~ The Poet's Place Cafe~

You are most welcome, Sabaka. That is what we are here for.

This is always the toughest lesson. The iamb is a two-syllable foot as you noted, da-DUM. There are five feet in a pentameter line. Thus, there should be ten syllables in a line of iambic pentameter. While the relative stresses may sometimes be difficult to distinguish the iambic pattern, depending upon local accents and other speech variations, ten syllables would be a minimum requirement.

Yes, you are probably right. This was intended as an introduction to the basic concept of meter measuring a line of poetry to be followed up with four more lessons on each of the most common meters in the English usage: Iambic, Trochaic, Anapestic, and Dactylic.

Let the creativity flow from your soul!
Dave
"The Poet's Place "