If you are studying Shakespeare or even poetry in general, you will most likely hear the term “iambic pentameter.” This refers to a type of structure for poems. 

When you write a poem, you can choose whether you want to follow a set structure or do free verse. Structures for poems include a set meter and rhyme scheme. The meter refers to the number of syllables in a line of poetry, while the rhyme scheme, or rhyming pattern, indicates which lines in the poem rhyme. 

What Is Iambic Pentameter?

In poetry, iambic pentameter refers to a line with five metrical feet. The term “iamb” refers to a foot, which is one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. “Penta” means “five,” and “meter” means “to measure.” Pentameter therefore means five measures of iambs, or five feet. 

Let’s expand the two terms to help you understand them better. First, let’s look at the “iamb” part of the term. 

Examples of an unstressed (short) syllable, followed by a stressed (long) syllable would be two-syllable words that have their stress on the second syllable. In the examples below, we have put the stressed syllable in bold: 

• release
• delight
• transform
• conform
• undo
• today
• dismay

It can also be two words with the first word being an unstressed word, such as an article: 

• the day
• the moon
• a night

With each foot containing two syllables, this means that five metrical feet equals ten syllables in total. An example would be the following line: 

– Today in London, Kay released her cat.

How Do You Know If Something Is in Iambic Pentameter?

Through this definition, you can tell if something is in iambic pentameter by doing two things: 

• checking the number of syllables in the line (is it ten?)
• checking that the stress of the words are in a pattern of unstressed-stressed all throughout the line. 

For example, check this line from “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare: 

If music be the food of love, play on;

Let’s apply the two checks: 

• ten syllables? Yes.
• unstressed-stressed pattern? We put the stressed syllables in bold: 

If music be the food of love, play on;

Based on these two checks, the above line is in iambic pentameter. 

Examples of Iambic Pentameter in Literature

Shakespeare’s sonnets are known for using iambic pentameter. Check out the examples below: 

Example #1. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare 

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:

Example #2. “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning 

That my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands…
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there; so, not the first
Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, ’twas not
Her husband’s presence only, called that spot

Example #3. “Ode to Autumn” by John Keats

“Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run…
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

Example #4. Macbeth by William Shakespeare 

Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland
In such an honour named. What’s more to do,
Which would be planted newly with the time,
As calling home our exiled friends abroad
That fled the snares of watchful tyranny;
Of this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen…
So, thanks to all at once and to each one,
Whom we invite to see us crown’d at Scone.

How Do You Write Iambic Pentameter?

Again, remember that the structure of iambic pentameter is five pairs of unstressed-stressed syllables. This is your goal for every line you write in your poem. For example, try the following line: 

• Today I met my first love for the first time 

Counting the syllables, we have 11. So one option is to remove one syllable, like this: 

• Today I met my love for the first time

Then, check the unstressed-stressed pattern: 

• Today I met my love for the first time 

The first three “feet” actually met the stressed-unstressed pattern: 

• [Today] [I met] [my love]

… but the next two feet do not. So we try to tweak it around: 

• Today I met my love, the first of times 

Follow this pattern for the next lines of your poem. For example: 

Today I met my love, the first of times 
Be still, my heart, and watch the flame divine
Where else but here in Love’s alluring dance
Can we delight and rise beyond all chance?

Using Iambic Pentameter 

Writing in iambic pentameter is a challenging but rewarding experience, and it’s not as hard as it looks. Sometimes you just need to rearrange words, while other times you will need to find a synonym. But that’s part of what makes writing poetry fun and fulfilling!

To become more familiar with iambic pentameter, continue to read more poetry, particularly William Shakespeare’s plays and works by Keats, Donne, and Milton. Practice reading them out loud to hear the rhythm of the unstressed and stressed syllables. 

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

 

If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:

• How to Write a Sonnet: Tips and Examples
• How to Identify the Rhyme Scheme of a Poem: Tips and Examples from Literature
• Anaphora: How to Use Strategic Repetition in Writing
• Rhythm in Literature: Definition, Examples, and How to Create Your Own