Iamb (poetry)

[2] An old hypothesis is that the word is borrowed from Phrygian or Pelasgian, and literally means "Einschritt", i. e., "one-step", compare dithyramb and thriambus, but H. S. Versnel rejects this etymology and suggests instead a derivation from a cultic exclamation.

[3] The word may be related to Iambe, a Greek minor goddess of verse, especially scurrilous, ribald humour.

In ancient Greece iambus was mainly satirical poetry, lampoons, which did not automatically imply a particular metrical type.

Iambic pentameter is one of the most commonly used measures in English and German poetry, for instance it can be found in Shakespeare's Sonnets.

We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; (Theodore Roethke, "My Papa's Waltz") The only news I know Is bulletins all day (Emily Dickinson, "The Only News I Know") Iambic tetrameter is a meter referring to a line consisting of four iambic feet: She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; (Lord Byron, "She Walks in Beauty") Iambic Pentameter is a meter referring to a line consisting of five iambic feet: (Although, it could be argued that this line in fact reads: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Meter is often broken in this way, sometimes for intended effect and sometimes simply due to the sound of the words in the line.