Iambic Pentameter Poetry

Iambic Pentameter in My Last Duchess The poem I am choosing is Robert Brownings “My Last Duchess”. This is an amazing 56 line poem where Browning uses prosody to connect to how he feels emotionally. The poem is a dramatic monologue where he reveals his love situation and much more. The Duke’s desire for control control is made evident by the structure of the poem. He uses the iambic pentameter to show his control over the monologue. The poem consists of 28 rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter. The majority of the lines have a masculine ending, showing his control over the conversation. Although at times it is hard to understand because it is not in a typical lyric poem, its rhymed iambic pentameter lines reminds us of Shakespeare’s plays and other drama. Iambic pentameter is the most natural rhythm for most language to fall into. We often speak in iambic pentameter without noticing. This means that this poem that has a monologue and conversational feel to it. Browning in “My Last Duchess” uses prosody politically in a different way. Using an iambic pentameter may not sound like there is much politics going on, but he succeeds at doing it. Having most of the lines end in a masculine ending means that he is trying to show male dominance over female. Especially in this time, this was very important but also common. The iambic is consistent throughout the poem. An Iambic Pentameter is a commonly used metrical line in traditional verse and verse drama. The term describes the particular rhythm that the words establish in that line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called feet. The word iambic describes the type of foot that is used. Usually in English the unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable. The word pentameter indicates that a line has five of these so called feet. Although strictly speaking, iambic pentameter refers to five iambs in a row, in practice, poets vary their