Iambic Pentameter Will Kill Me
by courtvanhaaren
Seriously. See that nice picture of my work above? Yes, the scansion of my new sonnet. I seriously cannot get the hang of iambic pentameter down.
I don’t know why it’s bothering me. Is it because I didn’t have decent education in accents? If I learned accents at all, it was so long ago that I could not remember. It was never stressed beyond elementary school.
And it’s killing me now.
The main reason it’s killing me now is that I cannot discern what the meter in my sonnet. I can break it down between syllables (barely, since I apparently can’t tell the syllables apart in reality). I don’t feel like I’m learning anything.
It’s getting better though. As noticed in the scansion above, I can somewhat get the hang of accents.
I’m irritated and rambling. I should really stop and continue.
Mergh.
Of course you can! You’re getting it!
Try: “Whisper once more sweet promises of youth…”
Iambic is actually a natural rhythm in English, so don’t fight it! 😉 Don’t start a line with a stressed syllable, and you’ll probably find you fall into the rhythm naturally. Read 20 sonnets, tapping the stressed syllables with a nod of your head or a tap of your foot. That will help internalize the rhythm before you start the next line! Usually adding an article (a/an/the) will help adjust the lines one syllable over.
I’m looking forward to seeing your end result.
I cannot thank you enough for this comment. Seriously, it made my night. I think I’m over analyzing the meter and just completely missing the point. So far visually seeing the accents in a scansion has helped, but I will try the tapping method to see if it works better. Thank you once again for the suggestion and encouragement, both are sorely needed at this point.