blank verse

[ blangk vurs ]

noun

1. unrhymed verse, especially the unrhymed iambic pentameter most frequently used in English dramatic, epic, and reflective verse.

blank verse

noun

1. prosody unrhymed verse, esp in iambic pentameters

blank verse

1. Verse written in iambic pentameter , without rhyme . Many of the speeches in the plays of William Shakespeare are written in blank verse; this example is from Macbeth:

   Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

   Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

   To the last syllable of recorded time;

   And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

   The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

   Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

   That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

   And then is heard no more: it is a tale

   Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

   Signifying nothing.

Word History and Origins

Origin of blank verse¹

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

The only gangster picture ever done in blank verse, by Abraham Polonsky.

From The Daily Beast

Farther on he laughs at the 'prophetical spirits' of those 'who set the end of scholarism in an English blank-verse.'

From Project Gutenberg

Few poets have approached him in the successful writing of blank verse, which has a delightful cadence as well as calm strength.

From Project Gutenberg

I invented no new incident; I simply wrote the story as Ann had told it to me, in the best blank verse I was able to compose.

From Project Gutenberg

Dekkers theory of blank verse, in especial, was not a severe one.

From Project Gutenberg

Blank verse he thinks too slow in movement, and too much opposed in character.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ballad
• composition
• epic
• lyric
• poetry
• rhyme
• sonnet
• verse
• writing