Iamb (poetry)
Disyllables | |
---|---|
◡ ◡ | pyrrhic, dibrach |
◡ – | iamb |
– ◡ | trochee, choree |
– – | spondee |
Trisyllables | |
◡ ◡ ◡ | tribrach |
– ◡ ◡ | dactyl |
◡ – ◡ | amphibrach |
◡ ◡ – | anapaest, antidactylus |
◡ – – | bacchius |
– – ◡ | antibacchius |
– ◡ – | cretic, amphimacer |
– – – | molossus |
See main article for tetrasyllables. | |
An iamb (
Etymology
Accentual-syllabic use
In accentual-syllabic verse and in modern linguistics an iamb is a foot that has the rhythmic pattern:
da | DUM |
Using the 'ictus and x' notation (see
x
|
/
|
The word 'attempt' is a natural iamb:
x
|
/
|
at- | tempt |
In phonology, an iambic foot is notated in a flat representation as (σ'σ) or as foot tree with two branches W and S where W = weak and S = strong.
A line of iambic pentameter comprises five consecutive iambs.Iambic trimeter is the metre of the spoken verses in Greek tragedy and comedy, comprising six iambs—as one iambic metrum consisted of two iambs. In English accentual-syllabic verse, iambic trimeter is a line comprising three iambs.
Less common iambic measures include
The reverse of an iamb is called a trochee.
Types of meter
Key:
- Non-bold = unstressed syllable
- Bold = stressed syllable
Dimeter
Iambic dimeter is a meter referring to a line consisting of two iambic feet.
The way a crow
Shook down on me.... (Robert Frost, "Dust of Snow")
Trimeter
Iambic trimeter is a meter referring to a line consisting of three iambic feet.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf; (Theodore Roethke, "My Papa's Waltz")
The only news I know
Is bulletins all day (Emily Dickinson, "The Only News I Know")
Tetrameter
Iambic tetrameter is a meter referring to a line consisting of four iambic feet:
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies; (Lord Byron, "She Walks in Beauty")
Pentameter
Iambic Pentameter is a meter referring to a line consisting of five iambic feet:
- To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. (Alfred Tennyson, "Ulysses")
- Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18)
(Although, it could be argued that this line in fact reads: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Meter is often broken in this way, sometimes for intended effect and sometimes simply due to the sound of the words in the line. Where the stresses lie can be debated, as it depends greatly on where the reader decides to place the stresses. Although in this meter the foot is no longer iambs but trochees.)[original research?]
- A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! (William Shakespeare, Richard III)
- They also serve who only stand and wait. (John Milton, When I Consider How My Light is Spent)
Hexameter
Iambic hexameter is a meter referring to a line consisting of six iambic feet. In English verse, "alexandrine" is typically used to mean "iambic hexameter"
- Ye sacred Bards, that to ¦ your harps' melodious strings
- Sung th'ancient Heroes' deeds (the monuments of Kings) (Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion)
Heptameter
Iambic Heptameter is a meter referring to a line consisting of seven iambic feet:
- I s'pose the flats is pretty green up there in Ironbark. (A. B. Paterson, The Man from Ironbark)
Sound change
Through iambic shortening, a word with the shape light–heavy or short–long changes to become light–light; for example, ibī changes to ibi with two short syllables. In modern linguistics this change is sometimes referred to as "trochaic shortening", since íbī has a stress on the first syllable and is thus in modern linguistic terms a trochee.[6]
See also
- Common metre
- Long metre
- Prosody (Latin)
- Short metre
Notes
- ^ e.g. Alan Prince (1991) "Quantitative Consequences of Rhythmic Organization". In Michael Ziolkowski et al., eds., Papers from the 26th Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society, p. 3.
- ^ R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 572.
- ISBN 90-04-02325-9. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- ISBN 3-11-004585-0
- ^ "Poetry 101: What Is a Shakespearean Sonnet? Learn About Shakespearean Sonnets With Examples". MasterClass. Master Class. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- ^ For example, Hyde, Brett, (2011). "The Iambic-Trochaic Law". In Marc van Oostendorp, Colin Ewen, Elizabeth Hume & Keren Rice (eds.). The Blackwell Companion to Phonology. Volume 2 Suprasegmental and Prosodic Phonology, p. 1067.
References
- Murfin, Ross C.; Ray, Supryia M. (2009). The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. LCCN 2008925882.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .