Poems in iambic pentameter may or may not rhyme. Those that are written in continuous lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter are said to be in blank verse, while rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter may be called “heroic couplets”, particularly when each couplet closes a thought or sentence on its second line.

Pentameter, in poetry, a line of verse containing five metrical feet. In English verse, in which pentameter has been the predominant metre since the 16th century, the preferred foot is the iamb—i.e., an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one, represented in scansion as ˘ ´.

Iambic meter is the pattern of a poetic line made up of iambs. An iamb is a metrical foot of poetry consisting of two syllables—an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, pronounced duh-DUH. An iamb can be made up of one word with two syllables or two different words.

A stressed syllable combines five features:

• It is l-o-n-g-e-r – com p-u-ter.
• It is LOUDER – comPUTer.
• It has a change in pitch from the syllables coming before and afterwards.
• It is said more clearly -The vowel sound is purer.
• It uses larger facial movements – Look in the mirror when you say the word.

A stressed syllable is a syllable that has emphasis within a word (or within a line of poetry). So the best way to tell is to say the word in an overly dramatic way, choosing different syllables to emphasize. For example, let’s say we have the word “emphasize,” and we want to figure out which syllable is stressed.

Here’s the procedure:

1. Look at the word. Circle the vowel sounds with red.
2. Underline the consonants BETWEEN the vowels (don’t worry about the other consonants).
3. Determine which syllable division rule (VC/CV, V/CV, VC/V, or V/V) applies.
4. Cut or mark the word accordingly.
5. Read the word.

2 syllables