![]() ![]() There are many fancy terms for this oh-so-peculiar phenomenon. The odd-numbered lines have an extra syllable. Notice, that everything is cool up until that last word, "virtue," where we have what appears to be the beginning of another iamb but… poof, we're on to the next line. If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue. But what about the odd-numbered lines (1, 3, 5, 7, etc.)? Let's look at line 25, for example: All of the even-numbered lines (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, etc.) contain 10 syllables and are textbook iambic pentameter. Now, if you take a peek at the other lines in the poem, you might notice a pattern. Here that daDUM daDUM daDUM? There you have it: iambic pentameter. Each foot consist of an iamb, or an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. You may have encountered it already in your literary travels, but if you haven't here's a quick run-down:Ī line of iambic pentameter consists of ten syllables, divided into five groups (or feet). ![]() Kipling's "If" is written in iambic pentameter, that most famous of English meters. ![]()
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