05-06-2014, 10:33 AM
Stressed means accented. If there are 4 accented syllables, but they do not fall into any particular meter, as Abu has delineated, then in English poetry we simply count the accents without regard to how many non-accented syllables there are. This is called accentual verse. In metered verse we count both the accented and non-accented syllables, and they have to be in a consistent order. A sonnet (except for dilettantes and heathens) is generally written in iambic pentameter; a line consisting of five iambs (see Abu's example above of iambs).
Dale
Dale
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.