Question

Which two metrical lines in english poetry are the most common?

Answer 1

Answer:

tetrameter and pentameter

Explanation:

Pentameter and tetrameter are meters that use combinations of 4 and 5 feet respectively. A foot in poetry in a combination of an unstressed and a stressed syllable. Those meters were made famous by the many authors that used them in the English language:

Pentameters were used by Shakespeare, John Donne, John Milton, and many others.

Tetrameter was also used by Shakespeare. Another known author to use it was Thomas Hardy.

Answer 2

D. tetrameter and pentameter

Within lines of poetry, there are elements called “feet.”  A foot is composed of one stressed and one unstressed syllable; thus, one foot equals two syllables.  The two most common types of metrical lines in English poetry are tetrameter and pentameter.  Tetrameter has four feet, and pentameter has five feet.  As such, a line that has four feet will have eight syllables, and a line that has five feet will have ten syllables. 

 

As an example, the following is a line in tetrameter:

I wish | to know | the one | who sings.

 

Here is an example of a line in pentameter:

You thought | you would | be here | until | the end.