Iamb

The iamb is a disyllabic foot with the stress on the second syllable (U—), one of the most widespread in European and Ukrainian versification. Iambic rhythm is considered the closest to the natural intonation of spoken language, which is why an enormous part of classical lyric, epic and drama is written in it. Iambic tetrameter is the dominant measure of nineteenth-century narrative poems and lyrics; iambic pentameter is the classical measure of dramatic verse and the sonnet. In Ukrainian poetry the iamb was handled masterfully by Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka and Maksym Rylsky. Despite its fixed scheme, living iambic verse abounds in pyrrhics — omitted stresses that lighten the line and make the rhythm flexible and conversational.