

The “iamb” part refers to where the stressed syllable is. This is where you’ll have most of the trouble. So let’s look at the first word in iambic pentameter. Until then, though, let’s split the term into its two words and talk about them one by one. In fact, I spent about two years of my school life able to tell iambic pentameter before I even knew about any other kind of metre! But they do exist and they are useful to know, so I will go into them in a future post. Shakespeare writes his plays in mostly verse, after all! All metre is about stresses and syllables, though, and this isn’t the only kind of metre we’ve got! It is, however, the first one most people learn about.

In short, Iambic Pentameter is all about how many syllables and stresses we have in a line of a poem. You’re going to be doing some counting! So stick around and let me help you! Soon enough, you’ll be able to amaze your teacher with how much you know and sail through your exams with ease! What is Iambic Pentameter? To get the hang of it, you’ll need a pencil, a Shakespeare play or poem and your fingers. Practice, reading aloud and lines all over your work. So what exactly is iambic pentameter and how do you spot it? Well, it’s all about practice, really.
