[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.57,0:00:11.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To someone first encountering\Nthe works of William Shakespeare,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.97,0:00:14.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the language may seem strange.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.54,0:00:17.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, there is a secret to appreciating it.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.62,0:00:23.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although he was famous for his plays,\NShakespeare was first and foremost a poet.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.38,0:00:26.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the most important things \Nin Shakespeare's language
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.20,0:00:28.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is his use of stress.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.74,0:00:30.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not that kind of stress,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.15,0:00:34.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the way we emphasise certain \Nsyllables in words more than others.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.50,0:00:38.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're so used to doing this\Nthat we may not notice it at first.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.28,0:00:42.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, if you say the word slowly,\Nyou can easily identify them.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.46,0:00:48.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Playwright, computer, telephone.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.27,0:00:50.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Poets are very aware of these stresses,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.64,0:00:52.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,having long experimented with the number\N
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.61,0:00:55.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and order of stressed \Nand unstressed syllables,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.60,0:01:00.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and combined them in different ways\Nto create rhythm in their poems.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.52,0:01:01.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like songwriters,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.58,0:01:06.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poets often express their ideas through \Na recognizable repetition of these rhythms
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.30,0:01:08.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or poetic meter.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.96,0:01:09.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And like music,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.99,0:01:14.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poetry has its own set of terms \Nfor describing this.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.11,0:01:15.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In a line of verse,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.62,0:01:19.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a foot is a certain number \Nof stressed and unstressed syllables
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.25,0:01:21.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,forming a distinct unit,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.41,0:01:25.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just as a musical measure\Nconsists of a certain number of beats.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.74,0:01:29.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One line of verse is usually made\Nup of serveral feet.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.50,0:01:33.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, a Dactyl is a metrical \Nfoot of three syllables
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.80,0:01:37.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the first stressed, and the second\Nand third unstressed.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.98,0:01:41.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dactyls can create lines\Nthat move swiftly and gather force,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.16,0:01:44.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as in Robert Browning's poem, \NThe Lost Leader.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.54,0:01:51.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Just for a handful of silver he left us.\NJust for a rib and to stick in his coat."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.50,0:01:54.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another kind of foot \Nis the two-syllable long Trochee,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.40,0:01:57.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a stressed syllable \Nfollowed by an unstressed one.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.62,0:02:00.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Trochees in these lines \Nfrom Shakespeare's Macbeth
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.27,0:02:04.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lend an ominous and spooky tone\Nto the witches' chant.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.22,0:02:10.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Double, double, toil and trouble;\Nfire burn and cauldron bubble."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.75,0:02:13.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But with Shakespeare,\Nit's all about the Iamb.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.67,0:02:16.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This two-syllable foot \Nis like a reverse Trochee,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.54,0:02:20.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so the first syllable is unstressed\Nand the second is stressed, as in,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.49,0:02:24.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"To be, or not to be."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.22,0:02:28.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shakespeare's favorite meter, \Nin particular, was Iambic Pentameter,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.42,0:02:31.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where each line of verse\Nis made up of five two-syllable Iambs,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.83,0:02:34.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a total of ten syllables.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.95,0:02:38.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's used for many \Nof Shakespeare's most famous lines:
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.36,0:02:42.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Shall I compare thee\Nto a summer's day?"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.60,0:02:46.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"A rise fair sun, \Nand kill the envious moon."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.96,0:02:51.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Notice how the Iambs cut across\Nboth punctuation and word separation.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.41,0:02:55.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meter is all about sound, not spelling.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.55,0:02:58.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Iambic Pentameter may sound technical,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.37,0:03:01.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but there's an easy way \Nto remember what it means.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.42,0:03:05.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The word "Iamb" is pronounced\Njust like the phrase, "I am."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.67,0:03:07.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, let's expand that to a sentence
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.98,0:03:11.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that just happens \Nto be in Iambic Pentameter.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.16,0:03:15.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I am a pirate with a wooden leg."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.31,0:03:17.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The pirate can only walk in Iambs,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.55,0:03:20.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a living reminder \Nof Shakespeare's favorite meter.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.68,0:03:24.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Iambic Pentameter \Nis when he takes ten steps.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.43,0:03:27.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our pirate friend can even help us \Nremember how to properly mark it
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.76,0:03:32.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if we image the footprints he leaves\Nwalking along a deserted island beach:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.17,0:03:37.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A curve for unstressed syllables,\Nand a shoe outline for stressed ones.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.86,0:03:42.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"If music be the food of love, play on."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.29,0:03:44.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course, most lines \Nof Shakespeare's plays
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.57,0:03:46.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are written in regular prose.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.82,0:03:48.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if you read carefully,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.17,0:03:51.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you'll notice that Shakespeare's \Ncharacters turn to poetry,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.09,0:03:53.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Iambic Pentameter in particular,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.31,0:03:57.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for many of the same reasons \Nthat we look to poetry in our own lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.78,0:04:03.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Feeling passionate, introspective,\Nor momentous.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.30,0:04:06.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whether it's Hamlet pondering \Nhis existence,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.81,0:04:09.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or Romeo professing his love,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.10,0:04:12.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the characters switch to Iambic Pentameter\Nwhen speaking about their emotions
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.85,0:04:15.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and their place in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.29,0:04:18.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which leaves just one last question.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.41,0:04:22.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why did Shakespeare choose \NIambic Pentameter for these moments,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.04,0:04:26.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than, say, Trochaic Hexameter,\Nor Dactylic Tetrameter?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.67,0:04:30.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's been said that Iambic Pentameter \Nwas easy for his actors to memorize
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.14,0:04:31.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and for the audience to understand
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.80,0:04:36.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's naturally suited \Nto the English language.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.18,0:04:38.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there might be another reason.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.13,0:04:40.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The next time you're in a heightened \Nemotional situation,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.86,0:04:44.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like the ones that make \NShakespeare's characters burst into verse,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.04,0:04:47.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,put your hand over \Nthe left side of your chest.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.55,0:04:49.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What do you feel?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.25,0:04:52.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's your heart beating in Iambs.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.18,0:04:58.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Da duhm, da duhm, \Nda duhm, da duhm, da duhm.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.05,0:05:02.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shakespeare's most poetic lines don't just\Ntalk about matters of the heart.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.13,0:05:04.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They follow its rhythm.