79: Iambic Pentameter

2012-08-28T12:07:17Z

87.77.234.205: It's Greek, not Latin.

{{ComicHeader|79|March 22, 2006}}

[[File:iambic pentameter.jpg]]

== Image Text ==
Of course, you don't wanna limit yourself to the strict forms of the meter. That could get pretty difficult.

==Explanation==
In this entry in the [[My Hobby]] series, the hobby is responding to casual questions in iambic pentameter. {{w|Iambic pentameter}} (origin Greek) is form of prose based on a number of syllables per line, and the emphasis of those syllables. In iambic pentameter, prose contains exactly five (penta meaning five in Greek) "iambs" per line, an iamb being an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (such as "be''hind''" or "re''pel''", but not "''en''ter" or "''o''ver").

The character on the right's responses are each one line of iambic pentameter visually broken into two for space reasons. They read (adding the emphasis):

"Well, ''I'' can ''meet'' the ''plane'' at ''ten'' of ''six''" and "I'll ''meet'' him ''at'' the ''stairs'' be''fore'' the ''gate'', With a sort of bouncing rhythm. {{Shakespeare}} was one of the most famed users of iambic pentameter in his plays.

This is the "strict form" of iambic pentameter. In practice, poets often strayed from the strict count of iambs as the image text suggests. Wikipedia offers two Shakespearian examples being "Now is the winter of our discontent" in which the first iamb is reversed ("Now" is stressed rather than "is"), and "To be or not to be, that is the question" which adds a extra unstressed syllable at the end. As the comic suggests, without such exceptions, it can be very difficult to stick to strict iambic pentameter for every sentence.

{{Comic discussion}}
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79: Iambic Pentameter