Download IAMBIC PENTAMETER

Iambic pentameter,
blank verse, sonnets,
couplets, and what it is
that really makes
Shakespeare the greatest
literary genius of all
time
“I am the man.”
– William Shakespeare
Why is Shakespeare
considered a genius?
To understand… you need to first know that it is not simply what
he did (write 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 long narrative poems) -- it
is how he did it!
Shakespeare wrote his plays almost entirely in…
Blank verse —unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter -- a metrical pattern in which a line of poetry
has five unstressed syllables, each of which is followed by a stressed
syllable
Right now you’re going…. “WHAT???” So let me show you…
Iambic Pentameter has 10 syllables.
5 unstressed, 5 stressed
“This holy shrine the gentle sin is this”
This ho
ly shrine the gen tle sin is this
1 iambic foot
You must have 5 of these for it to be iambic PENTameter
…still confused, right? That’s okay. I’ll put it another
way…
Feel the Rhythm!
A line of pure iambic pentameter has this
rhythm:
da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM
but-SOFT what-LIGHT through-YON der-WIN dow-BREAKS
Beat out the following to see if they
are iambic pentameter or not!
•
Good pilgrim you do wrong your hand too much
•
I strike quickly being moved
•
Hark ye, your Romeo will be here at night
•
Or else beshrew them both
•
I say silver sound because musicians sound for silver
•
Oh pardon me for bringing these ill news
•
Oh, teach me how I should forget to think
ANSWERS
Good pilgrim you do wrong your hand too much (YES)
I strike quickly being moved (NO)
Hark ye, your Romeo will be here at night (YES)
Or else beshrew them both (NO)
I say silver sound because musicians sound for silver (NO)
Oh pardon me for bringing these ill news (YES)
Oh, teach me how I should forget to think (YES)
Couplet
Sometimes, however, Shakespeare has
characters speak in two rhymed lines
in a row, called a couplet.
Example:
Saints do not move, though grant for prayers sake.
Then move not while my prayer’s effect I take.
Sonnet
A sonnet is a lyric poem
14 lines
commonly written in iambic pentameter
The Shakespearean sonnet consists of a
verse of poetry rhyming with every other
line in a pattern of abab, cdcd, efef, gg.
The final two lines are a couplet
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
(Sonnet 18)
couplet
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.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Weekend Homework:
Write your own sonnet!
It does not have to be in Shakespearean tongue
It must be:
14 lines
in iambic pentameter
Follow the rhyme pattern ABAB CDCE EFEF GG
Note: It may help you to use a hyphen between syllables of multisyllable words – it’s easier to keep track of your iambic feet that
way.
After you do this, you will both appreciate Shakespeare’s abilities
more and understand why he sometimes phrases things oddly and
out of the usual order.
A Sonnet for my Pockets
by: Mrs. Barber
Po-ckets for la-dies are a to-tal sham
In them there is no room to fit my things
Un-fair ‘tis that sirs have more space than ma’ams
Sad-ness up-on this day my po-cket brings
Mine hus-band says I rant too much for these
My la-dy po-ckets though won’t hold gum sticks
They are not ev-en large e-nough for keys
We must lug large pur-ses to car-ry tricks
Used dai-ly like phones, wall-ets, coins and mints
Lame la-dy po-ckets cause blin-ding fu-ry
These griev-anc-es drive me to yelling hence
Cloth-ing de-sign-ers please lis-ten, hur-ry
Cor-rect thine foul er-ror or else I’ll crack
I pri-thee take these la-dy po-ckets back!