nes By ch nce or n ture s ch ng ing co rse untr mm d But thy et rn al s m mer shall not f de Nor l se pos-s ss ion of that f ir thou ow st Nor sh ll death br g thou w n der st n his sh de When n et rn al l n es to t me thou grow st So l ng as m n can bre the or yes can s e So l ng lives th s and th s gives l fe to th e Prosodic Name This scansion shows the metrical structure of the poem which is written in iambic pentameter The rhythm is composed of iambs metrical feet with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable Each line has five feet pentameter means five measures Thus the full prosodic name is Iambic Pentameter This meter is a hallmark of Shakespeare's poetry and much of English Renaissance verse