I am having trouble working out figuring out the stressed and unstressed syllabus of this poem. Can someone help me...I am going to put parenthesis to the one that are stresss syllabus the ones i think.

Question

My mistr(ess)' eyes are nothing (like) the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' (red):
If snow be white, why then her br(easts) are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress (reeks).
I love to hear her (speak),--yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress when she walks, treads on the ground;
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Answer 1

The word "coral" in the second line is rather weird. When you read that one, actually the whole word seems to be stressed, and it'd sound like "corl" rather than enuncuating it as two syllables.

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Answer 2

This poem is written in iambic pentameter -- five "feet" of two syllables each (totaling ten syllables per line), with the first syllable of each "foot" unstressed and the second one stressed. It should sound rather like this:

da DA da DA da DA da DA da DA

I'll do the first four lines for you (stressed syllables in caps); then you try the rest:

My MIStress' EYES are NOTHing LIKE the SUN;
CoRAL is FAR more RED than HER lips' RED:
If SNOW be WHITE, why THEN her BREASTS are DUN;
If HAIRS be WIRES, black WIRES grow ON her HEAD.

Please repost when you're ready.

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Answer 3

Here are some sites on iambic pentameter:

(Broken Link Removed)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_pentameter

http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC030240/iambic%20_pentameter.htm

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