Blank Verse

by S. L. P. Van der Veer

Autumn 2004

Blank verse was introduced in the 16th century by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, who also helped introduce the sonnet and other Italian forms into English. Surrey used the form in his translations of books IV and II of Virgil’s Aeneid. It has been suggested that he modeled his translation after the versi sciolti, or “freed verse”, of Molza’s Italian translation. However, Surrey’s blank verse is intentionally set into 10-syllable lines, where the versi sciolti is technically 11-syllables, although 9- or 10-syllables are also acceptable. Soon after Surrey introduced the form, it became the standard meter for Elizabethan and Jacobean poetic drama. The probable first dramatic use of blank verse is “Gorbuduc” (1561) by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton. In the late 17 th c. and early 18 th c., blank verse became less popular, primarily because the heroic couplet was favoured by the most prominent poets of the time. In the 19 th c., it was used frequently by the Romantic and Victorian poets.

Blank verse is composed of two primary elements:

• Lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter
• Verse paragraphs of varying lengths

Iambic Pentameter: Blank verse is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. As a brief review, strict iambic pentameter is a line of 10-syllables which alternate unstressed and stressed syllables. An iamb is two syllables—the first is unstressed and the second is stressed. One iamb is one verse-foot, and five iambs create the pentameter.

As has often been noted here, most poetry forms in English tend to be iambic pentameter. This is because iambic pentameter is the predominant meter of the natural speech rhythm in English. However, blank verse has a more formal and regular rhythm than normal speech. The consistent meter also frames the poem, distinguishing it from everyday speech and prose. It is particularly popular for dramatic monologues and certain types of poems: epic, narrative, or introspective/meditative poems.

Verse Paragraphs: Instead of stanzas, which have uniform length within a form, blank verse is divided into verse paragraphs of varying lengths. This is not to be confused with “free verse,” which lacks both a rhyme scheme and an identifiable metrical pattern.

Some view free verse not as a form of poetry, but as a form of prose because of this. Several main characteristics of free verse—absence of regular end-rhyme, reliance on grammatical breaks (breaks based simply on sound, syntax, or look) and non-metrical structure—reflect its ties to the Renaissance lyric style; however, in modern usage “lyric” has become less specific and more broadly categorizes other, more defined styles.

Christopher Marlowe used blank verse in “Tamburlaine” and “The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus” (1588-93). Marlowe’s influence is evident in Shakespeare’s early work. Shakespeare, the most notable practitioner of blank verse in dramatic form, wrote his plays in various combinations of blank verse with other metrical patterns or prose. Milton returned the form to its earlier use as an epic form, although after Milton it became a romantic form, rather than epic or dramatic. Robert Browning and Alfred, Lord Tennyson both displayed skilled and flexible use of blank verse.

Included here is an example of blank verse. You may notice that some lines do not read as strict iambic pentameter. It is possible to substitute one or two of the five verse-feet (iambs) and still have the line be considered iambic pentameter. Substitutions may be made with any of the other standard feet. For those who are interested in investigating these other feet for themselves, they are: anapest, trochee, spondee, and amphibrachs.

Edges of the Known

by S. L. P. Van der Veer

 

The walls that mark the edges of the known…

what lies beyond them?—tell me, do you know?

Don’t say there are no gates—I have seen them

far from the paths oft-trodden and hard-used.

They stand stern, black with age…disapproving -

of my presence, or neglect? I don’t know….

 

but if I stand still and quiet, I hear

singing, a song my heart knows very well,

as if inviting me to something more

than I have seen or even dreamt could be.

 

Do you know what waits in the wild places?

I’ve heard the tales as many times as you,

but told by those who’ve never seen their truth.

This song I hear while standing by the gates

tells me this world is more than what I’ve known.

 

The Song is calling me back to the gates,

and I know when I go they will open…

and what lies beyond and what happens next

matters less than the fact that I’ve found them.

When you believe in possibilities,

the gates will reveal themselves to you

and lead beyond the walls to things unknown:

 

some things need to be believed to be seen….

For Additional Information

Browning, Robert. “Fra Lippo Lippi”, “Andrea del Sarto” (dramatic monologues), “The Ring and the Book”

Coleridge, Samuel T. “Frost at Midnight”

Frost, Robert. “Birches”, “Mending Wall”, “Out Out”

Milton, John. Paradise Lost, and Paradise Regained

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. “Ulysses”, “Tithonus”, Idylls of the King

Wordsworth, William. “The Prelude”, “Michael”, “The Excursion”

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