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Blank verse

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in blank verse. In the century after Milton, there are few distinguished uses of either dramatic or non-dramatic blank verse; in keeping with the desire for regularity, most of the blank verse of this period is somewhat stiff. The best examples of blank verse from this time are probably
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increasingly often in his verse, and in his last plays was given to using feminine endings (in which the last syllable of the line is unstressed, for instance lines 3 and 6 of the following example); all of this made his later blank verse extremely rich and varied.
790:. A complete listing is impossible, since a sort of loose blank verse has become a staple of lyric poetry, but it would be safe to say that blank verse is as prominent now as it has been any time in the past three hundred years. 421:
This very free treatment of blank verse was imitated by Shakespeare's contemporaries, and led to general metrical looseness in the hands of less skilled users. However, Shakespearean blank verse was used with some success by
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Marlowe and then Shakespeare developed its potential greatly in the late 16th century. Marlowe was the first to exploit the potential of blank verse for powerful and involved speech:
455:, in which Milton used it with much license. Milton used the flexibility of blank verse, its capacity to support syntactic complexity, to the utmost, in passages such as these: 752:
Blank verse, of varying degrees of regularity, has been used quite frequently throughout the 20th century in original verse and in translations of narrative verse. Most of
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is mainly modelled on that of Milton, but takes fewer liberties with the pentameter and possesses the characteristic of Keats's verse. Shelley's blank verse in
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Shakespeare developed this feature, and also the potential of blank verse for abrupt and irregular speech. For example, in this exchange from
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was the first English author to achieve critical fame for his use of blank verse. The major achievements in English blank verse were made by
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have prose dialogue). Below is an extract spoken by Princess Ida after singing her entrance aria "Oh, goddess wise".
72: 691:" is probably the first important example of the blank verse stanzaic poem. Browning's blank verse, in poems like " 534: 360: 338: 238: 705:, is based on Tennyson's "The Princess". Gilbert's dialogue is in blank verse throughout (although the other 13 642: 761: 543:. An example notable as much for its failure with the public as for its subsequent influence on the form is 765: 676: 293:
are notable for using blank verse in extended compositions at a time when many other poets were turning to
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is written in blank verse. Miltonic blank verse was widely imitated in the 18th century by such poets as
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became particularly devoted to blank verse, using it for example in his long narrative poem "
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Coleridge's blank verse is more technical than Wordsworth's, but he wrote little of it:
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original since classical Latin verse did not use rhyme, or possibly he was inspired by
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deal primarily with the United Kingdom and the United States and do not represent a
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Blank verse was not much used in the non-dramatic poetry of the 17th century until
427: 165: 98: 54: 756:'s narrative and conversational poems are in blank verse; so are other poems like 558:
ushered in a renewal of blank verse with his volume of kaleidoscopic meditations,
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Of the Victorian writers in blank verse, the most prominent are Tennyson and
589: 501: 451: 434:, meanwhile, used a tighter blank verse with less enjambment in his comedies 233: 206: 172: 161: 753: 701: 662:" are the best known of his blank verse works. The blank verse of Keats in 423: 188: 129: 777: 769: 706: 583: 524: 412: 228: 891: 565: 431: 370: 294: 286: 270: 156:; published posthumously, 1554–1557). He may have been inspired by the 20: 39:
The examples and perspective in this article's lead and first section
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Milton, John, Paradise Lost. Merritt Hughes, ed. New York, 1985
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had dimmed mine eyes to blindness! They, meanwhile...
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used blank verse as a major form. Shortly afterwards,
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Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
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The first known use of blank verse in English was by
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is closer to Elizabethan practice than to Milton's.
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And shook his throne. What though the field be lost?
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Five years have past; five summers, with the length
922: 731:As Woman's brain to Man's—(that's rule of three),— 462:From what highth fal'n, so much the stronger provd 397:The noontide sun, called forth the mutinous winds, 602:These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs 281:", as well as for one of his most famous poems: " 16:Poetry written in regular metre but without rhyme 1059: 482:That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring, 472:Though chang'd in outward lustre; that fixt mind 389:Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime 132:has estimated that "about three quarters of all 466:The force of those dire Arms? yet not for those 401:Set roaring war – to the dread rattling thunder 213:was the first English play to use blank verse. 1046:. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). pp. 41–42. 741:That two and two make four! Why, we can prove, 631:Beauties and feelings, such as would have been 581:(1798 and 1800), and for his longest efforts, 474:And high disdain, from sence of injur'd merit, 403:Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak 911:(McGraw-Hill, 1979 revised edition), page 63. 852:Auch kein Geschäft, das merklich fördert, das 840:Seitab bald rechts, bald links, zu nehmen bin 745:That two and two make five—or three—or seven; 614:Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey 476:That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend, 399:And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault 309:Whose influence hath allotted death and hell, 170: 51:improve this article's lead and first section 824:Ja, Daja; Gott sei Dank! Doch warum endlich? 807: 627:Well, they are gone, and here must I remain, 606:Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs... 387:By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make 381:And ye that on the sands with printless foot 925:Blank Verse: A guide to its history and use 716:Who thirst for such instruction as we give, 629:This lime-tree bower my prison! I have lost 575:. Wordsworth used the form for many of the 484:His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd 464:He with his Thunder: and till then who knew 391:Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice 383:Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him 317:My limbs may issue from their smoky mouths, 633:Most sweet to my remembrance even when age 486:In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav'n, 478:And to the fierce contention brought along 395:Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimmed 313:Into the entrails of yon labouring clouds, 747:Or five-and-twenty, if the case demands! 735:As Woman, in her turn, shall conquer Man. 729:And Man, whose brain is to the elephant's 385:When he comes back; you demi-puppets that 319:So that my soul may but ascend to Heaven. 73:Learn how and when to remove this message 844:Genötigt worden, gut zweihundert Meilen; 733:Conquers the foolish giant of the woods, 490:All is not lost; the unconquerable Will, 393:To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid, 315:That when they vomit forth into the air, 178:, both of which also did not use rhyme. 84: 929:. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press. 739:The narrow-minded pedant still believes 604:With a soft inland murmur. – Once again 470:Can else inflict do I repent or change, 128:has taken since the 16th century", and 1060: 828:Hab ich denn eher wiederkommen wollen? 722:Yet Man subdues him. Why? The elephant 695:", is more abrupt and conversational. 600:Of five long winters! And again I hear 494:And courage never to submit or yield: 468:Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage 307:You stars that reign'd at my nativity, 1054:. Merritt Hughes, ed. New York, 1985. 1030: 848:Und Schulden einkassieren, ist gewiss 743:We women—household drudges as we are— 311:Now draw up Faustus like a foggy mist 97:into English blank verse, printed by 920: 856:So von der Hand sich schlagen lässt. 737:In Mathematics, Woman leads the way: 492:And study of revenge, immortal hate, 25: 914: 898:(Cengage Learning, 2005), page 655. 836:Ist von Jerusalem, wie ich den Weg, 724:Is elephantine everywhere but here 13: 1000:from the original on Jul 12, 2022. 949: 720:The elephant is mightier than Man, 554:At the close of the 18th century, 480:Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd 14: 1084: 896:The Wadsworth Anthology of Poetry 718:Attend, while I unfold a parable. 714:Women of Adamant, fair neophytes— 306: 832:Und wiederkommen können? Babylon 30: 1020:. University of Victoria, 1995. 962:from the original on 2023-03-20 982: 973: 943: 901: 885: 798:Blank verse is also common in 643:This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison 1: 1007: 762:The Idea of Order at Key West 194: 150: 909:Poetic Meter and Poetic Form 793: 766:The Comedian as the Letter C 460:....Into what Pit thou seest 141:Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey 7: 1013:The Department of English. 921:Shaw, Robert Burns (2007). 862: 53:, discuss the issue on the 10: 1089: 285:". Among American poets, 143:in his translation of the 18: 879: 821: 804:Gotthold Ephraim Lessing 19:Not to be confused with 1043:Encyclopædia Britannica 1027:, fourth edition. 1974. 1017:The UVic Writer's Guide 780:'s "The Watershed" and 573:Samuel Taylor Coleridge 860: 808: 750: 726:(tapping her forehead) 648: 620: 508: 419: 405:With his own bolt;... 369:Shakespeare also used 367: 334: 261:English poets such as 171: 102: 1032:Gosse, Edmund William 820: 711: 624: 595: 457: 376: 344: 302: 275:Alfred, Lord Tennyson 112:written with regular 88: 697:Gilbert and Sullivan 267:Percy Bysshe Shelley 136:is in blank verse". 1037:"Blank Verse"  221:William Shakespeare 217:Christopher Marlowe 1023:Deutsch, Babette, 802:. It was used by 677:Prometheus Unbound 652:conversation poems 569:William Wordsworth 510:Milton also wrote 263:William Wordsworth 184:Arden of Faversham 120:lines, usually in 103: 89:The title page of 1015:"Blank Verse" in 800:German literature 787:Summoned by Bells 774:The Second Coming 689:Tears, Idle Tears 660:Frost at Midnight 513:Paradise Regained 225:iambic pentameter 122:iambic pentameter 93:' translation of 83: 82: 75: 1080: 1047: 1039: 1002: 1001: 986: 980: 977: 971: 970: 968: 967: 950:Murphy, Laurie. 947: 941: 940: 928: 918: 912: 905: 899: 889: 811: 809:Nathan der Weise 646: 618: 519:Samson Agonistes 506: 430:in their plays. 428:Thomas Middleton 417: 365: 332: 321: 320: 211:Thomas Sackville 176: 155: 152: 99:John Baskerville 78: 71: 67: 64: 58: 34: 33: 26: 1088: 1087: 1083: 1082: 1081: 1079: 1078: 1077: 1073:Types of verses 1058: 1057: 1025:Poetry Handbook 1010: 1005: 988: 987: 983: 978: 974: 965: 963: 948: 944: 937: 919: 915: 906: 902: 890: 886: 882: 865: 859: 854: 850: 846: 842: 838: 834: 830: 826: 815:Nathan the Wise 806:in the tragedy 796: 758:Wallace Stevens 749: 746: 744: 742: 740: 738: 736: 734: 732: 730: 728: 723: 721: 719: 717: 715: 699:'s 1884 opera, 693:Fra Lippo Lippi 685:Robert Browning 656:The Eolian Harp 647: 640: 637: 634: 632: 630: 628: 619: 611: 608: 605: 603: 601: 599: 578:Lyrical Ballads 507: 499: 496: 493: 491: 489: 487: 485: 483: 481: 479: 477: 475: 473: 471: 469: 467: 465: 463: 461: 418: 410: 407: 404: 402: 400: 398: 396: 394: 392: 390: 388: 386: 384: 382: 380: 366: 358: 355: 352: 350: 348: 333: 326: 323: 318: 316: 314: 312: 310: 308: 291:Wallace Stevens 197: 153: 79: 68: 62: 59: 48: 35: 31: 24: 17: 12: 11: 5: 1086: 1076: 1075: 1070: 1056: 1055: 1050:Milton, John, 1048: 1028: 1021: 1009: 1006: 1004: 1003: 981: 972: 956:guides.nyu.edu 942: 936:978-0821417584 935: 913: 907:Paul Fussell, 900: 883: 881: 878: 877: 876: 874:Verse (poetry) 871: 864: 861: 795: 792: 712: 638: 625: 609: 596: 556:William Cowper 497: 458: 408: 377: 356: 345: 329:Doctor Faustus 324: 303: 249:William Cowper 199:The 1561 play 196: 193: 168:verse form of 134:English poetry 126:English poetry 91:Robert Andrews 81: 80: 45:of the subject 43:worldwide view 38: 36: 29: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1085: 1074: 1071: 1069: 1066: 1065: 1063: 1053: 1052:Paradise Lost 1049: 1045: 1044: 1038: 1033: 1029: 1026: 1022: 1019: 1018: 1012: 1011: 999: 995: 991: 985: 976: 961: 957: 953: 946: 938: 932: 927: 926: 917: 910: 904: 897: 893: 888: 884: 875: 872: 870: 867: 866: 858: 857: 853: 849: 845: 841: 837: 833: 829: 825: 819: 817: 816: 810: 805: 801: 791: 789: 788: 783: 782:John Betjeman 779: 775: 771: 767: 763: 759: 755: 748: 727: 710: 708: 704: 703: 698: 694: 690: 686: 681: 679: 678: 673: 672: 667: 666: 661: 657: 653: 644: 636: 623: 616: 615: 607: 594: 592: 591: 590:The Excursion 586: 585: 580: 579: 574: 570: 567: 563: 562: 557: 552: 550: 546: 542: 541: 536: 535:James Thomson 532: 531: 526: 521: 520: 516:and parts of 515: 514: 504: 503: 502:Paradise Lost 495: 456: 454: 453: 452:Paradise Lost 447: 445: 444: 443:The Alchemist 439: 438: 433: 429: 425: 415: 414: 406: 375: 372: 363: 362: 354: 343: 341: 340: 331: 330: 322: 301: 298: 296: 292: 288: 284: 280: 276: 272: 268: 264: 260: 256: 255: 250: 246: 245: 240: 239:James Thomson 236: 235: 234:Paradise Lost 230: 226: 222: 218: 214: 212: 208: 207:Thomas Norton 204: 203: 192: 191:blank verse. 190: 186: 185: 179: 177: 175: 174: 173:versi sciolti 167: 164:verse or the 163: 162:Ancient Greek 159: 148: 147: 142: 137: 135: 131: 127: 123: 119: 115: 111: 107: 100: 96: 92: 87: 77: 74: 66: 63:February 2021 56: 52: 46: 44: 37: 28: 27: 22: 1068:Poetic forms 1051: 1041: 1024: 1016: 993: 984: 975: 964:. Retrieved 955: 945: 924: 916: 908: 903: 895: 887: 855: 851: 847: 843: 839: 835: 831: 827: 823: 822: 813: 797: 785: 754:Robert Frost 751: 725: 713: 707:Savoy operas 702:Princess Ida 700: 682: 675: 669: 663: 649: 645:", lines 1–5 626: 621: 612: 597: 588: 582: 576: 559: 553: 548: 538: 530:All for Love 528: 517: 511: 509: 500: 459: 450: 448: 441: 435: 424:John Webster 420: 411: 378: 368: 359: 346: 337: 335: 327: 304: 299: 279:The Princess 252: 242: 232: 215: 200: 198: 182: 180: 169: 144: 138: 130:Paul Fussell 105: 104: 69: 60: 40: 778:W. H. Auden 770:W. B. Yeats 617:, lines 1–5 584:The Prelude 540:The Seasons 527:'s tragedy 525:John Dryden 413:The Tempest 244:The Seasons 229:John Milton 189:end-stopped 154: 1540 106:Blank verse 1062:Categories 1008:References 994:Britannica 966:2023-03-20 892:Jay Parini 566:Lake Poets 549:The Fleece 432:Ben Jonson 371:enjambment 295:free verse 287:Hart Crane 271:John Keats 195:In English 149:(composed 21:free verse 794:In German 671:The Cenci 654:such as " 545:John Dyer 361:King John 339:King John 181:The play 55:talk page 1034:(1911). 998:Archived 960:Archived 863:See also 665:Hyperion 639:—  610:—  561:The Task 505:, Book 1 498:—  409:—  357:—  347:My lord? 325:—  259:Romantic 254:The Task 231:, whose 202:Gorboduc 118:unrhymed 114:metrical 49:You may 764:" and " 658:" and " 437:Volpone 283:Ulysses 166:Italian 101:in 1766 933:  269:, and 247:) and 227:, and 146:Aeneid 110:poetry 95:Virgil 880:Notes 869:Prose 416:, 5.1 364:, 3.3 158:Latin 931:ISBN 772:'s " 760:'s " 674:and 650:His 587:and 571:and 533:and 440:and 426:and 289:and 251:(in 241:(in 209:and 116:but 784:'s 776:", 768:", 547:'s 537:'s 257:). 205:by 108:is 1064:: 1040:. 996:. 992:. 958:. 954:. 894:, 551:. 446:. 297:. 265:, 151:c. 969:. 939:. 812:( 641:" 76:) 70:( 65:) 61:( 47:. 23:.

Index

free verse
worldwide view
improve this article's lead and first section
talk page
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Robert Andrews
Virgil
John Baskerville
poetry
metrical
unrhymed
iambic pentameter
English poetry
Paul Fussell
English poetry
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Aeneid
Latin
Ancient Greek
Italian
versi sciolti
Arden of Faversham
end-stopped
Gorboduc
Thomas Norton
Thomas Sackville
Christopher Marlowe
William Shakespeare
iambic pentameter

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