How to write in iambic pentameter

What is iambic pentameter?

To understand iambic pentameter, it’s first important to understand what an iamb is. An iamb is a word or phrase that starts with an unstressed (not emphasized) syllable and ends with a stressed (or emphasized) syllable. Here are some examples of iambs and how they’re pronounced:

• Device (de-VICE)
• Invest (in-VEST)
• Omit (o-MIT)
• Perfume (per-FUME)
• Profound (pro-FOUND)
• Complain (com-PLAIN)

Next, let’s break down what a pentameter is. The suffix “penta” means five. So, iambic pentameter is a rhythm that uses ten total syllables, and every other syllable is stressed.

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What does iambic pentameter sound like?

Iambic pentameter is known to sound like a human heartbeat. It sounds like “da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM.”

Examples of iambic pentameter in plays

As you learned earlier, Shakespeare frequently used iambic pentameter in his plays. Here’s an example of iambic pentameter in Romeo and Juliet:

“Two households, both alike in dignity
(In fair Verona, where we lay our scene),
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.”

As you can see, each line uses ten syllables that alternate between unstressed and stressed.

Here’s another famous example of iambic pentameter in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar:

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.”

Iambic pentameter can also be found in Hamlet:
“O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon ’gainst (self-slaughter!) O God, God.”

Iambic pentameter in poems

The poem Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats uses iambic pentameter:

“My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk.”

Here’s an example of iambic pentameter in the poem Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth:

“Five years have past; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur.—Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky…”

How to write with iambic pentameter

If you’re intimidated by iambic pentameter, don’t worry—it’s easy to execute in your writing. To write with iambic pentameter, you’ll need to use five iambs in each line, so each line must be ten syllables in total. Remember, an iamb is when the first syllable is unstressed, and the second syllable is stressed. For example, the word “revise” is an iamb since the first syllable isn’t stressed, but the second syllable is.

Iambic pentameter can be as long or as short as you want it to be (as long as you have at least one line with five iambs). You can write a full page in iambic pentameter, or you can write a single line using it. It’s important to note that iambic pentameter doesn’t have to contain rhymes.

Once you’ve written your first draft, read your iambic pentameter aloud. This can help you ensure that you correctly alternated between unstressed and stressed syllables. Remember, iambic pentameter should sound similar to “da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM.” If you didn’t follow the correct syllable pattern, you’ll need to go back and make some edits.

Now that you understand iambic pentameter, you can effectively use it in your writing. Explore other literary devices you can experiment with to improve your writing.