by placing the volta at the start of line nine. Most of the lines are examples of regular iambic pentameter, including the 6th line: × / × / × / × / × / Above a mortal pitch, that struck me dead? (86.6) / = ictus, a metrically strong syllabic position. × = nonictus. Line two contains the first of a few possible reversals of the accent in first foot: / × × / × / × / × / Bound for the prize of all-too-precious you, (86.2) Reversals also occur at the start of lines four and eight. Possible reversals occur at the start of lines one, five, seven, nine, and twelve; while possible reversals occur in the middle of lines three, seven, and thirteen. The meter calls for the word "spirit" in line five to be pronounced with one syllable, while the word "spirits" has two. Line eight's "astonishèd" is pronounced with four syllables. Possible clues to the identity of the rival poet It is not known who the rival poet is. Nearly every well-known poet contemporary with Shakespeare has been suggested, including George Chapman, Christopher Marlowe, Samuel Daniel, Michael Drayton, Barnabe Barnes, Gervase Markham, and Richard Barnfield The second and third quatrains have garnered attention as possibly containing clues to the identity of the rival poet. The description of a poet "by spirits taught to write" (line 5) has led some to name George Chapman as candidate, due to Chapman's supposed spiritual inspiration by the ghost of Homer. The phrase "Above a mortal pitch, that struck me dead" (line 6) has suggested to some Christopher Marlowe (who died in 1593) and his play Tamburlaine the Great. Shakespearean scholar Eric Sams considers the descriptions of spiritual communication in the second quatrain ("spirits taught to write") to perhaps suggest Barnabe Barnes as the Rival Poet, noting Barnes' interest in occultism in 16th century England. In the third quatrain, lines nine and ten are seen to reference a specific poet. Of the "affable familiar ghost" found in line nine, Duncan-Jones writes: "The phrase seems to carry an allusion to some well-known relationship between a poet and his Muse or inspiring genius, such as Chapman's with the spirit of Homer." Regarding the Rival Poet's identity, Sams reads the first line of the couplet (line 13) as a possible reference to Barnes's 1593 work Parthenophil and Parthenophe: One phrase in Sonnet 86