Iambic tetrameter is a meter of verse. It refers to a line consisting of four iambic feet. The word "tetrameter" means that there are four feet in the line; iambic gives the type of foot (two syllables, one unstressed followed by one stressed). Some poetic forms rely upon iambic tetrameter: the triolet, Onegin stanza, Memoriam stanza, originally the villanelle, and long meter (or long measure) ballad stanza.
Quantitative verse[]
The term originally applied to the quantitative meter of Classical Greek poetry, in which an iamb consisted of a short syllable followed by a long syllable. See syllable weight.
Accentual-syllabic verse[]
The term was adopted to describe the equivalent meter in accentual-syllabic verse, as composed in English, German, Russian, and other languages. Here, iamb refers to an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. A line of iambic tetrameter consists of four such feet in a row:
| da | DUM | da | DUM | da | DUM | da | DUM |
See the article on iambic pentameter for a more detailed presentation of the basic rhythm of iambic lines. Here is an English example of iambic tetrameter: Come LIVE / with ME / and BE / my LOVE. (Christopher Marlowe, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love") Here is a German example: Dies BILD/nis IST / bezAUB/ernd SCHÅŽN.[1] (Emanuel Schikaneder, libretto to The Magic Flute)
Examples[]
Poems that use iambic tetrameter include:
- She Walks in Beauty / Lord Byron
- The Dark Hills / Edwin Arlington Robinson
- I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud / William Wordsworth
- Song of Eärendil / J.R.R. Tolkien
See also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ "This image is enchantingly lovely". See Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön.
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