Updike probably doesn’t expect his reader to theatrically stress every other syllable ( The MAN who BROKE inTO the LAB, the DOG ), but even the subtle patterning gives the language some form. “The man who broke into the lab, the dog / That trotted in obediently after” uses iambic pentameter to give the prose a more subtle musicality. Sometimes the rhythm isn’t quite so obvious. Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. One of the most famous examples of iambic pentameter is the opening passage of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet : The pattern that emerges sounds like this: da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM. Iambic pentameter (pronounced eye-AM-bik pen-TAM-i-ter ) is a rhythmic pattern that consists of ten syllables per line, with alternating stressed and unstressed syllables. Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly What is iambic pentameter?
