Iambic tetrameter
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Iambic tetrameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line consisting of four iambic feet. The word "tetrameter" simply means that there are four feet in the line; iambic tetrameter is a line comprising four iambs.
Some poetic forms rely upon iambic tetrameter: triolet, Onegin stanza, In Memoriam stanza, long measure (or long meter) ballad stanza.
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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.
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
Examples
English
× / × / × / × / Come live with me and be my love
(Christopher Marlowe, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love")
German
× / × / × / × / Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön<ref>"This image is enchantingly lovely". See Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön.</ref>
(Emanuel Schikaneder, libretto to The Magic Flute)
Hebrew
× / × / × / × / Adon Olam Asher Malach<ref>"Master of the world who reigns". See Adon Olam.</ref>
(the opening line of Adon Olam, a traditional hymn of anonymous authorship from the Jewish liturgy.)
See also
