What is blank verse? Blank verse doesn’t recognize a rhyme scheme but it does adhere to a developed metrical pattern called iambic pentameter. Each line of verse has five metrical feet consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable.
Blank verse was introduced by the Earl of Surry in 1540 when he published a translation of the second and fourth books of Virgil’s Aeneid.
The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus more commonly referred to as Doctor Faustus written by Christopher Marlowe and first performed in 1592 is a prime example of blank verse.
The Emperor speaking:
Wonder of men, renowned magician,
Thrice-learned Faustus, welcome to our court.
This deed of thine, in setting Bruno free
From his and our professed enemy,
Shall add more excellence unto thine art,
Than if by powerful necromantic spells
Thou couldst command the world’s obedience.
Christopher Marlowe, Doctor. Faustus, ed. by John Hollander and Frank Kermode, The Literature of Renaissance England, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973) Scene XI, Lines 48-54
John Milton’s Paradise Lost, is another example of blank verse. It is divided into twelve books and of course is written in iambic pentameter.
He ended, and his words replete with guile
Into her heart too easy entrance won.
Fixed on the fruit she gazed, which to behold
Might tempt alone, and in her ears the sound
Yet rung of his persuasive words, impregned
With reason, to her seeming, and with truth;
John Milton, Paradise Lost, ed.by John Hollander and Frank Kermode, The Literature of Renaissance England, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973) Book IX, Lines 733-738.
Look at “Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson it too is written in blank verse.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades
Forever and forever when I move.
Alfred,Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses” ed.by M. H. Abrams, General Ed, The Norton Anthology of English Literature, rev (New York: W. W. Norton & Company,1968) p.842.
Additional reading:
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Macbeth
Robert Frost’s “Mending Walls” and “Birches”
How to Write a Blank Verse Form
- Observe the world around you and let it inspire you.
- Train yourself by reading and listening to poetry.
- Write for a specific reason. Don’t be afraid to tap into your emotions.
- Carefully choose your words.
- Use concrete images and vivid descriptions. Avoid cliches.
- Don’t let yourself fall into free verse.
- Read your poem out loud.
- Edit and share.
Darlo Gemeinhardt writes MG novels and the occasional poem.
She spends a good portion if each day taking care
of twenty-five dogs. That’s why she believes, “There’s
a Story in Every Dog.”
We love helping your growing in your writing career.
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