Iambic Pentameter Verse?

Question

When I / go look / at each/ good ho /ckey team/

Could "when I go look at each good hockey team" be considered a verse in iambic pentameter?

Answer 1

It works fine as iambic pentameter.

I would scan it as:

When Í / go lóok / at eách/ góod hó /ckey téam/.

There is a spondee (two stressed syllables) substituting for an iamb in the fourth foot. Substituting one (or maybe two) iambs with spondees in a line has been acceptable in iambic pentameter since well before Shakespeare.

For example, in Shakespeare's fifth sonnet, he has the line:

For né/ ver-rést/ ing tíme/ léads súm/ mer ón,

which has the exact same pattern of iambs and spondees as your line.