Simple Example
An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The rhythm can be written as:
da DUMThe 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 DUMThe 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 shellsRead more about this topic: Iambic Pentameter
Famous quotes containing the word simple:
“This is my letter to the world,
That never wrote to me—
The simple news that Nature told,”
—Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)
“And would you be a poet
Before you’ve been to school?
Ah, well! I hardly thought you
So absolute a fool.
First learn to be spasmodic—
A very simple rule.
For first you write a sentence,
And then you chop it small;
Then mix the bits, and sort them out
Just as they chance to fall:
The order of the phrases makes
No difference at all.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)