Iambic Pentameter
English Sonnets
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 1
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,
And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,
Thy youth's proud livery so gazed on now,
Will be a totter'd weed of small worth held:
Then being asked, where all thy beauty lies,
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days;
To say, within thine own deep sunken eyes,
Were an all-eating shame, and thriftless praise.
How much more praise deserv'd thy beauty's use,
If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine
Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse,'
Proving his beauty by succession thine!
This were to be new made when thou art old,
And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold.
Iambic Pentameter
An iambic pentameter manipulates syllables to
create a specific rhythm to the language.
Task:
How many syllables are in your name?
Liam Harris
Li - am Har - ris
There are four syllables within my name.
Syllables
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,
And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,
Thy youth's proud livery so gazed on now,
Choose two lines from the poem.
Will be a totter'd weed of small worth held:
Then being asked, where all thy beauty lies,
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days;
To say, within thine own deep sunken eyes,
Were an all-eating shame, and thriftless praise.
How much more praise deserv'd thy beauty's use,
If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine
Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse,'
Proving his beauty by succession thine!
This were to be new made when thou art old,
And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold.
Copy the lines into your book using ‘-’
to break up the syllables.
Stressed and Unstressed Syllables
Syllables can be described as stressed and
unstressed.
LOUDER LONGER HIGHER
Stressed syllables are generally pronounced
louder, longer and higher than unstressed
syllables.
Li - am Har - ris
/-x-x-/
LOUDER LONGER HIGHER
PRESENT
PRE - SENT
OR
LOUDER LONGER HIGHER
Find the stressed and unstressed
syllables in your name.
Label unstressed syllables with an x and
stressed syllables with an /.
LOUDER LONGER HIGHER
Mark the stressed and unstressed
syllables from two lines of the poem.
Example
x - / -x- / - x - / - x - /
- x - /
“When - for - ty - win - ters - shall - be - siege - thy - brow,”
Iambic Pentameter
An iambic pentameter has 5 iambic
feet.
An iambic foot comprises two
syllables; an unstressed syllable
followed by a stressed syllable.
“When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,”
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,
“When - for - ty win - ters - shall - be - siege thy - brow,”
da - dum da- dum da - dum da - dum da - dum
x-/-x-/-x-/-x-/-x-/
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 1
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,
And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,
Thy youth's proud livery so gazed on now,
Will be a totter'd weed of small worth held:
Then being asked, where all thy beauty lies,
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days;
To say, within thine own deep sunken eyes,
Were an all-eating shame, and thriftless praise.
How much more praise deserv'd thy beauty's use,
If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine
Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse,'
Proving his beauty by succession thine!
This were to be new made when thou art old,
And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold.
Writing your own iambic pentameter
Choose something you are passionate about.
Write a pair of lines about it that uses iambic pentameter.
I - love - to - write - a-bout - my - love - of - rhyme.
It’s - real-ly - fun - to - play - a-round - with - it.
Homework
Copy out the poem
marking the stressed
and unstressed
syllables within each
line.
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,
And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,
Thy youth's proud livery so gazed on now,
Will be a totter'd weed of small worth held:
Then being asked, where all thy beauty lies,
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days;
To say, within thine own deep sunken eyes,
Were an all-eating shame, and thriftless praise.
How much more praise deserv'd thy beauty's use,
If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine
Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse,'
Proving his beauty by succession thine!
This were to be new made when thou art old,
And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold.