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“pentameter”
pentameter (s), pentameters (pl) (nouns)
1. A line of poetry with five strong beats or a line of verse consisting of five units of rhythm; such as, five pairs of stressed and unstressed syllables.
2. English verse composed in iambic pentameter.
2. English verse composed in iambic pentameter.
The third line of Thomas Nashe's "Spring" is in pentameter: "Cold doth / not sting, / the pret / ty birds / do sing."
Spring
SPRING, the sweet Spring, is the year's pleasant king;
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing-
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay-
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes our ears do greet-
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
Spring, the sweet Spring!
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing-
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay-
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes our ears do greet-
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
Spring, the sweet Spring!
Iambic pentameter, in which each foot contains an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable, is the most common English poetic meter.
When a good actor recites lines from one of Shakespeare's plays, the audience is not constantly aware that he is speaking poetry written in iambic pentameter.
This entry is located in the following units:
meter-, metro-, metr-, -metrical, -metrically, -metron, -metric, -metrist, -meter, -meters, -metry, -metre
(page 30)
penta-, pent-, pente-, pento-
(page 2)