Iambic pentameter
An iambic foot (iamb) has a short syllable followed by a long syllable (SL or U/).
Pentameter is five feet per line.
This is the most popular metre in the English language. As well as Shakespeare’s sonnets, there’s a host of poetry, old and modern, that uses iambic pentameter.
Example
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain – and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
Robert Frost – Acquainted with the Night
A closer look at the feet in this poem
U = short syllable; / = long syllable; | = division between feet
