Could you please explain to me (on a elementary school level) what is the definition and meaning of “Iambic”?

Question

Thank you in advance for your patience, kindness and understanding.

I'm sorry - I used my "Shift Key" (iambic)

Thank you TD.

What, you did not go home with the rest of them? (smiling and wink)

You all have been so helpful in assisting me in a better understanding.

Thank you all. OXOXOX

Answer 1

All the experts have gone for the day.

An iamb (or foot) is a two part beat, unstressed then stressed syllables.

"Undo" for example, where 'do' is the stressed syllable; unDO.

The meter of a poem is measured in these iambs. If you have five in a line (penta=five) then you would have a ten syllable line (5X2), or "iambic pentameter."

Comme ceci:
upON my WATCH the HANDS tell ME the TIME.

Answer 2

Sure, and while we're at it, you can hear what all the others are as well. How? Listen to how the word sounds:
"I am" say it again..."I am" as in "I am a hero to myself". Do you hear the short "I" and the longer "am" that follows? If you had a string of those end to end, and you sang them like a nursery rhyme, two beats at a time (short long), they'd sound like: "I am a part of all I see and that's the way my life should be". If you go back and count, you'll count 8 full "feet" (one foot is a combination of short and long). If you care to look up the other possible ways words go together, such as "dactyl", "anapest", etc., you'll notice that they all mimic what the word itself sounds like.

Here is the poem written by the famous poet Samuel Coleridge so his children would remember what they were:

"Trochee trips from long to short;
From long to short in solemn sort
Slow Spondee stalks; strong foot! yet ill able
Ever to come up with Dactyl trisyllable.
Iambics march from short to long; --
With a leap and a bound the swift Anapaests -
throng;
One syllable long, with one short at each side,
Amphibrachys hastes with a stately stride;--
First and last being long, middle short, -
Amphimacer
Strikes his thundering hoofs like a proud high-
bred Racer."

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Hope this helps

Answer 3

Sorry, the only definition that comes up is "strong Belgian beer." I don't know if that's right, but, whatever.

Answer 4

TD, that's a very good impersonation!

Dog Lady, I can't add anything to that!

Answer 5

If you think you have the beat...
Sing it loud right down the street.
Pick your feet up, lay them down...
Dance and sing all over town.

or to make it a little simpler...
DUH duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH
DUH duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH
and etc.