb" and "pentameter"
together. Iambic pentameter is a line of poetry with
five iambs in it. It has this rhythm:
da DUM/ da DUM/ da DUM/ da DUM/ da DUM
II. Who uses iambic pentameter?
Iambic pentameter is one of the most common
meters in poetry. William Shakespeare is famous for
using it in both his plays and his poems. Check out
the first four lines of Sonnet XVIII.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
YOUR TURN
Clap out the rhythms of the above sonnet. Then
draw slashes in each line to show how they break
into iambs. Finally, underline the stressed syllables.
This is how the first line will look:
Shall I/ compare/thee to/a sum/mer's day?
I
AL FOR
III. Craft your own poem!
Writing in iambic pentameter requires thought and
discipline to find just the right words. Create your
own poem using lambic pentameter. If you don't
get the right rhythm or number of syllables at first,
think about how you can rephrase your thoughts or
use different words to express yourself. Use the lines
below to write your poem. Continue on the back if
you wish.
