What is an iambic meter? What is an iambic pentameter?

Question

I don't know what these terms mean, only that they apply to poetry.

Answer 1

an iamb consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

examples: forget, instead, to look

a line consisting of 5 consecutive iambs is iambic pentameter (penta = 5)

most famous examples are from Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks

Answer 2

Iambic Pentameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line consisting of five iambic feet. The word "pentameter" simply means that there are five feet in the line; iambic pentameter is a line comprising five iambs. The term originally applied to the quantitative meter of Classical Greek poetry, in which an iamb consisted of a short syllable followed by a long syllable. The term was adopted to describe the equivalent meter in English accentual-syllabic verse, where an iamb refers to an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Iambic rhythms come relatively naturally in English. Iambic pentameter is among the most common metrical forms in English poetry: it is used in many of the major English poetic forms, including blank verse, the heroic couplet, and some of the traditional rhymed stanza forms.

Such as: da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM

HE went TO the STORE to BUY some MILK

Answer 3

You've gotten some good answers so far. However, in determining the meter of a line majority rules. A line which is five feet long would be iambic if as few as three of the feet were iambs.

Answer 4

I am pretty sure iambic pentameter is the stresses on words, but not totally sure.

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_pentameter
http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/glossary_poetic_terms_m.htm

Pax - C