iambus

It is almost wholly destitute of quantity, and the intonation which supplies that want is of such a kind that hardly any foot but the iambus is possible in it.

From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury

Only we must be careful that by "iambus," in English poetry, we meant an unstressed syllable, rather than a short syllable followed by a long one.

From A Study of Poetry by Bliss Perry

Never take an iambus for a Christian name.

From The Art of Letters by Robert Lynd

In my translation I have used the iambus as the basic metrical unit throughout the entire poem.

From Bearslayer A free translation from the unrhymed Latvian into English heroic verse by Arthur Cropley

In a lonely hollow walk, overgrown with sting-nettles he scanned the deadly verses on his fingers, until the murderous iambus flowed evenly upon its four feet without a halting choliambus.

From Withered Leaves. Vol. I. (of III) A Novel by Rudolf von Gottschall

Here frequent iambi are substituted for anapests; as in line 1, second and fourth feet; lines 2 and 3, fifth foot; line 5, third foot.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

These specimens, as is usual in anapestic verse, show considerable freedom in the treatment of the part of the foot containing the light syllables, substituted iambi being very common.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

Note the iambi in the Shelley stanza, line 1, second foot, and line 5, first foot.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

Robert darted to the door, and rushed to the inn, leaving Caumill describing iambi on the road behind him.

From Robert Falconer by George MacDonald

Certainly those sun-burnt "doughboys" were not bothering themselves about trochees and iambi and such toys of cultivated "literary" persons; they were amusing themselves on the march by inventing words to fit the "goose-step."

From A Study of Poetry by Bliss Perry

Trimeter iambus, consisting of six feet, which are generally all iambuses.

From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by John Dunlop

It was not by chance that the line of five iambuses became the dominant metre of our language.

From Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922 by H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft

Thus we have learned to scan lines by iambuses, or rather by their accentual imitations, and a perfect line would consist of ten syllables, of which the alternate ones bore a rhythmical stress.

From The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] Introduction and Publisher's Advertising by William George Clark

But the tendency of the Alexandrine consisting merely of the usual iambuses, is to convey slowness—although it conveys this idea feebly, on account of conveying it indirectly.

From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII No. 1 January 1848 by Robert Taylor Conrad

It does not have to consist of five iambuses only, but other feet may be substituted almost at the caprice of the poet.

From The Literature of Ecstasy by Albert Mordell