Blank verse
Literary term · say it BLANK VURS
Blank verse is poetry in unrhymed iambic pentameter: lines with five pairs of syllables, usually moving from a lighter stress to a stronger one. Its steady but flexible rhythm appears in plays, long narratives, and reflective poems.
Where blank verse shows up
Speech in plays
Blank verse can carry conversation, argument, or a character's private thoughts. Pauses and changes in stress keep the regular beat from sounding rigid.
In Hamlet, Hamlet weighs the suffering of life against the uncertainty of death in a soliloquy written in blank verse.
In Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Epic narrative
Blank verse can sustain a long story without a repeating pattern of end rhymes. Sentences often continue across several lines.
At the opening of Paradise Lost, Satan and the other fallen angels lie defeated in Hell before Satan begins speaking to Beelzebub.
In Paradise Lost by John Milton
Reflective poetry
Blank verse also suits poems that follow memories, observations, and developing thoughts rather than a large plot.
In Tintern Abbey, the speaker returns to the banks of the River Wye after five years and considers how his response to nature has changed.
In Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth
How to spot blank verse
- Check several line endings for the absence of a regular rhyme pattern.
- Listen for five main beats, usually moving from lighter to stronger stress.
- Notice how sentences and pauses move within and across the lines.
What is the difference between blank verse and free verse?
Blank verse follows a regular meter, while free verse does not follow a fixed metrical pattern. Both can lack rhyme, so unrhymed endings alone are not enough to identify blank verse. Look for the underlying five-beat rhythm of iambic pentameter.
Does every line of blank verse have exactly ten syllables?
No, blank verse can include lines with extra syllables or changes in the expected stresses. Ten syllables arranged in five iambs provide the basic pattern, but individual lines often vary. Read several lines together to hear the meter beneath those variations.
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