Perfect iambic pentameter
Aug. 6th, 2004 02:16 amAs most of you are probably aware, most things written in iambic pentameter are sorta approximate -- they're kinda five iambs in a row, but they're maybe squished a little, or one of the accents is kind of a little off, or whatever.
So Lis and I were briefly thinking about lines which were perfect -- things which it's almost impossible to say and NOT have it come out as five iambs in a row. To the point that you want to try to de-emphasize the iambic pentameterness of it, for fear of being too sing-songy, but you just CAN'T, because the words are so strongly shaped that way.
I mentioned, "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?"
And Lis mentioned, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
Any other lines that particularly stick in your head as having that "dih DAH dih DAH dih DAH dih DAH dih DAH" rhythm?
Iambs arranged in a pentameter.
They have a strongly singy-songy beat.
If written without rhymes, they're called "blank verse."
Bank verse approximates natural speech.
But it is far more formal and precise.
Its beat forms a hypnotic kind of sound.
Incantatory, chanting, sort of thing.
So Lis and I were briefly thinking about lines which were perfect -- things which it's almost impossible to say and NOT have it come out as five iambs in a row. To the point that you want to try to de-emphasize the iambic pentameterness of it, for fear of being too sing-songy, but you just CAN'T, because the words are so strongly shaped that way.
I mentioned, "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?"
And Lis mentioned, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
Any other lines that particularly stick in your head as having that "dih DAH dih DAH dih DAH dih DAH dih DAH" rhythm?
Iambs arranged in a pentameter.
They have a strongly singy-songy beat.
If written without rhymes, they're called "blank verse."
Bank verse approximates natural speech.
But it is far more formal and precise.
Its beat forms a hypnotic kind of sound.
Incantatory, chanting, sort of thing.