Blank verse is when you have lines of poetry that have a regular metre but no rhyme scheme. You use it to talk about poetry and plays that use verse. In particular, it’s something we can use to discuss the work of William Shakespeare.
In the English language, it is most common for the metre of blank verse to be iambic pentameter. Of course, that is not true of other languages, which have their own common metre.
If you’re talking about blank verse that’s in iambic pentameter, it’s probably because you’re studying Shakespeare. Almost all of the characters in his plays follow this rule – their dialogue will be in iambic pentameter but not rhyme.
The place where this differs is usually at the end of the scene, where he finishes it with a rhyming couplet to give a sense of finality. Also, there are some places in his plays where he uses sonnets. That breaks this rule, as Shakespearean sonnets have a regular rhyme scheme.
If it rhymes with other lines, it’s not blank verse.
Another famous example of a text written in blank verse is one of the most influential pieces of literature in the English language: Paradise Lost by John Milton. Milton is an interesting character when it comes to writing without rhyme. He writes a whole introduction to Paradise Lost where he argues that rhyme kinda sucks, especially in longer poetry (I’m paraphrasing, of course).
Examples of Blank Verse
Let’s look at some examples of how blank verse looks. Since you are most likely to talk about this for exam questions about Shakespeare, let’s start there.
MARCELLUS Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy And will not let belief take hold of him
This example is from Hamlet. Take a moment to check for yourself that it’s in iambic pentameter – the most common metre of blank verse in English.
Now, the next thing you can see is that the last words of the lines don’t rhyme. “Fantasy” doesn’t rhyme with “him”. There are no internal rhymes. Plus, you can check on your own that they don’t rhyme with the lines before or after them.
So, this is clearly an example of blank verse.
Shakespeare does use blank verse in all his plays, so let’s look at another example, this time from Macbeth:
MACBETH I wish your horses swift and sure of foot; And so I do commend you to their backs.
Again, the lines don’t rhyme with each other or any of the other lines close by in the scene. They are in iambic pentameter, though.
However, Shakespeare isn’t the only person who uses this! Let’s look at another example from Paradise Lost
With Man, as with his friend, familiar us'd, To sit indulgent, and with him partake
Again, it is clearly in iambic pentameter. There are no internal rhymes or end rhymes in these two lines. I can also tell you that neither line rhymes with any of the ones that came before or after them. Although, feel free to check, too!
How to Talk About it in Your Essays
Blank verse can be a very useful thing to talk about in your exams. It is an easy term to remember (easier than iambic pentameter). Plus, once you start using that term, you’re talking about the poem or play’s structure, not just the words it uses. That’s a really important part of writing about verse in your essays.
However, there’s not much to say about blank verse on its own. If a whole play is in blank verse, you can only really say one or two things about it. That’s just the structure that the writer has chosen for their play. It’s just a common part of the way the lines are written. So, it’s not going to help you with close analysis.
As with most of the things in English, you want to focus your attention on when the writer is foregrounding the structure of a line. For blank verse, that happens when a writer deviates (or breaks away) from the rules and conventions of their own work.
What do I mean by that? Well, it’s all about the foregrounding thing I mentioned earlier. Writers want you to notice the things that stand out because they’re different from everything else around them. The lines that are similar to the rest of the text? Well, they fade into the background.
So, you should take note of when the writer breaks away from the blank verse for a line or two. It takes them thought and care to write in blank verse. So, if they’re choosing not to, they must be doing it on purpose.
Once you’ve figured out which lines the writer wants you to notice, you should read them for content. That will help you to figure out why it’s so important for that line to stand out.
How Writers Break Blank Verse for Foregrounding
There are many different ways writers break away from blank verse to draw attention to a line or group of lines. Each different way will have a different purpose and a different effect on the text receiver.
These are examples from Shakespeare – surprise, surprise.
You could break the blank verse by making lines rhyme in a piece of work. The metre would probably stay the same. However, because it rhymes now, it can’t be blank verse anymore.
Shakespeare does this in two ways. First of all, he ends each scene in a rhyming couplet to give it a sense of finality.
Within scenes, though, rhyme can be used in a really profound way. Shakespeare sometimes throws a sonnet into scenes of his plays from time to time. This highlights a big, profound event happening. For example, when Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love, they speak to one another in sonnet form. That highlights their sense of love and connection.
Some characters might talk in prose. They don’t use verse at all – let alone blank verse! That often happens when a character is of lower status, like the gravediggers in Hamlet. If a character used to speak in blank verse but now speaks in prose, that might mean they’ve gone mad (or they’re pretending to be).
The witches in Macbeth speak in a whole different metre altogether – trochaic tetrameter. This shows that they can speak in a sophisticated, poetic way. However, their words sound otherworldly compared to the other characters.
Of course, changing the metre doesn’t mean it’s not in blank verse anymore. However, if the witches talk in a different metre, their words still stand out! Plus, they’re also rhyming their lines, anyway.