Iambic Pentameter - Simple Example

Simple Example

An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The rhythm can be written as:

da DUM

The da-DUM of a human heartbeat is the most common example of this rhythm.

A standard line of iambic pentameter is five iambic feet in a row:

da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM

The tick-TOCK rhythm of iambic pentameter can be heard in the opening line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 12:

When I do count the clock that tells the time

It is possible to notate this with a "/" marking ictic syllables (experienced as beats) and a "×" marking nonictic syllables (experienced as offbeats). In this notation a standard line of iambic pentameter would look like this:

× / × / × / × / × /

The following line from John Keats' To Autumn is a straightforward example:

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

The scansion of this can be notated as follows:

× / × / × / × / × / To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells