Any tips for maintaining iambic pentameter?

Question

I can't seem to do it.

Answer 1

Iambic feet are not difficult. You are over thinking it.

Even the best poets with the best poems usually didn't maintain it throughout the entire verse. It is not necessary.

Do your best and the best way to learn how to do anything right is to read a lot of what has come before you. Basically, when I realized that all metered poetry really was... consisted of changing the words to someone elses poem... I began writing Prose.

It's all just a bunch of rehashed antique Weird Al yankovick in poetic form...

An Iamb is a metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable or symbolically, a little scoop and then a forward slash. (as I do not have a little scoop on my keyboard) an example of a word that is Iambic is defeat. De feat.

It follows the natural pattern of all English words and phrases... How can you say that it's hard?

To wake / the soul / by tender strokes / of art
To raise / the genius / and to mend / the heart
To make / Mankind / in conscious virtue bold
live o ^re / each scene / and be / what they behold

Pentameter is a five foot line. and yet again, the basic line in much of English verse.

It's not too hard if you think about it.

Answer 2

Well, first of all,

When writing poetry, do you already know what you want to say, and have you written it down in any other form, besides Iambic Pentameter?

A good start is to have the ideas expressed as lines of prose, and then you can look closely at what you wish to say, whether the rhythm of the spoken or narrated language fits the ides, and possibly, what rhymes may fit, and where.

This is just the preparation. You should have a dictionary, and a thesaurus, and a rhyming dictionary, and an encyclopedia available if you aren't comfortable, and you get stuck.

Reading words, and definitions, and rhymes, seems to help some people get in the mood for writing, as does listening to percussion or rhythmical music.

But once you follow all these little hints and bits of advice, you still need to write the lines. That is why I suggested having your ideas written out in prose.

Then you can write them out in free verse, which has no meter or rhymes, and break the lines where they seem most interesting or rhythmic.

Perhaps you can then try Blank Verse, which was Shakespeare's specialty; unrhymed Iambic Pentameter. The rhythm of English speech falls nicely into this form.

After these rewrites, or perhaps you'd call them practice poems, you can start writing the rhyming lines in Iambic Pentameter.

And, if you have read the rhyme books, written your ideas two or three different ways, and played with numerous synonyms and antonyms; why then, you should be ready to rhyme to your hearts content.

Good poetry takes time, effort, love of the language and respect for the expressive forms. Iambic Pentameter is the basic form in English, and as you get it, you'll gain more insight into writing other forms.

Press on, poet, and Good Luck!

Answer 3

Well, English is a language that is a "natural" for iambic pentameter. Something about it sort of falls into it, so you are ahead right there.

Keep in mind that the stress scheme is:
-- / -- / -- / -- / -- /

Here is a sentence: Is this the face that launched a thousands ships? When you just say it, it seems to be just a sentence, but it is in iambic pentameter.

But it seems that your problem is that some of the sentences or parts thereof don't seem iambic pentameter unless you force the stress or overlook the fact that some sentences that can be forced into iambic stress don't really work that way. That is because some words are normally stressed in a sentence, when the iambic stress scheme requires in that place an unstressed word or syllable. In the example from a post above, there is the sentence, "My special toy looks like a red balloon." But although this can be read with iambic stress, it is not a natural - in real speech, we stress looks, not like. We tend to break it up this way: My SPE cial TOY LOOKS like a RED bal LOON. Because we usually say LOOKS like a..., not looks LIKE a.... And that breaks up the stress scheme.

So you must ensure that the sentence or part of a sentence uses words that lend themselves to the stress scheme.

So you can just say the line you have written as if you were speaking to somebody over the phone or over coffee. If it "flows" then you've got it.

Answer 4

How To Write Iambic Pentameter

Answer 5

The best iambic pentameter is not perfect--it breaks the rhythm occasionally or enjambs lines. So yeah look at some really good stuff, like Shakespeare. Then write down what you want to say in the poem, break that into lines with roughly 10 syllables each. Then relax and see where the natural stresses fall. You may have to adjust a word or two, but I bet most of it falls right into place.

Answer 6

Firstly, say the words aloud, making sure that the cadence or rhythm of sounds follow the stressed/unstressed syllable pattern. Other than that, I suppose it just takes some getting used to, and perhaps a little practice and patience. Using iambic pentameter is supposed to be difficult anyways so that it shows a true representation of talent and creativity, while still having a strict limitation in terms of structure placed on the poet. Thanatopsis by William Bryant is a good poem to look at for examples, as well as some stuff by William Shakespeare, if you are in need of some ideas. The best advice I can give, as I mentioned, is to count the syllables out on your fingers first, then make sure it follows the pattern of stressed/ unstressed. Try switching words around or inverting sentences, it sometimes helps. Good luck.

Answer 7

Poetry in motion..... iambic pentameter is somewhat difficult to maintain if your vocabulary is large and filled with words that do not have that particular rhythm.

Short poems are best - try writing, or speaking, sentences that fit into the iambic pentameter mode. You probably have a theme or an idea you are attempting to present in a poetic form, no? I suggest writing down the single words that you want to include in your poem. If the words do not have the iambic pentameter cadence, then you will have to discard them.

Get out books of poetry that you enjoy. Are these written in iambic pentameter? Why do you like these poems? See how other poets have managed to produce poetry while restricting what they produce to a single kind of rhythm.

(sing to the tune "Summertime")

Summertime !-!
In the middle of winter. --!--!-
In Christiansted, -!-!
We are having some fun. --!-!-
No ice, no snow -!-!
And the sun is out shining. --!--!-
So put on your suit and -!--!-
Snorkle there with me. !-!-!

see? I can't maintain iambic pentameter, either.

Answer 8

This answer's not the "best" by any stretch,
but it does add a good piece of advice
to the great answers already on here:
Don't fret too much over rigid metre!
Quite often, one iamb out of a line
will be replaced with a trochaic foot--
and other substitutions can occur.

Consider the famous line from Hamlet:
"To be, or not to be-- that is the question:"

In strictest terms, this line doesn't quite fit:
An extra unstressed syllable (the "-tion")
is metrically jarring and out of place.
This doesn't seem to bother Shakespeare much--
instead, he lets his words speak for him first,
And doesn't let the metre stress him out.
Remember that, in general, it works
because iambic pentameter tries
to match the rhythm of spoken English.
Keep at it, and you'll find before too long,
Iambic pentameter is easy:
Just look at how much of it I wrote here!

Answer 9

iambic pentameter (eye-am-bik pen-tam-uh-tuhr)

The most common meter in English verse. It consists of a line ten syllables long that is accented on every second beat. These lines in iambic pentameter are from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare. Perhaps checking out the Merchant of Venice might give you some examples.


Ĭ.

Answer 10

Lord Byron used to take a prescription of opium and alcohol for the last part of his life. He was on it when he wrote the poem about the ice castle in the sky. He passed out before he could finish it so the poem remains unfinished to this day. Oops, I forgot that the romantic poets didn't follow iambic pentameter but I know a lot of poets rely heavily on drugs and alcohol for inspiration. You should try getting really drunk and high to write poetry like the all time greats. Good Luck.

Answer 11

This doesn't seem to bother Shakespeare much--
instead, he lets his words speak for him first,
And doesn't let the metre stress him out.
Remember that, in general, it works
because iambic pentameter tries
to match the rhythm of spoken English.
Keep at it, and you'll find before too long,
Iambic pentameter is easy:
Just look at how much of it I wrote here!