Pat K., in her recent comment wrote, “What does the term 'blank verse' mean? Blank verse??! Doesn't make a lot of sense!”
Good question. Blank verse is not verse devoid of words or meaning: Verse means turning. Blank verse is one that turns without a rhyme word to mark the end of a line by intentionally chiming with a nearby end word. Since no end words intentionally rhyme, the verse is blank, that is, without end chimes.
Rhyming always follows a scheme, such as a-a for a couplet (2 lines), a-b-a-b, or a-b-b-a for a quatrain (4 lines) etc. Three stanzas of quatrains plus a couplet can make a sonnet. One sonnet scheme (the English or Shakespearean) is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The sonnet is associated with love felt -- for people, dogs, and gods too.... So when you write a sonnet you are saying something through the form as well as through the words. That’s not possible in non-rhymed or “blank” verse. Nor is it possible in free verse.
Yet blank verse does provide an underlying rhythm against the push and pull of speech-stress. It’s just not as powerful as rhymed verse. It’s harder to memorize than are lines that rhyme. It has been a favorite over the centuries for long narratives and for expository writing in verse. It is usually iambic (stress on the second syllable) pentameter (five “feet” of two syllables to the foot). “Our CAT | enJOYED | the MOUSE | unTIL | it DIED |” is such a line.
That it’s written this way doesn’t necessarily mean it’s spoken this way. That would put both speaker and audience to sleep. That’s where speech-stress comes in. | OUR cat | enJOYED |... reflects the reader’s art in using speech-stress intelligently to interpret, while the meter’s soft drumbeat plays counterpoint in the background. The reader’s art is as important as the poet’s.
Readers, do you agree? Please join the conversation.
Leland
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