Blank Verse

POETIC FORMS

Blank Verse is a poetic form which doesn't rhyme but instead a rhythmic pattern marks it out.

Blank Verse is written in Iambic Pentameter meaning that each line has 10 syllables with a stress on syllables 2,4,6,8 and 10.

Iambic Pentameter is most famous in Shakespeare's sonnets:
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

It has also been said that it is most like the way we speak with the iambic often also compared to a heartbeat. There are many everyday phrases that fit into this pattern.

Does anybody want a cup of tea?

There are no fixed stanza lengths Blank Verse just relies on the rhythm being maintained.

 

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