: At its strictest, iambic pentameter is just as rigid as you've described. "Poetry" is a dactyl (X-/-/), not an iamb (/-X), hence it shouldn't fit anywhere in an iamb-only sequence. Likewise,

@Cody1607638

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At its strictest, iambic pentameter is just as rigid as you've described. "Poetry" is a dactyl (X-/-/), not an iamb (/-X), hence it shouldn't fit anywhere in an iamb-only sequence. Likewise, by the "strictest" definition, each word has a single primary stress, making the use of many polysyllabic words impossible by definition.

That said, "stress" seems to be loosely enough defined that you can allow yourself to go with a verse that "feels" as though it gets the metre right. Shakespeare's most famous sonnet, the eternal paragon of iambic pentameter, begins:

Shall I / com PARE/ thee TO / a SUM / mer’s DAY?
Thou ART / more LOVE / ly AND / more TEM / per ATE

...and what's "temperate" if not a dactyl with secondary stress on the last syllable?

To my ears, both your "poetry" lines sound fine. I understand your concern, since the middle iamb does seem to naturally get a little extra stress. But I can easily read or recite it very naturally, without sounding "off." Again, look at Shakespeare - if you deliberately stress all the "stressed" syllables, he sounds off, too ("Shall I compare thee TO a summ-er day?"). But if you read it "straight," then the iambic meter is firmly felt.

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