We can actually find an
example of iambic pentameter in the very first lines of Act III. , speaking to his good friend
, says,
I pray thee, good Mercutio, lets
retire.The day is hot; the Capulets, abroad;And
if we meet we shall not scape a brawl,For now, these hot days, is the
mad blood stirring. (3.1.1-4)We can begin by
counting syllables and accents:I
pray thee good Mer
cu tio let's re
tire (10 syllables, 5 accents)The
day is hot the
Ca pu lets a
broad (10 syllables, 5 accents)
And if we meet we
shall not 'scape a
brawl (10 syllables, 5 accents)
For now these hot days
is the mad blood
stir ring (11 syllables, 5 accents)
In Shakespeare's plays, people of noble birth tend to speak
in a kind of poetry calledwhich is, by definition, unrhymed iambic pentameter. This means that
the vast majority of lines will have ten syllables, divided into five "feet" (the
"iamb" is the type of foot), each foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed
by one stressed syllable. The last line of the above quotation does have an extrametrical
syllable (an unstressed syllable after the final stressed syllable in the line), but the lines
are regular enough to qualify as iambic pentameter: don't let this extra syllable confuse
you.Blank verse is what describes
unrhymed iambic pentameter. A line of iambic pentameter, however, need not
necessarily lack end rhyme (or words that rhyme at the ends of consecutive or near-consecutive
lines). At the end of ,says,Bear hence
this body and attend our will.Mercy but murders, pardoning those that
kill. (3.1.157-158)Although these lines rhyme,
typical of lines at the end of Shakespeare's scenes, they are still in iambic
pentameter:Bear
hence this bo dy
and at tend our
willMer cy
but mur ders, pard ning
those that kill.
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