Accentual-syllabic Verse
The term was adopted to describe the equivalent meter in accentual-syllabic verse, as composed in English, German, Russian, and other languages. Here, iamb refers to an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. A line of iambic tetrameter consists of four such feet in a row:
da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUMSee the article on iambic pentameter for a more detailed presentation of the basic rhythm of iambic lines.
Read more about this topic: Iambic Tetrameter
Famous quotes containing the word verse:
“But there’s another knowledge that my heart destroys
As the fox in the old fable destroyed the Spartan boy’s
Because it proves that things both can and cannot be;
That the swordsmen and the ladies can still keep company;
Can pay the poet for a verse and hear the fiddle sound,
That I am still their servant though all are underground.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)