Shall I / com PARE/ thee TO / a SUM / mer's DAY? I ALL / a LONE / be WEEP / my OUT/ cast STATE ( Sonnet 29) When IN / dis GRACE / with FOR / tune AND / men's EYES
When I / do COUNT / the CLOCK / that TELLS / the TIME ( Sonnet 12) A line of iambic pentameter flows like this:īaBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM. An iamb is a metrical unit made up of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.
The syllables are divided into five pairs called iambs or iambic feet. Shakespeare's sonnets are written predominantly in a meter called iambic pentameter, a rhyme scheme in which each sonnet line consists of ten syllables. Shakespearean Sonnet Basics: Iambic Pentameter and the English Sonnet Style
