Shakespeare Basics
Language Shakespeare wrote in: Old English
Iambic pentameter: a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable
Iambic pentameter: a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable
Blank Verse: unrhymed but otherwise regular verse, usually iambic pentameter
Sonnet: three quatrains and a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern abab cdcd efef gg
Caesura: a pause or break in a line
Feminine ending: additional unstressed syllable at the end of a line (11th syllable)
Masculine ending: additional stressed syllable at the end of a line
Sonnet: three quatrains and a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern abab cdcd efef gg
Caesura: a pause or break in a line
Feminine ending: additional unstressed syllable at the end of a line (11th syllable)
Masculine ending: additional stressed syllable at the end of a line