Accentual Syllabic Verse, Versification and Accentual Meters Summary and Analysis

The most common type of verse in English is accentual-syllabic, Hollander explains, and so he begins with a description of this type. Accentual syllabism occurs when a line of verse contains pairs or triads of syllables that alternate accent, usually with the words keeping the same accent as they do in normal speech. As an example, Hollander gives the line:

About about about about about. (p. 4)

This is an example of "iambic pentameter" where each line of verse has five "beats" or accents. This pattern of beats can hold true even when not made up of five identical words, Hollander explains, as with the example:

Almost the sound of the line of "abouts." (p. 4) where the accents do not alternate precisely as in the first example. In this case...