iambic meter?

Question

in literary terms, what is the difference between iambic meter and iambic pentameter?

Answer 1

Iambic meter simply describes the kind of meter. Pentameter refers to five feet of iamb (unstressed-stressed syllables) in a line of poetry.

Answer 2

Iambic refers to the da DAH da DAH da DAH of a poem.

Like: He ran, he clapped, he yelled
I saw, I said "Eat dirt!"

But when five of them are in a row, it is an iambic pentameter (five, like Pentagon). Get it? Shakespeare wrote MANY of his plays and poems in that format, and that's is why it is familiar to most literate ( like YOU now!) people.