Directions (96-100): Read the following poem and answer the
given questions.

In all my wand’rings round this world of care,
In all my griefs-and God has giv’n my share
I still had hopes, my latest hours to crown,
Amidst these humble bow’rs to lay me down;
To husband out life’s taper at the close,
And keep the flame from wasting by repose;
I still had hopes, for pride attends us still,
Amidst the swains to show my book learn’d skill,
Around my fire an ev’ning group to draw,
And tell of all I felt, and all I saw.

Identify the meter in the poem.

The correct answer is Iambic pentameter.

To understand why, let us break this down carefully, step by step.

Step 1: Understanding the Two Parts of a Meter Name

Any metrical name in poetry has two components:
1. The foot type — the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
2. The count — how many such feet appear per line.

Here, "iambic" refers to the foot type, and "pentameter" refers to the count. Let us verify both.

Step 2: What is an Iamb?

An iamb is a metrical foot consisting of two syllables: one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. It is written as:

$\text{da-DUM}$

For example, the word "be-CAUSE" is a perfect iamb — "be" is unstressed and "CAUSE" is stressed.

Step 3: What is Pentameter?

"Penta" comes from the Greek word for five. So pentameter means there are five metrical feet per line. This means each line of iambic pentameter contains:

$5\times \text{iamb (da-DUM)}=10\text{syllables per line}$

Step 4: Scanning the Lines of the Poem

Let us now scan specific lines from the poem, marking unstressed syllables as u and stressed syllables as /.

Take the opening line:
"In all my wand'rings round this world of care"

Breaking it into syllables and stresses:

in-ALL | my-WAND | 'rings-ROUND | this-WORLD | of-CARE

$\text{u / | u / | u / | u / | u /}$

That gives us exactly 5 iambic feet — confirming iambic pentameter.

Let us verify with another line:
"In all my griefs — and God has giv'n my share"

in-ALL | my-GRIEFS | and-GOD | has-GIV'N | my-SHARE

$\text{u / | u / | u / | u / | u /}$

Again — 5 iambic feet — 10 syllables — perfectly consistent.

One more line:
"And keep the flame from wasting by repose"

and-KEEP | the-FLAME | from-WAST | ing-BY | re-POSE

$\text{u / | u / | u / | u / | u /}$

Again — 5 iambic feet. The pattern is unmistakable.

Step 5: Ruling Out the Other Options

- Iambic trimeter — would have only 3 iambic feet (6 syllables per line). Far too short for these lines.
- Iambic tetrameter — would have only 4 iambic feet (8 syllables per line). Still shorter than what we see here.
- Iambic hexameter (also called Alexandrine) — would have 6 iambic feet (12 syllables per line). Too long for this poem's lines.

Step 6: Context and Conclusion

This poem is an excerpt from The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith, a celebrated 18th-century poet. Goldsmith consciously chose iambic pentameter — the most prestigious and widely used meter in English poetry, also used by Shakespeare in his sonnets and Milton in Paradise Lost — to give the poem a dignified, solemn, and reflective tone that suits its subject: nostalgia, loss, and longing.

The steady da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM rhythm across all 10 lines of the excerpt is the defining fingerprint of iambic pentameter, making it the clear and correct identification of the meter used in this poem.