Breaking Down the Bard - Iambic Pentameter

Alright, it's time to deal with the elephant in the room. We're gonna talk about that big scary phrase you hear thrown around all the time, but never quite understood: IAMBIC PENTAMETER.

Let's set the record straight: not all verse is iambic pentameter, but it just so happens that Shakespeare used it a lot. (If you don't know what verse is, that's okay! I cover that here.) We're going to learn what iambic pentameter IS, so that we can have a jumping off point into other kinds of verse. Don't freak out or feel overwhelmed. In just a few minutes, you are TOTALLY going to understand iambic pentameter. 

Say the following sentence out loud:

I parked my car in Harvard Yard, alright?

That was iambic pentameter. So is this one:

If music be the food of love, play on...

One of these is Shakespeare, and one isn't. No big deal. English speakers fall into the pattern of iambic pentameter ALL THE TIME without even realizing it!

So, what IS this fancy-schmancy iambic pentameter thing anyway? Let's break it down:

An "iamb" is when a pair of syllables (also called a "foot" in poetry) are spoken with the first syllable unstressed, and the second syllable stressed. Words like "because", "today", "provide", "between", and "tonight" are all iambic; they have two syllables, and the second syllable gets the stress.

"Pentameter" means there are five ("penta" means five) of those poetic feet to make up each line in the verse ("meter"). 

Therefore, perfect* iambic pentameter is simply a type of writing where each line has ten syllables, with five unstressed syllables and five stressed syllables that alternate throughout the line, beginning with an unstressed syllable. It sounds like:

da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM 

*Of course, rules are made to be broken, and we'll talk about that later on.

Check out these Shakespeare lines that are perfect iambic pentameter:

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

(but SOFT, what LIGHT through YON-der WIN-dow BREAKS?)

And though she be but little, she is fierce.

(and THOUGH she BE but LIT-tle, SHE is FIERCE.)

The matter's in my head and in my heart.

(the MAT-ter's IN my HEAD and IN my HEART.)

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!

(a HORSE! a HORSE! my KING-dom FOR a HORSE!)

So, to review:

An iamb:two syllables, first unstressed, second stressed

Penta- : five. Think "pentagon", which has five sides, or Pentatonix, that awesome a capella group with five members

meter: a line of poetry

There you go! Now you know what iambic pentameter is!

Next week on Breaking Down the Bard... Scansion!

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