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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/7726
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/7726
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

At its strictest, iambic pentameter is just as rigid as you've described. "Poetry" is a [dactyl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dactyl_%28poetry%29) (`X-/-/`), not an [iamb](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iamb_%28foot%29) (`/-X`), hence it shouldn't fit anywhere in an iamb-only sequence. Likewise, by the "strictest" definition, each word has a single primary stress, making the use of many polysyllabic words impossible by definition.

That said, "stress" seems to be loosely enough defined that you can allow yourself to go with a verse that "feels" as though it gets the metre right. Shakespeare's most famous sonnet, the eternal paragon of iambic pentameter, begins:

> Shall I / com PARE/ thee TO / a SUM / mer’s DAY?  
> Thou ART / more LOVE / ly AND / more TEM / per ATE

...and what's "temperate" if not a dactyl with secondary stress on the last syllable?

To my ears, both your "poetry" lines sound fine. I understand your concern, since the middle iamb _does_ seem to naturally get a little extra stress. But I can easily read or recite it very naturally, without sounding "off." Again, look at Shakespeare - if you deliberately stress all the "stressed" syllables, he sounds off, too ("Shall I compare thee **TO** a **summ** -er day?"). But if you read it "straight," then the iambic meter is firmly felt.

Original score: 5