Lesson 3
TYPES OF BLANK VERSE
Iambic pentameter blank verse (unstressed/stressed syllables)
contains a pattern of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable and is the most common kind.
meaning that each line has 10 syllables with a stress on syllables 2,4,6,8 and 10
Trochee blank verse (stressed/unstressed syllables)
follows a pattern of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable
pronounced BAH-da BAH-da BAH-da. Where the first syllable is stressed and the second is unstressed
Anapest blank verse (unstressed/unstressed/stressed syllables)
has an unstressed syllable followed by two stressed syllables before repeating again
an anapestic foot (known as an anapest) has two short syllables followed by a long syllable (SSL, or UU/).
Dactyl blank verse (stressed/unstressed/unstressed syllables)
follows a pattern of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables
define as a metrical foot consisting of a long syllable preceding two short syllables. A dactylic foot (known as a dactyl) has a long syllable followed by two short syllables (LSS or /UU)
CHARACTERISTICs OF BLANK VERSE
It is mostly used in plays and epic poetry.
It follows no rhyme scheme.
It follows an iambic pentameter with one stressed and one unstressed syllable.
It supports grand themes.
It is suitable for dramatic monologues with elevated pitch and high style.
9. FREE VERSE
poetry organized to the cadences of speech and image patterns rather than according to a regular metrical scheme.
“free” only in a relative sense.
does not have the steady, abstract rhythm of traditional poetry
rhythms are based on patterned elements such as sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs, rather than on the traditional prosodic units of metrical feet per line
the name of a movement that originated in France in the 1880s
free verse became current in English poetics in the early 20th century
free verse poems tend to mimic the patterns of natural speech, as well as build upon and play with flights of imagery and repeated sounds.
It allows for more freedom.
eliminates much of the artificiality and some of the aesthetic distance of poetic expression and substitutes a flexible formal organization suited to the modern idiom and more casual tonality of
the language.
is poetry that lacks a consistent rhyme scheme, metrical pattern, or musical form. While free verse poems are not devoid of structure, they allow enormous leeway for poets, particularly when compared to more metrically strict forms like blank verse