An exercise was posed to tax my mind <br />Where I was asked to write, with measured thought, <br />Ten syllables in each assembled line <br />To practise ancient esoteric arts <br />As Shakespeare did with sonnets in the past. <br />The challenge was quite clear which had been set: <br />Eschewing rhyme as well to make it hard, <br />I followed the instructions all the way <br />And tried to emulate more famous bards; <br />(That nearly rhymed, but it had been made clear <br />That couplets were the things I should avoid.) <br />And so I have achieved what I was asked: <br />I wrote a poem with a certain beat <br />That made it swing along in perfect time; <br />It did not rhyme but rhythm let it go <br />And flow as natural as normal speech. <br />My amateur attempts to carry on <br />In strict pentameter seemed vain and crass <br />But iambs drove the metre all the while <br />And managed to create this pointless ode.<br /><br />C Richard Miles<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/iamb-trying-amateur-pentameter/
