Tell me not, in mournful numbers
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Psalm of Life”)- Tetrameter (four feet)
An iamb is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed. And when there are four iambs in a line, it is called iambic tetrameter.
That I may rise and stand, o’er throw me, and bend
(John Donne, Holy Sonnet 14)- pentameter (five feet)
An iambic pentameter is a form of a metrical line in which each line contains five unstressed syllables followed by five stressed syllables. They are usually arranged in an alternating pattern.
I stand, and look,
And stoop, and drink
(Thomas Hardy, “The Robin”)-diameter (two feet)
An iambic diameter is a form of metrical line in which the line contains two iambic feet.
Nor any other wold like Cotswold euer sped,
So faire and rich a Vale by fortuning to wed.
(Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion: “The Fourteenth Song”)- trimeter (three feet)
An iambic trimeter is a form of metrical line in which the line contains three iambic feet.
Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
(A. E. Housman, “A Shropshire Lad” XIII)-hexameter (six feet)
An iambic hexameter is a form of metrical line in which the line contains six iambic feet.
