Blank+Verse

=**Blank Verse:**= //(noun)// Unrhymed verse, usually in iambic pentameter--most frequently used in English dramatic, epic, and reflective verse

**Examples:**
FROST "Mending Wall" Some-thing/ there-is/ that-does/ n't-love/ a-wall, That-sends/ the-fro/ zen-ground/ swell-un/ der-it, And-spills/ the-up/ per-boul/ ders-in/ the-sun, And-makes/ gaps-ev/ en-two/ can-pass/ a-breast.


 * Effect:** The blank verse used in these lines makes "gaps" within the lines of the poem when read aloud, an example of a classic Frost trait where form mimics content as the narrator is speaking of gaps within the wall that seperates him and his neighbor.

SHAKESPEARE __King Lear__ Goneril: Dear-er/ than-eye/ sight,-space,/ and-li/ ber-ty, (I. i. 55) Be-yond/ what-can/ be-val/ ued,-rich/ and-rare, No-less/ than-life,/ with-grace,/ health,-beau/ ty,-honor, As-much/ as-child/ e'er-loved/ or-fa/ ther-found--


 * Effect:** In this instance, Shakespeare switches from prose to blank verse to show not only the higher status of the characters who are delivering lines, but also to illustrate the unnatural manner of the speech to emphasize the "unnatural" lines delivered from the characters Goneril and Regan.

Jamie Chen/ E block