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Blank Verse
Definition of Blank Verse
Blank verse is a literary device defined as un-rhyming verse written in iambic pentameter. In
poetry and prose, it has a consistent meter with 10 syllables in each line (pentameter);
where, unstressed syllables are followed by stressed ones, five of which are stressed but do
not rhyme. It is also known as un-rhymed iambic pentameter.
Features of Blank Verse
Blank verse poetry has no fixed number of lines.
It has a conventional meter that is used for verse drama and long narrative poems.
It is often used in descriptive and reflective poems and dramatic monologues the
poems in which a single character delivers his thoughts in the form of a speech.
Types of Blank Verse Poetry
Iamb pentameter blank verse (unstressed/stressed syllables)
Trochee blank verse (stressed/unstressed syllables)
Anapest blank verse (unstressed/unstressed/stressed syllables)
Dactyl blank verse (stressed/unstressed/unstressed syllables)
Short Examples of Blank Verse
1. The dreams are clues that tell us take chances.
2. The source of faith in happiness and
3. Daylight changes, and it is time to take
4. The night frost drips silently from the roof
5. Human cadences always searching for this
6. The moon takes its bath in lovely silver dust.
7. The buds luminous in white sway happily,
and sparkling valleys darkened by angst.
8. Only if mountains might give me a push
Only if sunrise lights could converse hope.
9. Listen to your heart while using your wisdom
A valuable treasure you have is your ta
10. Beholding red and golden sparkles of sunlight
Sweet-sparks of light glowing before the eyes.
11. Within the stars your dreams can be fulfilled,
now you can fly the unlimited starlight
12. If passports are passwords to the heaven above,
then we shall read the riddle
13. If there is a twelfth player, who does not play,
14. He only leaves the field when free.
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15. Birds chirp in the orchard of the cherry and try to sing a little later.
16. Enemies reached at the inimical stage of enmity.
Examples of Blank Verse from Literature
The Earl of Surrey introduced blank verse in English literature in 1540. Milton, Shakespeare,
Marlowe, John Donne, John Keats, and many other poets and dramatists have used this
device in their works.
Example #1: Hamlet (By William Shakespeare)
But, woe is me, you are so sick of late,
So far from cheer and from your former state,
That I distrust you. Yet, though I distrust,
Discomfort you, my lord, it nothing must.
Hamlet gives us a perfect example of a typical blank verse, written in iambic pentameter.
Shakespeare employed the deliberate effort to use the syllables in a particular way. He
brought variation by using caesuras (pause) in the middle of the line, as in the third line.
Shakespeare has other literary pieces that are also good sources of blank verse examples.
Example #2: Dr. Faustus (By Christopher Marlowe)
You stars that reignd at my nativity,
Whose influence hath allotted death and hell,
Now draw up Faustus like a foggy mist
Into entrails of yon labouring clouds,
So that my soul may but ascend to Heaven
Marlowe developed this potential in the late 16th century. Marlowe was the first author
who exploited the potential of blank verse for writing a powerful speech, as given here.
The pattern utilized here is iambic pentameter.
Example #3: Macbeth (By William Shakespeare)
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death
William Shakespeare wrote verses in iambic pentameter pattern, without rhyme. Macbeth
is a good example of blank verse. Many speeches in this play are written in the form of
blank verse.
Function of Blank Verse
Originating from Latin and Greek sources, blank verse is widely employed as a vehicle in
English dramatic poetry and prose, to create specific grandeur. Blank verse has similarity to
normal speech but it is written in a variety of patterns, which bring interruptions such as
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pauses. Therefore, the intention is to produce a formal rhythmical pattern that creates
musical effect. Hence, it tends to capture the attention of the readers and the listeners,
which is its primary objective.
Significance of Blank Verse in Literature
Blank verse allows an author to not be constricted by rhyme, which is limited in English. Yet
it still creates a more poetic sound and sense of pattern due to the regular use of stressed
and unstressed syllables. Meter is generally easier to use in English than rhyme since the
majority of words are short (one or two syllables), unlike in Romance languages. Thus, it
was in favor with English poets for nearly half a millennium. Free verse has replaced blank
verse in popularity in the most recently written poetry, however.
What is blank verse and how does Shakespeare use it?
Shakespeare's use of blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter, is an important
element of his plays. In rhymed verse, the words that fall at the end of lines sound very
similar, like "love" and "dove," or "moon" and "June." Shakespeare sometimes uses
rhyming couplets in his plays, which are two consecutive lines of rhyming verse. An
example would be "Indeed this counselor / Is now most still, most secret, and most grave, /
Who was in life a foolish prating knave" (Hamlet Act III, Scene 4).
Blank verse, on the other hand, has no rhyme, but is does have a definite rhythm created by
the careful structuring of iambic feet - patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. One
poetic foot is a single nit that is repeated in a steady rhythm to a line of verse. The iambic
foot (or iamb) consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, like
"inSIST" or "reSIST."
The pentameter portion of iambic pentameter refers to the number of feet (iambs) that are
repeated in each line of verse, in this case five. So, remember that a line of blank verse in
iambic pentameter does not rhyme, but it will always follow this rhythm:
weak STRONG weak STRONG weak STRONG weak STRONG weak STRONG
Here's an example of blank verse from Hamlet. As you read it, listen for the iambic
pentameter rhythm:
But, woe is me, you are so sick of late,
So far from cheer and from your former state,
That I distrust you. Yet, though I distrust,
Discomfort you, my lord, it nothing must.
Incidentally, once you get into the groove of iambic pentameter, you might find that
reading Shakespeare becomes a little easier. At least now you know part of why the
phrasing of his language can seem so odd. He's making a deliberate effort to work out the
syllables in a very specific way. Try it yourself sometime and your words might come out a
little strange, too!
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Example
HAMLET: To be, or not to be- that is the question:
Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die- to sleep-
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wishd. To die- to sleep.
To sleep- perchance to dream: ay, theres the rub!
(Hamlet by William Shakespeare)
This is perhaps the most famous monologue in all of William Shakespeares works, and it is
an example of blank verse. You will notice, however, that not all lines have exactly ten
syllables, as is usually the case with iambic pentameter. At times, Shakespeare chose to
write lines with eleven syllables, yet the stress is still on the tenth syllable. This is called
using feminine endings. For example, in the first line, To BE or NOT to BEthat IS the
QUESTion, we see five iambs (two beats with the stress on the second beat) concluded
with the feminine unstressed ending. Shakespeare was notably creative with his use of
blank verse, and this format does indeed count as blank verse.
Example
MEPHASTOPHILIS: Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.
Thinkst thou that I, who saw the face of God,
And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells
In being deprived of everlasting bliss?
O Faustus, leave these frivolous demands,
Which strike a terror to my fainting soul.
(Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe)
Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary of Shakespeares, was one of the most prominent
early users of blank verse. He employs blank verse throughout his famous play Doctor
Faustus, as we can see in this excerpt. In this exchange, the devil Mephastophilis is trying to
convince Faustus not to sell his soul. Note that some words must be shortened in blank
verse to fit the meter, such as the word heaven in line 3 and being in line 5. These two
words count as just one syllable to have the correct meter.