Student Edition - Perfection Learning

Getting the BeatLike most dramatists of his time, Shakespeare frequently used blankverse in his plays. In blank verse, the text is written in measured linesthat do not rhyme. Look at the following example.He jests at scars that never felt a wound.But soft what light through yonder window breaks?It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon.You can see that the four lines above are approximately equal inlength, but they do not cover the whole width of the page as the linesin a story or essay might. They are, in fact, unrhymed verse with eachline containing ten or eleven syllables. Furthermore, the ten syllablescan be divided into five sections, called iambs. Each iamb contains oneunstressed (U) and one stressed (\) syllable. When the rhythm followsan unstressed/stressed pattern, it is called iambic. Try reading the linesbelow, giving emphasis to the capitalized syllable in each iamb.U \ U \ U \ U \ U \He JESTS at SCARS that NEV er FELT a WOUND.U \ U \ U \ U \ U \But SOFT! What LIGHT through YON der WIN dow BREAKS?The length of a line of verse is measured by counting the stresses.This length is known as the meter, and when there are five stresses, asin the preceding lines, the pattern is known as iambic pentameter.Much of Shakespeare’s work is written in iambic pentameter.Of course, Shakespeare was not rigid about this format. Hesometimes varied the lines by putting accents in unusual places, byhaving lines with more or fewer than ten syllables, and by varyingwhere pauses occur. An actor’s interpretation can also add variety.(Only a terrible actor would deliver lines in a way that makes therhythm sound singsong!)12Romeo and Juliet