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{{cquote|to BE or NOT to BE ([[poetic meter|caesura]]) THAT is the QUEStion}}

{{cquote|to BE or NOT to BE ([[poetic meter|caesura]]) THAT is the QUEStion}}

This line, famous in [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] plays, has a "feminine ending" - that is, a weak stress to end the line.

This line, famous in [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] plays, has a "feminine ending" - that is, a weak stress to end the line.<ref>http://shakespeare.about.com/od/faqshakespearesworks/f/iambic.htm/</ref>

You will note that the example is not perfect.  Iambic pentameter need not always be precisely formal.  In fact it rarely is.  Notice that in this quote from Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach," the meter is not precise, but the opening and ending feet are distinctly in iambic pentameter, and the line is otherwise predominantly this style:

You will note that the example is not perfect.  Iambic pentameter need not always be precisely formal.  In fact it rarely is.  Notice that in this quote from Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach," the meter is not precise, but the opening and ending feet are distinctly in iambic pentameter, and the line is otherwise predominantly this style:

{{cquote|and WE are HERE as on a DARKling PLAIN}}<ref>http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/arnold/writings/doverbeach.html</ref>

{{cquote|and WE are HERE as on a DARKling PLAIN<ref>http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/arnold/writings/doverbeach.html</ref>}}