Speak to Me in Iambic
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. The meter is usually iambic (a pattern of unstressed syllables followed by stressed), and pentameter (a line consisting of five feet). Here is an example of blank verse:
("Da" is unstressed and the "Dum" is stressed. Each "Da Dum" equals one metric foot.)
Da Dum Da Dum Da Dum Da Dum Da Dum
or
It has been determined that this form closely approximates ordinary English. In other words, we often talk in iambs. If you scan the previous line, you will see this. Since blank verse usually sounds natural, it appears to be an easy form to use; however, it requires talent to write well in blank verse. This form also lends itself to the expression of grand passions; Shakespeare, Marlowe, Milton, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Tennyson, as well as many twentieth-century poets, wrote in blank verse.
DIRECTIONS: Choose ten lines of poetry that appear to be written in blank verse. Copy the
lines below and scan them to see if you were correct. At the bottom of the page note any variations in meter.
DIRECTIONS: Choose one variation in rhythm and tell what it added to the meaning of the
poem.
Excerpted from American Literature Activities Kit .
