How many iambs are found in this line from "Sonnet 18"?

The sentence: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.

1. Five, because an iamb is a stressed syllable that is emphasized.

2. Five, because an iamb is an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable.

3. Nine, because an iamb is the number of words found within a line of poetry.

4. Ten, because an iamb is a count of the individual syllables in a poetic line.

Question

English

Ashlynn Manning

25 December, 04:18

How many iambs are found in this line from "Sonnet 18"?

The sentence: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.

1. Five, because an iamb is a stressed syllable that is emphasized.

2. Five, because an iamb is an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable.

3. Nine, because an iamb is the number of words found within a line of poetry.

4. Ten, because an iamb is a count of the individual syllables in a poetic line.

+1

Answers (2)

Know the Answer?

Sidney Thomas · Answer 1

The correct answer is 1. Five, because an iamb is an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable.

A is incorrect because that would be an anapest.

C and D are also incorrect because that is not what an iamb is.

Nathaly Grant · Answer 2

The correct answer is 2. Five, because an iamb is an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable.

An iamb is a metrical foot which consists of two syllables: the first one is unstressed, and the second one is stressed. If you count the syllables in this line, you will see that there are 10 syllables in total. Divide this by two (because an iamb consists of two syllables), and you will see that there are 5 iambs in total.

Therefore, options 3 and 4 are incorrect. Option 1 is also incorrect because an iamb, as I already said, consists of two, not one syllable.