I need help with Iambic Pentametre...

I'm not even sure if I spelled it right...
But anyway, I don't know how to use it, how to tell if it's there... I understand the concept, but I never know which sounds are hard syllables and which aren't - because I swear they change everytime I learn about iambic pentametre.
So, is this in iambic pentametre?

"Like bugs burrowing in wrotten wood,
memories of us are scratching they're way through my skull,
finding even more corners to hide.
Leaving their emptied shells,
(my emotion) just lying there.
-Waiting to be thrown away."

If it's not (which I don't think it is)...what changes can I make to have it in iambic pentametre? (I hope that kind of question is allowed... I was just hoping to get some input and help from fellow poets.)

Oh, man. I know there's someone on here who had a nice list of all the rules. I'll see what I can do.

"Iambic." An "iamb" is sort of like the meter, or pace, rather, of the line. It refers to which syllables you stress. In this case, as much as you can, you'd want to try to stress every second syllable. There's a definite rhythm to the reading. To use your first line for an example, if you were to force the correct meter into it it would sound like:

"like BUGS burrOWing IN (the) ROTten WOOD."

You can see how the natural pronunciations (like in "burrOWing," where you'd normally say "BURrowing") don't really match up. Sometimes that's ok, though, they don't necessarily have to be exact.

"Pentameter." "penta" means ten. That mean, in this case, that there ought to be ten syllables per line. Your first line works fairly well for that, if you add in another syllable. After that, though, you have 13, 9, 6, 8, 7.

Shakespeare wrote in iambic pentameter, in a form called "blank verse." so, his lines didn't always rhyme. His sonnets did, however, and then there are more exact rules, if you want to learn.

I tried writing a sonnet once - maybe these four lines will give you an example of the rhythm:

"Sustain me not with vain and idle hopes,
With words alone I am most lightly fed.
Cut free the brittle tangle of these ropes
And leave all but the solid truth unsaid."

"SusTAIN me NOT with VAIN and IDle HOPES,
With WORDS aLONE I AM most LIGHTly FED..."

Does that help at all? Hopefully others will fill in, to cover what I've forgotten. Good luck!

Right!!! Thankyou thankyou thankyou. I knew it was pentametre - I guess I just had a blonde...few days? (My gawd)...Anyway, as for the iambic, I sort of get it...Thanks for help with my first line, I'll try and figure out the rest of the lines...Though while I say that, why was 'in' a stressed syllable? (That's one of the things about iambic that I don't understand so well...) *sigh*

hmm... I'm not sure how to write this. It would be easier to speak in person. Um, for all single-syllabic words, like "in" or "and," the whole word is stressed. You don't place more emphasis in speaking on the "i" than the "n." (Or, if you do, it's not enough to really be noticible. Apart from that, though, in the case of that line, it's really only stressed if you MAKE it so. And since that's where it fell in the pattern, it was.

here's how i read your lines, at this point.

"Like BUGS BURrowing in ROTten WOOD,
MEMories of us are SCRATCHing their way through my SKULL..."

iambic pentameter can be a kind of artificial emphasis-placing. My suggestion would be to keep this poem as it is, and try to start again with a new one. (On a side note, these lines here have some nice alliteration - reminds me of beowulf ; ) )

More on the meter - it's like... if you try to keep a beat with the line you're saying. I don't know if you're in music or anything, but that's a way of looking at it. If you can, try looking up some of Shakespeare's sonnets (or anyone elses) and actually tap with your hand along with the beat of the words. Make the distinctions in emphasis as obvious as you can. I think it's one of those things where, once you'll get it, you'll just be like "oooh!" and it will come naturally.

Check the topic NOTES ON WRITING POETRY in this forumn-pretty sure the definition to that and other forms are in there somewhere (though you may have to browse through a bit of other stuff).

random note to ^: you are so right about penta, I'm not sure why I said it was ten. (pentagon, pentagram, pentacle... duh) Sorry about that!