Poetic Terms Dictionary
Poetic Form

Blank Verse

Introduced into English by Surrey's translation of Virgil (c.1540). Milton, Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Stevens all made it their primary vehicle.

Definition

Unrhymed iambic pentameter — the dominant metre of English dramatic poetry, epic, and much meditative verse.

Example

Shakespeare: 'To be, or not to be, that is the question: / Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer…'

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