Therefore, when he varies from it, he has a purpose.Thus, we can assume that Shakespeare can write regular iambic pentameter any time he damn well wants to.Let us begin with the assertion that William Shakespeare is a great poet.(For reference, a masculine ending is a (“regular”) end, one with a stressed syllable.)Ĭrucial: a feminine ending indicates the presence of a CAESURA, a pause. The line ends with an extra unstressed syllable, giving eleven syllables instead of ten. terminal caesura (near the end of a line)įEMININE ENDING - A line of iambic pentameter (our stock in trade) has a feminine ending when there are one (or sometime more) unaccented syllables after the fifth foot.
medial caesura (near the middle of a line) initial caesura (near the beginning of a line) Indicated by a “double-pipe” || ( so as to be discernible front he SPONDEE “railroad tracks:” //) is an indication of a brief pause outside of the metrical rhythm. (In the twentieth century, the bouncing meters-anapestic and dactylic-have been used more often for comic verse than for serious poetry.)Ī caesura.But inserted now and then, they can lend emphasis and variety to a meter. SPONDEE and PYRRHIC feet, are never used as the sole meter of a poem if they were, it would be like the steady impact of nails being hammered into a board-no delight to hear. TROCHAIC and DACTYLIC meters are called falling meters.IAMBIC and ANAPESTIC meters are called rising meters (because their movement rises from unstressed syllable to stressed).|ĪNAPEST ( ^ ^ / ) - unstressed, unstressed, stressed ( FYI: this is the natural rhythm of the French language)Įxamples : in the NIGHT // by the LIGHT // of the MOONĭACTYL ( / ^ ^ ) - stressed, unstressed, unstressed ( FYI: this is the natural rhythm of the Italian language)Įxamples : BEAUtiful // SERious // SING to her My WAY | is to | begIN | with the | begIN | ning. Lord Byron's "Don Juan" contains a fine example of pyrrhic feet: Much like the anapest and the dactyl, the pyrrhic is often found within the framework of the poem, but does not make up the entire structure.) ( Due to the monotonous, or redundant sound, the pyrrhic foot is not used to construct an entire poem.( It would be confusing at best to literate an entire poem consisting of purely spondaic feet -it would sound like a drill! Or Incessant hammering! For this reason, the spondee is usually used for emphasis, or to break up another foot such as the anapest.)Īnd the | QUAINT MAZ | es in | the WAN | ton GREEN.Shall I | comPARE | thee TO | a SUM | mer’s DAY? |ĭOUble, | DOUble, | TOIL and | TROUble - |Įxamples: AMEN // ARCH-FIEND // DARK NIGHT They brought a woman from the street And made her sit in the stalls By threats By bribes By flattery Obliging her to share a little of her life with actors But I don't understand art Sit still, they said But I don't want to see sad things Sit still, they said And she listened to everything Understanding some things But not others Laughing rarely, and always without knowing why Sometimes suffering disgust Sometimes thoroughly amazed And in the light again, said If that's art I think it is hard work It was beyond me So much beyond my actual life But something troubled her Something gnawed her peace And she came a second time, armoured with friends Sit still, she said And again, she listened to everything This time understanding different things This time untroubled that some things Could not be understood Laughing rarely but now without shame Sometimes suffering disgust Sometimes thoroughly amazed And in the light again said This is art, it is hard work And one friend said, too hard for me And the other said, if you will I will come again Because I found it hard I felt honoured - Howard Barker, from The Bite of the Night
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