Iambic Pentameter in The Canterbury Tales

Essential Question:

What is Iambic Pentameter?

To accurately answer what Iambic Pentameter is, first let’s look at the terms within the term:

IamPentMeter

What is an Iamb?An iamb is a metrical foot of poetry.

Examples of Iambs (within Iambic Pentameter)

What is a FOOT?

A foot of poetry is the metrical pattern of syllables in a line of poetry. Other types of feet include trochee, anapest, dactyl, and spondee.

Back to Iambs…An IAMB is a metrical pattern of one UNSTRESSED syllable followed by one STRESSED syllable.

Why “Penta”?The word root “penta” refers to the

number FIVE. Do not mistakenly think that a line

of poetry in IAMBIC PENTAMETER features FIVE syllables.

Instead, it features FIVE feet, or iambs, per line.

Therefore, each line of IAMBIC PENTAMETER features TEN syllables.

What is METER?A regular or repeated pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Iambic Pentameter is…

A line of poetry made of five iambs.Used in some Medieval Ballads such as “Lord

Randall”:“O where hae ye been, Lord Randall, my son?O where hae ye been, my handsome young

man?”Used by Geoffrey Chaucer in both “The General

Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales and the individual pilgrims prologues.

Chaucer is actually the first known author to use iambic pentameter in literature.

An example from “The General Prologue”:

Tips for writing in Iambic Pentameter:1 Decide what you want your poem to be about.

2 Determine whether or not you will write a rhyming poem, blank verse or a sonnet.

3 Choose a rhyme pattern for rhyming poetry. Example: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

4 Think about how many lines you plan to write and if it should be divided into stanzas.

5 Write your first line and count out the beats. Your lines should have five beats or meters per line.

6 Make sure that your syllables have one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. NOTE: all lines will begin with an unstressed syllable and end with a stressed syllable.

7 Proofread your poem using slash marks above each word to indicate stressed and unstressed beats. Count up your beats and write at the end of each line. If you're over or under you'll have to go back and rework.