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IAMBIC PENTAMETER The most common
meter of English poetry, iambic pentameter is an
unrhymed line containing fi ve iambs (feet), alternating
unstressed and stressed syllables. This terminology is
derived from the quantitative meter of classical Greek
poetry, which consists of a short syllable followed by a
long syllable. In English, it is the basis of many major
poetic forms, such as BLANK VERSE and HEROIC COUPLETS,
among numerous others.
Although traditional iambic pentameter consists
solely of iambs and has 10 syllables, this does not need
to be the case. Many poets, especially skilled ones such
as WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, vary the rhythm of their lines
while still maintaining the overall scheme of iambic
pentameter.
See also SONNET.

FURTHER READING
Halle, Morris, and Samuel Jay Keyser. English Stress: Its
Forms, Its Growth, and Its Role in Verse. New York: Harper
and Row, 1971.

“I CARE NOT FOR THESE LADIES”
THOMAS CAMPION (1601) This bawdy song was
fi rst printed with music by THOMAS CAMPION himself in
A BOOKE OF AYRES. The fi rst STANZA sets up an opposi-
tion between courtly “Ladies” and Amarillis, described
as a “wanton countrey maide” (l. 4), an obscene pun
that establishes from the beginning the lewd tone that
characterizes this poem. This innuendo is continued in

the REFRAIN, particularly in the line “when we come

where comfort is” (l. 9), where the ALLITERATION helps

to recall the “countrey maide” of the fi rst stanza. The

refrain also asserts that Amarillis has an inexhaustible

sexual appetite, and that, despite her feigned struggle

against the poet’s advances, “she never will say no” (l.

10), refl ecting 16th-century attitudes to sexuality in a

way that may prove uncomfortable for a modern

reader.

The poet asserts that “nature art disdaineth” (l. 4),

and this implies an opposition between the artifi ce tradi-

tionally associated with the court and the simplicity and

“naturalness” of the country, which is continued

throughout the poem. The second stanza fi gures the

willingness of Amarillis to engage in sexual activity as a

gift of “fruit and fl owers” (l. 12). This is presented as a

model of reciprocality in contrast with the one-sided-

ness of relationships with courtly “Ladies,” where the

lover has effectively bought love with “gold” (l. 15). The

third stanza portrays the location of lovemaking as

among “mosse and leaves unbought” (l. 24) in contrast

to the “beds by strangers wrought,” where courtly assig-

nations take place. This recalls the expense that the poet

complained of in the second stanza, but it also suggests

the unnecessary complexity of formal courtship alluded

to by its association with “art.” The opposition between

the artifi ce of the court and the “naturalness” of the

country thus serves as a way of invoking an ideally hon-

est space, where human relationships can operate free

from stifl ing social conventions.

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