Without doing a search - do you know what the Iambic Pentameter is?

[Itcouldhavebeenbeetroot]

And if so when were you taught it?

I AM a PIRATE with A woodEN leg

That's okay Blu -

Obviously that first I should be an i -

Message withdrawn

I always wondered what it was.

We had very trendy hippy English teachers, lots of free expression, not much grammar and no Iambic anything.

Um...we did this at school...is it something to do with English Lit.....Shakespear???
No..don't know exactly without googling.

Oh...and we probably learned it in 6th form??? I did A Level English Lit...so probably then.

de dum de dum de dum de dum
de dum de dum de dum
de dum de dum de dum de dum
de dum de dum de dum

I think or is that a limerick. Taught it for O'level English Lit I believe.

Will now look at rest of thread.

.....oh...pent...five....oh yes its the way a line goes in poetry isn't it..

I just mean, beetroot, that spencer's sonnets are sublime ( as well as excellent examples of the iambic pentameter poetic form)!

Same as edam.

We started with the Dream at 11 too Blu

waves at Marina - I have that email but have not had time to sort anything yet - will do.

Age 11 is fab I think btw -

Doing the Dream at 11 gave me the confidence to enjoy the BBC Shakespeare beety, which started on TV shortly after. I watched them all - in the teeth of some "do we have to" heckling from my parents re lesser known gems like Timon of Athens...

Can someone do a quick explanation of the other metres, though? Dactyl and trochee etc.? Only I can't remember the rules... Sari's rhyme is helpful but I'm not sure I've quite got it.

Blimey, I very rarely read poetry these days but now you've got me started I need to know!

yes, during a level english I think.

Best production I've ever seen was Toby Stephens in Coriolanus (sp?). Wow. All that stage blood made his shirt stick to his pecs. My friend and I went back again and shelled out for front row tickets just so we could admire!

I made dad take me to see Derek Jacobi in the Prospect Hamlet at the Old Vic in 1977 edam. I am now aware I was barking up the wrong tree but I was absolutely madly in love with him, and the uber-Romantic staging they went for...
I think seeing a fit young hunk in a ripped shirt is a powerful way to draw in a reluctant audience, Baz Luhrmann has exploited this magnficently in R & J

Baz L did a great job, agree. My 14yo sister thought it was 'way cool' or whatever it was teenagers said 10 years ago.

I have seen a lot of Shakespeare films over the years, for work and pleasure, and that one to me is the standout modern one. I am sure WS would hugely approve

The absolute best explanation of all of this is Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled. Very good book and by the time you've finished it you will understand everything. Well, everything about verse forms and metre at any rate...

We will start with another meter next week? Is that ok edam

That book looks great

for me it is the Zefferelli R & J - now that really is a nice film. Didn't like the Baz Luhrmann one as it seemed too crammed full of gimmicks, plus the girl playing Juliet obciously didn't understand a word she was saying. Ido remember her being interviewed and admitting she ' had trouble with Shakespeare'...and it showed.

Thanks lemonaid.

LOL Beety! Imagine it would go something like this...

'Now, settle down MNers. QUIET at the back Cod! Or you'll have to sit at the front under my eye. MI, are you chewing, Spit it out...

'Right, can anyone give me an example of a poem written in dactyl?'

That's it Edam and some clever clogs will say

But MISS, you have got the dum de dm in the wrong place

i have a very interesting book entitled the metres of english verse, about 30 years old and a few hundred pages long. shall we work our way through the highlights?