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Available in 37 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-37" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">37 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%B1_%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%84" title="شعر مرسل – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="شعر مرسل" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bn mw-list-item"><a href="https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%85%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B7%E0%A6%B0_%E0%A6%9B%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6" title="অমিত্রাক্ষর ছন্দ – Bangla" lang="bn" hreflang="bn" data-title="অমিত্রাক্ষর ছন্দ" data-language-autonym="বাংলা" data-language-local-name="Bangla" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>বাংলা</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-be mw-list-item"><a href="https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8B_%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%88" title="Белы верш – Belarusian" lang="be" hreflang="be" data-title="Белы верш" data-language-autonym="Беларуская" data-language-local-name="Belarusian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Беларуская</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-be-x-old mw-list-item"><a href="https://be-tarask.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8B_%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%88" title="Белы верш – Belarusian (Taraškievica orthography)" lang="be-tarask" hreflang="be-tarask" data-title="Белы верш" data-language-autonym="Беларуская (тарашкевіца)" data-language-local-name="Belarusian (Taraškievica orthography)" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Беларуская (тарашкевіца)</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D1%8F%D0%BB_%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%85" title="Бял стих – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Бял стих" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Български</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vers_blanc" title="Vers blanc – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Vers blanc" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cv mw-list-item"><a href="https://cv.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A8%D1%83%D1%80%C4%83_%D1%81%C4%83%D0%B2%C4%83" title="Шурă сăвă – Chuvash" lang="cv" hreflang="cv" data-title="Шурă сăвă" data-language-autonym="Чӑвашла" data-language-local-name="Chuvash" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Чӑвашла</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blankvers" title="Blankvers – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Blankvers" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blankvers" title="Blankvers – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Blankvers" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blankvers" title="Blankvers – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Blankvers" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verso_blanco" title="Verso blanco – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Verso blanco" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanka_verso" title="Blanka verso – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Blanka verso" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%B1_%D8%A8%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%87" title="شعر بی‌قافیه – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="شعر بی‌قافیه" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vers_blanc" title="Vers blanc – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Vers blanc" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hy mw-list-item"><a href="https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D4%B1%D5%B6%D5%B0%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%A3_%D5%B8%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%A1%D5%BE%D5%B8%D6%80" title="Անհանգ ոտանավոր – Armenian" lang="hy" hreflang="hy" data-title="Անհանգ ոտանավոր" data-language-autonym="Հայերեն" data-language-local-name="Armenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Հայերեն</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_verse" title="Blank verse – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Blank verse" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%97%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%96_%D7%9C%D7%91%D7%9F" title="חרוז לבן – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="חרוז לבן" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-kk mw-list-item"><a href="https://kk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D2%9B_%D3%A9%D0%BB%D0%B5%D2%A3" title="Ақ өлең – Kazakh" lang="kk" hreflang="kk" data-title="Ақ өлең" data-language-autonym="Қазақша" data-language-local-name="Kazakh" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Қазақша</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-la mw-list-item"><a href="https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versus_blancus" title="Versus blancus – Latin" lang="la" hreflang="la" data-title="Versus blancus" data-language-autonym="Latina" data-language-local-name="Latin" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_verse" title="Blank verse – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="Blank verse" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_vers" title="Blank vers – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Blank vers" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AF%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9" title="ブランクヴァース – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="ブランクヴァース" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-no mw-list-item"><a href="https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blankvers" title="Blankvers – Norwegian Bokmål" lang="nb" hreflang="nb" data-title="Blankvers" data-language-autonym="Norsk bokmål" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Bokmål" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk bokmål</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nn mw-list-item"><a href="https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blankvers" title="Blankvers – Norwegian Nynorsk" lang="nn" hreflang="nn" data-title="Blankvers" data-language-autonym="Norsk nynorsk" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Nynorsk" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk nynorsk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pnb mw-list-item"><a href="https://pnb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7_%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%85" title="معرا نظم – Western Punjabi" lang="pnb" hreflang="pnb" data-title="معرا نظم" data-language-autonym="پنجابی" data-language-local-name="Western Punjabi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>پنجابی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_verse" title="Blank verse – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Blank verse" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verso_branco" title="Verso branco – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Verso branco" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vers_alb" title="Vers alb – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Vers alb" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%85" title="Белый стих – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Белый стих" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-simple mw-list-item"><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_verse" title="Blank verse – Simple English" lang="en-simple" hreflang="en-simple" data-title="Blank verse" data-language-autonym="Simple English" data-language-local-name="Simple English" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Simple English</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sd mw-list-item"><a href="https://sd.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%B0_%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%85" title="معريٰ نظم – Sindhi" lang="sd" hreflang="sd" data-title="معريٰ نظم" data-language-autonym="سنڌي" data-language-local-name="Sindhi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>سنڌي</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sk mw-list-item"><a href="https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blankvers" title="Blankvers – Slovak" lang="sk" hreflang="sk" data-title="Blankvers" data-language-autonym="Slovenčina" data-language-local-name="Slovak" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenčina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silos%C3%A4e" title="Silosäe – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Silosäe" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blankvers" title="Blankvers – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Blankvers" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D1%96%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%B2%D1%96%D1%80%D1%88" title="Білий вірш – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Білий вірш" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ur mw-list-item"><a href="https://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%85_%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7" title="نظم معرا – Urdu" lang="ur" hreflang="ur" data-title="نظم معرا" data-language-autonym="اردو" data-language-local-name="Urdu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>اردو</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A0%E9%9F%B5%E8%AF%97" title="无韵诗 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="无韵诗" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q739672#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet 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class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Poetry written in regular metre but without rhyme</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Not to be confused with <a href="/wiki/Free_verse" title="Free verse">free verse</a>.</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-Globalize plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-globalize" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="Globe icon." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Ambox_globe_content.svg/48px-Ambox_globe_content.svg.png" decoding="async" width="48" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Ambox_globe_content.svg/73px-Ambox_globe_content.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Ambox_globe_content.svg/97px-Ambox_globe_content.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="350" data-file-height="290" /></span></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">The examples and perspective in this article's lead and first section <b>deal primarily with the United Kingdom and the United States and do not represent a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Countering_systemic_bias" title="Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias">worldwide view</a> of the subject</b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> You may <a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blank_verse&action=edit">improve this article's lead and first section</a>, discuss the issue on the <a href="/wiki/Talk:Blank_verse" title="Talk:Blank verse">talk page</a>, or create a new article's lead and first section, as appropriate.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">February 2021</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:BaskervilleVirgil.JPG" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/BaskervilleVirgil.JPG/220px-BaskervilleVirgil.JPG" decoding="async" width="220" height="347" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/BaskervilleVirgil.JPG/330px-BaskervilleVirgil.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/BaskervilleVirgil.JPG/440px-BaskervilleVirgil.JPG 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="946" /></a><figcaption>The title page of <a href="/wiki/Robert_Andrews_(translator)" title="Robert Andrews (translator)">Robert Andrews</a>' translation of <a href="/wiki/Virgil" title="Virgil">Virgil</a> into English blank verse, printed by <a href="/wiki/John_Baskerville" title="John Baskerville">John Baskerville</a> in 1766</figcaption></figure> <p><b>Blank verse</b> is <a href="/wiki/Poetry" title="Poetry">poetry</a> written with regular <a href="/wiki/Metre_(poetry)" title="Metre (poetry)">metrical</a> but <a href="/wiki/Rhyme" title="Rhyme">unrhymed</a> lines, usually in <a href="/wiki/Iambic_pentameter" title="Iambic pentameter">iambic pentameter</a>. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that <a href="/wiki/English_poetry" title="English poetry">English poetry</a> has taken since the 16th century",<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Paul_Fussell" title="Paul Fussell">Paul Fussell</a> has estimated that "about three quarters of all <a href="/wiki/English_poetry" title="English poetry">English poetry</a> is in blank verse".<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The first known use of blank verse in English was by <a href="/wiki/Henry_Howard,_Earl_of_Surrey" title="Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey">Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey</a> in his translation of the <i><a href="/wiki/%C3%86neid" class="mw-redirect" title="Æneid">Aeneid</a></i> (composed <abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1540</span>; published posthumously, 1554–1557<sup id="cite_ref-Shaw_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Shaw-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>). He may have been inspired by the <a href="/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a> original since classical Latin verse did not use rhyme, or possibly he was inspired by <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek">Ancient Greek</a> verse or the <a href="/wiki/Italian_language" title="Italian language">Italian</a> verse form of <i><span title="Italian-language text"><i lang="it"><a href="/wiki/Verso_sciolto" title="Verso sciolto">versi sciolti</a></i></span></i>, both of which also did not use rhyme. </p><p>The play <i><a href="/wiki/Arden_of_Faversham" title="Arden of Faversham">Arden of Faversham</a></i> (around 1590 by an unknown author) is a notable example of <a href="/wiki/End-stopping" title="End-stopping">end-stopped</a> blank verse. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="In_English">In English</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Blank_verse&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: In English"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The 1561 play <i><a href="/wiki/Gorboduc_(play)" title="Gorboduc (play)">Gorboduc</a></i> by <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Norton" title="Thomas Norton">Thomas Norton</a> and <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Sackville,_1st_Earl_of_Dorset" title="Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset">Thomas Sackville</a> was the first English play to use blank verse. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Christopher_Marlowe" title="Christopher Marlowe">Christopher Marlowe</a> was the first English author to achieve critical fame for his use of blank verse.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The major achievements in English blank verse were made by <a href="/wiki/William_Shakespeare" title="William Shakespeare">William Shakespeare</a>, who wrote much of the content of his plays in unrhymed <a href="/wiki/Iambic_pentameter" title="Iambic pentameter">iambic pentameter</a>, and <a href="/wiki/John_Milton" title="John Milton">John Milton</a>, whose <i><a href="/wiki/Paradise_Lost" title="Paradise Lost">Paradise Lost</a></i> is written in blank verse. Miltonic blank verse was widely imitated in the 18th century by such poets as <a href="/wiki/James_Thomson_(poet,_born_1700)" title="James Thomson (poet, born 1700)">James Thomson</a> (in <i><a href="/wiki/The_Seasons_(Thomson_poem)" class="mw-redirect" title="The Seasons (Thomson poem)">The Seasons</a></i>) and <a href="/wiki/William_Cowper" title="William Cowper">William Cowper</a> (in <i><a href="/wiki/The_Task_(poem)" title="The Task (poem)">The Task</a></i>). <a href="/wiki/Romantic_poetry" title="Romantic poetry">Romantic</a> English poets such as <a href="/wiki/William_Wordsworth" title="William Wordsworth">William Wordsworth</a>, <a href="/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley" title="Percy Bysshe Shelley">Percy Bysshe Shelley</a>, and <a href="/wiki/John_Keats" title="John Keats">John Keats</a> used blank verse as a major form. Shortly afterwards, <a href="/wiki/Alfred,_Lord_Tennyson" title="Alfred, Lord Tennyson">Alfred, Lord Tennyson</a> became particularly devoted to blank verse, using it for example in his long narrative poem "<a href="/wiki/The_Princess_(Tennyson_poem)" title="The Princess (Tennyson poem)">The Princess</a>", as well as for one of his most famous poems: "<a href="/wiki/Ulysses_(poem)" title="Ulysses (poem)">Ulysses</a>". Among American poets, <a href="/wiki/Hart_Crane" title="Hart Crane">Hart Crane</a> and <a href="/wiki/Wallace_Stevens" title="Wallace Stevens">Wallace Stevens</a> are notable for using blank verse in extended compositions at a time when many other poets were turning to <a href="/wiki/Free_verse" title="Free verse">free verse</a>. </p><p>Marlowe and then Shakespeare developed its potential greatly in the late 16th century. Marlowe was the first to exploit the potential of blank verse for powerful and involved speech: </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><div class="poem"> <p><span title="Early Modern English-language text"><span lang="en-emodeng">You stars that reign'd at my nativity,<br /> Whose influence hath allotted death and hell,<br /> Now draw up Faustus like a foggy mist<br /> Into the entrails of yon labouring clouds,<br /> That when they vomit forth into the air,<br /> My limbs may issue from their smoky mouths,<br /> So that my soul may but ascend to Heaven.</span></span> </p> </div> <div class="templatequotecite">— <cite><i><a href="/wiki/Doctor_Faustus_(play)" title="Doctor Faustus (play)">Doctor Faustus</a></i></cite></div></blockquote> <p>Shakespeare developed this feature, and also the potential of blank verse for abrupt and irregular speech. For example, in this exchange from <i><a href="/wiki/The_Life_and_Death_of_King_John" class="mw-redirect" title="The Life and Death of King John">King John</a></i>, one blank verse line is broken between two characters: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712" /><blockquote class="templatequote"><div class="poem"> <p>My lord?<br />             A grave.<br />                         He shall not live.<br />                                                 Enough. </p> </div><div class="templatequotecite">— <cite><i><a href="/wiki/The_Life_and_Death_of_King_John" class="mw-redirect" title="The Life and Death of King John">King John</a></i>, 3.3</cite></div></blockquote> <p>Shakespeare also used <a href="/wiki/Enjambment" title="Enjambment">enjambment</a> increasingly often in his verse, and in his last plays was given to using feminine endings (in which the last syllable of the line is unstressed, for instance lines 3 and 6 of the following example); all of this made his later blank verse extremely rich and varied. </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712" /><blockquote class="templatequote"><div class="poem"> <p>Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,<br /> And ye that on the sands with printless foot<br /> Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him<br /> When he comes back; you demi-puppets that<br /> By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make<br /> Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime<br /> Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice<br /> To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,<br /> Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimmed<br /> The noontide sun, called forth the mutinous winds,<br /> And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault<br /> Set roaring war – to the dread rattling thunder<br /> Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak<br /> With his own bolt;... </p> </div><div class="templatequotecite">— <cite><i><a href="/wiki/The_Tempest" title="The Tempest">The Tempest</a></i>, 5.1</cite></div></blockquote> <p>This very free treatment of blank verse was imitated by Shakespeare's contemporaries, and led to general metrical looseness in the hands of less skilled users. However, Shakespearean blank verse was used with some success by <a href="/wiki/John_Webster" title="John Webster">John Webster</a> and <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Middleton" title="Thomas Middleton">Thomas Middleton</a> in their plays. <a href="/wiki/Ben_Jonson" title="Ben Jonson">Ben Jonson</a>, meanwhile, used a tighter blank verse with less enjambment in his comedies <i><a href="/wiki/Volpone" title="Volpone">Volpone</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/The_Alchemist_(play)" title="The Alchemist (play)">The Alchemist</a></i>. </p><p>Blank verse was not much used in the non-dramatic poetry of the 17th century until <i><a href="/wiki/Paradise_Lost" title="Paradise Lost">Paradise Lost</a></i>, in which Milton used it with much license. Milton used the flexibility of blank verse, its capacity to support syntactic complexity, to the utmost, in passages such as these: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712" /><blockquote class="templatequote"><div class="poem"> <p>....Into what Pit thou seest<br /> From what highth fal'n, so much the stronger provd<br /> He with his Thunder: and till then who knew<br /> The force of those dire Arms? yet not for those<br /> Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage<br /> Can else inflict do I repent or change,<br /> Though chang'd in outward lustre; that fixt mind<br /> And high disdain, from sence of injur'd merit,<br /> That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend,<br /> And to the fierce contention brought along<br /> Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd<br /> That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,<br /> His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd<br /> In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav'n,<br /> And shook his throne. What though the field be lost?<br /> All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,<br /> And study of revenge, immortal hate,<br /> And courage never to submit or yield: </p> </div><div class="templatequotecite">— <cite><i><a href="/wiki/Paradise_Lost" title="Paradise Lost">Paradise Lost</a></i>, Book 1<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></cite></div></blockquote> <p>Milton also wrote <i><a href="/wiki/Paradise_Regained" title="Paradise Regained">Paradise Regained</a></i> and parts of <i><a href="/wiki/Samson_Agonistes" title="Samson Agonistes">Samson Agonistes</a></i> in blank verse. In the century after Milton, there are few distinguished uses of either dramatic or non-dramatic blank verse; in keeping with the desire for regularity, most of the blank verse of this period is somewhat stiff. The best examples of blank verse from this time are probably <a href="/wiki/John_Dryden" title="John Dryden">John Dryden</a>'s tragedy <i><a href="/wiki/All_for_Love_(play)" title="All for Love (play)">All for Love</a></i> and <a href="/wiki/James_Thomson_(poet,_born_1700)" title="James Thomson (poet, born 1700)">James Thomson</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/The_Seasons_(Thomson)" title="The Seasons (Thomson)">The Seasons</a></i>. An example notable as much for its failure with the public as for its subsequent influence on the form is <a href="/wiki/John_Dyer" title="John Dyer">John Dyer</a>'s <i>The Fleece</i>. </p><p>At the close of the 18th century, <a href="/wiki/William_Cowper" title="William Cowper">William Cowper</a> ushered in a renewal of blank verse with his volume of kaleidoscopic meditations, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Task_(poem)" title="The Task (poem)">The Task</a></i>, published in 1784. After Shakespeare and Milton, Cowper was the main influence on the next major poets in blank verse, teenagers when Cowper published his masterpiece. These were the <a href="/wiki/Lake_Poets" title="Lake Poets">Lake Poets</a> <a href="/wiki/William_Wordsworth" title="William Wordsworth">William Wordsworth</a> and <a href="/wiki/Samuel_Taylor_Coleridge" title="Samuel Taylor Coleridge">Samuel Taylor Coleridge</a>. Wordsworth used the form for many of the <i><a href="/wiki/Lyrical_Ballads" title="Lyrical Ballads">Lyrical Ballads</a></i> (1798 and 1800), and for his longest efforts, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Prelude" title="The Prelude">The Prelude</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/The_Excursion" title="The Excursion">The Excursion</a></i>. Wordsworth's verse recovers some of the freedom of Milton's, but is generally far more regular: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712" /><blockquote class="templatequote"><div class="poem"> <p>Five years have past; five summers, with the length<br /> Of five long winters! And again I hear<br /> These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs<br /> With a soft inland murmur. – Once again<br /> Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs... </p> </div><div class="templatequotecite">— <cite><i><a href="/wiki/Lines_written_a_few_miles_above_Tintern_Abbey" class="mw-redirect" title="Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey">Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey</a></i>, lines 1–5</cite></div></blockquote> <p>Coleridge's blank verse is more technical than Wordsworth's, but he wrote little of it: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712" /><blockquote class="templatequote"><div class="poem"> <p>Well, they are gone, and here must I remain,<br /> This lime-tree bower my prison! I have lost<br /> Beauties and feelings, such as would have been<br /> Most sweet to my remembrance even when age<br /> had dimmed mine eyes to blindness! They, meanwhile... </p> </div><div class="templatequotecite">— <cite>"<a href="/wiki/This_Lime-Tree_Bower_My_Prison" title="This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison">This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison</a>", lines 1–5</cite></div></blockquote> <p>His <a href="/wiki/Conversation_poems" title="Conversation poems">conversation poems</a> such as "<a href="/wiki/The_Eolian_Harp" title="The Eolian Harp">The Eolian Harp</a>" and "<a href="/wiki/Frost_at_Midnight" title="Frost at Midnight">Frost at Midnight</a>" are the best known of his blank verse works. The blank verse of Keats in <i><a href="/wiki/Hyperion_(poem)" title="Hyperion (poem)">Hyperion</a></i> is mainly modelled on that of Milton, but takes fewer liberties with the pentameter and possesses the characteristic of Keats's verse. Shelley's blank verse in <i><a href="/wiki/The_Cenci" title="The Cenci">The Cenci</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/Prometheus_Unbound_(Shelley)" title="Prometheus Unbound (Shelley)">Prometheus Unbound</a></i> is closer to Elizabethan practice than to Milton's. </p><p>Of the Victorian writers in blank verse, the most prominent are Tennyson and <a href="/wiki/Robert_Browning" title="Robert Browning">Robert Browning</a>. Tennyson's blank verse in poems like "Ulysses" and "The Princess" is musical and regular; his lyric "<a href="/wiki/Tears,_Idle_Tears" title="Tears, Idle Tears">Tears, Idle Tears</a>" is probably the first important example of the blank verse stanzaic poem. Browning's blank verse, in poems like "<a href="/wiki/Fra_Lippo_Lippi_(poem)" title="Fra Lippo Lippi (poem)">Fra Lippo Lippi</a>", is more abrupt and conversational. <a href="/wiki/Gilbert_and_Sullivan" title="Gilbert and Sullivan">Gilbert and Sullivan</a>'s 1884 opera, <i><a href="/wiki/Princess_Ida" title="Princess Ida">Princess Ida</a></i>, is based on Tennyson's "The Princess". Gilbert's dialogue is in blank verse throughout (although the other 13 <a href="/wiki/Savoy_opera" title="Savoy opera">Savoy operas</a> have prose dialogue). Below is an extract spoken by Princess Ida after singing her entrance aria "Oh, goddess wise". </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712" /><blockquote class="templatequote"><div class="poem"> <p>Women of Adamant, fair neophytes—<br /> Who thirst for such instruction as we give,<br /> Attend, while I unfold a parable.<br /> The elephant is mightier than Man,<br /> Yet Man subdues him. Why? The elephant<br /> Is elephantine everywhere but here <i>(tapping her forehead)</i><br /> And Man, whose brain is to the elephant's<br /> As Woman's brain to Man's—(that's rule of three),—<br /> Conquers the foolish giant of the woods,<br /> As Woman, in her turn, shall conquer Man.<br /> In Mathematics, Woman leads the way:<br /> The narrow-minded pedant still believes<br /> That two and two make four! Why, we can prove,<br /> We women—household drudges as we are—<br /> That two and two make five—or three—or seven;<br /> Or five-and-twenty, if the case demands! </p> </div></blockquote> <p>Blank verse, of varying degrees of regularity, has been used quite frequently throughout the 20th century in original verse and in translations of narrative verse. Most of <a href="/wiki/Robert_Frost" title="Robert Frost">Robert Frost</a>'s narrative and conversational poems are in blank verse; so are other poems like <a href="/wiki/Wallace_Stevens" title="Wallace Stevens">Wallace Stevens</a>'s "<a href="/wiki/The_Idea_of_Order_at_Key_West" title="The Idea of Order at Key West">The Idea of Order at Key West</a>" and "<a href="/wiki/The_Comedian_as_the_Letter_C" title="The Comedian as the Letter C">The Comedian as the Letter C</a>", <a href="/wiki/W._B._Yeats" title="W. B. Yeats">W. B. Yeats</a>'s "<a href="/wiki/The_Second_Coming_(poem)" title="The Second Coming (poem)">The Second Coming</a>", <a href="/wiki/W._H._Auden" title="W. H. Auden">W. H. Auden</a>'s "The Watershed" and <a href="/wiki/John_Betjeman" title="John Betjeman">John Betjeman</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Summoned_by_Bells" title="Summoned by Bells">Summoned by Bells</a></i>. A complete listing is impossible, since a sort of loose blank verse has become a staple of lyric poetry, but it would be safe to say<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="margin-left:0.1em; white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_words" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:Avoid weasel words"><span title="Who says this? (December 2022)">weasel words</span></a></i>]</sup> that blank verse is as prominent now as it has been any time in the past three hundred years. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="In_German">In German</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Blank_verse&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: In German"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Blank verse is also common in <a href="/wiki/German_literature" title="German literature">German literature</a>. It was used by <a href="/wiki/Gotthold_Ephraim_Lessing" title="Gotthold Ephraim Lessing">Gotthold Ephraim Lessing</a> in the tragedy <span title="German-language text"><i lang="de">Nathan der Weise</i></span> (<i><a href="/wiki/Nathan_the_Wise" title="Nathan the Wise">Nathan the Wise</a></i>) in 1779, where the lines are 10 or 11 syllables long:<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712" /><blockquote class="templatequote"><div lang="de" class="poem"> <p><i>Ja, Daja; Gott sei Dank! Doch warum endlich?</i><br /> <i>Hab ich denn eher wiederkommen wollen?</i><br /> <i>Und wiederkommen können? Babylon</i><br /> <i>Ist von Jerusalem, wie ich den Weg,</i><br /> <i>Seitab bald rechts, bald links, zu nehmen bin</i><br /> <i>Genötigt worden, gut zweihundert Meilen;</i><br /> <i>Und Schulden einkassieren, ist gewiss</i><br /> <i>Auch kein Geschäft, das merklich fördert, das</i><br /> <i>So von der Hand sich schlagen lässt.</i> </p> </div></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Blank_verse&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{flex:1;min-width:0}}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .side-box{width:238px}.mw-parser-output .side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1237033735">@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox{display:none!important}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}</style><div class="side-box side-box-right plainlinks sistersitebox"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-image"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Wikiquote-logo.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="34" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/51px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/68px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="300" data-file-height="355" /></a></span></div> <div class="side-box-text plainlist">Wikiquote has quotations related to <i><b><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/Blank_verse" class="extiw" title="q:Special:Search/Blank verse">Blank verse</a></b></i>.</div></div> </div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Prose" title="Prose">Prose</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Verse_(poetry)" title="Verse (poetry)">Verse (poetry)</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Blank_verse&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Jay_Parini" title="Jay Parini">Jay Parini</a>, <i>The Wadsworth Anthology of Poetry</i> (Cengage Learning, 2005), page 655.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Paul Fussell, <i>Poetic Meter and Poetic Form</i> (McGraw-Hill, 1979 revised edition), page 63.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Shaw-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Shaw_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFShaw2007" class="citation book cs1">Shaw, Robert Burns (2007). <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/blankverseguidet0000shaw"><i>Blank Verse: A guide to its history and use</i></a></span>. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0821417584" title="Special:BookSources/978-0821417584"><bdi>978-0821417584</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Blank+Verse%3A+A+guide+to+its+history+and+use&rft.place=Athens%2C+Ohio&rft.pub=Ohio+University+Press&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-0821417584&rft.aulast=Shaw&rft.aufirst=Robert+Burns&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fblankverseguidet0000shaw&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABlank+verse" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFMurphy" class="citation web cs1">Murphy, Laurie. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://guides.nyu.edu/shakespeare-studies/christopher-marlowe">"Research Guides: Shakespeare Studies: Christopher Marlowe"</a>. <i>guides.nyu.edu</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230320164124/https://guides.nyu.edu/shakespeare-studies/christopher-marlowe">Archived</a> from the original on 2023-03-20<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2023-03-20</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=guides.nyu.edu&rft.atitle=Research+Guides%3A+Shakespeare+Studies%3A+Christopher+Marlowe&rft.aulast=Murphy&rft.aufirst=Laurie&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fguides.nyu.edu%2Fshakespeare-studies%2Fchristopher-marlowe&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABlank+verse" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Milton, John, Paradise Lost. Merritt Hughes, ed. New York, 1985</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/German-literature/Late-Middle-Ages-and-early-Renaissance">"German literature - Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance"</a>. <i>Britannica</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220712025849/https://www.britannica.com/art/German-literature/Late-Middle-Ages-and-early-Renaissance">Archived</a> from the original on Jul 12, 2022.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Britannica&rft.atitle=German+literature+-+Late+Middle+Ages+and+early+Renaissance&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.britannica.com%2Fart%2FGerman-literature%2FLate-Middle-Ages-and-early-Renaissance&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABlank+verse" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Blank_verse&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>The Department of English. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070105170201/http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/LTBlankVerse.html">"Blank Verse" in <i>The UVic Writer's Guide</i></a>. University of Victoria, 1995.</li> <li>Deutsch, Babette, <i>Poetry Handbook</i>, fourth edition. 1974.</li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFGosse1911" class="citation encyclopaedia cs1"><a href="/wiki/Edmund_William_Gosse" class="mw-redirect" title="Edmund William Gosse">Gosse, Edmund William</a> (1911). <span class="cs1-ws-icon" title="s:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Blank Verse"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Blank_Verse">"Blank Verse" </a></span>. <i><a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition" title="Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i>. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). pp. <span class="nowrap">41–</span>42.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Blank+Verse&rft.btitle=Encyclop%C3%A6dia+Britannica&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E41-%3C%2Fspan%3E42&rft.edition=11th&rft.date=1911&rft.aulast=Gosse&rft.aufirst=Edmund+William&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABlank+verse" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li>Milton, John, <i>Paradise Lost</i>. Merritt Hughes, ed. New York, 1985.</li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist 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