Iambic pentameter is a poetic meter with five iambs per line. Variations include feminine endings, inversions, and extra syllables to add emphasis and variation. Donne’s Holy Sonnet 14 uses an inversion and aspondee to emphasize God’s actions.
Variations of iambic pentameter include a feminine ending, an inversion, and a multitude of unnamed accidentals. Iambic pentameter is a poetic meter in which each line contains five iambs, which are pairs of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Writers often vary their poetry and add extra emphasis by changing the stressed syllables or adding an extra syllable.
Correct iambic pentameter always contains exactly ten syllables. These syllables come in pairs called feet. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 provides a good example of this meter: “Shall I compare you to a summer day?”
In iambic pentameter, each foot begins with an unstressed syllable and ends with a stressed syllable. This foot type is also known as iambic. Because there are five feet in each line, rhythm is called pentameter, after the Greek word for five.
The feminine ending is a variation of iambic pentameter caused by adding an extra unstressed syllable at the end of a line. Also called a weak ending, this variant is used to indicate a question or uncertainty in the speaker. For example, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the title character questions himself in a soliloquy. Throughout the speech there are more feminine endings, including the first line: “To be or not to be: that is the question.”
Another variation of iambic pentameter is the inversion, which uses a trochee in place of an iambic. The trochee is a reverse iammbo, with the first syllable stressed and the second unstressed. Inversions typically occur at the start of a line or after a caesura. John Donne uses an inversion to begin his Holy Sonnet 14, writing: “Beat my heart, God in three persons; for you / For now just knock, breathe, shine and try to mend».
Poets often make certain points using aspondee, which is a foot composed of two stressed syllables, or a pyrrhus, composed of two unstressed syllables. In the second line of Donne’s poem, “knocke,” “breathe,” and “shine” are all stressed syllables. For a correct iambic pattern, “breathe” should be unstressed. By stringing three stressed verbs together, one syllable, Donne emphasizes God’s repeated actions and makes the verse sound like someone knocking.
Adding extra syllables within a foot is another way to vary an iambic pentameter line. An anapest is a metrical foot with two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed, while a dactyl is one with one stressed first and two unstressed syllables after. These extra syllables often slow readers down to get them ready for a new concept.
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