Iambic pentameter is a meter of verse often used by Shakespeare in his plays and sonnets. Iambic pentameter is a kind of poetic meter, meaning the rhythm of a line of poetry. Lines of iambic pentameter contain ten syllables broken up into five two-syllable groups, called iambs. Each of these iambs is made up of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. I find it's helpful to think of the rhythm like a heart beat: buhDUM buhDUM buhDUM buhDUM buhDUM. Often, the lines of Shakespeare's verse fit this rhythm effortlessly, as the syllables a native English speaker would naturally emphasize are the same ones that the meter requires be stressed. Take for example the first line of Romeo and Juliet and see if you can hear it: "Two households, both alike in dignity."
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