has suggested that the ἴαμβος iambos has a Pre-Greek origin. An old hypothesis is that the word is borrowed from Phrygian or Pelasgian, and literally means "Einschritt", i. e., "one-step", compare dithyramb and thriambus, but H. S. Versnel rejects this etymology and suggests instead a derivation from a cultic exclamation. The word may be related to Iambe, a Greek minor goddess of verse, especially scurrilous, ribald humour. In ancient Greece iambus was mainly satirical poetry, lampoons, which did not automatically imply a particular metrical type. Iambic metre took its name from being characteristic of iambi, not vice versa.
Accentual-syllabic use
In accentual-syllabic verse an iamb is a foot that has the rhythmic pattern: Using the 'ictus and x' notation we can write this as: The word 'attempt' is a natural iamb: In phonology, an iambic foot is notated in a flat representation as or as foot tree with two branches W and S where W = weak and S = strong. Iambic pentameter is one of the most commonly used measures in English and German poetry. A line of iambic pentameter comprises five consecutive iambs. Iambic trimeter is the metre of the spoken verses in Greek tragedy and comedy, comprising six iambs—as one iambic metrum consisted of two iambs. In English accentual-syllabic verse, iambic trimeter is a line comprising three iambs. Less common iambic measures include iambic tetrameter and iambic heptameter, sometimes called the "fourteener". Lord Byron's also "She Walks in Beauty" exemplifies iambic tetrameter; iambic heptameter is found in Australian poet A. B. "Banjo" Paterson's "The Man from Ironbark". Related to iambic heptameter is the more common ballad verse, in which a line of iambic tetrameter is succeeded by a line of iambic trimeter, usually in quatrain form. Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a classic example of this form. The reverse of an iamb is called a trochee.
Types of meter
Key:
Non-bold = unstressed syllable
Bold = stressed syllable
Dimeter
Iambic dimeter is a meter referring to a line consisting of two iambic feet. The way a crow Shook down on me....
Trimeter
Iambic trimeter is a meter referring to a line consisting of three iambic feet. We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; The only news I know Is bulletins all day
Tetrameter
Iambic tetrameter is a meter referring to a line consisting of four iambic feet: She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
Pentameter
Iambic Pentameter is a meter referring to a line consisting of five iambic feet:
Hexameter
Iambic hexameter is a meter referring to a line consisting of six iambic feet. In English verse, "alexandrine" is typically used to mean "iambic hexameter"
Heptameter
Iambic Heptameter is a meter referring to a line consisting of seven iambic feet:
Sound change
Through iambic shortening, a word with the shape light–heavy or short–long changes to become light–light.
