A metrical digression

Originally Posted by
ali8780
I'm not sure if it's iambic pentameter....
(Chuckle) That was for the other thread.
Limericks traditionally are in an anapestic meter. The anapest "unit" is (short short long) or (soft soft hard) if you prefer. The limerick's lines contain 3, 3, 2+2, and 3 of those.
dee dee DUM dee dee DUM dee dee DUM (trimeter :-)
dee dee DUM dee dee DUM dee dee DUM
dee dee DUM dee dee DUM
dee dee DUM dee dee DUM (tetrameter)
dee dee DUM dee dee DUM dee dee DUM
Iambic pentameter means 5 iambs (dee DUM) as in:

Originally Posted by
Auld Will;
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
Iambic pentameter that doesn't rhyme, for instance most of Shakespeare's plays, is called blank verse. Rhymed couplets, available at extra cost, are a nice way to close out a speech.

Originally Posted by
Elleck Pope;
True wit is nature to advantage dressed
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed
Ken Sallenger - apprentice kiltmaker, journeyman curmudgeon,
gainfully unemployed systems programmer
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